Marshall turns 3!

Just warning you that this is a very picture heavy post! My sweet friend Kesha brought her magnificent camera with her and snapped shots of our party! We had a great time! Marshall had six of his little friends over for a "Tool Party". I love parties...it was a party for him but I had a lot of fun putting it together! All that said here is a glimpse of our day!

The construction hats...

The decor...Matt never knew his tools were stylish:)

Clean hands before cookie decorating...

Focusing...

We used lots and we mean LOTS of sprinkles...

More decor...:)

Cupcake toppers...loved them.

Trying not to light anyone on fire...

Marshall shoving most of the cupcake into his mouth...

Cowboy gear!

Fighting face...

Don't forget about Reagan!
The crew!

Happy Birthday Marshall!

I have a confession...

I own a pair of Jimmy Choo shoes. I did not say that I bought them, because I did not, rather a wonderful generous woman who has been used by the Lord to bless us in numerous ways gave them to me. I could have gone my whole life without owning an expensive pair of shoes but now that I have them, I really like them:) Once my husband found out how expensive they are he wanted to sell them on ebay...I said, "get behind me satan."
I'm not a big name brand person but I do like quality things. I love my Jimmy Choo's. I am not, however, one of those people who only bring them out for special occasions. I wear them often and in many situations. I wore them out in the backyard playing with the kids the other day. I think about my shoes sometimes the way I think about life. Follow me here...many of us have been blessed by the Lord with possesions, spirtual gifts or any number of things you could imagine. If we don't use what we have then why should we have been given them in the first place? I'm a perfectionist but I want to live my life to the fullest and most times that means things are going to be messy. Both in my house and in our lives:) We must learn what it means to live fully and use what God has given us...even if it's messy:) Thanks for listening to my random thought for the day!

Marshall presenting me with a few dandelions...

I did remove this leaf from her mouth just after I took the pic:)

My Jimmy Choo's. In the the tractors and the mud:)

now i know my abc's

I've had yet another project idea swirling around in my head for the last few weeks and finally had the time to do it. This one didn't take as much time as the bumper but it was figuring out when to make it as Reagan is just motoring all around my house now:) She is almost as busy as Marshall...perfect. I was hoping for a cuddler...not the case, oh well maybe my next child:)
Anywho...on to the project. So I found this alphabet fabric a few months ago with my dear friend Sandy at this fabulous shop in McMinville. Seriously I walked into this fabric store and didn't know which way to go there was so much to look at. I knew I would use this in Marshall's room but just wasn't sure where. I've been a little in love with burlap lately and I wanted to back each of the letters with burlap and fabric that matches the blanket I made him for his bed. I LOVE how it turned out and Marshall is loving talking about all the letters:) So fun.
I also put up a couple pics of our wonderful trip to Silver Creek Falls today! It was beautiful out there and we had quite the hike. It was definitely a bit of work with two kiddos but it was so fun. Both my kids were in bed at 6:30 tonight...ahhhhh! Have a great week!
Post cutting....

All laid out. I used Jute webbing to hang the letters together.

Marshall wanted to be in the picture but I wouldn't let him on the bed:)

I LOVE LOVE LOVE this pic of Reagan and daddy!

Thanks sweet hiker girls who took this picture. Unfortunately my kids do not like to smile for strangers:)

A couple shout outs!

I'm sure that many of you, well I'm actually not sure but hoping that some of you get caught up 'blog surfing' like I do:) I wanted to share with you some of my favorite blogs in case you're interested!
My absolute favorite blogger is Lindsey of the Pleated Poppy! She is a very creative and talented stay at home/work from home mama and I LOVE her stuff. Here she is http://www.lindseycheney.blogspot.com/
She just recently posted some of her favorite blogs including Joy's Hope, which has quickly become one of my new favorites. This gal is so funny...you have got to check out this post about her local freecycle, it had me in tears www.joyshope.com/2009/08/freakcycle.html
One that I have recently begun following is Lisa Leonard. Someday I'll be able to affored the beautiful jewelry she makes and I love her photography. www.lisaleonardonline.com/blog

Well those are just a couple of my favs...hope you enjoy them as much as I do!
And no sweet pics of my kids this time...don't worry I'm sure you won't have to wait long:)

the beach!

Last weekend Sharon and I took the kids to the beach for a few hours on Saturday! It was so fun! Went to Mo's for lunch, fed the seagulls, played on the beach for about 10 minutes:) and then headed to the outlet mall!
Marshall had a fabulous time feeding the seagulls!

Happily feeding the seagulls the rest of his cheeseburger!

Proof that I was there:) Love what the beach does to my hair and of course my kids are still looking at the seagulls.

Not sure what he's getting ready for...



