So happy together!

My boys are now "playing" together. It's such a joy to watch the two of them interact. Above, Clark is lining the cups up in a perfect line while Joel sucks on a dinosaur.

Clark has been a very good big brother. He loves on Joel all the time and shares his toys for a few seconds ;-). Clark's favorite book right now is Little Brother, Big Brother. It's a book all about brothers.

This is Clark's version of a hug. We are still learning GENTLE.

Sweet Joel...

At the boys' check up, we learned that Joel weighs 16 pounds, 3 ounces (75%), and he's 26 1/2 inches long (50%). Clark is 28 pounds (45%) and 37 inches (90%). I couldn't ask for more perfect boys.

Note about the house, the tree is off and repairs are about to start. The insurace is going to paint the back side for us since the tree scraped it. That's such a blessing because we won't have to do it!!!

Home Improvement and Home Destruction

As promised I wanted to share our freshly painted house pictures. Michael and I worked very hard for a month to prep and paint our house. I spifted up the front with a few touches of paint. That was last weekend. A lot has happened since.

Michael was out of town for work this Friday when a strong storm system was headed our way. So I got ready as I always do. I put the dogs and cat in the basement and lots of supplies. I was really nervous so I really prepared. I waited until a tornado warning was issued, and I woke the boys up from their nap to take them to the basement. Well little did I know I was putting us in danger while trying to keep us safe.

As I was putting them into the basement, I heard a loud crack and then felt the wall shake. Instincts kicked in and I threw Clark into the basement and shut the door.

Joel and Clark were both crying, and I was shaking. When everything settled, we discovered a tree had fallen on our house.

That little door is where I was standing trying to shut the door.
It's a really big tree. It's going to take a crane to lift it over our house!!!!!

As we walked out this stuff fell over our heads, but thank the Lord the trellis caught it.

Our view from the basement.

It was scary, but we were really blessed by all the neighborhood support received. People everywhere came out and helped me until Michael got home. We joke--at least we didn't around to painting the back yet. That is scheduled next month.

I declare today pajama day!

After a very exhausting weekend of painting the exterior of our home (thanks to some awesome friends for helping!!!), I have decided we all could use a little vacation. So today is official pajama day at our home. Mommy and the boys are enjoying a day at home in our comfy pjs. I refuse to go anywhere or do anything except change Joel's diapers of course. ;-) Potty training for Clark is going well!!!

Oh...to add to our special day it snowed for a few hours this morning!!! No accumulation, but it was beautiful.

We'll have to post pictures of our house later!!!

Potty Training Day Four and MORE

I felt it was time to try to potty train on Monday, so we are giving it a go. So far everything has gone as expected--a few wet pants and no luck on the number two. Clark seems to enjoy the treats and attention.

The other day I was walking around the house and noticed our siding was deteriorating. After inspection, we decided we need to paint our house. The good news is we just refinanced and have a extra money because we have no house payments for two months. We are going to have to buy a tall ladder, paint sprayer, and expensive outside paint. We give thanks to God for providing the money to do all this with.

The bad news is it is a big house and very tall. We have a basement, two stories, and an attic! I don't know how tall that is, but it's more than a 28 foot ladder can handle. So far we are just handling this side first. We have bleached it, pressure washed it, and now we are caulking it. It's tough trying to do this with two little kids, but we have made it work so far. Michael and I each have ladders, Clark plays in the yard with the dogs, and Joel hangs out in his bouncy seat.




Clark saw Joel wearing a hat today (it was a little windy and cold), so he wanted his hat too. I grabbed his fire fighter hat. The first thing he did was run to the ladder and climb it to get up to daddy. It was just too cute, so I had to snap a few shots of my Firefighter Clark with a bubble wand to the rescue!!!

Here's Joel in his hat. Today I didn't go up because it was too cold and windy. We mainly cheered Daddy on while he worked on the ladder. One thing is for sure, we Loftons are do-it- yourselfers!!!! And we stick together!

Joel's First Hike

Skipping rocks

The Boys

We took the opportunity to teach Clark who made

all of this beauty for us. Isn't it beautiful??

Joel's first time to the creek

Joel with his transportation aka Mommy

After work Tuesday, we decided to grab some 1/2 price burgers from Sonic and drove to a trail a few minutes from our house. It was a great day for Joel's first hike. We think he liked it, and we did for sure. It was a great reminder of why we love Tennessee. We ate in the car and hiked to the creek. Daddy and Clark skipped rocks while I played with Joel. The water was a little too cold to play in, but we'll be back. During the summer this place has awesome little pools to swim in.

What a great weekend!

