The Smile Award

Katie, at A & E, awarded me "The Smile Award!" How cool! I have never received a blog award and I have never met Katie "in person" before! She came across my blog a few months ago and has been reading it ever since. I, of course, have now become a loyal follower of her blog. Katie is so sweet, encouraging and uplifting. We share a major common thread - she is a mommy to adorable twin boys named Andrew and Ethan - about 20 months old. It's really fun to see her little guys growing up and doing a lot of the crazy things that my boys had done just a few months ago! Thanks for the award Katie - you are very thoughtful!

This is what Katie said about me.... "Karen at Doubly Blessed has the cutest twin boys. I came across her blog and have been addicted ever sense. I love seeing where my boys will be in a few months. Karen has the best posts about her "family food faves" I'm a horrible cook and she gives me the inspiration to get in the kitchen. I can tell Karen really loves her life and family. I look forward to getting to know Karen more and watch her precious boys grow up."

These are the rules:

1. The recipient must link back to the awards creator the babblings of mere

2. You must post these rules if you receive the award.

3. You must chose 5 people to receive the award after receiving it yourself

4. You must fit the characteristics of the recipient of the award, as posted by Mere.

5. You must post the characteristics of a recipient.

6. You must create a post sharing your win with others.

7. You must thank your giver.

Characteristics for the Smile Award:

1. Must display a cheerful attitude. (not necessarily at all times--we are all human)

2. Must love one another

3. Must make mistakes

4. Must learn from others

5. Must be a positive contributor to blog world

6. Must love life

7. Must love kids

Here are the 5 people I chose for "The Smile Award!"


1. My friend Leilanni has 2 blogs - Hemmed In (private) and Seeking the Morning (public.) She has been a special friend of mine for several years from our church in Ft. Worth. She started blogging a few years ago and inspired me to start as well. She has a precious 2 year old named Ellie who is just a few weeks older than my boys and is also 4 months pregnant! Leilanni is a very gifted writer. Her blogs are always very captivating and fun to read. She adores her husband, daughter and loves her family. She is strong in her faith and mature spiritually. She always inspires me to be a better person and to grow in my knowledge of the Bible.

2. Ginger at Reagan-Mackenzie is another dear friend of mine from our church in Ft. Worth. I met Ginger and Leilanni while attending The Hannah Ministry, a ministry to encourage women struggling with infertility. Ginger's 2 year old daughter Reagan is about a month older than my boys and she is pregnant with boy-girl twins! Ginger always has a smile on her face and an encouraging word to share. She loves God, her family and being a mom. She also inspired me to start blogging when she started hers. I'm looking forward to connecting Ginger with some of the awesome mom's of twins that I've met through blogging.

3. Sara at Emma and Luke is a friend of the family. Her mom and my mom have been super close friends since kindergarten! Even though our families didn't spend much time together growing up, we have always heard about one another because of our mom's closeness. Now that we are both bloggers, we have been able to keep up with each other's lives. She has two adorable children, Emma - 4 1/2 and Luke - almost 2. Sara has a zest for life. She is very sweet-natured & caring and always has an encouraging/sweet word to share. She loves her family, and her kids.

4. I have never met Jennifer at Hughes Twins in person, but I have enjoyed reading her blog for the past few months. She has darling 2 year old twin boys names Austin and Aiden and is pregnant with her 3rd baby! I love being connected with other mom's of multiples. It's fun to bounce ideas off one another and to hear what other crazy twin boys are doing! Jennifer's boys remind me a lot of Bryce and Drew. I wish that we lived closer so we could have play dates...it would certainly be wild and crazy! Jennifer also takes amazing photos and is so good about posting frequently on her blog.

5. I have never met Leslie at Twice Blessed in person, but I have enjoyed reading her blog over the past few months. She has beautiful 3 year old identical twin girls named Grace and Catherine. She has a real gift for writing. Her blogs are always fun to read. She writes about real life with twins in a very entertaining way. She loves her girls but is never afraid to share the frustrations and reality of a stay at home mom with 3 year old twins!