Cake, Ice Cream and Friends

At small group this past Sunday, we planned a surprise 30th party for our friend Brooke.  We were getting ready and excited to eat our yummy ice cream cake!

These guys crack me up!

I made sure we were all ready, hats on, hiding places picked out and "surprise" practiced :)

I am incredibly grateful for our small group and even more blessed to have them as wonderful friends!  The Lord is so good and brought them into my life at just the right time.  (Yes, the girl in the middle was missing her husband this night.  He was home with sick kids.)

Happy Birthday, Brooke!!

 

Make a wish!

They'll Save The World

 

I am one very lucky lady to have two sweet little superheroes to take care of things at home!

Lots of Love

 

I just love Valentine's Day!  I don't know if it's because it's a day just to let people know how much you love them and how special they are or if it's because I love pink and red together, but whichever it is, I love it!  In fact, one week later and our house still has paper hearts all over the place.  LOVE :)

 

Mac and Drew helped decorate some of the hearts that we hung up at home and some that we secretly hung all over in Sam's office to surprise him.  Proud mama moment:  Mac wrote his name all by himself!  No help required.  Yay for preschool!!

The whole family spent one morning making our Valentine's to put in the mail.  Both boys were very proud of their work.  The hands are Mac's and the foot is Drew's.

I've been reading Angela Thomas' book "52 Things Kids Need From A Mom" with my MomSquad group.  (Excellent book!!)  One chapter encourages moms to "hang hearts of love over their heads" for Valentine's just to let your kids know some of the many reasons you love them.  This one is Mac's.  He thought it was so great and wanted them read to him over and over.

And here's Drew's :)  I also made one for Sam, but I somehow didn't get a picture of it.  Definitely a new Taylor tradition.

Well, what better way to show love than a little wrestling??

They have a blast, and Mac is always such a good sport to let Drew crawl all over him.

 

 

Thankful for a great husband who loves to wrestle and play with these boys!  As Mac says, "Daddy's a jungle gym!"

Winter Storm!?!

Well, today was a first for the Taylor family...a winter storm!  On Monday we began receiving weather alerts on our phones about a winter storm headed our way that would bring lots of freezing rain, sleet and ice.  Considering how this winter has been, with several "threats" of weather but none actually being anything to worry about, we kind of didn't pay very much attention to it.  That is, until yesterday when it became apparent something was coming.  After talking with some folks and reading Facebook posts, I realized we needed to take it seriously and prepare for ice, however one does that!  I decided the best comparison I had was hurricane preparations, so that is exactly what I did...flashlights, non-perishable food, water, water in bathtubs.  You know, the usual :)  We are fortunate to at least have gas logs for heat in case power went out so we hunkered down.

 

When we woke up this morning, there was hardly anything on the ground, and it wasn't even raining.  We just assumed it was another forecast gone wrong.  However, in a matter of hours, everything was covered with a hard, thick icy snow.  Getting out of the house was not an option today, and I am wondering if we can even get out tomorrow.  The roads are cleared but our driveway and part of the road is gravel, which is covered in a thick layer of ice.  But we have power, food, and each other, so we are set for some fun days at home!

 

This afternoon we decided to go to the trouble to bundle everyone up to venture out into the snow.  I'm so glad we did!  The boys loved it.

Seriously, is there anything in this world better than brothers??

 

"This is the hugest snowball I have ever seen!"

Tasting the snowball, dirt and all :)
(this small part of our driveway was cleared by a neighbor.  But he didn't clear the whole thing; guess too much gravel was scraping up)

Drew is chomping on the ice.  It was not at all powdery and soft.  It was just like sno cone ice.  If we had some flavored juice, it would've been delicious! Lol

I was determined for the boys to go sledding...that meant using whatever we had handy. 
Yep, that's a laundry basket!

Weeeeeee!

This cracks me up!  Really, a laundry basket?!?  Worked great!

They had a blast, as evidenced by the many, many footprints

Poor Drew was getting tripped up on those big boots

Asking Daddy for some more ice to eat.  His mittens prevented him from scooping up as much as he'd like.

Just a few pretty shots outside.  See those green plants near that rock?  Caught our attention because 1. they are still green and 2. no ice or snow stuck on them at all.  Interesting :)

So, I wanted a pic of Sam in his great looking gear, and he said it was not fair unless he could take a pic of my beautiful gear.  Well, here it is.  How's that for an outfit! haha

Squeaky Clean

Thanks to Pinterest, bathtime has moved up a few notches in the fun category!  Who knew washable crayons and cheap shaving cream could provide endless fun in the tub?  (now, now, don't judge my drawings...I don't always take the time to do an elaborate mural! haha )

Drew has a love-hate relationship with the shaving cream being all over his hands.  And, yes, he has tasted it on multiple occasions.

Mac loves to make a huge mess of it and then get it all clean.  That's my clean, neat, organized child :)

 

This has now turned into a reward for good behavior or for eating all of dinner.  Whatever works, right?!

Exciting Firsts!!!

 

Big news coming from the Taylor House...Mac started preschool!!!  I am incredibly excited for him!  Long story short, a local school needed a school nurse sub once a week.  Along with the sub job, they allowed Mac to enroll in their preschool program (he technically missed the deadline to enroll beacuse his birthday is Sept 30).  Not only was I thrilled to have a little something for me to do to make a little money (answered prayer!) but it couldn't have been any better since Mac can go to school.  When I asked him if he would like to go to school, he said "Oh, my! Yes!! I have waited and waited and waited and waited to go to school!"

 

He was so proud to be able to take a lunch box and bookbag with him.  He did extremely well, especially considering the church nursery is the only other place he has ever been.  He did, however, have a little trouble transitioning from one activity station to another.  On a few occasions when his teacher told him it was time to move to another activity, he looked at her and said "that is not the truth."  And told her that over and over.  The teacher so sweetly explained that she would never tell him a story and by the end of the day he had the hang of switching from one thing to another.  That kid! :)

 

SO PROUD!!!  (it's dark out because I actually didn't think to take pictures until we got home that evening)

His activities that he learned

He had to trace the colors in the correct lines on the rainbow and he practiced writing his name.  He practices all the time now saying "up, down. up, down. make a circle with a stick. and make a curve." Love how much he learned in one day!

Practiced writing "R"...and using more pressure when writing! (if you look close, you can see the first line is traced)

Mac and Mommy's first day as a student and a school nurse

Drew stayed with Mrs. Julie who watched the boys some while I gave flu shots in the fall.  He loves going to her house and playing with the other kids.

Mac's daily "report card" from his first day.  One proud mama right here!

 

I can't resist a picture with a huge giggle laugh!

Just Another Day at 112 Stoney Ridge Drive...

 Our journey to Mississippi over the holidays and wedding time came to a close on January 13, when we finally headed back to Forsyth.  After the three weeks away, the boys had pretty much forgotten what Santa had brought to them, so it was like Christmas all over again!  I was glad to return to our little home routine (and to the view out of our window!  The Ozarks truly are beautiful.)  It's taken us awhile to get resettled and unpacked, but we are back in the swing of things with life at home :)

Making Cheerio bracelets (a fun little craft we learned while in MS)

 

Guess who was WAY more interested in eating the Cheerios than putting them on the pipe cleaner?? haha

 

Hard at work making "the longest bracelet ever!"

 

 

Enjoying a job well done!

Then on to coloring...

Is there anything sweeter than a chunky little toddler hand?

 

 Mac's very colorful pig that soon after had loads of Thomas the Train stickers all over it.