Not feeling the itch!

Today we celebrate our 7 year anniversary. Neither of us feel any kind of itch...do you have that during your 7th year or when you are at 7 years? It doesn't matter we don't and are happier then ever.

Happy 7 Years to my wonderful husband...I love you more then I ever knew I could. Each day keeps getting better. Looking forward to the next 7 years and beyond!!

Our wedding song is Tim McGraw-My Best Friend...here is a little bit of the words. And how wonderful it is to know that even 7 years later these words are still true if not more so then they were the day we got married.





Your More than a Lover
There could never be another
To make me feel the way you do
Oh we just get closer

I fall in love all over
Every time I look at you
I don't know where I'd be
without you here with me
Life with you makes perfect sense
You're my best friend


You stand by me
And you believe in me
Like no body ever has
When my world goes crazy
You're right there to save me
You make me see how much I have
I still tremble when we touch
And Oh the look in your eyes
when we make love

I am so blessed to have Jason as my wonderful husband!!

(FYI...I scheduled this post..don't think I am spending our anniversary on the computer)

Happy Birthday

Today we celebrate this handsome man's birthday!

Happy Birthday to my wonderful husband and Jake's amazing Daddy!

We are so blessed to be able to celebrate this day with you! And we look forward to so many more!

Mondays are Daddy days

It is no secret that Jake is a Mommy's boy. He is a little more outgoing now and loves his time with his Grandparents. But a lot of the time he is still a mommy's boy. When he was younger he always wanted mommy(which I am perfectly fine with).

As he has gotten older he has become more of a Daddy's boy. I love it and love to watch them interact together. The time they spend is precious. Jake gets so excited when Jason comes home and even when he is just talking about his Daddy. Seeing his eyes light up with his Daddy is around makes it all worth it.

Jason is usually home on Sundays and Mondays. Sunday we are all so excited to spend time together as a family, but on Monday Mommy can do nothing. Jake only wants Daddy(at least until bedtime). Jake wants his Daddy to put him in the car, get him out, hold daddy's hand when he is walking, Daddy to play with him, & anything else Jake needs/wants can only come from Daddy.

Now that the weather has been so much nicer here in Georgia Jake really loves that he gets to work in the yard with his Daddy.

I truly love the bonding time they are having and it is such a huge blessing to see them together.

Mondays are Daddy Days!!!

Valentine's Challenge

It is another week of the 25 days until Valentine's Day Be My Valentine Marriage Challenge with Courtney at Women Living Well. This week she shares her experience with going first to apologize to our husbands. And then gives 10 fun ways to praise your husband. A couple I am looking forward to adding in: writing a love message on the shower door or bathroom mirror, writing a message in sidewalk chalk on the driveway(I am sure Jake would have fun with this one too.)

I am having fun thinking of fun and different ways to praise Jason. Sending him little text messages throughout the day and leaving him little notes. This 30-day challenge definitely been fun to read every day and get ideas from.

On another blog I read she is starting the 14 day love dare on February 1st. On her blog she list the 14 days and what will be the focus. Be sure to check out Ordinary Inspirations for more about her 14 day love dare challenge.

Valentine's day may just be a made up Hallmark holiday or it might be a little bit about St. Valentine too . Whatever you think it is great to have a day set aside to remind us to lavish our husbands with love and praise. And how great to have a theme for days leading up to Valentine's Day.

Praise Plan

There are 25 days until Valentine's Day!

You know I am always up for one of  Courtney at Women Living Well's challenges she puts together. For the next 25 days she is doing a Be My Valentine Marriage Challenge with the 25 days praise plan. Each week the challenge will be the same - to praise, encourage, inspire, admire, build up, thank and appreciate your husband.

My love language is words of affirmation and they say whatever is your love language is usually how you speak love to other people.  So I really enjoy giving Jason praise and encouragement. But I am looking forward to each weeks challenge for other ways to encourage & show my appreciation for Jason. 


After all Jason deserves every type of praise I can give him. 


For the next 25 days we are to follow the 25 days praise plan and then kick it up a little with the weekly ideas too. 


