He Shaves??!!

How did we go from, "Momma, hold you." 

To..."Mommy, let's play Thomas the Train."

To..., "Hey, Mom, come take a picture of me shaving."

Older, wiser women would tell me when JT was just a toddler, "Soak this time up it goes so fast."

My days felt soooo long back then but now I am the one reminding my friends with little ones to soak the time up because it really does go so fast. 


I have loved being mother to this son God has given me. I have learned so much about myself and how little I really knew, in the beginning, about boys. Thank goodness Jay has helped me raise JT to be a man's man and not a "girly boy". When they would wrestle I would stand by and and say, "Jay, that is too rough." Jay would always say, "For a girl maybe, but he is a boy, Babe." I would think, "We'll see about that!" Time and time again, it never failed, they would be playing rough, JT would get hurt and come to me to make him feel better and then head back to Jay for more. This puzzled me and reminded me that I really didn't understand the way of a man.

I am so thankful for books like Wild at Heart , Bringing Up Boys and long talks with Jay as he is so patient to explain how guys think and what they need. I try to be teachable and understanding of men and how God made them so different from women. What a loving God we have to  make a protector, provider & leader to care for me, a women.

We are still on the journey of raising this God-given son to be a strong follower of Christ with unwavering character. As I pray for JT's present and future life I am learning to trust Jay more and more in the understanding of young men and trust God that JT was made by him and made for him and that he has given my son to me for a time to teach, nurture, love and then very soon...not long from now to let go of.

Thank you, JT for all of times you tell me that you love me or come up to me and put your arm around me and say, "Come here, Mom, give me a hug!" I need that and I love you for it.

The New Hairdoo!

Claira had been growing her hair since last summer and decided that it was time for a new hairdoo! It was so long and pretty but Jay and I ecouraged her that hair will always grow if she decided she didn't like it short.

Thanks to Anut Christy's talent the short haircut is a a HIT! Claira loves it so much.

Beautiful!

A Labor of LOVE...

 It's time to grill at our house! The smell of a grill heating up brings back so many memories:
Summer Days hanging out around Nonna and Poppa's pool in Farmington grilling burgers.
Camping at Devil's Den and eating grilled veggies and chicken legs.
The year we  lived in the camper while we built our house on the mountain and EVERY meal was grilled, pancakes and all.

I believe that was year Jay fell in love with shishkabobs! The idea of shishkabobs is a beautiful thing. They are pretty and they taste wonderful but it is a process that requires love. First, you have to marinade the meat. Then you cut up all the veggies. Next it is time to put it all on the sqewers! (This is when the hand cramp sets in!) Praise the Lord I married a man that is a master on the grill!!!

As I was preparing this dish for my loving husband this past weekend I realized, once again, how hard you have to work to creat a shishkabob but how happy Jay was about the fact we were having shishkabobs!!

I would have to say that it may be my least favorite thing to prepare for the grill but I hope I get the priviledge of preparing them for my, sweet grill master of a, husband for many years to come!!!
I love you, Honey!

Loving Spring

On one of the first warm spring days Claira made a pallet for Paxton (our sweet nieghbor & Claira's "Little Brother") outside under the umbrella. It was sweet to see the two of them relaxed in the warm sun.

Spontaneous Helicopter Ride!

Step 1 move the helicopter out of the hanger.

 Jay met a friend in LPN school who is a
helicopter pilot. Jay, JT and I got to take a ride in the helicopter for FREE. It was so awesome! It was the first time any of us had been in a helicopter and I have to say that I am a fan...a big fan! I could just picture us in Africa flying over a herd of elephants running on the plains...what a sight that would be. I was begging JT to become a pilot one day so that we could take adventures from the sky all over the world!

Step 2 take a picture before the ride.

Step 3 beg your son to become a pilot!!

Our shadow is on  top of the building.

Claira's Birthday Party #3!!

February 27th!

This was the unveiling of the doll house! Claira asked for her doll house, which was one my dad had made for me, to be “made over” for her birthday. The entire month of February was spent making trips to Nonna & Poppa’s to work on the house. You guys did amazing working helping me with the house. It turned out just perfect and she has played with it just about every day since having it back.

Claira chose Cajun Chicken Pasta for lunch and Strawberry Cake for dessert! It was great to have everyone there to celebrate.

Claira,
It has been wonderful to see you grow and watch how you are becoming a woman but thank you for not growing up too fast! I am so glad that you desire to keep your imagination as long as possible and that you still enjoying playing will your doll house, American Girl dolls & Webkins. You are so incredibly creative in how you play and l love listening in and hearing all the clever dialog you come up with. By listening to you I can tell that you are going to be a wonderful wife, mother & friend!
I love you Angel Face!

Claira's Birthday Party #2

We celebrated Claira and Poppa Jerry’s Birthday together @ Grandma and Poppa Jerry’s house in Rogers.

The best part was our special guest Uncle Carl. What a great weekend we had catching up.  Although, it was quite strange to not have Andrea, Madison, Nathan & Lauren there it was good “guy time” for Jay and Carl.

Jay met Carl while they were in avionics school in Memphis, TN. Carl and Andrea married the weekend before us the same year. Both Carl and Jay were stationed to Whidbey Island Naval Air Station at the same time but attached to different squadrons. Our friendship grew deeper after JT was born. God has really used them in our lives in so many ways. I was looking through pictures the other day and we have been blessed to see the Daggett’s every year since we all moved from Whidbey Island. It is so wonderful to have friends that you don’t have to see every day but when you get together again it is like a day hasn’t gone by.

Happy Birthday to Claira! #11

Claira was very clever this year in her old age of almost 11 and decided to have an early party at Bighouse with a few of her closest friends.

It is amazing to me how fast time goes by and how more and more beautiful Claira is becoming inside and out.

With Katie Anne, Miriam, Meghan, Emma, Claira & Jessica we made cards and tie dyed t-shirts.

I have to say I believe my favorite part was the cake she chose. Chocolate cake covered in milk chocolate ganache filled with peppermint ice cream! Wonderful!

She would say here favorite part was opening the presents! (Still almost 11)

Let Snow....& Snow....& Snow!

This February we have had some incredible weather. We had two rounds of snow back to back. We all decided the Lord must have known that we needed a rest even though we didn't. With school cancelled and roads iced over we spend 5 days straight at home having jammie days and soup with the neighbors!

Another great thing about living in the Woodway community is that there are always plenty of people to play in the snow or borrow cooking ingredients from when it is too cold to run to the store!

Little did we know that we would go back to school for a day before we recieved another round of snow that was 2 feet deep!! So, for another 5 days we stayed in our jammies sharing food with neighbors and watching movies!

Thanksgiving Traditions....White Family Style

Grandma & Grandpa White love having all who can come together for thanksgiving. They were so kind to rent a lake house for all of us "Out of Towners" to stay in. The family members that weren't able to come were missed greatly!! It was nice to see all the Aunts and Uncles together again. Baby Reece made his debue and was a great hit. His poor little cheeks were probably sore from all the kisses they received. It iced and snowed on Thanksgiving day but Grandpa braved the weather to sit at the table covered with Blue Willow dishes and delicous food.

Pecan Pie!

Family Photo!

Connie & Jerry with Levi and Jay. We missed you Lori!

Ryan, Nikki & Reece