Fun days off!

 Since we spent all our extra cash on furniture for an entire house this year, we are not taking a big vacation. :)

So instead, we are just taking off days here and there to do fun things! This past Friday I took off work and headed to Splash Kingdom with Bekah, Amanda (& Amanda's friend Kim) and all the boys! We had a great time!

Lawson, Davis, Owen & Reed

My sweet boy & I enjoying the fun day together!

Ready to take it to the house! SK can be SO tiring!!

My mom was in town with her friend Bonnie & Bonnie's granddaughter Caitlin. Matt was out of town this weekend, so we had fun girl time! We watched movies and shopped and ate junk food! Ha!

While they were there, Owen was "showing off" being "Superman" and jumped off his bed RIGHT INTO the closet door. This makes his SECOND goose egg on his head in just a few weeks. He needs to SLOW DOWN & be more careful!! 

We watched The Proposal (always hilarious with Sandra Bullock doing the Indian Dance thing singing "To the Windows to the Walls"....we had to watch that part a million times because we laughed til we cried...but then we also watched The Vow, which I haven't seen before. It was SO good. 

Later that day I found this pic online that was very fitting! Ha!

On the road again....on Sunday morning, Mom, Bonnie & Caitlin jumped in Mom's car & Owen & I hopped in ours and headed BACK to Houston for my cousin Carrie's baby shower. I got NO pics from the shower! :( I was enjoying myself too much I guess to think about it!

My sweet travel buddy! He does SO well in the car. His first road trip was to Houston when he was only a few weeks old. I was going stir crazy while on maternity leave & Matt took the whole week off so we went down for a few days out of boredom! haha! He was perfect in the car then has has done well ever since. He never complains or fusses. At one point on this trip, he was playing with a wet wipe & making it sing & dance. I'm SO thankful for his cute imagination and how he entertains himself so easily. I LOVE LOVE LOVE this age & do NOT want to forget it! He brings us so much joy and right now is saying the funniest little things. He keeps Matt and I laughing all the time. We love you, sweet Owen boy! 

Our favorite place to stop for a quick potty break on the way home- the rest stop in Jacksonville! After leaving the 'big city', I love stopping here to take in the scenery and just be thankful for where we live. I LOVE Houston. Don't get me wrong. It will probably always feel like "home" in a way. But I'm SO thankful to be in East Texas and live in such a pretty place! :)

iPhone Photo Dump

So here is a big buncha pics from the ole iPhone! Totally random stuff! Happy Friday! 

So I am doing a bootcamp at 5:15 a.m. every morning during the week. This pic SERIOUSLY made me LOL!

So I posted it on Facebook & my trainer took a pic of me doing a plank so I'd know I really DIDN'T look like an elephant! My booty was a tad high, but I raised up to give a thumbs up & smile for the camera! LOL! But still...more flat than the elephant so that is a SUCCESS!! 

We are LOVING the neighborhood pool. It makes me totally worthless though. Come home, change, float. That has been my life this summer so far. Already have a great tan! It's fabulous! But, I'm behind on laundry and other random house stuff, but WHO CARES?! Not me!! And sandwiches for dinner every night because we swim til 8?!? SURE! haha! Luckily, my hubby is a good (and quick) cook, so we haven't had to eat sandwiches EVERY night...but it still makes me worthless. Oh, well!

This was my view the other night from my hot, "relaxing" bath. How does that saying go..? "We used to want it all, now we just want to pee alone." SO TRUE! But I love my silly little boy, even when he interrupts Mommy's "me" time. :) 

The hubs got part of his "man room" done! I actually REALLY love it! I told him when we were moving that I didn't care WHAT he put on the walls in here, but I just didn't want it to look like a guy's dorm room (think Star Wars posters tacked to the wall...) I just wanted it to actually look DECORATED.  I think he did a GREAT job! 

Instagram makes me obsessed with sunset shots. I LOVED the colors in this. Thank you, God, for all the beauty you created that we could enjoy!

Some random picture app I have that you can put "stickers" on your pics. Ole! :)

Mom & Dad came in town for interviews. SO excited they will be moving here!! I fixed her hair at Salon De Lindsay. Looks good! 

1, 2, 3, JUMP! Loving spending time swimming & hanging with friends!

GIRLS NIGHT! Oh my word the couple hours spent with these precious girls are the BEST! What would we do without gal pals??? SO many laughs & stories this night...much needed! It is so nice to be friends with other women who go through the same things that I do....balancing work & home life and EVERY thing else. I'm thankful for EACH girl in this pic! 

We are potty training! WOO TO THE HOO! I just love this little boy!

Those sandwiches for dinner that I was complaining about earlier?? Well THIS was a night that the hubs was in charge (which is most nights, actually!). His food is SO yummy! His momma did good when she taught him to cook!

Another obsessive sky shot. Its just so pretty though!

Ready for Summer!

I am SO ready for summer to officially start! I don't get time off or anything, but it is just more relaxed around the office and it is just LOTS of fun with our little guy! We already have had fun "summer" time things going on. Last Thursday was the last day of playschool for this "school year" so they had a fun water day! He loved it and slept like a rock that night! 

Owen & some friends in the pool

Owen's teachers this year! Ms. Sharon & Ms. Amanda...he loves them both!

