She is going to shine!

All fancied up for the Christmas program at her preschool!

My hopes for them

I hope they will know a real personal relationship with God.

I hope they will always treat others the way they want to be treated; and when they fail to, I hope they won't be too proud to apologize.

I hope they will be giving and not tell anyone that they do.
I hope they will grow up to be respectful adults.
I hope one day they are proud of Preston and I and appreciate the childhood they had, but don't judge or feel above others who didn't.

(This was going to be our Christmas card pic but it was blurry every time I uploaded it so no Christmas card went out this year...so...Merry Christmas!!!!)

I can get anxious when I think too much about the future of these two. Then I remind myself--God loves them even more than I do. No matter what happens, I will trust in Him.

A few things I want to add...

It's hard with Preston's schedule over the holidays, but I really try to give both sides of our family quality time.  It's important to both of us and we do our best.

We are thankful for Preston's job and I feel I should be appreciative and not complain about Walmart and his schedule.  Maybe one day it will change for the better.

Here is something I am working on and maybe others could too...

DON'T JUDGE!  Being a Mom is hard enough, we don't need Moms judging Moms.  Don't think you are better than a Mom that lets her kids watch cartoons.  You aren't better.  Think of all the things we can judge other Moms on, cartoons is just one of a million.  Stop it.  You may do things differently and they work for you, but keep your opinions to yourself.

Also, I'm not sure why people want to focus on this, but...

Whether you buy your kids 3 presents for Christmas or 20, as long as you are teaching them about Jesus daily (by our words and actions) and especially through the month of December why we celebrate Christmas and the importance of giving, you are no better than the other. 

There is such a fine line between telling others what we do and why we do it and judging others who do it another way.   

Brady's Birthday Plans

This year we are going to have three small parties for this sweet birthday boy! All of the holiday traveling makes it hard to have just one here. We will celebrate here on the 20th, one day while we are in Denver, and one day while we are in Enid...lucky guy! Everyone, of course, is welcome to come party with us here on the 20th if you can and want to.

Growing up

Maddie went to her first "friend" birthday party today! It was a dress up tea party and she had a blast, of course.

If only...

he could see my latest dresser makeover.
Aaahahahaha!

Source: handmaderyangosling.tumblr.com via Sarah on Pinterest

Ponytail Dreams

This girl REALLY wants a ponytail!  It lasts about 2 minutes, but that doesn't phase her.  She is determined and persistent. 

Thrifting Thursdays: Dresser Before/After and Antique Bedspread

I finally finished Maddie's dresser that I found at the Goodwill! You can tell it was my first time to paint and distress a piece of furniture, but I LOVE it!

It has a wonderful fun surprise inside it!

I used Mod Podge and tissue paper...it took a little time but was super easy to do!
Who doesn't want to see happy polka dots smiling back at you everytime you get your undies out of the drawer?  ;-)

I found this lovely little chenille bedspread on Etsy.

Love, love, LOVE it!!!  It's perfect!