More exploring...

Just some pics from another hike we did a few weeks ago when the weather was perfect. These perfect weather days are few and far between lately so we try to take advantage... This time we decided to check out the trails on the mountains (hills?) right behind Sam's school. They were fun! Not too difficult. And the school lets you rent mountain bikes to take back along these so we will have to try that sometime soon.. I can't wait to see what it will look like in the summertime...

 Our cozy little town of Harrogate... From yet another angle, ha.

 Takin' a break..

 Ivy decided to grace us with her belly button...

Thank you, child.

Crafty crafts and sewing

I don't have any big projects in the works lately so I've just been satisfying my creative apetite with smaller feats. First off, I found this wreath on pinterest and knew right away I wanted to make one but with my own twist.. I LOVE the colors. And the flowers are peonies. They are beautiful in person...

This next project took me a day to complete... I've had these mint capris pants sitting in my drawer for a few years. I've had them for much longer than that, probably since 2006? They were my favorite pants once upon a time when gauchos (sp?) and flare/wide leg capris were popular. Then I got pregnant, had a baby, then skinny pants were in style.. hmm. Thus, they've been a long lost friend in the back of my drawer for sometime now. I came across my friend Merrick's post on refashioning old pants into trendier ones a while back and only recently reminded of it when I ran into my old capris friends when dejunking (spring cleaning much?) our room the other day. So I figured, what the hey! But boy was I scared. I'd never cut up any of my old clothes before. It took me three days just to get up the nerve to do it (probably just because they were such favs and I didn't want to screw it up, haha).. Anyways... I'm so glad I did it! I love how they turned out. Not perfect by any means! But waay better than they were! Now I have cute summer capris! And I didn't have to spend a dime! Yeah!

 Left pic is halfway done, comparing sides.. Right pic is right after I finished..

I already packed up all my winter stuff in hopes that Mother Nature would take the hint.. No such luck. In fact, I think my spring cleaning had the opposite affect. Someday my friends, you will be worn outside my own house. Someday...

Haircut! Finally.

Those who know me fairly well know that I tend to get bored with my hair. I'm always looking to change it somehow, drastic cuts or even just a tint in the coloring (so far no crazy colors yet though). So I finally chopped it a couple weeks ago. I say finally because I think it was a long time coming. I've been thinking of doing it since last summer but just couldn't really commit to the idea for various reasons.. Anywho, glad I did it. And also, glad I didn't do it so short this time so it won't take a good four years next time I decide to grow it out.. 

Before:

Left picture is right after the cut, just a little windy. Right picture is after I got home and super straightened it.. I love it this straight but it usually relaxes back up a lil because I have wave in my hair...

What it looks like most days:

Mom R.'s Birthday take 2 (Jeff's group photos)

Just wanted to post a few awesome photos from Jeff's camera (courtesy of Whitney taking them if I remember correctly) from Mom's birthday bash... Love this crazy family!

This last group shot was, "now everyone touch mom..." lol, in case you were wondering. I have no explanation for the others.....

Thanks for some great photos and awesome memories Jeff (and Whitney)!

Mom R.'s Birthday Weekend

The last weekend in February, we made the 16 hour drive to Houston for Sam's mom's big 70th birthday bash! We stayed from Wednesday night til Monday and it was well worth the drive! Every single one of Sam's siblings came into town for the weekend and it was so exciting and fun to see everyone! It is rare that all 9 siblings and spouses are in town at once. We spent Thursday and Friday playing with everyone and then Saturday was Mom's all day party. It started with bowling at a nearby alley, then the rest was at Jeff's house with lots of games, yummy food, cake, and music for dancing. It was so awesome to spend time with everyone playing games and laughing our heads off. Sam's family is hilarious. Now for the pics..

We finally put some of our movies and a few Little Einstein episodes on the ipad so this trip was a breeze. Ivy was a great traveler this time around:

Spending time with my seester, mom and dad on Thursday. Not all of Sam's siblings had come into town yet so it was nice to have a day to go see my fam:

Target run. Naturally:

This is what Sam was up to with his bros for much of the weekend. Obsessed much? I'm only half kidding, lol:

Friday night we had to opportunity to go see Sam's old high school perform the musical Guys and Dolls. Sam was the star of this show at his school 10 YEARS ago! It brought back lots of great memories and we were able to catch up with lots of people. The guy who played Sam's part of Sky Masterson is actually the younger brother of one of Sam's friends from high school who was in theater with him. Small world!.. Sam is next to his awesome voice teacher from high school, Darlene James:

With his lovely theater director Kathy Powdrell, next to their State Champion sign (She still teaches at the school). They won when Sam was a senior.  My husband was quite the celebrity in high school, hehe. People actually kept coming up to him all evening that we couldn't quite remember at first but they knew exactly who he was. (right pic is his block backstage, everyone signs them):

Bowling for Grandma's birthday! So much fun! We let Ivy try it every so often and she loved it. My bowling skills seemed to escape me that day.. I remember being decent in the past; not sure what happened to my skills. I blame the fact that they had no adult balls smaller than 10 lbs, haha:

With cousin Jessie.. She was Ivy's best buddy for most of the trip:

Back at Jeff's house for the rest of festivities. Lots of cousins to play with: 

 Picture time! Mom with the brothers:

We were only missing Christine. She had to head home early that night.. Still, having 8/9 isn't bad:

And just a few more of my pretty girl. She was obsessed with the trampoline. She'd stay on there for 30 minutes at a time sometimes, lol:

These next photos of my goofy girl are by cousin Jessie.. Thanks Jess!

Many thanks to everyone for all the hard work y'all put into making this weekend so much fun! And a very happy birthday to Mom! We love you and hope you had a great birthday!