Seth & Ruth Ann's Wedding

My younger cousin, Seth, got married this morning to Ruth Ann.  Our families joined together to celebrate the event.  The setting was gorgeous.  They hosted the wedding at Casa Blanca On Brushy Creek out in Round Rock.  The creek bubbled by, birds chirped and there was enough shade to keep us all from melting.

Preparing for the bride to come down the aisle

The bride with her mother and father.

The photographer had an easy job with these two, they looked great.

My grandmother (Maggie's namesake) with Cameron & Maggie.

Maggie kept asking Cameron to dance with her, it was too cute.

Uncle Richard & Aunt Beth (the proud parents of the groom) gave speeches.

What a beautiful day, and a beautiful wedding.  We are so glad we were able to attend today.

3 Forks, Puzzles & Fireworks

Saturday night Chris took me out to dinner, as a surprise, to one of my favorite restaurants - Three Forks.  We went a few times when we lived up in Dallas, and I was very excited when they built one here.  The restaurant was almost empty, so we could just relax and enjoy dinner.  Well, not really, right after we got there Chris gave me a puzzle to work on.  I had 4 clues to figure out in order to find out why I was there.

After some extra hints, I finally figured out that for our 10 year anniversary we will be heading to Vegas to celebrate and have Elvis walk me back down the aisle

October 13, 2001

July 3, 2011

Our waitress was highly impressed with Chris and all of his planning for us to celebrate.  

When dinner ended, we walked over to Discovery Green to watch the fireworks from the baseball game, just like we did 11 years ago when we got engaged.  Well, we did that at the Rangers stadium, but close enough.

I can't wait for our trip to Vegas in October.  It's going to be so much fun!

See below for the answers to the clues, if you couldn't figure them out either - 

1 - Little White Chapel

2 - Treasure Island

3 - Elvis Presley

4 - Las Vegas, Nevada

4th of July

The last few years we've spent the 4th of July at Chris' parents house.  They live in the neighborhood that's right next door to the park that Friendswood shoots off fireworks in, very convenient.  It's so nice to just sit in the front yard to watch and not have a gazillion people all pressed up around you.  And it's always good to spend time in the pool when it's over 100 degrees outside.

Some more of our friends, the Babins, will be moving to Louisiana this month, so we made a gator cupcake cake to commemorate their move.  Back in March, while visiting Chris' brother & SIL, we found this cake in Cindy's cupcake cookbook and knew then that we'd have to make this before our friends left.  As usual, I made the cupcakes, and Chris did the decorating.

Maggie showing off her dancing talents.

Our family

Watermelon Girl - she ate 5 pieces.

Kung Fu Cameron

Maggie & Zachary enjoying some quiet cousin time.

Ice cream makers

Kaiden & Cam enjoying the pool

My boys

Cassidy, Jordan, Irelynn, Zachary & Maggie

Once out of the pool, the kids convened around the iPad.

Zachary bouncing Maggie

Our sweet friend Caroline turned 10 (actually July 5), so we sang Happy Birthday and Sweet Caroline to her.

Maggie loved the Gator Cake.

Watching the fireworks

The day was fun and exhausting.  Maggie fell asleep with me in the rocking chair within minutes of sitting down with her.  Cameron kept insisting he wasn't tired, but was asleep in no time once we reached the house.

Kim & Bill's 3rd of July Party

Our friends Kim & Bill had another great celebration at their house on the 3rd of July.  The kids swam and played, Chris & I shot pool & threw darts, and we finished out the night with poppers.  

Never underestimate the power of how funny streamers can be when accidentally shot onto Daddy.

Maggie's Annual Visit to Camp Pawpaw & Grandma

Maggie spent last week at Grandma & Pawpaw's house for her annual week long visit.

One day Maggie got to go down to San Marcos to experience the glass bottom boat.  I remember doing the same thing with my grandparents when I was a little girl. 

They played at a park one day.

And in a splash pad another day.

When we talked to Maggie on Skype she kept telling us to come join her, but overall Grandma said she didn't really ask for us.  I'm so thankful to my parents for taking this time with my children.  It's a great bonding experience for all.

