Summer fun with my boys!

 So this blog post doesn't really have a "theme" except that it's lots of sweet pictures of my boys with all the fun we had this summer!

 Christian's first pair of real lace shoes that he picked out himself. He was so proud of them!

As you can see, I LOVE taking these boys places and having fun! They are MY EVERYTHING!

Painting with a Twist!

 Yes, they must have known I was coming. Not really, but seriously....there couldn't be a more perfect painting smock for me to use! For one of our girls night outs this summer (yes, we still do them each month!) we headed to Fayetteville for dinner at Mermaids then went to Painting with a Twist. 

It's a place that has various painting sessions and the instructors help you paint the painting yourself! It was a lot more fun than I thought AND I was surprise how well my painting turned out!

Check out the step by step process...

 The final product! I love the beach and loved this painting! It know hangs in the boys bathroom!

Catching up on memories!

OK, so you may have noticed these recent posts might be a little out of chronological order. ;) But all that matters is that I am able to get them added so our family "scrapbook" can be somewhat complete for this year. Since beginning our online blog back in 2008, I have ordered a hardback book of our blog each year. It's one of the Christmas presents that Jim gets me each year and I LOVE it! 

As my wise father-in-law says, "The days may drag on, but the years...they fly by." I think of that statement a lot. It is SO true. I truly can't believe how fast my boys are growing up before my eyes. Jim and I were just talking the other evening about plans for Spring Break, summer trips, etc. and we always seem to get confused about when we made the last trip to Texas or KC, or wherever. I look up the blog or in my blog book so I can remember. I see the pics from those trips and enjoy the memories. And I always seem to say "that was two years ago??" or "Wow, the boys look so little!" when reflecting on the pictures on the blog. I am thankful to have my blog to keep up with the memories and share them with family and friends...but mostly for me. Because the days drag on, but the years fly by. And I don't want to forget a thing.

Christian's 9th Birthday continued!

 Christian had a fun day with his best friend Andrew!

 They rode go-karts, played video games, ate pizza, then we went to the Rogers Aquatic Center!

 We also celebrated with our little Andrew at Chuck E Cheese and watched Despicable Me 2!

 

 Then dinner at Christian's favorite restaurant, Las Fajitas!

 We are so blessed! Happy birthday Christian!

More Naturals games!

 As I continue to catch up on the blog, I can't miss posting great pictures from taking the boys to Naturals games. They LOVE baseball. Andrew can't wait until next year when he can play!

 The boys loved doing the pregame stretches with the players!

 Christian tried his first deep fried Oreo!

 He liked it but thought one was enough. ;)

Love these smiles!

VBS 2013 Kingdom Crew!

 Once again, I volunteered with my good friend Elise, to lead the preschool music classes at VBS this year! We had a great time and the boys LOVE VBS! Andrew sings the songs and does the dance moves for weeks (even months) after the event! 

 Andrew loved his crew leaders!

 And I think Christian had a slight crush on his crew leaders. He started wanting to wear cologne that week because he thought the girls might like it. Oh boy.

We love our church and all the people who make VBS happen!

Yes, I'm still here!

So once again, I have been so busy that I got VERY behind on our family blog. However, I am happy to say I have more time. More time for lots of things in my life. More time for things like.... my blog again, haha. ;)

 Last month, I decided to resign from my position with NWAMotherlode.com (effective Oct 2013). Though I loved planning the NWA Mom Prom, I wasn't jumping up and down about advertising sales part of my position. Going business to business, phone calls and emails never returned makes for lots of effort without a lot of payoff. I was excited to have the flexibility to "work from home" but did not realize how much time it actually took from being at home. Yes, it's nice to be able to sit at your computer, make phone calls, etc. while still in pjs, but when you work from home, it is hard to "turn off" work. It was always there. Emails, phone calls, texts, etc. 

Not like my previous job at AAM where when I left for the day, my work day was OVER. When I was home, I could focus on my family without the constant interruptions of the "convenience" of technology. So when I did the math, I realized the time vs. money (along with other things) was just not adding up. So when I made the choice to resign, I was at peace which confirmed it was the right decision for me. Some jobs are only for a season, and I truly feel that God put me in that position to fill a void I was having professionally and to help the ladies of NWAMotherlode host an event for a great charity at the same time. It was a WIN, WIN. But now I am happy to be a true stay at home mom again! YAY! So stay tuned for a few months of updates from The Hopkins Household!