Here is this weeks challenge
Week 1 starts TODAY! Look for ways to praise your husband verbally. Praise him in front of the kids, friends, family, co-workers, on facebook, tweet it - get praise out anyway you can! Try to mention something noteworthy he has done - in his role as provider, father, husband, lover, or friend. If the thought of trying to come up with one terrifies you, then pray right now that God will give you new eyes to see your husband as God does. Then open your mouth and say something kind and uplifting to your husband today and tomorrow and the next day until Valentine's Day arrives.

On Women Living Well she also shared a link  for this 30 day husband encouragement challenge. Which gives different tips for the next 30 days. This will take you right through Valentine's day.

I am looking forward to taking the time to focus on Jason over the next 25 days.

Are you joining me in this 25 day Praise Plan?

Daily Moments(9/6-9/12)

Another week has come and gone and to remember some of the moments of our days I am liking up with The Mom Creative and Project Life Tuesday.

Monday-September 6th-Labor day grilling! Jason loves to grill & looks so handsome working  hard on super yummy food!

Wednesday-September 8th-licking the beater is the best part about helping cook. Especially when it is chocolate cupcake mix. Yummy!!!

Thursday-September 9th-Feeding the ducks at the park. We had a play date with some friends at a great park we had never been to. Jake loved feeding the ducks.

Friday-September 10th- The imagination of a 2 year old is so much fun! He laid all the crayons on the floor and said it was his track. Then he would run by the crayons as fast as he could. Of course it just wouldn't work right without the superhero cape on.

Saturday-September 11th-We spent a very hot day at Austin & Tyler's soccer game. Caleb & Jake had the best time cheering for the big boys and of course playing outside for hours. This picture cracks me up...they both have the same scrunched up sun in the face cheese look.

Sunday-September 12th-Jason used his new riding lawn mower for the 1st time today. Not sure if Jake was happier riding on the mower or Jason was happier being able to use it.

Daily Moments (8/16-8/23)

Of course it wouldn't be a Project Life Tuesday post with The Mom Creative if I didn't miss a couple of days of taking pictures. So of course there are no pictures for Monday & Tuesday.

Wednesday-August 18th-We had a lot of fun swimming with our friends today. By the time we got home it was too late to take a nap. After changing my clothes this what I came down stairs to find. Apparently Jake had a different plan.

Thursday-August 29th-Jake found a piece of aluminum foil in the recycling bin and wanted to play with it. Soon he was walking into the kitchen with a piece on each foot....and said "do you like my shoes?" Love the model pose!

Friday-August 20th-I had my monthly girls night scrap booking and of course Mawmaw & Papa Jack came over to watch Jake until Jason got home. Jake kept telling me it was time for me to go...he was just a little excited to play with them. Before I left I took a picture of Mawmaw & Jake doing a puzzle book together.

Saturday-August 21st-Jake & Joss at our Saturday 'stache bash. We all had the best time and the kids especially loved when Vickie pulled out the stick on mustaches for them to wear. Aren't they the cutest...of course Jake had the cheese face right after I took the picture.

Sunday-August 22nd-Daddy & Jake reading the Sunday comics together and only a few short minutes later both of them were sound asleep on the couch. Love their Daddy-son time...so precious!

Completing Him

Today is it the final day of the Completing Him summer challenge.  I really am sad to see this challenge come to an end. Of course I know I complete Jason (I am his wife!!!), but it has been so great to have a challenge every week to focus on. Something to put him in the front of my mind all through out the week.



From fun things like remembering our dating days & then keeping our vows sacred. To things that involved daily taking the time to focus on Jason like praying for him daily and specifically asking  him how I can pray for him. Things like admiring him, keeping priorities in line, letting him lead & showing him nothing but respect. Then the big finally kissing him like I mean it. There has been so much good that has come from this challenge.

I think the biggest change for me was taking the time to be sure I was making Jason #2(after God of course). Being a mom it is so easy for Jake's needs/wants to become 1st above Jason. It is so easy to be too tired in the mornings to remember to ask Jason how I can pray for him that day & again  be too tired at the end of the day to admire & respect him for all his hard work.

