New Year to Be Thankful

     It's a new year and I am back to blogging. The kids are now seven and a half.  They are in first grade and doing amazing!!!  We have chosen to keep them all in the same class for awhile. They have their own friends and don't rely on each other too much so keeping them in the same class hasn't been a problem. Plus it's easier on me. I only have one teacher to work with. 

 Miss Ma'am loves to write and enjoys writing her own books. Maybe we have an author in the making. She is very creative and loves imagination play. 

Little Man wants to know how the world works. If he can take it apart he will. He is very curious about all that is around him. He is also our mathematician. I think he will know his multiplication facts before he gets to 3rd grade. 

Big D is our compassionate one. Most of the time if he is willing to give up what he has to help someone else.  He loves to read as well. He will pick up a Magic Treehouse chapter book and have it complete in one afternoon.

The past several years I left blogging to raise these beautiful triplets, go to grad school, teach, be a wife and learn that God is in control of it all.  I am excited to be back!!!! God is bringing me into a new phase of my life and preparing me for a journey of gratitude and I want to share that with all that know me.

    For years I was smiling on the outside putting on the picture perfect family when we went out. Mind you I have an amazing family so it wasn't too difficult, but I wasn't feeling full. My heart and my actions were empty. I have been in a season of winter waiting anxiously for spring to arrive for several years.

     This past fall I went on a journey with some dear friends at church to refocus our lives and live in a way that pleases God in everything we do.  It was a time of renewal for each of us and brought us closer together as women of God. From that study I began to feel the snow melting and God changing the season of my heart. 

     This year I have the pleasure and honor of guiding a study for the women in our church over Ann Voskamp's 1000 Gifts.   This is going to be a learning experience for me as we go through this study. I am challenging myself to find my own 1000 gifts in the year 2015.  I want to know what it is to be content in all circumstances (Philippians 4:12) and I believe this begins with being thankful. Thankful in the lean times as well as the abundant times.

     As I blog about our ever changing lives my goal is show how I am thankful for the newness and changes.  Each week I will post some of my thankful moments here, on twitter, and facebook following the Joy Dare from Ann Voskamp's website. http://www.aholyexperience.com/ 

    I look forward to walking in a new relationship and new season with God. HAPPY 2015!!!!

San Antonio

Welcome to Sand and Tonio, according to Hayla. It was hot but we had a lot of fun. Here the kids are in our hotel room. Yes they are jumping on their bed. That's what daddy says we do, " We don't jump on our beds we jump on hotel beds".


We didn't go in the Alamo, but took a photo outside. After going to see Ice in December and someone scaled an ice sculputre as soon as my back was turned I thought we just needed to skip the Alamo.

Sea World

We spent one day at Sea World and the kids loved it!!!!

We fed dolphins!

We went swimming in several areas. We took the kids on their first water slide. They laughed and squealed all the way down. In the evening we went and saw the shows, we saw the "sea tigers" and "shampoo" ( the words of my children). They loved them all except for the very end of the Shamu show when we got soaked.

Riverwalk

We went to the riverwalk two nights. It was so beautiful down there. This was my first time on the riverwalk

One evening after dinner Shane saw this pumpkin carriage. We tried to avoid it at all cost but as we drove back to our hotel we passed it parked and Hayla's face lit up. So the next evening we had dinner on the riverwalk we went and found it so she could ride in it. She truly enjoyed it.

Shane took us to a chocolate factory. The kids each got to pick out one piece. They chose a chocolate truffle which was gone in a matter of minutes.

One night we had dinner in the Rain Forest Cafe. The boys loved it. Hayla hated it. She kept her hands on her ears the whole time we were in there. Except when they came to take her picture, then she posed very nicely.

It was a wonderful relaxing vacation. Swimming every day. Naps every afternoon. I could get use to that kind of life.

San Marcos

We went on vacation to San Marcos and then San Antonion this year with Shane's Parents.

While in San Marcos we took the glass bottom boat rides. This was really fun. The kids could look through the bottom of the boat and sea fish and turtles in crystal clear water.

We also went to the snake farm. The kids thought it was really cool being that close to so many snakes. What I thought was cool was hearing a rattle snake. They had snakes of every size. The one in the yellow cage below was so big it could swallow a kid whole. Comforting huh? :)

Then on our way into San Antonio we stopped at Natural Bridge Caverns Wildlife park. We drove through and fed animals from the car. They had a petting zoo where the kids fed goats.

Near the petting zoo they had this little maternity area. There were these little lemurs that kept climbing in and out of their cage. It drove the mother crazy.

Tiplets 3rd Birthday

The kids turned 3 on May 28th. It is so hard to believe that it has been three years. They are all doing so well and you would never guess that they were 12 weeks early.

Miss Ma'am is still the princess. She will even tell you I am daddy's princess.

Little Man is Mr. Funny Man. He likes to so things to make us laugh and is always playing around.

Then there is Big D. He can be so serious and then so playful. He loves to dress up and it drives Shane crazy because he likes to wear Hayla's dress up shoes.

Where we are now

Miss Ma'am is still our little princess but loves to get dirty. She is very vocal whether it is talking about her day or screaming at her brothers. She loves to sing and dance, knows how to count to 20 and can recognize about 5 letters. She likes to play babies and read to them.


Little Man had surgery in December to correct his lazy eye and it was very successful. Then in March he had dental work done to put crowns on several teeth where his enamel didn't develop correctly. He loves playing outside and riding horses. He is also our dare devil. He likes to climb anything and jump off it. He knows how to count to 20 and can recognize about 5 letters. He will be visiting with a speech therapist in May.

Big D loves to be like Daddy. He can count to 20 (skipping a number here and there) and knows about 5 letters too. He loves being outside and has started to come out of his shell when around other people. He is still our snuggler. When he wakes up he likes to sit for a little while and snuggle.