Him.

Whether you have much or little, the truth will just tell you plain:

the only wealth you’ll ever have is God. 

{ Ann Voskamp.  source }

that's how it goes around here insta-style

Go Brewers!
{on a school night.  extra inning.  walked in the door:  10:15PM }
look on the boys faces:  worth it.

checking out the elephants.
cool stuff when you're 2 and almost 32.
{ free day at the zoo! }

at the zoo.
all these exotic eanimals to be seen and he wants to hang by the unimpressive pond
{ he's lucky he's so stinkin cute. }



girls hang out night!
lots of cuddles, tickles, giggles,
and of course hot pink pedis.




these 2 are quite the buddies during the day
when the bigger brothers are at school
{ i'm seriously hoping i'm fun enough when matt starts preschool...}




lesson learned:  if when you eat the whole box of blueberry waffles in 2 days
don't make a status update on facebook about said waffles
or the hubs will find out there were waffles he missed out on he never even knew existed.



unnecessary obnoxious messes.
after 4 kiddos i'm getting better with these.....
{ mercy }



fresh flowers.
one of my love languages.
{ way to go, Justin }




beefy cheesy casserole.
one of Justin's love languages.
{ you're welcome, babe }



smiles from caleb, the appreciate plate recipient last night.
just a little somthing-something we do around here to make sure
everyone knows how much they're loved.


just signed up for this.
super giddy excited and toats nervous all rolled into one.
i suppose that's what keeps my dates with jillian in the AM going strong.

have a super weekend, all!
{ linking up HERE }

thankfulness with reeses pieces and crack-like ham buns.

as a mom, there are times when i'm overwhelmed
with all that i need to teach my kids.



how to walk, how to talk, ABCs, colors,
how to hold a fork and brush teeth,
socks need to be changed daily,
and carrots come before cookies.
God is the Creator of all things
and everyone needs to know His love.
how to pray and how to put others first....
{ etc.etc.etc }

and thankfulness.
it's an important lesson i don't want to overlook
or assume that my kids have 'got this down'
{ cause i sure know i don't...}

getting a handle on the overwhelming in life
is all about taking little steps
{ ...or so i'm learning }



i didn't sit my kids down and read bible verses on thankfulness
or turn to the ever-convicting story of the 10 who were healed and the
1 who came back to thank Jesus



{ not this time, at least }

i had my kiddos un.divided attention as i put a bowl
of reeses pieces in the middle of the table.

{ did mom just put sweets at the table?  for us?  for dessert? }

i gave them a moment to wonder....

then i had them go around the table and tell me
one thing they were thankful for today.
i smiled as the answers were so full of their personality
showed what was important to them
and was one step in the direction of minds
focused on thankfulness.



obviously every answer resulted in a reeses pieces
which kept the motivation going
{ and charity smiling }



i joined in on the fun, too
and it was a great chance to let my kids know just how thankful
i was to God for the gift of them.
i love telling them that.
{ you are my gift from God. one of my biggest blessings. 
i'm so glad God gave you to me. }

and we always got a little chuckle when the bowl came around to charity
she'd grab the bowl, look at me, i'd ask her
'are you thankful for Jesus?'
YES.
that's great, charity.  you can take a candy.
{ and everytime i'd have to remind her to just take one.... }

thankfulness.
small steps to teaching my kids
we have so incredibly much to be thankful for.
{ even when the reeses pieces are nowhere to be found. }

<><>

{ source }

can i share a pinterested success story?
just look at this hawaiian sweet bun goodness
described on pinterest as being 'like crack'
and 'you may want to eat the whole pan'

given that i've never had an encounter with crack
i decided to try the recipe based on my love for hawaiian sweet rolls
and i was not disappointed.

go check it out.
YUM.

happy thursday to all!

hello monday.

hello drool and sweet 2 year old breath 
blowing out the candles



hello birthday party
and trying to make the sign for 2 years old



hello free day at the zoo.

hello mischief.

hello blowing up peeps in the microwave.
{ hello cool mom points galore. }

hello crazy guys with crazy eyes.

hello arbys.  you did not disappoint.

hello glow.in.the.dark melty beads and reliving my childhood.
hello spring break boyish crafty fun.

hello mcdonalds.  hello chocolate sundae and cheesy smile.



hello awesome praise song filling my head this morning.
{ no better way to start a monday }

have a great one, all!
{linking up HERE}





happy birthday, charity!
wow, you're 2 today
and we are celebrating your special self.
matthias has been telling you every 12 minutes or so
'happy birthday, charity!'
and you seem pretty excited to blow out candles
{ as you've been practicing over and over. }
your smile and cute antics make our home lots of fun these days.
and i'm loving the way you bounce around in your unique gallop-hop when you're happy.

your love for chocolate quite possibly surpasses my own
and that's really saying a lot.
i love your cheesy smile that you so freely give
and the wet kisses you give every once and awhile.....
you know, when you're feeling like it.

happy birthday, charity!
let's celebrate the gift of you
our precious gift of love
that God blessed us with 2 years ago.

we all love you so much!

to everyone else:  have a super april 13th.
{ it's chocolate cake time around here! }



embracing the poses, peace signage and all.

{ the annual posed easter pic }

charity is still in mourning....
it's okay, sweetie, He's not dead
'He's alive, He's alive!'
i'm proud of caleb who's signing of 'peace' is clearly a reference
to the peace we have in Jesus through His awesome resurrection
i'm not sure why matthias is yelling at his shadow
but i have to commend jon for appearing to be the perfect one of the bunch

this one may be the keeper of the bunch

or perhaps this one where they all look so perfectly lined up.
and perfect.
{ ha! }

{ love the daddy/daughter pic }

let me just say that justin was the hero of the morning
and got charity dressed when everything ran late
due to early morning easter festivities
he chose the obnoxious white bow for char's hair
and at first i was taken aback but then i embraced it
it's easter.  i have a girl. 
she's got her totes adorbs easter dress and amazingly large white bow.
now all i need is some little girl hair lessons.
i seriously have no idea what to do with her hair except a side clip.
i mean, i know what i can do,
but my skillz in that department scream "mother of 3 boys"
{ mercy. }

speaking of boys
i'm embracing the camera with this handsome son of mine
who's fav color is red
so it only seemed fitting to hook him up with a red easter basket
with red gatorade inside
and a new red shirt to don for easter sunday
 { love you, matthias! }



i'm going to doubly embrace the camera today
and throw in this pic of me and justin
jon took it, and i love the pics of us from our kiddos angle
for one thing i look taller
and for another i think it's great for them to see justin and i lovin on each other
they 'hate' to see us kiss,
but....you know, we do it anyways 
and they pretend not to look and act all grossed out

oh, to torture your kiddos with the 'yucky love stuff'.....
it's our job as parents, right?!

-------------------------------------------------------------

it's spring break around here
and we're embracing that with lazy mornings
and lots of hanging out.

have a super thursday, all!