EVERYDAY LOVE

The Apple Farm

2009-10-22T22:40:00.007-04:00

A couple of weeks ago, we took our kids, plus Addie, to Nivens Apple Farm to pick apples, look at pumpkins, and enjoy a beautiful afternoon playing outside. I think they all thoroughly enjoyed themselves. I even managed to get all 4 kids to pose for a few pictures.

My Little Hunters

2009-10-20T22:03:00.005-04:00

While I can't say that I quite understand the thrill of hunting, I have a husband who is absolutely in love with the sport and two little boys who are quickly following in their daddy's footsteps.

Tonight they got to go sit in a stand with their daddy and watch him kill a deer for the first time. I must say there were three extremely happy boys in our house tonight.

Here is the proud picture from D.J.'s phone.

Snaggletooth

2009-10-15T23:23:00.003-04:00

That's our new name for Ty after he...

lost his very first tooth!

He worked on that thing for several days. He finally got it loose enough that DJ pulled it without Ty knowing. Ty is very proud of this accomplishment! The toothfairy brought him $5 dollars for his first tooth. He woke up last Sunday morning, smiling, and ran out of his room waving the money. A few minutes later he said, "I was expecting, like, $10 dollars." Oh well...

On another note, I have failed to blog about several important occasions in the Horton household. I hope to catch up on 3 months worth of birthdays, trips, and events soon!

Micah's Dancing Debut

2009-08-25T21:38:00.005-04:00

How many have seen this side of Micah? We know "this" Micah very well, but I have a feeling many of you do not! He does continually make us shake our heads and laugh!

Fun at the Lake!

2009-06-26T21:47:00.008-04:00

Early in June, I took the kids, and we headed to Alabama to Lake Martin to meet my parents, sister, and niece. We had been unable to see Lacy and Audrey since Christmas and were very excited about getting to spend some much needed time with them. We all had a great time swimming, riding the boat and waverunner, tubing, fishing, and playing outside. D.J. (and Mr. Bill) even surprised us at the end of the week. He couldn't stand the thought of all the fun we were having without him!

Somebody sure was happy to see her Aunt Lacy!

Lily and Glo-Glo

Lacy and Audrey
We finally found somewhere to confine this little rascal where she was happy!

What a big boy!Lacy and I gave dad his Father's Day gift a little early. No, it's not the boat...It's the hammock. :)
Not sure how much relaxing is going on here!Or here....
Or here!The granddaughters

We had a wondeful time with our family! In fact, we had so much fun, we're going back next week for a short July 4th trip!

What a Special Daddy!

2009-06-26T21:31:00.003-04:00

We had a relaxing Father's Day at home after returning from a mission trip in West Virginia (more on that soon).

Lily, enjoying a few seconds of cuddling, with her very favorite person!

Enough resting at home, time for some R&R on the golf course with daddy.

What a wonderful daddy God had blessed us with!

Peek-A-Boo

2009-05-27T15:57:00.002-04:00

Memorial Day Fun

2009-05-25T23:39:00.006-04:00

On this Memorial Day, we were able to spend the day in Charlotte with wonderful friends; Gabe, Ryanne, Avery, Mr. Randy, and JoJo. The kids (and Gabe) got to swim in the neighborhood pool and then had a fun afternoon of playing.

Lilian's first time and picture in a bathing suit and pool. The water was extremely cold...but she didn't seem to mind too much!

Lily and Avery playing in the baby pool....sort of! :)

Yummy Cupcakes!

These pictures were taken a couple of weeks ago when Lily turned 10 months. As usual, I am very late posting them...but better late than never!

Programs and Graduation

2009-05-25T23:05:00.004-04:00

The boys had end of the year programs with each of their preschool classes. Along with their musical program, Ty's class, and the other 4K classes, had a graduation ceremony. He was very excited for this big night.

4K Graduation!

Ty and Ms. Laura

Micah's class, and the other 2-year-old classes, did a great job singing many fun songs!

