Baby Ivy's Artwork

My sister in law had her precious baby girl a few weeks ago and as my gift to her, I painted her nursery artwork, copying the design of off Ivy's bedding and announcement. Here's the announcement and a picture of her bedding and then the artwork is below that. I thought it turned out great and I can't wait to hand deliver it in March when we go to meet our newest niece!

The announcement and the precious picture of Ivy!

SUPER cute fabric choices

These two 12X12 painting will go on either side of the one below which is slightly taller and wider.

Ta Da!

13th Anniversary--Glass?

I realize that most of my readers are probably girls so I guess this post won't bore too many readers away. I will be celebrating 13 years of marriage in May. This is an exciting thing to write....how have I been married 13 years?! As exciting as this fact is, there's another fact that's much less exciting that follows this. I have many of the same "housewares" that I registered for. Now I'm all for getting your use out of things you buy, but some things really truly go out of style or even worse, doesn't suit your taste anymore. That was the case with my dishes....about 3 years ago. That's when I began looking for new plates. Seems simple enough...except that color and pattern are a big deal to me.....really big deal, with just about everything I buy. So, making a long story short, I happened to go into Pier One, a place I rarely shop but love, and fell in love....as in love at first site. I found THE.PLATES. In the past few years I've seen a few plates that I like, but never ones I LOVED....until Friday. I immediately bought one plate and took it out to the car. I told Shawn I was superextremelyverysure these were the ones. I used lots of reasoning and debate tactics and he agreed! I am now the proud owner of 8 new plates and 7 matching bowls. The girls and I absolutely love the new plates and get so excited when we get to eat off of them! (Shawn likes them too, but he's a guy and guys don't like plate designs the way girls do...it's just a fact.) So, happy 13th anniverary to me and here's hoping these make it to anniversary #26....and beyond.

As a P.S. this little owl spoon rest was sitting right next to the plates in the store and I had to have him. I love owls and needed a spoon rest anyway...it was a no brainer.

Camping as a Family of Five

This past week, I was watching the weather forecast and saw that we were going to have a winter heat wave...high friday was suppose to be close to 80 degrees. I also have been watching lately to see if the burn ban will stay lifted and upon hearing that the weather was going to be nice and the burn ban was still off, I jumped at the chance to take our family camping! Shawn gave the okay so we began the planning on Thursday. By Friday morning we had a lot of the car loaded down and after taking Elle to school, the rest of us headed out to our friends land to prepare everything so we wouldn't have to do it as the sun was going down. We also invited our friends, the Valdez's to come along...they'd never been tent camping before! We put up our tents, cleared some ground area, set up the fire pit, and cut some wood. I even got to try using a chain saw...which I loved! I'm sure I wouldn't love doing it for hours and hours, but I really had fun cutting wood for the fire. Then we headed back into town to buy the supplies we needed for food. After picking Elle up from school and getting Levi up from his nap, we headed back out for our first camping experience with three kids! The night was wonderful. It was cool but not too cold, the fire was hot, the kids did great, the hotdogs were perfect and the smore's were just right. We went on a night hike down to the river and the kids of course loved it. Around 9 Levi started acting super tired so I took him into the tent and sang Jesus Loves Me and laid him down and that was it. I really couldn't believe it. He turned right over and closed his eyes. He acted like we were in his room doing his nightly routine. I clomped back out of the tent, making too much noise, and zipping up the super loud zipper and still nothing from Levi. I was shocked! The other kiddos were still out by the fire making lots of noise and talking to loud but not a single noise from my baby. He takes after his daddy when it comes to sleep :) We hung out for a while longer and all headed to bed around 10:30. The girls cuddled right down with no problems at all, and we all went to sleep. I slept better than I've ever slept camping out!!! Sure I woke up a few times with outside noises and from the cold I was feeling every time some piece of my skin came in contact with the air in our tent, but otherwise slept SO GOOD! I finally really woke up around 7, which is unheard of for me when camping! Ava woke up around the same time, and I HAD to wake the other three up around 7:15...all of them were still sound asleep! Again, astonished! I checked a thermometer we had in the tent and it read a nice chilly 49 degrees in the tent! It was hard to get out of the sleeping bag and the only thing making it worth it was knowing there was a fire going just a few feet outside the tent! We all got dressed and headed to the fire to defrost. For breakfast we had the best breakfast tacos ever. So simple and yet so good. The kids again did great with the food. Israel and the kids went back down to the river while Shawn, me and Valerie cleaned up, packed up, and watched the babies (who are almost 2 by the way!) Then we headed home for a day filled with all kinds of projects and things needing to be done! I keep wondering what exactly made this camping experience different than others...I think maybe it can be summed up in one word; simplicity. Everything was done simply. Nothing too elaborate and very little worrying over small details. The company was great too! I can only hope the burn ban stays off through May so we can go at least one and hopefully two more times!

