Monday, February 28, 2011

Lilah Shares EVERYTHING With Her "Baby's" Tag!


Our old neighbor and dear friend Donna Prillaman purchased Lilah and Jaxon a baby blanket, which was given to me at one of my baby showers. I had HIGH hopes of them carrying these blankets around and becoming attached to them. And then, low and behold it happened. Jax loves his blanket, but Lilah loves her blanket much more. Lilah's blanket has a silk bow on it and I am pretty sure without the silk bow, the blanket would would NOT be nearly as valuable to her. FYI, Jax's blanket had the silk bow too, but someone pulled it off... TY! Lately, Darren and I have noticed that she loves to share EVERYTHING with the silk bow that is attached to the blanket. It's honestly the cutest AND strangest thing I have ever witnessed any one of my children doing. I am fairly certain that Lilah hadn't started sharing things with her "baby" until recently. Let me explain....

One day, we were sitting up in her room and Darren happened to glance over at Lilah. She had her baby in one hand and she was moving the silk bow part on her foot. COINCIDENCE? We later found out, NO! No coincidence. She was literally sharing her silk bow with her foot. Darren said, "Kristin, look at Lilah!" When she noticed that we were in awe of what she was doing, she kind of got embarrassed and started to laugh. She does this daily, from time to time, but if you catch her, she laughs and stops almost immediately.
Last week, (this is the cutest story ever), I took the boys to get hair cuts. The kids are very accustomed to receiving a lollipop in exchange for a haircut. After the boys received their haircuts, the kids picked out their suckers, and we left. I loaded the kids in the car and happened to look in my rear view mirror to check on them. I noticed Lilah sharing her bright blue sucker with her silk bow. TOOOOO cute. Where the heck was my camera then? I snapped a shot with my cell phone camera, but seeing this in person was the ONLY real way to appreciate this cute moment.
And finally, on Darren's birthday, Lilah and daddy shared her silk bow. I caught her sharing it with her foot too, so I quickly grabbed my camera.
Oh and one thing I have to mention, when she holds the silk bow to her mouth, her lips pulsate as if she is sucking on a passie. Well, when she shares her silk bow with anything (ie. sucker, toe, daddy) her lips still pulsate, even though her mouth is not touching it. It's soooooooo darn cute.


What God Has Done for US!

Often times, as I analyze my day, I find myself dissatisfied in my spiritual walk. Please let me clarify. My dissatisfaction is not because Christ is not all sufficient. I'm dissatisfied in my spiritual walk because of the sins that I commit daily. There is NO comfort in knowing that "we are sinners" and that sin is "just going to happen". I want my life motto to be better than that. I want to strive for righteousness AND daily. I am guilt ridden with the thoughts of thinking, "I deserve hell, not heaven, and I prefer to go there because I am not worthy of such a gift." The reality is, we all deserve hell, but I am reminded in Colossians 2:13-15 what God has done for me, and repent for dimishing the work on the cross by saying or thinking the above.

"When you were spiritually dead because of your sins and because you were not free from the power of your sinful self, God made you alive with Christ, and he forgave all of our sins. He cancelled the debt, which listed all the rules we failed to follow. He took away that record with it's rules and nailed it to the cross, he won the victory and showed the world that they were powerless."

Amen! I am powerless. Christ paid the price. There is no work to be done on my end. Christ did the saving, not me. He has forgiven my sins, as far as the East is from the West. What a grace! What an amazing grace!

Thank you GOD!

Sunday, February 27, 2011

Happy Birthday Darren!


(Ice Cream Cake from Pino Gelato on Franklin Road. I had this especially designed for Darren. Although, he BARELY ate 3 bites and not because it wasn't tasty, but because he's "Mr. Health Concious." The cake consisted of oreo cookie gelato, oreo rounds, and a special message for the birthday boy!)

