My man is 'the Preacher' today

Jeff is preaching today at Grace both services. He is wearing his new 'hip' clothes that his mom got him. He looks really cute and you can tell he is losing weight! :) Yay Honey! If you are in Bartlesville or the area, come to Grace Community Church 1500 S.E. King today at 9:15 or 10:45. He's doing a two part series this week and next. It's gonna be great. I love hearing God's word through him.

Where did the time go? (The Day Before)

If you missed what this is a picture of, you can check it out here. I can't believe there is only one chain left till his birthday. When we made it, it looked so long. Now, it's here.

This was the last picture I took of him when he was 3. Is he not the most precious little thing?!! He is so so so so handsome.

We made cupcakes for his class at school tomorrow. Then I used the rest to fill a bread pan with for a small cake. I decided last minute to cute it in half and make it a mini-layered cake and then even more last minute I decided to decorate it. Jeff had drawn this picture of Spiderman and it's been hanging on our frig ever since. So I took it down and tried to replicate it on the cake with icing...in 5 minutes. It's okay; Jeff's drawing is much better...

But Jackson was SO excited about it (and even Creighton said, "oh Spiderman!") that he wanted to 'pose' with the cake. That we aren't eating till tomorrow. He hopped up on the table and sat just like that with his cake. It cracked me up. He's hilarious.

We had a few leftover cupcakes so I let the kids decorate their own and then they ate them. Creighton was REALLY liking the icing. :)

Jackson was liking the whole thing...he devoured it in like 2 minutes.

Tonight as I made it into his room to check on him, I noticed the clock: 12:04. And so I took a picture of my sweet little baby, who is growing up before my very eyes. He's 4. It's officially now 'the day'. It's 1:03 right now, which means 4 years ago this very moment I was still pushing. And he came out at 1:38a. Wow.

Happy Birthday my favorite little man in the whole wide world~ your mommy loves you so!

Another quick funny about tonight...I told Jackson to go pick out his pajamas to wear tonight.

me: jax, go pick out your jammies you want to turn 4 in

jax: oh yeah, good idea mom

me: what are you gonna pick

jax: [searching through his drawer] I think I'll pick these (totally not matching and very insignificant pair of pjs) to grow old in

me: [laugh]

Father, Dad & Daddy

Yesterday was Father's Day, duh, you all knew that. I know. But I am just getting to the computer. I know everyone feels the same bias towards their husbands/fathers. But I am so incredibly blessed with three of the most amazing examples I could have ever asked for.

My earthly father, aka: Dad, is awesome. He still treats me like his princess even though I am all grown up and a mommy. He loves on me and kisses and hugs me and I love it! He empowers me with encouragement, grounds me with love and faith and strength, and yet, all at the same times, lets me spread my wings and fly. He is such a balance of love, life, and strength for me. I love him with all I am. Thank you Daddy for being such a great dad and Papaw to my children, and husband to my mom.

My heavenly Father, aka: Abba, Is that He Is. He is more amazing than my simple words could define. He is more than I can try to comprehend, explain, contain, describe, or understand. He is my mystery, my true life, my everlasting and unconditional love, my true strength, my creator, my friend, my father, my redeemer, my savior, my God. Thank you.

And then there is my husband, aka: Jeff/Daddy. He is the sweetest, most sincere, loving daddy to my children! He is amazing with them and they both love him so much. He plays with them, he teaches them, he loves them, he disciplines them, he is there for them, he reads to them, he hugs them, he kisses them, he prays for them every day, he holds them, he wipes their tears, he entertains them, he is the essence of a great Daddy! Thank you honey for all you do for them, and me too! I love you. So much. More.

I have saved this shirt for months for her to wear on Father's Day! :) I love it. Just in case you can't read it, it says "My daddy is awesome"

I know it is blurry...but wouldn't you know I took about 15 and this is the only one where they are both looking AND smiling at the same time.