We took full advantage of the beautiful weather this weekend by playing outside lots. On Friday, I got my hair cut for the first time in 10 months,and it only cost $10. Then, we meet up with three other families at a park and had a pizza picnic. We all have children 3 years or younger, so we were kept busy with the little ones running around. It was a lot of fun! Then we came home and took a tons of pictures of our silly boys.





Then Saturday, my neighbor and I loaded up all four of our boys (ages 3,2,1,0)and went to a park on top of Signal Mountain while Michael stayed home and did house projects. The older boys got to run around and slide down a HUGE slide together. They also played in the sandbox. They had so much fun together. Then we had a picnic.








We wrapped up the day with Daddy blowing bubbles on the porch, and Clark popping them with his face. We grilled burgers and ate outside. With our tummies full, our other neighbor brought over several meals worth of food just because she was "thinking about us". What a blessing to have such great neighbors.

Sunday, we got to go to church, and I walked 6.25 miles (half was at the river walk).
And what a terrific weekend!

Joel is 3 months

I can't believe it. He is growing fast. He has been wearing 6-9 months sleepers for a while now because he is so long. He now smiles, coos, and laughs all the time. He loves to be tickled under the chin. He is such a sweet easy baby when his tummy isn't hurting.

Below are some pictures of him laughing today. It's a deep belly laugh that you can't help but laugh with. His favorite things in life are his mommy aka food, his fingers, and getting a fresh dry diaper.

His hair has fallen out quite a bit, which Clark's never did. He has a complete bald spot on the back of his head which completely kissable. I don't know what to expect with his hair. It's lighter than Clark's was too. It's almost a golden brown.

His strawberry has stayed the same size for the whole month, so I hope it's as big as it's going to get. I don't notice it anymore.

Happy 3rd month, Joel!

Smilebox experiment

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

I can't stop praising the Lord!

I am overwhelmed with thankfulness, and so this post is for praising our Father and our King for all He has done in my life.
Family: I can't believe I have such a AWESOME husband. He is so generous, loving, gracious, intelligent, strong, and true. He serves me and the kids and loves us with his leadership and open arms. My two beautiful boys who make me feel like I'm on top of the world when I see their smiles. Quick I need to pinch myself. Could it get any better? Yes it does!

Church: I am so thankful for my church and its willingness to search God's heart and seek His will and the willingness to do it! The pastor's obedience is leading us to amazing things. I think God is moving and shaping people and destiny there!!! He preached from Colossians today. And wow did it make me thankful. 1:13-14 "He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His Love!!!! in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins." I am telling you I needed that deliverance from the power of darkness!!! And I am so thankful, He has brought me far far from that darkness into His light!!!! A once broken, abused, worthless, forgotten girl is NOW a new creation and daughter of the King. That makes me want to dance, scream out, cry, and fall on my knees all at the same time.

Friends: Where can I start...for all those who have walked with me to help me become who I am today--thank you and thank you, Father. In Tennessee, God has given me amazing friends who love me and hold me up--praise the Lord. Melody (who loved me and my children before she really knew me), Alisha (who God has placed in my life for just the right time to support each other), Sara (my sister who has walked the long, agonizing walk with me as a working mom), Amanda (my new sister who encourages me to get into the word and mommy world), Trisha (who has mentored me and held me up in tough times), Cindy and Duane (my neighbors who feed us regularly with their delicious "extra" food), Candice and Jeff (our fabulous neighbors who have two boys too and share in our joys and tough times) , and the many others who deserved mentioning. God knows and may blessing be yours for your love and kindness.

Praise God for people like Troy, Heath, and Thomas who stayed at our house from 5:30 pm until 2:30 am last night fixing our pressure regulator valve under our house FOR FREE!!!! See picture below.

I could go on, but my boys are up from their nap. One last thing I need to say, I know that life is "good" right now, but God is equally worthy to be praised when tough times come. Remind me of that when the time is here. I know I'll forget.

ALL PRAISE BE TO GOD!!!!

Before and After

Well what can I say...I should have known. Vanity lead me down the road of disappointment. I have been feeling yucky, so I thought I'd do a little pampering by coloring my hair with a kit from the store. I carefully picked on the one that looked closest to my own color. And honestly, I was trying to color the gray hairs that are partying on my thirty year old head. So I followed the directions and colored my hair with the hopes that only I would notice. Well, my hair turned BLACK!!!! EEEEK! All my pretty God given and salon treated reddish highlights--GONE!

It has been a shock. I am not loving my body right now, and my hair is driving me crazy. But I was digging my hair color.

I have accepted that I am now black headed. I am getting my money back from the easy but not so nice company. And I'm requesting they pay for a salon to bleach and color my hair back to normal. We'll see what they say. I thought it was worth a shot.

So that's my sob story about color in a box. Watch out friends!!! And call them first or you might end up like me. :-)