I love Valentine's Day...

Valentine's Day is not my favorite holiday- I actually thought it was kind of pointless- shouldn't you always do things to let your loved ones know you love them?  Why should you be expected to do something on one specific day? But on Valentine's Day this year my boyfriend and I decided to go on a date- to Little Italy- a local restaurant that we both love and then we went to Mezamiz- where we had our first date on July 25th and we have been there several times since.  It was kind of crowded but "our table" with the cabbage salt & pepper shakers was open.

Kirk read me 27 (my favorite number) reasons why he wanted to marry me then got down on one knee and proposed!  I responded with "Yes!! Thank you!!"  Thank you for all of the nice things you just said to me, thank you for this beautiful ring, thank you for loving me and my children, thank you for asking me to marry you!  Best Valentine's Day gift EVER!!! 

Valentine's Day will forever be a special holiday to me- not because of flowers or chocolate- but because on Valentine's Day my best friend asked me to marry him and I can not wait for us to spend the rest of our lives together!

Go Beamers Blue!!!

This was Makenzie's first year to do competitive cheerleading- she has really enjoyed it and has learned so much!  Their squad ranges from 2nd-6th grade and their last competition, Nationals, was this weekend.  They did not get 1st place, but as a squad they performed their very best and that was my hope and prayer for them- that none of their stunts would fall and that each girl would know that she did her best! 

At the beginning of the summer only a couple of girls could tumble on their own but by January and their last 3 competitions all of the girls but one had a tumbling pass in the routing- including Makenzie!!!!  I can not believe that she can tumble- I didn't learn to tumble until 6th or 7th grade- it brought tears to my eyes each time I watched her do her round off backhandspring in the routine- so very proud!

Such a great group of girls- the older girls were great leaders and role models for Makenzie.  She wants to try out again next year!!  We love cheer!!!

1 year ago today...

1 year ago today my divorce was finalized.  I thought it was such a terrible and disgraceful thing.  There was so much shame and guilt and fear.  Definitely a hard day. But there was some relief in knowing that it was over.  I can honestly say that I did everything that I could do to save my marriage.  The conclusion that we came to was that Bryan and I wanted to live different kinds of lives- there was no yelling and screaming that day in October 2011- we both knew that we weren't happy and wanted different things in life and he moved out.  I had to stand up for what I felt was right for my kids and I and if that meant that I was going to be a single mom then so be it.  I had to accept that I might be single forever- and I was ok with that.  My kids come first- they are the most important things in my life.  My prayer for my kids is that their parents' divorce not cause them harm- I would do anything I could to protect my kids from pain and modeling an unhealthy marriage for them to grow up and replicate would be very painful.  I never ever thought that I would get divorced and used to kind-of judge people who did (just as I felt people judging me) I thought they just didn't try hard enough- but like most things in life- you can not understand a situation fully until you experience it- I have learned that I can only control myself and other people get to make their own decisions.  Things don't always go as we think or want them to but I believe that God is in control and that everything happens for a reason.  Looking back, I can not say that I would change anything in my past- because those events have made me the person that I am today and I could not image my life without my 3 precious children and all of the amazing support and encouragement from people around me.  This is part of my story and I feel like it has absolutely strengthened my relationship with God and has made me a stronger person.

Merry Christmas

Jazzercise

So back in June I had a post about getting motivated- I was about to try Jazzercise for the first time and start taking better care of myself so that I could be the best mom and example I can be for my babies!  Well I tried Jazzercise and instantly fell in love with it!  My first class was 6-26-12 and I started training to be an instructor in October and auditioned on 12-7-12.  I love it so much!!  It is so much fun it doesn't even feel like you are working out!!!

