Love

10 years ago...  I married the greatest love in my life.  We look like kids in these pictures! 

It is so fun to look back and remember.  I really loved our wedding day.  It was crazy hot, but I remember being so euphoric, the heat didn't bother me.  I can totally remember walking down the aisle.  I was trying to tell myself to wipe the big, cheesey smile off of my face.  I was sure all the eyes on me were wondering what in the world was the matter with my face??!?  I was so happy.  Just perfectly happy.  And I couldn't stop smiling. 

The wedding was perfect, the reception was entertaining and so much fun, and the marriage...  I have no complaints.  Really! 

We are who we are, and we make each other so much more.  I feel a little sappy, going on and on.  We are not perfect.  We disagree.  Get on each other's nerves (on purpose at times!), and our lives are maybe not exactly as we planned.  But, that is the beauty of it.  We love each other, and everything is "going to be ok", as my husband loves to remind me.  It always is. 

This was his first look at me.  He looks happy.

'Lord, but I was a fool for that man.
I couldn't even put one foot in front of the other.
 I just kept thinking, "Oh, preacher, hurry up before he changes his mind!" '
(*Name that movie!)

I still am... a total fool for this man.

Of course, we were married before this whole "digital photography" thing.
So, getting these pictures on here...
Nightmare.  Ridiculous.

This picture has CRACKED me up for 10 years!
Totally me... stuffing my face and Cory, well, he looks hysterical.
Doesn't he??

He is the funniest person I know.  We laugh, every day.  He is the sweetest man.  He is my protector and provider.  He adores me.  His smile makes me melt.  He is such a great daddy.  His children strive to be like him, already.  He is fiercely determined to make my bad days better.  He hates to see me upset about anything.  He a huge light in my life, without which, I would live in so much dark.

I didn't know 10 years ago that it would get more amazing every single year.  And, the love I had for him then seems microscopic compared to how I feel for him now.  And I LOVED him then.  Love grows... amazing, huh?

He and I have had some really amazing moments in our marriage.  We have had some really hard, heart-wrenching ones too.  We lean on each other.  Sometimes we are holding on for dear life.  But, he has always been there.  Always.

I know I am blessed. 

I am thankful he chose me to be his bride.  I am thankful he would still choose me. 

What a life we have.  I love this man, so very much.



(*The movie is Sweet Home Alabama.  LOVE that movie.)

"What do you want to be married to me for, anyhow?"
"So I can kiss you anytime I want."

Classic. 


Love & Laughter,
abby



And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
1 Corinthians 13:13

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun...

(**Cue Cyndi Lauper music)


Time with my friends is such a treat.

Whether it's one-on-one, or as a group.  I always feel like it is such a looooong time coming.  (I wish I could have a girls only night once a week.  My family doesn't understand what a better mom/wife I would be!)

I do have a particular group that tries to get together "once a quarter", we like to say.  We make it a priority and it is such a delight.  These women...  I can go 3 months not having a real conversation with them and then, we pick up right where we left it the last time.  And we can talk for hours. 

I truly believe there are people that come into your life for a moment, a season, and for life.

These women are "lifers" for me.  I am so thankful for each of them.

LOVE YOU ALL!

Love & Laughter,
abby

Today

Today... I am exhausted, after not being able to fall asleep until the wee hours of the morning.

Today... Was the LAST day of T-ball. (Amen.)

Today... Carter's favorite word is DON'T! (Said just like that, with an exclamation mark.)

Today... Cooper will finally sleep in his own bed, instead of my floor. (He has promised me.) (I am not holding my breath, but thought maybe if I write it down...)

Today... All I want is intravenous coffee.

Today... I get to spend an evening with some of my best girl pals.

Today... I have sweat enough that I need a change of clothes.  And it's only 9:30 am.  (I am so over summer.)

Today... I am blessed, and I am thankful, and I love my life.



This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.
Psalms 118:24


Love & Laughter,
abby

KC

We got away for a few days last weekend and went to one of our FAVORITE places in Kansas City. The Great Wolf Lodge.  We usually go at least once a year.  Some really fabulous friends went with us this time and we had so much fun. 

Our boys slept a quite a bit on the way up... so thankful for that.

This one asked "how much longer?" repeatedly.

Ok, probably not the "safest" picture (while driving), but I wanted one of us too.

We started the day at a lunch spot we have been to before, The T-Rex Cafe is so much fun for boys... (probably for girls too, I just wouldn't know!)

Carter loves dinosaurs too, and growls when he sees one.

I believe the he was asked to make a growly face...

Carter really was excited to go see the dino, until the dinosaur went to hold him. 

Then we headed to the GWL and spent the entire afternoon swimming and playing.  I got -0- pictures.  None.  Too busy having fun and being drenched.  O-well.  I did get a couple of my boys eating lunch the next day in the water park.  I am a little sad I didn't get any swimming "captured", but we'll live.

