Weekend Warriors

Wow...we've been busy! We got a new roof, and painted all the trim. We are getting new awnings June 6th that will match the roof. I can hardly wait!!! I have a bunch of pictures to post but for now here is a quick before and after.

Before

After...

What do you think? We are going to paint the front door after the awnings are on. I'll post more pictures then! Have a great Memorial Weekend!

The Winner!

Wow, I almost forgot to announce the winner. I did a random selector on my computer so I didn't have to choose :) Thanks everyone for playing, but the winner of the chalkboards is Beth!

Beth, you can email me your address and I'll send them to you or if you want I can give them to you the next time I see you. Either way just let me know. Hope to see ya soon :)

Just as I Promised...

My FIRST Giveaway!! So, a couple months ago I was messing around on the Internet and came across these..


Well, I've been thinking about them ever since. Look at all the fun things you can do...


Isn't it the cutest idea!



So, I gave it a whirl and decided to see what I could come up with. The ones I made aren't quite as big, but I thought they turned out really cute. I love them.








Some other ways to use them. Post your menu for the night.



Practice spelling words...

If you love them like I do just make sure you are a follower and leave a comment below. Six boards come in a set along with colored chalk. The winner will be randomly selected and announced sometime Sunday. Thanks for playin' along :)

Just giving you a heads up!!

I'm so excited because sometime this week I will do my first GIVEAWAY!

I'm not gonna tell ya what it is, but I will tell you it's...

Very Cute

Hip

Fun

Multi-Use

$70.00 dollar value!!

The one and only stipulation is you have to be a follower on my blog to enter to win!
So...click my follow button now!

Happy Monday :)

I See The LIGHT!!

I'm not gonna lie. The last 76 days have been rough (to put it nicely)! I have shed some tears, like alot of tears. Said some things I might regret. Questioned this whole Texas high school football stuff.

But...Finally...I see the light at the end of the tunnel! I'm down to 11 days! 11 more days until I actually get to see my hubby other than the weekends. We have a fun summer planned. We will back and forth from Abilene/Austin/Temple/Wheeler. Squeeze a trip to Red River in for our 10 year anniversary (that's a whole nother post). Actually, I don't care where we are as long as I'm with him. I could do a back flip I'm so excited!

On another note, last Thursday we went to the Western Heritage Parade. My friend did a post about our fun night. Speaking of my friend...just thinking about her makes me a little teary. I wish I would have met her the first day I moved to Abilene. She has helped me out these last 76 days, I appreciate it more than she knows. But again, that's a whole nother post!

Last but not least...

This Moment

I treasure these moments when he will stop and just sit on my lap. I know they will become far and few between for he is one busy boy.

My one and only

I blinked my eyes and this happened...

My baby turned into a beautiful young girl.

We knew this little girl was going to change our lives forever, we just didn't know it would be this awesome! She holds a special place in my heart that nobody else does. She came at a time when we were least expecting her, an angel in disguise. I try to think of what my life would be like without her. Where would I be? What would I be doing?
I know it wouldn't beat where I'm at.

She has a heart of gold. She loves her family. She has freckles. She's fast. Her laugh is contagious. She is fancy. She loves to dress up. She's a people watcher. She is BEAUTIFUL! Her imagination is indescribable.
She's never leaving me, ever! I tell her that everyday.
She agrees for now, I just wonder how long I can convince her of this.

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all the Momma's in my life!

I love him.

I love that he is all boy. I love the dimple on his right cheek. I love his coarse hair. I love his athleticism. I love when he becomes a super hero. I love that he has a invisible friend. I love that he is naturally good and anything he does. I love his dark complexion. I love that he falls asleep every night before bedtime. I love that he is so protective of his little brother. I love that he says next day instead of tomorrow. I love that he is a home body. I love that he still wraps both hands around my neck every night. I love that he is so laid back. I love that he still likes to snuggle.

I love him.

I love him, too!

I might, just might, be obsessed with him...

You are the cutest little thing I have ever seen.
You are 15 months old today.
Your big blue eyes, and your out of control hair match your mischievous personality.
Lately, you have become quite the copy cat. If I chew gum, you pretend to chew gum. You imitate everything your bother and sissy do.
You are sure to talk to everyone we pass. Our trips to the grocery store have become your favorite place to visit EVERYONE! You don't even miss the lady behind the deli.
You are getting a mouth full of teeth, and love to use them as you are eating a variety of foods!
You love the outdoors!
You are very affectionate. Especially to your momma! You haven't learned my flaws, I'm enjoying it while it last!

I love you sweet thing!

Girls Gone Healthy

It all started with a stroll around the farmers market in Austin. I was just walking around oohing and awing over all the awesome stuff there when I heard a woman start talking about the Unhealthy Truth. Come to find out she was the author of the book, Robyn O'Brien. From then on...I've never been the same.

This book is scary, and empowering all at the same time. Robin started her journey when her daughter had an allergic reaction to eggs. She states that she soon learned that 90% of all food allergies are triggered by proteins in eight foods: eggs, cows milk, peanuts, wheat, soy, fish, tree nuts and shellfish. She began researching to find out how she could protect her family from these allergies.

She discovered many terrifying facts, but the one that caught my attention was the alarming rate in which our childhood food allergies to peanuts have increased. The US has seen a 400% increase in the last 20 years.

Rewind about one year...
One morning, Lyssa, our daughter woke us up to what took us about 45 seconds to even realize who she was. Unrecognizable. The most scared Aaron and I have ever been. Her face was swollen about the size of a basketball, she couldn't open her eyes, tears streaming down her face. Makes my stomach nauseated just thinking about her like that. Aaron jumps up and rushes her in a complete panic to the dr. office. They are sent home with nothing more than, she is allergic to something. Did you change your laundry detergent they asked. REALLY??? After four days of worrying what was next, the swelling started to go down and things were starting to look normal. I feel like I have good instincts about things, especially when it comes to my children. I didn't feel right about this. I new it was more than just a one time allergic reaction. Something more was going on.

So, after hearing her talk briefly about the research she had done, it sent me into a whole nother world. I became obsessed and irate. Book after book, article after article. All this time I thought I was feeding my children healthy food, I was doing the opposite. The foods my children were eating were covered in pesticides. Some foods had even been genetically modified. It wasn't even food anymore. Could I have been the reason for my daughters awful breakout? Well, after going through many, many test they did in fact tell us that she is highly allergic to peanuts.

So, just as Robin explains in her book, we now do in our home. We have and 80/20 rule. 80% of the time we eat food free of additives, MSG, preservatives, artificial color, and pesticides. The other 20% of the time, we get a free pass. For instance, birthday parties, holidays, going out to eat, or staying at a friends house. I have learned to be very happy with this way of life, and it works good for us.

Go Wildcats!

Today was an important day! The Temple Wildcats started spring ball. I'm just sorry I wasn't there to see the Wildcats in action. You can follow the Wildcats and get all the updates here!

'We're Just Like You, Only Prettier'

Last Thursday me and some of my best girls headed out on the town for a night of FUN! We didn't cut any corners. A limo picked us up at each one of our home's.


From there we went to dinner, which was SO awesome. I didn't have to cut anyone's meat but my own (which is nice every once in a while). Then we headed out to see my favorite singer ever...

Miranda Lambert (I think we made eye contact)


Needless to say, we were pretty pumped!


Luckily, these two girls will be joining me in Temple!

I refuse to say this was our "last night" together. I love all you CC wives. It's been a blast!