Love Day at the Park

We spent Valentines Day on a picnic at Zilker Park.
It was perfect. And the weather was lovely.

The Lukeman had so much fun! Seriously, he was in baby heaven. 
Freedom! Run! Play! Snack! Throw stuff! Wander! Climb! Dance! Chase!

Hey buddy!!!

The Magster blowing bubbles...

I had to go a bit underexposed to catch all the bubbles... super fun to take pictures of!

What do I love about Miss Rachel?
I love her chocolatey brown eyes. I love her little Mommy heart. And I love her determination at everything she tries.

What do I love about Miss Maggie?
I love her vibrant spirit. I love her cutesy contagious giggle. And I love her passion and love for life.

The girls had to take their boots off and play in the chilly creek...

Luke loved it! 

What do I love about Mr. Luke?
I love love love that he loves his Momma. I love his adventurous spirit. I love his dance moves. And I love his baby cuddles.

What do I love about Mr. Payne?
I love that he brought me tulips for Valentines day. I love how he stands by my side through good times and bad. I love how he provides for all our needs- physical and spiritual. 
And I love the man that he is. Every day I am honored to be your wife. 
xoxo,
Jess Payne

XOXO

It was a pretty Valentines eve here in Texas last week. 
I got the hankering for a photo shoot, so we went out to see what Momma could capture.
This shot is just fun. The sun was doing some weird things that night... it was cloudy then not cloudy, sunny then not sunny. It made for an interesting haze on these pictures.

Look Momma! A bird!!! 

Oh Luke, Will you be my Valentine???

Pretty pretty please with a cherry on top?

He accepted. 
It was either me or Rachel. 
I won.
Cuz I'm Momma.
Bam.

These two silly sisters!

Pink, hearts, kisses, flowers... all things these two LOVE.

Roses are for Rachel 
and 
Mmm ... mmm... mmmusic is for Maggie??
I need to work on my lovey dovey poetry skills. Obviously.

These two keep growing like weeds. 
I warn them that I'm going to start strapping bricks to their heads so they'll stop growing!

Hey pretty girls!!! 

Now for the fun part...
I relinquished my lip gloss. Maggie was in hog heaven. I get to hold it? I get to squeeze it all by myself???
The things you do for good pictures.
To her it was a work of art. Perfect. 
heehee

Rachel is a pro at this now. She can even keep it on her lips. :)

Time to KISS LUKE!!!

hahaha!

 This is starting to get intense. 
Kissing means business for Miss Rachel and Miss Maggie...

Oh no! 
Anybody seen Luke?

Ahhh! There he is! 

Not cool sisters.
Not cool.

The End. 
I hope your Valentines Day was filled with lots and lots of kisses.....
but not too many. ;)

Love Goggles

We were sitting down enjoying a talk around the table after preschool when Maggie busts out her love goggles she made. I died laughing. Then reached for my phone to take a picture and thought, "No! Go get your real camera." So I did.

Valentines Day is almost here!!!! 

Do you have your love goggles on???

Maggie the School Girl

At the start of the year we decided to enroll Maggie at preschool.

 I can't tell you how much I agonized over this decision!  

For Rachel, we simply couldn't afford it. That and I didn't feel like we needed it. I had things under control and made sure to do lots of activities with the girls.

Then Luke came and threw my whole system-routine-LIFE out of wack. (In the best kind of way of course;)) 

Anyway, I've been worried about Maggie not getting the attention she needs and not having her big sister around during the day. For several months I compared myself to other Moms thinking, "They homeschool all six kids! or She has never paid money for preschool and has done all four of her kids on her own!" These comparisons only made me feel worse and in the end still felt that a preschool class was right for Miss Maggie. 

So I did some research and found a preschool, and marched right in and signed her up! 

And it felt good.

Miss Maggie

Waiting for class to start on her first day!

So far Maggie has loved every second of school and looks forward to every Tuesday and Thursday when she gets to go!

They open the doors at 9am and sometimes we get there a little early and have to wait in the parking lot. One morning Maggie crawled up into the drivers seat and asked to take a picture with me. I know these are just phone pictures, but they seriously mean the world to me.
I love them so much and they make me smile every time!

From the get go, Maggie has been a Payne girl through and through. Her fair complexion, blonde hair, and blue eyes... Sometimes I wonder if there's any of me in her and then there's this picture....
Completely real, authentic Maggie and Mommy crinkle noses. Not staged perfection.
Yep, she's mine.

This one makes my heart SOAR!!!
I love you Maggie girl! 
Thanks for taking a picture with your Momma!

Happiness is...

playing in the Fall leaves...

These pictures set off every happy spot in my brain.
Rachel's perfect smiley gaze hits my heart like an arrow.

Three little people in a pile of leaves...

It has become more apparent to me throughout this journey of motherhood that these three little people truly are sons and daughters of God. I always knew that, of course.

But the Spirit has recently reminded me of this, and it fills me with joy and power!
Sometimes being a Mom is overwhelming, but when I remember this simple truth I can feel that I am not in this alone. Heavenly Father is backing me up! And everything is going to be okay.
Actually, it's going to be fabulous!
(fabulous is a fancy word for GREAT!)
Someone has been reading too much Fancy Nancy. heehee

I LOVE THIS LITTLE MAN!
That is all.

Can Rachel get any more beautiful?
Just when I think it's impossible she proves me wrong.

1...2...3... little people of mine...

Happiness is...
Rachel, Maggie, and Luke...
My three little people.

Goldfish

This is how Maggie eats her goldfish...

I tried stopping her but soon realized it would be an impossible task. 
That and... it's the little pleasures in life that get you through the day. 
For me, thats a dark chocolate.
For Maggie, it's goldfish with a bowl and spoon.

So...
How do you like your Goldfish???