Today was Darren's 34th birthday! I was able to find the time to cook him (3) meals today (breakfast, lunch, and dinner). It pleased me to be able to do that for him. After leaving for church, I had my neighbor Lisa set up his gifts in the kitchen, close to the door leading out to the garage. My goal was to have him walk in from Church and be surprised. Thank you Lisa for doing that for me. What a lifesaver! Darren received a bike, a bike rack, a nook carrying case, non-alcoholic Kahlua coffee for his Keurig machine, a few new articles of clothing for Spring, and a pillow pet (there's a story behind that. I will share in another post.). After all of the above and mounds of texts and phone calls from all of his friends and family, I think he definitely felt loved. As a matter of fact, Darren went to bed saying, "Honey, thank you for making my birthday so special!" It was my pleasure.

Darren, when God created you, he was thinking of me!!!

The pictures are not the greatest. They were snapped at the last moment (almost after the fact).
Daddy opening his gifts. You can barely see the bike's handles.
Jax and Lilah both LOVED daddy's new doggy pillow pet.
He will gently remind us of our sweet doggy Ninja.
Jax sporting a princess tiara in celebration of daddy's special day.
Lilah too!

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

I attempted and tried...

So, there are some things I DO NOT do around this house and one of them is taking the trash out. I'm sorry, but to me, that task is a man's job. Darren always jokes and says, "You love to pile the trash sky high, but you never take it out. Maybe if you took it out once in a while, you wouldn't pile it so high." The other night I attempted and tried to take the trash out for my hubby. After all, he truly is the ONLY one who does that chore around the house.

He saw me doing it and said, "Woah, this a photo moment. I'm definitely blogging about this one." He ran to grab the camera and in the midst of it, I tried to hurry up and take the trash out before he could snap away. From rushing around, I accidentally slammed the empty trash canister on my foot. Man did that hurt!!!!!

Darren's reply, "Your attempt failed!" At least I tried, okay?



Wordless Wednesday!




Monday, February 21, 2011

Jackie Pickie His Nose!

Friday, February 18, 2011

Funny Friday!


I came downstairs, this morning, with two babies, two blankets, a passie, and 3 "cell phones" in hand. I laid everything on the table and began making Lilah and Jaxon's breakfast. When I glanced over at the items I put on the table, I started to laugh. I not only carried my cell phone down, but the twins' cell phones down too!! LOL! What is this world coming to?

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Clever, Creative, Cute, & Contains Cash!




This is one of the coolest gifts I have ever received from Darren. This was part of my Valentine's Day gift he presented to me. Ashely is already calling "shot gun" on the "WHO" part. Anyone else in? No kids aloud. I'm saving these funds to go shopping for my trip to the Atlantis. YAHOO!

*Don't you just love the expiration date?*

The Perfect Greeting Card!!!!


It's no secret.... I love my blackberry!!! Anyone who knows me, knows this about me!

A Stroll in the Park with Co-eeen!


First a birthday kiss, now a stroll in the park, holding hands and gazing into each other's eyes. WHAT NEXT? Co-eeen, I love your mommy A LOT, but I'm not sure I love you enough YET to give you my only daughter's hand. Lay off.... LOL!

It's truly the oddest thing. Co-eeeen loves "Tice" and Lilah so much. I'm not sure where poor Jax fits in. I think he's a fourth wheel when Cohen's in the picture.

And speaking of "picture", sorry the photo above is so grainy. It was taken with my cell phone's camera.

How My Husbands Serves....

Where do I begin? How does my husband NOT serve me, our children, or our home? I know I am not supposed to boast in anything but Christ, but as I post this, I cannot contain myself from speaking kindly about my husband. Darren, I told you yesterday, everyday I feel like I am living a fairytale by being married to you. You are a man filled with the joy that only Christ can bring. You are a man that pulls your weight around our home even though you work hard outside of the home too. You are a man that does not think anything is beneath you. Humility, acts of kindness, and dedication are some of your best qualities. You are considerate and tender to my desires. You don't just tell me you love me. You show me you love me in your actions. THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart for being a man, who is dedicated to the Lord and to his family, for being my team player, for being the father I think every child deserves, and for providing for my EVERY need.

This past weekend, I was LAID OUT COLD for two straight days. Darren cleaned the house from top to bottom. I was able to sneak behind him and snap a photo of him cleaning the hardwood floors.


