January heat wave

We enjoyed a warm 73 degree day today. The temperature actually set a record high and we enjoyed a nice day outside! It was weird to let Bumble Bee* walk to the park in shorts in January, but it really was a nice day! The only reason the kids wore jackets is because I thought I might be judged by other moms if we showed up without them! "They quickly came off pretty quickly as they started running around!

*My first born child has requested that I not call him by his name, but to refer to him as Bumble Bee all day and so I figured it appropriate to do so here as well. Also, see video at the bottom.

Swings always come first!

And then the monkey bars. Notice Belle in the background...

She got up that rock wall pretty fast... I kinda wish she had a healthy fear of gravity.

And then Bumble Bee climbed to the top of the wall. 

I love these two pictures if only because it really reminds me of life with these two kiddos-- Where ever Bumble Bee is, Belle is only a step or two behind.

The lighting is weird-- but I love it! Belle loves slides!

After an hour, we headed home and the kiddos had a picnic lunch on the backyard!

This weather couldn't have come at a better time! I worked my hours at work to be off on Mondays and Bumble Bee was super sick this weekend-- we needed a day out. Not sure what sort of bug came he picked up, but it was bad! His fever was higher than it's ever been (103.7 underarm!) and he had headaches and hallucinations. It was crazy. Thankfully that's over.

And here's a super short video of Jackson "pumping" on the swings-- a new skill! And of course, Belle joins in too! :)

Maybe tomorrow I will be able to call my son by the name we gave him. We'll see. He might be Iron Man or something. I never know. But one thing is for sure-- a day with these two is never boring!

Mr. Goodbar Award

During my first year at MOPS, there was a little activity at the beginning of the meeting for different women to share a reason why her husband was deserving of the Mr. Goodbar Award. It was often awarded for thoughtful little acts like cleaning the house unexpectedly or doing unsolicited extra kid duty. Derek "won" the award one time while he was at AIT and I actually mailed it to him. 

source: www.hersey.com

It was a fun opening to our meeting; a time to brag about our great hubbys. But more than just that, it's an exercise to remind us our important duty as Godly wives to exhort and encourage our husbands-- To look deeper to notice all of the small things they do for our families and to praise them for that. The Mr. Goodbar portion of our meeting may only last 5-10 minutes, but the impact can last all day {or even years. We he haven't done a Mr. Goodbar award for almost two years and here I am still thinking about it!}. 

Over the past couple of weeks, a thought similar to this has repeatedly crossed my mind: "I am so lucky to have such a great hubby!", "The kids are so lucky to have such a great dad!". But the more I got to thinking about it, I knew it wasn't luck at all! We are BLESSED with a great hubby and daddy, but the fact is-- is that I chose him!** And I did so because I knew he was a Godly man who would love and support me and our family. He's always been a Mr. Goodbar! :)

**side note: I certainly don't want to make this about how awesome I am for choosing a great husband, but I just wanted to put this out there for those who may read this who aren't married {and for Belle to read when she gets older. And for Jackson, too, for that matter!}. Finding a great husband isn't about being "lucky" at all. It's about loving and trusting God and then finding a man who does the same. When it comes to relationships, there is more than just having a date for prom or simply being lonely because your other friends have plans for Valentine's Day. It doesn't matter if he's as handsome as Zac Efron, as famous as Justin Bieber, or as rich as Mark Zuckerberg-- if he's not going to be a good husband and excellent father, he's not worth dating and he's certainly not worth marrying. And even if you ever convince yourself that it's okay to "settle" for less standards for yourself, then think about if you want your children to have to "settle" for a less than stellar dad.

