The Best Kind Of Photos

There are SO many normal, day-to-day things that happen around here.

The photos of these things are my favorite kind.

The photos of an “event” that I photograph and make a whole post about are a sweet memories kept too, don’t get me wrong!

I love looking back at the simple things that fill our days though, you know?

Like when I made donuts for Chad’s birthday breakfast!

Yes, I made them!

That is not a typo!

Addie had to work that day!

They got rave reviews!

Date night is still a normal Friday night thing.

I LOVE date night!

The guy who buys the coffee is my FAVORITE.

This date night we thought we finally had found the perfect mirror for the kids bathroom downstairs.

And it was 50 percent off!

Even though it measured perfectly, when we brought it home it was TOO BIG.

Wah!

It hung over top of the handles of the faucet!

There was no way we could make it work, so back to the store it went.

Read aloud is a daily thing.

I read this chapter book aloud one hour each day until we finished it!

I have read this book aloud many, many times over the years and still love it!

We just ordered the movie from the library and plan to watch it over break.

School totes are another normal thing here!

I fill them with the kiddos finished work, and when they get full they show their work to their Daddy!

It’s a favorite of mine for sure.

Then there are weekly guitar lessons.

Hearing them play their guitars is AWESOME!

And we love their teacher too!

There is usually something soaking or fermenting on our counters.

We eat weird.

Grant works a lot, which is normal.

Then he gets home and pours love into all of us.

I love that about that young man!

He learned it from his Dad.

I love that about that man too!!

Tuesdays are tablet time days!

They enjoy Tuesdays!

And yes, that girl’s legs are really that long.

She is leggy!

I need to have a talk with Addie’s friend who held a cheese cake contest at their Christmas party.

I think I gained three pounds on all that left over cheese cake!!

Just look at it though!

Chocolate espresso.

Dairy and gluten-free, of course.

Oh boy, was it GOOD.

I ate plenty just to be sure.

This sweet girl of mine and I had haircuts several weeks ago.

No, it is not lost on me that she sits high up in that chair all by herself and loves to get her haircut.

That is a lllooonnnnggg place from where we started with our sweet baby, that’s for sure.

But now it’s a normal thing!

Tate said to me one morning: “Mom, can I have a snack?! My blood sugar is hungry!”

SO cute!!

We have a drawer for snacks!

Snacks are a very normal thing.

Have you all ever had Oriental Sweet Potatoes?

GO GET SOME!

They were fabulous!

We did an Advent devotional called Unwrapping the Greatest Gift by Ann Voskamp.

It was SO good.

Our first year for an Advent devotional!

Something I hope to continue though for sure.

Sometimes lunch is so bright you have to wear shades!

There were about six coffee mugs that were chipped and didn’t make the cut to be packed and moved to Twin Oaks.

We have broken another few since moving.

Good grief!

When I saw this on clearance on date night for $2.23, I snatched it up!

It’s my new favorite mug!

I hope no one breaks it!

We eat all the time it seems.

Here was afternoon snack time downstairs while watching a show!

Have I ever mentioned these two are always together?

OK.

Just checking!

We love this pup.

A very normal thing.

The Christmas season can be tough.

As Grant would say – EGR – extra grace required.

No place I would rather be than in a rocking chair holding this sweet girl, singing and praying over her while I do.

I was trying to take a photo of this dairy-free whipped cream to share on Instagram.

See the thumbs up there?

Yep. That’s my funny hubby.

We bought the kiddos this game for Christmas!

It is fun!!

We love to play games!

These two cuties are learning how to read!

And they LOVE, love, love it.

The first thing we do every school day is sing!

I CANNOT sing.

Just saying.

But, I am pretty sure the Lord I love doesn’t hear my voice the way I hear it.

We are memorizing hymns together, and the worship going on while we do that is priceless!!

We reviewed all the ones we have learned so far this past week!

Everyday I snuggle in bed and read to Tate and Eliza.

THAT, folks, is the stuff memories are made of!

It is one of my favorite things to do!!

And a very, very normal thing that they count on.

Green stuff in glass jars.

Refer back to photo number 10!

We eat weird.

Normal for us though.

Since we moved to Twin Oaks I have rearranged things several times!

All in a good effort to figure out where things would be best kept.

Blake calls this my therapy!

He may be right!

Things usually get worse before they get better, ahem.

Crafts with littles is a normal thing.

We love to do crafts!!

Last, but not least, another normal thing in this busy household is getting grocery.

Every. single. week.

They all eat!

Everyday!

This past weekend the middle boys headed out super early with Blake and I on Saturday morning to get the grocery.

It was FUN!

And it was 5:50 a.m.!

That’s why I am holding two cups of coffee!

We split into teams and then met back up to finish the last few things!

It wasn’t even fully daylight when we were finished shopping!

That was the best grocery shopping trip I have been on in a long time.

It’s always better when we do it together!!

Well that was a huge pile of the best kind of photos!

Memories in the making for sure.