We have had a wonderful summer making our marriage a priority. We started the summer with our anniversary trip to Savannah just the 2 of us. Our 1st overnight trip away from Jake ever. But it was so good to just be us. It was a great way to focus on our marriage. This challenge then built on our commitment to make time for each other.

I think no matter what is happening in our marriage (or any marriage) the number one thing to remember is communication!!! It seems so simple, but sometimes is the thing that gets pushed to the side. Good solid communication....much more then "how was your day?" conversations. This challenge was a great way to be reminded about communicating about everything. The keeping priorities in line and letting him lead where some of the best weeks for us. We really talked about a lot of things and have made some great changes from those weeks!!

One of the biggest eye opening things for us was seeing God work. During the Let Him Lead week God really showed us how to do that. That exact same week in our nightly devotion reading(Night Light by James Dobson) was about the husband being the leader in the home.(apparently we really needed this) And seriously on Tuesday Jason was offered a new position at his job that would have taken a move(almost 2 hours away) and some really big changes in our home. Not sure if you read that post, but seriously here is the line from that post: I just wonder if I would be so willing to let him lead if it was regarding a big decision that would change our lives. 
I really wrote that not knowing anything about this new job offer. I passed the test(this time). Jason & I talked a lot about this big change and what it would mean. I did offer my opinion, but only when he asked. My answer stayed the whole time that I would support him no matter what choice he made and I would be ready & willing to move if the time came. After lots of praying it turns out Jason decided it wasn't the best plan for us at this time (thank you Lord). But I really did let him come to that decision all on his own...no nagging from me about how horrible it would be to leave our families and friends.


To me it is clear that the Visions of a Leading Man was the biggest week for us. And God really put me to the challenge!!


We learned a lot about each other during this challenge. I am making a commitment to keep these things I have learned a top priority for us. And taking the time for our marriage is now a daily thing!!!

 

Women Living Well

Thank you so much Courtney for putting together this great summer challenge...are you sure you don't want to have a fall marriage challenge too???

Wives Must

Respect!!!

Everyone feels they deserve it. I would have to say I might have known a few people in my life that didn’t deserve any kind of respect at all.

But there is one type of respect that is commanded,

However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife MUST respect her husband.” Ephesians 5:33

So there we have it in black & white God tells us wives we MUST respect our husbands. He doesn’t say if our husband deserves it or if we feel like it that day. God says the wife MUST respect her husband.

I love when God gives us clear commands. There is no question of who He is talking to or of what the wife should do.

This is the Completing Him challenge for the week Respect your husband.

I have spent the last few days (umm…since this post is going up about 4 days late) talking with Jason about respect. And it is amazing how God works. On Tuesday night during our devotional reading it was about wives respecting their husbands. Funny how things seem to work out that way.  But Jason said for the most part he feels respected by me. Of course there are those times of being argumentative and sometimes I do have a problem with wanting to be right, or even an occasional eye roll or really loud sigh. But this week I have really tried to catch myself before doing these things (after all wasn’t it last week that our challenge was to let our husbands lead).

Hearing Jason say that almost always he feels respected by me was a great feeling. And when you respect your husband the natural flow is for him to show you love. That is just how men and women work. The husband wants respect and the wife wants love. I am sure this has something to do with the way Ephesians 5:33 is written with God commanding the husband to love his wife and the wife MUST respect her husband.

If we would all just follow this nice map God has laid out for us there would be a constant flowing happy circle of love & respect (if only it seemed so easy all the time).

I can’t believe next week is the final week in this Completing Him marriage challenge. I am so going to miss this. It has really sparked some great conversations between Jason & me.

If you would like more information about respecting your husband (even one with questionable behavior) Courtney at Women Living Well wrote a great post about it here. And there is also a wonderful book called Love & Respect by Dr. Emerson Eggerichs.

Visions of a Leading Man

Only a few short weeks left in the Completing Him Challenge. I am going to really miss this challenge when it is over. This weeks challenge is Support his vision.  Discuss with your husband his vision for your family. Where does he see your family in 1 year, 5 years, & 10 years? Then share how you let your husband lead.





Ephesians 5:23-24-For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives submit to their husbands in everything.

