Graduation Blast from the Past

Happy June 1st everyone!  Can you believe it's already June!  It's supposed to be in the 90's here all week so it looks like we will be spending a lot of time playing outside in the water so we don't melt!
Today marks the 20th anniversary of me and my hubby's high school graduation.  Here's a picture of us just after the ceremony ended.  Don't we look young!!  Oh to be young again and just starting your life.  

We weren't exactly "high school sweethearts" since we were just friends in High School.  But once we graduated we spent everyday together and we even took summer courses together at a nearby Junior College.  Then one day he kissed me and well, you can't be "just friends" who spend all day together and be kissing each other because that's called dating!  We're having our reunion at the end of July.  We can't wait to see all of our old friends and see what they've been up to!  

Speaking of graduation, my daughter graduated from Preschool last week and I only cried once.  Well three times total if you count the day before.  So in just a few short months I will be taking her to Kindergarten.  I still can't believe my little miracle baby is going to be old enough to go to Kindergarten, it just doesn't seem real. 
Here's a pic of her (center next to the tall boy) and her class up on stage singing with her twin brothers watching from below.
Yes, the one on the right kept taking his shoes off and I was too tired to put them back on for the 1ooth time!  I let him win that battle so I could actually watch the program and take pictures. 
Plus we're hillbillies like that!  Just kidding.  Well sorta.

 

Making Progress: Kitchen Update

Once Spring arrived it seemed I couldn't keep my kids inside for more than 5 minutes before they began to bang their little fists on the patio door and say "Momma outside" over and over.  So needless to say I had to put my little kitchen project on the "back burner" and enjoy some fun in the sun with my kiddos.  And when I mean "little kitchen project" I'm referring to the painting of the walls and cabinets in the kitchen which is the opposite of "little project" if you ask me.  

Or anyone for that matter.

But I managed to make some progress and was able to complete one entire wall.  I also did the cutting in around the cabinets, ceiling and doorways. 

Here's a pic of the one and only painted wall in the kitchen (and a baby).  It's hard to tell but if you look really close you can still see the old yellowish paint around the windows. Can you see it?

Here's another shot, can you see the old paint on the header?  Hey did you notice the white cabinets??  Those are about halfway finished too!!
Yes, the lighting is totally off but that's because we had solar screens installed on the windows last year to help with the heat.  Our kitchen faces west so in the late afternoon the sun would hit those windows and you could literally feel the heat coming in.  When I would make dinner for my family I felt like I was standing under a heat lamp!  So although that side of the house is cooler now thanks to our new screens, it does make the space look a little darker so please pardon the extremely poor lighting. 

I will be sure to remove the screens when I take all the "after" photos to allow all the natural light in.

Here's a picture of the same side of the kitchen when we first moved in just to give you a little perspective on how far we've come!  I can't wait to complete all the painting so I can put my kitchen back together and once and for all get all the paint out of my hair!

Guess What I'm Working On??

Good mornin' Sunshine!  Happy Good Friday everyone!

I'm doing just fine today except for a little chocolate hangover that I'm nursing this morning!

My kids had their Easter party at school yesterday and they each came home with baskets full of goodies!  My daughter doesn't like chocolate so she gave me all of hers and I stole the boys chocolate before they even knew they had some.  Is that bad?  Stealing candy from your babies?  I'm really doing them a favor because if they ate too much of it they would probably get a tummy ache, right?  So you see I'm actually doing a good deed here.  Don't you agree?  

Don't answer that.

Sooo, you wanna know what my latest project is?  Well including all the other ones that I'm working on.

Yeah, that's right, I started another one.  No I haven't finished the kitchen cabinets but we're not going to talk about that today.  It's kind of a sore subject with me right now so let's not go there......K?

Ok, I'll give you a hint..........it has something to do with paint.

Need another hint?  

Ok....walls.

Oh you can't figure it out?  

Ok, here's another hint.....Diet Coke.

Still don't know really?   Ok last clue..........kitchen.

That's it, that's all I'm gonna say.  
The first one to figure it out gets a free diet coke!  Because that's my sponsor for this project.  



I hope to have the reveal for you guys first thing Monday mornin'. Wish me luck!

In the meantime, I hope you guys have a wonderful Easter!  I know we will, my mother-in-law is cooking a ham and squash casserole for Easter lunch.  Yummo!  Can't wait!


~Beth

Texas Bluebonnets

Taking pictures in the bluebonnets has been a family tradition in my family since my sister and I were kids.  I've tried really hard to keep this tradition going with my family too.  The bluebonnets come out in April and last approximately two weeks.  You can find them along the highways and randomly scattered in fields.  Every year we are searching for the best spot to take pictures in the bluebonnets. 
Here's a pic of my daughter when she was around 8 months old.

 I could just eat her up!!

These were taken in a field next to the highway. 

Here she is about 2 1/2 years old.

These were taken in a field next to a friend's house.

There were a couple of years that I missed but so far I have 3 pics of my daughter and the first of many with my twin boys.
And here they are now....

These were taken in a field next to an industrial park.

Do you have any Spring time family traditions?

Crazy Spring Weather

We had a really scary thunderstorm in the middle of the night last week.  We woke up to the worst winds that I have ever heard or seen since moving to this house 11 years ago.  Everything on our patio was crashing around and the house was making loud creaking sounds.  My husband turned on the news and they said a tornado was headed our way.  I looked out the window and saw our trampoline starting to take flight so we grabbed the kids out of their beds and we all squeezed into this hall closet also know as the "Craft Cave".