Anyway, back to the point. I've just been noticing lately how blessed we really are to have Derek in our family! It probably has less to do with him doing anything different than it does with me having an attitude adjustment. Here's a few reasons Derek deserves the Mr. Goodbar award as of late:

• He tells me often that I am a good mom, whether it be when I'm taking far too long to make the kids lunches look fun or when it's after a long day of discipline. Those words are so great to hear.
• He has been my biggest supporter of me starting my internship and finishing school. Even though it is COSTING us (a lot of) money to do so. 
• He always says, "thanks for cooking dinner" at the table each night and makes sure that Jackson does the same. So even if we eat when Derek isn't around, Jackson always tells me thank you. 

He reads books to the kiddos

 Dresses up like Batman

Tirelessly plays with the kiddos even after a long day at work!

And he involves the kids in his hobbies- like playing drums at church!

Plus, he gets bonus points just for being handsome. :)

I hope to get around to posting more Mr. Goodbar posts in the future, kind of like I do with updates of the kiddos! In the mean time, I want to hear YOUR Mr. Goodbar stories. I would love to make a post about stories from your families about why your hubby is Mr. Goodbar. It can be something you love about him or it can be a specific thing he has done! You can make a blog post and share your link or you can just leave a comment! Make sure you leave your blog address if you have one, so I can link back to you! 

I think it will be a super fun way to encourage our hubbys! Be sure to actually tell him that you notice all of the big and small things he does for you and your family too! I will randomly select one winner to actually mail a Mr. Goodbar for you to award your hubby with! :) 

Laying Down Games

Can I get a big shout out to laying down games? You know... the ones where the parents are tired, so they find a place to lay down and even though the kids are wallering all over you (and thinking it's the funnest game ever) it's still wonderful to not be doing anything else?! We had a laying down game kind of night. :)

{yup! There's a daddy under there somewhere!}

Oh, and notice this bandaid? It's the third replacement for a "paper cut" last week that still hasn't healed. {also known as, absolutely nothing ... but Jackson insists on wearing it and goes to great lengths to protect it as if it really was injured somehow.} 

And Belle confirmed tonight that the birthday present I picked up for her already will be perfect-- dress up clothes. She is always putting on extra items of clothing (last week, she put on a pair of Jackson's underwear!) and tonight was no exception. All of the following pics were taken within one hour. 

{It was humorous to hear him pleading with our not even two year old daughter... "Where are my shoes???"  She sent Derek on a wild goose chase. "In shoe bucket."... "In thathroom".... "front room".... "Jackson's shoe bucket." Ha. He eventually found them by the book bucket.}

So, yay for laying down games and just fun family nights in the evenings! One more day of work and then it's Family Day! I promise we won't play laying down games ALL day on Saturday.... but I make no promises before the 8:00 hour. ;)

Sesame Street Live

Thursday evening we took the kids to see Sesame Street Live, which is basically as it sounds... basically a live episode of the tv show. We dressed the kids up their Elmo apparel and headed out to "skyscraper town"as Jackson likes to refer to downtown. We ate at the Whopper Bar before we made our way to the Sprint Center.

We arrived early to check out the play zone!

Hanging out in Big Bird's nest!

A quick visit with Grover.

Of course, we had to visit the star of the show... Elmo! 

And Jackson took a quick minute to play on Elmo's piano...

"La-la, la-la, La-la,-la Elmo's World..."

We found our seats and waited! 

And just one photo to prove I was there too! :)

And once this started....

My kids were mesmerized.

I wish I could have bottled up Jackson's excitement. I swear, I will never forget his amazement. Although we had told him we were going to see Elmo, he really had no idea what we doing. And when the cast came on stage; he just could barely believe it. He looked at me with a the biggest smile possible and said, "Mom! I love it!" Oh, it was so wonderful. 

Murray was there with the letter of the day.

After all of that fun... it was time to say good-bye. Literally. The kids both waved and said good-bye!

It was such a fun thing to do! Jackson said his favorite thing the singing. And I tried to ask Belle if she had fun, but she replied in typical Belle fashion with "no." But I know better. She sat so perfectly still, that's how I KNOW she had fun. Great Grandpa, Derek, and I... we all enjoyed the show too. But I bet we can all agree that the best part was seeing the kids so happy.