Saturday, September 15, 2012

Laneybug

Oh man, this girl cracks me up and drives me crazy all at the same time.  Seriously.  There is never a dull moment.



The Great Outdoors

Well...it doesn't get much better than hunting and boating in Texas.  That's what we do, right?  Brooks absolutely LOVES hunting with his Daddy.  He was so excited when we told him we were going out to our friend's ranch for dove hunting season.  He enjoyed shooting the gun (with Daddy's help), riding the four-wheeler, going for boat rides, playing with his friend (Brody), and just being a boy in the great outdoors.





Tuesday, September 11, 2012

San Antonio Surprise!

So, again...summer was coming to an end and Chad and I realized that we didn't take a family trip like we did last year.  We really enjoyed it the previous summer and I wanted to make it a tradition.  So - on a Thursday night Chad got lucky on priceline.  All of a sudden I heard, "Well, I guess we're going to San Antonio tomorrow."  He bid so low that he didn't think he would get the hotel...but he did.  We hadn't even really finalized going, but the hotel was booked!  So, I quickly packed up all the kids stuff, my stuff, and some snacks and other essentials you need when traveling with a four-year-old and a toddler.  We drove to San Antonio early Friday morning (after booking the hotel and packing just the night before) and made it to Sea World by 10:30.  Since I'm a teacher I get a free pass every year, and Delaney is still free since she's under 2.  It was a heck of a deal.  We spent all day at Sea World going to show after show, seeing all the animals, and riding lots of rides with Brooks.  It was 5:00 by the time we left (it was a "no nap" day for everyone), and luckily we only had to drive 5 minutes to The Hill Country Hyatt.  We changed right into our suits and hit the pool.  We had dinner pool side and ate s'mores pool side.  I took Laney to bed and Chad and Brooks stayed outside to watch the movie on the big screen.  The next day we spent all morning at the pool floating the lazy river, swimming under waterfalls, and building sand castles on the "beach".  By the time we left at 1:30 the kids were completely wiped.  It was a perfect little vacation close to home.  I look forward to another adventure next year.
Brooks rode this big ride with Chad.
If you look closely you can see Brooks gripping the lap bar for dear life.
He loved it and wanted to ride again. 
Feeding the dolphins.  Laney's called them, "Dolphs!"
Floating the lazy river...not so lazy with two crazy kids.
S'MORES!
Oh yeah - roasting some marshmallows!
Apparently Laney was too into her s'more to stop and smile for the camera.
There is nothing better than waking up and snuggling together in a hotel room.  
Ready to go home!

Playing with Friends

Well, summer is over (I guess it has been for weeks now), and I am realizing that I neglected posting some pretty fun things.  Right before it ended, back in August, the kids and I took a trip up to Arlington to visit some friends.  Brooks had a BLAST with all his friends.  Of course, the mommies had fun staying up late and talking as well.  First we stayed a few days with Cari and Parker and Pierce.  It's great because Brooks and Parker are just 11 months apart, and Delaney and Pierce (who I forgot to get a picture of) are just 6 months apart.  They all played so well together.  Brooks and Parker played nonstop.

Brooks and Parker were always coming up with crazy things.  
Seriously?!  I heard them giggling and I came in to find them hiding in Parker's laundry hamper.  
Silly Boys.

They did manage to chill for a few minutes and snuggle in bed to watch some cartons.  


We also went to visit Melissa and Ethan and Averie.
We had a great time at the Dallas Zoo.

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Cheers...to 10 years!

