So Far This Spring!

We have been busy this spring! Time is flying by so fast and it's hard to believe that summer will be here before we know it!  Today was a hot and steamy reminder.

Last weekend Sydney and I went to the big Home School Book Fair in Arlington. We went on Saturday and it was crazy crowded but we had a great time. It's a nice reminder for those days when I feel lonely that I am in good company! We ran into friends we made in Colorado last summer who drove in from Amarillo. They weren't homeschooling until January of this year so we had no idea.

Sydney danced at Mayfest again this year (that's why she is wearing red lipstick). I have a new awesome camera bag and was so excited to try it out but I left my sd card in my computer and was unable to take decent pictures while she was dancing but got a few of the fair with my phone. They dance pics I took with my phone were too far away and to much glare. This lovely statue of Mark Twain is located in Trinity Park on the banks of the Trinity River near downtown Fort Worth. The river is the benefactor of this event.

Spring break fun at the park with the Lain boys and their cousin Shelby.

 Sydney got her braces. She will get the top ones this summer...not so happy!

 Last month we visited the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History for the Titanic exhibit and Titanica show at the Omni Theatre. It was so good!  Here is my little fashionista by the water fountain.

 
After the museum we went to Central Market for gelato...yum! She likes soy chocolate (yuck) and blood orange (half and half). I like lemon cookie cream...so good!

 A special trip to Krispy Kreme...the shop in Fort Worth is closed so we drove to Arlington after nearly a year of promising!

At Krispy Kreme with Emma!

We baked and iced cookies for Easter.

...and St. Patrick's day cookies!

Foot Works Performing Arts Center 80s party with Emma.

Before party pics at Emma's house...

Today her dance studio Foot Works Performing Arts Center had an end of the year party...a Luau! This is Noel the cat getting into the mood for the party...he had a little help! I think he looks good, don't you?

Random Stuff...

I have not blogged in months so this is just some of the highlights since the last post. 

 Thanksgiving:

My new brother in law Tommie requested sweet potato pie for Thanksgiving and I thought it was as good a time as any to try. We don't go to Donna and Tommie's until after we have been to my mom's where we pig out...so I didn't try the sweet potato pie because I was full of pumpkin pie etc. This was my first try...looks like pumpkin which I prefer but I hear it was good.  I used Paula Deen's recipe so I am sure it was very good...not healthy though! I also sent whipped cream along for the topping. My mother in law told me they probably had Cool Whip and I shouldn't go to any trouble.  I informed her that after going to the trouble of baking a pie, they were not going to desecrate it with Cool Whip! Just another of those things I have little use for except in a couple of specific recipes. A lot of people like sweet potato pies but I love pumpkin and can make them in my sleep...nearly.  Besides I loathe sweet potatoes except baked with salt and pepper only...no marshmallow, nuts or syrup for me.  There are not many foods I won't eat but candied, smothered sweet upon sweet yams is at the top of my list along with liver.  My mother has probably tried every recipe under the sun and I do try them but it's just too much!!!

Christmas:

As always the Christmas festivities began with my daughter's Christmas Dance recital. Sydney is in her 7th year of dance and loves it. She is taking Jazz, Lyrical and HipHop. They did Jazz and HipHop performances and no Lyrical. There are no special costumes this time of year, only studio sweatshirts and black jazz pants. They are encouraged to wear Christmas socks and hair ribbons if they want. The first 3 years these performances were held at Ridgmar Mall by Macy's between two escalators...just a little cramped and we could never get good pics except one year when Courtnay crawled around on the floor with the camera!  Anyway, I can't stress how elated I am each year when Iwe don't have to drag my 85 year old mother in law through the mall and that crowd! She's is a real trooper!

In February there was the Father Daughter dance with our church...even my husband said it was the best one so far!!! It was a western theme complete with a mechanical bull! Since we had already bought her a fancy dress, she got to add a pair of boots to the outfit!