Micah and Ms. Cindy

Soccer Pictures

2009-05-25T22:56:00.005-04:00

Though I meant to take these pictures before our first soccer game, I finally took them before our last soccer game.

My handsome soccer players....!

and their handsome coach!

Our First Upward Soccer Season

2009-05-02T21:29:00.007-04:00

Our church has an awesome Upward ministry throughout the year that brings hundreds of kids and parents onto our campus each week. Last fall, Ty played Upward football for the first time on a 4 and 5 year old team. He loved it and his daddy loved coaching him! Winter brings basketball (which we did not participate in). And now that spring has arrived, so has soccer. Because we have so many children participating in soccer, there is a separate league strictly for those who are in that 4k age range. Though Micah is not yet 4, we found out that many 3 year olds had signed up, and we knew that he would LOVE to play soccer with his brother. I was definitely starting to feel bad for Micah, as I felt I was always saying, "when you get a little bigger," or "when you turn 4," and so we were all so excited when we found out he could play. Since both boys were playing, DJ offered to help coach (though soccer is definitely NOT his favorite sport).

These are a few pictures from our first game 2 weeks ago.

Praying before the game

When he's concentrating on the ball, he can't keep that tongue in his mouth :)

Ty's first goal

Micah getting in on the action

With Coach Gabe

Cheering her brothers on :)

Pictures in the Garden

2009-05-02T19:26:00.004-04:00

The Saturday before Easter we had a little photo shoot at Hatcher Gardens in our Easter outfits with our friend Shyrl. It's not easy getting all 3 kids in one pictures, so I thought we would let someone else try. I must say she did much better than I'm able to do!

Egg Dying and Egg Hunting

2009-04-22T14:12:00.009-04:00

We had a great Easter this year! DJ and I tried to make sure we emphasized the true meaning of Easter over and over again with the boys. Ty especially is at an age where he can remember all of the facts surrounding Jesus' death and resurrection, but is also beginning to put together some of the significance of this extraordinary event. While not one of us can fully comprehend or understand the magnitude of Jesus' sacrifice, it is a joy to try and teach and explain this to our kids, and then watch as their minds work to understand and listen as they question your teaching. I am so thankful that while our God and His love are so magnificent, His gospel is also simple enough for a child to grasp and understand!

Some of our Easter happenings!!

We died Easter eggs the Friday before Easter. The boys really enjoyed this and I tried to be as hands-off as possible and allow them to have fun creating their eggs. Thankfully, we attempted this out on our front porch, as I assumed we might have an accident with the dye. ;)

Micah's accident....He was trying to be helpful (even though I did not ask him to help...) and bring the dye inside for me. When he was told to turn around and go back outside, this is what happened. At least it happened on the porch and not on the carpet...and yes, I did have to get out the bleach to clean this up. ;)

Pouting on the porch, waiting for his bath to run.

Lily playing with her own Easter eggs!

Our Easter egg hunt at church. Getting a little love before the hunt begins.

If I can't hunt eggs, I might as well play with my shoes!

Sneak Preview

2009-04-09T21:23:00.003-04:00

Today, I finally tried the kid's Easter clothes on them to make sure they fit correctly. I thought Lily looked so cute in her dress and bow that I, of course, had to snap a few pictures. (It's getting much harder to do that with her now, because as soon as she sees the camera she's on the floor making a mad dash for it.)

Thought you might enjoy a sneak peak of her in her Easter dress. Happy 9 months tomorrow as well!

What happens when...

2009-04-01T14:26:00.002-04:00

you go to preschool for 3 hours, spend 2 hours playing with the Nicholsons, and play 9 holes of golf with daddy, Ty, and Michael Lord. :)

More Milestones

2009-03-12T22:19:00.003-04:00

I must say that I have absolutely loved having a little girl! Lily has definitely captured each of our hearts (even her brother's!). The sad thing is that she is growing and changing way too fast!