And this is Jackson in his 'stance' that his Daddy is teaching/taught him.

The kids had SOOO much fun painting a box they picked out from Hobby Lobby for him. We put their handprints on it, their pictures on it and then some stickers too. It is a love box to him from them. My idea was to print off a bunch of pictures to go in it, but I never made it that far. Oh well. One day. He liked it anyway. in that, 'oh my toddlers made me a gift' kind of way! He is a great Daddy and deserves the world!

Jackson woke up first on Sunday (before ANY of us) and woke Jeff up with the box. It was funny because I didn't even tell him it was Father's Day on Saturday night. He woke up, got the box out of hiding and brought it to Jeff all by himself. He is such a sweet boy.

My Sweet Boy and a Blessed Day

Tonight in the car Jackson was laughing like an old man...it was hysterical alone, but when Creighton screamed at the top of her lungs, "Dat is not berry funny" I thought I might burst a kidney. Then Jackson looked right at her, as he was still trying to laugh and said, "Rae Rae is sooooooooo funny" which only egged them both on. Her screaming "not berry funny" and him laughing sometimes his normal cute laugh mixed mostly with this weird laugh (for no reason).

I know it was a "you had to be there" moment, but oh well. Jeff and I were in stitches...who says that, and what does that mean anyway? I am old.

Precious, priceless, melt-my-heart-like-butter-on-a-skillet moment: Jackson picked out Jeff's clothes this evening all by himself, then proceeded to "help" Jeff get dressed. Then when Jeff sat down to put his shoes on Jackson went over by him, called me, then Rae for a group-family hug. It was so sweet. His own thing. His timing. His idea. He is such a lover.

I am so blessed. I LOVE my family. We had such a good day today. Just the four of us for the most part. We ate breakfast all together! We swam in the back yard. We went on a walk, and took Lexi, the dog we are watching this summer. We flew kites. We danced together. We ate a late lunch. Took late afternoon naps. We swam some more. We went to the Kiddie Park (love that place!) and then we had a really late dinner. And we got in bed really late...well I am not there yet, but the kids are just now getting down and its 11:14. What are we thinking? I don't know. But it was a fun and very memorable day! We loved each other well today.

A Little Crafty Birthday Fun: What Works For Me!

Once we turned the calendar to June, Jackson asked me at least 100 times a day if it was his birthday yet. I got a little exhausted of the questioning, so I came up with this:
The red, blue, and black links just have the dates on them June 1, June 2, June 3, etc.

The real fun is the WHITE links. There is one for his actual birthday June 24th, and one also one for his PARTY day June 28th.

He gets VERY VERY excited every day to take a link off. This has stopped the questioning about when his birthday is, given him something to look forward to, and we count each and everyday (a little learning) how many days until his birthday. Tomorrow there will be only 7 days! I can't believe my little baby boy will be 4!!!! He is so big!

This Worked for Me!

My Funny Boy

Jackson and I were in the midst of the bedtime routine and we were just talking (one of my most favorite times with him). He was telling me that his Nanna was suppose to get him Simon, like his Alvin.

We don't have TV, but my mom, (nanna), does. She watches HGTV and DIY and 'fun' channels like that. Well I guess Jackson knows that...a little too well. :)

Here was our conversation:

J: Nanna is going to get me Alvin and Simon

me: you already have Alvin and you really don't need any more animals to sleep with

J: But, no Nanna is going to get it when she sees it on H-T-G-B or D-O-Y.

me: [cracking up] huh?

J: yeah on the TB, nanna will get them when she sees them

me: [still cracking up] buddy, i love you more than words...and you are SOOOOO funny!

Oh what a mess. He says funny things all the time. I always forget them by the time I have time to sit down and write.

He was on the phone with Jeff the other day:

Jeff said something (not sure what)

Jax: um, dad, can you repeat that, I didn't hear you.

