A Little Texas History

On Wednesday of Spring Break, we journeyed back in time at George Ranch Historical Park, a 23,000 acre working ranch.  The ranch was passed down through four generations, strangely enough through the women of the family.  We got to tour 4 different houses:  from a log cabin, to a prairie home, to a Victorian mansion, to the final 1930s home.  We went with two of my friends and their kids and had a great time.  I think the kids really enjoyed the toys from the late 1800s!  It was so nice to see them all running around playing outside and not thinking about video games!

Welcome to George Ranch!

Learning about life in the 1830s:  This guy put those kids to work!

 

Hay ride to the next location

In the prairie house, the lady explained how they would have to check their mattresses for bed bugs

Yes, we did see several alligators!

Spence learning how to play with toys from a simpler time

My friends got some better pictures so I'll try to add some more later.  It's been exciting to do all this fun stuff over Spring Break, but I'm exhausted and need a break from it!

Strawberry Picking

About 30 minutes from our house is a farm where you can pick strawberries.  I'd heard of people going for the past few years, but we never got around to it.  I decided that we would not just sit at home all Spring Break, so we headed out to pick berries today!  Coleman was convinced it would be a waste of time, but even he ended up having a good time (which he reluctantly admitted on the ride home).  Of course, we were not the only ones with this idea.  Once we got to the farm, we sat in a line of cars for almost 40 minutes to get into the parking lot and get a spot!  Who cares though when you've got nowhere to be and a beautiful day to enjoy!

She liked carrying the buckets, until they were filled with over 4 lbs of strawberries!

Oh no, he might be having fun!

This one will probably eat most of the strawberries we bring home

This was only a small section of the strawberry field, and in the back you can see the line of cars waiting for parking spots

She would ask me if a strawberry was a good one before she picked it

Say "strawberry!"

Hmmm.  I might have to spend all afternoon on Pinterest looking for strawberry recipes

Eating his first one

I didn't get a picture of the strawberry and cream fried pie I bought as we were leaving.  Oh my word was it goooooooood.  Thankfully we had already left or I might have bought more! 

Yesterday was a veg-out day and today was strawberry picking.  Tomorrow we're going to George Ranch, a historical ranch not far from our house.  Then Thursday we're packing lunches at Lunches of Love.  Fun week!

Design Star

Some days I never know what I'll find when I walk into a room.  Yesterday I was in the kitchen and heard Allie say, "I'm almost done Mommy!"  This is what I found when I entered the dining room.

 

 And that's why I keep the permanent markers and scissors out of reach.

That's Tired

How tired do you have to be to fall asleep in the car while eating a popsicle?

 

 I think Allie has been suffering from allergies and it is wearing her out!  She doesn't nap anymore, but she's been falling asleep in the car lately.  I couldn't get over her falling asleep mid-popsicle!

While I was uploading that photo, I noticed several more that I haven't shared.  I think I've been a bad blogger lately.  Last Friday we met Candice and Judson at a Chick-fil-a.  Since the older boys are in school, we don't have time for trips to each others' houses on school days, so if we don't feel like going to the zoo or museum, we just hang out at CFA for a few hours!  It was a lovely day until a little girl barfed in the play area.  Poor thing.

 This next picture is so very Allie.  Nana got her those precious leggings (they're kind of like leg warmers), so we decided to make a colorful outfit.  I wish I had taken a picture when I picked her up from school.  She had the leggings pushed down around her ankles, so they looked like 80s slouch socks with big ruffles on the bottom!

 

One day at the park with her friend Gianna

 A few weeks ago I decided to try my hand at gardening.  Except I was going to do a few raised beds.  Then I scaled it down to a some containers and old flower pots.  I figured I didn't want to invest too much money until I figured out if I could keep a few tomatoes alive!  I planted tomatoes, onions, lettuce, strawberries, and basil.  It's been almost a week now and they are still making it!  I've also started composting.  That's pretty fun actually!  I just keep a little bucket in the kitchen to put all my compostable food into and then dump it into my homemade compost bin at the end of the day.  I drilled holes on all surfaces of a plastic storage container to make my compost bin.  Oh the ideas you can find on Pinterest!