She has now been crawling (the correct way) for almost a month and 2 weeks ago, in one day, she began pulling up on anything and everything she can get the little tips of her fingers on. Besides already getting a couple of bruises on her forehead from falling when she pulls up, I've had to move her crib to a new wall (to keep her from going crazy playing with curtains that hung beside her crib), I've had to find baskets to place in front of cords that look so good to chew on, and I've become much less productive, as I can't leave Lilian anywhere without her getting into or onto something that could be dangerous. I'm now working very slowly with a baby on my hip or working on something for a minute or two and then running back into the room she's in to check on her. (Thankfully, our house is very small.)

Actually...I am so thankful that our house is full of children that sometimes make it hard to be neat and productive. They are truly a joy and wonderful blessing!

How quickly we forget about these precious stages!

Fun in the Mud!

2009-03-12T22:01:00.004-04:00

After 2 1/2 days of rain and 5 inches of snow, our yard was pretty soggy for days. As it began to warm up late last week, the boys began to spend more time outside. They were playing outside one afternoon, having a great time and getting along very well. Their fun began in the garage and on the driveway and sidewalk, where it was nice and dry. As I checked on them throughout their play time I was just waiting for them to venture into the yard, and hence the mud. They had on play clothes and were having such a great time, I had already decided I was going to let them get as messy as their little hearts desired.

Sure enough, I peaked out the door to check on "their fun" and they were having some! Their shoes and pants were wet up to their knees, they had mud on their faces, and they were using sticks and their fingers to play some game in a mud hole. Who knew one little mud whole could be so much fun?!

Great Snow!

2009-03-12T21:13:00.003-04:00

So I'm way behind on this blog. I have much I'd like to blog about, but I think I'll start with pictures from our snow last week.

The snow began Sunday afternoon, and it was great to be able to watch most of it fall. It seems that on the rare occasion that it does snow, it always happens in the middle of the night. This time, we were able to watch a lot of it accumulate before going to bed.

We awoke to a good 5 inches. The boys played in the yard a little with DJ and then went sledding down a hill in our neighborhood with some neighbors and their dad. I'm really glad I wasn't there to watch that, after hearing stories from DJ about Ty being on the front and Micah on the back and flying over a ditch and a downed power line. I would have definitely ruined all of the fun if I had been supervising (though I wonder how much supervising DJ was doing?) :)

The snow was beautiful to look at and Lily and I enjoyed our warm home together, while the boys had their fun outside.

Happy Eight Months!

2009-03-10T21:57:00.001-04:00

I have much more to blog about!! Hope to post soon!

Seven Months Old

2009-02-14T22:00:00.004-05:00

Lilian turned 7 months old this past Tuesday. Though this was the day Micah was so sick, I took a few minutes to snap a few pictures of our pretty little girl while he was getting a breathing treatment.

Lilian's Milestones

2009-02-14T21:27:00.004-05:00

How is it that they grow up so fast?!

Last week, in the span of 3 days, Lilian learned so many new things. She began to crawl (or her version of crawling), imitated a wave several times, finally began reaching for me, and is now sitting up very well.

The four of us are having so much fun experiencing her sweet and smiley personality and watching her change and grow so quickly. I think it is true that each child grows up a little quicker. I do wish it would slow down!

This is a video I took last Saturday. A day after Lily realized she could go and get where and what she wanted.

Poor Micah!

2009-02-14T21:15:00.002-05:00

These are a few pictures from Micah's recent 2 day stay in the hospital. For the first time in over 2 years, he had a really bad asthma episode and was having to work so hard to breathe that his pediatrician felt he needed to be admitted to the hospital for steroids, antibiotics, and fluids. I think the poor boy will forever be terrified of the doctor's office, nurses, and a hospital room. He had blood drawn from his finger, a shot in each leg, 2 different tests that involved a swab and then a hose up both nostrils, a chest x-ray, continual breathing treatments, and blood pressure and temperature checks. If that weren't enough, he was dehydrated enough that when they tried to put the IV in his hands they blew the vein each time so they had to call the nurses from the nursery up to put the IV in his foot (as seen in the picture). On top of that, Thursday morning before we came home nursing students were on the pediatric floor. We had 3 in and out of our room and one got to learn how to remove all of the tape from Micah's foot and take his IV out.