Well, I can hardly believe that Chad and I have been married for 10 years.  That makes me feel like I should be older than I really am.  And sometimes it feels like just yesterday that we got married, and sometimes it feels like it's been forever!  We have grown so much in the past 10 years - as individuals and as a couple.  Highs.  Lows.  And I wouldn't trade any of it!  To celebrate we planned an East Coast trip.  My dad always thought it was a good idea, so it was kind of fitting in more ways than one.  We flew into NY and then traveled up the coast.  Our days went like this:
Day 1: Fly into NY and stay in Time Square
Day 2: Rent car and drive to Newport, RI
Day 3: Drive to Cape Cod (Actually Anniversary)
Day 4: Cape Cod
Day 5: Drive to Boston
Day 6: Boston
Day 7: Drive back to NY
Day 8: Return home
Just in case your really bad at counting - that's EIGHT DAYS away together.  Our families took turns with the kids, which was such a blessing to know that I didn't have to worry about them one bit.  I did miss them like crazy, but the sleeping in, eating out, no schedules, relaxing, and one-on-one time with my husband quickly distracted me.  I can't possibly pick pictures (out of the 400 that we took) to capture all the great things that we did.  But - here are some highlights of each day...
First Night at The Press Lounge in NY city.
Day 2 - Newport Rhode Island.
Day 3 - Cruising around Newport, watching the boats go by.
Day 3 - Anniversary Dinner at The Ocean House in Cape Cod.  That's 1 1/2 of lobster on Chad's plate.

Day 4 - Cape Cod, MA.
Day 5 - Leaving Cape Cod and heading to Boston, MA.
Day 5 - "Cheers" from Boston, MA.
Day 6 - Enjoying an AMAZING lobster hoagie with tons of butter on the Boston Harbor.
Day 6 - Harvard University
Day 6 - Red Sox game at Fenway - truly a highlight!
Day 7 - Back in NY at The Hudson Morgan.

Day 8 - Run through Central Park before leaving NY.

 As you can see, Chad took lots of the pictures by reaching his long arms out and snapping it himself.  I was crazy camera happy on this trip because I didn't want to forget a thing.  We had so much fun exploring, traveling, relaxing, and just having adult conversations.  There's a whole other part to this trip, which involves the memory of my dad, but I'll save that for another post.  This will have to do for now.



Tuesday, July 10, 2012

"Sew" Much Fun

My summer hobby is sewing.  I have loved finding ideas on Pinterest and then giving them a try.  Some fail miserably, and others are very fun and enjoyable.  A friend just got rid of a lot of fabric she had so I quickly filled a garbage sack of fabric to take home and get right to work.  
This shirt I just kind of made up by tracing a shirt she had for a pattern.  I added elastic to the arms and neckline to make it easy to get on and off.  And this was my first time to add a pocket (that was kind of fun).  
The tutorial for this dress was great! I added my own flare at the bottom and I added elastic to the arms.  I love the bright/contrasting colors in this dress.
For the fourth of July I took the above tutorial and altered it even more.  I made the total length shorter and the sleeves shorter, and I sewed the elastic further in to give the end of each sleeve a ruffled look.  Laney got tons of compliments.  
This dress was not easy at all.  I tried using an actually paper pattern to follow - but it was more like reading a foreign language.  I pretty much just ended up making it up based on the pieces that I had cut.  It turned out cute, but I think there's more to it then I created.  I really like the pattern, though.
This little ruffled tank came from a cute sewing website with lots of ideas.   The shirt wasn't too hard, but making the ruffles was kind of a pain.  I didn't make them wide enough so then I had to make more.  Lesson learned.
I got the idea for this dress by following a tutorial and then simplifying it.  This is my favorite dress.  It's pleated down the front with more pleats on the bottom...super cute!
There are lots of tutorials out there for pillowcase dresses - this one is my favorite.  It's easy and it fits well.  It's super fun to make with different fabrics and ribbons, and I added contrasting fabric trim to the one on the bottom.  Lots of variety!


I also just made a dress out of my dad's old shirt using a very easy tutorial.  I just love that I have a way to remember my dad.  It just puts a smile on my face to see her wearing something that belonged to him.

I'm still learning so much about sewing and I'm having "sew" much fun giving it a try.  I haven't even attempted zippers or buttons, that is on my list of things to try, and for now I'm only sewing dresses.  I tried sewing pants using an old pillowcase but they turned out to be one of my failed attempts.  I think they might fit an infant, but not my giant 20 month old.  Luckily I have all this free fabric to try and try again.  I'm thinking that once the school year starts I won't have any time to sew, so I better sew my heart out while I can.




Monday, July 9, 2012

First Haircut

This summer I finally decided to get Laney's haircut.  You know, just to cut off the dead ends.  She did great and her hair looks so cute!
Before the cut.

During the cut.
After the cut.