Then we had our homeschool Valentine party...loads of fun!

Last month my sister, daughter and I drove to my cousin Jenn's in McKinney to meet her new son Tate. He is precious as are her 2 year old daughter Aneliese and her son J.D. The chocolate mustaches were favors that my aunt Gayle made. Yum! This is Sydney goofing around in the back seat with Instagram on our way home. My sister and I talked all the way there and all the way home...We don't get to do that often enough.

Last month we also lost this guy...Romeo, the best cat ever! I have had more cats than I can count and cats can be very disappointing because sometimes they get out and fight or get run over, sometimes they grow old and stay with us for years but this guy just vanished and it's been really hard to let go. He was a real lover and lived up to his name. The hardest part is no knowing what happened to him. The lady at our town's animal control is Jennifer and I'm sure she is sick of me and Rick after nearly 4 weeks. My husband chased her down last week when she retrieved a dead gray and white cat from our neighbor's back yard and even looked in the bag but it wasn't him. I asked Sydney to wait until the fall before we get another cat. We have Noel and Belle and have kept and extra eye on them and Noel has very strict hours he can go outside and he has been very willing to oblige so I think he understands, he is grieving too. Not usually a very snuggly cat he has started sleeping in my bed with his paws wrapped around my arm or resting on my arm.

Last weekend Emma Claire came for a sleepover...it was a late night but fun!

Thanksgiving Service Project

 Each month Sydney and I meet with a group of several of homeschool families called Maidens of Virtue. The focus of our group is to build stronger bonds and learn with some of our like minded friends and to train our daughters to be strong and virtuous young ladies. We learn scripture and have Bible stories that pertain young women.  This month was a lesson and service project for Thanksgiving and giving back.  The girls (and some of the brothers) made cards for a sick child who has been in the hospital for a while and for our respective fire departments.  The girls baked pumpkin bread, made muddy buddies and white chocolate popcorn. There was enough for each girl to take a loaf of pumpkin bread and several bags of sweets plus a card to give our neighborhood fire department.

  The girls are so sweet to help with the littles. The little one that Sarah is holding is not her sibling. And see all of the family photos in the dining room? They were taken by our hostess who happens to be the same photographer who took Sydney's pictures last spring. She and I have the exact same camera but she knows how to use it better!

 Sydney and her friend in the kitchen...

Older girls filling bags...

 Yum!

 One of the little girls gets in on the action...

 Littles in the kitchen making Muddy Buddies...

 Some of the families have brothers so were outside making cards...

Misty teaching a Thanksgiving lesson. 

After we finished the lessons and treats many of us went to a nearby park where a craft fair was being held...there were tables set up in the pavilion with samples of salsa, cupcakes, hair bows, Pampered Chef, Christmas wreaths and everything else you can think of.

Saturday afternoon Sydney and I went to the fire department to drop off her care package and it turns out the fire fighter who greeted us was her swim team coach's brother! Sydney enjoyed it so much that she wants to do this again for Christmas! Maybe cookies next time.  She loved the Muddy Buddies so much that we came home and made a batch for ourselves. They are the perfect holiday treat because they are quick, super easy and oh so yummy! You can find the recipe on the back of rice Chex cereal.

Thank you Misty for opening your home to all of us for this fun project!

Linking to Savvy Southern Style Wow Us Wednesdays

Well it's about time!

Rick and I have been remodeling our house for EVER!  Now that we are done with the hard stuff, we turn to the very much needed replacement of our old sofa and chair. We bought the ones we have 16 years ago when we bought our home. They held up very well for about the first 10 years before the fabric began to disintegrate right before our eyes. Held together with duct tape and a quilt thrown over it to make sure that it lasted until all of the work was done. Anyway...we originally wanted leather, then we got scared, then I found one I loved and got scared again. We have 2 cats (de-clawed) and 1 dog. I went back to the furniture store and found some fabric sofas I really loved and last Monday took Rick to look at them. I showed him the original sofa and isn't it lovely? Well, guess what..he fell in love with it too. So here are the pieces that we chose from the Bernhardt line so it's good quality and should last a long time. Aren't they pretty?  They aren't in stock so it will be after Thanksgiving before they arrive but I am sooooo excited! We will have to get a light colored rug because we have a lot of dark...dark wood floors, dark entertainment center, dark kitchen table...you get the picture?  Oh and they are so soft and comfy! Here are a few pictures of the Haverty's website...

