Thanks to Stacy, Audra, & Charlotte (my sister-in-law) for inspiring me to do a meal plan. I admire you very much.
I definitely see the need for one around my house. Especially this summer since we it is going to get really busy. I don't want to find myself making a lot of random trips to the store AND we need to stay on a budget.
Forgive me if I don't do this EVERY week but I am really going to try. It is "really empowering" (as Charlotte says) to have your meals already planned out and to KNOW you have everything you need for the week.
Here goes nothing.

NOTE: all meals are subject to change :)

MENU PLAN MONDAY

Monday
B: Scrambled Eggs, Toast & bananas
L: Hot Dogs, fruit
D: Quesadillas

Tuesday:
B: Oatmeal w/raisins & toast
L: Grilled Cheese Sandwiches & fruit
D: DATE NIGHT! (Nana & Grandad can figure out what our kids are having)

Wednesday:
B:Cheerios & Bananas
L:Lunchable type food (crackers/turkey meat/cheese) & fruit
D:Chicken Salad & fruit

Thursday:
B:Oatmeal, toast & fruit
L:Sandwiches & fruit @ the splash park :)
D:Spaghetti (Aubrey's favorite!), salad & garlic toast

Friday:
B:Cheerios & fruit
L:Lunchable type food (crackers/turkey meat/cheese) & fruit
D:Boy's Burritos night

GIRL TRIP!! Earlier on Friday Aubrey and I are leaving for Austin to see the musical "Annie" (with Nana, Aunt G, Aunt Nee' & Reid) so I am sure Bryan & Pete can figure out what to eat on Saturday & Sunday. We will miss our boys.

(Let Me Be Your) Teddy Bear

Aubrey has grown so much since last August since she began ACA (Alpine Christian Academy). She went for two days a week and at first was a little apprehensive about the whole school thing but really learned a lot, made new friends and grew from this experience. I think it is important for kids to experience new situations and adjust to them well. That is what we are constantly doing right?

Change is inevitable.

We are so proud of little Aubrey! Thanks Nana for buying her this sweet puddle skirt outfit!
Here is a video of her class proforming "Your Teddy Bear" at the ACA graduation. Left to right - Mallory, Aubrey, Sam, Grayson, Conner, Sierra - I get a little blurry after that. Cooper is the boy on the floor :)


I snatched the following picture from the Corbitt's blog - yoink!
The next one is of Mallory and Aubrey. LOVE the outfits AND these beautiful, sweet girls. Several people of told me that they look alike.

Although I don't have her in picture or video, sweet little Rylan was in Aubrey's class also and is a good friend of hers.

While you were out

Last weekend I went to West Texas with Aaron (older brother), Amy (sister), Charlie (nephew), and my mom. It was so good to get to visit and cut up with them once again. We attended a retirement party honoring my old principal, Bro. Hartsfield, and his wife for their years of service at PBCS (the school I went to from K-5th grade).
We had a really great trip, reminisced, visited old friends. I am so glad we went!
I missed Bryan and the kids. Bryan is a wonderful dad - the kids are always insured a fun time when their dad is around. He is very patient, loving, imaginative, really the list goes on. You would know these things if you have ever seen Bryan with kids. It is one of the many things I love about him.


He is also a wonderful husband. He kept me informed of their happenings through pictures and it comforted me to know that my little family was having fun - it also made me happy to know that I was missed :)


Here are just a few of the creative pictures I received:

"Let's be DOG people!"

4 years ago Bryan and I agreed to take Buck into our care - seriously, he has been the most awesome Dog! We got him just 2 months after we were married so he has been with our little family unit from the very beginning.
He is also the ultimate jogging partner, great with kids, well behaved (never chews anything he isn't suppose to), he is loving, playful.
All this to say, WE LOVE BUCK!
If you didn't catch the story of how we were blessed with Buck, refer to last year's post.

A stand-up Grandad

Happy Birthday Darrell!

Just wanted to send a birthday shout-out to Darrell. We are so blessed to have him as part of our lives. I love that he is so involved in our kids lives as well. He is a wonderful man and I know he means a lot to many people.

NOTE: I just thought I'd brag on him a little bit as well. He is probably one of the healthiest 58 year olds I know. I am proud of him for his commitment to working out and eating right. HERE HERE!

LOVE YA!
Here are pictures of Darrell with his two Granddaughters on his birthday.

