Thankful Thursday

After an exhausting week that still isn't over...it's nice to step back and take time think about how blessed I am and what I ahve to be thankful for.

Today I am thankful for:

• A thriving business with more work than we can handle.  Even though we are tired, stressed, and seldom get to sit down as a family it is nice to know that our hard work is paying off.
• A husband that never gives up, keeps at it no matter how long it takes...he is relentless and I am so proud of the work he has been doing to provide for us and our future.
• 2 kids that make me smile EVERY day!!! They may make me pull out my hair or turn it gray (which ever happens first), stress me out, or drive me crazy....but I wouldn't have it any other way!!!!
• my new neighbor and her family....she has been a light to my life and had great words of advice lately.  Her kiddos are amazing and I already love them dearly!! I don't what I did before without them living near us!

There is much more but like I said, it has been a crazy week and it isn't slowing down anytime soon....OH YEAH- and Happy Fathers Day to all of those dad's out there! I know Rob will be relaxing and taking it easy Sunday--as he deserves!

A Couple of fun weekends!!! 

April 21st....Rob-o and I woke up before the crack of dawn, packed, and loaded up on the charter bus for the LONGGGG drive to Galveston, TX with the gifted/talented group at Jim Ned.  Did I mention how I hate road trips, long 8-9 hour road trips??? We had about 50 elementary kiddos on the bus plus parents and teachers.  We went to Moody Gardens and saw their amazing aquarium, rode on a paddlewheel boat, a saw a 3D shark movie that was actually really cool! Then a group of us went to the beach.....now Rob had never been to the Texas coast however he has been to Mexico and was prepared for beautiful beaches and blue water......he was a little shocked. Ha! How about brown water and a TON of seaweed!!!! The kids played and jumped through the rough waves anyway...until a jelly fish was spotted, and then another, and then we were hauling butt to the car!!! Here is a pic of me carrying him through the sea weed.  The kids didn't have their flip flops with them when we decided to go so we had to carry them...he's getting a little too big for that!! : )

We had a lot of fun but the worst part was probably the ride back. Again- I hate road trips...I would rather fly any day! But it was great to spend time with Rob without the baby sister hanging around.  Neely went on a "date" while we were gone with her daddy!  It was adorable!

Then we had a fun-filled weekend with friends.  We went to Miranda Lambert Thursday night and LOVED her show!  I think rob was secretly bored but he hung out with his friend while we were singing away!!!

Then Saturday night we went out with some great friends for dinner, drinks, and a little FUN!!!

Hope you had a great weekend!

The Unknown

Live without regret...Live today like there is no tomorrow...we all know the sayings right? But how do you live IN the moment when so much is hanging in the balance?  I obviously struggle with the unknown, the "what-ifs", the "but what about?".  It haunts me.  I loose sleep.  I can't get it out of my head.  I would love to live IN the moment, like there is no tomorrow, with no worries or fears, (it would make shopping a lot more fun, right?!) but there are things we need, things we need to save for (braces, cars, college funds)...see what I mean? I worry about birthday parties and Christmas 6 months in advance....and taxes- well lets just say that I have stressed since April 18th about this April 17th.  Its EXHAUSTING!  I drive Rob crazy with my worry...he is such a free spirit, he always says "we'll worry about it when we get there".  I see people in restaurants, stores, at meetings and they seem to be so calm, relaxed, happy.  I'm happy but by no means am I sitting there calm and relaxed.  I am processing the day, the day to come, the paperwork, bills, check book, kids activities, games, errands, and probably attempting to carry on a conversation with you at the same time!  As a mom I expected to be running around to practices, pictures, games, etc. and love it with all of my heart.  As a business owner (or the owner's wife) I knew there would be ups, downs, busy times, crazy times, sacrifices and I enjoy the benefits as well.  But when you combine everything it just feels incredibly overwhelming and hard to even process.  I would love to have the brain that would shut off during a baseball practice and allow me to just sit and "remember the experience with the kids".  And i try- I really do....but then "Remembering the experience" leads to "OMG I haven't touched their baby books in a year, and their scrapbooks-well more like 2 years", then I get a glimpse of Neelys shoes as she runs down the field, dirty again...."I have got to get her a new, clean pair of shoes", then Rob asks for his bottle of water and it leads to "I'm out of water at home, "  See what I mean?-reading this to myself I realize Rob is right---maybe my brain is a LITTLE over-active! HA!  Is this something every mom struggles with? Is it something people are really good at hiding? Or does everyone really "have it all together"? Because by no means do I!  I do try to step back and look at my great little family, our house, business, life in general and take a deep breath while thinking "we worried about this, prayed for this, worked for this, and it turned out beautifully." And this peace fills my head.  However, as briefly as the peace comes over me-its gone again and Neely is laying on the driveway crying because she fell off her bike, Robo is rolling down the street on his skateboard, and "Big Rob" is calling to tell me he's gonna be another hour at work.....and everything comes flooding back into my head. Anyway- enough rambling....here's to a "peaceful, fun, relaxing" evening to you all!!!!

Where have we been?!

