Week of September 16, 2013

This week is in reverse....

This past weekend, a group of girls from church and I went to Dallas for the Women of Faith concert. It took us about 6 hours in the rain with wrecks all around. We thought we'd have time to check into our hotel, eat dinner and shop a little, but we instead had burgers in the car!

Women of Faith is a national traveling conference. We had 12,000 women at the American Airlines Center and it included wonderful concerts, lots of worship time, and Christian women and authors as speakers.

I think we all gleamed a little something from each of the speakers and had lots of fun together!

MOrgan and I were most excited for MercyMe and they didn't disappoint. I want to see them in concert now! They sounded amazing on stage! They had all 12,000 women sing Amazing Grace twice and then they sang Beautiful to us. It is one of my favorite songs!

Before I headed out of town, we had a pretty low key week. Marcus worked late one night and we sent him a good night picture. We were feeling silly!

I had my hair highlighted! Hooray for new fun blond color. It was supposed to have a little red in there, but that didn't take so it was extra blond. I am getting used to it for sure!

Marcus and Abby have a new fun game where they run around after bath time with their super power rings on and she freezes him with her powers. It is pretty funny!

This was the week of the puzzle. We bought a 300 piece puzzle and Marcus and I spent one night in little bitty hard plastic chairs bent over a little bitty table trying to finish her puzzle after she went to bed. We both struggled to stand up straight afterward. Parenting is for young people!

Last weekend we had fun watching aTm play Alabama at a friends house. She made maroon punch for the kids and told Abby when you drink it, you have to say "Gig Em" and now my future Red Raider loves to say it. I'll get her back!

We also discovered our sweet little Russian dolls this week. Granpa and Jacque bought these long before Abby was born. She loves them- we have named them The Natashas.

Finally, Monday morning we delivered a Valentine Mimi gave us last year to a little boy in our class! Come to find out, his Mom knows some people I know and I posted the picture below of Abby on Facebook and his Mom posted the Valentine with an "uh oh" message. Gotta love a 4 year old giving out love notes! hehe!

Week of September 9, 2013

I think I can manage to post once a week and just share our week. I am so focused on other things that the family blog is suffering. 

Monday Abby started back to school. She was super excited, especially after meeting the teacher. I think it reminded her all of the fun she has at school. She walked in like a champ on Monday and didn't even care to say goodbye! I picked her up and she was all smiles!

While she was at school, I had my first MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) meeting at church. The theme this year is A Beautiful Mess and this was part of the decor. Those creative hospitality girls did a great job! I love the messy randomness of it!

Tuesday we went to gymnastics and Abby wore a ponytail. It is one of the first ponytails I have ever given her. She loved it because it was like her friend Addison wears. 

I spent time on Tuesday and Wednesday organizing her playroom thanks to the new Expedit from IKEA a friend gave us. Abby and I bought the colored baskets at Target and I spent naptime organizing. We were then able to gift some of her other organizers to little friends. 

Thursday was Bible school and Abby colored and sewed (using yarn) an ark together and then filled it with her animal crackers as a snack. The CBS kids team is so creative! When we arrived, they had made a water table an ark and the kids were spraying water in little bottles to make it rain for 40 days. 

I love learning the Bible and loving Jesus with this sweet girl every Thursday!

Today we have run errands including the grocery store and I finished up my fall decorating. Tonight, I have a few friends coming over for a Noonday Collection party. You can win a bracelet from the party or place an online order if you'd like, just click here. 

Have a great weekend!

Everyday

Here is a recap of our last week of summer- we start school tomorrow!

On Labor Day, we spent the day with friends and the kids loved the little pool in the backyard! Our two hours of swimming turned into an 8 hour day complete with a trip to the grocery store for dinner items. Those are the best playdates!

A big girl bed with a nice fluffy duvet and I find my child sleeping sideways covered in toys on a tiny travel pillow with a quilt her Nana made that she has almost outgrown. KIDS!

On Wednesday, we made cupcakes for our teachers and threw a birthday party for a stuffed animal. This little girl is all mine- free day and she elects to bake and throw a party. 