Overall, Micah did wonderful and is feeling much better!

A Tent for Lilian

2009-01-20T23:32:00.004-05:00

Yesterday afternoon I needed to unload a few groceries from the van and so as Lily played on the floor on her playmat I asked the boys to "take care of her." After a couple of trips in I peeked around the corner, making sure everything was okay in the den because it was a little quieter than normal...everyone seemed very content. While Ty had decided to do his own thing (he was not entertaining he sister as he was asked to do), Micah had decided that she needed a tent. I watched as this was "built" around her.

At first she was very amused as she lay under it one her back and watched the pillow teetering above her. Eventually she decided she would try to manuever herself out of the remaining holes. She seemed to be pretty entertained by Micah's "gift" to her.

Later she found the baby in the mirror and entertained herself with this.

And just a few more pictures of our precious baby girl!

Her latest trick is that she is trying to figure out the crawling thing. For about 4 weeks now she has been scooting like this:

bottom in the air, nose in the carpet.

But today she has continuously been rocking on all fours and sometimes getting up on her tip toes. At Tracey's house today she made her first big lunge forward. Does this count as a crawl? I don't know...but either way, she's changing and growing up way too fast!

A Little Snow, A Lot of Fun!

2009-01-20T23:13:00.005-05:00

We awoke this morning to a small amount of snow, but enough to cover and make everything appear white. The boys were really excited! They quickly made plans to go out and make a snowman and "make" a snow ball fight (in Micah's words). When I finally decided it was late enough to get ready and go out, 7 a.m. was a little too early for me, the boys set out to their room to dress themselves warmly. And Ty did just that. He came out in what I found out (as I was trying to undress him later in the garage) was an undershirt, 2 long sleeve shirts, a button up-and-down camoflouge long sleeve shirt and another long sleeve shirt on top of that. He also had on 2 pair of shorts, carhart overalls, and sweat pants. I put a coat on top of that because I didn't quite realize how many layers he was wearing, though I knew he was looking pretty thick.

We snapped a few quick pictures and then I sent the boys off to play. They quickly realized there wouldn't be many snowballs or a snowman and began wandering around the yard. Eventually they discovered that their trampoline had a nice layer of snow, and I think maybe ice, on it. And...the fun began! By the time they were finished jumping, slipping and sliding, and throwing snow at one another, they were pretty much both covered from head to toe. But, they had lots of fun in the process.

Christmas- Part 2 (Finally!!!)

2009-01-16T15:41:00.011-05:00

For those of you who have been waiting anxiously for a week now to finish reading about our Christmas excitement.... :)

Christmas morning we awoke to find all that Santa had brought us....

Just out of bed and ready to open presents!

But first...the most important part of Christmas morning, the Christmas story!

One of the boys' gifts from Santa, a bow and arrow. Just like daddy's. Sort of...I'm not sure these bows and arrows are going to kill any deer.

Lilian was much more excited about the paper!

I think the presents kind of bored her.

Once we opened all the gifts, we finished loading our van and trailer. (Yes...we really did pull a trailer to Alabama in order to carry all that we would need for 10 days of traveling and gift giving/receiving.) My friend Sarah Beth decided in her blog it might be humorous to log all of the hours her family spent driving back and forth to and from Alabama. Before sharing pictures of some of the places we visited, I thought I should do the same.

Spartanburg to Talladega, AL (Christmas morning) - 6 hours

Talladega, AL to West Blocton, AL (Friday morning) - 1 1/2 hours

West Blocton, AL to Tuscaloosa, AL (Friday night) - 30 minutes

Tuscaloosa, AL to Shelby, AL (Sunday morning) - 1 1/2 hours

Shelby, AL to Birmingham, AL (Sunday afternoon) - 45 minutes

Birmingham, AL to Tuscaloosa, AL (Sunday night) - 1 hour

Tuscaloosa, AL to Biloxi, MS (Monday morning) - 5 hours

Biloxi, MS to Talladega, AL (Friday morning) - 6 hours

Talladega, AL to Spartanburg (Saturday) - 6 hours

Yes...this is a lot of hours in a minivan with a 5 year old, 3 year old, and 5 month old. But, I am so glad we were able to go and see all of our family! This is the one time of the year that we get to see greatgrandparents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, 2nd cousins, 3rd cousins, etc. The boys loved every second of our trip and I know they are making great memories!

