Slow It Down Thursday

let me tell you a secret....

i love this song! and just about everything george strait does! doesn't get anymore texas than some good old george. i watched a special tribute to him last night on tv, and boy did his friends and admirers turn out. it was so cool to watch. he seemed speechless. his music could put me right back to driving the old back road in the country in south east texas when we lived in missisippi for 16 months.

here's taylor swift's ode to george w/ "run"- just for cayley :)

Spotlight Wednesdays

so, my little man is graduating from kindergarten next thursday. this year has gone by so fast and he's changed so much-in a good way :) just seems like yesterday he was getting on the bus for the first day of pre-k, now he's almost a first grader!




this year hasn't been completely a breeze for him. it was full of new things-reading, math, lunch lines, and his teacher has done a good job.
thank you mrs. randolph for a great year.



proud big sister! we are all so proud of you trav as you move on to first grade-then before you know, it you'll be done with high school. the other day he told me that he wanted to be a chef and a doctor when he growns up...i have no doubt you will be whatever you set out to be sweetie!
love you-
mom

Big Deals on a 3 Day Weekend!

yep! we got some bargains and had some big fun this weekend! we spent on memorial day afternoon at the sam houston race track betting on some horses and having lunch. it was dollar day and admission, hot dogs, drinks, ice cream-you guessed it, all one dollar. i hadn't been to this park, but tim and i use to go to retama in san antonio for fun. the kids had a blast yesterday and the weather was perfect for racing.

lol adam had an itch on his nose!

tim & troy catching the last race of the day.

adam looking for his horse-

trav watching the race from the comfort of air conditioning-where we spent most of the afternoon :)

now for my deals!

cayley and i had to run to the dollar tree sunday and stopped into the goodwill store next to it just for fun.
i have been looking for some cute dress sandals- that had to be comfortable, otherwise they'd sit on the closet floor. we found these wedges! i loved the color, checked the size- still good...now how about the wear and tear- they looked brand new! and the price....$2.99 for new croc wedges that sell online for $39.99!!!

the necklace was super cute too and still had the tags on it (retailed for $12.99!) cayley and i each got one for $3 each! can ya tell i was excited?!


ok, so for my grocery shopping trip this weekend. i took my local grocery store's ads and used them to price match at walmart, plus a couple coupons and i saved some $$.

blue bell ice cream reg. almost $6, i got it for $3.59 w/ compared shopping

coupon for magic eraser: buy one get one free. so i paid $2.72 for 2 boxes
kraft sliced cheese reg almost $3, compared shopping for $1.19!
sugar reg almost $2, compared shopping for $1.44

mushrooms $1.88, CS for $.99

holmes smoked sausage almost $3, CS for $1.79

my hubby was so proud :)

oh and for real: try blue bell's new flavor "groom's cake" you will not regret it. it's so yummy!

Weekend Photos

it has been a long while since i have done any photo sessions, but i have learned that shooting your own kids is waaay harder than anyone else's. well, finally my kids are at an age where they take some direction and are pretty happy for portraits :)

tim's mom, step dad, sister & brother were all here this past weekend. it had been 12 years since all of them have been together- so these pics were way overdue. now, add in me and our 3 little ones and call it a big family portrait! and tim sure does know how to entertain "texas style"! we had a crawfish boil one day, barbacoa sunday morning, giant texas chicken fried steaks & burgers at kelleys, and tonight is some mexican food!

sarah smith!!! praying you can come to crosby this summer and do my family portraits ;) i'm off to straighten up and put 5 loads of laundry away-yes, you guessed it. got almost all of it washed yesterday and today it will all be put away. (fingers crossed)

have a wonderful & safe memorial day weekend all!

Slow it Down Thursdays

ok, so here's another new moon fix for ya :) and a kinda slideshow i found of one of my all time fave songs. really-this song has stuck with me since i was 13. i constantly remember it when i have tough days. thought it would be good to share-wish i had found a different vid, but ya get it.




have a great thursday friends!

Spotlight Wednesdays

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yet another ode to adam...maybe i need a day to just brag on one of the kids each week...maybe this will be my wednesdays :) they each say and do some crazy, funny, silly, special things.

so here's adam. he's making the silly alex the lion moves from madagascar 2. it was hard to get this on camera...so here was our best attempt.

happy wednesday!

Some New Moon Love

ok- here's the offical New Moon poster :)

make me happy-i am so excited about this movie.

And the Winner is.....

Heather!

congrats! i will drop off your dvd :) thank you gals for sharing about your children. it's so great to know we have a strong mommy community-either in our hometown or online.

here's to all the moms gearing up for summer vacation-make the times memorable. we all know it goes by in a blink of an eye.

Slow It Down Thursday

"i just want to be with yoooooooou"


(ok, can't figure out why this is keep loading horizontal, when i'm uploading it vertically, sorry!)

