there's a reason God made kids cute!

its so we don't beat the living day lights out of them!! LOL..

(they are pretty cute aren't they?)

seriously, I think it could have something to do with pregnancy hormones... but a 4 year old boy that talks non-stop all day and a 1 year old girl that doesn't not stop moving all day... and is loving the use of her newly found 'shrill' voice... is about to drive me into the loony bin!
At our marriage class last night they were teaching/encouraging us how to pray with our spouse. This is something that Andrew and I have struggled with for a long time. We do great at meals and bedtime, WITH kids... but just he and I has been a bit awkward. So we are going to start asking each other each night what can we pray for the other for the next day.. we'll do it alone and then get together the next night and pray together and talk about it. So my constant prayer right now is... Lord give me patience to get through the next hour... (who am I kidding.... the next 15 minutes!! LOL) and give me self control (with my tongue) not to react out of anger and to be able to discern what actions of theirs really need to be disciplined, and what actions are just them being their age!
Oh, side note on the class... some of you have asked me about it... its the Alpha Marriage Class. It basically has 7 Topics. We'll meet for 8 weeks and we have homework on our own to do.

Building Strong Foundations
The Art of Communication
Resolving Conflict
The power of Forgiveness
Parents and Inlaws
Good Sex
Love in Action

The content is fabulous! The majority of it is spent watching a DVD of a British couple( oh... I could listen to them forever. love their accents!) and then throughout the evening we stop and break out with our spouse. We meet in a host couple's home with 7 other couples ranging from newly married no kids, to married 26 years and four teenagers. The cool thing is the time spent is solely on each other. There is no group talk or sharing. The host couple has set up a little 'date' spot for each of us throughout their massive home!
We each get to be secluded and surrounded by lovely music, white linen table cloths on a table for two. candles, flowers, and then as we are completing our exercise, we are served a delicious desert and coffee. Its such a cozy time away for Andrew and I to really talk about issues. The lessons are great at looking at individual strengths and weaknesses, how we do or don't work together and how we see things differently. pretty cool.
It really stresses marriage time weekly.
We've always been good on date nights. Thankfully with my parents living in town, we can get a babysitter and head out to dinner , movie, drinks.. whatever. The problem is that we usually end up spending our time talking about the kids. about other drama brought into our lives.. and we never get to focus on us. We're making it a priority to have fun together. To get back to doing those things we did when we were dating.. talking about dreams and our future.. laughing.
not stressing.
So far its been a great little scheduled get away. If you are married, and especially if you have kids, I would urge to you to schedule a date night. This class encourages once a week... but that may be tough for some. Like I said, we have been good at getting out 1-2 times a month, but we are going to be intentional on getting it on the calendar.. that way nothing comes up... ya know.
like our marriage time is our priority and nothing else takes its place.
I am sure you've all heard about the seasons of marriage... the statistics actually are showing a higher divorce rate after the kids are out of the house, b/c the husband and wife don't know each other anymore. They kind of co existed for the children's activities, and all that, but lost sight of why they fell in love in the first place. While Andrew and I do have really open lines of communication, we can always do better. Its amazing as we watch this dvd, and see examples of other couples, how many don't ever talk about feelings, dreams, expectations, desires.. etc.

ok, done with my PSA!!.... lol !

So , I did a little photo shoot with the kids .... here are some of my favorites! I have a couple cards in the works, but I'll post them after they go in the mail....

I am working on getting something pretty cute done for Brig's class party next week. Hopefully this picture will work!

oh, yeah.. and my girls night out on Saturday was sooo fun... and much needed! I met my friend Michelle for dinner at Don Pablos.. hadn't been there for a long time, and I was so wising I wasn't pg at the time so I could indulge in a yummy margarita..... oh well.....

we sat and talked and had a leisurely dinner w/ no drama.. and no interruptions!

then we headed to see Doubt.. which I would have to say I 'doubt' any of you would want to see. The story drug on forever, and then just sorta dropped a bomb at the end.. and then the credits..

oh, well.. it was still fun to be out. I can't remember the last movie I saw in the theatre..

then we headed to Starbux and sat on the comfy couches and talked for another two hours!

Anyway we decided its going to be a monthly thing.. planned on the calendar.... kinda thing.

moral of this post...: get your hubby time. and get your girlfriend time. = happy mama! =)

so I am off to finish a dessert and make a dinner to take to a friend who just had a baby...

oh, yeah.. the mama that I was supposed to take maternity shots of, cept she had the baby the day before our scheduled session!! LOL

so now I get to play with another newborn. horrible I know!! =P

Have a great Thursday!!