On Thursday, we started a community Bible study with our friends Carrie, Addison and McKenna. The girls study the Bible with scripture memorization, story time, crafts, and more downstairs and we learn the Bible upstairs through small groups, homework, and teaching time. It is going to be a great program and I am excited to get into the word more.

On Friday morning, we met our teacher and new school friends. Abby is so ready to go back. Just a couple of minutes with her new teacher and she told me, "she is a pro at school." She is a pro at rules and structure, so yes, a pro at school! None of our friends from last year are in our class which made us a little sad, but I feel certain she will make new friends quickly. 

Birthday Weekend

This post if for posterity- I totally forgot to blog about our fun night in New Braunfels!

We celebrated my Mom's birthday in late August in New Braunfels at my sister's house. Abby was so excited to see her Nana she ended up going home with her for 8 days!

Happy Birthday Mom!

After eating Olive Garden take out at Tiffany's house, Mom stayed with the kids and Tiffany, Shaun, Marcus and I went to see a concert at the Whitewater Amphitheater nearby. We had tickets for Cory Morrow and Gary Allan. 

The venue and concert were awesome. I love when an artist chooses to play their biggest hits and not just their new CD. Gary did a great job playing well known favorites! The venue was set on the water with lots of shade trees and they had local food and liquor companies as vendors. I love Deep Eddy Sweet Tea Vodka and enjoyed it cold with a little lemonade! Great summer drink!

After the concert, Marcus and I got snacks at Bucee's and drove home. It was a late night for us old folks, but lots of fun!

Weekend Review

Our family has had a fun Labor Day weekend so far! On Friday night, we went to a local HS football game with friends. They allowed all elementary school kids to run on the field ahead of the players, so we were on the field to retrieve their daughter when the football team came out of the locker room. I am certain these boys are much bigger than the boys were in my high school. Corn fed country boys in Liberty Hill!

 

Abby was with my Mom, so it was a perfect date night!

The girls ended up sitting together and Marcus and James ended up with the worst seats in the whole stadium. This fan/Mom stood the entire game. She did cheers, yelled at players, and blocked their view for 4 quarters. It was really comical at how oblivious she was to the people around her!

On Saturday morning, before picked up Abby in Fredericksburg, we did a little wine tasting with Andrea and James. We have done it 3 times now and always have the most fun. Marcus and Andrea sample wine and James and I enjoy the ride!

William and Chris winery was in this really cool old house. They loved all of the wines there, but it wasn't our favorite atmosphere. The pourer was a little too knowledgeable and pushy. As in, "you liked all of these wines, so why aren't you going to buy any?" Honestly, we often leave with no bottles of wine at the end of the day. The fun is in sampling and spending time together. 

Next up, Pedernales Cellars, our new favorite. The place was just beautiful! The wine tasting flight included 9 samples and you got the cup which we loved. Marcus chose a stemless wine glass and was awarded a new nickname... Short Cup. Feel free to call him that ;)

Pedernales has a large porch with really comfy chairs and this view of the hill country. It was amazingly silent on the porch and shaded by these huge oak trees. Marcus and Andrea loved a chocolate, coffee, and cinnamon tempranillo here. We decided we will plan on having lunch on this porch next time and they'll just spend $30 on that bottle of wine rather than on the tasting. A new favorite was found!

Finally, we stopped at 4.0 Cellars that we always visit. They had the aTm football game on, so James and I watched the game while Marcus and Andrea chatted up the pourer who played football at Tech many years ago. He liked them so much I swear they tried everything on the list. 

After this stop, we grabbed lunch in Fredericksburg and then picked up our favorite little girl. She was so excited to see us and loved having Andrea and I sit in the back with her.

This morning we proudly wore our black, white and red to church to cheer for our Red Raiders who took care of SMU nicely on Friday night. We DVR'd the game and watched it on fast speed Friday night!

Tonight, Marcus and Abby are watching a little friend for a couple of hours and I am enjoying a birthday dinner and new restaurant with a friend. Tomorrow is low-key with nothing currently on the schedule! Hooray for that!