Why did we let life get so busy?

How many of you can remember the Sundays that were completely focused on God and Family? I remember growing up(which wasn't that long ago) coming home and having large lunches of homemade fried chicken, or roast, with friends and family all around. The day was spent as kids playing inside and outside , as men in the barn visiting or watching a movie together, and as women putting together puzzles in the "work room" (grandma's quilting room) and catching up on the weeks happenings. We would stay together all day, many times through dinner. The day was completely relaxed and devoted to family!
Now our days are all so busy, when does family time come? Work and evening activities make the week crazy busy. Many times Saturdays are filled with work as well. We haven't hit this stage yet, but I know many of you are running back and forth doing this soccer game or that baseball game. And Sundays are really crazy... Church, then to lunch, out of course b/c that is at least one time you get to sit down for the day. And the rest of the day is spent having meetings, small group, church activities, etc. Now please don't misunderstand; all of these things are important, but why did we let our lives get so busy that so many times just spending time with God and family take a backseat to our schedule. We have just let our lives get so busy with other things, that we don't take the time to get to know friends anymore. We are so disconected from each other that we have to schedule in all this stuff to compensate for all the things we have gotten too busy for in the first place. Yet society keeps demanding more!
People ask me all the time if the boys are in school, and when I answer no they always ask me why they will start. My answer is always... mmm probably when they are 5. Why would I send them off to preschool, I stay at home with them for a reason and don't feel like we get enough time together as is! Do any of you feel this way?
We make special measures in our immediate family to not neglect our family. All meals (lunch and dinner) are spent around the table together, with NO Tv With the exception of Pizza, Movie Night where we all sit on the living room floor and watch a movie (kids choice). The Saturdays that Michael is off, we try to do special things with the kids, but what is going to happen when they have games all day long? (rhetorical question) . Bedtime is also a special time, we all go to the brothers bedroom and talk about the great things and blessings that happened that day, read a story, and pray as a family. I know as our boys get older, life and activities are only going to get more busy! OK! Sorry I'm off my soap box.
I just hope that our boys will cherish these times when they get older and implement family time with their own families. I also pray that even through busy lives that God will guide us to raise our boys to ultimately see Him and live lives as godly Men!

The MOST Sincere Prayer ever

This was William's prayer last night.

Dear God, Thank you for Mommy, Daddy, William, and Cade, and Brennan. God, Please be with Papa, and please help him to be better and well, and please take his dots away. God please come down from heaven and take them off and throw them in the trash. Lord, I know you can do it. Christ Name I Pray, Amen.

Our Papa(Michael's Dad) is battling cancer right now, along with my Aunt; so I ask that you please pray for them too.

Out of the Mouths of Babes.

Today at the grocery store we bought Butterfingers and icecream to make blizzards for dessert on Pizza Movie Night (a family tradition). Later we were sitting at the table eating lunch when William proclaims, "Daddy, you know what?"
Michael : "What"
William: "On Movie Night we are going to have chocolate lizzards .... with those little candies that are called finger butters. "
Michael: Completly lost says, "Ooooh, (looking at me) what are chocolate lizzards?"

Out with the OLD, In with the NEW and the shoes

I have several things I have been trying to make habits in my life... kind of New Years Resolutions, I guess you could say.
1. (and the one I struggle with the most) Bible Study. I have never been good at daily Bible study, and about 4 months ago, I found myself getting so discouraged with so many things. I was loosing my temper more with my children, getting frustrated with my husband, becoming stagnant with my housework, and completely disengaged with friends, and my spiritual life was pretty much church on Sundays and even that had become a chore. I decided I had to do something about it, and unfortunately my Bible wasn't the first place I looked. I read parenting book and marriage books, I tried to use my time better and force myself to be happy while doing house work; but of course nothing was helping. One night I started praying and I was led to the Bible; ever since I have been trying to read everyday. Sometimes it happens and sadly sometimes it doesn't. My goal is to wake up before my children, read THE WORD, and get the day off to the right foot. I have been doing this for several months now and I have to say! It completely makes a difference in my day!!!!!!!!!!! I am more patient with my children and it is constantly in my mind what a blessing they are, even when they are throwing fits or arguing over toys. I also find myself being a better and more consistent disciplinarian because I don't feel overwhelmed from the first step out of bed. I am so happy to see Michael and thankful for all he does for our family, and housework is enjoyable to me again. So Out with the old me... the me that was completely focused on ME; and in the with New the me that sees God more clearly and wakes up excited to see His Wonder.

2. Physical Exercise! I have a friend that walks everyday, and I have been going with her. We are trying to be accountability partners for one another. Anyways over the last several weeks we have had several others walking with us. It makes it so much fun. Here are the kids running together, the exercise it so good for them too!

