Nash’s drawing of me…his mom. I’m looking a little wide. Might need to hit the gym a little harder this week. 
Nash’s teacher at the Mother’s Morning Out program he attends, did an interview with each child about their mom. I particularly like his answer to question #5. I guess this kid really knows me well!
I love being a mom. I love my kids. I love my life.
GRATEFUL.
I love my globetrotting man…
Hurry home, babe!
Oh the adventures and stories! I’m grateful I get to do life with such an amazing man.
(L to R: Evyn, Xavier, Nash, Meyer, Charis, Isaiah)
The kids and I are spending the week in West Virginia visting my family while Bryson hops around Africa. My sister Olivia and her 3 little people also joined us for a few days. As usual, it has been pure chaos and pure fun. Nash and Xavier are inseparable! Meyer is happy as usual. Isaish has such red hair, I’m not sure where he came from. Charis is such a little mama. And Evyn is full of silliness as usual. Such fun days! Warning…I love taking pictures of these little people when they are all together, so there are A LOT of pictures!
Nash and Isaiah.
Livvy, Isaiah, and Charis
This one makes me laugh! Poor baby Isaiah!
Meyer loves running in the yard! She stayed up 2 hours past her bedtime last night just running around and rolling in the grass.
Nash and Xavier wrestling and playing. Such boys!
Toni’s Ice Cream…a Clarksburg staple.
“Xavier is my very best friend.” -Nash age 4
Fishing and catching frogs with Uncle Seth.
Baby Isaiah and Livvy…
Excellent running form, Nash.
Such a sweet face!
Girls.
Playing and running in the yard. JOY!
Laughter is good for the soul.
Baby Isaiah…check out that RED hair!!
Relaxing and eating s’mores
My favorite picture of the trip! The boys and their “adventure backpacks”. #memories.
Evyn has the look
Evyn loved celebrating her little friend Hadley at a princess party. The girls were adorable!
Hadley + Evyn
Evynn and sweet Nora
Little girls are so much fun…lots of drama…but so much fun!
We had a fabulous family day at Stone Mountain this weekend. You wouldn’t know it by this picture, so you’ll just have to take my word for it. It was surprisingly fun!
silliness with daddy
more silliness
look...some smiles!
Meyer's mantra: "Everything is better with a snack in hand."
We even took in a 4-D movie. Nash loved it. Evyn hated it but looked good her in glasses. Meyer at a whole bag of popcorn by herself.
Here is a beautiful video that Bryson helped create to say THANK YOU to all the students from Passion for giving $3.3 Million to fund projects fighting slavery around the globe. It is really powerful! Check it out and make sure you have a tissue handy…
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Passion City Church was outside on Easter, so the kids and I (along with our super awesome neighbors + their three kids) watched the service from the grassy lawn sitting on quilts and eating leftovers from the previous days picnic. It was perfect. My kind of Easter celebration! Here are a few pictures we snapped of the kids enjoying the service — playing in the dirt and grass while listening to and worshipping with Chris Tomlin, Christy Nockles, Matt Redman, and Kristian Stanfill lead worship….it doesn’t get more perfect than that!!
The boys, Cole & Nash, taking it all in...
Evyn playing in the dirt...being careful not to get too dirty in her Easter dress...
Evyn...just being Evyn.
I love celebrating Easter. It’s my favorite holiday because you get to celebrate Jesus and not mess with the hustle bustle of shopping for gifts. It’s no pressure and just quality time with friends and family. Love it! I did feel bad on Easter morning when I realized I had not even put together Easter baskets for the kids! They didn’t even ask and honestly they didn’t need the candy so it was fine. Maybe next year — if I remember! I actually like that the easter bunny and gift filled baskets aren’t the focus on Easter morning around here and hope it’s always that way!
Here are some more pictures of our weekend celebrating Easter with family and friends. The weather could not have been more beautiful!!
table set for the easter picnic...
guys playing a serious game of corn hole
Nash has his "adventure bag" (not a purse!) ready for the Egg hunt
Kids ready for the egg hunt! Ready set go!
She looks innocent, but this girl is serious about a good hunt!
so cute.
Death is beaten! You have set us free!
I love Easter! I love celebrating Jesus! It was a great weekend around here. We had an amazing Good Friday service with our church family, then hosted an Easter picnic with some friends and family on Saturday, and finished off the weekend back at church celebrating Easter.
Here are a few pics of the little people in their Sunday best….
So much joy on Easter!! Thank you Jesus!!
love Meyer's laugh in this picture!
Meyer looks like a pink pilgrim in this dress! SOOOO southern. Once a year I subject my girls to these southern dresses that are so popular here in Atlanta. Smocked and all (so not my style — but cute on the girls) We had a hiccup with Evyn’s dress this year — I forgot to try it on her before Easter morning (oops.) and when I put it on her this morning you could see straight through it! So, we had a last minute dress change and she is actually wearing one of Meyer’s dresses (24 month size!) She looks beautiful in white (anything really!) so she pulls it off well and she didn’t have to rock the southern belle look like Meyer!
Meyer has such an exaggerated walk....feet out and arms all over the place. It's adorable.
she's the definition of a "toddler" when she walks. toddle toddle wobble.
Yep, this gal is just a natural when it comes to make up, high heels, pink, and all things girly….
Step 1: Red looks good on everyone. Go for it!
Step 2: Just a little more...
