Fun Times Friday...

Well, I am back at it... participating in Kelly's "Show Us Where You Live/Show Us Your Life" Series. This week we are sharing our wedding party and wedding flowers. Since I wasnt able to share my wedding dress last week I have added a picture of it as well. I have to admit the reason I havent been sharing in the wedding series is because my computer was hit by lightning and I cant use my scanner therefore I cant scan pictures. I decided I didnt care... I would just take the pictures of my wedding pictures... so bare with me... the pictures are TERRIBLE but you get the idea!!! It is so fun to participate and my Aunt Vi was nagging me to continue in the process :) So here we go!

This is a picture of my wedding bouquet. I wanted all white flowers in the shape of a ball. It was perfect. You can also see our napkin in the bottom. We used gold accents. The other flowers were pink poinsettas on the stage with white Christmas lights and gold bows and green Christmas garland. We got married on December 27, 1997.
This is my wedding dress. I really loved it.

You can see just how big my veil was. I dont love it now, but I did in 1997!

Here is our bridal party. (Wish my scanner was working! Or that I could get it set up on this computer!) The little boys on the end are my cousins who are now grown and married, Ben and Paul. My bride's maids are Kelly Steffens Wharrie (best friend from high school), Farrah Banister Spears (best friend from high school) and Kara McNeely Green (best friend and roomie from Abilene Christian University). Then you see my grandfather you married us Rev. Bob Burton. Then you have Will's brother Walt Hale, a grooms man. Next is Seth James Walker anthother grooms man who is a musician (you should check out his tunes HERE) and next is my little brother Chad Everett. Finally are our sweet flower girls Lily Auker and Jessica Hines and ring bearer Oscar Jake Auker who are our nieces and nephew who are now teenagers! Good times...

Now for my Friday Favorites! I got this fabric over a year ago at Hobby Lobby on Clearance. I bought what they had left at the Abilene Hobby Lobby hoping to find more at another Hobby Lobby to make curtains. Well, my luck, I neve found any more and put it in the top of my closet and never did anything with it. This week, I had my mother in law hem it for me and now I am using it as a table cloth and I L.O.V.E. it! I Love the deep colors in it! Just wish it had a hint of turquoise in it too. This weekend we are heading to Abilene for the annual Caudle family reunion! Should be lots of fun with lots of KIDS! Happy Weekend!

Confessions...

After a day of shopping for nine hours with my three daughter I once again realize how very different they are. I have a few realization/confessions for you. I would love for all of you to believe that my girls LOVE to wear matching smocked dresses with bow I have made for them. That only happened when they were 3, 18 months, and 4 months. Now they feel free share their own fashion opinions on a very regular basis.

Confession #1: ABBEY is perfectly happy wearing an HISD t-shirt and black gym shirts every.day.of.her.life and it drives me crazy. We are trying to reach a happy medium here. I did find her some "cute" soccer and softball t-shirts at Academy for $2.88 that are better than the faded HISD ones that she loves that I am hoping she will sport with some cute jeans or jean shorts just to be a little "dressed up."

Confession #2: LAINEY is my child! She wants everything matching down to her cute under garments. She sometimes drives me crazy with it. Will says it is because she is my clone :) She wants the perfect dress (yes, she is really the only one who loves dresses), perfect shoes, perfect necklace or bracelet, and perfect hair accessory to make the most perfect outfit. She loves to shop but talks constantly while shopping about what is SO cute and what would look so cute on her or Abbey or Emiley! Needless to say, it drives Abbey and Emiley crazy.

Confession #3: EMILEY is a free spirit! Emiley loves all things that have glitter, silver and gold. She wants to shine and be noticed. She wants her clothing to fit her personality! If it is bright, loud, bold, and the most gaudy piece of clothing in the store, Emiley will find it and beg to have it! Emiley is also a cheerleader at heart. She did cheers all day yesterday throughout every.single.store. I guess that is a bit like me, too. I remember my mom getting tired of me cheering in the stores. Yes, I confess, I was ready for Em to quit cheering, quit doing toe-touches and just walk like a normal child!

Confession #4: My girls are growing up way to fast and they were F.U.N to shop with yesterday!
Confession #5: I both L.O.V.E. and H.A.T.E. that they are growing so fast!

Confession #6: I L.O.V.E. that they are all so different!