It's time to Clean House

If you've been following me on facebook, you'll notice that we've been cleaning, rearranging, and removing clutter from our house since I quit my part-time job.  All of the things we've been working on have been on the to-do list, but we just weren't able to make time and frankly I was to tired most days to begin to wrap my head around what really needed to get done.

First, I had to remove all of the toys, dress up clothes and books from the room, closet and bedside table.  I lined baskets up the hallway and went to work last Sunday.  Once it was all sorted, I couldn't believe how much "stuff" fit into this little girls room.  On top of that, there were things that I had forgotten about stored in her closet that really didn't need to be.

Down the hallway - kitchen, stuffed animals, dress up, books and princesses.

Still in her room - Little People, Dupelos, and her castle

Okay, so once it was all sorted out, and I'd trashed the McDonald's toys and took a few items to the resale shop, I had to figure out what I wanted to do before I put it all back in.  I'd been thinking that a dress up area would be nice.  I mean, what little girl doesn't love to play dress up and pretend.  And it's not like we didn't have an overwhelming supply of dresses, bracelets, and so forth to work with.  So I made a trip to IKEA with some friends and picked up a bookcase that works for her room.  I am so proud, I even put it together all by myself, mostly because I was too impatient for Chris to come home.

I sewed loops on her dresses so now Maggie can just hang them from the low hooks we put next to the shelf.  And then sorted out her purses in one bin, her crowns in another, and her jewelry in another.  I need to return and exchange one set of bins for another one of the purple ones.  I bought two kinds not sure which I was going to like more.  Anyhow, as you can see below, Maggie is enjoying all of her fun stuff being easily accessible for her play time fun.

I do want to add one more girly accessory to her bookcase.  In two cubbies I'm going to have the purple bins, but in the other two cubbies, I'm going to sew curtains and put them on a tension rod.  Sort of like I've mocked up below.  I have another sewing project to work on first before I can get to this one.

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I've had a fun time working on Maggie's room and trying to make it everything a little girl would enjoy.  And since sorting and reorganizing she's played in it more each day since she can actually find her toys a lot easier.  So that's a big plus for me too.

Spring Break 2011 - Carlsbad Caverns

On Wednesday, March 16, we headed towards New Mexico to visit Carlsbad Caverns and then on to Ruidoso.  As we left West Texas I took a pic of our ever favorite red dirt.  Back in college, we would have red dirt everywhere - covering our cars, in our rooms, in our computers.  It was a constant battle to try to get that red dirt off of everything.  I remember getting caught in dust storms, not fondly of course, but I do remember it.  It's no fun having dirt everywhere, but it does bring back fond memories of our time in college and when we first met. 

Before heading out to the caverns we stopped in town to eat lunch.  We told the kids that because we were eating at the No Whiner Diner they had to be on their best behavior. They didn't seem to care since we had been in the car for quite a while at this point.  They were only interested in moving around, jumping back and forth between booths and so forth.

We made it out to the Caverns and I have to say the drive in was quite beautiful.  Chris & I both took a geology class back in college and I always think it's neat to see the "layers" of the earth as you can see here.  I mentioned the class, but I can't for the life of me remember anything from the actual class.  Just something about being able to read how the different layers will tell you about the earth during that time. Other than that, all the info's been dumped and replaced by kids.

Ranger Cameron

It was kind of chilly down in the caverns when we first got there, but after walking a mile it was nice to have it cooler.  There are some really amazing formations down there.  I know our kids enjoyed it because they have asked to go back.  Maggie will tell me, "I want to go to the caves.  It was soooo dark down there."  

Family pic!

The ledge the kids are sitting on had a steep drop, so I was standing very close by to grab a kid if they went over.

The caverns wore her out.

I'm so glad we took a detour to visit the Caverns, as I'm not sure when we'll be able to return.  I know that the kids enjoyed the experience.  I think we are planning to go to the caverns near Austin.  Even though they won't be as big as NM, it will still be something cool close to home.  I can remember going when I was a kid and the tour guides turning out the lights.  It was pitch black!  I think that might freak the kids out just a little, but we'll see.