My Favorite

When D and I had been dating a while we started saying the phrase, "you're my favorite," to each other. We said it a lot, even sending messages to each other that stated: To My Favorite. When we became a family, I started having to qualify that statement.  Buddy is my favorite little Big boy. Jellybean is my favorite little girl. I guess you can't play favorites anymore when you're the Mom.
So, now I have my three very favorite people.  I feel so overwhelmed and amazingly blessed by these three people in my life.

Notice Jellybean starting to smile with her mouth full of chocolate milk.

I'm almost at a loss to describe that feeling I get when I look at that picture. I'm just so full of joy knowing that they are mine. If I had to describe what my "Happy Song" is, that would be it.

Have a Happy Day!

~MJ

Going Green

We went green for St Patty's Day this last week! I realized on Thursday that none of us had a scrap of green in our closets. I began to have elementary school related anxiety about my children being pinched by others more zealous in their holiday celebrations. So, we headed out to the store to remedy the situation. Then on the day, we held an impromptu photo session. D agreed to be the photographer despite his exasperated sighs. I had to bribe the children to stand still. I don't know why Buddy has a spoon, but hey, it's green, so who am I to complain.

Yep, that's one great spoon.

Apparently, Daddy is doing something that is both funny and disturbing.

Anything to keep from looking at the camera and smiling. Here you can see a hint of the orange leggings my little fashionista chose to go with her denim skirt and green shirt.

Look at that handsome kid! This photo was captured a split second before he pulled a face.

I hope all of your St. Patty's Day celebrations were a success!

Have a Happy Day!

 ~MJ

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Wordless Wednesday: Sunday Valentines

For the last day in February: My little ones being silly after church in their valentines best. They refuse to pose for me and have decided that regular smiles were so two weeks ago...

 

 Have a Happy Day!

~MJ

This post is participating in Wordless Wednesday!  Join in the fun!

Wordless Wednesday: Reading Together

 

Buddy and Jellybean spending some quality time together.  She loves doing everything he does. 

For more Wordless Wednesday, check these out.

Have a Happy Day!

~MJ

 

5 things you didn't know about Spider Man

I seems my life lately has been dominated by super heros. Over the last few days I've learned a lot about Spider Man. I already had the 1960's theme song down, but I had no idea how dynamic this guy really is.

5 things you didn't know about Spider Man:

1. Spider Man loves to show off his muscles. All that web slinging really builds up that body. I mean, Wow!

2. Spider Man is a little bit vain and likes to check himself out in the mirror... a lot.

3. He plays with action figures. The action figure of himself is his absolute favorite.

4. He likes to wear a bib and get jam all over his face when he eats dinner. That's right, so don't mess with him.

5. Finally, I don't have photo proof of this, but I have it on good authority that he even sleeps in his costume, which, I can only imagine, would make trips to the bathroom just a little bit awkward in the middle of the night...

To super hero moms everywhere. Have a happy day!

~MJ

Picture Perfect

Don't you love it when a photo is able to capture perfectly the personalities of the subjects?

This is from our last professional family photo shoot. My son is such a happy, go-lucky little soul and my daughter is sassy and definitely hard-to-get. They are such opposites in so many ways and yet they enjoy each other so much.

I wish that every photo I took during the day could capture them the way I see them. I love these little faces.

I find myself here after a long silence and am glad to be back at it! Until next time...

Have a Happy Day!

MJ

Embrace The Camera- "Mud"

A couple of weeks ago, we met a friend for a play date at a farm.

We walked around for an hour with Jellybean strapped to my hip and the boy running ahead with his friend. We saw: chickens, roosters, cows, sheep, geese, horses, rabbits and goats. My son had a marvelous time running around with his friend and we even had time for a picnic. It was a beautiful day and a really fun outing.

Here we are in front of a large barn. My son is saying, "..but I don't want to eat lunch."

On the way home I asked my son: "Did you have fun at the farm? What did you see there?"
From the back seat came his enthusiastic response... "I saw MUD!"

Ah mud, glorious mud. Way better than a bunch of farm animals, any day. :)

On that note...Have a Happy Day!

Favorite Photo

Over the weekend, we took the kids to get some photos taken. Now, in my opinion, my children are adorable and we got a lot of beautiful photos of them smiling.

But this photo was my favorite of the entire shoot:

Is there something wrong when a mother loves the crying photos more than the smiling ones?

I guess I love that this shot shows that over-dramatic, 2.5 year old side of my son. That face breaks my heart and makes me laugh all at the same time. I'll note that in the blink of an eye he was smiling again. Ah, my sweet, dramatic, handsome, silly, expressive boy. Please, don't ever change.

Have a Happy Day!

Embrace The Camera- The Boy and His Dad

Lazy Sunday afternoon, watching TV and cuddling with his Daddy.

I love that I have a cuddly boy that likes to sit and stroke our hair. I'll be so sad when he outgrows this stage. I also love that I have a wonderful husband that enjoys cuddling with his children.

Jellybean was watching TV, too, but she is NOT a cuddler.

Join Emily and her crew in Embracing the Camera every Thursday!

Have a Happy Day!

Embrace The Camera

It warmed up enough that we were able to enjoy a walk outside and hang out on the porch swing, too. As you can see a little taste of Spring weather made us pretty happy. I can't wait until time outside is a daily occurrence.

Jellybean is confused by this mom-in-the-picture-too thing. I wonder what she was thinking in that little head of her's...

Jellybean's perspective on events:
Why are you doing this mom?

Oooo, camera...

Alright, now where did my brother go?

I'm glad she adapts so quickly. :)
Have a happy day and remember to Embrace the Camera!!

Embrace The Camera

I'm hopping aboard the "Embrace The Camera" train.
The challenge from Emily of The Anderson Crew: get in front of the camera rather than being behind it.
I attempted to document a couch wrestling session with the boy. Am I happy with the way I look in this photo? Not especially, but I wouldn't trade this moment for anything. Ever try to hold a camera steady while a 2 1/2 year old attacks you? Didn't think so. heh.
Jellybean tried to get in on the action but alas, she is too little to get up on the couch, not that she didn't try.
I hope that my children will remember the day to day fun we had and that they won't remember a time when I was ever too busy to wrestle.

If you'd like to embrace your camera, link up here.