yesterday the hubs took off work and lucy, ryan and I went to Dallas

we went to eat sushi {my fav} and was trying to explain to lucy the type of restaurant we were going to – we settled on calling it a “ne hao kia lan restaurant” {only if you have kids will you understand this from the chinese cartoon on nick” well it worked and she totally got it

she loved using the chopsticks!

we met up with ryans parents to see Riverdance – so amazing and so relaxing. The music is similar to what you would hear when receiving a massage. The pan flute was totally making me sleepy. The dancers were amazing and highly recommend the show. Lucy loved the irish princess dancers {everyone is a princess in her world}

she fell asleep on a short ride to an early dinner

to make things easy again – we said we were eating at a “dora restaurant” – we don’t dine out much can you tell

china, ireland and mexico all in one day! my baby girl was such a big girl and it was sweet to have a day just the 3 of us

i missed the little chickens at home

one little chicken turns 2 tomorrow – hard to believe it!

{oldie but goodie photo}

i often struggle with contentment – i look ahead, remember when and often loose focus on today. i was reading this morning and came across this and had to share

in any aspect of life – from parenting to blog growth, from marriage to book writing – another goal always lies ahead. There’s always another dream to strive for. And that’s good and right. We invite beauty into our lives by living with dreams.

but often we don’t realize that the now we currently live in represents dreams of yesterday fulfilled.

how many of us hoped for the day we could become mothers? yet does that hope seem as thrilling when our two year old screams for hours in the middle of the night?

last night little people interrupted my sleep three times: two potty accidents and one nightmare. As my groggy eyes slowly opened this morning, my first intentional thought was a phrase my husband Steve and i say often – “it doesn’t get any better than this”

because right now, THIS MOMEMT, is my only guarantee

So today, in spite of life’s hardships, pain, or disappointments, make a decision. Make it for your children and your husband, but most of all for yourself.

WANT WHAT YOU HAVE

{Copyright Jamie Martin}

You can fin the ebook mindset for moms here

don’t mess around with these girls – they are tough! {ryan looking nice and handsome}

this is pretty neat!

love the idea of this – maybe use my own voice for the kidlets

2 lucky ladies got to go dancing with their dad on a special date night. the annual father daughter dance. He is one lucky dad!

we had some alone time today – that is rare and treasured!

these days…. we have been playing outside in the exceptionally warm winter weather. Most times the hair is not brushed and we are still rocking our skeleton pj’s from october. Loving this weather!

sat 10 am

lucy + tess and mommy venture to lowes with alli + ashley – to build some mean t-rex dinosaurs

mom and ashley end up stressfully building the t-rex while the girls danced in the aisle

{pretty sure hammering with a baby strapped to you, is against safety code – right? } i am a serious multi-tasker

once it came time to apply the stickers, the girls were all over it

overall – SUPER fun outing! We love lowes kids kits.

and getting a workshop vest with your name on it -SOOO WORTH IT!