Step 3: Take a look at your work in the mirror....
Step 4: Love how you look. Job well done!
Step 5: Show the world how beautiful you are....because you are beautiful inside and out...even with an excessive amount of lipstick.
Praying for Passion Vancouver tonight! It’s going to be Uh-mazing! Jesus will be glorified and we are praying for revival! Grateful BV is there to represent us… and I am there in heart and prayer. He is helping with the night but it looks like he had a little down time this morning…
Off they go!
A spontaneous sea plane ride? What a cool opportunity! pictures like this make me a teeny-tiny-just-a-little-bit-okay-maybe-more-than-just-a-little-envious! Not only is it so beautiful, but it’s a childhood dream of mine. I’m going to show my age here and go out on a limb, but anyone else ever watch a 1980′s show called Danger Bay?
Tell me that I am not the only one that ever watched this show?! My sister and I loved it! I seriously haven’t thought about it in years until I saw the pic of BV and the sea plane and it clicked in my roll-a-dex memory. This show was filmed in Vancouver and I always thought it would be so cool to fly in one of those sea planes. I also had a crush on the cute boy in the show — yeah, I have good taste. Funny how those random memories (not the crush part) came flooding back when I saw that little sea plane!
Well, like I said, I’m grateful BV is in Vancouver tonight and I’m praying for all my friends leading the way there. Revival come! That’s what it’s really all about.
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One day I’ll miss this awesome view from my kitchen window. I’ve been a lot of places and I’m convinced this is the most beautiful scenery in the world…
Baby Cakes — aka: My My — aka: Meyer is such a big girl these days! She now chooses walking as her preferred method of transportation, and she’s FULL of silliness, mischief and cuteness. Today I found her hiding in a corner…chewing a piece of peppermint gum that she found in my purse…smiling. When I told her “no, no!” she smiled even bigger and nodded her head yes. Uh oh, baby has some spunk! She loves playing outside, swinging, and of course…eating! She brings us so much joy!
Mischief.
I'm so funny.
Raise your hand if you want mama to blog about you!?
sweet friends...
It was a sunglasses, high heels, and best friend kind of day (or so Evyn thought! )! Hello spring time! Don’t break my heart and disappear on me, please! I’ve pulled out the flip flops and don’t want to see my boots again until next year! I love the warm weather because it means the kids can play outside….all. day. long! Yes please! Grateful for our sweet friends who live just a few doors down. Evyn loves her little friend and I snapped these adorable pics today of them. Can you stand the cuteness of these two little precious ones?! Love it!
more serious look.
And who’s this cool cat?
This cool little mug from Anthropology must really scream “EMIILY!” because 3 people who know me the best have all randomly given me this mug recently….
I love drinking anything from these mugs…glad I have three…you know, just in case one…or two…of them break I’ll still have one!
I’m typing this post from our new space in the basement…which I love.
Oh my goodness! Friday night around 8:30 we finally got to see the finished basement. We came down the steps and I was at a complete loss for words! We loved it! Even the “ugly” green carpet wasn’t so bad when all the other furniture and accesories were put in the space! I eat my words — Anitra (the designer) was right. The green carpet works! The “Reveal” was such a funny experience. Remember that awesome-knots-in-your-stomach feeling you used to get as a kid on Christmas morning just before your parents let you come in and see what Santa brought you…yeah, that is the feeling I had all night. There was so much build up to the moment that I was sure I was going to be dissapointed…but I wasn’t. I didn’t cry…but I almost did! I totally understand why people cry in those moments — so, so overwhelming! Not only was it completed with excellence, they totally outdid themselves on the furnishings and gadgets they gave us. I have never had a room with completely new everything– crazy! I can’t wait to see how funny we look when the episode releases in August. Unfortunately I’m not allowed to post any pictures until the show airs. Sorry! I know you are all dying to see the carpet.
It was such a fun and once in a lifetime opportunity. I’m so grateful! Everyone should apply for a home improvement show! You won’t regret it!
Friday 6:39pm Update: Will I love it or hate it?! I’m about to find out. Reveal was pushed back from 3pm to 6pm…and pushed back again. I’m really excited and nervous and excited and nervous….it’s a definite mix of both emotions!
Well, here goes nothin’! Stay tuned to find out what we think of it!!
Sidenote: This is definitely the most random/crazy/funny/silly/fun week our family has ever experienced! How do we get ourselves into these things!
Things were going so well. I should have known better. Something was bound to happen…and it did. It happened in the form of green carpet. Green. Seriously? It’s possible the designer picked the ugliest carpet made. Maybe she beat up someone’s grandma and took it out of another 1960′s ranch house?! Green. Really?!
My mantra has been “Trust the designer. Trust the designer. Trust the designer.” But I think she just lost me. I’m trying not to panic and I keep reminding myself that at least the bones are good and I can swap out carpet if I need to. I’m just going to stay positive, roll with it and keep an open mind until I see the whole space completed tomorrow at the reveal. I know I hate when people see/judge my work half way through, so I’m trying to give the same courtesy to Anitra (the sweet designer) and just trust her. Maybe she really will be able to pull it all together. I’m willing to eat my words — but as of now, I’m not very happy with the carpet choice. Green. Sigh.
We are really grateful to be a part of this, so I’m not meaning to sound ungrateful…just being honest! If nothing else, this should make for some interesting TV!
