this{and}that

sooo........where have we been?

that is a very good question.

{yum, guess what's in season!}

 i keep buying myself spring flowers for my pretty jars,

only to have them bloom in the house a few days later,

me wonder why the heck i'm sick again,

and hubby reminding me that i'm allergic.

{go figure}

somebody may have had a birthday this month.

and that certain somebody may have gotten their own room

after sharing one with his younger brother for the last 8 years.

{nobody warned me just switching rooms would be so emotional}

 that means little bear and monkey are now in the room together.

little bear was so excited to become the big brother in the room

and be able to move to the top bunk, cause that's only for the "big brother" {so cute}

they are adorable in here and the room feels like a little boy room again

with emmett in his own big kid room.

room move = success!

 in honor of his 9th birthday {and to break in the new room}

Emmett had a baseball/sleepover party with 6 of his bestest friends!

 we had a blast.

it stopped raining for one day only and we got lucky it was our day.

we took the boys down to the school for a little baseball.

i don't have any pictures, because i was all time outfielder.

 we bought an Xbox 360 off of a friend of ours

and i absolutely l.o.v.e. the excitement on Emmett and his buddy's face.

priceless parent moment!

 little bear has been doing so good with all that has been going on this month.

they've hardly went to school, lots of teacher in-service days

professional days, conferences,

and now we're on spring break.

plus the whole switching room transition and emmett's sleepover party.

he's maturing quite nicely, we're so proud.

we recieved the final report from Eugene, submitted it to his school, and should be

getting a nice little curriculum in place {i'll keep y'all posted}

 and as for monkey these days....

words cannot express the amount of craziness this boy is.

we are trying to break him like a wild horse these days.

he's adorable, and in the same breath you want to wring his cute little neck.

the boys are on spring break this week.

it's pouring rain and should stay that way all week

baseball is starting this week {both emmett and little bear are playing this year}

and it's the last week of march...can you believe it?

hope things are great in your neck of the woods!

16 {harsh truths} that make us {stronger}

{photos of my mason jar tinting craft with instructions found here mine didn't turn out as awesome as her's, but they are still pretty awesome. side note....i have horribe lighting in my kitchen for photos.  photos also from the boy's club house remodel and i filled up the hallway....yeah me!}

It takes more courage to reveal insecurities than to hide them, more strength to relate to people than to dominate them, more manhood (or womanhood) to abide by thought-out principles rather than blind reflex. Toughness is in the soul and spirit, not in muscles and an immature mind.
- Alex Karras

1. life is not easy. - hard work makes people lucky.

 2. you will fail sometimes - the faster you accept this, the faster you can get on with being brilliant.

 3. right now, there is a lot you don't now.  the day you stop learning, is the day you stop living.

 4. There may not be a tomorrow, not for everyone. spend your time wisely today and pause long enough to appreciate it.

 5. there are a lot of things you cannot control - invest your time wisely in that in which you can control.

 6. information is not true knowledge.  knowledge comes from experience.  you must experience a task first hand to truly know it.

 7. you cannot be successful without providing value.  when you're valuable to the world around you, you will be successful.

 8. someone else will always have more than you.  it's not about how much you have...it's about how passionate you are about collecting it.

 9. you can't go back and change the past.  accept it, learn from your mistakes, and run like hell in the other direction.

 10. the only person that can make you happy is you.  nothing matters more than how you feel about who you are on the inside.  be your biggest fan!

 11. there will always be people who don't like you.  what others think and say about you isn't all that important.  what matters is how you feel about yourself on the inside.  you rock!

 12. you won't always get what you want.  look around and appreciate what you have.  some people aren't so lucky.

 13. in life, you get what you put in.  if you want love, give love.  if you want friends, be friendly.  if you want money, provide value.  it really is that simple.

 14. good friends will come and go.  people grow apart, it's perfectly normal. everyone is brought into your life for a reason.  enjoy their moment in time, soak it in, and be better for knowing them.

 15. doing the same exact thing every day hinders growth.  growth happens when you change thing, when you try new things, when you step out of your comfort zone.

