TEAMWORK!...

OH, its so much fun to watch these girls play together!! After regular season of HCYAA basketball, our select team is TOGETHER! They played in the H-town tourney last weekend and made it to the Championship game. We lost by just a few baskets to a really good team. This week we are in another tourney in a neighboring town. So far we have beat one team 48-11 and another 28-6 {or something like that, dont remember the score!} and we are headed to another Championship game tomorrow night! These girls are lots of fun to watch play ball!
{We are missing the 2 Syds in this pic}

Doing the Wash...

My good friend, Betsy has us making homemade laundry soap. She read about someone making it on FB so she thought she would give it a try. Well, she gave me some and gave me her recipe so then we thought we would give it a try. Reports are that it is cost about $.05 a load. It's super easy to make a pretty fun! First you need Zote laudry bar soap. I have only been able to find it at my local grocery store.

Then you grate it on your cheese grater or in your food processor. I used the chesse grater because the girls like using it. {By the way, the Zote was $.89)

The to the Zote soap all the grated up, you add 1 cup of Borax...

And 1 cup of Arm and Hammer Super Washing Soda! {Yep, Abbey had to be funny and get out the hammer!} These were each about $3 a box. I added 2 cups of each because I bought the LARGE bar of Zote. It made a large bowl of laundry detergent!

Betsy says you only need 1 TBSP of the detergent for a load of wash. I add a bit more :) It's so simple and FUN!

Cowtown, A City We LOVE!...

I always love going back to Ft. Worth. It was the first place we lived after college. It is where Lainey and Emiley were born. It is a place of good times! This weekend we had a quick trip to the big city in between games of Abbey's basketball tourney but had a great time at the 10K and 5K. I ran may "fastest" 10K ever for me! I realized it is possible to me, the snail, to run faster than 12 minute miles... Yes, I know I am slow and I am perfectly fine with it! When I saw that I had run my first mile in a few seconds under 10 minutes I was shocked and then to run 5 miles under an hour was WAY AWESOME for me!

Will was our cheerleader this weekend since he ran in Austin last weekend. Usually we are cheering for him! It was just good to be there as a family! There was another sweet family there who were also running. Their kiddos are super-stars! Their little boy WON his age group and ran a 21 minute 5K!

We are hoping that Abbey and her bubby, Syd, will do GREAT in cross country next year! Their names were on the TOP 25 leader board in their age group! GOOD JOB girls. They were also in #77 and 78 (I think) out of 2500ish girl runners and #250ish out of all 5000ish runners!

And OH MY LITTLE TWO... I am so proud of them! They ran so much fasther than ever before!!! They did amazing. It took them 32 minutes for a 5K and they came across smiling!

Here are all the kids from H-town and their parents who ran in the 5K or 10K on Saturday... Then I bet we had 20 other runners from our small town who ran in the marathon or half-marathon on Sunday!!!

It was a fun weekend and a good time! We were also able to swim in the hotel's indoor pool, get Braum's milkshakes and eat at Uncle Julio's!

Oh, Cowtown we LOVE you! I bet we are back next year!

A Quarter and A Dime...

Everyone who knows me well knows that I am a bargain shopper. I LOVE to find a REALLY good deal and then I shout about it from the rooftop! Well, this week on my grocery shopping trip I bought something for only THIRTY-FIVE CENTS! Yep, only 1 quarter and 1 dime for real food... and its good!

I wish I was a coupon clipper, but I am NOT. I do however use the little "in-store" coupons that HEB offers. Well, this week HEB had this one! Well, my girls like Toasters Strudels so I was going to be buying them any way so I thought I would try the Egg Scrambles... So I begin looking at the Egg Scrambles. They had all kinds... Bacon, Sausage, Potatoe, etc... Most of the varieties were $2.85. Well, this certain kind {Sausage and Veggie} was marked down to $1.85! So with my $1.50 coupon, it was $0.35! You are able to use at least three of these coupons at a time so I got three bags of this yumminess for $0.35 each! {With the purchase of 3 Toaster Strudels} Lainey Beth LOVES it and it gives her something different than her Frosted Mini-Wheats and I am not cooking scrambled eggs at 7:00 am and trying to make pack lunches at the same time! You just pop the bag in the microwave and PRESTO!

