First day

We arrived in Texas Sunday night safe and sound, and actually quite sane as well. The trip was shockingly event less, with all four children being exceptionally good! (major prayer must have been going on.......heehee) Robin and I even commented on how we were able to carry on a fifteen hour conversation without hardly being interrupted....that NEVER happens when we are home with the kids! ha!ha!...We have decided that when we want to talk from now on, we are just going to strap the kids in to the car, turn the movie on, and DRIVE!!!! ha!

Of course my Aunt's pool has been a HUGE hit, with all the kids in their bathing suits by 9am this morning!
Their trampoline is a also a big hit with the kiddos.....I just hope they all come back in one piece! Debatable after finding the boys climbing the trees and plummeting on to the trampoline!!!


Ava and my cousin Sydney. Ava has not let Sydney take a breath today without her right beside her. I don't think Sydney minds though, she's acting like Ava's little servant and doing EVERYTHING she asks.......a.k.a.DEMANDS!! Wonder how long this will last.......

Here's my other cousin Brittany, CARTER is making her carry him around everywhere!!........and she's doing it! ha!

Sydney introduced Ava to her ipod today..........OH BOY!!!!!
We went to the most awesome little restaurant tonight for dinner. Here in Texas there is a Mexican restaurant on EVERY corner.....this place called the HULA HUT being one of the more famous ones! It was awesome and was right on the Austin river. Of course the kids LOVED that!

Fish tacos.....YUM!
We ended our day by stopping by a natural springs reservoir where we were lucky enough to see this beautiful family of swans.

What a totally fun first day we have had. Tomorrow we are taking a hike, and hitting a museum.........pictures to follow I am sure!

Now I am hittin' the hay! Good night!

On the road again!

Ok, so what I have failed to mention on this blog (for fear of someone calling the mental hospital on me), is that in exactly five hours I am leaving on yet another road trip..............to TEXAS! Ha!ha!........Here's where it gets really insane. Guess who with? Nope not Craig! My best friend Robin, her boys, and my kids!! Yep! We are going on the road for fifteen hours with three rambunctious boys and a little girl! ha!ha!ha! And don't even try to call the mental police, because by the time you read this, we will probably be long gone!
Our husbands are CONVINCED that we concocted this idea while seeing who could drink more margaritas.......but neither of us drink, so that is not the case. (though they still think that is how it happened!)
Anyways, just thought I would fill you in on my world travels this summer......this is the last trip! I promise!!ha!ha!
Please pray for our sanity and safety!
I will give updates of course as I can...........
Have a great week!
Heidi

They're at it again!

Well, the stakes just went up! Everyone who knows and loves Craig and Josh (my brother in law), know that they are great big DORKS! They are constantly playing pranks on each other (and others, but ESPECIALLY each other), and last night the ultimate went down and the winning point goes to Josh!
Apparently while everyone was here last night, Josh went to our bedroom, and found Craig's underwear drawer. He then proceeded to rub icy hot in every pair.
My sister must have felt guilty about it because she told me about it late last night. The problem was that it was late, and Craig and Josh had still not returned from the store, and well, I forgot all about it. (plus the fact that I really didn't know what Icy Hot was or what it did.......)
My memory was jolted quite quickly this morning when I heard Craig screaming like he had just been shot................
Ummm, by the sound of his crying, I'm pretty sure Josh is in for it BIG TIME!
Josh, my advice? Watch your back!.........(but, secretly? way to go! THAT was a funny one.......shhhh, don't tell Craig I said that!)

Our July 4th pictures

We had such a great time with some awesome people yesterday on the fourth.
Most of mine and Craig's family, the entire Dover family, and the Cook family enjoyed the GORGEOUS day with some waterslide fun, TONS of food, fireworks, and a LOT of laughter.

Even itty bitty baby got in the spirit!

Good ole' southern redneck tan lines!
Ava and Jasper had a total blast together!

Jeff got his grillin' on............with socks AND crocks..........HOT!
This is Jeff's sweet sweet sister Julie! I love this girl!

The day did not escape mischief.....Josh was the object of the random water dumpings......though, I'm pretty sure the children regretted their actions, after Josh retaliated............
There's them tan lines again.....

I'm not exactly sure why we were wearing poodle ears.....but whatever!

And of COURSE "the BOYS" were completely out of control......as usual.

Reunited at LAST!!

After an entire summer so far of not seeing their cousins, Hope, Addie, Carter, and Ava were reunited on Thursday afternoon for some fun play time together. Of course they had a total blast together.......the pictures speak for themselves.
Thanks for these awesome photos Hollie!

Happy Happy 4th!

Happy fourth of July to everyone! I hope you have a great one! We will be celebrating the day with family and good friends, playing in the sun, probably eating too much, and hopefully seeing great fireworks at the end of the day.
I am thankful today for our freedom, and am in continuous prayer for the future of our country. May God bless America today and always!
Hugs and Love,
Heidi

It's Real Life

Jessica's "It's real life" blog post this week is entitled "where the magic happens". She wants to see pictures of your bedroom. So here's mine................

Do the stars make it seem more "magical"? Just an after thought...........


Aaahhhh, the memories........here are some of our wedding pictures. Yes! We were married on a beach in Hawaii!!........
These nightstands are probably my favorite furniture pieces in my house. You can find them at Z Gallerie. In fact most of the stuff in this bedroom is from Z Gallerie. They have the COOLEST stuff, for very reasonable prices, I think.