Sweet Surprises Paula Deen Style...

I LOVE surprises and just this week another blogger friend, Liz, gave me this beautiful apron because she knows I LOVE red and turquoise! Isn't it great?

Liz also know I am all about cooking! I love cooking any and everything! This apron is the perfect sweet surprise for me and it goes perfect with my kitchen...

Since I am talking "kitchen" I will share with you what I made on my night to cook on our recent river trip. Will and I made "Low Country Boil" which is a favorite of Betsy's and consists of crab boil, small red new potatoes, smoked link sausage, corn, and fresh shrimp. And then my ALL TIME FAVORITE... with a super fancy name... Layered Cheese Stuff!
It is one block of cream cheese and one block of cheddar cheese cubed and stacked.

Then you mix 8 tbsp. olive oil and 6 tbsp. white wine vinegar with garlic salt and pepper to a salad dressing consistancy and set aside.

Then finely chop 1/2 bunch cilantro, 10 leaves fresh basil, 1/2 cup green onions, and 1/2 cup red bell pepper. Add to the salad dressing mixture.

Pour mixture over stacked cheese when you are ready to serve. Enjoy with crackers of your choice. Delicious!

Happy Hump Day... Paula Deen Style!

It's Official!...

My life is changing! I am going from an eight year stay at home mommy to a first grade teacher! I have officially been hired as the new first grade teacher at Ann Whitney Elementary. I am so excited to finally use my college degree again, to work on an amazing campus, to be where my kids are everyday, and to work with great women. God is so good and I am so blessed. It is going to be an adjustment, but I am oh so ready!

Relaxation...

If I could sum up our vacation to the Frio River in one word, it would be RELAXATION! We had a great time lounging at the river for four days and three nights.

We literally went from our p.j.'s to our swimsuits, from the river to our cabin, from eating to swimming and all day! No stress and no schedules.

The kids loved the water but I knew they would because they turn into fish during the summer months.

They went from tubing down the small current, to swinging off of the rope swing, to just swimming in the clear river looking for minnows and "cool" rocks.

They loved getting in lots of cousin time! It always amazes me how much Whitney (cousin in the middle on above picture) looks like my girls.

Thursday night we headed over to Gardner State Park to the dance. What a fun place! There were hundreds of people dancing to old country music. Will and I even took a few rounds :) Will was a busy dancing man because all the girls wanted to dance with him!

And I cant end a post without another adorable picture of my niece...

And the cutest nephew in the whole world!

We hope to make it back to the Frio in the years to come for more relaxation.

Monkeys...

I am married to a monkey.
And we have monkey children! You dont believe me? Watch this!

Friday Favorites...

Wow! We are home from the Frio River and it was a great four days with my mom, Jim, my brother Chad, his wife Gina and my super adorable niece and nephew, Whitney and Garrett. The girls (and Will and I!) loved our time away and just relaxing at the river. These five kids played hard all day long and were completely exhausted every evening. I am so exhausted that I have not even downloaded my pictures. These are some I stole from my sister-in-law... OK, for Friday Favorites, I must choose this picture of my brother and nephew. Gina, you captured a great picture!

Beautiful!!

Happy Weekend...

Once I recover I will be back with more pictures from our wonderful trip!

Frio Fun!...

We have been having a great time at the Frio!

Just so you know, according to Abbey the bees are staying away from her because she hasnt brushed her teeth.

Lainey is becoming a professional scuba diver and even found an "L" shaped rock!

And Miss Em's arms are so sore from swinging on the rope swing that no one can touch them.

By the way, Garrett is becoming a good scuba diver, too and Whitney is coming our of her shy shell!

Fun at the Frio! I promise pictures soon...

And yes, the mommas and daddies are soaking in lots of vitamin D through the fun in the sun!

Truth Be Told...

Truth be Told... I love my new song on my playlist. It reminds me of our time in Honduras last month. They did a presentation with this song as the background music. What a great experience with great memories.

Truth be Told... I am looking forward to our trip to the Frio River but hope it doesnt rain all week. Dont get me wrong, I know we need the rain and I love the rain and cooler weather, but I want us to be able to swim and play all week.