You must check out the HEB coupons! They are really good especially when they are having added specials are certain "flavors" or "scent." I also once bought aloe vera hand soap for $0.20 with such coupons! Now its my favorite!

Happy Weekend!

It's Hard to Believe, I Know...

Yes, I know its hard to believe that I have kept up with the photo-a-day challenge! I have and its kinda FUN!! I LOVE using Instagram on my phone... So here are the last few days in pictures.
{Day 16-Something New} I got some new running shoes. Or they should be called running/walking shoes in my case. I am doing the 10K in Cowtown next weekend. OH MY! Haven't been using my new shoes near enough, but it should be fun anyway. {Day 17-Time} My watch with my run/walk time as I was "in the process"!

{Day 18-Drink} I took a long hiatus from drinking sparking waters but I am back ONTO them now! I like them nice and cold! It's a good change.

{Day 19- Something I Hate} Yep, laundry. Well, not really laundry... I dont mind washing, drying, folding or evening putting it up! I dont like HANGING it up! What's the difference? I know its all in my mind!!!

{Day 20-Handwriting} Oh, heres a bit of my left-handed chicken scratch. Trying to keep our busy schedules organized. And I dont even write half of it down.

{Day 21-A Fave Photo of Myself} Me and My Mi-Ma... Long Ago!

{Day 22-My Place of Work} Home Sweet Home...

Happy Hump Day!

There's Only One...

There's only one... Chad Stephen!

There's only one little guy in the whole wide world I got to have as a little brother. There's only one guy I got to embarrass in Wal-Mart and pick on with every ounce of my being. There's only one guy that I got to cheer for high school as his big sister. There's only one guy who stood up for me as the little brother. There's only one guy who laughs at the way I mow the grass {a little crooked}, didnt approve of the way I cleaned my room {because he was a neat freak}, and would get in trouble because he thought I was the spoiled little princess! It's my little brother... Tub-O, Chad-O, Money, Bro... Whatever you call him, he has grown into a great husband, father, friend!

Happy Birthday, Chad! It's still fun to pick on you... Just because I am older and I can!

Love Ya.

Pooh & Piglet...

“Sometimes,' said Pooh, 'the smallest things take up the most room in your heart.” ― A.A. Milne “If you live to be a hundred, I want to live to be a hundred minus one day so I never have to live without you.” ― A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh

“If ever there is tomorrow when we're not together... there is something you must always remember. you are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think. But the most important thing is, even if we're apart... I'll always be with you.” ― A.A. Milne

“We'll be Friends Forever, won't we, Pooh?' asked Piglet. Even longer,' Pooh answered.” ― A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh

“The things that make me different are the things that make me.” ― A.A. Milne

Growing up is hard. I remember it... Sort of!

Friendships are hard, but so enjoyable and rewarding! My girls are blessed with some amazing friends. It is so fun to watch my precious girls grow up. It is also hard to watch them learn some heartaches along the ways. Heartaches that I {sort of} remember from childhood.

The fun has really begun over the last few weeks as life has gotten {crazy} a bit harder in the "friend world, I have seen Abbey turn to God's Word. The other morning at breakfast she was sharing with me what one of her teachers said to her about scripture. Her teacher told her to just point to a verse and maybe it would be just what you needed to hear. The verse for her that days was Psalm 13:3, "He who guards his lips guards his life, but he who speaks rashly will come to ruin." Abbey said she thought this was great for all the junior kids. I told her it had to start with her. It is now on her "signature" line of her cell phone.

