Garage Sale Jackpot!

Last night I was lamenting people's unrealistic Craiglist pricing for old dressers. Imagine my absolute JOY when we drove by a garage sale and saw this:

I practically jumped out of the car to go find out how much they were asking for it. She thought about it for a minute before telling me $30. THIRTY DOLLARS! Then she proceeded to tell me that it included the nightstand and mirror. Holy canasta. I told her it was exactly what I had been looking for for months and could she pretty please hold it for me while we went to the ATM. She told me she should've asked for $50 based on my reaction, but yes, she'd hold it!

We came back to load it in our handy dandy minivan, and I even gave her $40 because 30 was just unfair. And now I just have to choose my paint color and get to work!

And that was after we had found two perfect stools for our pub-height kitchen table for $15 (for the set!) at another garage sale. I'd been wanting to find extra seating for our kitchen table for when we have company, but I was having a hard time coming up with an affordable solution that would be easy to store (full-sized chairs were out of the question). Once these babies get a fresh coat of paint, they will be perfect.

Good things come to those who are so cheap that they hold out for months wait. Or so they say.

Major Catch Up Post

The problem with waiting 11 days between blog posts is that so much happens that I sit down to write and then I just get completely overwhelmed and walk away from the computer.

Well, tonight I am facing my blog and am determined to catch up.

I nixed my VBS post. I couldn't decide which pictures to include in it, and I figured most of you wouldn't care about it anyway.

So since my last post, here's what we've been up to.

I've been searching Craigslist daily for a solid wood dresser to serve as my sewing storage. It can be ugly. I want to paint it. Unfortunately, people seem to think that their hideous, old dressers are worth far more money than they are. Or maybe I'm too cheap. Anyway, I want something waist-ish high with about 6 drawers. Is that too much to ask?!? Apparently it is. The search continues.

My cousin Amy gets free advanced screening movie tickets all the time because she's a rock star like that. We met up for a cousin date to see People Like Us (which I surprisingly really liked), complete with a pre-movie dinner at Chuy's. I'm pretty sure it's a rule that we have to eat at Chuy's when we're together. You're not familiar with Chuy's, you say? It's only the best Tex-Mex EVER. I am in no way exaggerating. I don't do that. But really, you're missing out if you've never been.

Matt went on a police ride with Nick.

The kids and I went to the zoo with Kendra and baby Camila while Matt slept after the night ride. I took no pictures. It's getting too hot to go to the zoo. Boo.

We visited our friends at the nursing home. I've never talked about it on the blog, but we go every other Wednesday night to sing and talk with the residents at a local home. They are so incredibly precious, and even though there are some weeks that I don't "feel" like going, I'm always so glad that we did.

Matt's given some guitar lessons this summer.

We had a garage sale crashed Cody and Whitney's garage sale. We didn't have that much stuff, but we went through the house and found enough to contribute to the sale. We only made about $70, but considering the last minute nature of it and the amount of time we put into it, I'd call it a success. (Thanks again, Whitney!)

I went to the lake for a girls' weekend with my dad's side of the family. My mom and I left last Friday afternoon to meet Chelsea (my sister-in-law), Amy (cousin), Nana, Aunt Teresa, Aunt Kay, Aunt Cristi, and Cristi's friend Nora. It was so chill and much needed. We ate tons of food, went on a moonlight boat ride, played Canasta, went tubing, and talked on the covered deck. I was only there for one night, but I totally missed Matt, Avery, and Landon.

Landon is walking SO WELL NOW! He even stands up without help and just goes. He's so stinking cute!!

We had a busy Sunday this past week. The O'Briens were in town from Mexico (where they're missionaries), so we stayed after church for a potluck lunch. They are such a cool family, and I love hearing about their ministry through their house church and community center. And Avery loved making new friends with their youngest girls! That evening we had a really great prayer time at church before going to the Smiths' house to eat pizza and swim. We really love our church family. :)

The Sanders girls came over for dinner on Monday! Beth was my mentor my senior year of high school and on through my college years. She listened to all of my drama and never tried to fix me. Her girls were 2 and 6 when I met them, and now they're almost grown!! Karis Marie is going to be a freshman in high school next year, and Lolly just graduated! They make me feel old. :) We live over an hour away from each other now, but when we catch up it feels just like old times. Minus the emotional roller coaster that I used to make Beth ride!

Mom and I went to see Rock of Ages at the late showing, and we almost fell asleep on the car ride to the movie theater! I loved the music but would probably enjoy the Broadway version more than the Hollywood one. It was fun hanging out with my mama though!

Avery finished her last swim lesson. She's come so far since her first lesson! Now we just need to keep swimming so she doesn't lose all that progress. And now you're singing "Just keep swimming, just keep swimming" in your best Dori voice. You're welcome.