On Thursday and Friday, we spent our time with DJ's family. This is D.J.'s dad with our nephew "Baby Cade."

We also got to spend a day with DJ's grandparents, MawMaw and PawPaw. They had seen Lilian once before, but these are their first pictures with her.

The boys love to visit here because there are horses to look at, barns to explore, four-wheelers and tractors to ride, and lots of males to hang out with.

D.J. likes to visit here too!

On Friday night we spent time with my sister, Lacy, her husband, Luke, and our niece, Audrey, along with my parents. Saturday we spent the day with my mom's parents and her family in Tuscaloosa. Again, the boys had a blast! I didn't do a great job of getting many pictures, but here are a few.

Our Sunday was so busy that I didn't take a single picture. We had the priviledge of attending church with DJ's parents, as his dad preached his last sermon at his current church. He did a great job! We also spent the afternoon with my dad's parents and family in Birmingham. There were some great pictures taken of the 40 of us all there and together, but I don't have one uploaded on my computer to share.

Monday morning, my mom, Lilian and I made our way down to Biloxi, where my parents live. DJ took the boys on their first official hunting trip with my dad and father-in-law. While Ty saw 26 deer, he wasn't quite able to take his first shot. Micah, on the other hand, enjoyed running around at the bunk house with my dad. I think the two of them only lasted in a shooting house about 30 minutes.

The boys and my dad joined us in Biloxi on Tuesday where we did lots of playing and ate plenty of seafood. We also were able to visit with some very special friends of ours from our time in New Orleans where DJ was in seminary.

These are a few pictures of the kids at the beach. It was a little chilly so we didn't last long. But, long enough to get a few pictures and satisfy the boys' desire to play in the sand.

I think two weeks later I'm still playing catch up from all the time we were gone! But, as I said earlier, it was definitely worth it. I'm so thankful for all of the wonderful family we have and the special Christmas we had with them!

Christmas 2008 - Part 1

2009-01-07T22:20:00.008-05:00

I have missed blogging! We were so busy getting ready for Christmas and then traveled out of town for 10 days that I have been unable to load pictures or post about our Christmas happenings (and there were plenty of them)!

They boys had a wonderful Christmas and enjoyed every minute of their Christmas events in Spartanburg, Alabama, and Mississippi. I'm going to try and highlight what we have been up to the past several weeks.

The boys both enjoyed Christmas parties at school.

Our preschool choir sang several Christmas songs at church. Ty has been on the big stage in "big church" several times and seems to enjoy being in front of everyone. This way Micah's first time. It took him an entire song to warm up. He didn't sing the first song, but held his head down and looked at the floor.

Ty also had a Christmas program at school. All of the 4 year old classes and the K-5 class participated. They did a great job learning many new songs!

I saw the idea for these cute reindeer cookies in a magazine I got from my friend Tracey. I thought we would try to make them. I think they turned out cute and the boys enjoyed making Christmas cookies to leave for Santa. (Ty enjoyed making them. I think he finished about 12 before Micah finished 3. Micah enjoyed eating all of the pieces that were supposed to go on the cookie!)
To be continued....

Happy Birthday Ty!

2008-12-12T21:01:00.010-05:00

Today Ty turned 5 years old! He has been so excited about this day for weeks! We decided not to give him a party this year, but we wanted to do something special for him on his special day, so we planned several fun things to do. We started last night by taking him out to eat and letting him choose where he would like to go. With a little hinting from his dad, he chose Outback. D.J., of course, was happy to take him there! As we were eating, we let our waitress know that Ty was about to have a birthday. So... they sang to him and brought him a big bowl of ice cream with melted hot fudge sauce. What a smile he had on his face as he saw the crowd coming and heard them singing! It was a very proud, "yes, they're singing to me," kind of smile.