Letting Jason lead is so hard for me sometimes most of the time. I am a typical type A personality. Wanting to be totally in control of everything and everything being the way I think it should be. Over the last few years I have had to really work on this in our marriage (umm...still working I should say).

I did a Denise Glen Bible study called "Wisdom For Mothers." In this study she says that if your husband is ok with you being the leader then you need to squeeze behind him no matter what and let him lead. This really opened my eyes to things that I just take over and do. Never even thinking about considering Jason's opinion.

Soon after this study I did Elizabeth George's "A Wife After God's Own Heart." This is what I am striving (stumbling) to be each day in my marriage. If you have not done this study before I suggest you pick it up very soon. It will transform your view as your role as a wife.

With Jason being gone so much sometimes it just seems easier for me to take charge and do what I think is right. Or do what I want. Never even running it by him 1st.
My solution to this has become for my answer to be "let me talk to my husband about that." No matter what the "that" might be. I now try & remember to check with him even when I am planning a day with friends or an evening out with my girl friends even when I know he won't be home. Just a quick conversation with him lets me feel like he is leading our family.

There are so many other areas of our marriage that we are still working on me taking a step back and letting him lead. I am really praying through my control issues. That is what it all comes down to in the bigger picture. Me wanting to be in control All.the.time.

And as crazy at it might sound(in 2010) I really do want him to be the leader. Not in a doormat wife kind of way, but as him being the head of our household Biblical way.  I just wonder if I would be so willing to let him lead if it was regarding a big decision that would change our lives. Until we have to come to that type of decision I can pray that I will let him lead.

Because Jason was off on a work trip to Las Vegas for most of last week I wasn't able to cook for him. So last weeks challenge of cooking your husbands favorite meal and the bonus of making his favorite foods all week will also be continuing into this week.

Jumpin' Good Time

We celebrated my nephew's 3rd birthday at Jump 4 Joey's. A big in door bounce place with lots of bounce houses & inflatable slides. The kids (and even the adults) had a great time running and jumping.

Caleb is only 4 months older then Jake. Since my sister & I are so close they really have no choice, but to spend lots of time together. We hope they will always be close friends even when they aren't forced to hang out with each other.

 Love this picture Jason, Jake & Heather

Feed Him Well

 

I didn't get a post done for last weeks Completing Him Challenge. Jason & I had lots of conversations about last weeks challenge (priorities). But I never got around to posting about it. So we will skip right along to this weeks challenge which is: Make your husband a priority. Ask him what his favorite dinner, dessert drink are. Be sure to serve him all 3 one night this week. Bonus: make his favorite foods all week.

This weeks challenge is going to have to carry over to next for us. I won't be able to cook Jason's favorite meals all week so I will be doing this all next week too.

I will be making meatloaf, steamed squash, & rice for dinner tonight. One of his favorites.

And I have made pumpkin muffins for breakfast tomorrow. Jason likes most anything pumpkin and thanks to his mom has a huge appreciation for real from the pumpkin not canned pumpkin. During the fall we have started cooking and pureeing pumpkin to keep in the refrigerator all year long. I love being able to pull out a container and make a pumpkin pie in the middle of the Spring or a pumpkin cheesecake during the summer and not have to use canned pumpkin.

Jason's most favorite meal is grilled steak. I have no clue how to use the grill and really no desire to either. Jason is a master at the grill and makes the best stuff. I am sure one day this weekend he will enjoy a grilled steak...me grilled chicken and he will cook it. But truth is he enjoys grilling and would probably be annoyed if I tried to grill for him. I will make his favorite side dishes to go along with his grilled steak.

And then through next week will include the things that I can make that are his favorites for him to enjoy.

Oh and his favorite drink is sweet tea...the sweeter the better. And honestly this is probably pretty high on his list of priorities for me to have a gallon of sweet tea in the refrigerator all the time!!

I love cooking for my family and trying new recipes so it will be so much fun going through the recipes this week and talking to Jason about what he wants to eat each night.