Sandy hands...


Reagan wearing the headband her mama just made for her! I've been thinking about this idea for a while and finally had some time yesterday to do it while she was sleeping! Yay for naps:)

Playground and puddle pics!

Some of you might have seen the pics that my sweet friend Tara took of Marshall playing on the playground and in the puddles on fb, but if you haven't, or would like to see a couple more go here... http://blog.selaphotography.com/ . She did an amazing job and I am so excited to get some of those on my walls:) Isn't she talented?!

If I had a quarter for every time I saw this expression during the day I would be one wealthy mama!:)

Projects, projects...

I have been working on a little, well it turned out to be monstrous, project for Reagan's room. I had a boys bumper for Marshall and didn't want to buy a new one for Reagan. I had quite a bit of fabric scraps left from other projects I've done for her so I decided to try a sort of patchwork slipcover bumper! It seriously took FOREVER but I love the final product! And yes that's her in the crib:)

Also Reagan decided that it is time to pull herself up into a standing position. Poor thing has had a couple head bumps since her balance isn't great yet but she's so stinkin' strong! Life is busy as usual and I'm so thankful my kids are feeling better!

I'm so sorry I haven't posted very many pics of my house yet! All of the rooms are ALMOST done but I hate posting pics of halfway done things! They are coming soon I promise!

Rested and refreshed!

It's so sad when kiddos are sick! Mine are not feeling well today so we've spent the day indoors. A couple movies and popcorn were enjoyed and now the kids are in bed...hopefully sleeping:)
Reagan has a stuffy nose and she's a total binky baby so it's been hard for her to sleep today! So sad...and sad for me:(
Life is good here...we've had two weeks off! Matt has his gall bladder taken out last week which was probably a good thing as it forced him to rest. He's not very good at resting but he had to after surgery. We had a fantastic weekend in Portland...left the kids with my parents for the night and stayed with Tim and Holly. Dinner at Macarroni Grill and a movie was just what we needed to end our mini vacation! We are definitely feeling refreshed and ready to start our new year! Happy new year!
Just a couple pics of the kids from the last couple weeks!

The Christmas aftermath...

Merry Christmas! Another Christmas has come and gone and I am sitting in my living room wondering if all this stuff is ever going to get put away! The time we had with our family this past week was wonderful! Marshall is at such a fun age for Christmas and Reagan just wants to eat the paper:)
We actually had four Christmas'...yes four. One with Matt's dad, one with my parents, one with Matt's mom and one with our little family early Christmas morning! I am sad it's over but excited for the new year. This year has been a wild ride for us. I can't believe that we were living in a one room studio apartment with Marshall at the beginning of this year! Then we moved into our rental house. Next came the moving of our church to a fantastic new location. Then came Reagan:) Then a little bit of peace...then we bought a house and moved in! Then we hosted Thanksgiving and a party on Christmas day night!
I am so thankful for the fullness of our life. We have a lot going on but we love it. We are so privledged to serve with the people that we do and that God has called us to the life we live. I pray that this year I may come to know the fullness of Christ even more and that it may become more evident in my life than ever before.
These pics are totally out of order but they are here none the less. We went to the Zoolights with my family and it was great! Lots of people but so fun...the boys are in LOVE with trains this year.
Hope your Christmas was full of joy!

Marshall's first electric drum kit. It comes with headphones:) Praise Jesus

Sweet Reagan...she loves Marshall's new truck in the background.

My parents grandkiddos!

Waiting in line for the train and the Zoo!

Matt loves pictures!

Marshall in his pj's!

Thank you uncle Dave for the super annoying machine gun toy:)

Ahhhh!

December happenings...

Well we're as busy as bees over here in the Porter household! Trying to get your house set up with two little ones cruising around definitely takes some effort. I'm so thankful that they nap at the same time otherwise I'm sure I'd never get anything done!
So we got our Christmas tree last weekend and also took Marshall to the OMNIMAX Polar Express Movie. He loved it...got a bit scared and cried during a few parts but for the most part did really well. He sat on my lap for the entire movie (which I loved)! It's the first time we've taken him to the 'big screen' and I wondered if it would be a little scary as it's pretty loud in there...all in all he did great. Then we went to the Old Spaghetti Factory for dinner. Matt's Grandma was in town and she wanted to take us all to do something special!
I am so thankful to be in my own home this Christmas season. A full week of family gatherings is in store for us next week...I better finish my shopping!
Just a few updated pics!

Reagan happy as usual...seven months on Friday!

I painted my room and brought all my bedding out to the couch. Marshall snuggled right into the middle of it:)

Yay for the balloon man! We'll take a train balloon please!

Family tree hunt!

My men on the gator...Marshall was obviously in heaven!