vegas baby!

last week james and i took our first vacation sans kids in the last 3 years!  james had never been to vegas so we booked the cheap allegiant flights and took off.  it was nice to relax and just be a couple. 

i don't know if james was mad i was taking his photo or if he was trying to act like a cool guy in this pic

pool time!  there is not a lot to do during the day in vegas, so we did a lot of walking around the strip and reading poolside.

at night we went to a cirque du soleil & blue man group shows...and i won $50 playing black jack!

i am thankful for my inlaws watching our boys and for sweet time to reconnect with my best friend!



thankful

happy mother's day!  i know this is a tough day for many.  i have a couple of good friends who lost their moms in the last few years and my heart hurts for them.  it is a tough day for others struggling with infertility and i wish i could do something to ease their pain.

today i am so thankful.  thankful for my mom, my mother in law, my grandma, my boys, and my wonderful husband.  growing up, my biggest fears in life were that i would not get married or be able to have kids.  i am overjoyed that i married a great man and we are blessed with two healthy boys. 

if i could choose one word to describe our life right now it would be content.  after a crazy couple of years, our relationship has grown deeper and is stronger than its ever been.  if we can survive unexpected pregnancies, several job changes, moving, house buying, etc., we can survive anything.  over this last year i've realized how special and rare my husband is and i respect him so much. love you baby.  thank you for being such a wonderful father and best friend.



new clothes

james had extrication training today at "mashed up in march," so the boys and i braved the mall to do a little shopping.  i have a little love affair with gymboree--probably buy 90% of the boys' clothes there.  reasons i love it:
1. 5 minutes from my house
2. not too crowded
3. local sales people are helpful
4. kids area with chairs & cartoons
5. easy to navigate the store and find coordinating items
6. if you shop the sales right, you can get pretty high quality clothes for walmart/garage sale prices.

don't believe me?  here's a little spreadsheet of today's purchases:

everything 70-90% off!  (i know they mark it up to make you think you are getting a deal, but what store doesn't?)  here are some of the items i bought:

 

it helped that gymboree is having a 30% off everything fill a bag sale + i had a 20% coupon from parenting + 5% off with gymboree visa.  sounds like a lot to keep track of, but again, this is really the only store i shop at so it's not that hard to keep straight.

plus since i spent $50, i got $25 of gymbucks to spend next month on a $50 purchases--planning to buy more clearance items at 50% off! 

in other news, we are LOVING!!!  this weather :)  happy weekend, yall.

enjoy the minutes

my heart has been breaking lately for my college friend, amy, and nathan with the loss of their 14 month old boy, tucker.  i had only met tucker a couple times at church, but i can't imagine the anger/sadness/heartwrenching pain they are experiencing.  i have been so encouraged by all of the words amy and her sweet sister melissa have written after tucker's passing.  every time i put my boys down for naps i kiss and hug them a little longer.
this morning i read the letter nathan wrote and read at tucker's funeral and started bawling.  parker came up to me asking, "you sad, mommy?" and then "i'll wipe your tears."  children are such a precious gift from the Lord.  enjoy every minute you get to spend with them and say a prayer for amy and nathan this week (or every day).  love.

ever looming question

parker's 3rd birthday is coming up in less than 2 months!  i am super excited about his party that my sweet friends jennifer & shalini are helping plan.  but that is not the topic of this post.  for almost 3 years since sweet parker's birth, i've contemplated staying at home.  i often wonder if it is better to work hard & sacrifice now so james and i can have more financial freedom in coming years, or if staying home now on a tight budget would be better for our kids and our mental health.  i don't want to look back in coming years and wish i would've stayed home.  at the same time, i don't want to look back on the great opportunity i have at work right now and wish i would've worked another year or two to have the freedom of no house payment.

it's a never ending debate that sparked again while calculating our taxes this year.  for kicks i figured our tax with and without my income--we would save $xx,xxx on federal income tax alone if i quit working!  if the government wants to give motivation to quit that is pretty strong encouragement right there.  looking at our excel budget to see how much we could save on childcare (even though the boys are not in full time day care) just adds fuel to the fire.  what is the true marginal utility of my second income?

but then i think about how good we have it--i have a flexible job schedule, 3 weeks of vacation time plus holidays, weekends, etc. some spouses go overseas and miss out on whole years of their children's development to serve their family/country.  if i work 40 hours a week (and some of that from home), i am not missing out on very much of my children's lives. 

many firefighters get second jobs, but again--what is the marginal utility of that 2nd income?  not that i want to make less money to pay less taxes but our tax system highly rewards such choices.
an article pops up in my newsfeed about "how the happiest people spend their money" and then i watch a contrasting suzie ortman show about saving and planning for the future.  torn.

i can lay my head down to rest each night knowing that james and i are doing our best to love on our kids, provide for our kids, and make every choice with their best short term and long term interest in mind.  while we may not always know the best choice to make, they are choices we make together.  we are not trapped or locked into to a choice forever, whether it is continuing to work or staying home.  only God knows what the future holds and we need to seek his guidance and wisdom along the way.  g'nite yall.  love and peace in all of your decision making!