A work weekend

A few weekends back Richard and I met my parents and Amber and Taylor at my Grandparents lake house. Since they have both passed away, mom and dad wanted help going through things and cleaning things and organizing things. The first part of the day Amber and I worked in the kitchen while mom worked upstairs and the guys attempted to fix a lawn mower for 2 hours.  We didn't actually think they did anything other than talk so we had to go get a few pictures of them working hard to prove it.  By the end of the day the house had been organized and cleaned from top to bottom, the yard had been mowed and fertilized, the garage had been sorted through and since the lake was so low the guys moved all the rocks closer to the bank.  Afterwards, we got cleaned up and headed for some mexican food, which was a great way to end the day!!

13th Birthday Weekend

Baylee is now officially a teenager! For her 13th birthday she wanted to go to the Pistol Annie's concert.  We brought one of her friends and went to dinner, watched some bull riding, went to the concert, and then back to the hotel for a little bit of sleep.  It was a lot of fun and I think the girls really enjoyed it all!! 

Here is Baylee riding the saddle as the Texas Roadhouse crew sang happy birthday to her!

Before we headed back home we stopped by Tanna's baby shower. It was great to see the girls and get to celebrate Horton baby #3. Tanna's sister made her the cutest onesie for Audree Ann, in remeberance of Brittany, Tanna's sister in law and in honor of Audra, Tanna's sister.

It was a great all girls weekend!!

First lost tooth!

Troy lost his first tooth!! It was a little loose and just that was so exciting to him!! We read books about loose teeth and I bought a story book/journal/tooth fairy pillow that he was looking forward to using. Once the tooth fell out, he tucked the tooth into the pillow and put that pillow under his pillow on his bed. I loved playing the tooth fairy and then seeing his face when he woke up! He sat straight up and through his pillow on the ground looking for his money. He was all smiles!! I asked if he saw the tooth fairy when she came and he said "No, I guess I was too sleepy!" Teague also said he didn't see the tooth fairy, but he thought he might have heard her! Lol! He is definitely a character!!

Here is Troy with his cash that he decided to save in his piggy bank.

First Day of School!!

The first day of school was great for all the kids! Koby is starting 4th grade and is one of the big kids on campus. Troy and Kelby both said the first day was a lot of fun and their teachers were really nice. They were not put in the same class, so Richard and I were happy about that. They tend to be a handful sometimes when they are together. Baylee is starting 7th grade and is the little fish in the sea again. I loved hearing her stories of attempting to find her classes and getting lost and even sitting in on the wrong class for a bit before realizing that is not where she needed to be! Teague and I are at the same school and I get to see him everyday at recess, which is really fun!! He acts like he's been there for years and runs into class everyday! I think 2012-2013 is going to be a great year!!

Teague ran into his class on the first day and found the trucks and had them lined up before I even had him signed in!! There were no tears and I could barely get a good-bye hug and kiss!

Football

This is the first year Troy has been able to play football and he acted very interested in it, so he is now a football player. He and Kelby will be on the same team and after two weeks of practice, I think they have learned a little. I think they really like all the gear they get more than learning football, but I guess that's fine! Their first game is not for about a month so maybe between now and then they will learn some more things!!

Date night at a wedding

Richard and I were able to go to my best friend's sister's wedding. I love weddings, and the fact that we were going to be able to go without kids and spend a few hours all dressed up and with my best friends made it even better!! The wedding was so beautiful! The pastor that performed the wedding has known Audra and Ross for awhile and that gave the ceremony such a personal touch that had most everyone in the room in tears! The reception was a ton of fun and really was the perfect celebration after their vows.

Richard and I had a lot of taking pictures in the photo booth! I love that we can have fun together no matter where we go! I am one lucky girl to have found him!!

 

A night out

Over the weekend I was able to go out with the girls for dinner and drinks. It was so nice to be able to sit and visit and laugh with the girls. I have missed seeing them on a regular basis!

Jenny wore a fascinator that another one of our friends brought from England. I loved it, along with everyone else who saw it. She received so many compliments throughout the night!! I'm thinking I need one!

I am so thankful for these women and what they mean to me!! Even though there is distance between us now, I know that girls' nights out will still be so much fun!!

Summer fun!!

We have spent a lot of this summer at Hawaiian Falls.  The kids have loved the slides and cotton candy and shaved ice and just being in the water throughout this hot summer! 

Baylee and Koby usually find someone they know there every time we go and Kelby and Troy are pretty much inseparable, so me and Teague have had a lot of fun hanging out while the older ones go and play!

Also, this summer I applied for a job closer to Richard and I GOT IT!!!   The boys and I have moved into a cute little house and are really enjoying the new surroundings and being able to see Richard and the kids every day instead of just on the weekends.  We are so excited about this next step in our lives and to see what God has in store of us.   

Insecurities

This spring I participated in a women's bible study. We did a Beth Moore book called So Long Insecurities, and I highly recommend it!!  It is a long book, but Beth Moore is so witty that it was easy to get caught up in her stories and humor and not realize how many chapters I had read.  As we all started the book, we knew it would be hard to face our insecurities and even harder to make steps toward getting rid of them, but we all knew a life without insecurity sounded great, despite the hard work that God might ask from us. 

This book was a well rounded book that talked about women's insecurities that we grow up "learning" through culture or family life, insecurities that we allow ourselves to believe from ourselves, men and even from other women.  One point that she really hammered home is that our security is found in Christ and no one else has the power to take that from you.  She used Proverbs 31:25  "She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come." many times throughout the book and it consumed my thoughts throughout the months while I was reading the book.  I realized quickly that most of my anger, jealousy, and even sadness could be linked back to an insecurity.  Once I realized that, I was diligent to remind myself that I am clothed in strength and dignity and just that simple refocus of my thoughts usually put things back into perspective. 

One part of the book that saddened me the most was the insecurities that we feel from other women.  In some cases the women around us unintentionally make us feel insecure by their dress, career, status or body type.  In these cases, it's our own issue and that insecurity should be dealt with internally and with God.  In other cases, the women around us are intentional in making other women feel insecure, which breaks my heart that women aren't sticking together to build each other up!  In one of our weekly discussions, we were talking about this topic and someone shared this wise truth..."hurt people hurt people".    This statement stuck with me and I found myself thinking back to times when I have been hurt by other women and this seems to always be the case.  It changed my thoughts from anger to pity for them and what they have been through to make them act in such a way.  It also made me think of times that I have lashed out because I was feeling hurt. 

The majority of the book was very empowering and  had great scripture to commit to memory so that when the feeling of insecurity creeps back up, the Word of God is there to silence it.  For me, it's been a daily struggle of remembering who I am in Christ and not letting my own lies or the lies of others overpower the truth that I am His and my security is found only in Him.

Weekend fun!

We took the kids to a Rangers game on Sunday night. All kids under 13 got a Rangers ice cream bowl and it was also $1 ice cream night, which was fun! The game ended up being long due to a rain delay and then 4 extra innings, but the Rangers managed to win it!!
 

We also got tickets to the Kids' Zone at the Ballpark where they could play games and climb on the jungle gym before the game started.  This was the Rangers "T" that was a puzzle you could take apart and put back together. 

This was round 2 of $1 ice cream night!!

On Monday, we decided to meet Tanna and Brylee at the Hawaiian Falls near her house and the kids seemed to have a lot of fun!!  Troy is tall enough this year to do some of the bigger slides and he really enjoyed that!  Teague,Cerly and Brylee stuck with the wave pool, kiddie pool and the lazy river. I love summertime!!