"so bad i want to scream" isn't he adorable!

i know i have blogged about my love of musicals before...and how sweet it is that my little ones love them too. here's adam a month ago (yes, in his undies) singing and dancing to one of his favorite movies- high school musical 3! so i have finally figured out how to post these little videos on here :) good golly- i love this guy! he still gets a kick out of watching his musical numbers on the computer...so here's my "slow it down thursday" tribute to adam. mommy loves you ;) what a magical time in a child's life to be a part of! you only get one time around-fill it with hugs, smiles, and real moments. (and bring your camera, lol)

What a Mother's Day Weekend!!!

it was a really great weekend! my mom, amanda & stella, and aj all came up to spend some time with us. a jam packed couple of days for sure. we started off hanging out at home visiting, watching "twilight", & playing some guitar hero.

trav came home with a recipe book from the kids in his class! it was adorable! trav's recipe was for spaghetti:

materials:pan

ingredients:meatballs, sauce, & rope soup

directions: put the meatballs in a pan & put some sauce in the pan & put the rope soup in it. put the oven on 100 degrees for 40 hours. eat it.




cayley made me these sweet cards-one from each of the boys and then one from herself. very, very thoughtful girl i have! ((hugs)) kids!


my sister gave me these photo coasters! they are so cool! each have pics of my kids and then one of me & tim. thanks amanda & stella..love you!


my mom! she gets to hear the crazy everyday stories that go on here! last week adam pulled my pyrex glass dish from the fridge and it shattered in a million pieces! it is my go to casserole 9x13 dish and i use it for everything. i meant to pick up another one, but kept forgetting, so she surprised me with 4 of them :) thank you mom!!!


then my mother in law gave me a sweet card and gift card to starbuck's! thank you lori- ya know me too well. love you all!!!

then headed out for some fun at dave & buster's. it has been forever since i have been there! we played some horse racing game-it was really cool. you got to breed, train, feed, and race your horse. aj was good to his and won! i had a new drink from the bar called a "scooby snack" it was so good! filled with whipped cream, coconut run, banana juice, and other stuff. it was cool looking!

then walked over to the houston improv and lined up for the gabriel iglesias show. aj and lindsey hadn't been to a comedy club before- this was so fun to take them and the perfect guy to see! we ended up at the end of a huge line even though we were more than an hour early. i couldn't believe it. but we hung out in the weird hallway till we got a call from troy who had worked some magic and not only got us to the front of the line, but seated and orders taken before anyone! we sat right at the stage.

tim, aj & i stayed around to say hey to fluffy and get a pic. he is so easy going and friendly. i had the best time-didn't get to bed till after 2am!

on to sunday- mother's day!

tim went to pick up panera bread for breakfast. my fave! then we had a girls lunch planned at the country club here in the subdivision. it was so pretty inside and the food was yummy. lindsey and troy's mom came with us. it was so nice to sit and chat with this group!

then ended the weekend with some kid "cottontails" v8 smoothies in glasses with a strawberry on the rim. her cocktail was too cute!

Happy Homemaker Monday

thanks sandra at diary of a sahm for hosting this each week. go there to read her & other of her blog readers monday posts :)

On my bedside table: now i'm reading 19 minutes by jodi picoult. really good book, tough subject matter. well written though. i'm about 1/2 way into it.- as as last week- didn't get any reading done at all :(

On my TV: finally saw "the curious case of benjamin button" long movies, great story telling. loved watching "twilight" agian this weekend with my brother and sister who hadn't seen it!!!!

On the menu for tonight: i'm thinking tonight will be a left over night- have several nights of dinners in the fridge :)

On my To Do List: gotta take trav to the dr this morning...think he's got an ear infection and allergies. poor little guy. then just try and tidy up a bit-nothing major today around the house.

New Recipe I tried last week: not new, but my favorite! i hadn't made these with the complete chocolate overload though. usually i use the white almond bark...i needed chocolate and more chocolate.

made some for special teachers and bus drivers

Looking forward to: hearing from the kindergarten about adam's speech eval results...yep, still no update. calling today.

Homemaking Tip for this week: again- magic erasers to the rescue-they work great on shower floors & walls!!!

Favorite Photo of the week: it's fluffy time! ok, the lighting was bad, but the show was so great!!! he's such a funny guy. my cheeks were hurting so much from laughing!

Favorite Blog Post of the week: i love denise's honesty! she wrote a quick post on her long labor and delivery of "her little piece of sunshine" babies are just that :) congrats denise! moriah is beautiful!

Lesson learned the past few days: my house will never be company ready and perfect...3 kids live here, so instead of mopping, i took a shower...it was a good choice, LOL!

On my Prayer List: tim's mom, trav's ear stuff- although he's running around here w/adam right now-for my aunt diana's sister facing big health problems.

