just curious...

i blog for the primary reason of being able to record memories that i would never remember if i didn't jot them down. 

i love that when i see the littles playing so cute together that i quick grab my camera to snap a pic so i can remember that moment when i blog about it later.

before blogging i would only take "posed" pictures (which i still take of course) but now i love to take "real life" pictures as well.

i love to go back into my blog and read funny stories or look at the memories we have made...it really does make me smile. 

every time. 

like this one.

there are times blogging can be stressful.  trying to keep up with the posts.  deciding what to post, not to post. how much to expose. wondering who is reading...which leads me to this.

although I do not blog to gain followers (obviously!) i would love to know who reads my blog.  I look at my live traffic feed sometimes and it is so neat to see people from all over (like North Pole, Alaska..how cool!)

so if you don't mind i would love for you to take a second and comment and tell me a little about yourself. 

just this one time. 

if you would like.

if i don't get any responses that's ok too...

i will keep blogging to preserve the memories that are so dear to my heart.

thanks all!

of course i had to post one pic of the littles taken before church.

superbowl 2012

i have to be honest that i could care less about football.

i don't get it and i don't care to.

there is way too many people out on the field and on the sidelines to even begin to comprehend what the heck is going on

however, i am all about football if it involves snacks so therefore i was all about the superbowl. 

go snacks!

i did have to buy the little giants tshirts since they are daddys team...

it made daddy happy.

the game began with quite a crowd at the whitacre house.

but then a just a few short minutes later it was just daddy and ella. the rest had scattered like little ants. ella unlike her mommy really wanted to understand the game

sophie who really doesn't care about sports decided to bring something she did enjoy into the event...art!

good thinking sophie!  we needed some posters (and who knew that number 10 has 12 fingers on hands that resemble suns!)

all in all i would say we had a successful superbowl party. :)

goodbye Shiny...we will miss you.

Sophie's beloved pet goldfish, Shiny, passed away several weeks after Santa dropped her off on Christmas eve. 

i never dreamed that i would ever cry over a dead goldfish but i have to tell you seeing my little girl hurt made this momma hurt so deeply.

she was just so sad and wanted her momma to hold her...and that i did.

my mom put shiny in this little box and sophie quickly went to work to make a cross to put on top of the box

later that day we took her to the pet store to buy a new fish and that is where we found flower.  flower made sophie smile again.

i think what struck me so hard with all of this is that it is the first time i ever saw one of my littles hurting and i certainly know it will not be the last...and there is nothing i can do about it. 

that stinks. 

but i can take comfort knowing that my little are being raised to know the Lord and are being guided to always turn to Him to seek comfort...just as their mommy and daddy do.

Psalm 18:2



The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge. He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.

The influence of Macaulay Culkin

i never dreamed i would write about macaulay culkin in my blog

and i certainly never dreamed that i would have three little girls that are so obsessed with Home Alone (1 and 2 to be exact) that they would watch it all.the.time.

my sweet little abbie at least once a day will go around the house asking everybody who they like better marv or harry...and just so i don't leave you in suspense it is unanimous in our home...marv gets our vote

but i have to say the obsession for home alone took a turn in the wrong direction when i stumbled across this on our stairs

i thought to myself...what in the world?  who was playing on the stairs and left a toy on each stair?  who would be playing with a weeble WITH a vacuum attachment?

the answer was found with this little peanut

it only took a minute before she proudly regretfully began to tell me how she got mad at her sweet little cousin, kennie, and then decided to go and plant toys on the stairs so kennie would fall...just like kevin did when marv and harry came into his house...

oops

perhaps this is the time mommy should put an end to home alone.

what will be next?

will i find

abbie spraying down our steps before her sissies come home from school?

throwing a paint can over our stairwell when mommy tells her its bedtime?

good bye home alone.  We will miss you.

A little Tesla anyone?

signs have invaded the whitacre home. 

if i knew how to put music on my blog i would totally play a little tesla right now to set the tone...but since i don't you are encouraged to start humming the tune to yourself (signs, signs, everywhere there's signs...)

they have started to surface e.v.e.r.y.w.h.e.r.e. in the whitacre home

sometimes these signs are very sweet




and sometimes these signs are just darn right mean because our mean  misunderstood sophie is upset with a sister or sisters

exhibit A


this one seems innocent enough but...nope not at all...for you see sophie is the only one in the house who likes horses and fish which makes this sign exhibit B


exhibit C


and just when i think i have found exhibit D i realize sophie inadvertently excluded herself from this club...oops. i am surprised ella didn't point out this mistake to sophie...she was probably too scared to.

and i had to end with this sweet picture that sophie drew for her abbie (yes i know directionality is not her strength at the moment, it is supposed to say "to abbie" Sophia)...here is some proof that my little moody sophie does have a sweet side with her sissies...it just doesn't show itself too often. :)



oh my little sophie...

Simple Life...

The Simple Life...

this is what I soo want for me and my family!  It's so funny because if you would of  talked to me ten years ago I would not want anything close to a simple life...in fact the more the better...More what?  More anything!  I always associated having more with being happier...I always longed for more money, more house, more clothes, more shoes, more fun, more vacations, more everything!  And as we desired more and more we slowly became dependent upon two incomes...but what did that matter back then?  I went to college for 7 years to have a career and there was NO was I was going to settle and become a stay at home mom... not me! 

Gradually over the years things began to change...We went from living in a small city to a small little village about 30 minutes from everything.  We began to attend church and I soon began to realize there was so much more to this life then I once had thought...the Lord soon began to mold me into the woman he wanted me to be...and trust me it was very different from the woman I was becoming...

I can now say that I desire the simple life...a life with a lot less stuff...a life where I can stay home and enjoy my babies...A life that allows me to spend more time with the hubby...a life that isn't in constant "go" mode...a life that is just more simple!  And I have to tell you I have even changed as far as the blogs I read...I now get so excited to read family blogs where the families share tips on how to be thrifty because they had to sacrifice in order for the momma to be able to stay home with their babies!  The blogs that give suggestions on inexpensive ways to have fun with your family...the blogs that share what they go without for the sake of their family!  Now that is sacrifice...have I ever really sacrificed anything?  Sadly..the answer is no.  Stuff was always too important...

My longing for the simple life is a process and I will not deny that there are days that I go 2 steps backwards and want to delight in all worldly things around me...it's hard and a battle I am always fighting...but it's a battle I wont' give up...I wont' give up until I am the momma and wife that God wants me to be...I won't give up until I can be at home spending more time with my hubby and babies.  

So there it is.

This and that

wow...it has been awhile

here is what we have been up to in the month of January

we lost another tooth while eating on some sweet and sour chicken

levi realized he could see mommy even when she was behind him

and yes that made him this happy!

no words are needed for the this picture

we had play dates that involved gettting pretty

the two littlest littles enjoyed some bonding time.  levi loves to grab one of the girls hands and guide them through the house...melts this mommas heart

we went to Princesses on Ice...no levi did not go but in true levi fashion he had to crash the photo shoot.

and had a magical time! (Thank you uncle scott and aunt emily!)

We got into trouble for putting the dog's food into his water dish

well maybe not trouble...who could yell at this little boy...not me. :)

we made daddy a happy birthday cake

made eleborate castles that involevd lots of blocks lined with matchbox cars and...

squinkies watching wild horses....and...

a random bunny family.

we had a few of these

we had an impromptu pirate show...mommy was pleasantly surprised to get invited to a pirate show while i was busy cleaning upstairs...so worth the break!

we had a picnic lunch the day after sophie came home from the hospital for asthma related issues.

we have kept busy in the month of january.  love hanging out with my little family.