We had a much anticipated dinner with Ricky, Candace, and Jacob! I haven't mentioned it on the blog yet, but they MOVED! They live only 45 minutes away now and that is beyond awesome. Candie and I were college roommates, and she is one of my favorite people in the entire world. They lived in the Austin area forever, and while we loved going to visit them, I can't even tell you how excited I am that we can meet up for spontaneous hang outs and go to each other's houses without packing a weekend bag. Hooray!!!

Landon finally got his one year vaccinations. His ear infections took almost a month to clear up, but yay that they're finally better. I may have cried when they gave him his shots. I can't handle the how could you let them do this to me? look. Ugh.

I met my dad for lunch today at Razzoo's in downtown Ft. Worth. I hadn't been in his office since probably high school. I have the coolest dad, so it was nice to get some one-on-one time.

After lunch I ran a kajillion errands to try and get ready for Avery's birthday party that is this Saturday!  I can't believe my baby girl is about to turn THREE!

Whew, I think I'm caught up. Props to you if you made it this far! I have got to go back to posting regularly (and taking more pictures); these marathon posts are getting out of hand!

We have a super fun and exciting weekend coming up, so I'll have lots to post when it's over!

Quick Update

VBS is over! It was awesome. God is awesome. I am exhausted. I'll give the week its own post later, but for now I'm just thankful that we can return to regularly scheduled programming. Both of our kids are seriously out of whack from going to bed after 10 each night. And our house is in dire need of a cleaning.

Poor Landon has had an ear infection since before his birthday. I took him for his one year check up on May 31, where I was told that he had a double ear infection (his first ones ever, and I had a feeling that's what we'd be told when we went in). A week later we found out that he's allergic to penicillin. I took him in again to have the ears looked at so he could get his shots, but the second antibiotic didn't help either, so now we're on our third try. The poor kid is miserable. It doesn't help that his mom completely lacks compassion in the middle of the night. Seriously, I don't even know who I am during the hours in which I should be sleeping. I need grace.

Avery started swimming lessons this week! She and her BFF, Lily, are taking lessons from my friend Lauren, and they are LOVING them. They've had two lessons so far, and Ms. Lauren is the best swim teacher ever. Avery was so scared of the water, but she does everything Lauren asks her to do! And it's become increasingly difficult to drag her out of the pool. So far she's learned to kick her feet, float on her back, "scoop" the water with her hands, blow bubbles, jump in, and use a pool noodle. It's been a brilliant idea to have two-on-one lessons, and we're so thankful to the Maners for letting us use their pool!

Ahhh, now that I'm done planning/executing VBS, I have big plans to return to my sewing machine. The goal is still to have my Etsy shop up and running before September, so I have a lot of work to do! I actually have a few "orders" to work on before I can start building up my inventory. So Allison, you will have your skirt when you come in town. Melissa, you will get your items in a couple of weeks (max). And I have a very special tag blanket to make for a very special foster baby! And after that, no more "orders" until I can post them in my shop. :)

Go Rangers. We're still in first place in our division. Matt and I have only been to TWO games this season, so I'm feeling a little disconnected from my boys. Hopefully we can fix that in the near future.

We celebrated our "official" start to summer by taking the kids to Zoobilee tonight! Since we have a Dallas Zoo membership we were able to attend this annual event (for free, woohoo!), and it was so much fun! It was completely packed, but we were still able to see lots of animals, and they even had free carousel rides and kids activities. We love the zoo! If you live in DFW, I highly recommend getting a zoo membership. It's so affordable (even for us!) and I have no idea why we put it off so long. It's the perfect family outing, and by having a membership we're able to just go for a couple of hours and do whatever we feel like without feeling obligated to spend a whole day seeing everything.

Happy Father's Day to my AMAZING husband. Our kids are so lucky to call him Daddy. He is the best.

We also happen to each have great dads ourselves! We love you guys!

My dad, aka "Grandaddy"

Matt's dad, aka "Pop Pop"

Whew, I have GOT to go to bed. And I wonder why I'm tired all the time when staying up past midnight is my norm.

Show Us Your Life: Kitchens

I'm joining up with Kelly's Korner for the home tours edition of SUYL. Since my kitchen is always glowing I had time to scramble and clear up some clutter this evening, you get to peek into our kitchen!

It hasn't actually changed much since I posted to this very same link up two years ago, but here's where we spend a LOT of our time when we're home:

This is the table I love but hasn't proven to be very practical with kids. At least it's pretty!

Avery even has her own kitchen. I love Melissa and Doug.

Our living room is to the left, and the door on the right leads to the laundry room while the one beside it is the pantry. I know, the pantry is technically outside of the kitchen. Drives me crazy.

I've resigned myself to the fact that the surface of our fridge will always be cluttered.

And if you stop by for real sometime, I might even bake you a chocolate chip cake. You know, if I don't eat it all myself first.

Don't forget to check out the rest of the kitchens on the tour here!

NeNe's Visit!

I'm on VBS overload. We start next week, and I'm about to lose my mind. The thing is, I know it's going to come together, but I want it to be perfect. Now the question is Do I want it to be perfect so I look good or do I want it to be perfect so more kids have real experiences with God? And if it's the latter, does it really even have to be perfect for that to happen? My motivation should be the latter, and the answer to that question is no.

