Happy 14th!

Baylee's birthday was last week so we celebrated a few different times.  That morning we had cinnamon rolls and a few presents and then she chose Texas Roadhouse for dinner, where she rode the saddle while the waiters sang.

On Saturday she had her party.  She had several of her friends over to Richard's parents' house, who graciously hosted all these teens!  There were hot dogs and chips, cupcakes, a candy bar, and a cookie cake.  Plenty of sugar, that's for sure!!

Richard set up several different inflatables that they played on for awhile.

Then we played a game where they had to run down, pick a food off the table to eat completely before running back and tagging the next person in line.  The food table consisted of crackers, bread, grape nuts, a popcicle, a 20 oz soda, a jalapeno, and a stalk of celery.  It was hilarious to watch them try to eat these foods quickly!!

Richard was the mix master!!  LOL!!  Which eventually turned into the kids singing karaoke and then into line dancing!

It was a fun evening where Baylee was surrounded by lots of friends and family who love her!

Happy 14th, Bay...may this year be your best!!

South Beach

Happy Birthday to Amber and Erin!!  To celebrate turning 30 they decided they wanted to go on a girl's trip and they chose South Beach, Florida!!!

Our hotel was amazing with the ocean just past the pool, so we went back and forth between the two all weekend!

Our first day we spent the whole day on the beach taking a ton of fun photos!!  It was gorgeous weather and  perfect for a relaxing start to our trip!!

We even did a photo shoot in the pool with our cups that Erin surprised us with and our Texas hats!

On Friday night we went to a very upscale steak house called Shula's.  It was an experience, but I'm not sure we were sold on how expensive it was compared to the quality of the food and service...give us Texas Roadhouse any day of the week!!

On saturday night, we wanted to go see a salsa club in South Beach so we took a cab to recommended place and had a fabulous time. We ate first at an outdoor italian place that was great! The restaurant gave the girls free tiramisu for their birthdays and then we headed to Mango's.

The club let the girls in free because of their birthday sashes.  They were spoiled everywhere they went!!  There was salsa dancing and singing and performing...it was quite a show!!

The last day we spent shopping and enjoying lots of yummy food...including sushi and ice cream!!

Miami was definitely fun and upscale. Here was what we saw every morning from our hotel...a mansion with the yacht out back! WOW!!

Amber's 30th birthday party

Amber will be 30 on Thursday, so we all got together to celebrate! My mom sent out invitations a few weeks ago and the only clue we got from the invitation was that the party was going to be "mixed up." So we have spent the last few weeks trying to guess what she was going to "mix up." We never would have guess it either...here was what we saw when we walked in...

It was a little bit of Christmas, Thanksgiving, Halloween, Mardi Gras, New Year's and odds and ends from all the parties she has ever thrown!  It was definitely mixed up!!

Even Abby got to dress up!!

Happy Birthday, Ole' Woman!!

Baseball Party

The boys had their end of the season baseball party at a cable park last weekend.  Since the boys went to State they never got their first place trophies from the District so they awarded them their trophies and then let them play!  Teague went straight to the pool area to play.  Troy and Kelby decided they would see if they could wakeboard and they did surprisingly well.  They all had a great time and Richard and I really enjoyed watching them try new things and succeed!!  Two proud parents!! 

Kelby wakeboarding

Troy wakeboarding

The summer of change!!

This summer has brought about so much change!!  The wedding started it all off and it's been a whirlwind ever since! I started back at Head Start a few weeks ago and I had this week off, so we decided paying 2 house payments was not fun and that we would attempt to squeeze all 7 of us into Richard's 3 bedroom/2 bathroom house in hopes that it will sell quickly and we can purchase something bigger.  All week we have been moving as much as we can into the house and the rest we are putting into storage.  However, on Wednesday I received a call from a school district in the area that I had applied for back in April and they asked if I was able to interview for a Kindergarten position in one hour.  I said "Of course" and went into high gear to change out of moving clothes and into interview clothes and gather my portfolio and my thoughts and my emotions!  I raced to the school and interviewed and within 3 hours after the interview they offered me the position and asked if I could start Thursday at 8am.  I was speechless!!  This is my dream job and it just fell into my lap.  

Wednesday evening I got home and shared everything with Richard and before we even went to bed I got a phone call from another Kindergarten teacher in the department welcoming me to the team.  I was brought back to my college days on how similar it felt to joining a sorority!!  I couldn't stop smiling all night!  Thursday night was Meet the Teacher so the whole school went into overdrive helping to get my class in order all day.  The principal was even in there putting up the huge tree in the corner.  I felt sooo loved by complete strangers that just embraced me!!  Different teachers would drop by to introduce themselves or drop off a sweet treat or school decorations they thought I could use.  The PTA dropped off a few school T-shirts for me and I also received a nice collared shirt with the school's logo.  Again, I am still speechless!  I called the community college I am attending to complete my certification to let them know I got the job and along with celebrating with me they also shared more good news.  The district that hired me is one of the few in the area that pays for the year of school I will be entering into this Fall!  What a huge blessing!!  Every step of the way it has been evident that God is blessing me far more than my expectations and I LOVE that He loves me that way!  It has been a crazy few days and a summer filled with many memories, but each one has been wonderful and special and planned out perfectly in God's timing!!

Here is a gift from a sweet little boy that will be in my class!

Baseball Wrap Up

The boys finished their baseball season with a bang!  They ended up winning first in their league and then 1st again in their Region and went on to State!  They didn't make it too far in the State tournament, but they played hard and were able to participate in a great experience at such a young age! 

Here they are with their first place Regional trophies!

 We won by one point!

They all played with such heart and truly deserved all the trophies and recognition they received.  Great job, boys!!