this and that

This may be a little all over the place but that's how we are here at the Eck house so you can hop in my brian and travel with me or you can wait and take then next train, which who knows when that will be, of me blogging a normal on track blog.
Thanks to my wonderful inlaws for keeping our kids, Jacob and I have done several house projects. We have painted the porch (2 times, still hate it, about to get color #3), painted the front bathroom, painted our master bedroom, torn out the kitchen back splash, re-did the kitchen countertops, and repaired our fence. I wish I had taken more before and after pictures but all I have is of the bathroom:

I'd like to tell you all of these projects went wonderfully but that would be a serious LIE. The original bathroom mirror broke, Jake cut the countertop wrong, and about 2/3's of a bucket of paint was spilt down the wall and onto the carpet in our master bedroom. And just for your information if the paint is somewhat close in color to your carpet dumping loads of water on it and using a powerful vaccum will SAVE your carpet!

Moving on...
We have been spending some time at the VA. We have two special guys that live there that we like to go see. Jacob's Papa and My grandfather are both there now. They enjoy my kids and I think it is good for my kids to be around those two!

Alli had her first trip to the "Big Park" ....As Austin likes to call it. We have a small park in our neighborhood and we take the stroller and walk there often but yesterday we drove to Austin's favorite park. We had a great time but it was HOT.

Oh! and another bit of new info (as I type this statement he is asking for it) Austin is ADDICTED to the IPad!

And my favorite thing of all right now is now my kids are loving each other. They act like best friends. Alli get's all excited to see Ace and babbles to him and pats him. He wakes up and ask for her first thing. He always wants to know where she is and if she starts fussing or crying he says over and over .."it's okay...bubba's right here" I am enjoying this so much but I figure it will end way too soon!

What the girl REALLY wants is...

......Dr. Pepper and Popcorn.
Last night Jacob got home from work and he was holding Alli and drinking a Dr. Pepper. Every time he raised it to his mouth Alli leaned and worked as hard as she could to get her mouth to the can

!

That little girl has such an opinion! Later last night after the Dr. Pepper inciden, I walked into the living room and Jacob was sitting in his chair rocking Alli eating popcorn. Alli has her hand over her mouth and is very content and quiet. I said to Jacob...Did you give her popcorn...in that voice of you better not have. He quickly and confidently responds back to me NO I DID NOT. Well then what does she have in her mouth. Yep you guessed it...Girlfriend snagged her some popcorn when daddy wasn't paying attention! She was going to town gumming that popcorn. Jacob fished it out of her mouth and she got so mad at him. I guess it was gourmet if you only get pureed baby food and formula!

my wonderful crazy life

Who's life isn't always crazy busy? I like busy....I don't sit still well (it drives my hubby crazy). But in the grand scheme of things I really wish our lives would slow down a little. I wish my kids would quit growing up too fast. I wish we were home together as a family more with less "busy" stuff to do. I wish we weren't spending half of our life sitting in traffic to get from here to there. Life is just too short to stay too busy to enjoy it. Don't get me wrong, I feel like I have a wonderful life. I have awesome kids, a very loving and extremely understanding husband that puts up with my shenanigans and rarely/maybe never complains when I go and do what I want to do (i go out of town a lot to see family). I also have a wonderful family and in-laws. I guess my point is that right now I'm trying to slow down,and enjoy life more.

Thank you!

A big thank you to my parents for getting us this:

The kids love riding by each other!

My Baby Turns 3

I can't believe that Ace is turns 3 today. He has changed our lives in so many wonderful ways. He has brought many smiles, laughs, adventures, hair pulling moments, and most of all a new type of love that Jacob and I could never have understood. He is constantly keeping us on our toes. As active as he is, he can be such a cuddle bug and always knows exactly when to say "I love you mommy" and give me a kiss. He adores his new little sister and has taken on the role of a big brother like a pro. We are so proud of him, thankful for him, and blessed beyond measure to have him in our lives. Ace we want you to know that Mommy, Daddy, and Alli love you very much and we wish you a wonderful birthday!

random

Last week the Eck family went to Pettijohn. Alli stayed one night then headed to my parents for the week. It was just too hot for her. I am sooo thankful they were able to spoil her. Thanks Mom and Dad. Apparently my dad is her new favorite because he can just look at her and she will smile the rest of us have to work to get her to. Camp was great and Ace and I enjoyed our usual cabin 2 with grandmommy. It was nice to spend the week with grandmommy, Jacob, Dani, David, and all of our pettijohn friends. Next year Miss Brittany has to come and Biff too! Then the Eck fam will be complete out there!. I already miss camp friends but I'm enjoying showering without flip flops. Moving on...

We returned from camp and my computer is not working. So no posting pictures for a while. Jacob has been nice enough to let me use his while he is at work.

Uncle Bubba is flying in this week...we are looking forward to seeing him.

Ace turns 3 next week. WHERE HAS THE TIME GONE!

And for now that is it...my random post!

Simple things

I have been finding pure joy in the simple things lately. And I must say that these simple things make my life pretty great!
Like watching this little girl roll over, giggle out loud, & how when i hold her up on my shoulder she opens her mouth and puts it on my cheeks as if she is trying to give me kisses. I enjoy that I get to sit in the rocking chair and feed her every bottle during the day. And as much as I miss sleeping in I enjoy that it's just her and me awake in the house at 4 in the morning and she is her chatty self. I also enjoy that she only stays up for a short time and lets me go back to bed too! :)


I have also been finding joy in watch this little guy spend countless hours running through the sprinkler in his undies. It's amazing that he has tons of toys and his favorite thing to do is run in the sprinkler. I am also enjoying listen to him tell me that he is 2 and on his bithday (yes he says it with no "r") he is going to be thwee (or three). I enjoy how he tells me that big boys wear underwear and not diapes (yes he says diapers with out the "r")


Call me old or plain or blah but I am truly finding joy in the simple things of my life. And just being home with my kids everyday all day is exactly where I NEED to be and I find pure joy in that. I know I need to be with them and there is no place in the world I'd rather be.
What are the simple things that give you pure joy?