We Leggo Our Eggos!

Lately I've been looking for ways to cut out processed foods, so I decided to take the plunge and buy a waffle maker. I can't believe I've waited so long to do this!  There is no way to know how much money I've spent on Eggo waffles.  My kids are totally addicted! I'd already found several waffle recipes that I couldn't wait to try.  And that Macy's gift card that's been burning a whole in my wallet since Christmas, well it paid for my new little appliance!  My new little appliance that bakes the yummiest waffles you ever did taste!  I was concerned that my kids would say, "Ew, these don't taste like our regular waffles!"  But they didn't!  They loved them!  I am beyond excited!  Can you tell?  Since my kids aren't always thrilled with new foods, I decided to go with the classic waffle maker instead of the Belgian waffle maker.  The classic one makes waffles that more closely resemble those disgusting frozen things they're used to eating.  I'll have to write a post on some of our other food changes, but I'll save that for another day.  Right now I'm basking in the success of my homemade waffles!  Oh, and here's a link to the recipe I used.  Dee-lish.

Loving my new waffle maker!

They turned out beautiful!

Passed the taste test of my biggest food critic!

This guy likes them also!  Check out his hair!

I'm not sure why I didn't get a picture of Allie eating the waffle.  But she approved of them too!  The best part is that I know exactly what my kids are eating.  Gotta love it!  But my sincere apologies to Eggo.  I fear they may go out of business now that we won't be buying their Chocolate Chip waffles anymore!

Allie and Judson at the Museum

Last month Allie and I met Candice and Judson at the Children's Museum for a fun day with friends!  We always have the best time with them.  It's a little sad that the older boys are all in school, but I have to say, Candice and I get to do a lot of chatting since we only have 2 kiddos to watch!  And Judson and Allie enjoy hanging out with each other too.

I don't think I got any good pictures, so I'm going to link to Candice's blog post so you can see her photos from our play date.  Thanks for sharing your pictures, Candice!  And thanks for being my friend for the past 30 years!  You're the best!

Homemade Valentines!

This year I decided it would be fun to make homemade Valentine's cards for the kids to pass out at school.  It was fun, but like most projects, it turned out to be more work (and money) than I anticipated!  But it's done now so I can be excited about how they turned out!  Of course since there's Pinterest, I didn't have to think up anything on my own.  I found a few ideas and let the kids choose their favorites.  I was trying to keep them candy free, but Spence really wanted to make the Robot Valentine whose body is a small chocolate bar.  And I'm so glad he did 'cause it's my favorite!  Click on the pictures to get a better look.

Spence's Robot Valentine says, "I like you a bot!"
(Idea taken from Better Homes and Gardens)

Coleman's Star Wars Valentine says, "The force of our friendship is strong!"
(Inspiration from this blog)

Allie's Valentine's have a variety of bath toy animals.  The frog one says, "You're toadally awesome!" and the crab says, "I really dig you!"
(Inspiration from this blog)

The teacher Valentine's are mini hand sanitizers from Bath and Body works.  I figured they'll get plenty of candy!  The tag says, "You deserve a hand!"

Allie chose the bath toys, and that was pretty much the extent of her help.  Spence actually helped out a lot!  I cut out all the parts, then he drew the mouths on and glued on the arms and hearts.  He wrote out the message, then I scanned it and made copies.  This is a great way for him to write the message himself but only have to write it once!  And it doesn't matter how big he writes, I just scan it and make it the size that works.

Coleman chose the Star Wars characters he wanted to use, added stickers, and signed his name.  He pretty much complained the whole time!  I might have been doing a little complaining myself once I realized how much time this little project was taking.  It's pretty hard to attach glow sticks without bending them and therefore causing them to glow!  I thought ahead though and had extras!  How many did we make, you ask?  19 for Coleman, 19 for Spence, and 14 for Allie.  Whew, Happy Valentine's Day!