I did have to capture one from the front too though to show that he wastes NO time. While cleaning the hardwoods, he was listening to Sunday's sermon. Can you spot his headphone wires? We missed Church due to illness in our home. What a great example he is to myself as well as our children.

Ephesians 5:25 "Husbands, love your wife, the way Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her."

1 Peter 3:7 "Likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered."

Ephesians 4:32 "Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you."

1 Timothy 5:8 "But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever."

1 Timothy 3:4-5 "He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive, for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God’s church?"

Sensational 6


Some of the greatest gifts God has given to me include the friends I like to call my "sensational 6". God's grace has brought us all together. Although each of these woman bring different qualities to the table, our friendship is strong, solid, and built on our common love for Christ. I'm not sure I could ever experience a greater friendship than I have experienced with these woman.

The word friend is so misapplied. I think we have facebook to thank for that. We call each other friends but it goes much deeper than the "friend" one has on their facebook account. Our friendship is something we have worked hard to attain, but with much pleasure. I say we've worked HARD because we are all hard-working mothers and wives and that job is FIRST priority (aside from our walk with Christ of course). I say we have worked hard because we have an intimate knowledge of each other's lives, each other's fears, and each other's goals. We also know silly things about each other: our favorite desserts, our pet names for our spouses, and our weaknesses.

And finally, we NEVER let our birthdays pass without celebrating!!!! This month we celebrated Dawn, Erin and my birthday at the Outback Steak House. We all left there agreeing that we hadn't laughed so hard, like we did, in a while. The conversations were all over the board, but definitely glorify to our Savior.
I brought Erin and Dawn some birthday accessories: hat and glasses!!!! Ashely made sure I, too, was humiliated by bringing me a cupcake headband to wear. Thanks Ashely.
Everyone was laughing hysterical at me because during this serious group photo, I forgot to take the cupcake off my head. I couldn't feel it because my hair is so fluffy. Oh well, I don't mind being the brunt of a joke!!!
We got the hostess to take one final shot of us! This time I remembered to take the headband off.

I love you GIRLS!

Happy Valentine's Day Jaxon!

Happy Valentine's Day Lilah

Happy Valentine's Day Tyson!

Happy Valentine's Day Darren!

Monday, February 14, 2011

Shower Love Notes!

Here's a sneak peak into the 1,000 Valentine's Day posts I hope to make in the next few days! I loved this idea. Write your hubby or wife a sweet, romantic, or funny love note in the shower using Crayola's bath crayons.

Here's how Darren's Valentine's Day got started this morning! You can see how it's going to end! LOL!!!!!

It doesn't have to be Valentine's Day to do this. I found our crayons at Wal-mart. $5.97 per pack (I believe). Spruce up your daily love to one another. Don't let the fire be put out. Spark it!!!!! Even in the simplest fashion. :)

Scuttlebugs!

These scuttlebugs were given to us by Grandad and Grandnee for Christmas. I saw them in a catalog and I thought they would be a great idea to have sitting around indoors during the cold cold winter months. Scuttlebugs have a pedal-free design and are perfect for first-time riders, who just use their feet to make it go. Builds muscle, confidence and coordination.

Yes, the speed of Lilah and Jaxon, on this video, has been enhanced, but TRUST me, Jax especially is not too far off from honestly matching it. He's hilarious to watch. He went so fast yesterday he crashed into the wall and fell off. That's what got us thinking, we should record them in action.

Check'em out on line. IF you don't like pink or blue, amazon offers a ton more colors.

http://www.hearthsong.com/product.asp?pcode=3592

Thanks Grandad and Grandnee. AWESOME gifts.

Thursday, February 10, 2011

Rest, Relaxation, & Romance Is Heading Our Way!



Today, I booked a Couples Retreat Ritual for Darren and I while we are in the Bahamas. I am super excited to do this together. It will be so relaxing and very romantic, I think. Here's a sneak peak into how we will be pampered...


