Father Daughter Dance & Valentines Day!

 

As most of you know the yearly Father Daughter dance is one of the most precious days. To see Charli and Curtis get dressed up for one another makes my heart melt. They want to please the other and look fancy as Charli would say. 

This is how Charli picked for her hair to be done this year. I'm not very talented in that area and sadly the rain did not help much. 

Aren't they just adorable? Her excitement for this day was so sweet. She wanted to give him gifts and he brought her home a rose. This is the stuff that every little girl dreams of. 

They went dancing for a bite then ended their night by eating out at Charli's favorite  place, Chuy's. 

Charli's class had a Valentine box contest  and she decided to make a puppy this year. I honestly was not prepared to help with a big box this year but we made it happen one Sunday afternoon during nap time. 

She just loved how it has a bow and tutu. I glued most of the items while she cut and held pieces together. 

She actually won the contest surprisingly too! She was so excited when I arrived at her class party. 

I made these last minute scarves for the second grade teachers. Obviously I did not know their full names so I went with a one letter monogram. 

Curtis has been wanting a pair of casual shoes for a while so I decided to give him something he needed rather than chocolates or such. (Don't mind that I am still new at this stuff and purchase the wrong size. But thanks to Finish Line for mailing the correct to us!) 

I pretty much refuse to spend $4 on a useless bag and remembered that I had kraft paper so I made this corny little design. I tried to think of reasons that CB would say too. But when she got home from school she wrote some of her own reasons. 

Valentines morning I woke up while he was in the shower and rushed outside to put this on his truck. 

You know it's funny ;) 

Curtis and I spent the Saturday after Valentines Day in Nashville. We went shopping then out to eat at Stoney River Steak House, then had breakfast at Loveless Cafe. I swear that I am going to get better at taking pictures of him and I together. I just typically put away my phone when we have a lone time. I could not have asked for a better gift then time well spent together and a full nights of rest. 

No One Can Make You Feel Inferior Without Your Consent-

The quote listed in the title of this blog post typically makes me feel, "okay" or "strong." But lately when I remind myself of this quote after someone literally tries to make me feel inferior, it becomes more of a slap in the face. Not because I am inferior but because I give others the ability to let me feel so. 

Do you let others make you feel ashamed? 

I think it is human nature. Even if the person hurting you, is not even meaning to do so. We have all accidentally said things before that we have not meant, so that is not neccassary what I am speaking of. 

Do you stop to smile back at a person who is walking by? Or make a friendly conversation back when someone speaks to you? If not, then you have probably made the other side feel unworthy for that speck of moment and that spilt second can feel like a lifetime.

It seems that I am growing my children up in a world of adults who feel as if they have power over one another. It can be from a coach, a school activity or just a Mom on Facebook. 

We are adults, men, women, workers, parents and at the end of each are we not all just that.  So why, why, why must we beat one another down even with small gestures or actions.

Kids sense these things, and they pick up on our parent battles way more often than we think they notice. {Especially my kid who sometimes with her vocabulary I think I need to send her 80 year old self back to the nursing home that she came from.} Then we wonder why kids "bully" one another. 

Have you ever thought it was because they see the actions from us as adults first? Mind blowing isn't it? We look so closely at others that sometimes we fail to look into our own hearts and realize that maybe we are the start of certain issues. 

Yesterday while at a local consignment sale a lady dropped an item next to me and I quickly bent over to pick it up to hand back to her. Before I even raised back to my standing position she was already snatching it from my hand and giving me that funky "why would you even touch my soon to be item" look. So I just kind of laughed it off and then thought to myself how she probably has no idea how she actually made me feel dumb for a spilt second. Why would I feel dumb? Because she practically stomped on the fact that I was trying to do something nice for her. 

We are such a blind world that is focused to much on ourselves and not enough on others. I carry the term of bullying loosely because I feel that we have also become very sensitive within the United States BUT to be honest I am tired {so tired} of getting the cold shoulder, the dirty looks, and pushed out because of others. It's time that we as adults start setting great example for our children and start working on our hearts while working on theirs. 

"People will not always remember what you said, but they will always remember how you made them feels."

LoneStar Rodeo

Once again as a family tradition this year we made our way right up the road to the WKU AG expo center to watch the LoneStar Rodeo. This is the fifth year for Charli and I together and the third for us as a family. I am very certain that the kids will never let miss a show if possible. 

After having so much fun playing in the snow Bryar took a car nap on the way in. We changed our plans and had lunch by drive thru so he would be able to enjoy the rodeo in a decent mood. 

Bryar wore his chaps and vest to sport his cowboy soul and actually won second place best dressed cowboy. He was the cutest thing though! His favorite part was obviously the bulls and Charli loved watching the barrel racers. Each time one would come out we would decide if we were a fan of that particular color. Typically her favorites are buckskin but she was siding with Curtis on all of his picks. 

The entertainment was SO good too. I had watched this guy on Good Morning America a while back and he seriously amazed me. He is known as the "Mustang Millionaire." He was on a show on National Geographic where these trainers would pick a horse out of a herd of wild mustangs, then they had 120 days to train the horse. Whoever had the best one and the end won the money. 

Obviously he won. Yes, that horse is sitting like a dog in the car. I mean really? That is so awesome to me.