It was just funny...he's only 3 and it was just weird to him talk so "old"

Everytime he is in trouble and gets a spanking he always beggs wholeheartedly: pwease don't do a hard won. juss an easy won. do a soft won. *i laugh almost every time...:)

He is just as smart as a whip (how smart is that exactly?) I just love this boy! There are so so so many more that I can't think of right now. He makes me laugh every day. So thankful for him.

The Picture Version of Awesome

So, I held a contest that not ONE person entered. I'll try not to be too sad about that. Good news is, I don't have to get a prize to give away.

Anyway, I had a really incredible day, 13 straight hours to be exact, with my husband. He is pretty awesome. :) And creative.

If you want to go back and forth with the clues, they are all listed here.

I had to find the packet first. It was hidden in a cereal box. That one might have been the hardest one all day. :) 1 star

Here is the first stop: Sal's Daylight Donuts. Where he had already ordered, and it was waiting for our arrival. :) My favorite. Small mild sausage wraps...mmmmm 2 stars
Next stop: downtown Farmers Market at Frank Phillips and Keeler. I didn't know automatically where this was, but I am good guesser and eventually found it. It took me forever to find the star. But I did. 3 stars

Next was to Price Tower. Although the star was hidden in the 66. see below. 4stars

The exhibit was World's Fairs. It was pretty neat. Not my favorite exhibit of all time or anything, but still cool and I learned new stuff! ;) This was a cool thing we saw that we might try to do at some point for the youth group. You could do SO much with it. It's a nutshell (obviously) filled with major inventions for that particular World Fair...in a nutshell :) (sorry if we weren't suppose to take pictures :))
Then we had fun shooting shots of us in the 66~ :) Yes I know we did it backwards. But that is where the car was and we could set up the camera on it.

I felt like a happy little kid. I know I looked like one.

Next stop: Jo Allen Lowe Park (aka. the Duck Pond). I pass by that little metal 'art' a million times, and although I recognized it (from the clue) I couldn't place it. Now every time I pass by, that's all I notice. 5 stars

This was probably my most favorite part of the date all together. It was a beautiful gorgeous day. We were together in God's amazingly beautiful creation. It was awesome. When Jeff and I were dating we kept a journal that we passed back and forth to one another every week (sometimes everyday). He had packed it in the car. He pulled it back out and we looked at it together. It has pictures and notes and questions and answers and ooey-gooey sappy love notes! :) It was a truly remarkable walk down memory lane. To see where we were, where we are, how far we've come. It was just priceless. I love this man!

Then from there we actually had lunch at Jude's (no clue) my choice. Then our next stop was: The Movie Theater. 6 stars. I was clueless when I actually found the star that we were going to see a movie too :) We rarely ever have that opportunity to actually go. To the theater. Together. and see an adult movie :) We saw Angels and Demons. The main reason (and where the star was located) was because it came out on my actual birthday (and of course he wanted to see it). I enjoyed it, although in those type movies I find myself quite lost a bit in all the jargon (in this case Catholic Church History), but still it was very well done and I grasped the main parts :)

This is Jeff with one of our youth Kellen King that works at the theater. Poor guy was at Project Graduation all night/morning and then had to come to work...he looks tired.

Next stop: The airplane at the mall. 7 stars. And I really like this pic Jeff took ;) It is actually raised in the air but grounded, but the angle he took it makes it look like its actually IN the air.

Next stop: Walmart! I had 2 minutes to find the clue and I could get a $30 prize, 5 minutes to get a $15 prize, and anytime over that I could get $5 prize. I found it in 1 minute 23 seconds. It was fun. I didn't get a prize though because I hate spending money :) (so much like my father)

Next stop: The Red Apple Bowling Center! 8 stars. Since Jeff can't bowl right now, we played pool instead, and it was fun.

Not sure if you can see it but I KILLED him ;) maybe it was because he's just the nice guy and let me win, or because his neck is half broken, because Lord knows I am terrible at pool :)

There was another hidden star in the bowling center. It was hard to find because he only gave me the clue of a piece of the carpet...which is all over the whole building. I had to go to clue two and then I found it. 9 stars.