Me and Valerie--2 peas in a pod

Enjoying the fire
Well good morning bright eyes! Fresh from the tent :)

Women and children trying to stay warm the next morning

Cuddling with my baby...he kept wanting down and then he'd move away from the fire and start shivering and crying and I'd have to go pick him up and bring him close to the fire again.

Elle and Daddy having morning coffee--note to self--get a coffee pot for camping soon....

Ava and I enjoying our morning hot chocolate/coffee mix.

Peeking

Tent, Sweet Tent

Buddies--2 weeks apart in age and can't wait to watch them grow up together!

Israel with the "fish" he caught

All of us together! What a great memory :)

Colorado Bend State Park

Today we headed out on a new adventure. I absolutely live for statements like that! Life gets so predictable sometimes and trying something new, unexpected, unplanned, and spontaneous just gets my blood pumping! So, first let's back up. Shawn's mom and grandma came into town yesterday afternoon. Shawn's mom was graciously bringing her mom down so that she could see her 20th great grandchild that had been born just 3 weeks ago. So today, when they were headed to Burnet to see this newest grandbaby, who happens to be Shawn's cousin's baby, we decided to tag along. We decided that we'd also head on to Colorado Bend after seeing some of his family and the baby. So after lunch, we headed that way. We had never been to this state park and are always on the look out for that jewel of state parks...hadn't found it yet down here....Bastrop is/was beautiful as well as McKinney Falls, but we're always still hunting. Anyway, we haven't been to a state park in a few years, simply because after Levi came along, it was 3 against 2 and we needed him to get a little bit more independent before we headed back out. Now is that time! So we arrived at the state park and drove straight to the trail head sign for Gorman Falls. I had checked out the S.P. on the internet and this part of the park seemed like the main event. Mind you I had no idea at all where it was in the park or if we could just drive to it, or if we had to hike or what the hike might be like. Let's just say the word that sums up this story was UNPREPARED. But, I'm an optimistic person so I would rather label it as ADVENTURE. So we parked and headed to the trail map to see what we were up against. It was a 1.3 mile hike to the falls...which meant a 1.3 mile hike back...which meant a 2.6 mile hike....which scared me because I have a 7, 5, and 1 year old. Oh and did I mention we had no backpack or water. But we did have oreos and twizzlers and a Matchbox car. Shawn seemed wary, but I said, "Let's just do it! It will be good for all of us! We can't be wimps!" That seemed to do the trick and off we headed, with my little hand held bag full of unhealthy snacks (and even a few healthy ones), and wipes and 1 diaper. That's really all you need in life (well...water would have been good too.) The weather truly could not have been better! It was the perfect temperature with a nice breeze as if someone was following us around with a fan! The sky was somewhat overcast which is perfect! So we walked and walked and walked and started to think we'd taken the wrong trail and started doubting ourselves and then....the sound of water running! One last obstacle to overcome....the very STEEP walk to the actual falls. It was interesting to do while holding Levi. The falls were beautiful, the kids were impressed, and it was nice to just sit and rest for a while. After that, it was time for the dreaded trip back...we mentally braced ourselves (the adults did) because we knew our kids were tired and it just wasn't going to be pretty. And it wasn't. But, we ALL survived and felt very accomplished and we took our time getting back to the car. Shawn timed it and it took us almost 50 minutes to walk the 1.3 miles back....it's slow going with kids...but I'd rather be slow going than not going at all! We were all very excited to get back to the car and it was a wonderful afternoon spent with each other. The ride home was so nice just because we were all worn out. But, I'm already scheming in my head for our next adventure...think it's time to do some tent camping as a family of FIVE!

