Fun in the Sun!

Today we had to cool off a bit, so we went down to the pool for a little summertime fun! Both kids absolutely LOVE the water and enjoy being outside in general. I enjoy being outdoors too, but in this heat I need to be by the pool if I am sweating! :)

So, at the pool there are two slides and my kids just love them.  Jase can go down them himself...no problem.  Allyson...she can go down them, but it's probably not the safest thing for her to do alone.  So, guess who went down with her everytime...Mommy...what a trooper I was!! It was like a tidal wave everytime I went down...definitely made for 40 lb kids! LOL! Aunt Alisha joined us at the pool and she got a laugh everytime we slid down. Wedgie and all, I did it for Ally! :)

Alisha was the only one who brought sun glasses...smart of her.  I briefly looked for mine before we left, but no luck (I later found them in a bag!). Of course Jase wanted to borrow them and it wasn't long before he started putting on a little show...he is such a ham!

Before we left Allyson was playing peek-a-boo with the towel.  To be honest she was probably just trying to hide from the sun!

We had a great time and love having a pool so close to home and so cheap for us to visit. 

Btw...I am loving Picasa right now! I am slightly addicted to making collages, as if you can't tell.

Downtown Aquarium - July 3, 2011

Sunday after Church we (Us 4 + PawPaw, Nanny and Alisha) drove into Houston to check out the Downtown Aquarium.  Although it was smokin' hot, we still had a fun time!! Oh and this was my first time to EVER go on a ferris wheel...I'm about to be 31!! I guess I've always been scared of them and never really gave them a chance...lol! No fear no more! :)

Since we went in the afternoon Ally was tired and she had her nap while we were riding rides and playing games.  I'm glad she was able to rest while it was 100 degrees!!

The train ride was probably the most fun...I really enjoyed it and the shark aquarium on the ride was a BIG surprise! And someone woke up just in time to enjoy it!

After the train ride we let the kids play in the water for a little bit.  The floor was pretty slippery, but thankfully no one was hurt.  I'm sure they enjoyed cooling off in the water.



Had to get some family pics before we left

After the Aquarium we headed over to Hard Rock Cafe for some dinner...YUMMO!!

How fitting...kids are rockin' out at the Hard Rock Cafe!!

What a great day!!

Happy 4th of July!!

We wore our festive colors on Sunday to Church! :) Supporting Red, White and Blue...aka America!! Jase told us a day or two ago while driving that we needed to get our America colors in our yard and proceeded to point out everyone else had one in their yard!  We laughed and agreed that we needed to get an American flag!!

What a huge blessing to be born in the USA!! Something I think we all take for granted too often.  After seeing Haiti, Dominican Republic and Mexico first-hand it was a real eye opener on how blessed we are to live here.  It really burns me up when people burn the flag or talk trash about our country, while on our soil.  If you're not happy here...then leave.  It's that plain and simple.  Ok...off my soap box! :)

Had a great Sunday and Monday with family and friends!! So thankful for God and our service men/women protecting our Country and giving us freedom!!

Cleaning up & Memories

Ok...today I got a wild hair and decided to clean up my craft/spare/junk room upstairs. This room usually intimidates me because there is SSSOOOO much stuff in here and I never know where to begin.

Most of the time I get so side-tracked that I stop and look at every little thing and end up getting nothing accomplished. I did stop and look at a few things today, but I was able to keep on track. Here are some rememberable items from the clean up:

1. A box that Jeanie and I made at a Stampin' Up Christmas Party probably 4+ years ago. It took us like an hour to make it! And to this day I have yet to use it for anything. I had to stop and text her and nope...she hasn't used it either.

2. A picture of Emily and Madeline from Oct 2004. Crazy to think that Emily was 3 in this picture and Madeline was 6 months!! It made me realize how time flies and that I need to get my kids pictures taken again! Haha!!

3. Pregnancy Journal from Jase. I had two journals with Jase and the one I looked at today I had only wrote in it once: finding out we were pregnant on 8/25/2007. It was neat...I wrote down the people we called and their reaction...it was just like reliving it. Then I flipped over a page where I wrote about how I felt. This is what it said:

Shawn and I are SO excited - we can't believe it!

We prayed & thanked God for this miracle - whether we have the baby for one day or 80 years. We are so thankful for this day!