I found this wonderful screen at TJ Maxx one day as I was browsing. I had been looking for one for a long time, but they are SOOO expensive, so I never was able to get one. I thought I would just check the price anyways, and when I saw it I about fell over....... the original price was $399, and the "clearance" price was $16.99............Ummmm, I was pretty sure somebody had made a mistake, so being the honest person that I am, I asked an employee if she was SURE that the price was correct. She told me that it had been sitting in their warehouse for a couple years, and they just wanted to get rid of it!!! Hallelujah! SOLD!

Okay, this part of my bedroom is totally useless. I can honestly say that I have used this sink maybe twice. And I really didn't even NEED to do that. It's just wasted space, and one more thing to clean and dust. The only good I can MAYBE see it serving, would be if we would decide to have another baby, and then I would probably use it for middle of the night feedings.........but for me, even that is a stretch!

Last AND least is my seatLESS sitting room. We have lived in this house for almost two years, and I have yet to use this "sitting" room. At Christmas time we had to move a chair out of the family room to make room for the tree, so we moved it here, and I actually did use this room, which was awesome, but alas, Christmas was over and back went the chair. Leaving my room bare again..............oh, to have a seat in my sitting room.................and some paint on the walls...........

Okay, now it's your turn! Go to Jessica's blog for the details!

Nails, Cheese dip, and Fowhawks!

Ava and I had a girlie time this afternoon at the nail salon of course. I told her that we were only going to do her toenails today, but as you can see she had the nail tech eating out of the palm of her hands, and next thing you know I look over and there she is getting her FINGERNAILS done! Oh boy! She had her nails painted in honor of the fourth of July!! ha!ha!(ummm, I opted NOT to go that route......,though I was asked!:-)

We then had a mommy daughter lunch together at her favorite kind of restaurant. MEXICAN! (Aaaaahhh, a girl after her own mommies heart!) Seriously, that is what she chooses when she gets to choose. I can't figure it out though, because the only thing she likes there is cheese dip! So, she orders cheese dip and an order of french fries every time we go!! Whatever!

AND THEN came the "biggie". I picked up Carter from his grandma, and took the kids to get haircuts. When we arrived at the hair salon (a.k.a. Great Clips), there was quite a long line, but knowing that this was my only chance to get their hair cut, we waited. Somewhere somehow Carter got his hands on a kids "hair styles" book.

This is where my world as I have known it came to an abrupt end. You see, Carter's hair is MY pride and joy. He has awesome hair, and up to this point, his hair style has been MY choice. I have never let anyone do anything but scissor cut it before, and Craig won't even take him for a haircut, because he knows I will FREAK if they don't do it the way I like.

But TODAY Carter decides that he is going to brave the deep waters and tell me that it is time that HE gets to choose a haircut, deciding that a full blown Mohawk would be the choice of styles. WHAT???? LISTEN HERE BOY, I BROUGHT YOU INTO THIS WORLD, I CAN TAKE YOU OUT!! WHO ARE YOU TO TELL ME WHAT KIND OF HAIRCUT YOU WOULD LIKE??

Ummm, a growing, maturing, (oh, don't make me say it........), boy that is starting to have his own style....................(oh boy does this pain me.......)

Oh, my heart hurt to watch those beautiful locks drop to the ground, and clippers (gasp!)being used on his head.........

Alas, we "compromised" with a fowhawk instead of a full blown Mohawk!

And in the end, I must admit that the cut is ROCKIN'!!! A Rockin' cut for a Rockin' boy! Well, of course little miss had one too........
ps. I'm still considering a lawsuit for having INAPPROPRIATE MATERIAL sitting around in a family hair salon environment. I mean seriously, since when do KIDS get to pick hairstyles out of a book????? Somebody tell me!!!

Friends are a sweet gift from the Lord!

Yesterday was a day of reuniting! After being gone for the whole summer thus far, the kids were DYING to be able to swim with some of their bestest friends of all time. BFF's Macauly and Ava were completely INSEPARABLE the entire day. And by inseparable, I mean they never even got out of the float......NO JOKE! They stayed glued together by this floatie for several hours!!!......... Thank you Macauly, McKenna, Emily, Jackson, Tailyn, and Jasper for spending the day with us at the pool and being such sweet friends to Carter and Ava!
After a full day in the sun.....it was time for some girl time....sans kids......praise the Lord.
With the kids at grandparents, and Craig in Orlando, what's a girl supposed to do? GO OUT OF COURSE!!!! So that's what I did. With some of my favorite gal pals.
After helping Ivette with some decorating ideas for her boys room, we left and headed out to meet Tammy for dinner. Ivette took us to some hot spots in Roswell, including a wonderful little place called The Fickle Pickle where we had yummy desserts. After closing that place down (literally), we headed to her place where we hung out on the patio and her husband actually served us! ha!ha!......Now that's a MAN!!!! Yeah for Milo! I bet Ivette is proud to call him "my man".....aren't you Ivette??

Anyways, it was so great yesterday to be able to spend time with friends that have been missed so much this summer. I am very thankful for the people God chooses to impact my life with, and for the friendships he has blessed our family with.
And tomorrow I will see even more of them.....yay!