Oklahoma weekend.

Last weekend we went up to Oklahoma with my parents and our friends the Long's. Carson and Avery had so much fun playing with their friend Gavin. We went to ride the train on Saturday.

Which was so fun, and then it de-railed.

Shane and Stephen had it under control though!

Daddy's boy!

Our beautiful girl!

A and PaPa

The Long's, on our way down to the river.

Sweet girl, giving daddy a hug.

The kids had so much fun playing in the river. Even though the water was freezing.

Gavin giving Avery a hug. So sweet!

Avery sat here and played with her feet in the water the whole time we were down there. She loved it and her feet were like ice afterwards.

Carson, on the other hand, wanted nothing to do with the cold water. Can't blame him!

What a fun weekend!!

Shane the Chef

I have been so blessed with a husband that loves to cook! In fact, one of his dreams in life is to own a restaurant. So his Christmas present from my parents this year was so perfect for him. They got Shane and my brother the "be the chef experience" at Benihana.

They went in for a lesson on how to cook hibachi, then they each got to bring back three guests to cook for. It was so fun and Shane loved it! They even got to wear the hat and apron, it was so cute!

My brother, Ryan They were both naturals!

He got to make all the fun things, like the beating heart

and the choo choo train...

And the food tasted good too.

Job well done!!

After dinner we let the kids go play by the fountains in the Shops at Legacy.

They were facinated!

Ryan, still sporting his Benihana gear :)

Shane and Carson

It was a fun night all around!!

Happy 80th Grandma

Two weekends ago we had Shane's family in town to celebrate Grandma's 80th birthday!

We had a fun weekend with Grand-D,

Uncle Travis and Aunt JJ (and baby cousin Daniels that will be here in September!!) And of course Percy and Rio too!Carson and Avery probably enjoyed all of Percy and Rio's "stuff" and much as they enjoyed playing with the dogs.

Shane has such a wonderful and sweet Grandma and Carson and Avery are so blessed to have her as a great-grandma!Happy 80th Birthday Grandma! We love you!!

Old Lady Alert!!

Lately I've picked up a couple of new hobbies that probably label me as an "old lady"!

Couponing! What is that you say? Coupons, that's right.... it's probably not really a "hobby" but with the amount of time it consumes it may as well be. We have been spending WAY too much money on groceries, and household stuff, so I decided to give this couponing thing a try and it is so much fun. I know that sounds crazy, but it really is. I mean who doesn't like to save money?

With the help of thekrazycouponlady.com I organized my very own coupon book.

It took a little time to make, but once I got it all organinzed it's been really easy to keep up with.

Then I got to shopping, I have a new love for grocery stores.

I've seen the shows where people go to the store and get buggies full of stuff for free, and I always thought it was impossible to do, but it's not.

Today I went to Kroger and got all this stuff for.... drum roll please... $1.52.

I know!! Crazy right?!? The milk was $1.99 (I didn't have a coupon for that) so basically I got everything else for free. We have no excuse for anyone in this house to smell bad, and we're stocked up on hygiene stuff for a while.
My other latest hobby is learning how to sew. I'd been wanting to learn how for a while, so my mom bought me a sewing machine for Christmas and taught me the basics.
My first project was a valance for Carson's room.

Then I made curtains for Avery's room.

My sewing machine has lots of fun stitching options.

I did a swirly one for A's curtains.

If these things haven't already earned me the "old lady" label, then the quilting class I'm planning on taking definately will. I'm hoping (depending on Shane's work schedule...we are going on week #4 of him being out of town) to take a 4 week quilting class at the end of the month. Going from only sewing a straight line to quilting may be a big step, but the class isn't called "pre-school quilting" for nothing I guess!

Anyways, that's it. I'm going to get my cane and reading glasses and get back to work :)

Fun Times!

Last week, Carson, Avery and I got together with my childhood best friends. We haven't all been together in six years, so we had a lot of catching up to do!

Katie, Andrea, Jenni and I all grew up together in the same neighborhood.

So many of my childhood memories involve these three girls!

Here's a little flash back to the late 80's/early 90's.

(we are the three in the back and the front far left)

So many halloween's spent together!
We had such a great week together, laughing, reminiscing, playing games, watching old home vidoes, shopping, eating, and watching our babies play together. It was so much fun!
Here we are 6 years (and 6 kids) since the last time we were together.
Katie, Andrea, Jenni, Me

Jenni's girls:

Aubrey

and Nataley.

Andrea's baby:

Aiden

Katies baby:

MicahWe took all of the kids to the zoo one day (except for Aubrey, who was in school)

This is my attempt to get a picture of the kids together, didn't work out so well.

The giraffe's were so cool!

I love that you can see them face to face.

Carson waving bye-bye to the giraffes.

Carson and Avery enjoyed the zoo so much this time, it was fun to watch them get excited when they recognized animals.

And they had their first ride on a carousel. Carson was so tired, he had to bring his paci and blanket with him. Avery was scared when the animals started moving, but loved it after a minute or so. When it was over, MiMi told her it was time to get off and she shook her head, said "no no" and clung onto the giraffe pole for dear life. Guess she likes carousels!

We had such a fun day at the zoo!

Our week together went by way too fast.

I love these girls, and their babies, and I hope it's not another six years before we get together again. Imagine how big of a table we will need by then!!

Goodbye Rat Tail

It was beyond time to cut Carson's little tail.

I still had a hard time cutting that sweet baby hair.

Just one little snip for now. I have to work my way up to a real hair cut.