We frequently speak of the strength of the priesthood and properly so. But we must never lose sight of the strength of the women. It is mothers who set the tone of the home. It is mothers who most directly affect the lives of their children. It is mothers who teach infants to pray, who read to them choice and beautiful literature from the scriptures and other sources. It is mothers who nurture them and bring them up in the ways of the Lord. Their influence is paramount." Gordon B. Hinckley

 

Weston aka "The Ham"

 

When you have a baby you some how always create a nickname that sticks with them when they are a baby. For some reason Ryan chose "ham" for Weston's nickname and as the years went by the more the nickname fit him. I have a feeling "ham" will be one of those nicknames he will have till he is a teenage and will be blushing and rolling his eyes every time I call him it in front of his friends. As for now, you ask him his name and he says it isn't Weston, it is "the ham".

 Weston adores his dad. One thing I love about Ryan is how he takes time to bond with Weston and truly enjoy those father son moments. Weston loves to be with Ryan, whether it is going to play in the snow ( due to the fact that I refuse to play in the snow), feed the chickens, getting ready for church, helping him outside in the garden, or building their model plane together.

 Proof that Weston loves his dad. I am so proud of how much he is learning and I am still in awe that he made this card all by himself with me only helping him spell the words. Pretty good for a 4 year old. Oh and the picture in the card is him and his dad fishing in a pond.

 Having fun during an Easter egg hunt at our neighbors house.

                               

 Weston loves to dress us and play pretend play. Whether it is a race car driver, cow boy, spider man, astronaut, prince, or a safari man he is always exploring his imagination in ways that blow my mind.

 Golfing in the back yard with daddy!

 Weston loves playing with all his friends and is constantly begging to have them over. Good thing we all live next to each other:)

 I love this picture, just because his tie is completely in shambles. This is how it is every Sunday, which I guess makes me laugh because I am always trying to fix it and 2 minutes later it is back to its disheveled place.

 Driving in style on a roadtrip with Gramma and Grampa Poffenberger.

 Love this picture!

 

 This kid loves his camp set he got for his birthday. I don't know how many mornings I have woken up to crickets chirping on his lantern or him begging me to come roast some hot dogs over his fire. Makes me smile just thinking about it:)

Love this kid. Love his sweet prayers every night. Love how he begs to have family home evening every night of the week and how he pretends to read his scriptures because he knows it makes Heavenly Father and Jesus happy. Love that he is teaching Brooklyn to brush her sugar bugs out of her mouth every night. Love how he is currently picking weeds out in the yard and bringing them inside for me to put in a flower jar on table. Love how every night he comes out of bed after tucking him in to ask what we are doing the next day and then to tell me he loves me.

 Weston has a gentle spirit and wants nothing to do with contention and fighting. When their is chaos and fighting, he runs. Most kids his age love chaos and being loud, but Weston is the exact opposite and is the calm in the middle of the storm. I love that about him and pray that he will continue to have the peacemaker quality about him and be kind and gentle to those around him.

Brooklyn

Yes I am way behind on my blog. Yes, I am a slacker. And yes, I am going to try my hardest to try to catch up on the whole 5 months I have seemed to skip over. First and foremost, little miss B.

 Brooklyn turned 2 on Feb.2 and she was such a trooper. Ryan and I both went to the doctors that morning with strep throat and were miserable so her party was very low key. To be honest, she was lucky to get a cake, with the way I was feeling that day. However, she was thrilled with her gifts and cake, and reminded us all just how special little moments like birthdays can make a crummy day seem wonderful!

 Little miss B loves Minnie Mouse. Anything and everything is Minnie Mouse in this house and if you don't mind me saying, I think she kinda makes a cute Minnie herself:)

If only I can get her to cook dinner for me every night!

 Yep, she's a cutie. I took this picture during breakfast when she was giggle non stop and creating everyone else at the table to giggle just as much.

 This girl LOVES horses. We have horses next door and every second she is outside she is looking at the horses and begging to ride them.

 As you can tell these two love each other so much. Weston is such a good big brother and already has a very protective caring relationship with her. Brooklyn looks up to Weston so much and everything that he loves she thinks is awesome, including spider man, trucks, cars, dirt, and anything that has boy written across it. She has the drama of a girl, but right now she is as rough and tumble as her 4 year old brother.

These two are also double trouble. Sibling fights are happening more frequent these days, which is expected. I forgot how stressful raising a 2 year old is, but she is so quick to run up to Weston and give him a kiss and show him she is sorry.
I love being princess B's mom, but mostly I feel blessed beyond words to have this girl wake up every morning and call me mama.

snuggle buddies