An indulgence just for two, the ritual begins with side by side massages in the deluxe spa villa where we will embark on a private journey together. We will relax in our generous soaking tub together containing fresh rose petals AND an additional 30 minutes of private time allows us to enjoy catered champagne and strawberries as well as lunch.


This might even be better than our wedding/honeymoon. We never even considered doing something like this 10 years ago. Next up, I want to book a super memorable excursion. Darren wants to snorkel. I want to scuba dive, BUT we are both afraid of being killed by a sea predator. YIKES!!!! God is sovereign though, so I am trying to remind myself that my day will end when it is supposed to end.


Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Wordless Wednesday.

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

The Great Commission

Preach the gospel at all times, use words if necessary.

Never Satisfied....

What I'd give for a small tidbit of chaos right now. All three of my children are home sick. Not sure exactly with what, but Tyson is on day 2 of missing school. I am trusting in the Lord. Between their illnesses (being homebound) and the passing of our sweet doggy, this week has been trying to say the least. All of them are so solemn. In a sense, the calmness is so nice, but it's never easy seeing your babies suffer. WHO'D ever think I would miss the CRAZINESS (okay, maybe just briefly). Enjoy the photos below which were taken on a really, really, really, really hairy day in the Bolling home - - no not today. This was weeks ago. Today, my kids are lifeless, especially Ty.

Good thing I keep my children's noses clean, right? You can see all the way up Ty's nose.

Ahhhhhhh, those finger prints. They sure do stress me out.




Monday, February 7, 2011

Jax on "Did you poop?"

Mommy: "Jax, did you poop?"
Jax: "Nooo-mm!"
Mommy: "Jax did you poop?"
Jax: "Uh-uh!"
Mommy: "Jax, did you poop?"
Jax: "Nooo-mm. Lilah poo-poo!"

Talk about blame shifting!!! He pooped, not Lilah. Even at the ripe old age of two, they are dead in their trespasses. Depraved as ever. I didn't teach him how to lie.

Sunday, February 6, 2011

A Trip BOOKED to Paradise Island 129 days from now!


This is NOT a dream, but a dream come true. This is not a joke, but a reality. Darren and I were married almost 10 years ago on Paradise Island, in the Bahamas, at the Atlantis Resort. Since the day we got married, we said we would definitely make sure we'd come back on our 10 year Anniversary. I wasn't sure, with 3 kids, if we would actually follow through, but yesterday we planned the trip out, pressed the submit button and paid the balance on it. YAHOOOOO! We have sitters lined up and everything. Now all we need to do is get our will in place so we prove to be good stewards of what God has given to us, by properly preparing the current unknowns, in the event we never return home. Ewe, that sounds so morbid.

The Atlantis is AMAZING. Have you ever heard of it? Check it out on http://www.atlantis.com/default.aspx

I cannot think of a better way to spend our 10 year wedding anniversary. Retracing our steps the day we committed our lives to one another will be so beautiful. I'm just looking forward to fully enjoying each other :), relaxing in the HOT sun, pigging out, staying up late and sleeping in. I told Darren we should even consider renewing our vows, but with a pastor under the word of God, rather than under the law.

All Aboard the Choo-Choo Train!


At Cohen's choo-choo party, we received some adorable party favors. The cutest ones were the conductor hat and scarf. The boys received a red scarf and the girls received a pink one. Yesterday, we were up in Lilah and Jaxon's room just playing around and they actually allowed me to dress them up using the goodie bag items. Jax actually refused to let me take his off for quite some time. He's obsessed with trains and ANYTHING to do with them (I guess that means the conductor's attire too!).
Ashely and Cohen, thank you for these precious items. I've started collecting dress up items for each of them, so one day, when they are old enough to pretend, they can go up to their room and play dress up together. I'm glad Jax will have something other than super hero attire to pretend with OR worse princess dress up (Lord knows he loves to copy "sissy"). At Christmas, I bought Jax the doctor dress up outfit and Lilah the nurse dress up outfit. It's from Melissa & Doug and a each set comes with doctor/nurse tools.
Lilah has been under the weather lately with a cold, so this is why she looks pitiful and unsmiley.