A couple of the mama's.
Here are a couple of fun numbers from our walking group.
1 Newly Wed
4 Mama's
3 double strollers
12 children that come along
3 the average number of potty stops we have to take along the path
countless: the amount of wisdom and joy that falls upon me from being part of this group


Ok so this one isn't a resolution, but it cracks me up. Today we were forced to go shopping for new shoes. William has literally worn the rubber off his shoes. Below are the ratty ol' shoes he has been wearing, I still think they are so cute!
(the spot in the back of the sole is a hole you can stick two whole fingers through)

These are his new shoes... also known as "My Super Hero Shoes" He has been cracking us up running around the house all night. But the funniest part is that they came with a comic book. You have to watch the video about Dr. Stankfoot and Kewl Breeze This isn't really the reason we bought the shoes, but it is one of the silliest marketing concepts I have seen in a long time.


One last picture to leave you smiling. We went to an automatic car wash last week and this is the face Cade made the entire time. He kept saying "uhhh" and "ohhhh" and "wow" and then making this face, like it was to most amazing thing he has ever seen in the world!!

MY HUSBAND ROCKS!!

I know this post is supposed to be on a Friday, but hey it's close:)

I was inspired by others to make this "my husband rocks" post on how Michael and I met and all the things that make him "THE ONE".





I am not ashamed to say that I am not a career woman. I attended college because that is what I was supposed to do... and because I thought it would be a great place to find Mr. Right. However, it took a few trial and error dates and boyfriends to actually figure what I was even looking for in my Mr. Right.


Michael and I met several times, probably 4 times, before we could even remember each others names. Michael wasn't as flamboyant as some of the other boys that seemed to catch my eye. As the semester went on I continued to go on dates with this boy and that... and Michael became a steady friend in my life. We saw each other daily on campus, we worked at the same restaurant, we were in "sibling" social clubs, and over a short time, became best friends. However.. that is all I saw him as; a friend.


One day Michael decided to ask me on a date... although I took it as hanging out. We went to dinner by ourselves and visited for a while and then he took me home. Call me blind, but I still thought it was just a couple of friends hanging out. I guess I just wasn't ready to see him for more.


A few weeks later, I was just hanging out in my room and caught myself thinking of Michael Caldwell! I was thinking of how good he was to others, of how he always went out of his way to help people, of his hard work ethic and the leadership he showed at the restaurant, of the example he was able to show by his actions and his life. I kept thinking of all the pictures he had of his nieces and how proud he was of them. The respect and love you could see in his eyes when he talked about his parents and his family. And I knew I had to see him! Not being one to sit around and wait for things to happen I called him immediately and asked him to dinner that night. 10 months later we were husband and wife. Now 6 1/2 years and 3 kids later I am still completely amazed with him and fall more in love with him everyday.... and as they say... the rest is history.

Fun in the Sun

Michael and I aren't really beach people, we prefer pools. and No it's not warm enough to get in the water yet, but William saw a show of PBS the other day and they were making sand castles. It struck up an interest... Michael and I have also been talking about the fact that we should embrace the coast while we live here, and create memories for the kids. I mean we are only 20 minutes from the beach and probably went 2 times last summer. Having said that we went to walmart got sandcastle supplies and headed to the beach last Saturday. We all had so much fun, it was a very windy day, but that didn't stop us. We tried several times to make a sand castle, but Cade kept demolishing them. Oh well, William didn't seem to mind so we just kept filling and dumping buckets of sand. We found a lot of shells also and of course brought them home with us.

Here are the brothers:

William age 4

Cade age 2

Brennan 5 1/2 months

Cade making or destroying the Sand Castle

Mommy, William and Cade looking for shells.

We all had so much fun we went back yesterday... still didn't get that sand castle built though.

Catchin' up.

Sorry it has been so long since I have blogged. I have been a little busy, but I know the grandparents have been awaiting these pictures for a while. I hope there are others that are still following as well.
Our family seems to be changing and growing everyday. William is becoming so independent lately, and although it is helpful for me I am really not liking it... He is really getting to be too big. Cade too, he seems to be popping out more and more words everyday, and his expressions are constantly cracking me up! He is such a jokester and has an ornery streak the size of Texas... Just like his Daddy. Brennan is getting so big, he will be 6 months old in just 3 short days. He has started to rock on his hands and knees and has accomplished a few crawling motions here and there. He will be off and running before I know it. Here are a few pics of our fun days at home.

The boys rough housing with daddy. By the looks of things, I think Daddy was loosing.

Brennan started cereal and baby food a couple of weeks ago. Here he is after his first go about with rice cereal. He hates all the vegetables I have tried so far, but bananas and pears or ok... we are still trying. William and Cade love the bananas. :)