Truth be Told... I did have an interview this morning. (Should not have posted about having a "big day" on facebook!) It went fine... now we just wait and see. It is hard to be patient and wait for the results. God is in control! I am ready to become a teacher again now that my girls are all in school. I hate disappointment but have prepared myself if I dont get the job. I will be completely overjoyed if I do get hired...

Truth be Told...

Sweet Surprises...

I have a new friend. Her name is Tonya and she writes the blog "Journey of Hope." She is an amazing Christian woman and will truly touch your heart with her " Feel Good Wednesdays." Although we have never met in person, we are building a fun, sweet friendship through emails and are learning about each other from our blogs. This week she sent me a sweet surprise! Tonya has started making necklaces, knew that I LOVE turquoise and red, and sent me this beautiful necklace that she made just for me. SWEET! I asked Lainey to pose for a picture with me and my new necklacke yesterday before church! Tonya, I got so many compliments on it... it is perfect and so ME! Since Lainey posed for a picture with me, Emiley had to have her chance, too!

What a sweet surprise!!

Friday Favorites...

Wow! This week has flown by. I cant believe it is Friday already and time for another edition of Friday Favorites. This week I am "in Love" with my new bathroom stuff for our newly remodeled bathrooms.

Here are the girls new soap container and toothbrush holder. And my picture that is hanging on the wall that you see when you walk into the hall bathroom.

And finally my "Faith" sign and then little decorative pieces. Everything I got was on Clearance. I am especially proud of the decorative pieces that were $2 each at Hobby Lobby!! Makes my bargain hunting heart sing! Also check out the new mirror my dad and I found on clearance at Kirkland's.

Next I have to share a few pictures from our girl golfing trip to Squaw Valley. It was so fun to just get away for an afternoon with good friends to celebrate Jenn's birthday. I was the official cart driver since I am not a good golfer. It was still FUN! Here are the serious golfers...

A group picture... I know the golf pro thought we were crazy. If we could have only explained to him that we were enjoying some time away from our 8 children.

Good times for an evening get away!

Happy Weekend!

Dress Me Up...

This week has mainly been all about getting ready for a garage sale, but yesterday the girls and I took some time to repaint a dresser.

Lainey has been wanting this little dresser in her room because it has a mirror on it so we all got out in the garage early (before it got over 100 degrees) and painted and painted and painted.

We really had fun and we LOVE the final product! I made a quick trip to Waco and got new knobs for this dresser...

And new knobs to replace these 1970's style handles on my dresser. I like the new look! The cost of the knobs were much better than buying a new dresser! Happy Hump Day!

10 Reasons Why...

Life has been crazy, but things are beginnig to slow down and get back into a somewhat normal routine. As I ponder my day today... I am faced with the fact that I MUST go to the grocery store SOON!

Here are the top 10 reasons why I must visit HEB in the VERY near future.
1. Emiley is having popcorn for breakfast.
2. The grey hairs on my head are over taking the brown ones. Time for my miracle in a box.
3. Lainey wants to make a fruit salad which is impossible with NO fruit.
4. Handsoap in the bathrooms is a must.
5. I havent had a glass of tea in almost two weeks.
6. The only thing in my freezer is some tilapia and 5 popcicles.
7. Only one piece of bread... not enough to make everyone a grilled cheese for lunch!
8. We already ordered a pizza for dinner last night so I must cook tonight. Looks like it will be tilapia unless I make it to the store today.
9. Crossing our fingers we dont run out of Caress soap or deodorant before I get there.
10. How long can you really survive with no milk?

I have been cleaning out every closet, drawer, hidden space in my house getting ready for my garage sale. Things are looking a bit more organized and my heart is singing! The girls have been a huge help. We had to treat ourselves to a Sonic Happy Hour drink yesterday because we cleaned out the efficiency house and the cellar in the 104 degree temps. Not fun... but success! Lots of the junk from those two areas is now in the garage awaiting customers.

And finally, with all the busyness of life, I realized I hadnt posted a single picture of Lainey's simple birthday party. Lainey insisted on having her party on July 2 since that is her birthday! We had a few friends over and Gary, Vi, and Poppy and called it a WONDERFUL day.

Here is Miss Lainey with her cake! She made it herself... because she wanted to!
Miss Lainey posing with a new outfit and a new Webkins... her favorite things in life right now are clothes, Webkins, and Barbies.

And yes, Jack the dog even got in on the celebration!