Holly and I trained & auditioned together and I and so thankful for her- she is an amazing friend and an awesome instructor!  Come work out with us- we have a new Premier Jazzercise Center located at 1489 S Danville- it is a dance party- 13 different instructors- over 40 classes a week- we always have some special going on- the music is always changing- join the party!  Click here for our class schedule: http://jcls.jazzercise.com/facility/jazzercise-abilene-fitness-center

Jazzercise has been my serenity during the last 6 months- I am so grateful to my friend, Diane, who told me to get the Groupon so we could go together and to all of the wonderful instructors/co-workers and to our District Manager, Kim, who is amazing- I can only hope to be as good of an instructor as she is one day!!  It is an hour of me time- to let go of the stresses of life if just for a hour- to dance and sweat and have fun!!  I love Jazzercise!!!

Disney World

We took a Family Trip to Disney World for Thanksgiving!

We had breakfast with some of our favorite characters one morning!

Cousin totem pole!  Happy Thanksgiving!  I am thankful for my amazing family!

Sweet Cousins!

Kenz & Ash got all dolled up at the bippity boppity boutique!

Eight & Four

Birthday Time!!

My sweet Makenzie is 8 years old!!  I can not believe it!  She had a Shake It Up skating party at the Family Life Center (I loved having bday parties there when I was little!!)  She had a lot of fun playing with friends & cousins!!

How in the world is my little boy 4 years old?!?  Alex wanted to have a Spiderman birthday party with a Spiderman Air Castle and he has a blast! 

Walking...Down the Runway

Cassie is our babysitter- she is wonderful- I met Cassie when she was working at Frontier Motors part time while she was going to McMurry- but now she is working at a FABULOUS boutique called Wild Ones!!!  They just moved into old Cox Jewelers location and decided to put on a style show at the Ladies Night Out at the Civic Center and Cassie asked if Libby could be in it!!

Libby (in her precious bday outfit from Aunt Jenn) practicing walking- literally

Elizabeth and Cassie

She did such a great job!!  I was nervous that she would pull off her headband, fall off of the stage, cry and scream or cling to Cassie for dear life- but she did none of the above and looked SO precious!!  She even got her picture in the Abilene Reporter New and the article said,

"While the many outfits paraded down the catwalk evoked approval, clapping and positive comments, it was the last model who earned the biggest round of applause from the crowd.

One-year-old Elizabeth Wilson took to the runway like she'd been doing it longer than she'd been walking — which hasn't been long, judging by her gait. She smiled and waved and paused for the photographers."

We have the coolest babysitter ever!!!

My Baby is ONE!

This past year has been so crazy but has also flown by!!! With each child the time seems to be speeding up faster and faster- I try my hardest to cherish each moment because they are flying by! My sweet Libby Kay has definitely been a gift from God. She is such a laid back baby and a good sleeper and is always happy unless she is hungry, tired, needs a new diaper or is teething. She is LOVED by her big brother and big sister and they take such good care of her. I love to watch them all play together and am so grateful that they get along most of the time.

Alex is responsible for her nickname- when I was pregnant the way he pronounced Elizabeth was Libeta and that was quickly changed to Libby once she was born but it was more like LeeBee- so cute- he is always watching out for his little sister and is very protective of her.

Ever since Libby started crawling and especially since she has been walking she gets into everything!!! My other 2 never got into stuff or tried to put things in their mouth so I never had to lock all the drawers and cabinets but this little one is a totally different story!!! She is very adventurous and wants to open and explore and eat any/everything!!! She has also found her voice and will scream if things are not going how she would like or if you take something away from her. She has a little temper but she gets over it quickly. She still will not say Mama- I think she is just being stubborn but calls Alex "bubba" and Kenzie "sis sis".

We had a small family Luau party for her 1st birthday because she loves to swim!! She smashed and ate her cake and had lots of fun with her siblings and cousins! She is a trouper and always wants to be were the big kids are. She is so sweet and gives big hugs and blows kisses and says bye bye and waves. She also loves Papa's German Sheppard Zander and watches him wherever he goes and is not scared at all and says woof woof- it is too cute!!! She has 6 teeth and 2 more top teeth and breaking through. She is almost running especially when she has something she is not supposed to :) She is my sweet sweet girl and I love her adventurous spirit and how determined she is!! I love my precious little Libby and am so grateful that God gave her to me!!!

