lucas talking to the ducks.

moments from our weekend and then some...

from our weekend...

pismo beach walk.

i love their love. 

love this.

 beach walk at sunset.

 a morning of play. rainy day. no where to go. a favorite way to spend a morning.

 

d and i enjoyed a weekend just the two of us. i'm thankful we can do this every now and then. one night away makes a difference. we come back with more love to give. thanks for babysitting mom and dad ;) it was nice because we still saw the boys both days...we just had a 24 hour husband/wife escape. mommy and daddy were off duty for a day and it felt really good.

some favorite moments lately....
the boys and their play. brother language. rainy day. long beach walk at sunset with hubby (we haven't done that in sooo long and it was my most favorite part of the weekend for sure!) baking in the kitchen with little helpers. coming home on sunday to find nani and papa passed out on the couch...toys decorating the house...(yeah that was a highlight! lol. i wish i had snapped a picture!)....

2 Corinthians 12:9 My Grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.
 my scripture verse of the week...yesterday i wasn't as patient as i wish i could have been with caleb while he was mid melt down and i've been somewhat grumpy and not as loving of a wife as i set out to be each day...and work...to be completely honest is just taking me down. there are some things happening at work that my sup is aware of but quite frankly are upsetting to me and i'm really just not sure how much longer i can last on this case :( i want to be tough and hang in there and i feel as though i have to...hard things don't mean i should give up, and really i can't... but they are upsetting me and as much as i pray about it, i'm struggling to just give myself over to God completely. this is why i am reminding myself as i pray...that God gives us strength through our weakness! So those moments I feel less than a perfect mother, or wife, or 'worker' are moments where I need to be surrendering my burdens to God so that he can use my weakness for His Glory. But it is hard! I want things to be going my way and well they def. haven't been since I started working on this case in jan. I always have a hard time with change! It is yet another area of weakness that I struggle with :) So while I am struggling a lot right now with work, and just the day to days of meeting Caleb's needs...I feel hopeful that things will get better! It is just a hard season right now....not to mention I may have skipped running the past two days...and well that is never a good thing especially after having such a good 5miler run on saturday!!

To end on something good, the boys are just filling up my days with sweetness lately in the way they play together and talk together and how they just are around each other. I can't get over their love and brother bond. Caleb amazes me daily with his tender love for Lucas and Lucas brings such peace and silliness to our family. They both are such spirits of love and laughter. I want to hold on to these moments forever. They bring me such complete joy. I love them so much and feel so blessed to be their mama.

and again.  

you boys are so loved. watching you two together and your brother love, it amazes me daily. to the moon and back sweet baby boys.

Happy Friday!

Happy Friday!

am so excited for two reasons...

first...this is my last 'work' friday! Starting next week I'll have Friday off and then after that I'll be down to just Monday/Wednesday/Thursday evenings for work. I'm just happy as a peach about that.

second....the pic below is where hubs and I will be this weekend ;) A weekend retreat to slo while nani and papa babysit. I think d and I both need this time together alone to reconnect and enjoy some quietness. I always love going back to slo because this is where we met and fell in love and I have so many happy college memories here ;) I love that we are only two hours away and have already created some wonderful family memories there with the boys. It truly is such a happy and peaceful place!


via image

last...a good friday read :) It is always good to remember these simple things we can do as mothers to cheerish our days at home with our little ones.

20 Motherhood Tips

Hope you have a wonderful weekend!!

 

via image

I just love this quote/song/phrase...don't you?

 

Love is

 via image
 Celebrating Love today.

in all forms.

brothers. sisters. wives. mothers. daughters. sons. fathers. husbands. girlfriends. boyfriends. cousins. friends. family.

 

May you feel love wrapped around you today, and everyday.

With love, from our family...to yours.

may your valentine's day be filled with sweetness and goodness!!

new beginnings.

from our morning....

casa de colores oh what a fun experience! i'm so thankful to be part of such a great MOMS club group for this very reason...there are always activities and trips and almost everything is free. Just an amazing group of moms who get together and leave each other inspired and supported. The owner of this adorable shop puts on music, circle time stories and songs, play, crafts, and even provides snacks for the kiddos. She is an educator and has a background with special needs children. You can just feel her joy and love of the little ones when you are around her. Bubbles and music were at the end. It was a blast and I was thankful we were finally able to go since it is usually on a day we have OT for Caleb. We haven't been able to go to our usual moms club stuff lately so I was excited to be back!!! I can't wait to go back with the boys ;) It was a colorful and happy place that brightened our morning.  

outside play pre-naps.

cozy for sure. i just love watching them play together, I am always entertained!

And so Lent has begun!

 

via image

 

Blessings.

 

sugar and spice.

 

 my cutie helper. valentine love for our loved ones far away.

warm sunshine and happy smiles at the park

oldie but a goodie (such kindred spirits)

Tuesday Tidbits.

let's start with the hard first:
work. it's bringing me down! i gave the everyday m-f 4-7 thing a fair try but it is just too much for me at this time. I've felt so guilty about having drop down to three days a week but after much prayer and talking with D, we feel it is just best for our family at this time; mostly for me and my health. I have 8 more days and then I'll be down to just working Monday/Wednesday/Thursday. The reason I've felt bad about it is because my work is short staff right now so no one else will be taking over Tuesday and Friday. But the scheduler is amazing and made me feel totally guilt free by saying it isn't my job to find someone and i've given her plenty of notice! (starting way back in jan) I'm relieved. I miss being home in the evening with my boys a lot. While I don't mind working a little bit to help relieve financial stress, working everyday in the evening and not having that family time (even though we are all together everyday for lunch and all weekend as a family) has been hard on me. It has also been challenging working with the same child everyday, but we're finding our ground and his aggressive behaviors are subsiding. Yesterday he was waiting for me at the window when I arrived, this is why it breaks my heart as I feel like I'm leaving the family hanging; even if I am not quiting!! Well, with all of C's needs right now I just need to be able to focus on that along with enjoying our family time. It is what keeps me sane and really I haven't felt totally 100% good since I started working everyday!! So let my work countdown begin ;)

the boys are feeling better and we're back to our normal routine of OT twice a week in MH for C. While I love this, it is really hard for him to transition back to getting dressed in the morning and getting in the car, and driving to therapy. This morning he melted down for almost an hour, but was totally happy and fine after therapy and miss A said she never would have know he was sick and didn't have OT last week! Well, I'm happy to hear that, I know doing the home program is probably what kept him okay. I'm thankful he's back doing therapy again because he needs it! As do I. Having a 30 minute break I admit is nice. Lucas and I have time alone together and I love that. In giving so much time and energy to Caleb, I feel thankful when I can focus on Lucas with one on one time too.

Teething. Lucas is getting his 'fang' tooth. I can feel the tooth and that would explain the biting and why he was hysterical going down for a nap today. That never happens! Boy loves his sleep. He also hasn't been eating much so I'm glad I figured out what's bothering him.

The good moments....
playing at the park in the sunshine. pre-nap giggles between brothers. sleeping through the night last night cause no one woke mom or dad up in the middle of the night! wahoo. (caleb's sleep has been slightly off lately and lucas wasn't feeling good-so one or the other was waking up at night).
diffusing peace and calming essential oils is one of favorite ways to relax now. running early in the mornings has been so refreshing and peaceful. looking forward to a weekend escape with hubby this weekend in slo while nani and papa babysit. spring is around the corner!. looking forward to our oregon visitors (grandma and auntie katie) next month!!

right now the windows are open, birds are chirping, boys are snoozing, and i'm feeling hopeful. bible study is tonight and that leaves me feeling refreshed all week :) coming home after bible study and watching bachelor with d also gives me something to look forward to while I work!

Happy Tuesday!!

*oh and if you get a chance check out Finding Joy  under my BLOG LOVE. I came across this blog yesterday and love it. The writer focuses her blog on FINDING JOY. Which is exactly we are talking about in bible study with our Philippians study. Finding Joy in the little, everyday things. She writes a lot about motherhood as well.

I also found the courage I needed to give my two weeks notice  officially for work to 3x a week instead of 5x, after praying all morning (not to mention the past couple months) about if it is something God is really calling me to do... after reading this post on prayer at Peace it All Together. I always find encouragement in her writing!

Hope the rest of your day is filled with sunshine and smiles.

hopeful monday

Hope Hope is the thing with feathers That perches in the soul, And sings the tune--without the words, And never stops at all...Dickinson... Feeling Hopeful today.... For a week full of possibilities after a much needed restful weekend that refreshed all of us....

i love how they play together; their language of smiles and laughs and hugs, even the frustrating moments of sibling fights. i love it all.

morning hair.

i love how little brother watches and does everything big brother does

(In home OT today) doing music therapy and bean bag throws (i'm glad we'll also be back to our OT with Miss A this week in MH after having to cancel last week due to sickness) I could not resist snapping a picture of the headphone/backpack get up. Sweet Caleb I love you.

 

this week I feel hopeful for valentine's day letters and water paintings that i'll be sealing up in red sticker-ed envelopes made with love from the hands of two little boys. I'm feeling excited for a care package send off with the help of little boys (mid way through our special outing lucas lost a shoe and almost lost himself in the clothing rack at target; then bit me cause he was mad..(a first by the way, we're learning to use our words/he may also be teething; but his mad screams at being picked up for running away makes me think it's probably just more of a word thing, which we're working on; hello toddlerhood) i was that disheveled mother at target this am. Stroller, wandering toddler, and well, caleb was the only one on board helping me with the special goods! it was quite an adventure.

moving on; it's Ash Wednesday this week and with that comes the reminder that we are preparing our hearts and filling them up with Hope in Christ this Easter season. Spring is around the corner too. Lots of things to Hope for and wait patiently for; in the meantime I'm glad I have some very cute distractions to tend to each day.

 

Psalm 37:7

Rest in the Lord and wait Patiently for Him.