Anyway, I need a break from that. Here's a blog post.

After Landon's birthday party on Saturday my AWESOME mother-in-law stayed at our house so I could work at church on Tuesday and Wednesday while Matt was at tech training. She left today, and we miss her already! Especially since my attempt to take the kids to church with me so I could work today was a big fat fail, haha.

So here's what we did while NeNe was here.

{MONDAY}

We went to the zoo! It was practically empty and made for an awesome visit. One of the koalas was actually awake this time!

We had to stop by Costco on our way home so I could grab a few groceries, so we ate lunch there for time saving purposes. Don't judge; they have awesome pizza.

Since our zoo trip lasted a little too long, we dropped Matt off at the high school for his CPR training and then stopped at a local gift boutique that's going out of business. I'm really bummed they're closing, but since the entire store was 60% off, I did score a super cute laptop case, a cell phone wristlet, and a display fixture (for merchandise storage and also in case I ever decide to do a craft fair) for only $20 total!

I dropped the kiddies and NeNe off at home for naptime before jetting off to the grocery store (by myself! woohoo!). I swung by to pick Matt up on my way home, so I had some library browsing time while I waited for him. I think I overestimated the amount of time I'll have this week, but I have three books and two movies with my name on them!

We went to Nick and Brittany's temporary residence for swimming and a cookout, and Carlos and Kendra even joined us!

Matt had his men's leadership Bible study that night, so Arlene and I watched Midnight in Paris after the kids went to sleep. Well, we didn't actually finish it. Have you seen it? It's completely weird. And not in a cool way.

{TUESDAY}

I worked on VBS stuff all day long on Tuesday and can't even remember what we did on Tuesday night. I don't know how all you working moms do it. I was exhausted by the time I got home at 5, and then I still had to be mom. Props to you guys. 

Oh, we did have tilapia for dinner, so that's a win! 

Matt was sick, so we (well, I) watched the Bachelorette and went to bed early. We're cool like that.

{WEDNESDAY}

I drove all over the world shopping for VBS supplies. By the time I got home it was time to leave for our biweekly nursing home visit, so Matt and Avery went without us (Nick and Brittany met them there) and I got Landon to sleep early. Avery loved the extra daddy time (hello, Sprouts gummy worms!), and I got to watch Bridezillas since Matt wasn't home to make me turn it off, hehe. 

And have you seen Storage Wars? That show is awesome! Hooray for Netflix, but I've definitely been a couch potato this week. I'm just too tired to care.

CURRENTLY...

We're sitting in front of the TV. Again. But the good news is that it's officially summer for Matt! He's done with his week of training, so we have him for two whole months!

We loved have NeNe here with us this week! And the kids were completely spoiled by all the extra attention. Landon even started saying "Nuh Nuh" for NeNe.

You probably won't see me again until next week, so consider yourself updated.

Landon's 1st Birthday: Monster Party

Today was party day! We decided to have a low key party for Landon's first birthday, and after seeing this cake on Pinterest, we chose a monster theme to celebrate the little man's big day!

Monster shirt made by yours truly :)

Before the party we had a little cookout for lunch with Matt's family, my parents, and my brother Aaron's family. It was so hot, but eating outside was the easiest way to feed everybody before the party started. Mmm, hot dogs!

Then we were joined by our friends Carlos and Kendra (with Cami!), the Winants, and my Uncle Vernon and Aunt Tina.

I got to hold Camila for the first time! She's SO precious!

Landon with his buddy Tucker

Landon got lots of fun toys and clothes (although Avery wouldn't let him open them without her assistance). He's one lucky little dude!

Ride-on truck from NeNe and Pop Pop!

"Taking turns" (?) on the new slide from Grandma and Grandaddy

Rockin' out with Elmo!

Matt made some AWESOME cakes and cupcakes, and seeing the final product made our 2:30 am bedtime worth it.

Smash cake (aka sugar overload). I mean, really, whose idea was it to give a baby an entire cake?

{Vanilla cake made with this recipe, buttercream frosting made from this one, frosted using Wilton's grass tip, eyes made from Rice Krispie treats that were covered with melted white chocolate chips and coated with leftover frosting, and mouth made from chocolate chips and cut marshmallows}

(we had leftover cake batter from Landon's small one, so CUPCAKES!)

We'll call this shot "Before the Cake"

JoJo, Samantha, and Avery ready for some orange monster goodness!

Hmmm...

Not too shabby! It's safe to say that Landon likes cake. And now he goes back to being deprived of it. :)

{party favors for the big kids: stickers, sucker, rubber ducky monster, and party blower; the babies just got the rubber monster and blower}

A party during naptime meant that Landon crashed at 6 pm, Avery was asleep by 7:30, and we're ready to go to bed at only 8:00. Whew!

We love this kid so much and had a fun time celebrating his life! Happy first birthday, Landon!