A Sunny Saturday...

The weather has been great here. I could really get used to living somewhere that only has 2 months of cold weather. We decided to pack up the family and head to the Jacksonville Zoo. A nice warm day, a dad who doesn't have to work and zoo membership are a great combination. I've written about our membership before, but it's such a fantastic thing to have. The only cost to us each trip is riding the train - which we get a discount on. I always pack the boys a sandwich so that we don't have to pay to eat in the restaurants. Today we only stayed 2 1/2 hours because apparently we weren't the only ones in Georgia/Florida who thought today was the perfect day to go to the zoo. Plus, the boys were getting tired and hungry. But it was a great morning together! Check out our pictures!

The zoo was also crowded because it was the member's only preview of the new Komodo Dragon exhibit.


Head first, of course!


Luke loves to slide!


2 little monkeys watching the monkeys...


Mark and Daddy


Luke and Mommy


Lunch at Whataburger - "What a burger should be!"


Playing Peek-a-boo!

The Best Love EVER!

I've had a stomach virus for the last 24 hours. It hasn't been pretty. Not at all.

But that's not what I'm thinking about this evening. Today I was reminded how blessed I am by my two little guys (and my one big guy.) Mark knew I wasn't feeling well and wanted me to feel better. I told him that crackers made me feel better so he decided it was his job to bring me Saltines every so often all afternoon.

At dinner I told him how much I loved him. He smiled and said, "I know." I asked, "Do you love me too?" He laughed and said, "With the best love EVER!"

And I think he just might be right.

How Do You Eat Your Oreos?

It's the age old question. For Luke the answer is opened, creamed first. Of course, the poor kid IS allergic to milk and drinks out of a sippy cup, so I guess dunking is out. And you could argue that the whole experiment is tainted because his mother buys him Golden Oreos and not regular ones. But nevertheless, I submit proof of Luke's preference...

Opening...

Looking rather pleased with himself...

Devouring the cream-filled center...

Oh, how he captured his mother's heart today.

Mmmm...bacon!

Mom got up early to set a nice table for our family breakfast. It happens so rarely that we all get to enjoy a relaxed breakfast together I thought I'd make it a nice one!

Mark slept until 8 am this morning. Happy Valentine's Day to us!


We had heart-shaped "Toad-in-a-holes" and bacon...



Poor Lukie only got bacon. He seems pretty happy with it though.
Notice his spoon. He insists on having one when he eats now.



Mark got a magnetic cars fridge set and a new Thomas DVD.
Luke got a new book that squeaks and Dad got his favorite candy - Sweet tarts!

I hope you all had a wonderful Valentine's Day with the ones you loved.

Heard Today...

"Mark, don't do that. You could fall."
"If I fall I won't feel sorry for myself."

"I need my hammer to watch Bob."
(And apparently he doesn't need his pants.)

"Whoa. Hammering is hard work."

In the car we saw a "monster" truck with big tires and had a conversation about it. We then saw a regular pickup and I said, "Look, that truck has regular tires." "No, I think they are soy tires."

He got a sucker from the clerk in a store and when he finished he asked for a washrag to wash his hands. I told him I didn't have one and he could have a baby wipe. He thinks about it for a minute and says, "I would like a big boy wipe."

Mark and Luke each had a train while we were in Target. I look over a few minutes later and Mark is holding both trains. I tell him to give Luke back his train or he will have to give me both of them. He hands Luke the train and says, "Here Lukie. I didn't mean to take your train. It wasn't my fault."

Lastly, I think my poor conversation habits are being passed along to Mark. We saw a horse trailer and talked about the horses. I said, "Mark! I think there were like 4 horses in there!" He calmly said, "No, there were like 5 horses."

25 Things...

If you are on Facebook (also known as the world's worst time waster) you know that a lot of people have been writing a note called "25 Things About Me" or some variation on that theme. It got me thinking that I'd like to write 25 things I love about my husband. After all it is Valentine's Day week and he just got back from sea. I've had over a month to think about and miss all these things about him. So here goes:

1. He laughs all the time.
2. He thinks I'm funny (see #1.)
3. He loves my cooking.
4. He has a giving spirit.
5. He loves playing with his little boys.
6. We could talk for hours about anything.
7. He believe marriage is forever.
8. He is passionate. (OU football, theology, Cowboys football)
9. He is a hard worker.
10. He makes friends easily.
11. He's handsome.
12. And looks great in jeans.
13. And looks great in his uniform.
14. We like the same tv shows. (Well, not The Bachelor, but most other things.)
15. He has godly character.
16. He teaches our children scripture.
17. He prays.
18. He takes good care of me.
19. He's a great kisser.
20. He makes cute babies and even cuter little boys. (Although they seem to turn out somewhat rotten so I might need to look into this one further.)
21. He loves my family.
22. He leads our family spiritually.
23. He disciplines our children in love.
24. He genuinely misses us when he's away at sea.
25. He's my best friend and loves me in spite of all my faults.

Happy Valentine's Day! I hope you take the time to tell your spouse some of the reasons you love them this week.

Dinner In...

I mentioned that we aren't going to dine out for Valentine's Day this year. Tim just got home from sea and I wasn't expecting him home in time for celebrating. Since the holiday falls on a Saturday I imagine a call now to reserve a table would be met with a hardy chuckle on the other end of the phone line. And I want to do something special for Tim that I think he will really enjoy. No dressing up. No pressure. Just a romantic dinner in.

Our kids go to bed early and well. (I don't think I'd be a sane person if they didn't!) That means that we will have the television and house to ourselves around 7:30. My plan is to set up a picnic in the living room. I'll be serving Tim's favorite fondue. (Don't worry it's a very manly recipe that he always enjoys.) We'll have lots of bread and Lil' Smokies for dipping, along with some veggies. Then we'll watch our wedding video. I don't know if you have a wedding video, but we love ours. I recommend a videographer to all of our friends getting married. It costs a little extra, but we watch our video at least twice a year.

After the video we'll have chocolate fondue with fruit and angel food cake. It's the perfect plan for an evening in. We don't have to fork out money for the babysitter, drive to Jacksonville to find a nice restaurant or dress up. We can just be together and remember how it all started.

Having Valentine's dinner in works for me and is just one way I'm honoring my husband this week. Read more inspiring stories of loving our husbands at We are THAT family this week.