Fall Decorations!

There many bloggers out there who change their decor with every seasonal change.  I'm not one of them! Here is the extent of my fall decor. Corn, gords, pumpkins and candy corn.  It's just dumb luck that the lamp matches! When I first moved into this house I made a gorgeous wreath for the front door and a friend painted a ghost cut out for my front yard and it was really cute! Both of those items were stolen on Halloween night in 1996 and my front door was egged!  Sorry but I'm a Halloween Scrooge. Not really intentionally but for the last 17 years I have had other things to do. 

 Light on...

Light off...

I think the pictures turned out well and they were both taken without my camera flash.

Mainstay Farms...Field Trip!

Last Monday was homeschool day at Mainstay Farms also known as the pumpkin patch...you might notice that I failed to take any pictures of pumpkins which were gorgeous! An interesting view of an old car...show the rest of it later. We are in front of a really nice

Sydney on a fun bench made from tractor seats. We had perfect weather...it is usually a little warm when we have been before!

Another old car was set up for the kids to sign with chalk...I remember those old cars with the dried up finis. Sydney said it had poop in it...I am assuming cats are the culprit.

In addition to being a pumpkin patch (farm), Mainstay also grows Christmas trees and I think bees.

We also took a bumpy hayride but fun as always. The driver does silly things like telling the kids to look out for the bats when we came upon a tree with baseball bats hanging from it and beware of the bees when we saw a tree with wooden letter "B"s hanging from it. 

A three story tree house with several slides. This is at the top of a huge hill at the end of the hay ride. There are picnic tables and a little playground. There is also a 100 foot slide that goes down the other side of the hill.  Sydney took the slide but I walked!

 Sydney was very good for posing for pictures which is unusual...

The other end of that car!

My little ham taking her picture on the ride home.

After we left the farm we high tailed it to Jill's house for a few minutes before she had to run off and pic up her boys at school! Oh well, 20 minutes is better than none! We got together for lunch on Wednesday for lunch with Charlie and Sydney...twice in one week...score!

Happy Columbus Day!

We don't usually do anything for Columbus Day and I don't remember taking the day off from school other that in 2008 when we went to Six Flags which may or may not have landed this roller coaster loving mama in the hospital for repair surgery! I'm not sure if that did it or not but now my husband has banned me from them. Six Flags is not the same with out them. I slightly pushed the limits this summer when I went with Sherilyn.

Anyway, today we slept in a little and then got dressed and met my friend Tracey and her kids Emma and Christopher at Central Market for lunch and some shenanigans! We always have fun with them. When we first met it was Sydney and Christopher's kindergarten and Emma's Pre-K orientation in 2006. Tracey was the first mom I met at Sydney's school. We became friends and Sydney and Christopher because of their last names and they had to sit together in Miss Smith's class also became friends. Over the years, Sydney and Emma have become closer and boys are at the age where they don't much want to be bothered by girly-ness! Well he's a good sport about it all.

Sydney amongst the pumpkins...that is actually a "neck pumpkin" around her neck!

 Here she is with a larger "neck pumpkin" around her waist...they called it a floaty pumpkin.

Christopher and Emma clowning around with their "neck pumpkin"

All three posing together! Emma Christopher and Sydney.

We had perfect weather today cool but not cold, warm but not hot.  A perfect day for eating outside and playing on the playground. Hard to believe how much these 3 have changed over the years. Tracey is from England and a lot like Mary Poppins...and she used to be a Nanny too!