Man...can I tell you that I completely teared up and started crying. Sometimes All the time I get so caught up with everything that I do not take enough time to be thankful and realize how blessed we are. My kids are a true miracle from God and He has entrusted us with them for an unknown amount of time. Could be a week or could be until I leave this earth...only God knows. I stopped and prayed and asked for forgiveness on taking them for granted too often.
What a great day of cleaning. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Also...if you ever need a post-it, please come and take some of mine...ridiculous!

Half Bath Project Underway!

So after reading several blogs of DIY'er's I decided to FINALLY take the plunge and start a little project of my own.  I love our home and it is nice, but I just do not feel like it is my style and have not made it my own.  We've lived here for 3 1/2 years and really haven't done anything to the house since we've moved in...other than small repairs.  Well our half bath (powder room if you may) has always been an eye sore for me.  Wall paper with a border and horrendous wall texture.  I'm not sure who in the world textured those walls and thought "man this looks good!"  Crazy!! 

Here are some before pictures.  The last pictures shows a valance and white curtain rod that I will be using in the room since I recently bought them.

Anyway Shawn and I were talking yesterday afternoon and I told him I wanted to take down the wall paper, paint, get a new fixture (because the one we have now is leaking...fun), and put up some new decor.  This is not the first time we have spoke about this, so he was game.  I immediately went in and started tearing down the wallpaper...let's do this!!

Phase 1: pull down all the wallpaper...at this point in time I had a Tommy Boy moment where Tommy knocks the door off the car and slams it back in place, then David Spade walks out and opens the door and Tommy Boy says "What'd you do??"  That's exactly what I was asking myself "what in the world did I just start??"

Phase 1 Complete...So this is my first dealing with wallpaper...need I say more? I had no idea that the wallpaper would separate and there would be left a glue paper attached to the walls.  Time to get out the iPhone and google how to get this stuff off without using heaving chemicals and trying to find something in my house to use.  Queue phase 2.

Phase 2: Mix water and vinegar and apply to the wall to remove glue paper.  Wowsers...I could not have picked a more potent peeling agent!!  Shawn even walked in and plugged in my scentsy in the laundry room.  This was actually not that bad at all.  I would apply the mixture with a rag and wait a few minutes and peel it off.  I was pretty pleased with how well this went.  Phase 2 complete!

All of the wallpaper is off!!

Phase 3: Sand, Sand, Sand!! Ok, so we went to Lowe's to pick up a few things, then to Shawn's dad's for a sander.  The texture is just absolutely terrible.  I'm surprised we have waited this long to work on this room, especially since most people that visit use this room.  Anyway...I'm glad that I'm finally working on it.


Texture Issues...



Continuing on with Phase 3.  We get home and put the kids to bed and Shawn breaks out the sander and shows me how to use it...wait, wait, wait!!!! The lovely sander is WAY too loud to do while the kids are asleep.  Especially because we have wood floors and EVERY noise is amplified in this house, plus Allyson's room is right above this bathroom.  So...I grab a sheet of sand paper and go to town.  I have my mask in place and even end up getting some glasses on because the dust is flying every where!!

All smiles before I started!! LOL!

I sanded and sweated for about an house in the bathroom before calling it a night.  It's coming along and I cannot wait to use the electrical sander tomorrow!!! Yippee!!!  Oh and also add texturing to our list to do in this bathroom.  Shawn looked at me and said "I thought we were going to be at the pool this weekend?!?" I guess I have just put this project off way too long that I finally had to start on it.  I know we will not finish this weekend by no means, but it feels good to work on it.

Stay turned on my progress! :)

Allyson is 22 months...CRAZY!!

Yesterday (July 1st) Allyson was officially 22 months...2 months just shy of 2 years old.  WOW!  I have no idea where time has gone.  I still remember her 1 year old birthday party like it was yesterday.  And to think I have yet to start and plan her 2nd birthday...yikes.

Allyson Kate is such a delight to be around...a happy little girl.  Both of my kids are little dancers.  I mean you give them a beat and they are bouncing and bobbing around...it is cute!!  Ally is becoming quite vocal too...I love it!! When you ask her something and she answers with "yes", I just smile so big...she is too little to sound that big!! Just love her!  Here are some pics we were able to take of her in the backyard yesterday evening.

Legos...Yes Please!!!

So we went into Toys R Us to pick something up and we visited the Lego aisle. This kid was in LOVE!!! "Awe, look at all this" and "Cool"!! He could stay here all day if I let him! And no we did not get around to brushing his hair today...his hat is in his hands! Haha!!