the jersey barnyard

We went to the Jersey Barnyard on a field trip for school. It is a dairy farm in La Grange, Tx. Here is Belle, the cow. She's the cow that appears at the end of the Bluebell ice cream commercials. You know that shot at the end where the cow is being led across the field...this is her and that's filmed at this barnyard. And that little tidbit is only interesting because we (my family & all my close friends) are all obsessed with Bluebell!

Little piglets getting fed. There is a reason we give our kids the nickname "piglets." These little ones have no manners and are quite crazy at mealtime.

Getting to feed a rabbit a cheerio. There was lots of interaction with the animals on this trip. I really liked that.

He is just posing for me, wasn't he?

She got to feed the goats too.

Something about the turkeys was making them all crack up. I think they were trying to intimidate us, but it just seemed funny.

We visited the babies!

And fed one a bottle. So sweet!

And we had to milk a cow during our visit. Here is "Peanut." She was so kind and tolerant to let all of these kids yank on her. ;)

It was a fun trip to the farm. We found some bluebonnets too. I love the hill country.

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happy kids are muddy kids

They asked to go splash in the puddles this morning.  In a rare moment, I agreed that this was a great idea...and it totally shocked them.  

That was fun.

It was a treat for me too. That gave me this memory...

and this one...

I have to say that I am grateful to my pastor's wife, Kathy.  She told a story, just yesterday, about letting her son romp in the mud.  God is in the little things of life.  He has big work to do, but He also gives us little opportunities to enjoy life and bless our kids.  Without the reality of God and His involvement in our lives...they wouldn't be this rich.

come on over and play!

I am finally doing a post on the playscape because it is 99% complete.  That's close enough.  Wow, this project was hoped to be finished in 2 weeks.  We should know better.  Now 3 months later, we can chuckle.  It is finished just in time for spring though and I already claim that - it is saving me!  I love kicking my kiddos out...into the backyard.  Haha.  Here's the story in pics of its construction.  I'm okay if I am the only person who finds this interesting.  I just want to remember how my guy worked hard and thoughtfully gave all of us this sweet gift.

It all started with this....kind of scary. It's a drawing of his idea for a simple playscape. No bought plans. He was going from scratch. I didn't know he had this in him. (Now that I know...I'm dreaming of him building me furniture. Sorry, honey.)

The first (and most tedious step) was staining and cutting all of the wood.  Each piece he cut and rounded off the edges, so the precious little ones would get less splinters.

We had a friend join us for a "staining party."  He told his wife, "I'm afraid that I'm going to go over there and there will be wood everywhere and one sheet of plans."  We laughed with him...because it was worse!  There was wood everywhere and no plans!  Well, there were plans...but they were homemade.  It was an adventure.  

I helped till up the grass.  Yes, I felt like Superwoman holding that grass tiller.  I'm tough.  Heehee.  We leveled the ground where the playscape would sit.  I helped him build the frame, by holding wood up for him.  Our marriage may have been refined a little in that stage. ;)

The rest of it seemed to go fast.  The slide was a big hit, until the swings were hung.  "Mommy, Daddy, will you swing me," is now constantly part of our day.

This shot is for him. Just because I take "girlie" pics all day doesn't mean I can't create a man-shot.

Do you hear the "hallelujah" chorus?  This feels like a big gift to me and, is definitely, the biggest Christmas gift we will ever give our kids.  Adam's grandad built him a huge swing set when he was young.  It meant a lot to him. He also enjoyed watching his dad build things in his workshop. (If it weren't for Tom's awesome tools this would have not been possible). I think those memories instilled in him the desire to build something fun for his kids.  I love to think about that little bit of legacy passed down through the generations too.

E's baby portraits.

Did pics of Elijah today. It was so much fun! My cousin, Brittany, believes in me and was so sweet to entrust me with her baby's 3 month portraits. It was a blast! And he is one amazingly photogenic baby! He flashed those beautiful baby blues and worked that camera. He also has adorable red hair...aawww.

I loved going to sweet Payton's 1st bday party afterwards, but gave away all my pictures from it. So sad. I need to steal some copies of the party pics soon. It was a great party picnic outside on a beautiful day!

her name is Penelope.

Wednesday is the one day of the week where I'm consistently in the mood to get the camera out & take lots of pictures. Today we turned the camera on an obscure family member. Meet our furry, pink friend. There are many stuffed animals in this house, but attachments to Penelope are pretty severe. 

I had a poster in my room when I was little that read, "simple pleasures, life's treasures."

 She's one of our treasures...

If she is forgotten when we visit grandma's for an overnight...there are tears.

They're cute together.

These little things have a life of their own, don't they? For a little while...

Stop growing up so fast, please. love, Mom

happy st. paddy's day!

The kids are in green. I need to look up how to explain this holiday, but I made them wear green and told them about the pinching. The oldest daughter really wanted to not wear green, so that she'd get pinched all day. Our middle daughter thinks that its Patrick's day, as in our cousin Patrick. She's been asking if we are going to see Patrick today while he is working. Too cute!

This is still all she wants to show people.  Now a big tooth is coming in.

She's coming at me! I'm not in green yet. She's just dying to have permission to pinch.

I hope to speak with the happy couple today, because it's my Nanny & Papa's wedding anniversary.  Congratulations!

adam's office makeover

My birthday present to Adam was a makeover on his office at work. I knew it would be encouraging if his office was more inviting for people to come in, sit, and carry on conversations. We had been saying for 2 years that his office needed a sofa. And then...Jake got hired and moved in. His office furniture was so cool and I knew I was going to hear about his cool office. So, I took a preemptive step to get his office to the next level. I didn't get a good "before" picture, but you get the idea.

I consulted with one of my interior-design-heroes, my cousin, Brittany. She gave me this color swatch (which I had a hard time getting to look just right in a photograph). It looks so much better on the walls in person. It's Benjamin Moore's Hampshire gray (HC-101). It's a green, with a lot of gray in it. All the men have really liked it. I don't think all women would get excited about it, but I really like it.

I painted the diploma frames that we already had with black satin spray paint from Hobby Lobby. That was so easy, I want to paint a bunch of old picture frames now. I got new black mattes too.

We bought the boat pictures for his office years ago from Joann's (love that 40% off coupon). We knew we needed to keep the oak office furniture, so I picked up black accents. Oak and black goes pretty well together, right? Pretty much all the accessories are from Ikea. The loveseat we found at Garden Ridge.

The photo ledge idea was from a scrapbooking magazine. Cheap ledge and clip frames...Ikea rocks.

The daughter looking not too amused. After church...and hungry.

A few more photos on Ikea magnet strips.

This is how we spent friday & saturday night at the end of our vacation week. It was more fun than hard work. And he likes it a lot...so that made it even more fun.