Devotionals, Scripture Reading, Key Verses: Ephesians 4:32 (New International Version)
32Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

can't hear that too many times! i try and remind the kids that no matter how much your sibling or friend annoys, hurts, bothers you...once they say they are sorry (& sometimes even when they don't) it's best to forgive and move on.

Happy Mother's Day!

hope all my mommy friends enjoy their special day!

i'm looking forward to spending saturday night out with tim then sunday lunch with the girls!

and happy 100 posts to "the years fly by..."! can't believe there has been 100 things i have shared with you-here's to many more. thanks for stopping in and hanging out with me!

Slow It Down Thursday

i love posting videos that inspire me, make me laugh, or just hit me throught out the week, so here's my new thing! "slow it down thursday" will be a day to reflect a little and hear/see something that gives me that warm feeling :) love it if ya drop in.

i think i'm in need of a good tear jerker movie....this is by far my fave.

End of the School Year Contest!

i can't believe there's only 4 weeks left!

the end of the school year is such a great time for reflection. i love to look at the pics i did of my kids on the first day of school and compare it to how they look 9 months later. it is astounding how much a child can change, learn & grow in that time!

like my oldest son, travis for example. he started his kindergarten year a little rough. there were many new rules to learn and a new pace of learning to adapt to. he was resistant at first and came home on "oops" and "bad news" for a while as he was learning the ropes. it was so hard to hear him upset coming home at the end of the day! but now he has way more "super" days than not and is doing a great job of reading. still in shock that he's going into first grade in the fall, new school, new teacher, new rules.

cayley seems to excel in any situation! second grade has been a breeze to her. i have tried to give her a little more responsibility along with a tiny bit more freedom. several teeth lost and visits from the tooth fairy, reading books like nobody's business, made straight a's, growing so tall that it's hard for me to carry her to bed when she falls asleep in mine...that's what i'll remember.

so adam...not such a baby anymore. now this is a hard adjustment! he still loves to cuddle up, but will run and play at any moment. i enjoy it while i can! he's finding out he can do things on his own and boy does he, lol. praying that he can gain independence with the comfort of holding his mommy's hand.

so here's the contest part! you can play even if your little ones aren't in school. just post a comment on how much your children have changed since the end of last summer till now. what they have learned? grown? challenged themselves? discovered some new interests?

i'll pick a random winner who will receive the movie "The Ultimate Gift". if you haven't seen it- it's amazing! really illustrates the "gifts" we should bless our children with :)

this is a great movie to watch, keep, and share! tim and i adore the messages in this one and love sharing it with family and friends. we get something more from it each time we watch it.

so, leave a comment and i'll pick a winner on the morning of may 19th. thanks to sarah smith for helping me with this :)

good luck & happy start of summer!

Happy Homemaker Monday

i get so excited to post on mondays, that i forget to give credit to sandra at diary of a sahm for hosting this each week. go there to read her & other of her blog readers monday posts :) thanks!!!

On my bedside table: now i'm reading 19 minutes by jodi picoult. really good book, tough subject matter. well written though. i'm about 1/2 way into it.- as as last week- didn't get any reading done at all :(

On my TV: watched "city of embers" last night with the kids...good adventure story for the family. my kids love movies like this!

On the menu for tonight: well, i'm making chicken pot pie casserole for crystal and family, not sure what we are having though.

On my To Do List: my kitchen! need to organize and clean cabinets and pantry! make cake balls for teachers & bus drivers tomorrow.

New Recipe I tried last week: yesterday i got creative! well, we had an impromtu crawfish boil on saturday-fun! lots of work, but fun! so i didn't feel like being in the kitchen cooking dinner on sunday. well, being creative really kicked in. use what we have! there was some left over crawfish, potatoes, corn & mushrooms....so i made a modified potato soup with it all! the soup part was just a can of cream of mushroom, cream of chicken, milk, sour cream, cheese, & butter :) that was my fave part...all in the slow cooker! tim claims this is the best soup ever! that's high praise!

Looking forward to: seeing our fave comedian gabriel iglesias on saturday night!!! fluffy! and spending time with mom, amanda, aj & stella!

Homemaking Tip for this week: the previous laundry idea has worked for me! now that i am caught up, it's great! believe me, i did 5-6 loads last monday! put it all away on tuesday!

Favorite Photo of the week:

Favorite Blog Post of the week: these adorable pop corn cupcakes! i'm so making these for my next movie night!!! speaking of...when works for you gals? any movie suggestions? an 80's movie? romantic comedy?

Lesson learned the past few days: get creative in the kitchen and have fun working with what ya have on hand! you will impress yourself :)

On my Prayer List: my hubby- crazy week at work, crystal and her new baby claire, prayers for our teachers.

Devotionals, Scripture Reading, Key Verses: i know i need to remember to listen more!

James 1:19-20 (New International Version)
19My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, 20for man's anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires.