it's too quite

you know about that golden rule of motherhood; 

when it is too quite your kids are up to no good.

our house is an older home and the stairs squeak with every step you take.

so I tried my hardest to tip toe up them to catch whatever trouble my 3 girls were so quietly getting into......

 My heart was overflowing with so much love.

if I could have styled these pictures I would have changed the fact that they were missing shoes, miss match socks, belly is showing, hair is not brushed, room is a mess, not the cutest book cover, took down the ugly temporary sheet hanging over the window. 

But if I changed even one thing about the scene it would have ruined the moment, the bonding, the memories my girls are making together.

These three truly are my pride and joy.

Frozen

My sister took The Julia to the movies about a month ago to see Frozen.

She loved it!

she taught her sisters the songs and now they all sing "let it go" all day long.

I am sure you have seen this version floating around the interent.

I am in love with it.

the african drums and the childrens chior but that lexi walker girl wow! what a talent!

well all this Frozen frenzy going on at my house has inspired me to do a little photoshoot. 

I included Kylan, one of my after school kids I watch in with the photo shoot. 

we had a blast playing makeup and dress up and then out in the snow. it was surprisingly pretty warm today so it was perfect for this!

 I know I might be biased but my girl is rocking her "modeling faces"

 so gorgeous!

Julia's heart

This is my daughter Julia, 

or I like to refer her as THE Julia. 

she is one of a kind. she is on a mission and once she gets that spark in her mind about anything she will not stop until it is complete. 

She came home with the jump rope for heart information and talked about the kids she learned that suffer from heart problems Their stories and what they go through on a day to day biases.

 she wanted to help. she was determined to set up a webpage and begged me to post it on facebook.
I love my daughter but the awareness and support that she is helping to bring to these children she has become so attached to has inspired me and makes my heart burst with pride for her. she also asked if she could write a letter on here to try to help her express her thanks. how can I refuse?

Dear donators, 

It means a lot to me when you donate. I want to make a big difference. I am able to go outside, but there are kids in need that do not get to go outside and play because they are in the hospital.

 When you donate you are helping kids that have heart problems. Every penny, dime, quarter and dollar all goes to the heart accession. Thank you for working hard at your job and giving your money to help  me support a child. 

I am trying to reach my goal $250. If you already donated, will you please ask other people to donate. I hope we can change someone's life and help a child get better so they will be able to play outside. Thank you for your support,

Julia Taylor

this is the link for the donation site. please consider donating even $5! 

last minute valentine's day gift

last minute valentine's gift!

I am always torn about Valentine's day. I do think it's a hallmark holiday putting pressure of couples, mainly men, to spend big bucks to prove their love. 

but I don't want to NOT celebrate it too.

 I mean it's a day that reminds you to let that special person know just how special they are to you.

I am crazy in love with my husband. 

and I mean CRAY CRAY! :P

 He drives me nuts and these last couple of months of marriage we have had lots of hills we fought to get over. One night we both looked at each other and said "marriage is really hard." and as crappy as it was to admit that to each other it felt really good to know we were on the same page and we were getting through it. My husband does so much for our family and I am so grateful and blessed for everything he did, is doing and working towards doing.  Everyday we do things to make sure the other person feels loved and cared for. But I can't pass up a chance to some how make him something.

I saw this idea a couple of years ago on a blog. so super easy and so super cute!

just need a coffee mug and a sharpie.

I wrote a little poem I made up:

I love you.......More than fruit chews, miss match socks, our green front door, talking about Africa and Photography. I love you more than Julia loves Taylor Swift, Belle loves elephants and Stella loves her thumb. I love you like Jesus loves you and what I love the most is being your. Mrs.

you just bake it for 30 minutes at 425 and that's it!

It's the perfect gift! can't wait for him to see it :)

how do you celebrate valentine's day?

I heart faces:Purple

Read more at http://www.iheartfaces.com/how-it-works/grab-a-button/#tLIrAk7sX7kKBK7m.99

fear of fire.

I was about 14 years old.

I hung out with a group of neighborhood kids and in that group was a boy. We were not close. In fact I only remember a few things about him. He only visited every other weekend with his dad but for the rest of the time he lived with his grandpa. I remember telling him he looked like a blonde Harry Potter. I remember he was funny. 

One night he was sound asleep in his room upstairs. 

The local news showed video of his father pushing the fire fighters to get into the burning house.

It was so sad. 

Matt had passed away we were told in his sleep.

I barely knew him 

but will not forget him.

soon after I developed a fear of fire.

I don't light birthday candles or any candles 

when we have a fire pit I spend the entire time in a panic 

I like fireworks only when professionals are lighting them

but the last couple of months I feel like this fear has intensified.

A family I love dearly lost everything in a house fire on Halloween night.

 my aunt had a fire start in my cousins rooms. thankfully in both cases no one was hurt, but two weeks ago in my mommy group we were told of a little baby that was in desperate need of prayers.

he was trapped in his crib during a house fire and his hands were melted to the bars. He is still fighting for his life at Cincinnati Shriner's hospital.

It breaks my heart. I have been praying every day for him and I leave Stella's bedroom door open at night now.

 after hearing all of these stories

I have nightmares and some nights just stay up because I am terrified that something will ignite.

I made my husband install alarms in EVERY room of our house.

that helped.

but  last night i had another nightmare.

In the morning I shrugged it off. 

Got the kids up and dressed, breakfast, teeth brushed, and I put on my makeup. we had plans to hang out with my grandma and JP.

I spent 40 minutes shoveling snow off our driveway. it was mainly ice so it was not easy and I was getting  worn out. 

I looked and figured "ah that will do."

 got everyone buckled and put my van in reverse. made in down the hill but then the wheels started spinning with no traction. 

great! I thought.

Got out of the van and walked around to remove some snow around my wheels.

Got back in started the car 

black smoke hit my face!

completely filling up the whole inside of my van. 

it went so fast and I don't remember how but I grabbed both my babies, diaper bag, keys, ran inside and called 911.

all my fears of a house fire and not once did it occur to me that my car could catch on fire!

The fire fighters said they believe it was something with the wiring that caused it. I thank God we were still home where I could safely and warmly keep my babies away. I also was thankful that one of the fire fighters is actually a neighbor! when I called the tow truck to help get the van off the street the man was a father of one of Julia's soccer teammates! just little things like this that lets me know God's got this.

Everyone is safe. we are down a car but it's just a car. 

Thank God it's just a car.

Please check your fire alarms! 

have your car inspected.

and keep all the families effected by fires in your prayers.

we have some thank you letters to write to the fire department.