A Collection of Happy Days: September 2018

A day in our life. I love that my kids play in their own little world. I've probably mentioned it a few times... but I grew up that way. Lots of barbies and beanie babies and my imagination. I love seeing them do the same thing!

Wilson thinks he doesn't need naps anymore. Ha!

It's always a good day when the kids devour something I cook. They're pretty good eaters. But it's not very often that they both happily eat without a fight. I cherish these few moments ;P

Kayla gave up naps a long time ago... but she too still needs them sometimes ;)

My gym buddies

How cool is this set up at our local library!?

Cute boy!

Both kids had fun with it!

We normally go to the library on base, this was our first time going to the Bossier library. The kids had SO much fun there! So now we go back and forth between both of them. Ha. I've actually heard a lot of great things about the Benton library too. One of these days we'll check that one out as well.

And then they both took a nap!!! That never happens. I love when it does though! Lol.

Where is Wilson? ;)

Jacob wanted to head to a town about an hour a way to look at some trucks for sale. So we made a little adventure out of it. The kids got some frostys. Honestly, I think its the first and only time we've done that. Haha.

And then it was taking much longer than we thought it would so we grabbed some juice to keep them happy.

They sure are cute kids

On the way out of town to do this, we stopped by the Airman's Attic on base and picked up this car for Wilson's birthday. I didn't expect to be sitting in the car waiting for so long and he ended up seeing it back there. It was still a few weeks to his birthday though so I think he forgot about it. Lol.

Wilson loves to wear Kayla's dresses. Whenever we catch him he gets the grumpiest face. So funny!!

Playing at the gym! It's been something trying to make this work for us. We have access to the gym on base for free. But you have to watch your own kid while you workout. They've got this really cool play area with a gate around it, in the same big room as a bunch of workout equipment... but Wilson has not liked it. I think a combination of too many kids, not wanting me to step away (like 10-15 feet! Come on kid ;P), and who knows what else. It's been a constant battle. Slowly but surely he's figuring out that it's ok.

Aquarium fun!

Cute girls!

We took a handful of legos from my parents house for the kids to play with on our road trip. They have LOVED them! I was worried they might be a little small for the smaller legos, but they both have done so well with them. Again, I'm thrilled to see my kids using their imaginations!

Silly kids at church. And Wilson looks like a little old man. Lol.

Playing with their animals from Omi <3 She gave them to the kids when we saw her back in August. They love Omi and talk about her all the time!

And Kayla had to grab another bear that she had gotten from Omi and Grandpa when she was little <3

Love my cuddle bugs

Dressing up. Hahaha. Jasmine has been his favorite dress up costume for a while. Jacob is not a big fan of that. I think it's pretty cute and funny though.

Helping Mommy take care of the mountain of dirty dishes......

Seriously my new favorite quote!!! Although it goes slightly differently for me. It's more like I'm sitting on the couch telling the Lord, I can't do this anymore more (kids screaming and fighting again, dirty house, etc, etc)... and then I get up and keep doing it.

Had this made for Jacob for our anniversary. It's a B-52 (the plane he works on) challenge coin holder. (I don't know if it's an Air Force thing or military thing... but you can get coins for different things you've accomplished... there's some other history behind it. I'm sure if you were really interested you could google it.) I went to the wood shop on base with a few images I had found online and the guy said he'd take care of it in the price range I was hoping for... It's absolutely perfect and exactly what I had in mind... except that it's twice as big as I was expecting. So I feel like I got a great deal! ...but I don't think he'll ever have enough challenge coins to fill this baby up. And we have no surface big enough for it to fit on besides our kitchen counter. Ha! I ended up using the slots for the coins to hang it on the wall. Maybe we'll build a stand for it in the future. He only has 3 coins right now anyways. Happy Anniversary Babe, I tried! Oh well...

What a cute kid! Just chilling! Ha.

Comparing Jacob and Wilson

Grandma and Grandpa Ruske came to visit for Wilson's birthday. Grandma was staying the whole week, but Grandpa was just there for the weekend. So we celebrated Wilson's birthday a few days early. Our friends came over too.

Kayla had insisted on pink cake for her birthday earlier in the year... so of course that meant Wilson needed blue cake for his birthday. Duh!

