Today, I Will.

Today, I will let my daughter try something new.

Today, I will make her feel special.

Today, I will let her be a big girl. I will embrace the fact that she continues to grow bigger and bigger each day. I will accept the fact that there is nothing I can do to change this.

Today, I will be reminded of the very first time I saw her face. I will remember all of the things I love about her.

Today, I will look into her beautiful eyes. I will feel God's presence.

Today, I will make the time to have a picnic with my little princess.

Today, I will let go. I will stop worrying about the little things....things I cannot control.....things I cannot change. I will accept my flaws. I will feel comfortable in my own skin. Today, I will.

Today, I will be there when my child discovers something new.

Today, I will run with her......

 and love every single minute of it.

Today, I will laugh with her. I will be reminded of how precious these moments are.

Today, I will teach her something new.....and she will teach me.

Today, I will take one look at my son and feel pure joy.

Today, I will love him more than I ever thought possible.

Today, I will thank God for his innocence.....his spirit.....his soul.

Today, I will have fun. I will play with my children. I will live in the moment.

Today, I will remember, was not a guarantee....it was a GIFT. Today, God will find so many ways to speak to me....I will listen. Today, I will.

Marble Jars

After several failed attempts at a rewards system over the past year, it seems that we have finally found one that works for us.....ALL of us! Basically, when the kids help out around the house, use their manners, remember to do their "chores" without being reminded, are on their very best behavior (the list goes on....), they earn a marble for their jar. Once their jars are filled to the top, they get to pick something out of the treasure box. They LOVE this.....seriously, you'd think it was Christmas morning! The treasure box is usually filled with things I have picked up from the little $1 section at Target, but in these pictures you'll notice some bigger things that we got REALLY good deals on (zhu zhu pets....these were a buy one get 2 free deal back in December and princesses....got these on black Friday for $2!). Since we started this little rewards system about two and a half months ago, Mason and Allie have each earned three trips to the treasure box.....so I would say it's definitely working! Yay!!

Today was all about the mittens.....

While Allie was at preschool this morning, learning about the letter "M" and "The 3 Little Kittens who lost their Mittens".....Mason was a few miles down the road in his kindergarten class, learning how to read a book called "The Mitten". I love that they were able to relate to each other today! Allie was so proud to tell her big brother everything she had learned and show him the yellow mittens she got at school and Mason was excited to show us his mitten artwork and tell us the story they read today!

 These mittens are so stinking cute! Allie's teacher made them....she's beyond amazing!!

A Dream Come "Frue"

I am about to let everyone in on a little secret that Brian and I have been keeping from the kids for the past couple of months....we're going back to Disney this Spring!!!! I did some work back during Christmas that has given us an amazing opportunity to go back to Disney with very little cost involved. Unbelievable. We couldn't be more grateful! We went in July and had the experience of a lifetime.....the kids still talk about it all the time. We watched some of our home movies from our trip during some of our recent snow days and Allie has literally asked us every day (seriously, every single day) when we could go back. Her favorite home movie is one with the Magic Kingdom's daytime parade on it....she calls it "a dream come frue".....so cute and hence the title of this post. We will actually be in Disney on her third birthday and just booked all of our character dining last night....she will have her birthday dinner at Cinderella's Royal Table! We also have Mason a special day planned and we will celebrate his birthday....a bit of an un-birthday, if you will.....while we are there. Brian and I are soooo excited about this and we cannot wait to see the looks on their sweet little faces when we tell them that we are going back!  **If you see us out and about, please remember this trip is a surprise, so shhhh.....don't tell the kids! We are planning to tell them when they wake up that morning....you know, just casually mention that we are leaving for Disney after breakfast.....Hope we can pull it off!!! :)

Since I never posted any pics from our trip in July....here are a few favorites:

Stocking Up

Pretty much anyone who knows me knows that I LOVE to shop.....especially when it comes to buying cute clothes for my kids! So in an attempt to be more frugal and still be able dress my kids in adorable clothes, I decided to spend my $175 in Gymboree Gymbucks a little differently this time around. I only bought clothes that were on sale (with the exception of a Valentine's Day shirt for each of the kids) and I bought everything a size up so that it can be worn next fall/winter....no regular-priced spring clothing this time, although I have to admit- it was REALLY hard not to put some of those cute things in my cart! I ended up with 30 items and my total was $176.19 before tax and $5 for shipping, plus I "earned" another coupon for 30% off that can only be used on regular priced clothing in February (yay for spring clothes!). I was really excited when I pulled into our driveway this afternoon and saw a HUGE box sitting on our front porch....the kids were super-excited too, but for a very different reason! :)

 Allie racked up for next year....little girls are so much easier to buy for!

 Mason ended up with some shirts, a puffer vest, fleece jacket, and hat for next year....not too shabby!

 Can't wait to see the new lines.....already working on my budget, so I don't overspend!

This would be the reason that the kids were so happy to see a BIG box.....they make the best "houses"!! :)

Pajama Day

Mason's class earned a pajama day (complete with a movie and popcorn) for good behavior....he was soooo excited that he got to wear his pjs to school this morning!

You've Got Mail

I saw these cute mailboxes at Target the other day and thought they would be a fun way for us to leave little notes/treats for the kids.....just my way of making Valentine's Day last longer than just one day. Mason and Allie really had fun decorating them with foam stickers-making them their own. Even more fun than decorating them has been checking them....every morning the kids have gone straight to the playroom to see if they got mail!

A few of our little notes.....Mason has even started leaving us some mail!

Snow Day.....Again!!!

Another snow day?! A girl could sure get used to this! After reading all of the posts on facebook yesterday I have come to realize that I may actually be the ONLY one who feels this way. It seems that everyone is going crazy with cabin fever or just plain boredom, while I am loving every single minute at home with my family! I mean, what could be better? We were able to sleep in late, whip up a batch of homemade chocolate chip cookies, play some Wii, and dress up (check out the hilarious pics below)! I even braved the cold to take a few pictures of the ice. LIFE IS GOOD!!

Mason was nice enough to let Allie "play" his DS while he was busy playing the Wii.

Playing Mario Cart with daddy.

These were soooo good. I do love a homemade chocolate chip cookie!

Princess Allie

This was priceless. This is the same son who HATES to dress up.....even for Halloween. He put on Allie's wings and started laughing hysterically at himself......then he just kept adding more until he looked like this. (see below)

Brian and I were dying laughing at this point!

Allie was pretending that she was Rapunzel riding in on her trusty steed, Maximus! Love that Maximus is pink! :)