Then the weekend came & we got to celebrate sweet Avery's FIFTH birthday! I cannot believe she's already 5. I can still vividly see her as a newborn and getting to meet her for the first time the day she was born. It is so fun to watch all of our friend's kids grow. I hope our kids will always stay close! Avery had the BEST birthday party- at a gym! The boys LOVED it. There were trampolines, rope swing, balance beam, a big foam pit to jump in...and of course cake & ice cream! :)

Owen & Reed in the foam pit & Owen on the balance beam

PaPaw & GiGi with Miss Mikah Ann at the partyAfter the party we headed to East Texas Burger Co. for lunch & found mom a super cute GiGi hat. I think we look like twins! 

Then, later that day, Amber, Luke, David, Scotty, Jodie &  Avery came swimming. We just enjoyed the pool and the kids had a lot of fun swimming together.  We had a great weekend with my parents in town & fun with friends!

Then on Monday, I am at work & my phone rings. My heart always stops for a second when I see that it is Owen's school calling. Ms. Kimberly said, "He's ok...but...he was running across the room and fell into a book case." Amy sent me a text with this picture:

So I left work immediately (ha!) and took him to direct care just to be safe. If this had been my 2nd or 3rd kid, I may not have been so worried, but I just cant help it with all the crazy stories you hear about kids & head injuries.  I am always more cautious than some and would rather be safe than sorry. My $20 co-pay and a couple hours of time is worth my peace of mind knowing there is nothing wrong with my sweet boy! Doc said he was all good, just don't let him do any crazy activities in the next few days, like bounce houses or trampolines. The swelling has gone down tremendously and all that is there now is the bruise. He was a trooper! 

 The beginning of this week we have worked in the yard and swam at the pool. Owen loves to ride his bike around in the driveway while we work. He's the cutest!!

 Happy early Father's Day, Daddy! He had been wanting a riding lawn mower, so I told him to go pick one out for Father's Day. Of course Owen loved riding with him!

These fun activities over the past couple of weeks has me SO ready for summer time!! 

Fun weekend

We had a great weekend! Owen & I were both sick with strep throat so I was THRILLED to get over that by the weekend. He missed his school performance so I was bummed about that, but glad he started feeling better!

My parents were in town and they were staying at their new house. It was so cool to have them come by for dinner and hang out for a bit, then they headed home. I will be SO glad when they are living here full time!

Our neighborhood had an annual garage sale on Saturday...so my day consisted of a photo shoot, garage sale, nap & swimming! Some productiveness and some laziness all in the same day = win!

Matt & Scotty "helping" Jodie & I get ready for the garage sale...yeah, right!! 

Owen catching some rays!

Sweet boy got a haircut! :)

Matt got this really cool old pew and sealed it so we could use it on our back patio. I plan to make a cool cushion for it at some point. I love it!

Blinds!

Our blinds finally came in! Love them! Love the privacy! We felt like we were living in a fish bowl...so it's nice to be able to do a quick run from the laundry room to my room wearing my PJs(or less! Ha!) and not worry about scaring the neighbors! :)

Now all we need is a nice window treatment to finish it out! Having a hard time deciding on curtains though. We'll see!

Weekend in Houston

We visited my parents this past weekend after Dad had his stroke. It was reassuring to see him & spend time with him and to see for myself that he is ok. Glory to God for my dad's healing. I am so thankful for God's precious, healing hand. After a few hugs, we got right to playing!

Cousins at Logan's baseball game.

Owen & Caden enjoyed playing together all weekend!

Caden got to spend the night with us at GiGi & PaPaw's,

so the next day, we headed to the park for some fun play time!

And after the park: :)

Mom got her hair "did" and it was much darker than normal.

I told her we look more alike now!

(Pardon my no make up self...but I was enjoying the day of no make up

& no getting ready for work!) ;)

PaPaw & GiGi on the swing outside. The weather was lovely!

We & the kids played duck duck goose & just enjoyed the breeze!

Headed home! Owen loved his bubba teeth sucker he got from Aunt Jen! It was hilarious. He kept saying, "Mommy, is this my paci?" haha! It was a nice, QUIET trip home! Why do we get rid of pacis so early??? We should let them have them until they are 10! ha!

We had a great weekend with GiGi, PaPaw, Uncle Matt, Aunt Jen, Logan, Caden & Jackson. Can't wait for more family time again!

Easter 2012

Easter time was filled with lots of fun things!

We kicked it off with our church's annual Easter Egg hunt at the Blackstone's house. Their property has a lake and fields & woods....PERFECT for hunting eggs!

Reed, Owen & Avery starting the hunt!

Out in the field finding eggs!

The next day, we did an early Easter lunch with Matt's family since we would be at LTC on Easter weekend. Nonna & Poppa made the day so special with lunch, an egg hunt & a cute little craft for the kiddos to do. We had a blast! The kids even swam & had snow cones. Couldn't believe how hot it was for it to be the last weekend in March!

Owen was supposed to find all the purple eggs. He did!

The next week we headed to Dallas for Leadership Training for Christ with our church family. We stayed at the Hilton Anatole & had a blast as usual. We had over 5,000 people in worship that Sunday. What a wonderful way to celebrate our risen Savior!

When we came home, we hunted eggs for the THIRD time with our neighborhood. There is an egg hunt every Easter. We enjoyed getting to meet more of our new neighbors & let Owen play with the kiddos. It was a great time! I also snapped a few Easter pics of Owen while we were there. I didn't think to get any of us as a family. :( Oh well...maybe next year! :)

Owen looking up in a tree for an egg!

My handsome big boy. We just couldn't possibly love him more than we do already!

We had a great Easter, but then the next day, my Dad had a light stroke. It was a terrifying day full of unanswered questions, but as the day ended, all of his reports came back great! The stroke only had some short term effects and he will make a full recovery. TO GOD BE THE GLORY! We are so thankful God's healing hands were on my precious Dad!