Double B-day Shout-out

I just realized that two awesome friends of mine have a birthday today. Now THIS is a cause for celebration!!!
Your friendship means a lot to me.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LAURA


HAPPY BIRTHDAY JENNIFER

May the 4th be with you!

I took Aubrey to school this morning while Pete hung out with daddy. When I got back, Bryan and Pete were watching Star Wars while waiting for my return. I asked Bryan if he was watching it because it was Star Wars Day (which I had read in a tweet earlier that morning). He had no idea what I was talking about. He did not know this day was celebrated.
It was just one of those random coincidences in life. OR maybe the force is strong with him.

I am sure we will celebrate it from here on out ;)
Pete told me today that he wanted to be a Jedi Youngling.

I love my family!

A gettogether

I got to see all of my nieces and nephew on (except for Reid) this past Sunday which was so fun!! I think my mom enjoyed it more though. What is not to love about 8 adorable children running around. My mom is going to have a 9th one you know!!!
And NO, it is not in my belly. My brother, Drew, and his wife, Charlotte, are expecting a baby in November sometime...HOW EXCITING!! It is so great for these cousins to be so close. They are already plotting against us, I can tell ;)
(Left to Right: Jack, Aubrey, Lysie, Allie, Evie, Pete, Alex Bear, Charlie, Grammy) Note the huge grin on Grammy's face.
Man, it was sort of hard to get all of these kids in the picture. And yes, I tried to get some of them to stand up while others sat in front but they would have nothing of it.
I loved seeing my siblings too. We got to sing together which is something we haven't done in years. God has blessed me with a wonderful family and I am grateful.

Approved Kid's Book: MOUSE SOUP

I thought I would periodically put a children's book recommendation on my blog for those of you seeking out new and fun books to read to your little ones. I would love for you to share some with me as well. MOUSE SOUP is my first one. My neighbor recommended it to me and Aubrey (my 3 year old) knows it word for word. She has learned several things from reading this book. It includes a series of short stories so it has an index which is fun because she understands what the word "index" means now. Also, I love it's creativity and randomness! Check it out sometime. It will also be a great starter book when she is ready to read herself.

Precious Little Ones

There are two little kiddos on my thoughts and in my prayers recently:

Jaidan
A beautiful, precious, little girl (who goes to my church) who desperately needs a liver transplant. She has been waiting for one for a good while now. She was inactive on the transplant list for a little while due to an illness but she is better now and set to be put back on the active list on the 20th. Praise God!



SamuelA friend of mine from high school (Jason Hague) has a son named Samuel. Samuel will undergo and open-heart surgery on Friday, the 17th. The doctors will go in, patch the hole in his aorta and pull back the swelled wall in his pulmonary artery to allow full flow of blood to his lungs.

In accordance with His Will, I pray that God would heal these little bodies!
I strongly believe in the power of prayer. Please pray with me for each of these precious children!
NOTHING is impossible with God.

Our 1 year old son

Bryan and I were talking about how hard it still is to believe that we have a son! We couldn't have asked for a better one. We love that Pete dearly. He has been awesome from day one. There are many things I love about his little personality but I will narrow them down to a few just in case you haven't had the opportunity to hang out with him much.

I love that he...

- smiles constantly AND laughs a lot, especially at Aubrey. He will pretty much laugh at anything she does.
- is so peaceful
- adapts well to change (in routine & environment). I took him to a baby shower a few weeks ago and I kept letting other people he didn't know hold him. He didn't mind a bit.
- gives awesome bear hugs! That sweetness drives straight to a mother's heart.
- is always so playful.
- LOVES music, especially when it has a beat to it. He is constantly banging on things so we got him a little instrument/drum kit for his birthday.
- it VERY durable/tough. Sometimes he will bump his head or fall down and I expect him to cry but he doesn't. Also, the other day I came in and Aubrey was just sitting on his back while he was laying on the floor and he was just smiling.
- is on the move. Yes, I love it. Even though it may be hard to keep him contained sometimes. It is awesome to me that he has such a fascination to explore new things.
- does not usually get upset when his sister takes things away from him. Yes, this happens more than I'd like it to but Pete is usually a good sport about it.