Caught Wilson in another one of Kayla's dresses. Lol.

I've been working some with Macaroni Kid Shreveport. At one of the family nights they had kids make thank you cards for one of the local fire stations. So we made some cookies and helped deliver the cards and some treats. The kids were so happy that they got to go up in the fire truck!

Crazy kid!

Cutie!

Kayla got a Rey costume and was SO THRILLED!!! And Wilson got a handful of costumes that weren't dresses. Lol.

She wanted to be Rey every where we went.

Showing us one of Wilson's new costumes... Lol.

He wanted nothing to do with his and kept taking her dresses...

I told you I really liked this!

So I put it in the bathroom. Lol. It's the perfect view to see from my bed (and every time I walk in to the bathroom) and to remind me to keep going. Cause if we're being honest, there are plenty of times that I'm also laying in bed telling the Lord that I can't keep going... and I have to get up out of bed and keep going.

A wall in the kid's room. I made the "I am a child of God" sign. Our cousin Corwin made Kayla the heart for Christmas 2017, and cousins Logan and Alyssa made them the CTR. Love it!

Last time putting my one year old to bed!!!

Love love love these babies!

Donut holes for breakfast!

And Kayla got her favorite too, pink with sprinkles ;)

My sweet baby over the last 2 years!! I had a hard time choosing only a few ;) It was so good to go through all of these pictures though. We've got it pretty great. I think back to where we were then and it's easy to think about being broke and fighting ppd and all the other negative stuff... but we had SO many great times and life is pretty dang great. There are so many more blessings than stresses... even though some times it seems the other way around. We are so blessed and I love these people and the life we have SO much!!!

Honestly I was only planning on giving Wilson the car we got for free for his birthday. I knew how much he'd love it! Ha. And then Jacob came home with another surprise. Spoiled ;) And of course Grandma and Grandpa gave him plenty of presents.

Good choice Daddy ;)

They were both pretty excited about the car. Haha!

More cake and singing on his actual birthday ;) Love my big 2 year old <3

And the next day was our anniversary. Found this on the counter after Jacob had left for work and I got up for the morning. He sure does know the way to my heart ;)

Pretty sunrise

Wilson's 2 year check up

Facebook even told us happy anniversary ;P

She needed her hair to go with her costume.

Cute girl

And there's Wilson as Jasmine again. Hahaha. He was refusing to try the little boy costumes that Grandma got him.

Crazy static hair!

Presents from Grandma McConnell came in the mail!

We were supposed to have a weekend away in Hot Springs for our 5 year anniversary.... but the government owns my husband currently so.... Maybe one day we'll get a weekend away just the 2 of us. A date night will have to suffice for now.

Jacob got up for work early one morning and found Wilson passed out on the couch. Hahahaha. And now that Jacob works swing shift, Wilson is always the first one awake. I wish we had cameras to see this boys antics while we're sleeping. Lol.

He finally decided to give some costumes other than Elsa and Jasmine a try. What a cutie! And in case you didn't know, race car driver costumes make you go fast!

Wilson got legos for his birthday. Both kids are thrilled ;)

In case I haven't said it enough... I just love their imaginations at work!!

Trying out BB8!

Sweet cuddles

And we got to sneak in one more date night before my Mom left town. A pretty good score for me... not so great for Jacob ;)

I love every moment with this guy!

Batman! (And Jasmine. Lol.)

Warming up to those other costumes.

Finally got my new print from this summer up in a frame!

Some times Kayla gets to come in to primary with me (I'm the 2nd counselor). She loves getting to be with the big kids!

My Cookie Monster!

Got a great deal on a down comforter from dirt cheap! Seriously, I got the down comforter and a new duvet for under $50!!) I thought it was too big to wash at home, so we spent a whole afternoon and probably too much money cleaning it at a diy cleaners... and then it smelt funny, I think just because it wasn't dry, but I was tired of putting more and more money on the dryer and waiting for it to still not be done, and ended up realizing it did fit in our washer and cleaning it again at home. Now I don't have to do that again though. The kids were pretty good for me, I think they enjoyed the change of scenery.

Hanging out in the car with McDonalds, the iPad, books, snacks, and anything else we could find for entertainment while we waited for the comforter...