Weekend Update (6.6 - 6.8)

It's Monday and, yet again, the weekend flew by. I wish I could say that we were relentless in something. Cleaning. Organizing. Searching out fun. Finishing our Mad Men marathon. But the fact is, we did a lot of chilling and some visiting with family.

Starting on Friday, Nico and Isabel joined my parents for my momma's company picnic. From all accounts, they had a fantastic time. The weather was warm, but the food, drinks, ice-cream, and water games were the perfect solution. Nico was super excited about the face painting.... I was sent this picture pretty early on in the day.

And then a little bit later, I was sent this picture:

I know it's a little hard to see... the shadow of the branches make it difficult. But that, my friends, is Godzilla. They had bucket fulls of chalk on hand for the kids to go to town. And boy, did Nico.

Speaking of Godzilla. I woke up Saturday morning to a new feature in Nico's room...

#holypinholes

Going back to Friday, Alex accompanied his girl friend, Bri, and her family camping in Show Low. I didn't get pictures from them until they returned, but from the pictures and stories, I would say their quick trip was a success.

We got to spend some time with my nephew, Austin, who celebrated his 11th birthday this weekend... at Skateland. I opted NOT to put on skates this time around, but Isa and Nico both did. It was a noisy, hot, and tiring 2 hours, but it was so nice to see my family and spend time with my nieces and nephews!

And finally... one last photograph to share. My littlest dude.... He was sitting on the arm of a livingroom chair, watching one of the Muppets movies... he was so still and quiet... I had to capture the moment.

What he said...

My kids can tell you - one of my favorite sayings is "Always be prepared." Do they live by it? No. Not even close to a 1/4 of the time, but they remember it. I don't know about you, but when I am prepared, I can pretty much handle anything. How do you prepare for the unexpected, one might ask. I say by covering the basics.

• Budget
• Savings Account
• Basic household supplies (toilet paper, soap, laundry detergent, etc)
• Gas (for the vehicles)
• To-Do lists
• Extra school supplies
• Small pantry stock-pile
• An extra bag of dog food
• Clean under-roos

I could probably go on - but I think my list is a great example of things to always have on hand. To explain that backwards, if I don't have a written budget, I stress. If I don't have a little bit of money in a savings account, I stress. If we run out of toilet paper or clean under-roos, I stress. Let me share further by saying if I run out of paper towels, no biggie. If I run out of milk, eh. If I run out of clean sheets, I'd be bummed, but it wouldn't ruin my day. There are just some items that as long as we have them on hand, I am good. I can function. I feel prepared.

With back to school behind us now, I am catching myself using my mantra quite a bit... Sometimes I feel like I need to drive it into my oldest one's thick skull. But sometimes it's me... and I need to pull myself aside and refocus.

Life is so much easier when you are prepared for the expected and somewhat prepared for the unexpected.

Like Benjamin Franklin said, "By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail."

I hate being in that boat.

Quick! Before something changes...

P.S. Nic is in Kindergarten and Alex is in the 11th grade.

Fab Five Pins of the Week [Dozens of Dinos]

As I've mentioned, my niece is moving back in with her dad and this means that Nico is getting his room back. He loved having Abby around, and I know he'd rather have Abby than his room. But, since it's vacant, we decided we better do something with it.

To be honest, Nico is BEGGING for a Bowser room. You know who I am talking about, right? From Super Mario Bros.?

He is enthralled with him. Tries to dress up as him. Shoots "fire" whenever he can (which really, he can't).
I am just not into him so much.  So we are going with Nic's second choice: Dinosaurs.

I spent some time on Pinterest last week, looking for anything dino-related and here's what I found:

1) We are SO putting this on his wall, in a frame, or something. We will change the font and colors to match the theme, of course -

2) Another CUTE sign... and possibly a new bedtime routine. =)

3) Who doesn't love garland?!?! Look at this fantastic element:

4) Another adorable sign... Couldn't pass this one up and it comes in quite a few colors on Prints So Charming's ETSY shop:

5) And finally, to really help shape the room, I found this:

This picture from baby&child Restoration Hardware is what really sold me.  Now, I know all of the prints above don't really go with this last picture, but that's where I will change up colors, fonts etc. I love the pre-historic look; brown, gray, and beige. Right now, the room is PURPLE - so, the kids and I will be working on spackling, painting and getting the room ready to dress. We cannot wait for Nic to have his own room, a place for him to keep his mess locked up in his closet. I think he will love having his own space.

To see the other things (including some bed options), check out my Pinterest Board made just for Nico.

If you have any ideas, or other links/pictures you've come across and want to share - or if you have done a dinosaur room yourself - leave me a link in the comments!! I've love some more inspiration!

P.S. If you click on any of the pictures above, you will be taken directly to the owner's site or to the Pinterest board they were found on. I take no credit for their awesomeness. =)

So Long, Farewell...

We'll see you on Saturday.

:P

Abby packed up her stuff and moved out on Sunday. All the way to her grandparent's house (aka my parents) which is 40 minutes down the road. She will be visiting with them for about a month before heading back to her dad in NC.

This was Abby on her first day at school here...

And here is Abby on her last day of school (a friend took this snapshot):

Even though she was among us crazies for 7 months, I think she had a good time. We will miss her (especially Isabel, who now has to do the dishes all on her own). ;) But we know grandma and grandpa will take good care of her. Cuz that's what they do.