Daily Moments

Linking up for another week of Project Life with The Mom Creative 

This week was super busy which made for a couple days with no pictures. Here is a short recap of the week. Wed night Jason's truck wouldn't start. He had to get a ride home from work and Jake & I had to drive him to work on Thursday morning. Thankfully it was only his battery and it is up and running now. Friday I took Jake to his mawmaw & papa Jack's. When I got in my car to leave it wouldn't start either...again the battery. 2 dead batteries in one week. Thankfully I was at my inlaw's house and they were able to help me with my car. I had wedding rehearsal Friday night for a wedding I was in Saturday. Friday night on my way to the rehearsal I got a phone call that they were taking my sister in for her c-section. She was 25 weeks pregnant with twin boys and had been in the hospital for a week. They were able to hold off labor until Friday when her contractions started again. She delivered Luke Stephen(1.5 pounds & 12") & Logan Michael(2 pounds 13") Friday evening.  The boys are doing as well as could be expected, but they will have a long stay in the nicu. Then Saturday I was in a friend from high schools wedding and Sunday we ended the weekend celebrating my nephews 3rd birthday. To say this has been a busy week is an understatement. But it was filled with so many blessings too!!! Here are pictures from the week(at least from the days that I have).

Monday July 5th- we were still celebrating 4th of July. We roasted marshmallows on the grill and made s'mores. But eventually just eating the marshmallows on the stick were better then the rest.

Tuesday July 6th- My Good Morning Girls group came over to hang out. We had such a great time!! I made these super yummy Martha Stewart s'mores cookies.

Wednesday July 7th-no picture for today...picture Jason's broken truck sitting at work

Thusday July 8th-again no picture today

Friday July 9th- Today we welcomed 2 tiny new nephews. Although, I have some pictures of them I wasn't sure if I should post them. If you are a praying person please pray for these tiny babies. But thankfully I have a super cute picture of Jake to share. He has been really into superheroes lately. Not a specific one, but he loves to run around the house yelling, "Superhero saves the day." His Mawmaw made him this super cute superhero cape with a J on the back. He loves it!!!

Saturday-July 10th- Here we are all dressed up after my friends wedding. It is such a joy to attend and be a part of a wedding.

Sunday-July 11th- Happy Birthday Caleb Reece today you are 3 years old. (of course the birthday boy is the one not looking...this was the best of like 5 pictures) We celebrated at Jump 4 Joey with a John Deere theme.

That is our week in a nutshell!!

Admiration

This weeks Marriage challenge is: Admire Your Husband. If you are a blogger write a post all about your husband and what you admire in him and then show it to him! He will smile! If you are not a blogger, list the things you admire about your husband in the comment section and show it to him!


Showing it to him is so important. You may THINK he already knows the things you admire about him - but I'm afraid we don't tell our husbands often enough how much we do. 

I am so late in posting my completing him challenge this week. Monday was still a holiday for us(or at least we treated it that way). And then I have just spent some time today updating the blog. So here I am on Thursday posting my Monday marriage challenge. I guess it is better to do it late then not at all. Especially on such a week as this.

Here are some things I admire about Jason...my wonderful husband.


1. He is a hard worker. He really takes his role as provider seriously and works A LOT. He is gone from 9am-10pm almost every single day. This is why we cherish his off days so much.


2. Which brings me to point number 2. He would rather spend his off time with us then out doing other things he enjoys like golfing.


3. He really is a total family man...and I love him for it.


4. The Dad he is to our sweet boy...melts my heart every time I see or hear them interacting. And you can totally tell that Jake thinks his daddy hung the stars and moon(sometimes I too have to remind myself that he didn't).


5. He is completely forgiving. Sometimes I can hold a grudge. (not so much with him, but with others who hurt me or make me mad). But Jason forgives others even for terrible things they do.


6. He is so compassionate and caring. To his family first, but then to those he is around as well.  His heart is so big!


7. He is so funny & fun to be around. He can come up with some of the best one liners to make you smile or roll on the floor cracking up.


8. He takes life in stride. I tend to be a total control freak or worrier. Jason is so great about helping me see that things will really work out according to God's plan. No amount of worry or controlling will change that. He can be so calm in stressful situations.


I could probably go on and on telling you all the wonderful things I admire about my husband.  But for now we will stop here.


Thank you Jason for being a man I can truly admire in all you do! All my love Always!