I can't believe it is already March!!!! After Christmas/New Years we were exhausted.  The holidays always come so fast and leave just as quickly.  In January Rob's business began picking up (thank goodness) and hasn't slowed since! He has been working crazy hours and doesn't seem to be able to catch up.  Which is a good thing--usually...whoever said being self-employed was a good idea is crazy! When we originally started talking about the idea of him starting his own company all I thought about was him being home more and having flexible hours.....well- not home more and flexible hours? yeah-get up at 6 and get back home around midnight!  Luckily the kids haven't had any sports going on that he has missed.  The home show was a good weekend but exhausting and hopefully that will keep him even busier! Next week I am going to start working in the showroom for him and help him out with some ORGANIZATION!!!!! Baseball and Softball started up this week too!!!...Rob is a Wildcat and Neely is a Pink Indian (perfect for her)! I love this time of year--planting flowers, baseball games, evening walks in our neighborhood, dinner parties on our back patio...which brings me to Rob's new project.  My husband hates, and I mean hates yard work!!...but loves being outside, grilling, etc.  So instead of working on more grass- fewer stickers, shrubs, trimming trees...he is building an outdoor kitchen- granite countertops of course! Ha I hope he gets time to finish it before summer is over!  Hope everyone is having a great week and enjoying this beautiful weather!!!  Until next time....

Christmas goodies, Christmas Eve, and Christmas dinner...oh my!

Christmas seems to come and go SO fast anymore-I feel like we never get to sit back and take it all in...and this year was the worst yet! On Christmas Eve-Eve Rob and I were up till 4am working on the kiddos presents from "Santa", Christmas Eve till about midnight...what happened to loading up a cart at target and them being thrilled with all of those toys? We also had to make our annual Christmas goodies for friends and neighbors, and get the house ready for all of Rob's family to come on Christmas day.

Neely making pretzel truffles

The kitchen was a disaster but we had so much fun!

Santa visited our house on Christmas Eve morning, because the kids were so good, right?! ha- no- so we could have the house in perfect order on Christmas. ( I'm a little OCD ) Santa brought Rob an XBOX 360 with Kinect--it was set up and ready to go...ignore the wires and the box holding up the Kinect-it was late and work is still left to be done.

Santa brought Neely a stage...yes a stage! Rob built a stage/bed for her during the past week. It turned out better than I could have imagined!

It looks like a daybed when the stage is up....

And easily converts to a stage when she wants to sing and dance. She was soooo excited!


Christmas day was full of cooking, cooking, and more cooking....it was so much fun having everyone over but so much work at the same time. The kids love hanging out with their cousins, although I think they have out grown the "kiddie"table....

All in all it was a great Christmas...but somehow we didn't get a single family photo! I guess we were all too busy playing, visiting, and eating to even remember. Hope all of you enjoyed your Christmas!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!

Happy 8th Birthday Robo!

8 years ago today I was fat (HUGE), uncomfortable, cranky, nervous, excited....Rob was finally born at 9:47 pm and I didn't even see him until the next morning. He was beautiful, perfect, sweet, all I had hoped for, and all that I never even knew I wanted. I can't believe it has been EIGHT years!!! He is sweet, caring, funny, laid back....hard-working, honest, smart....I could go on and on.

I always get nostalgic on the kids birthdays. I remember what Rob and I did the day before, that morning, the next few weeks having a new baby in the house. It's not only a birthday but a day that we celebrate our "family'". Our family that changed and grew with each one of their births. We wouldn't be the same people without each of those little munchkins and I love them dearly! It's funny how what you wish for your kids before their born changes as they get older. And how that list of wishes grows and grows. I miss that sweet, fat, bald baby sometimes...but my athletic, health nut, smart kid works too : )

Happy Birthday "Wobbo" We Love You!!!!

It's been a busy month!!!!

Thanksgiving and Christmas happen all at once in Oklahoma every year....this year was more shopping than resting and visiting but Lindy (my sis-in-law) and I had a lot of fun!

This is Neely's "cool" pose. Every time I pull out the camera she pulls out the peace signs!

Look at those baby Uggs!! I hate that every time I see her she has changed sooo much! She was so funny on this visit...I could just eat her up! And Neely thinks Makenzie hung the moon--she cries every time we leave Oklahoma.

Then came Rob's birthday...I can't believe we are celebrating his 8th birthday!....

Great friends hanging out! I love these little guys! Last year when we did his first sleepover it was chaos!...I had no idea that kids could jump from a top bunk and try to catch a ceiling fan, or eat a bag of popcorn, an entire box of cookies, and 2 pitchers of koolaide in 20 minutes...but they did! This year was completely different- they played outside, played DS/Wii and we took them bowling. They are a great bunch of boys!!!!

Blowing out those 8 candles!!!!!

I always have a hard time in December enjoying the season. Usually I am so stressed out trying to go shopping, decorate, send out Christmas cards, get ready for holiday parties....as soon as Christmas is over I feel exhausted and like I didn't enjoy the busy month. So I have been shopping early, prioritizing my countless lists, and this is the next priority....

Christmas Cards!!!!

Two years ago I made a coffee table book with captions and small stories about the year that our family had. Rob had started kinder, we had built a house, taken the kids on a few big vacations...and we wanted to share that with all of our family. Our family loved the books and the kids still look at them all of the time! Shutterfly made it super easy!!! (Find these books at http://www.shutterfly.com/photo-books) So this year, when trying to pick out a Christmas card- They were my go-to site. They have so many great ones to choose from that I have had a hard time choosing. Here are some of my favorites...

You can find these cards and many more at www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationary.
Maybe this year I will get everything done and still have fun while doing it?! Soon to come- Awards pics from Rob's Championship football team!!!!