My daughter loves going to the "Craft Cave" so it was semi-fun for her.  The twins on the other hand were quite upset.  It lasted about 15 minutes and then it was total silence.  And then we lost power.  So we were walking around with flashlights which is so much fun with crying kids.  We checked our backyard and there was no sign of our beloved trampoline that was less than a year old, that was our daughter's birthday present last year, that was a little expensive...but that's not the point.  The point is that we were all safe and sound and that's what really matters.
Here's where we found our trampoline the next morning.

(This is our neighbor's driveway)

Our trampoline knocked down our fence, damaged our neighbor's shed and hit both their cars. 
We lost some shingles on our roof and some sleep but other than that everything is just fine. I was praying that we would be OK and God answered our prayers.  I know other parts of the country also had devastating storms and the news is just horrible with all the deaths and injuries. I am praying for you guys over there in my neighboring Southern states.  Hope y'all are all safe and sound! 

Have you had any bad storms lately??

Updating the Landscape: Removing Old Shrubs

I can't believe it's been an entire month since I posted last.  We've been busy around here doing a lot of "stuff".  The weather has been absolutely gorgeous so we spend most of our time outside playing, eating popsicles and grilling on the patio. 
We also started on the front flower beds.  We lost a few shrubs this past winter from the deep freezes that we had.  We had record low temps and I guess the shrubs couldn't handle it and died. 
Here's a shot of a blank spot where we lost an Indian Hawthorne bush.  We'll have to re-plant something there but not sure if I want to plant the same thing.  I'm craving change and some more color in the front of the house. 

(naked spot on the right is where we lost the shrub)

These Japanese Boxwoods in front of the window we've had for 10 years and I'm so over them.  They're boxy (I guess that's why they're called Boxwoods), off centered and they block part of the window so I asked my hubby to dip them up.  I'm all about doing things myself but it would take me hours to dig those things up and would take him probably 30 minutes or so. 
BUT, he had an even better idea...his truck and a tow strap. 

Just put the tow strap around the bush, attach it to your truck and back it up!

See now wasn't that easier than spending who-knows-how-long to dig it up with a shovel!

 Our dog is always in the middle of everything!  But he is the best dog ever!  Love him!

Do you see that white-ish clump of dirt?  That's dirt with cat hair on top of it.  Our long-haired cat sleeps in the bushes and that's her hair.  Now you know why she's an outdoor cat!  I couldn't handle the hair in the house anymore.  I know, I'm mean for kicking her out but seriously, she LOVES being outside!  And I LOVE not having cat hair to deal with!!

One down 3 to go!

And another one bites the dust.....

And then there were none! It took about 10 minutes to remove 4 established bushes!  
Our dog is sniffing our cat because she's hiding in the corner.  I think she's in shock because she just lost her hiding spot!

I think it looks better already don't you?  Now we just need to relocate that other bushy thing in the corner and move those ball shrubs and then we can plant something smaller perhaps some pretty flowers or ornamental grass.  Any suggestions or ideas please let me know!

P.S. We gave the old shrubs to our neighbor who wanted to plant them in his flower beds so I don't feel bad for digging up perfectly good shrubs.  So if I ever miss them I can just glance over at my neighbor's house and wave hello.  But I'm pretty sure I won't miss them. 

His new name is Peanut

See this little precious angel? Well, he has a dark side.
Wanna know what it is? Are you sure? It might be frightening! Ok, here it is....
He likes to stick food up his nose.

That's it. Food. Up the Nose. We're talking peas, pretzels, mac 'n cheese, bits of chicken nuggets and basically whatever else he can fit up there. So far it hasn't been much of a problem because when I see him do it I just squeeze his nostril and it comes out.

Until he stuck this up his left nostril. The peanut, not the penny.

(I put it next to the penny to give you an idea of the size. It was big!) I didn't see him do it but I figure it out when he started fussing and rubbing his nose. I looked in his nose and saw something whitish. So I did what I always do and pushed down on his left nostril but it didn't come out and he started crying. Like really crying. So I looked up there again and it had gone up there more! Apparrantly I made it go up there more. Oops. I didn't realize how BIG it was. I tried to get him to blow his nose but he just kept blowing out his mouth. I tried the booger sucker thingy and it didn't work. So I thought if he just sneezed it would shoot out so I held the pepper shaker up to his nose but he never sneezed.
I started stressing out!

I called my husband and his suggestion was so totally gross....he told me to suck it out with my mouth. I think he was partly serious and partly kidding but nonetheless gross! Needless to say I didn't try his suggestion. So the next step was to take him to the doctor.
I was a nervous wreck because I knew I would have to hold him down while they tried to pull it out and it would be very traumatic for both him and I. So after approximately 10 minutes the doctor was able to finally pull it out. Poor baby, he was mortified. He was screaming his little head off and so was his twin brother.

That's his twin on the left. (They're fraternal twins and look completely different.) His big sister was upset too and had to leave the room. I wanted to leave with her!

But it could have been worse. We could have gone to the ER. No thank you!
So it all ended well and I think he learned his lesson because he hasn't put anything up there since. Just another crazy day in my crazy life!

Do your kids put things up their little noses? Please do tell so I know that my kid isn't the only one!