Mothers Day....

Truly the greatest gift I have ever been given and will ever receive, is the gift of being a Mom. A nurturer, a care taker, a teacher, a Mom and whatever a Mother truly is.....I am honored to be! My Mothers Day weekend started on Friday at Dylan's preschool where I was invited to a special 'Red, White & Blue Patriotic' tribute to Moms!  Dylan was very excited as he had been preparing for weeks now and he was just thrilled to have his Mom come to his school. He was very good at keeping a secret as to what this morning held for me, I just knew I was going to sit in a chair and he was going to sing songs to me!  That right there had my curiosity going and I was so excited for this!  The kids came in singing their own version of 'When the Children Come Marching In', it was adorable! I sat in a seat reserved just for me and Dylan stood right in front of me! It was precious! Almost every single Mom was in tears, happy and proud tears of course. It was precious to be at our child's school and being honored by our son! After singing 3 songs we ate homemade apple crisp and had ice cream too, yummy! It was a perfect morning with my little man!         

 

The Mothers in our life!

My Mom, Grandpa & Barbara with us when we visited PA! Memories live on Forever!

Mommy tears started long ago,

when your Dad proposed to me,

when I said yes they were happy tears

when he knelt on bended knee.

Mommy tears came once again

on the day that you were born,

these tears were mixed with Daddy's love

on that unforgettable morn.

Mommy tears were shed once more

when you spoke your very first word,

I thought that day would never come,

for Mama I swore I heard.

There were times when you got sick

and your fever came on fast,

my tears of worry started to fall

wondering how long this would last.

It wasn't long and you started school,

I kept strong as I watched you go,

but when I came into the house

Mommy tears had a steady flow.

Soon, I know, there will be a time

when you both become a man and woman,

for Mommy tears will slowly fall

when another holds your hand.

Someday you'll understand these tears

when you hold your daughter or son,

but for now I'll keep you to myself

as Mommy tears are never done.
I love our children more than words can even say! They have taught me so much about life and what each day is truly about! Dalton, Dylan & Danielle always know that Mommy love you SO much!

I love my Mom! She is the very best Grammy and Mom that a girl could ask for, thank you Mom for being you!

My Grandmother with Miss Danielle! She has taught me a lot about laughter recently and how much it is needed! Thank you Grandmother!

4 Generation picture we took just today! Brad's Mom and Grandma Martin!

Some do not get the opportunity to be a Mom, that truly saddens me for it is a gift that truly keeps on giving every single day. Some are mothers but not 'true' mothers, and that saddens me even more. Being a Mom is a gift that one should never take for granted. You can be a Mom in many ways, whether you are the Mother of your child or the Mother of a pet or the Mother of a child that is not of your blood, it is a gift............... and today we honor you!

"Her children arise and call her blessed…Honor her for all that her hands have done.”

 Proverbs 31:28,31

Please join us.....

Please support the March of Dimes and Children's Miracle Network. If it was not for them and the wonderful team of doctor's and nurses, we would not have our two precious miracles with us today. It was in God's hands, we have our own little Angel watching over us every single day. Miracles Happen to those who Believe....won't you help support research to fight premature birth?! Please join us in our Walk for Stronger, Healthier Babies. Our family is walking on May 1st to support the March of Dimes in raising funds and awareness for stronger, healthier babies. We invite you to join our team or make a donation today. Visit our team page at: http://www.marchforbabies.org/team/t1562322



 
We love everyone who supports us in our cause and has ever supported us in our journey protecting our children. Thank you ALL so very much. This is our way of 'giving back'!~

Our Angel....

Today was a beautiful day, a sunny day, not a cloud in the sky, a nice soft breeze......I felt my Angel's presence today, after all today is his Birthday. Happy Birthday Dalton James, times sure goes so fast. It is hard to imagine that 6 years ago today we saw your precious face for the first and last time. We think of you every....single....day. We love you so much, my oh my do I wish you were here. Today we talked to Dylan about you as we often do, but today was different, Dylan had so many questions. He practiced a few times pronouncing your name, he wanted to know time and time again where you lived, we told him with Jesus in heaven, a far more beautiful place than where we live. He wanted to know how old you were today, we told him 6. His response, 'wow mom he is 6 just like I'm gonna be 5.' He wanted to see you, we showed him pictures of you. 'Aww', he said.

We came to visit you today Dalton, did you hear us singing you the Happy Birthday song?! Dylan didn't want to sing, but as we were walking away from your resting place he yelled, 'Happy Birthday Brother'. It was pretty much the sweetest thing ever, melted your Daddy and I's hearts. We sent you a balloon today Dalton, did it reach you all the way up in heaven? I am sure you saw it, it was bright orange, easily seen in the clear blue sky. I am sure heaven is filled with balloons for your Birthday today, the bright orange one tho was from us! I hope you had lots of yummy Birthday cake, we had a brownie here for you :) We left a balloon at your resting place and a bright colored pin wheel that Dylan just had to take for you. It turned round and round, much like the circle of life does, we know Dalton we will see you again on the other side of heaven. I can't wait to hug and kiss you, for the mean time tho I do those things to Dylan, I really feel you live on thru him.