This is a scenario I came upon while entering the back yard. I thought it was so precious. Thank goodness for my iPhone that captured this moment in time. I am sure Pete will have to endure some dress-up time with Aubs in the future. Poor Pete! :)


Other things about him:
He has taken a couple of steps but that is the extent of his walking up to this point. He will walk along the wall or pretty much use anything (from a baby stroller to a chair) as a walker to help him get around the house. He is the fastest crawler I have ever seen for sure though and loves to snatch things within his reach. (note: if you ever put him in a highchair at a table and there is something you don't want Pete to get, don't underestimate his arm span; it's longer than what you might think)

Word he can say up to this point are: "Dada," "Mama," "Nana," "Bu," for our dog Buck and "Ju" (meaning Jump). I am sure he has connected a few more words that I may just have not picked up on. Last Sunday before church, Bryan was in the living room with both of the kids and called for me to look at Pete because he was standing on his own. I turned and saw Pete just free standing in the middle of the floor and was impressed at how long he could stand unsupported. He then said "Ju" and jumped up into the air on his own and landed on his bottom. It cracked me up that he knows how to do that before he can walk.

Pete's 1st Haircut

Okay, so this post is a little late but I just wanted to post this mainly for my reference and for those of you who may not have seen Pete for a while. Since I have never had Aubrey's hair cut, it was a realization for me that I should probably be aware of keeping Pete looking sharp. Naturally, I asked my mom to do it since she has been cutting both of my brothers hair for as long as I can remember. She was able to cut it a couple of weeks ago (March 13th) and I was glad because he needed it. He did really well, especially considering that she couldn't get around to cutting his hair until right before his bedtime. Grammy did a really great job too :)

I would like to work up to cutting Pete's hair myself but I think I will take a couple of more lessons from my mom. Thanks Grammy!

A sunbeam, a sunbeam

Sometimes I will sit and talk to Aubrey and become impressed by this beautiful (inside and outside) being God has created and placed in my care.
One morning after making breakfast for us, I was chatting with Aubrey while drinking my coffee and marveled at her. I went and grabbed my camera because I just loved the way the light hit her golden lined hair and her sweet little face. I pictured us having coffee together some day as we would chat about an interesting book one of us read, about a boy she had met, about how how much her daddy loves her or how annoying her brother can be sometimes. I think I will always see her as the beautiful little lady that you see in these pictures, my sweet daughter.

What's gonna work? TEAMWORK

Our nieces, nephews & kids

Here is a little recap.
We love these little guys!

Nephew
Jack Allen Butler
Born: October 11, 2005

Niece
Alyse Lenore Allen
Born: February 7, 2006


Daughter
Aubrey Renee' Silverthorne
Born: February 19, 2006

Niece
Alexa Lylith Allen
Born: June 2, 2007

Niece
Evelyn Jane Butler
Born: June 23, 2007


Son
Pete Allen Silverthorne
Born: April 5, 2008

Niece
Allie Laurel Allen
Born: June 23, 2008

Niece
Reid Noel Robertson
Born: August 13, 2008

Nephew
Charlie Emerson Butler
Born: January 17, 2009


We are truly grateful to be a part of each of these kiddo's lives. Notice the birth dates? these kids were all born withing the past 3 1/2 years. I thank God for all of these beautiful, healthy kids.

Congratulations Laura & Joey

I just wanted to throw a shout-out to my dear friend Laura.

Congratulations on your recent engagement.


I am SO happy for you and Joey. I know that you have been patient and waited for the right man. God has truly blessed you with each other. I am happy to be a witness to your wonderful life together.

WE LOVE YOU!!

Back to our roots

We met dear friend, Beth, at LeTourneau (where she works in Admissions) last week to see "Hank the Cow Dog" put on by ARTSVIEW Children's Theater of Longview.
Thanks for inviting us Beth! Aubrey really had a lot of fun.

I didn't realize that it would open a flood gate of memories for me as I stepped back onto the campus in which Bryan and I graduated about 6 years ago. Also, it was pretty cool having both of my kiddos there and explaining to Aubrey that it is where her daddy and I went to school, where we first met.
I thought it was pretty awesome seeing our two kids at our old stomping grounds.

SURREAL

Our girl is 3!

Dearest Aubrey,
I have admired you from the moment I met you. I prayed for you even before you were born. God blessed us way beyond what we could have ever thought or imagined! We have enjoyed being there when your first tooth popped out, you first started crawling and walking, when you said your first word and all of the other stages in your life thus far.Your dad and I are amazed by you every day. You are funny, more than you even know - your dad and I will talk and laugh about the things you do even after you go to sleep. You are a special and unique young lady. I am honored and privileged to have a front row seat along with your daddy and Pete as we watch the story of your life unfold.

Happy third birthday to our sweet little ladybug.

To you, the reader this blog post,
I leave you with just a few of my most memorable pictures of Aubrey: