Cute Pic Post -- February 2015

February was a rockin' month! The IF:Gathering was in February, which is my once-a-year time away from my home duties and dedicated time to spend with God. I did it at a local church in Coppell this year (NW didn't have it) and though IF was good, I wouldn't say that I'd attend that location again. They seemed to want to put on their own conference and use some of the IF material, when all I wanted was to hear all the IF speakers. These ladies are the blogs and books I follow, so missing Jen Hatmaker, Ann Voskamp, Shauna Niequist, Jennie Allen, Christine Caine, etc was a major let-down to me. I'm not sure the lady leading the conference in Coppell even knew some of them because she'd refer to one of these big-name-people-I-adore as "that girl." I'll be looking to do something different next year. Maybe host one for friends at my house? ;-) Given all of that and aside from Seth having to work that weekend and us calling in very-last-minute help from Nonnie & Gramps, it was a smooth weekend of me getting away without really getting away (aka spending any money).

I started off celebrating my birthday with some friends on the 9th at PF Changs. These two gals and I can shut.the.place.down! We meet at 6:30 and at 9:45 a waitress asked if she can get us To Go cups for our waters. ! Alrighty then... we get the hint! lol. We finish paying and then stand outside talking until like 11:30. Seth had joked he wanted me home by midnight, but it nearly came true, I was only home a handful of minutes ahead of his "curfew" for me. Anyways, at some point in the meal, I tell our waiter, Matt, that we're celebrating my birthday and he gives us the biggest slice of chocolate cake I have ever seen. 6 layers, this thing was. So we each ate 2 layers and it was more than enough dessert for the three of us to share. I shudder to think of the calories in that thing!

On my actual birthday, Seth cooked dinner for me (as is our tradition--birthday person picks the meal, the others cook it), and we had a chocolate cake for dessert. Just a box cake in a 9x13, but it was delish! As a part of the Spofford Adult Birthdays tradition, we went out with Kim, Cheryl, and Spencer on the 21st to Seasons 52. (David was sick and unable to join us.) Having mentioned we were celebrating my birthday that night (as if it wasn't obvious given all the presents I was opening), each person got to pick their own free dessert (Seasons 52 does little mini desserts in like a shot glass size)! Then, lastly, we had a date night as a part of our Date Night Swap-ing we do with the van den Dools on the 28th. We used a gift card for Texas Land & Cattle and got another free dessert--a warm brownie with ice cream upon mentioning my birthday. I officially had three birthday steaks and three free birthday desserts over the course of this month. February was good to me! (Except this nasty back and hip pain!)

I also traded in some junk gold and silver jewelry for cash which we then spent on essential oils and a diamond cross necklace for me. (The necklace was at Seth's suggestion! He figured if I'd gotten rid of all this jewelry I didn't want, I should have a timeless piece in place of some of the value.) We both love having the house smell nice and so even if we aren't sold on the actual health benefits of oils, we were interested in diffusing things to make the house smell nice. I do believe in a few now, because we've used them and seen the results, but I'm not making a case for all oils. Just FYI.

In short, the bi-polar weather left us stuck inside for a good many days and even though I had a great time celebrating my 34th all month long, I'm ready for spring! I can handle three of the four following variables: belly, 2 boys, back pain, and rain. I've literally skipped stuff because it's pouring rain and cold and I just cannot get enough energy together to make it happen. Even for this homebody, there's a limit to how much staying home I can handle!

Here are some pictures from our February:

The quote that has stuck with me the most from this year.
Thanks, Word Swag!

PF Changs dessert!

There was a lot of this.
I've started doing Movie Education Mondays.
This is not to be confused with watching educational movies,
but rather I'm schooling them on movies they need to know.
You know, the classics like Annie, Mary Poppins, and Sound of Music.

This was an Outfit Shot, but works also as Belly Shot.
Sorry for the poor lighting.

We fed ducks with friends at Mallon Park one day.
Funny-to-remember: after explaining that we needed to tear pieces off the slices,
Austin and Grace did a great job.
Graham, on the other hand, just tossed in the whole slice. lol

He says "Hello? Thijs!?"
"Thijs" is short for "Matthijs", his best friend.

After a few months of wondering what the heck was up with our electrical problems,
we called a professional. He started with this plug, and it was the culprit!
When he took it out of the wall, sparks were flying!

All smiles and wearing red for his school party.

Heatwave and Chase ready for action!
(Austin IS shorter than Eric,
but he's also not standing up straight here.)

We had so much fun at Matthijs' birthday party!

Picture Day 2015. Matching Outfits.
I'm at such a place of not being able to plan ahead,
I picked these outfits the night before.

We were expecting a house full that evening,
so they took a rare Thursday Afternoon nap.
And I found Austin asleep just like his Daddy--leg up in the air, sound asleep.

He might be 4, but he likes his sleep like his Momma.

On our way to celebrate my birthday with the Spoffords.
I love that I get to grow old with such a good looking man!

What's Who's the best seat in the house? Daddy!

It got cold. It snowed. We movied.

A break in the weather and we headed out for haircuts!

SUCH a ham, this one!

I had $7 haircut coupons,
but Seth thinks even $7 was too much to pay for these cuts.
I think my plan is to do every-other cut myself and use major coupons the other times.
These are what you'd call "Got our money's worth" cuts. 

Taking a stuck-inside-again funny selfie for friends.

Major thanks to Amazon for these boxes!

Here's a video of the box-usage.

After a huge delay, our kit finally came!

And here's an adorable video of Graham driving his car home from the park one day. So cute! I think we might need to work on keeping his eyes on the road ahead of him. lol

Snow & Ice February 2015

I'm not certain why, but when it snows or ices around here, I get this huge need to play photographer. I say "play" because it's not like I actually know what I'm doing, but I attempt The Perfect Shot, play around with editing after the fact, etc. It's like the frozen precipitation comes and I'm consumed with thoughts of angles and lighting! And I'm not saying any of these shots are very good or even that I took them all! (I have Seth to thank for most of the actual photography, but it was all me on the editing.)

There's just something extra special in seeing your home or your kids surrounded with white when it's such a rare occurrence. Personally, I would love a week of snow for the boys to play in every year, but then it can melt and be gone. Oh, I'd love to be snowed in, with Seth at home too, eating chili and watching movies and having a grand time being snowed in. Like a mini staycation in the house. And then spring can come.

Here are our best ones from the latest rounds of winter storms to hit DFW.

our home, February 2015

Graham

Austin

Snow Angels weren't a big hit with them.

sweetness

Gotta use the roller coaster, even though it's snowed on!

Sweet Brothers

I wanted to make sure they did "all the winter things" so they made snow angels, threw snowballs, attempted a snowman, we drank hot chocolate and watched Frozen. Here are some of the boys throwing snowballs at the backdoors. I was inside and cozy the whole time, while working on capturing action shots.

I love the smile and the motion.

The Tongue of Concentration

We had little white spots all over the back doors and kitchen windows.

And then Seth fired up the chiminea. The boys sat forever just watching the fire crackle. 

Sounds like we need to take these boys camping!

One last artsy shot. Thanks babe!

UPDATE: We had snow AGAIN this winter and Seth got me some great shots of it!!

Does snowy weather bring out your inner photographer?

Valentine's Day; 2015

We're in a place lately that doesn't allow for very much forethought (particularly on my part, and since I'm usually the one doing the fore-thinking, we're running about a day or two out as opposed to a week or even a month like we used to do!), so come the day before Valentine's Day, I decided it was probably time for me to think about what I wanted us to do. I had gotten Seth a gift, but nothing for the boys. We don't make a huge deal out of the day here, but Seth and I do use it to exchange a small something. It seemed weird that we would be opening gifts potentially in front of the boys without them having a gift, so after consulting some friends, we decided to do one small gift, a candy something, and then also open their goodie bags from school. I already had these Superman shirts in the gift bin, so I just pulled them out and wrapped them in pink paper. Seth stopped at the store and got some Pez dispensers for them which I taped to the top like a bow. Very fancy! lol We opened gifts, ate dinner, the boys had a bath and then we sat down to watch Cinderella as a family (even GA!). Very low-key, but a good time.

The shirts are slightly different, but still both Superman.

I didn't get any of them opening their goodie bags from school, mostly because I was too busy hiding stuff I didn't want them to actually have. When Seth took them into the bathroom for baths, I tossed half of it away! The other half is stuff we've been slowly going through ever since and we still have some left!

It's not the best shot of their crazy-bath hair,
but I love Graham's face too much not to share it!

She isn't normally allowed on the couch,
but she made her way up this time and it was nice to all be snuggled up together!

In case you're wondering, Seth gave me a book of all 2014 blog posts and I gave him a Home Depot gift card and a Southern Living plants book. Both of us encouraging each other's hobbies! :-)

Cute Pic Post -- January 2015

January was quite the month. We had days of super cold, days of gorgeous we-are-staying-at-the-park-forever-weather, and everything in between! Austin had his "assessment" for the preschool we applied to for next year and we were lucky enough to be able to hang with some friends while we waited (the process was running over two hours behind!). The boys had a good time with all their new toys from Christmas, but towards the end of the month we had to do another small purge. I'm committed to not living our lives overrun with plastic!

I hit the point in pregnancy where dr appts start happening every other week, and that alone made things so much fuller around here that our ability to plan-ahead was shot. I also started experiencing some fairly major back and hip pain which NOTHING has been able to fix for very long. (Also: Braxton Hicks like I've never had before.) As soon as the effects of a treatment wear off, the pain comes right back. (The boys are so used to hearing me say that now that Graham will say "your back hurt?" when I tell him I can't help with some thing or another. That breaks my heart, but I know I've done due diligence in trying to make it better and am still suffering, so I'm trying my best not to beat myself up over it. I'd love prayers about the pain and about my feelings surrounding my inability to parent like I like.)

I love his little crossed feet!
He's "reading" the personalized Monster's University book Aunt AM gave him.

Bros Reading Books. LOVE.

I dress them "alike" so often without realizing it.
I do not understand how it happens. It's mind-boggling.

All the cold weather made our couch a super-static-zone. 

He's the epitome of "Where there's a will, there's a way."

Caps for Sale!
Shortly before Christmas, Austin started "playing" Caps for Sale.
I had already planned on giving him that book for Christmas,
so it was funny he'd learned it at school first. Ms. Carol beat me!

In all the world, is there a sweeter picture!?

Not sure if they take this from me,
but they both love a pillow on their lap while watching tv.

My Tuesday Errand Running buddy.
I'll miss these days of just the two of us.

Sweet little foot poking out...

It was nice enough to send them outside, so we did. Gotta fill those lungs with some fresh air after being cooped up most of the last couple months!

"looking for clouds" I was told... SO SWEET!

Then a few days later it was really nice so we went to Mallon Park after school!
It's my favorite. Not too big that I can't see them,
and they're perfectly content on the equipment it has.
(I have a feeling some day this picture might be black mail material.)

I asked if I could take a picture of him in this new shirt.
He posed like that sans prompting. HA!

I love how he's holding up the tractor so he's in the picture too.

This happens when you skip a nap. Passed. Out!

Austin got sick.
Just a cold with some asthma issues,
but I want to be the best spoiling-them mom when they're sick.
I was proud of my set-up here, hence the picture. ;-)

Graham did that tower all by himself.
He was SO Proud. Love it!

Sweet, matching boys... navy shirts, light gray pants.

Someone found my sunglasses! lol

Neither get a nap on Thursdays and this is often how we spend the afternoon.

So thankful to have spent that 2 hour delay with friends who loved on my son like he was their own.
Those wooden seats were not meant for pregnant women suffering with back and hip pain. Ow!