Eating... the only GWL pictures I took.  Lame.

Sharing chicken and a chair!

We spent Saturday swimming as well, and then headed out to spend our last night a little further north.  We found a really charming place called Stroud's to eat dinner.  Family style serving and HUGE portions.  Some of us ate our weight in fried chicken.... (not me, I had a cheeseburger).  We adults decided it was very delicious and would be more enjoyable without the gang of crazies that accompanied us.  We were basically the only group that had children with us in the entire place.  The grounds were really lovely and I got a few pictures of the kids playing while we waited for a table.

I should have taken more pictures of the scenery.
It was really pretty, lots of geese, cute little buildings, flowers.
Too busy chasing children.

Sunday we decided to go somewhere we had never been.  Science City at Union Station was SO MUCH FUN!  We spent the entire afternoon there, stopping only for lunch at Fritz's, an awesome place to go with children.  The little train brings your food to the table and the kids get little conductor hats.  (The children weren't the only ones wearing the hats, though.)

 I took a boat-load of pictures here.
Playing "drums" in the music garden.

Playing music with Daddy in the music garden.

He is in the phase where he pretty much HAS
to make some sort of weird face/pose for a picture.

So very thankful for coffee!

Had a crime lab...
Coop couldn't hold still for a mug-shot.

 

 

Very dramatic face about this croc.

Carter got a very close look. 
Then he bashed his head on the teeth and had to pout about it.

"Hello???"

Delighted to hear his daddy!
"Hello!"

The Skybike was something only I could do in our family.
Cory is, ahem, not a fan of heights.
Cooper was too short.
So that left me, and I didn't mind.  It looked fun.
(It was really just peddling across a highwire, without any danger involved.)
I could handle it. 

Then is was lunch time.

If you have kids, and haven't been here for a meal, it is really fun for children.
They get to watch the trains going around the top of the restaurant delivering orders.
And other trains run through behind the windows at each booth.
Very cool.

I think he might be saying "choo, choo!"

Carter slept through most of lunch. 
It was waaaaay past naptime.

We went back to Union Station for a little while and looked at a bunch of model trains.  I didn't have any idea how many different types there are. It is amazing how they can get them all running around each other.

I didn't get any pictures of the model trains, other than this one.  Whoops.

Union Station is beautiful.  The architecture is amazing.  I don't know much about it, but I sure wish more buildings were made the way they used to be.  It is amazing to see something that obviously meant something to the people who built it.  I, again, didn't take near enough pictures.

 

All-in-all it was so wonderful to get away and have a weekend to play.  Our kids were, well, kids.  They had good and trying moments, but they all had a really good time.  I was thrilled to have the chance to get away for a few days and just play and have fun as a family.

This photo is so "us" right now.  Carter not paying attention,
Cooper making some sort of face, and Cory and I grinning - just
loving the moments all together.

Love & Laughter,
abby

Scorching Hot

This heat makes me want to do... nothing.

By the time we do t-ball and swim lessons I am D.O.N.E. for the day. 

LOVE this face. 

I can't even get the energy mustered to go back to the pool later in the day. 
My yard is a wreck... the flowers are dying a slow death.  The joint-garden at my mom's isn't looking super, either.
My house is, ummm... not pristine.  Making me crazy, but I am too hot to do too much organizing or cleaning. 
My ambitious plans to get some rooms painted this Summer... not happening.

I even had a whole organizing/painting/de-cluttering schedule made out for the Summer.  It has one item checked off.  One.  It's only July, I could get a burst of energy.  Maybe.


Ugh.  I hate 108 degrees.



It makes me look forward to Autumn, though.

I can picture the leaves changing and the cool evenings.

I can envision morning walks in the crisp air with the grass all green again.  (Our grass is dead, because why pay to water it???)

I can almost feel the breeze coming through my windows and smell the change of seasons.

Jeans and tee-shirts sound so refreshing. 
(I am wearing as few clothes as I can decently get away with this Summer.)

I can almost taste the slow-cooker soups and see the sun going down before 10pm.

Almost.

Oh, please Summer, give me a break from your crazy heat!

Love & Laughter,
abby

                          Mini-vacation post coming soon.
                 What is this picture about???  Wait and see...  :)

Professional

Somebody got his first professional haircut this week...

BEFORE...

DURING...

This picture cracks me up!  Look at my face!!!

AFTER!

Not the best after pics, but he really can't hold still for more than a moment!  And, he was tired.

So thankful for the stranger in the salon that offered to take some pictures for me.  I didn't have anyone with me to do it!  Another reason why I love living in a small town...  kindness.  :)

Love & Laughter,
abby