4 years later and God still amazes me

4 years ago this past Monday my life turned completely around. My wife gave birth to a wonderful little girl Abigail Grace!!!! Well, she turned 4 years old on Monday and I think she's going on 24... This little girl has a way of either saying or doing something every day that just simply amazes me. I very often find myself just shaking my head in wonder.
God truly blessed me and my wife with 2 wonderful little girls. I love when they greet me at the door. (Which usually is Abby running in the living room screaming "DADDY" and Madi pointing and smiling) I love hearing them giggle and laugh. I love our play time upstairs. I love that they both hit the stair hang over (Notre Dame Fighting Irish Style).
photo taking from the internet.
I love sitting and watching "Wonder Pets, Dinosaur Train", and whatever else. Our only problem right now is getting the girls to share and play with each other nicely. There is 3 years separating them and they don't like to share. If Abby is playing with something then Madi wants it. (But usually it's not an age approporiate toy) and vise versa. So Rebecca and I are taking any suggestions that the masses might have out there. Thanks for reading and please enjoy the photos!

~ Justin

Hot Coco AKA Family Time

Last night I came up with an idea on the spot! I was making some hot chocolate and said out loud "I am making some hot coco" and Abby replied "Me too" which was followed by my wife saying "I want some too". Normally my wife does work at night from home. But I said that everyone had to stop what they were doing and

join me at the table for some Family Hot Coco time!
So we put on some Christmas music, had some Christmas cookies
and had our Hot Coco time! Man, I love CHRISTMAS!
Here are some of the pictures taken during the cookie making process!
I hope everyone is having a blessed Advent Season!

Thanks for reading
~ Justin

THE CASE OF THE MISSING NECKLACE!

I love coming home from work! I usually have my hands full but by the time I get in the door I am greeted with "Daddy!!!!" from my 3 year old (almost 4) and something that is suppose to be "Daddy" (from my youngest). The Dogs greet me with tails and tongues wagging. And of course my wife with a smile and kiss. Normally I can get changed but the other night one of the cutest things happened.

Abby (my 3 year old) came to me with a serious voice and holding an empty box saying.

"Daddy, there is a mystery, mommy's necklace is missing from
the box!"
" We need to find out who took it and where it went. I have found
a clue over here. You should take a picture of it and we can find out who did
this!"

She showed me a foot print on the hardwood floor (most likely left behind by a little dog)

So we put on our detective hats and went to work.

I am not sure if she is watching too many kids detective shows like "The Backyardgains" or "The Wonder Pets" but it was so cute & fun to imagine with her.

Here are the suspects...

Thanks for reading

~ Justin

Ps. Truth be told that Mommy had the necklace on and hadn't placed it back into the box yet.

O Christmas Tree

For the past 4 years my family and I have gone to cut down our own Christmas Tree. The past 3 years we have gone to the same Christmas tree farm and no matter how hard we try we end up doing the same thing every year. We walk around and spot a tree that we all agree is nice, perfect shape, and size. But for some reason we don't cut it down instead we remember where it is and fall into the curse of looking for a “more perfect” tree; only to come back to the original tree that we agreed upon.

Well, the same thing this year! We get there and we start looking for the “PERFECT TREE”. My wife and I agree on one but we decided to keep looking just in case. Then the unthinkable happens!!! My wife notices a family arrives and starts admiring “our” tree so panic kicks in. We are watching them and hope that they fall under the same find a “more perfect tree” curse. Low and behold they decide to mark the tree with a weed and some other things and then they keep looking.

Well, we nonchalantly move in to get our tree, and while we are in the middle of cutting it down the family comes around the corner. Of course we have now gotten the tree down and going through our normal traditions of pictures and being proud of our amazing find. But it was a little awkward seeing them walk around looking for their “perfect tree” only to see some strangers posing in front of it. I am sure that they found a suitable tree for their home. I think maybe next year I will just stand by our original tree and wait for my wife to walk around and come back to me!

Below are some of the photos.
I hope you enjoy the Christmas Music

Thanks for reading
~ Justin

Advent Season

When I was a child, I never really did anything with advent or an advent calendar.

My wife, on the other hand, has a rich family tradition when it comes to Christmas.

Although I give her a hard time about some of traditions,

I am actually blessed that she has this tradition and is passing it onto our children.

I am also blessed that at the heart of every tradition,

my family keeps Jesus as the center of this season.

My mother-in-law got Abby a wonderful gift this year.

It is a little Christmas tree as an advent calendar.

This little tree comes with a book where you can read

different parts of the Christmas story.

It is really cute and Abby really loves it.

Here are the photos I took the other night.

(She put most of the ornaments on already. She couldn't wait to do only one each day!)

Thanks for reading & have a wonderful Christmas
~ Justin

Baltimore aquarium

On Friday night my wife and I surprised our oldest daughter with a trip to the Baltimore aquarium. We had a great time. I was surprised to watch my youngest daughter get so excited to see the all different kinds of fish. She would run up to the glass, point and say "oooohhh". She was too cute. Our oldest daughter had a great time too. I am pretty sure she loves that place! If you are ever in Baltimore then please go see the aquarium. You won't be disappointed. Here are a few photos of our trip. (I think the Jellyfish were the best. They are a new temporary display)

Thanks for reading

~Justin