The man I married. The man I love.

I married a boy. He was 20 years old. He had a huge smile and perfect lips. His dreamy eyes were big and green. My heart knew he was the one. He was generous, always looking for ways to bless people. He was reserved and gentle, yet outgoing and bold. He worked hard and was determined to be the best at everything he attempted to do and be. He wooed me by bringing me lunch on my shift at work or a Starbucks treat in the middle of the day. He made me feel like a queen. We were young, I was 18. We knew we wanted children, 5 or 6 to be exact. We knew we wanted to travel. We loved to cook. We loved to play games. We loved to talk. We loved to simply be together.

The boy I married is now 31. He still has his huge smile, perfect lips and dreamy eyes. He has proven to me to be more generous than I ever knew. He strives to give me everything I ask for and then some. He has exceeded my hopes and expectations as a provider. He still woos me with little notes, texts or by taking me to coffee. He's proven to me that I am his queen. I only want to be a princess but he won't have it.

We have 5 kids. With each one came sacrifice on his part as he has watched and encouraged his wife morph into an emotional pregnant woman 5 times over. And then came the nursing baby who is tied to the hip for a year. He not only puts up with it but takes the baby out for a walk when she won't calm down in the restaurant. He is an amazing father that brings more joy and laughter to the table than I ever could.

We love to cook more now than ever before. He is continually blessing me with his amazing skills in the kitchen. Be jealous ladies, sometimes he cooks AND does dishes. We also love to entertain. Sadly with 5 kids in the mix, it only happens about once a year! We still nerd out with games. It's moved from Scrabble to Settlers of Catan to Carcassonne to Dominion. We like games with words, and farming and dragons, we're just cool that way.

Stephen is my love. He stole my heart and has filled it with so much love and joy. We chose to live this life together. Some days are tough. Some years are tough. But loving him is constant. It is a constant choice and when chosen, it is wonderful. We aren't perfect. And I have failed him on many accounts. With God's grace though, and Stephen's patience, we get to grow old together; we get to experience life together. Marriage is a tricky thing. There are so many things that I didn't understand 11 years ago that I now know. I can honestly say this: marriage, this marriage, gets better with age. For that I am thankful and eagerly anticipate the next 11 years...and many more after that.

I love you Stephen.

Selling our house.

Imagine selling your house. Imagine wanting to make it look out of a magazine at the whim of a phone call. Imagine this taking place every day for two months. Okay, now add 5 kids. Add 5 beds that need made. Add 3 loads of laundry that need washed, dried, folded and put away every day. Add 6 meals per day. Add 50 fingers that you scramble to scrub after each said meal before they touch the ground, walls or furniture. Add 15 pairs of shoes laying around the house at any given time. Add the baby getting teeth and being tied to you at the hip. Add a bout of food poisening that both you and your husband were laid up for 2 days while the kids swept through the house like a tornado. Add influenza hitting and laying up everyone for 2 weeks following. Add a drought with 90+ degree weather every day and no air conditioning. Add the toothpaste that coats the sink after 4 kids brush their teeth twice a day. Add the pillows that seem to walk off the couch minutes after you put them on. Add the legos THAT ARE EVERYWHERE! Okay...you got all that...welcome to my life. It's been a crazy couple of months. I'm ready for our house to be sold.

Minecraft, Legos, he's all boy!

And just like that, he's 5. Pike plays legos all day long, every day. When we are gone for a few hours, and return home, he goes straight to his room to build whatever was going through his imagination for the previous hours. 

Most days, the kids get 30 minutes of screen time (electronics) and most days Pike chooses Minecraft. He requested a Minecraft birthday and so I tried to make it simple and fun. He loved it! thankfully these pictures don't show what a poor sick little guy Pike was on his birthday. He spent the majority of the day sleeping with a fever. :( But, he doesn't seem to remember that. And by these pictures, hopefully he'll only remember the fun things.

Pike is strong. He is determined. He is brave. He is kind, especially to his sweet baby sister. Pike is challenging and I am being shaped into a better mother and person because of him. I'm so thankful for his silliness. Happy Birthday Pikee Dude!