After school today, we met our friends Gabe, Ryanne, and Avery, and their great friends in town from California, Valerie, Savannah, and Landon at Monkey Joe's. They had a blast! Can you tell?

The Basketball Court

I mean....the wrestling pit.

After coming home from Monkey Joe's, we finally gave Ty his birthday gifts.

He has been talking about guitars for months now and loves to sing and play an imaginary guitar while he dances. In fact, for those of you who have seen him dance, you know that he cannot dance without strumming that imaginary guitar. We thought he might be ready for a real one to begin playing. He was very excited!

Micah didn't quite understand why he wasn't getting a guitar too. He asked over and over all day when it was going to be his birthday again and he wasn't too happy about Ty turning 5 today. What about this reaction when Micah realized what Ty was getting?

Things are better now....

Finally this evening, we went back over to Ryanne and Gabe's house, where Savannah had made surprise cupcakes for Ty. We sang Happy Birthday to him one more time and then it was his turn to serenade us all with his new guitar. This video was from earlier today, but many more of us got to experience the same thing tonight.

WARNING: 1. We're not sure that he's musically inclined. 2. He's been listening to a lot of Alabama's Greatest Hits in the truck with his dad.

I think it might be more work planning a "special day" than a birthday party!

On his special day, I must say how much I love my oldest son! He is a precious gift and a joy to spend everyday with! D.J. and I talk often about his tender heart and inquisitiveness. Ty loves to sit and have a conversation with you and would probably prefer to do that than play. He is also a wonderful big brother! I can't wait to continue to watch him become the boy that God has created him to be. HAPPY BIRTHDAY TY!!

Five Wonderful Months!

2008-12-09T21:15:00.009-05:00

The first five months of Lilian's life have definitely flown by. I wondered what life with three young children would be like. I spent a lot of time praying before her birth that I would be filled with patience with everyone in my home, including myself, despite how I might feel physically at times. I prayed that I would experience joy and contentment at home, knowing it would be more difficult to randomly leave the house just because I felt like I needed to get out. There were many other things I asked the Lord about as well, knowing what I tend to struggle with.

I must say...He has been so faithful! These five months have been absolutely wonderful! I love being a mom now more than ever and each of my children continue to remind me of the extraordinary gift God has given me in allowing me to be their mom.

As everyone said, having a girl has been lots of fun. Lilian has such a sweet personality. If my memory serves me correctly (which it often does not these days), she is much more content than the boys were. I love the way she smiles with her mouth wide open. And I love watching her with Ty and Micah. She obviously loves them, as she smiles as soon as they come into her view. Micah is much better at calming her when she is fussing than I am and he is the only one who can make her laugh. When the boys lean in close to Lilian, she reaches toward their face and immediately begins cooing at them.

To celebrate Lilian's 5th month, I'm going to post a picture from each month of her life. (I think she looks more and more like D.J. with each picture.)

Day 2

1 month

2 months

3 months

4 months

5 months

I Finally Did It!!!

2008-12-05T23:12:00.004-05:00

After a year of saying I was going to start a blog and reading numerous new blogs that my friends continue to begin, I finally did it!! As much as I enjoy reading about the daily lives and seeing pictures of those I know and don't know, I hope our family and friends will enjoy reading about what goes on in the Horton household as well. With the daily excitement that three preschoolers bring, I hope to find plenty to write about. Along the way, I hope to capture and record wonderful memories as well!

D.J. titled this blog (because I don't have a creative bone in my body) after a song from the group Rascal Flatts. And I must say that we truly "can't get enough of this everyday love."

To begin, I'll post a recent picture of my 3 wonderful children; Ty, Micah, and Lilian.

With all the excitement of the holidays, I hope to post much more soon! (I also may have to backtrack and post about bringing a new baby girl into our home!)