Wordless Wednesday...

Summertime! My grasshopper catching princess! Happy Hump Day!

Promises...

Promises, Promises... You gotta keep them! I had promised my cute little nephew we would go swimming while I was there with him. Well, we went swimming on Thursday and the pool was closed early due to the WONDERFUL rain/thunderstorm that blew threw town.

So when we had to leave, I promised him we would go AGAIN the next day! We got lots of good swimming in while I was there! We had lots of good cousin time.

Abbey got lots of swimming time and more time in the sun! This girl has my skin and tans so pretty!

Speaking of promises, here is a picture of me and my future queen and escort as the 1st runner up in the Miss Heart of Texas Pageant in 1993! Look at that hair! I promise to never poof my hair that much again!
Happy Monday!

Miss Heart of Texas...

This weekend was the 71st Miss Heart of Texas Pageant back in my hometown! I was in the pageant back in 1993. Yep, that was 17 years ago when I was 17 years old... that was a big eye opener for me! This pageant is a big deal in my little town. The girls who enter have to be between their junior and senior year. The winners are given savings bonds, charms, and lots of other "prizes" from the community. They crown a 2nd runner-up, 1st runner-up, and Miss Heart of Texas! Back in 1993, I was crowned the 1st runner-up. Then the winners represent the Heart of Texas and our community on a float all over Texas for the next year. We went to Austin, Fredericksburg, Llano, Lampasas, San Angelo, Brownwood, just to name a few.

Well, the night of the pageant each contestant has to chose a future queen and future escort to be in the pageant with them. (A little more community involvement!) My CUTE, ADORABLE nephew was chosen to be in it this year! I might add that my brother was also in the pageant in 1984 as a future escort. This pageant has so much tradition in this town!

Mr. Garrett was all set with his tux and tails! He would refer to himself as the "handsome guy!" Here is Garrett with his contestant, Chelsea and his future queen, Makinley. They were TOO PRECIOUS! Garrett is set to take his bow when he came on stage.

Well, Garrett's girl got 1st runner up which meant LOTS more pictures after the pageant! And means Garrett and his future queen will have to ride in the July Jubilee parade next weekend! I love my hometown.

He is the star of the evening with his big sister, Whitney and their cousins, my girls Emiley and Abbey... Lainey was a bit sad she missed our trip this time but she had a weekend get-away with her BFF. One great shot of the future escort and the future queen!

My nephew is too cute for words. I am so proud of you Garrett! You are the "handsome guy!" I wouldnt have missed it for the world! Now I must go pull out pictures of the Miss Heart of Texas Pageants from 1993 and 1984, just for old times sake! I wont try to fit into my dress that is hanging in my closet but I may have to model my sash and crown...

Yesterday...

Yesterday... Was my Pi-Pa's Birthday. He celebrated it in heaven. I thought about him here on earth. I miss him still and wish my girls knew him.

Yesterday... My sweet sister-in-law's mother had surgery to remove a brain tumor. Gina and her mom, Kathy Gage and her entire family need our prayers. I cant get my mind off of them them. She's got a long road to go. There are more brain tumors. God can HEAL! God is Mighty to SAVE!

Yesterday... I drove to the town where I grew up to do some lovin on my niece and nephew while my sister-in-law is gone to be with her mother. We are LOVIN' these sweet faces! These sweet faces need their grandmother to be healed. Pray for Kathy! She is a fighter... She has fought cancer before and she will fight it again.

Yesterday... God blessed us with RAIN! I smelled,touched, saw, tasted, and heard God in the rain yesterday and I needed it!

Yesterday... I realized how much I take my life and my family for granted.

Yesterday... and Today and Tomorrow are so special! I am going to EMBRACE every moment in life.

Happy Weekend...

PRAY, PRAY, PRAY... The Gage family needs it!

Wordless Wednesday...

My girls have rediscovered their LOVE for playdoh... Oh the creativity!

Lainey's beautiful flowers...

Abbey's LOVE for ACU...

Childhood is so cute!

I have a hard time being "wordless!"

Happy Hump Day!

My New Best Buddies...