Next stop: Hotel Philips 66 Grill. For dinner. We had never been there. I wasn't impressed with it at all, but it was fun to eat somewhere new. 10 stars

Next stop: The Bartlesville High School Fine Arts Building. One of my small group girls had a recital and wanted me to come. So he sweetly put it into the hunt. :) It was a really good thing we went as we had a lot of youth in the program, so it was 2 birds with one stone...we both got in a little relational ministry :) 11 stars

Next stop: The Sooner Miniature Golf! :) I had never been here! It was fun. 12 stars.

And again, there are a million excuses for him, but I KILLED him again :) (and he is supposedly the hole in 1 king. Although he did get 2 of them, I out shot him by double digits.

Next stop: was suppose to be to the church: Prayer Room. Someone can go there and get the star because I never went to get it. I got credit for getting the clue correct and by this point I was tired.

Next stop: Ranch Heights. 13 stars.

Last stop: our mailbox. 14 stars. Home at last. An Amazing Day!

Thank you honey for thinking me worth the time and effort and energy to put all this together. I know it took a lot of time to get it all ready! You are the most amazing, loving, servant-hearted husband in the world. Right now you are on your way home from a week long mission trip and I cannot wait to be in your arms. Thank you. Thank you for loving me exactly the way I need to be. Thank you for being a faithful servant to our Lord, and serving Him daily. You were formed in your mother's womb to be my soul mate, my earthly companion, best friend, true love. And I am so thankful to Jesus for that! I love you honey. Thanks for an awesome birthday.

Stashed Treasure

So for the last 3+ hours I have been on a frenzy. I have cleaned out over half of my wardrobe. LONG LONG LONG overdue. Seriously there were things in there that were ancient!!!!

I also separated winter and summer clothes ( a first for me). I always do this for my kids, but why it never crossed my mind to do it for us I don't know. My closet looks empty and AMAZING!

I have at least 7 trash bags of crap stuff for our garage sale/give-away (just get it out of the house). :) That makes me so so incredibly happy.

A few hours alone of total boredom I knew would lend a happy hand to my home. I cleaned out our hall closet too! Woo Hooo!!!! I was on a roll.

Funny story. When I was going to put some things away in bins under Jackson's bed I found that he has been snatching things and hiding them under his bed!

I found grape jelly!
I found my favorite bra that has been missing for weeks!
I found his favorite toy.

He has several other things stashed under there but I couldn't believe he took the jelly and my bra! Why? Oh that boy. He's so quirky. Made me laugh. Maybe that could be because it's 3:15 in the morning, but I had to write it down.

I love being productive. But I am so wired I am not sure I'll ever get to sleep tonight.

Wish me luck.

Oh, and I'd take pics but my husband, who thankfully returns to me tomorrow, has the camera (I've missed it almost as much as him...)

Miss Photogenic

The Bartlesville Hunt

Okay, Bartians...here's the test!

These were my clues (the first of 3 for each location). You get 2 points for every correct place. I will give partial credit if you are close (my discretion). Some of the times are a little off...but close enough. And there were a few that I can't give out because they'd give out one of the main ones. Have fun!

Stop #1 10am
Stop#2 10:10a

Stop #3 10:30a

Stop #4 10:50a (ps. whoever stole my star here....i don't like you :))

Stop #5 Noon

Stop #6 1:30p (extra credit available here...you'll either know or you won't)

Stop #7 3:45pm

Stop #8 4pm

Stop #9 4:30p

Stop #10 5:30p

Stop #11 7pm

Stop #12 8:15p

Stop #13 10p

Stop #14 11pm

Person with the most points wins a fun little prize. Contest runs till Friday June 5th. Email me with your answers so everyone has fair advantage. bergcourtney [at] yahoo [dot] com