Happy 1st Birthday Elizabeth Kate!!!

Gotta get Motivated!!!

Tomorrow I am starting the advocare cleanse and starting to go to Jazzercise (thanks Groupon)!! I really love to work out and was always so busy growing up with gymnastics, dance and cheerleading- I remember when I was going to ACU and cheering there and was in a dance company and sometimes after rehearsal we would go to the gym- for fun- to work out some more- no wonder I was in better shape back then!! With each child I gained 10-15 extra pounds that have stuck with me to this day- it is time to take control of my life!! I finally got Libby weaned so I have more freedom to go places and leave her with a sitter and do not have to be on call for nursing every 4-5 hours. I also have realized that I am an emotional eater and the past 22 months have been the biggest emotional roller coaster of my life and I have not been making very healthy choices. I have never been a size 0 and that is not my goal- I just want to be healthy and feel better. Wish me luck!!!

Lessons learned

These are lessons that I have learned personally or learned from watching friends or family that I hope to teach my children when they get older- but sometimes you cannot hear the wisdom of your elders and have to make your own mistakes.  I wish that I could protect my babies from all of the evil things in life...  Maybe they will learn something someday from reading this

God's way is the best way
It is best to always be kind
You can only control yourself
There is NO excuse for bad behavior
People do not change very much
Treat others as you want to be treated
Surround yourself with good influences
If it sounds too good to be true- it probably is
You have to love yourself before someone else can love you
Find something you enjoy and do if often
If someone really loves you they will respect you
Getting pregnant is not a reason to get married
Getting married will not fix the problems in your relationship
No one's life, marriage, kids, job is perfect- things will not be perfect until we get to heaven
Actions speak louder than words

SummerTime

Wylie Jr High Cheer Camp

VBS

KidQuest

Zoo Camp

Dr. Seuss Festival

Swimming Lessons

Cousins Week

Pup Squad

Midland

Libby turns 1

APAC Hip Hop Camp

Cheerleading twice a week

Houston

Lad & Lassie Camp

Jazzerkamp

RBS for Alex

Turning our dining room into a playroom

Remodeling the den

Just a few of our plans for this summer....

My 2 Favorite Bubs

I have a brother, his name is Charles Alexander.  Our dad's name is Charles Ray so even though he is not a Jr it was still very confusing having 2 Charles' in the house.  When he was little we all lovingly called him Baby Charles (Baby Chaws in my case because I could not pronounce my R's when I was little) but not wanting to call him Baby forever, we switched his nickname to Bub.  His high school and college friends call him Chuck but to us he will always be Bub and to my kids he in Uncle Bub (Alex calls him Cool Bub- uncle without the un sounds like cool and hey uncle bub is pretty cool!!!)

I have a son, his name is Alexander Ray.  We tried calling him Xander but that didn't really stick- at school and church he is Alex and he calls himself either Alex or Alexander Ray Wilson.  But at home he is Bub.  I guess it is normal for sisters to call their brothers bub or bubby but that was my brother's name so I wasn't planning on using it as a nickname for my son- but it is- even Libby calls him bubba :)

Bub- such a simple short name shared by 2 of my favorite guys in the whole world!

I love my Bubs!!!



Bye bye 1st grade!

From the time my sweet Makenzie was born I have been saying that I can not believe how fast she is growing up- the time seems to be flying by faster and faster and now she has finished First Grade!!! And she is almost as tall as I am!!!  How is this possible???  Here is a recap of our May

Makenzie got all A's and never moved her clip!!

She really enjoyed Cougarette Camp with her friend Ava!

I got to go to May Farm with Mrs. Parson's class- Makenzie LOVED all of the animals!

Alex had his 1st Program at Rainbow Bible School!

We met our cousins in Dallas for a Fresh Beat Band Concert!!

Last week of school

We have a busy summer ahead of us and lots more fun to be had!!  Hopefully it won't be as hot as last summer....

Blessings friends,