Miss PersonALLIEty

I don't think anyone will ever accuse Allie of being boring.  Really, there's just never a dull moment with this girl!  Yesterday she came in from the back yard asking if we had any bricks.  She wanted to build a pool!  I told her we didn't have any bricks that she could use for building a pool, so she went and got a piece of paper and started drawing plans for her pool.  I even heard her asking Spence if he wanted to help build the pool!  Then this morning she asked if I could help her dig a hole because she couldn't dig one in the concrete.  I told her she'd need a jackhammer for that!  She quickly asked, "Do we have a jackhammer?"  Ha!

We were at a friend's house yesterday and she wanted different food than my friend had set out.  She kept coming in the kitchen looking for something.  Finally she asked my friend, "Do you have any bacon?"  What a character!

Here are a few pictures from today.  One or two really capture that personality!

Silly hat day at school

Welcome to Snipits!  It's time for a haircut!

Very serious

Modeling her haircut and leotard

It was just a trim, but it looks quite a bit shorter to me!

Allie's bangs have been cut a few times, but I had never had her hair trimmed.  I decided it was probably time, and was going to do it myself, but received a coupon for Snipits in the mail earlier this week.  I decided to indulge the sentimentalist in me and take her to get a professional haircut for her first time.  I'm sure I'll be back to my cheap ways and trimming her hair myself soon enough!  You know, I am the family stylist for all my guys!

Coleman's Birthday Party

For his birthday, Coleman wanted to invite some friends over and have a bounce house.  The party was last Saturday, the most beautiful day we've had in quite a while!  The weather was like a birthday present from God!  And many of Coleman's good friends were able to come.  He was so excited and kept talking about how fun it was after everyone left.  If you know Coleman at all, you know this is a big deal!  It made me happy to see how much fun he had!

Testing out the bounce house before the guests arrive

Ready for pizza!

The cake (Notice the 3 light sabers which all 8 boys wanted!)

Opening presents

Group shot (several friends had already left)

Fun in the bounce house!

Yes, bounce houses are fun.... unless you are 37!  After all the boys left I decided to get in and jump with Allie and one of her friends.  My back is still paying for that decision!  But other than that, it was a great day!  And the bounce house company didn't even come to pick it up until the kids were heading to bed.  I'm so glad my little man enjoyed his party!

Something New from Something Old

In the past few years I've discovered the art of changing old things that I've grown tired of into something new that I love!  It's so easy and there are so many possibilities.

Sometimes I get used to things in my house and don't even realize I don't like them anymore.  The other day I was on Pinterest and found some really cool picture frames that someone had made to look like a wreath.  Then one that was an empty frame with a wreath hanging in the middle.  I went looking around my house to figure out where I could hang something like that!  My best option was in the dining room, where I had changed out a store bought framed picture with a homemade picture.  I just didn't quite get it right, and I never really loved it.

I decided to keep the frame and hang a wreath from it, but since our walls are dark, I needed a lighter background so the wreath would stand out.  I decided to go a little funky with the material, and found this great pattern that matches our green dining room chairs!  I covered the cardboard picture that was in the frame with the material and hot glued it into place.  Then I threw out the glass (after I broke it into several pieces trying to remove it from the frame).  I'm trying to decide if I like the bright ribbon or if I want to change it out for burlap ribbon. 

I think I really like this!  I like to hang crafty things like this and look at them for several days before I make a final decision of whether or not I love them.  Anyway, it was an easy project that only cost a little over $12!  Here's a link to the framed wreath I found on Pinterest that was my inspiration.

Monster Trucks

Last night Brian took the kids to the Monster Truck show.  It was Allie's first time, and her excitement could hardly be contained!  She couldn't wait to go!  I asked her, "What does a girl wear to a Monster Truck show?"  And she said with much enthusiasm, "Hello Kitty!"

Ready to go!

Daddy even bought them souvenirs!

Snuggled up with her monster truck

Happy Birthday!

Happy birthday to our sweet Coleman!

 

 The day Coleman was born - January 12, 2005

 1 year old

 2 years old

 3 years old

 4 years old

 5 years old

 6 years old

 7 years old

8 years old