Please know buddy, you are never and will never be forgotten. We love you more than words can say, you are our first born, the first real testament of your Daddy and I's love, we will cherish you forever and ever.

 My parents are the best, they each sent me beautiful flowers today. My Mom sends specifically colored flowers every single year, each have special meaning! Thank you Mom & Dad!

Happy 6th Birthday Son, we love you so much. You truly are the sunshine in our days!~

We are off to Celebrate!

A little bit of this & a little bit of that....

We are patiently waiting for Spring to be in full force! It is getting close, we keep getting little tastes of it. We have had some fun times with friends and family over the past month and a half or so, celebrating Birthday's and gathering together getting all caught up! Here is our journey in pictures!~
Cozy nap time on Sunday afternoon!

Fun times with Drew & Allison!

 Say Cheese!

 Thanks for coming over to play Lila!

 Happy Birthday Great Grandma Martin!

Dylan had a lot of fun with Kaleigh & Allie!

 Wild rides from Uncle Tony & Uncle Nick!

 Nothing like a mouth full of spray Whip Cream! Too funny!

 I love sitting up playing like a big girl thanks to my new Benik!

 Having a big time conversation with Daddy!

 Happy 1st Birthday Henley!

It's a Sunshine Day!

Do you feel the fresh warm(er) air....we do, Spring is just around the corner!!! But that means that we have to take advantage of playing out in this nice white fluffy snow while we can! The temps have warmed quite a bit compared to what they have been the past few weeks and this has been perfect weather to play outside! Dylan has had some super fun times playing out in the snow, building forts and snowmen and even doing some sledding! Ahh, the joys of being a kid.


We also decided to give a little one on one time with the kids this weekend. While Mommy and Dylan went sledding, Daddy and Danielle had some snuggle time indoors! These times are very important we have learned, this way each child feels that much more important with individual attention from Mom and Dad! We enjoy these times almost as much as we enjoy family time all together

Sunday we decided to give Dylan a little extra special fun play time with Mom and Dad. We did not tell him before hand what we were doing, only that it was a surprise afternoon for him. We hopped in the car and headed into town, all the way he asked where we were going and we said only, 'to the surprise place.' We arrived and told him to look up at the sign...Chuck E Cheese! He was walking in with us and almost like he didn't believe us, he kept asking if he really was getting to go there, priceless! We spent just over 2 hours playing all about, games, taking pictures, shooting hoops and playing football. We had a blast! It was sure a blast from the past for Mom and Dad but seeing the huge smile on Dylan's face and hearing his giggles, those moments sure were priceless! We truly had a wonderful afternoon with our little man!

We then packed up the whole family and headed to the Olive Garden for a Valentine Family Dinner! It was delicious as usual and we were all stuffed! We headed home and finished the last touches on Dylan's Valentines for his school classmates and friends!

Dylan love standing there watching or trying as hard as he could to 'win' a game, but I think his most favorite part was collecting all of the tickets after each game! He had that figured out really quick and was very excited to cash them all in for prizes!!We started making Valentines last Thursday and got them pretty well packaged up. I cut out the names, Dylan stuck the names on them with glue and then we put stickers on the bags and hand wrote out his valentines with his name and their names too. We had a great time and this was a first for Mommy and Dylan making Valentines for his school. He had little Dinosaur valentines and little sticky dinosaur figurines to put in the goodie bags, along with some stickers and individual bags of Gold Fish crackers, yum! We then make goodie bags for his Childcare Teachers as well and Miss Michelle too!

We all awoke this morning and gave big hugs and kisses to each other. It was a Valentines morning filled with love in the air, it was great! Dylan could hardly wait to get his things packed up for school, he was very excited for his big day ahead. I dropped him off and the little stinker didn't even say goodbye to me, thankfully I had already kissed his little head when he took his coat off because I turned around after putting his things down and he was off. It makes my heart so happy to see him so excited for school every day, what a great feeling as a parent!
Valentines for the Childcare Teachers

Valentines for his classmates and friends!!

Valentines from Mommy and Daddy for our two little sweeties!!

Tonight we picked him up and his backpack was stuffed, and I mean stuffed with Valentines. He had these two BIG bags full of cards and candy and goodies from all of his friends. He definitely was feeling the extra love today. It was like Halloween with all of the goodies that he brought home! HA!
'Look Mom, two huge bags FULL of Valentines!!'

This evening we made a really nice dinner at home and relaxed, put the kids in their snugly pj's after nice warm baths and we are cuddled up on the couch. Sadly my little peanut Danielle has to have her 2nd set of ear tubes put in tomorrow in IC. This was very sudden, we are praying for a quick surgery without any hassles, and no more ear pain for our little sweetie. More on that later....We hope this Valentines has found you with the ones you love the most. We hope that you had a smile on your face today feeling the love that surrounds you. We sure felt it, while we feel it every day, today is a special day where there is definitely no un-noticed love in the air! The weather outside has been just beautiful and we are searching our yard to see those little brown spots of grass here and there. Not too much yet, but the warm sunshine feels....ooooh so good!~