Friends, Fun, and Food!

Today was a lovely day! We went to our good friend's house to play and eat lunch. We played outside, played some good music, and ate some good food! I have cut wheat out of my diet and she made me some AMAZING wheat-free yummy goodness banana bread. It was a wonderful treat! Here are some pictures of our fun day!

Jay loves the banjo!


What a beautiful day!


The bread in the bottom corner was the amazing yummy banana bread! The rolls and loaf smelled delicious and the boys LOVED it!

My Project!

I have wanted a Ribbon Board Holder Thingy for a long time but haven't been able to bring myself to buy one because I know I can make one. So I finally did! This project cost me all of $3.84 (plus tax)! I'm pretty proud of it so had to share! =)

Cost break down:
Had the frame in the garage: Free
Fabric from Higgins Branch: $1.00
Batting from Wal-Mart: $1.87
Ribbon: $.97
Pretty thrifty huh?!?!

An Earth Day Birthday!

Yes, that's right...my birthday is on Earth Day! I've always been pretty proud of that. I think I've always been a somewhat "green". When I was a little girl I wanted to pick up trash off the road for my birthday party. I didn't think it would be a big hit with my friends so I skipped it and went with the Care Bears party instead. It was still fun!

For my birthday this year, my Good Friend Ginny took me to Austin for some thrift store shopping and lunch...who knew it would turn out to be such a green adventure! Here goes....

G picked me up about 8 am and we set off to Texas Thrift Store in Austin (I just had T w/ me). Awesome! I haven't REALLY been thrift store shopping in about 4 years. I run through Higgins Branch every now and then when I don't have all three kiddos and sometimes find something good. My friends and I used to go all the time when I lived in Katy. Anyway, the drive there was great....lots of chatting and catching up on life! I've been eying this thrift store for years now and finally I got the chance to go! It was amazing! Huge! There's everything! (Including a suit of armor...not kidding) They have everything sorted by item, size and color so it's really easy to navigate. G took a turn or 5 holding T so that I could shop. We made it to the dressing room with a cart filled to the brim with dresses, shirts, pants and skirts. My final clothing count was 8 shirts (all great brands), 1 pair of Banana Republic shorts, and 1 pair of Banana Republic shoes. I got the boys each a shirt, and a book, and H a pair of yellow rain boots! My total was $43. Umm...that's awesome. G found 3 really cute shirts. We left beaming! I love thrift stores!

By this time we had worked up quite an appetite so we ventured over to Whole Foods for lunch. I've never been to Whole Foods for lunch before. WOW! "Can I have one of everything, please?!" I'm on a strict diet right now trying to figure out what is causing T's eczema so eating out has been difficult for me lately, but there was LOTS to choose from. G and I opted for the salad bar with a really yummy quinoa cranberry salad. (I'm going to make it! I'll let you know how it turns out) We ate and then shopped a little. It was hard not to buy EVERYTHING! I love Whole Foods. We hopped over to Old Navy and we got a few more clothing items and then got back in the Green Jeep and headed home (her Jeep really is green. I'm not using the earth friendly term there!)...here's where it got interesting!

We are chatting, thinking about our amazing purchases, etc and suddenly the Green Jeep decides it would be a much "greener" day if we walk to rest of the way home! So about 30 mins away from home the Jeep stops. We pull over. We make a few phone calls...a few car shops...a few tow trucks...and we wait. What could we do but laugh? So that's what we did. Rolling on the floor board laughing. It was stress relief! ;) Thinking that a tow truck is going to come and get us, we wait for about an hour and a half on the side of the road. It was a beautiful day! We rolled down the windows and enjoyed the breeze! The big breeze when a truck would pass by. Finally, the tow truck that we thought was coming...wasn't. So we call someone to come pick us up. My father-in-law came and we towed the green jeep to the shop in Burton and we went home. Whew...what a day!

It was a birthday to remember! Thanks G for the Lovely Adventure! You Rock!

Oh, and I got an iPhone! But that one was from John (and Andrew's family, and Nikki!) Thank you all for a wonderful birthday! If I had to turn 28, then I'm glad I did it with all of you! =)

Birth Stories!

I love hearing birth stories! They are all different. Woman are excited to tell you every detail of the labor and delivery of her baby. My good friend Rachelle just asked me to be a part of her birth story for the second time, scheduled to take place in late July. What an honor! This will be my third birth to attend. Birth is such an amazing and empowering experience and I'm so blessed to have done it three times and then to have been invited to be a part of other births. Rachelle was my doula with Tyler. She was awesome. Being part of a little person coming into this world is a joy that I hope I can experience over and over again! I love it! Keep havin' those babies, Rachelle!

Time Keeps Tickin' Away

I've been thinking a lot about one comment I make too often "There's not enough hours in the day..."
I was in the car on my way to pick up J and H from my mother-in-law, T was asleep and had time to think about whatever I wanted (how often does that happen?!) and my mind went to I Have So Much To Do Land. I hate that place. It stresses me out. It makes me feel like a failure because I just can't seem to get it all done. Suddenly I stopped and I felt like God was saying that He's given me 24 hours every day and I should be grateful for them and not wish for more. The same way I would not wish for more money, a new car, that really cute pair of shoes from Store X. I was being ungrateful for the gift of time that I've been given. I need to make sure that I'm making the best of every minute and then I will know that there are enough hours for exactly what needs to be done.
That's what I'm working on. What's the highest priority? Dishes, laundry, email? Probably not. Reading, playing cars, taking walks with my boys...yep! I'm learning to cut the things that aren't so important. The time suckers that have no return. I want to go to sleep at night feeling like I accomplished exactly what I was supposed to that day...even if it's just that I read to my little men all day. I want to feel like that was something great even if the dishes didn't get done. Who cares? There will always be dishes to do....