Not long after we began our hike, the first accident. The trail was VERY rocky and Elle tripped on some rocks and went down. She thought she was going to die, but thankfully she didn't.
They made a bridge for Levi and me to go under....truthfully I think this was just a ploy to get Elle's mind off her boo boo's because when something like that happens to her, it's usually very hard to steer her back into Happyville. The bridge idea worked ;)

Which way? Wish we'd have had the energy to see the spring also.

The VERY steep last section

THE FALLS!!!

A kind stranger who took our picture as a family in front of Gorman Falls :)

The Matchbox car being driven along the railing by the falls. I slipped this into my pocket as part of my essential hiking equipment.

Before the hike back....

Beginning the ascent...

This is my vantage point for much of the hike. He loves his momma.

So his momma, the sucker, took him...only to realize he didn't want me. He just wanted down to walk. If we had let him walk, we'd still be on the trail at this time.

And all of us made it out alive to take our picture in front of the sign!

My Lips are Sealed

That title took on a more literal meaning this afternoon. First, as you'll notice, Levi's beautiful face that I photographed just yesterday morning, now has a boo boo right in the middle. He fell last night at church and we are just very thankful that his nose wasn't broken and/or that there wasn't a huge cut that had to be stitched up. As much as I love triplets, I really didn't want Shawn, Elle and Levi to all have scars across their noses....two is enough...more than enough. Anyway, we have lots of chapstick and lip gloss floating around this house....lots. Today, Ava was using her glue stick and then just left it on the table afterwards. You can see where this is going right? Before I realized it, Levi had the lid off, smearing it across his lips over and over. Of course I grabbed it away and felt his face and lips to see if he really got it on him and yep he sure did. Lips were as sticky as could be and he wasn't too happy when I wiped it off! Of course, I didn't take pictures at the time...so like any good reality show producer would do, I had him do a recreation. Truthfully I didn't think he'd be able to get the cap off, but he sure can! And before I knew it, he had swiped it across his lips again! If only he knew what that really was, he'd probably be using it on a big sister....

Am I in trouble?

Simple Saturday

Yesterday was a great day! Some days are okay, some days are bad, some days are AWESOME, but yesterday was just great. The weather has been amazing the last few days, truly spring-like. I would love for winter to truly be here because this faux-spring thing is messing with my head big time. But, the girls have been spending literally hours outside pretending more and better than ever before so I'll take the weather! Anyway, Shawn told me I needed to come see what they'd been outside creating for quite a while. They had taken a box and completely transformed it into their personal hideout. It was so creative and cute.

Ava loves Levi. Levi loves Daddy's phone. So Ava lured Levi into her clutches with Daddy's phone....whatever works for ya!

Later that afternoon, we became Shawn and Emma +6...as in six kids! We doubled the kiddos! Friends from church were headed out for a birthday party and asked if we'd be willing to watch their 3 girls. We were truly honored that they asked. We totally understand how hard it is to ask someone to watch ALL THREE of your kids...it's almost impossible at the point. When their were two, I had no problem asking, but this three things takes it to a whole new level! Like us, they also don't have family near, so we truly understood the need! Anyway, we were excited to be able to help out and give them a much needed break! Their girls were wonderful and our girls did a great job playing sweetly with them. It doesn't inspire me to have any more kids, not that that's possible, but I do hope that I can be of help to others that need a break!

So the final picture isn't from Saturday. It's from this morning after church. This was the first time for him to wear this shirt and of course his eyes just glowed with this color on. I am so in love with this child!

Snowmen in Texas!!!

Tonite after dinner we made snowmen! I found a really cute idea a few weeks before Christmas and had all intentions to do it with the girls, and then every night, something was going on and it wasn't possible to make our snowmen. So tonite, I jumped at the opportunity since we had no where to go and Elle had no homework :) The girls were jumping out of their skin with excitement that not only were they going to get to eat icecream, but they'd get to play with their food and add even more sugar to the icecream. They had a great time and Levi made sure he got to be a part of it too. I just fed him chocolate chips and let Shawn feed him plain ol' icecream...he didn't complain.
Elle's snowman must have spent a little too much time out in our Spring like weather today.

Good job Ava!