Charli participated in the gold rush (digging for money in hay) along with other kids. But girl is way to timid for anything like this. I'm not sure whose kid she really is? 

After we left Bryar wanted to do nothing more than come home and ride everyone like we were bulls. Charli bless her heart became the bull by the end of the night. I suppose that is some of the non-perks of being the big sister. 

Snow Much Fun!

Last weekend we finally got a little bit of snow. Even though it was not much and it was honestly all gone by lunch we made the best of it. 

It is true that southern Kentucky continue to get missed in every direction and by just a few miles. I know most of you are ready for the winter weather to disappear and Spring to be in full force. But I on the other hand love the snow. 

Watching my kids play and be able to play with them is such wonderful memories for me. 

Is it obvious that Charli got tired of pulling Bryar half way down the lane? 

Curtis and I eventually took over running these two back and forth. 

We ended up at Charli's favorite spot on the farm which she calls rock city. There was a some water that had frozen over so her and Curtis tried walking on it which really went about as well as you can imagine. 

Have I ever mentioned how much Gunner loves the snow? He goes into complete happy fits and it's the funniest thing, ever. We always say that it reminds him of his "home" before he made the trip to America. 

Bryar could of enjoyed the entire day just being pulled around. But soon after we were finished playing it was time to head to the rodeo. 

And She Does it, Again.

On Friday night we were on our way to dinner, and Charli starts asking questions. You know, the type of questions that make you cringe, swear and your heart sink to your toes? She is really good at those. As she is getting older and starting to realizes the differences in family members and her school friends, she asked me if I had two Dad's growing up.

Gulp.

I've tried to avoid this questions. Because I know soon after this question, the question of her own will arise. Which is probably an okay discussion but I plan to avoid it until I feel neccassary. 

So I tried to talk my way out if it, which obviously did not work. She explained to me that she has a friend who has a step brother, and she remembers that I met my sister last year. 

Darn.

"Yes, I do have two Dad's kind of. But my "real" one has not ever been in my life."

"well, Mom if I knew him I would just explain to him how he needs more experience then he would see how great kids really are."

Haha. "He just isn't a man that would care, Charli. He mainly just cares about himself from what I know and because of that it makes me not care about him at all."

"That is not how Jesus loves us and wants us to love others."

Yea. Really? A conviction, guilt trip and hilarious laughter all into one. How does she do it? How is she able to convict me at seven?

This conversation did make me think, and I know she is right. But just because she is right does not mean that I am wrong too. Do you I love him for his failure of being a parent to my siblings and I? No. Will I ever? Never. But do I understand that people fail others and themselves on a constant basis. Yes. 

I cannot say that I will ever not dislike him and if she wants to dislike her biological Father, I will not hender her from doing so. This may or may not be the incorrect way of parenting or being a Christian but wow, I simply just cannot justify love in this one.

A Very Late Elf Post.

Every year I have strived my best to stay away from the dreaded elf. I honestly get way to stressed during the holiday season and overwhelmed with all that is going on. But this year I gave in. 

We decided that if we were going to take this task on, then it was best for us to strive to do it as a Christian version. This is the letter that Mr. Jingle left the night he  arrived:

{Zoom in, I refused to type again. Ha}

Charli was so excited that she kept saying, "I'm going to pass out." Then she fell in the floor in the biggest smile. Score! Mommy and Daddy for the win. 

Then as time went on, I realized there were so so many questions arising. One day Jingle even forgot to move. But that was blamed on Charli having the tummy bug and him just wanting to watch over her. 

No kidding this mischevious little dude wrapped the toilet the day that Bryar and I both had the stomach bug. I mean how does that even happen? Thank goodness Charli knew it was okay for the parents to touch him and his projects since there are so many little hands in our home. 

One day he knocked over her Christmas tree. She was not thrilled about this, at all. 

She left to stay with grandparents one night so he was able to take ride on "Bobby James the horse."

Everyone really cracked up at him being a goof and using the potty. Which I think freaked Bryar out and made him stop using the potty for a while? 

Then, Heaven help us a toddler touched him. There was screaming, tears shed and I thought Charli had cut off a limb. But after explaining the process of writing a letter to Santa to restore Jingle's magic, he was awarded a certificate of health. Thank goodness for second chances. 

Pay no attention to the tape you may or may not be able to see. Seriously, people how do you make these things stay so perfectly? 

Yea... I now see that he looks like he is being put on the cross in the above photo. But he stayed there tightly all night, which was a score for me. 

Bryar loved the snacks that were left out. He would eat on them all day until Charli arrived back home. 

Then Bryar got croup, so he stayed above his bed to keep a close eye on him. Charli called "lame" on this. But Jingle was just to tired to care much at this point. 

He made up for it the next night by being a stinker and hanging their undies on the Christmas tree. Everyone loved this. 

Right before it was time for him to leave, he was touched again by Bryar. Bah-humbug. So after another certificate of health, I was ready for a mild departure. 

Charli made him some crafts and told him just how much she loved him visiting them this year. She was really sweet about it. But... It raised a lot of questions from her seven year old self. So many questions that I have started second guessing the entire process. Maybe I put to much into it, or maybe the entire thing was just not a grand idea? I'm not sure. Will we do it this coming year? I am going to say probably not. We shall see though.