 16. you'll never feel 100% ready for something new.  most great opportunities in life force us to step out of our comfort zone.  if you're thiking about it, don't be scared...just do it.

trying to be something else, is a waste of the person you are.

strength comes from being comfortable in your own skin.

happy friday, y'all

safe{words}

monkey's safe word is "mom"

any room he walks into he just says it over and over again.

i don't have to answer, he doesn't want or need anything from me.

he just needs to say it a few times...

slightly annoying {yes}

but i know there will come a time when he will hardly say it at all

so i'll take it.

craft {for the }weekend

turqoise mason jars from my mother-in-law

sweet jesus i am so excited!!!

i am a jar hoarder, because we can everything from our garden

and this christmas we got a pressure cooker to go with our water bath

so the possibilities are seriously endless!!!

however, i have some very tiny mason jars that i use as candle holder

when we entertain.

and then i found this in pinterest....

a tutorial on how to dye your own mason jars in a variety of colors

guess what i'm doing this weekend???

i will be sure to post a play-by-play on how i do it.

wish me luck!



10 {good reminders} for {stressful} times...

"fall seven times, get up eight..."



1. happiness is never constant, and it's not supposed to be.

 {you have to fight through some bad days to earn the best days of your life. happiness is a serious of moments that come and go and add sweetness to our lives. learn to accept this, and the more happiness you will have.}

 2. faiures are temporary situations that teach us necessary lessons.

 {lifes best lessons are usually learned at the worst moments and from the worst mistakes, so yes...you will fail sometimes. doing something is 10 times more productive than doing nothing at all.  so get out there...you either succeed, or you learn a vital lesson.}

 

 3. even if you can't see it now, you are making progress.

{you may not be where you want to be yet, but if you think about it, you're no longer where you once were either. you have good reason to believe you can trust yourself going forward.  so cry if you need to, get it out of your system, and keep going. you're undoubtedly getting closer to where you want to be.} 

 4. how you feel when you're stressed is not a true measure of reality.

 {just because you're afraid, doesn't mean you're in danger.  just because you feel alone, doesn't mean nobody loves you. just because you might fail, doesn't mean you will. be aware of your mental self-talk.  sometimes you have to forget how you feel, remember what you deserve, and keep pushing forward.}

 5. you cannot change what you refuse to confront.

{you can learn great things from your failures and mistakes when you aren't busy denying them. it takes a lot of courage to admit something needs to change, and even more couage to accept the responsibility for actually changing it. the simple act of getting something started will give you the momentum you need, and soon you'll find yourself in a positive spiral of positive changes....one right after the other.}

 6. you are not what happened to you in the past.

{the future is a clean, fresh, wide open slate. you are only who you think you are right now at this moment. you are only what you do right now in this moment.

 7. not getting what you want can be a blessing.

{not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of good luck, because it forces you to reevaluate things, opening new doors to opportunities and information you would have otherwise overlooked.  remember, some things in life fall apart so that better things can fall together.}

 8. being a "work in progress" is a great state to be in.

{being a work in progress doesn't mean you're not good enough today, it simply mean you want a better tomorrow. it means you're determined to heal your heart, expand your mind, and cultivate the gifts you know you were meant to share. may we all be works in progress forever.}

 9. nobody else can do it for you.

{keep doing what you know in your heart is right for YOU. live by choice, not by chance. let your actions speak louder than your words. make changes, not excuses. be motivated, not manipulated. it's your road and yours alone. some people make walk it with you, but no one can walk it for you.}

 10. life is not easy, but it's worth it.

{achieving anything worthwhile in life takes effort.  so start every morning ready to run father than you did yesterday and fight harder than you ever have before. above all, make sure you properly align your efforts with your goals.  it's not going to be easy...but it will be worth it.}

and our new moto for 2012....

happy friday, y'all!

{broken}

so lets make a long story short.

2012 has been way less than stellar...

{not even sure how this happened???}

this had a  51 inch TV in it...

that we just bought

that had a serious run in with a 2-year-old and a fire truck.

 this is the light in the boys' room.

which also met its fate with a 2-year-old and a hammer

 i have 3 boys.

the all have an overwhelming load of crap

long story short....i'm tired of picking it all up.

day.after.day

so i stopped....

in early february we got an official diagnosis for little bear

aspergers and austistic spectrum

high functioning.

so the paperwork begins.

and the new research begins.

and we owe him everything we can do to make sure he is a true success.

what????

your family doesn't go through plungers

faster than we can go through a bag of cereal?

weird...

 this hallway is still depressingly empty.

i framed and hung up this united states map that little bear colored.

he loves it.

it's full of bright fun colors that i want to start adding to the house.

yet here it is....still empty.

and just when we think the sun is beginning to shine...

we turn around to see another storm charging us...

HOWEVER......

we.are.trying.

and this to shall pass.

and we will be back to new in no time.

promise...