Today's Playground Trip

We took a fun trip to the playground today. Someone was having an Elmo birthday party while we were there...In one of the videos below, Miller is talking to "Melmo." One little boy was wearing an Elmo shirt, and Miller kept following him around the playground. :-) I think we've figured out what kind of birthday party Miller is having!



Here are a couple of pictures of Monkey Maggie at the playground. What a fun day!

Our Little Artist

Maggie loves to draw stick figures ("people"). She draws the arms and legs coming directly from the face. Her "people" can be found with a variety of facial expressions (most are happy; some are not) and many unique hairstyles. Here is today's masterpiece, whom she named "Daddy." She thought she'd given him too much hair, so she used the sprinkler head to give him a haircut.


While I was taking pictures of Maggie and "Daddy," Miller sat down and said, "Cheeeese!" The second picture below shows Miller in the middle of a tantrum--a reminder that his second birthday will be here soon. :-) He's a very sweet kid, but we all have our moments....

Five years!

Today is our five-year wedding anniversary. It has been a wonderful day filled with lots of laughter. Life isn't always perfect, but I can't think of anyone with whom I'd rather spend it. (And it is usually pretty close to perfect.) Here are some pictures from five years ago today...



Can't BELIEVE how much these four have grown...

Summer so far...

Our summer so far has been busy but good. We started off June with a trip to see our parents. We all had a fantastic time and enjoyed getting to see Yaya, Pop, Nana, and Granddaddy. The next week we had VBS. Jeff and I taught Maggie's class and had a blast.

Unfortunately, Maggie hasn't felt 100% for the past few weeks. She had some tummy issues during our trip to see Yaya and Pop, then again during VBS week, and then again this past week. She actually has had these issues off and on since March. However, the past couple of weeks, she's been in a lot of pain. We took her to a GI specialist last week, and he did some lab work to try to figure out what's going on. We'll have those results back next week. On the 29th, Maggie will go to Children's Hospital to have an upper GI test. We'll go back to the doctor that day and will hopefully have some answers. Until then, we're trying to keep life low-key and keep Miss Mags feeling well.

Last night, we got to go to our nephew Landon's All-Stars game. He did a great job, and we were excited to see my sister Ellen, her husband Steve, Landon and Jackson (Ellen and Steve's boys), Hudson (our third oldest Driggs nephew), and Nana. We hope to be able to see ALL of our nephews this summer. We also can't wait for our newest nephew's arrival later this summer! We're one blessed family.

Oh yeah...and HAPPY FATHER'S DAY! I'm so thankful for my wonderful Daddy, my wonderful Jeff, Jeff's wonderful Pop, Jeff's wonderful grandfather (Pops), and our Heavenly Father, who put them all in our lives.

Here are some pictures from yesterday's ball game...Landon was busy playing ball, so he didn't make it into the cousin pictures, but we'll be sure to get some with EVERYONE next time.

The Norris Men

Daddy and Miller at our buddy Alex's tee-ball game

Love

Last night Maggie made the decision to bite Miller just before bedtime. Jeff and I were pretty upset because we are trying to teach Miller not to bite, hit, and shove, and when Maggie does those things to him, it fuels the fire. She got sent to bed immediately. She was pretty hysterical; she doesn’t like getting in trouble (a lot like both of her parents). And I don’t like putting her to bed thinking we’re upset with her. I knelt by her bed to give her good-night hugs and help her say her prayers, and she couldn’t calm down. I explained to her, as I have many times before, that we still love her just as much when she makes a bad decision, but that we want her to make good decisions.

I couldn’t help but think about how many more times I have been disobedient to my Heavenly Father and how much more He loves me—so much so that He gave his own son’s life so that I could be saved. I never really understood that sacrifice until I had children of my own. I think about how much Jeff and I love our children, and then I think about how much more God loves us. It's hard to understand how a love that vast could exist. But it does. And I am thankful every day for it. I am so thankful for the sweet children Jeff and I have been given, and it is my earnest prayer that God will teach us daily how to better show HIS love to them.

Night night!

The Norris kids all dressed for bedtime and giving each other a night night hug