Open Letters {14}

It's been a bit since I posted some open letters so here they are!!

Dear Snow,

I really do enjoy you but when you bring ice along with you and that ice weigh down a tree and then that tree falls over and kills a transformer leaving us without electricity...well, that I don't enjoy.

Sincerely,
Folks who like electricity in 20 degree weather ;-)

Dear Matt, 

That idea I had to build a blanket fort sure was a good one. Just wanted you to know. haha!

Love, 

Me

Dear Mason, 

You were a TROOPER during these past snow days. You weren't stir crazy except for a little bit and for that, I'm grateful!

Love, 

Your Momma

Dear Baby Morgan, 

We get to see you on ultrasound this morning and we are three excited folks about that!! 

Love, 

Your Momma, too

Dear Grandmom and Granddad, 

You guys are lifesavers!!! You took in three crazy Morgans without batting an eye and you spoiled us rotten. Thanks for keeping us warm and keeping us fed. 

We love you!

Matt, Leslie, and Mason

Dear February, 

You are right around the corner and that is just NUTS!! We hope to celebrate you BIG with lots of love being shown in our house. 

Sincerely, 

The Morgans

Dear Superbowl, 

You're coming soon and I couldn't care less for the most part BUT along with you comes the option to make some fun and yummy snacks. So, come on along and I'll eat my pregnant self through your 4+ hour antics. :)

Love,
Me

Safe House {A Book Review}

Wow, I was on a roll reading last year and here it is January 24th and this is the first book that I've finished and it took me a long time to read this one!! Safe House: How Emotional Safety is the Key to Raising Kids Who Live, Love, and Lead Well by Joshua Straub, PhD has been sitting on my bedside table for nearly 3 months. 

I have no idea why it took me so long to start reading and it took me almost as long to finish reading it. Let's see if I can hash it out while I write this review. 

I've mentioned before that parenting books draw me in more than most books do in this season of life. However, Safe House, which is a book about parenting, did not bring me in. The main reason I think this didn't draw me in was that it was written in a little more complex language, in my opinion. It was a little dry as well. Most parenting books that enjoy have that great mix of information and humor with a bit of personal experiences and stories mixed in with that. Safe House didn't quite have the right balance for me. 

Safe House's main premise is that fostering and establishing emotional safety within the home is how parents can best reach their children and parent them well. Straub states that establishing and maintaining that emotional safety with allow you to aid your children is living, loving and leading best in their lives. I don't necessarily disagree with this at all. 

Straub does bring out some good points in his book that are biblically based and as you know, that is important to me for sure! I liked that he included a section in his book about Safe Marriage which I think is the foundation of parenting going smoothly along with biblical foundations. 

In closing, I don't think that this book was horrible. I honestly think I'd like to read it later on in life. Right now, it just isn't the right book for me. If you are looking for a book to help you establish emotional safety in your home, definitely check this out. 

I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review.

The Morgan's Movements {Mid-January 2016}

There wasn't much left to Mid-January once staycation was over but here are  the highlights! 

Staycation ended with Mason getting the stomach bug about 11:20 last Sunday night. None of us slept much and little guy threw up several times over the course of 6 hours. 

He took a morning nap that day and an afternoon nap. He was well rested for sure. He recovered quickly and thankfully was up for drinking plenty of water! 

Tuesday was another recovery day with lots of inside play including block stacking and mail opening. :)

I had to work that night and Matt and Mason enjoyed their guy time, as always! 

Wednesday was an early day with a health assessment at HD and then MOPS. After nap, we headed out to Wal-mart. 

I finally got my butter dish! Thanks to a gift card from Christmas and Mason got some mittens! 

Handsome-est guy in the world! 

Thursday we got out for groceries and storytime because we knew Friday would bring snow/ice/wintry mix. Mason was talking the whole time I was trying to take pictures. haha! 

(He touched a diaper on the table to be thrown in the trash and said "Stinky poop". hahaha!)

Another happy night for my guys ended mid-January! 

More to come with a snowed/iced in day. :)

Staycation {January 2016}

Last year around this time, we took a 10 day stay-cation which included a couple of day adventures. This year, Matt had already used the majority of his vacation time (his hours run February to January) so we took a long weekend, essentially. It began on Wednesday night for the guys. I was dealing with the crummy cough and what I now think is silent reflux and I ended up on the couch. 

The guys? They took advantage of a date at Bojangles!!

Thursday morning and Friday morning I worked a couple of hours. It was not the original plan but after Matt's huge truck repair this past week, it was necessary. While I worked, the guys made pancakes!

Matt said Mason was so proud, and of course we were proud too! He also said he ate way more blueberries and chocolate chips than he put on his pancakes. :)

When I got off of work, we made some painting artwork using Mardi Gras beads!

The forecast for the following day was rain so we took advantage of the beautiful day we had and Matt made a HUGE pile of leaves and they jumped in them. I watched and took pictures and laughed my head off!

The guys took a nap and then that afternoon, I made a YUMMY chili mac with cheese biscuits while they took some pictures outside for an blog update on MMM.

Thursday night, we had an in home date night with DQ blizzards and the movie, The Martian!

Friday morning, I headed to work and Mason and Matt headed to Kindergym.

We had leftovers for lunch and we all rested. After rest, we made semi-homemade chocolate donuts! Mason and I cut the donuts out.

Matt and Mason iced them. YUM!

That night, Matt made AWESOME bacon cheeseburgers and we had fries to go with them. Mason was obviously a fan...heck, we all were!

Friday night, we watched another great movie, The War Room and hit the sack early. 

Saturday, Jenn was super sweet to watch Mason while Matt and I went on a date!

We went to breakfast at a local favorite, The Dutch Plate and then we just hung out for a few hours.

Saturday afternoon was beautiful and we headed down to Hatcher Garden to explore. We picked up all kinds of treasures and just enjoyed the beautiful weather.

Right at the end, Matt challenged Mason to a race. They began racing up the hill and Mason put his arm in front of Matt to slow him down. Matt and I laughed so hard about that!! 

Sunday morning, we planned to all go to church together but I woke up with that crazy cough again and horrible reflux, so the guys went (in their matching socks) and I stayed home to rest. 

That afternoon, we watched a movie and ate popcorn! 

We finished off staycation with some yummy food and a good night of rest...until the stomach bug hit...more on that later!