Yesterday morning I met my new best buddies! They pulled up in this rig. They were three friendly guys who were ready to WORK... You see, our well had gone "down" on Saturday and we had been without water for a couple of days. My oh my, it was not fun! I was thankful it was the water and not the air conditioner though with the 100 degree temps we have been having. My hubs went and got a water tank and hauled water for the animals and kept it here so we had some water to haul water to flush our potties! Good times... This is the bucket that hauled the water the the house to fill the potties! We were living a bit rough! After the weekend we had a sink full of dishes and a dish washer full of dirty dishes. Luckily, Will's office has a full bath so we headed down there every evening to shower!

We used lots of bottles of water to brush our teeth, wash our hands, clean off dishes, wash our faces... just do EVERYTHING that you NEED water for EVERY.SINGLE.DAY! My new best buddies came through for us. It turned out that the pump and motor went out on our well. The date on the old well equipment was 1969! So that got it all replaced and got water restored to my house. They are so good 'ole boys!

I had the washing maching going, the dishwasher going, the sink filled with suds and the bathrooms cleaned before they had the roof back on the well house.

Happy Father's Day...

Happy Father's Day to Will... the SUPER dad to our house FULL OF GIRLS!!! And to my Daddy!

Hope you enjoy your day! Doing whatever... If I know you two, I know that you might be on the golf course...

Friday Favorites...

This week my FRIDAY FAVORITES is my new bedding. I am sure if you asked my husband, he would say I change our bedding about like I change clothes. I dont spend a lot of money on our bedding that way I dont feel guilty when I get the urge to change it! The last bedding we had I bought for $19.99 at the JC Penney outlet! This quilt set I got for $39.00 at T.J. Maxx! I love the bright colors! I had been wanting something new. I already had red curtains to match this quilt set.

When Lainey was about three years old she was being creative and decorated our lamp shades with her Barbie stamper set. I had covered our lamp shades with fabric that matched our old bedding. When I put our new bedding on our bed, I realized we needed new lamp shaded. I found these I Ross for $3.00.
I think they are cute with the brown edging! Friday Favorites make me smile!

Happy Weekend!

Wordless Wednesday...

My growing baby girls...

Happy Hump Day!

Counting Down the Days...

Woody, Jessie, and Buzz are now out of the toy box and we are counting down the days until "Toy Story 3" makes it to the Movie Theatre! Abbey has always LOVED Toy Story! I alway tell her it is because her daddy and I went on an "unofficial" date to see the first Toy Story movie at ACU before we were really dating.
We have copies of both the original Toy Story and Toy Story 2, but we have recorded them both this week and watched them LOTS already! I have to admit I LOVE them, too! We are counting down the days to see Toy Story 3. The girls have even been playing Toy Story games online! They know all the new characters... Its so fun! I admit I have an obsession for Woody and the Gang, too!

Happy Monday!

A Night Out With Some BFF's...

Yep, I am way behind in blogging, but over a week ago we had the chance to have a night away from the kiddos and go see Will's BFF perform at Billy Bob's! It was F.U.N! Here is Will and Seth. Now the funny thing is, Will and Seth went to jr. high and high school together but Seth and I went to elementary togehter. Small World! Will and I actually first talked to each other because of Seth! We are his #1 fans and he did a super job at Billy Bob's! He has officially MADE.IT.BIG!!!

We were fortunate to have our other BFF couple with us for the weekend. We got one poor sitter to stay at the house with all 7 of our children for the entire night! We did a little boot scootin'!

We did a lot of listening to Seth James!

We did some goofing around! Mr. Kenny Chesney had put his hands in this very spot.

We met up with other friends. This is my jewelry maker! He is the best. I was sporting my handmade jewelry that night, of course!

We did some eating...

Not much sleeping... And more eating on our way home! Look at that yummy pork chop I had on our way home on Saturday!

Then we arrived back to reality to our seven kids, to haircuts... and to the

FINALE of HEAT softball! Abbey's team placed 2nd in the league with a record of 10-2!
We were super tired after that 24 hours! But it was a GREAT time!