in pictures

Some of my favorites that I've taken recently...I am in love with Instagram...

a Penny post

Our little Penny girl has become quite the administrative assistant lately.

Last week though, she nearly got fired from being around any office supplies ever again...


We have been trusting Penny more and more lately to roam around the house out of her crate when we leave home. We have never left her for more than a couple hours at a time yet, and she has been doing great for almost two months.

Well, had been doing great.

Penny is quite mischievous (but cute), and has been plotting her secret plan for two months, obviously.

She waited until we trusted her absolutely, and when we went to dinner last week with friends for barely two hours, she made her move.

Oh, how I wish I had taken pictures.

We were greeted at the front door by our sweet puppy covered in black on her face and her paws.

It only took me a second to realize what had happened.

"PENNY!!"

She skedaddled under the couch as fast as she could.

"AARON! Penny ate a PEN!"

We went into panic and rushed upstairs.

There, on our white carpet, were millions (that may be exaggeration) of pieces of plastic, half of one of Aaron's fancy pens, and a big, dark, black, ink spot.

Aaron began freaking out about the carpet.

I began freaking out about the effects of ink and pen parts on the stomach of a dog.

"This will never come out!!"

"What if she ate some?!"

"Come help me clean the carpet!"

"I have to make sure our puppy isn't going to die!"

And so on.

After coming to the conclusion that ink is not toxic really at all and also concluding the pen had been chewed to smithereens but not swallowed, I became aware that Penny was downstairs still covered in ink.

I started the bath water and went to find her.

Her little tail was peaking out from under the couch.

"Penny, you are in big trouble."

I dragged. Dragged. her out from under the couch.

The bath was clearly the worst punishment she could ever receive. She stared at me with sad puppy eyes and trembled the whole time.

Thankfully, the ink came out of her fur right away.

After she was clean, I could finally turn my attention to poor Aaron, who was still soaking ink out of the carpet.

After 20 more minutes of soaking and scrubbing, our carpet had just the faintest tint of gray in one spot, but unless you were staring at it, you couldn't tell.

Penny sulked the rest of the night.

Her master plan might have worked out, but she got hers.



Back in the crate she goes for all of our outings for a length of time TBD.

Oh, Penny...

in anticipation

Today is the day we have been waiting for.

No need to wonder what we will be doing tonight.

about love languages

Last week I had a conversation with some dear friends about our "Love Languages."

It's been a couple years since I've taken the test. Last time I took it, my dual love languages were quality time and physical touch. Aaron's were quality time and acts of service (I think physical touch can just be a give-in for all males).

When my friends and I were talking about it last week, one friend spoke about how our love language can change depending on the season of our marriage.

I had never thought about that before, but immediately knew it to be true.

After taking the test again, mine are one right after the other:  physical touch, acts of service, and quality time.  The other two are tied way down below those three.

It interested me to know that acts of service has crept right on up there to second place.

But, truthfully, since I've been working full-time, acts of service have become more and more of a way for Aaron to shout his love to me. I hadn't realized that acts of service had, in fact, become one of my love languages though.

Oh how the pieces have fallen together.

I told Aaron about my revelation. I wasn't telling him because he wasn't doing acts of service for me at all, but just because he always wants to know how to love me best like I want to know how to love him best.



Today, he brought me coffee while I was at work, made the bed, and cleaned up the house before I got home.

He made my whole day a million times better and I love him so much.

about December in MiNi CiTy

This month in MiNi CiTy is all about a Christmas Countdown!

I love counting down to Christmas, so this works out well.

This week, we are learning about when the angel came to tell Mary she was going to have a baby. And not just any baby, God's Son! A baby that was here to rescue the whole world!

In the next couple weeks, we will learn about the night Jesus was born in a stable and when the shepherds came to visit Him.

The Sunday before Christmas will be a birthday party to celebrate Jesus' birthday, of course!

And then to finish out the month, we will remember how the wise men came to visit Jesus later after he was born. They still celebrated years after, and we can celebrate Jesus any day too!

I love the Christmas story, and I am so excited to share it with our preschoolers this month.

Our bottom line this month says that Jesus is God's Son.

I love that the kids that come to MiNi CiTy this month will hear that A LOT because we will say it a lot for sure! It still amazes me to watch them learn truth about God each and every month. It is so very important, even at 3 years old!

In the midst of all the presents, decorations, and holiday busyness, we want to teach them what Christmas is really about.

It's going to be a great month!

"God loved the world so much that He gave His only Son." John 3:16

Happy December!

Happy December 1st!

I don't know where you live, but here in Raleigh it's a sunny 70 degrees. Go figure.

Nonetheless, the last month in 2012 has arrived with it's Christmas cheer, holiday shopping, and twinkle lights on every corner.

December is quite possibly my second favorite month (second to October, of course).

Here's a random list of what I look forward to this month:

1. Christmas. I figured I wouldn't hold you in suspense of the completely obvious. Christmas is absolutely my favorite holiday. What a special day of remembering what Jesus did for us and celebrating the day God came to earth. I love waking up with Aaron early on Christmas morning (I can't sleep past 5:30 on Christmas. Ever.). The very first thing we do when we go downstairs is read the Christmas story. Our tradition since we got married has been to read it from the Jesus Storybook Bible. I love the whole thing and cry the whole time, but here's one of my favorite parts:  "[The shepherds] knelt on the dirt floor. They had heard about this Promised Child, and now he was here. Heaven's Son. The Maker of the Stars. A baby sleeping in his mother's arms. This baby would be like that bright star shining in the sky that night. A Light to light up the whole world. Chasing away darkness. Helping people to see. And the darker the night got, the brighter the star would shine." After Aaron and I have Christmas morning together, we head to my parents, followed by his parents, and then everyone meets up for a Christmas movie.
2. Christmas Eve. Christmas Eve is actually a little more exciting than Christmas, I think. I still get giddy with excitement thinking of what the next day brings. I love the anticipation of the night before Christmas. Christmas Eve traditions include egg nog and Ralphie, of course.
3. FX.  FX is this coming Friday. It's a special Christmas FX and will no doubt be amazing. If you are a parent of a K5-5th grader, don't miss it! Friday, 12/7, 7pm at 3500 Spring Forest Road.
4. The Dark Knight Rises. We have been waiting for this for a few months now. We are pretty big Batman fans around here, if you haven't caught on to that yet. We went to see TDKR four times when it was in IMAX. My husband will be buying it without delay when it comes out on Tuesday.
5. Friends and family. The holiday season would be totally lame if you weren't with people you care about. We have quite a few dates with some dear friends and family. Up on the list for this month are Matt and Magan, Justin and Katelin, and Ryan and Aura. At the end of the month, we are hosting the second annual Christmas party for my group of friends from high school/their significant others.
6. Bittersweet end of work. While finishing up as a nanny is very sad for me since I won't be seeing my sweet boys on a consistent basis anymore, I am excited for this new season Aaron and I are entering. I only have 15 more days of work left, and they are flying by. Like I said, this one is bittersweet.
7. New Year's Eve. Saying goodbye to a year gone by and ringing in a new one is always a fun time. We like to go downtown to watch the ever-exciting acorn drop. This year, my Florida grandparents are coming to town for NYE, so that will be super exciting indeed.

Well, folks, it's bound to be a busy month! I have not even started shopping and do not look forward to that. Ah well. 

Happy December. :)