So, while we said goodbye for now, my parents are having us over for a dinner (in their NEWLY remodeled kitchen) on Saturday; we will see Abby then. =)

Sneaky Little Bugger

I wonder if this kid will love photography. Ever chance he gets, he is either hamming it up for the camera or stealing it to take pictures of HIS world.

Case in point:

Don't mind the half-completed guest bath re-do.

But DO note the closed bathroom door. And the same shirt from this post.

In all honesty, I love going through my camera and finding pictures that he took. I've seen some pretty interesting things through his eyes.

SpongeBob SquareBox??!

I couldn't make this stuff up if I tried. He has NO SHORTS, just under-roos, up under that box. Look at the flip flops & socks combo. And the long sleeve shirt in 100 degree weather.

I am not sure if I should claim him or commit him.

And as I was editing the photo... I noticed the "big smile" written on the box.

Too cute.

Kinda.

Dress "Shopping"

I guess it's not totally accurate to call it dress shopping...
[hold on a sec, the eclipse is going on and really, it's like a moth to a flame. i keep blinding myself]

I took the girls to Ross to pick up a few things, and we decided to have a little fun trying on dresses.
I cannot wait until my workouts show a little more progress. Who knew dress trying on was so much fun?!

Isn't it crazy how losing an inch in your waist brings out the crazy beast in you?! Or me, for that matter?

We had such a fun day... So glad to spend it with just the girls.

Hair Today / Gone Tomorrow

Well, not exactly tomorrow... But soon enough. :(
We've been trying to capture some more everyday pictures around the house with the four kids, since we know that Abby's time with us is coming to a close.  She will be visiting with some other of our family members this summer, then heading back to her dad's house before school starts again.

I found these pictures on my Android... Marcos was being silly with the kids... ;) Makes me smile.

Don't they look beyond thrilled?!

Shortly after those pictures were taken, we made them put the mop head to a much better use... To clean the floors!!

They should be lucky we didn't leave it attached to their head first.

 

Da Hoppa

Have you seen that new series of Dish commercials regarding the Hopper?!
The husband works for Dish; I sometimes pay attention.

Da hoppa one gets me every time I see it.

Speaking of da hoppa. Someone evidently told my kid that in order to participate in an egg hunt, one must act like a bunny.

And look at that Ring of Chocolate around his mouth. Fire schmire. Johnny Cash, eat your heart out.

We hosted our Spring Fling {aka Easter} & April Birthday's at our house yesterday. The husband was at work, so he missed out.

Here are some pictures of those who were present:

My beautiful cousin, Chell. It's almost like she was getting her sun burn on right then and there!

My momma.

Alex and my Aunt Julie

Chell and her youngest Evan. Her oldest, Austin, was too busy scoring all the eggs to be bothered with a photo-op.

My niece Charlotte

Her brother Ben

My cousin-in-law, Darryl (Chell's husband).

Oops. Can't see Chell. My memory card is fried, me thinks! Sorry, cuz!

So there you have it. Kids, eggs, chocolate. Yep, I immediately took a nap after everyone left.

A Christmas Poem for you...

These are the days when you need a little Christmas cheer...

a reminder of why we do what we do at the end of each year.

 It's not about the table settings or the presents,

it's not about the tree or the sparkling ornaments.

This is a time when there's talk of joy, peace and love...

But really, it's not about caring or giving or any of the above.

Instead, dear family and very dear friend,

it's truly about embarrassing your deserving children.

One day, they too will laugh.

:D

Enjoy!

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

Christmas Party 2011 {National Lampoon's Theme}

Lordy, Lordy - you are going to regret the day you asked to see picture of our family's Christmas party.

Oh. You *didn't* ask to see pictures of our family's Christmas party?

Well, now that I've mentioned it... I can't be rude. Take a peek over my shoulder as I flip through the memory book.  The Christmas Vacation theme was perfect... and everyone played their part.

Thankfully, Uncle Eddie was kind enough to remove his shoes before entering the house. You know, since his RV was *out of order* and all?!

I took a ton of pictures... I wanted the memories captured.

Look at the rug on my grandpa's head. Seriously.
:D

Some family shots...

Some food shots... Yes, the pic on the far top-right is the green Jell-O... with simulated cat nip. 

Some tender moments. Left is my cousin Laurel and her two daughters, Sela and Ryah. Top right is my cousin Bri, her son Ben and me. And the bottom left is my cousin Chell - talking with her son Austin.

We decided to *only* do gifts for the kids this year. Here are a few great gift opening shots...

We had 13 kids there.

Here are a few pics from around the house & party.

Even the guest bath saw some decorating action...

Here is my super simple holiday art...

My cousin Jason...

Look at this VINTAGE tree skirt. I have it folded in half {there was no way I was going to try and lift the made-up tree high enough to get this baby under it.... we will use it next year!}...  $1.99 from Goodwill!!

I could take a million pictures of our tree. It makes me happy. And giddy.
Like a school girl at an Elvis concert.

 

The winners of the Ugly Christmas Sweater Contest, you ask?!

My cousin Chell and her fellas. She made ALL of those lovely shirts. I didn't get this at the party, but looking at the picture now, look.... it's Santa and then some reindeer. Like, they are pulling Santa. She's a clever one, that Chell!

What I don't have pictures of:                                                                                               

• My awesome singing and dancing performance during our Christmas Carol Karaoke... Not sure what happened to that footage.
• All of the food I ate {and kept going back for}.
• The lingering family members, with their perfect kisses and super-tight bear hugs.
• My heart - FULL with love for the people who I get to share my life with. God is good.

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