Shocking Epiphany

As 2011 was coming to an end, something kept staring me in the face. Something that I've tried to work on unsuccessfully, and then tried to procrastinate on, hoping it would go away....but it hasn't. In fact, it's grown longer and longer and more daunting with each passing day. Literally it has been in my face on a daily basis. What might this be, you ask? Here they are:

The first list is a list of all the family events I want to scrapbook but haven't yet, starting in August of 2009....that is really far behind. I counted and there are 49 events, which means at least 49 pages. The second list is milestones and pages I want to do for Levi's 1st year scrapbook. I had Elle and Ava's done before their 1st birthday and Levi is coming up on his 2nd in a few months! The girls each have one and so it's a must that I finish this one plus there are just some great pages I look forward to doing. There are 31 different pages needing to be done for him. Both of these lists are taped just inches from where I sit on a daily basis in my craft room. I have really been attempting to pep talk myself into getting going on these pages....but life is so very busy these days...and I've been finding myself taking more candid shots and less "staged" shots and actually taking less pictures and being really present more often. This isn't a bad thing at all but something has to give. I blog, I scrapbook it, and I print out all the pictures I've taken about every 3 months and put them in albums. It has become too much and my usually perky optimistic go getter crafting attitude is just done. So, after a lot of thought, I've decided that I will catch my scrapbook up to the end of 2011 and of course finish Levi's 1st year scrapbook...but....I will stop scrapbooking our lives after that. GASP! I have scrapbooks that begin in 1997 and go to the present! But, I will continue the blog diligently because I love my blog and love everything about it. It's creative without being NEARLY as time consuming as scrapbooking and it's printable. I will start printing my blog out yearly and keeping those as my scrapbooks. I already print my blog out, but I just do it on plain paper and put it in binders by year. From here on, I'll be getting them printed professionally....truthfully, I think they'll be better than the scrapbooks as far as preserving memories. I write more on here. So, I'll keep all my scrapbooking stuff because I still love to create, it just won't be for personal scrapbooks. I feel like a HUGE burden has been lifted off of me and I knew when I described scrapbooking as a burden, it was time to let it go. Anyway, that's my SHOCKING news! So....know any really good blog printers?

The final day of our marathon

So Saturday proved to be quite full of things to do. We started the day by heading back over to Papaw and Carolyn's house for a little more quality time and to see Shawn's grandparents and aunt. We left a little before lunchtime, and headed to my parents house. We ate lunch with them and then left.....without the kids!!! My parents graciously accepted the duty of babysitting our kids all afternoon while we got ready for the wedding and drove the hour drive to get there. Gramme picked them up around 7 pm and took them for the rest of the evening. So, Saturday evening, New Year's Eve, I watched my husband pronounce a sweet young couple as husband and wife. We got to see a few old friends from Greenville and eat some cake, which is always great, and then headed back to Tyler to celebrate what was left of New Year's Eve. We bought some fireworks and headed for Gramme's house. Ava was acting exhausted and deathly afraid of fireworks so she went on to bed, Levi had already been asleep for a few hours, so it was just us and Elle popping a few small fireworks. By 10:15 the lights were out and all were asleep...not exactly my idea of a wild, crazy, fun, and romantic New Years, but maybe 2013 will the the year....or not! After an exhausting, fun, memorable Christmas vacation, it was wonderful to head home Sunday afternoon and decompress! All the Christmas stuff is put away (except the lights Shawn!) and the house has been decluttered and all is back to "normal." It was a wonderful holiday season, and now we start fresh...a new year...a clean slate...and the anticipation of exciting things to come. Happy 2012 everyone!

This picture cracks me up...Ava asked for it though!

And the kids kept Carolyn busy with trying to work the piano with a gazillion different buttons!

My hubbie looking so good and doing a great job too!

Goodbye 2011

Welcome 2012!

Old and New Friends

So Friday, we had to be in Point, Texas for a rehearsal dinner for a wedding that Shawn was asked to do. It was for a young man that was in our youth group in Greenville and we were both very excited for him to be a part of it, and honored. We have friends that we see every Christmas that live just a few minutes down the road in Commerce, so we went to meet them at noon and hung out all afternoon until the rehearsal. It was a great afternoon of laughing and telling stories and seeing the house that is being completely rebuilt by my friends parents...it's remarkable! Here's the link if you'd like to watch along with the complete rebuilt of an amazing old house!

Old Friends, Me and Marci

...and new friends Jack and Levi...Jack isn't too much older than Levi and THANKGOODNESS, Jack and his momma Marci provide Levi with lots of hand me down clothes, shoes, and toys!