I have begun to REALLY pray for my girls and and their friends. May God bless their lives, guard their lips, protect them, help them in their decisions, help to be kind to everyone, and guide them in their faith and spiritual growth.

All three of my girls are entering life changing times. Times when their friends are so important...I pray for sweet friendships like Pooh and Piglet.

{Oh Yes, and the top picture of Lainey and her BFF was too sweet! They were playing after school one day and I caught them reading the Bible and telling each other a story! SWEET!! They did yell at me for taking their picture!}

Fun Fotos...

Yep, Let's play catch up of the photo-a-day! It's been pretty fun taking the photos each day. I've been taking them on my phone with Instagram. Who doesn't LOVE Instagram?! So fun! {Day 10- Self}

Lainey snappped this picture of me! Silly girl-My mini me... I think she took 10 of them before she got a picture of me she liked. Oh and by the way, I LOVE that scarf!

{Day 11-Makes me happy}

My little family~of course! I also love pictures so I combined the two. I also love looking at how we have changed.

{Day 12-Closet}

Wow! My closet is small and in bad shape right now. I feel like I "staighten it all the time but it always needs it again...

{Day 13-Blue}

I don't really like primary blue- but I LOVE turquoise so that's the BLUE I chose! I won this candle at Keno a few weeks ago and it smells so clean and fresh.

{Day 14-Heart}

I made 60 cupcakes for the girls Valentine's Parties and a bake sale at the Jr. High. They were pretty cute!

{Day 15-Phone}

Oh, I love my phone!

Happy Hump Day!

Happy "Heart" Day...

Happy "Heart" Day! I have spent this day of LOVE with this man since 1996! He surprised me that first Valentine's together with roses and tickets to see George Strait. We were so young back at good 'ole ACU. Little did we know the blessings and challenges that we had instore for us... Our HEARTS just LOVE this little, blonde CUTIE!

Oh yes and this little brunette bundle of JOY!

And the spunky red-head is hard to beat she completes our HAPPINESS!

Happy Valentine's Day from our family to yours... We are blessed by your LOVE and LOVE you all to pieces, too!

{It breaks my heart just a bit that Abbey didnt need a cute Valentine card this year... every day it seems we are moving into a new phase of life!}

Let's Be Silly...

My girls come up with the silliest things sometimes! Not just sometimes... All the times! I am really glad that they do because they keep our lives FUN!

The other day was the school book fair. I was a little bummed because for the first time the girls wanted money to take to the book fair during school hours instead of me coming to the "family night" and picking out a few things together. So I sent them with money to school and they each came home with a book and a few "extras."

Lainey girl picked up this bookmark! She is in love with it! I kinda like it, too and it gave me a good chuckle after school... The next morning, Abbey wanted to be as silly as Lainey with her bookmark across her eyes so she put a strawberry across her mouth! Not near as silly looking but oh my Abbey girl is so cute and is growing up!

Miss Em is just the silliest of the three. We have known it since the day she was born! She got her basketball award this past Saturday. She improved so much this season!

NOW... Here's proof her her SILLINESS... Yep, that is what she does at a sleepover!

Enough said... And that is AFTER a shower!

Happy Silly Monday!

Fotos, Fotos and Fotos...

Let's play catch-up of the Photo-a-Day!

{Day 4-Stranger}
Well, she's not a complete stranger... She gives me a pedi every now and again. {Day 5- 10:00 am}
I stayed home from church on Sunday morning and I went over one of my Beth Moore studies from a few weeks back that I loved!

{Day 6-Dinner}

Yep, it wasnt a real healthy one! Fries and burgers... Bunless burger for me! But I still love the topping! Mushrooms, lettuce, tomatoes!

{Day 7-Button}

This is my favorite button on my car! The button that controls my back-hatch! LOVE IT!!!

{Day8-Sun)

Its been a little cloudy, but the sun was trying to peek out this particular morning...

{Day 9-Front Door}

This is the old front door on the original house that sits on our place.