More rain?...Seriously?!?

So, the rain continues, and so does feeling like a prisoner indoors. It’s been about a month since it started raining, and I’d say it’s high time that it knocks it off. This weekend we chose to not let the damp weather put a damper on our plans. Friday night Ashton and I decided to have a date night. We went out to Six Flags for some fun. To our surprise and excitement, there were hardly any people at Six Flags. That equals…no lines!! Woo-hoo! We went and rode every ride we wanted, as many times as we wanted with no lines! I felt like a kid running from ride to ride. Ashton is an adrenaline junky, but when it comes to rides and roller coasters not so much. He’s pretty much a light weight. He will ride everything, but there is some complaining afterwards. It took us less than an hour and a half to ride everything. It was a lot of fun. We go to Six Flags quite a bit, but it’s always with Miss Mae, and we don’t ride many rides. Of course we make it all about her when we go! It’s always fun.
Saturday we woke up with the plan of going to a farm near us to pick out a pumpkin. We geared Mae up with rain boots and headed out. It was cold and drizzly, but we had a great time. We got some good photo ops which I always enjoy! We ended up with a giant pumpkin that I’m sure we will carve up at a later date. Sunday there was a break in the rain and Ashton was able to put of the rest of the walls for Mae’s Fort. That afternoon we gathered materials for her roof and he was able to get it on just in time for it to start raining again! Her fort is made of recycled wood from a deck we use to have. The roof shingles are leftover from some roofing my parent’s did on their house. The only material we’ve purchased so far is the plywood to make the roof. Not too shabby! I’d have to say this is a very green building! We plan on painting the door and any trim we add to the building. The interior will also be painted. After that, the fort will be done. Mae is already enjoying her fort! It’s a good place to go to get out of the rain and still be outside! Good times!

Rain, rain Go AWAY!

I probably love the rain more than the average person, but enough is enough already! We have been getting soaked over the last month, and it’s really putting a damper on our weekends! This past weekend Ashton was able to get some major chores done in our backyard just in time for it to start raining. This left no time to do the fun outdoors stuff we wanted to do. We had about an hour to work on the fort we are building Mae in the backyard. Then the downpour began!

I’m not saying it wasn’t a nice and relaxing weekend. It was definitely relaxing, but it’s sad to keep a two year old cooped up in the house. Sunday morning Mae put on her new rain boots that Grandma got her and went out to splash in puddles with daddy. While they were outside I made some donuts. It seemed like the right kind of breakfast for the weather. That was about the extent of Mae’s outdoor fun for the weekend.

Normally on a rainy weekend we would take her to the mall to ride the horseys and to play on the playground. Over the last few weeks this option has become less desirable due to all of the flu outbreaks. I prefer to keep Mae in a little bubble for the time being!


This coming weekend we don’t have any plans so let’s home that we get lucky enough to have beautiful fall weather minus the rain!!

Just Hanging Out

We haven't been up to too much lately. It seems like the three of us have all had some form of sickness, but we've been lucky enough that it's all been minor. Mae was tested for flu, but it ended up just being a horrible cold. Over the past couple of weeks we've also had a little glimpse at Fall weather. My personal favorite!! I'm anxiously awaiting for the weather to be here for good!

Last Friday night we went out to Six Flags and the weather was glorious!! And an added bonus was that the park was having a private party so there were very short lines. Good times!!

A couple of months ago I sketched out a fort for Ashton to build for Mae. I sketched it out with the intention that we would use existing wood to build the fort. Ashton got pretty bored on Sunday and was looking for projects to do. He started on Mae's fort. I think it's going to be super cute and Mae will get lots of use out of it! I can't wait to see it complete! I can just see her wanting to do campout in it. Fun! She was daddy's little helper! We don't have any plans this coming weekend so I'm sure the fort will get close to completion!

I looked at our calendar yesterday and we don't have any plans for the next two weekends! I'm really excited about that! Woo-hoo!!

Uncertain...

We went on a mini Vacation last weekend to Uncertain, TX - On Caddo Lake. Where is Uncertain, one might ask, well it is where the trail ends and the Cypress Trees Begin in Far East Texas. Uncertain is a city that we have been visiting, as a family, for almost 10 years. The town is actually at the end of the road, which seems to lead to nowhere. Once we arrived, we felt right at home and began relaxing. After the 3+ hour drive, Momma, Mae and I all took a relaxing nap.

Overall, It was a Very relaxing weekend with the 3 of us and GrandDad and Lulu. The cottage that we rented was one that Meredith and I have stayed at many times over the years with Meredith's Family. Our only real activities were Canoe rides and a boat Tour of the Lake.

GrandDad and I took Mae on a Canoe Ride and she Loved Every minute of it - It might have been the Quietest I have ever seen her. She seemed to be sitting, relaxing and just taking all of the natural beauty in!Mae and Momma decorated cakes and I think Mae likes sprinkles more than the cake!
We all took a tour of the Lake in a very unique boat, one that would take us to areas of the lake that most do not see. Caddo lake was once the only natural Lake in Texas. Mae was not too excited to be on this boat being that it was her nap time...so after fussing for a couple of minutes, she fell fast asleep in her mommas lap and slept for the rest of the 45 minute tour. Our tour Guide, Billy, has lived on Caddo Lake his entire life, which made for an interesting tour! We are already thinking about our next trip out, maybe in the Spring.

What's Been Going On

Well, we’ve been going thru some adjustments in our household. We now have Miss Mae in preschool 5 days a week and Ashton is attending college in the evenings two nights a week. It’s been a hectic couple of weeks!

This past weekend Mae and I were on our own with the beginning of Dove hunting season. Who wouldn’t want to go shoot the bird of Peace. Anyways…Mae and I had a lovely weekend. We spent some time at Grandma & Grandpa’s house so that I could get some sewing done with the assistance of my mom. Mae’s school didn’t tell me that she’d need a nap mat until the Friday prior to school starting. She went the first week just using a couple of blanket, but now she has the prettiest nap mat in class. I found a “simple’ pattern online and created her nap mat from that. The fabrics I chose were pretty and so cuddly, but not the most friendly to work with. It was a challenge, but in the end I’m happy with the way it turned out.
That evening we met up with Lulu for some shopping and a little “Girl’s Night Out”. We headed out to get Mae some new shoes. She has plenty of pairs, but she has become quite the picky Fashionista! She now argues with me over what shoes she will wear. I’ve even had to return a pair of shoes that she refuses to wear. I’m glad that they still had the tag on them! I’m only guessing that the next argument will be over clothing. On her third day of preschool she decided that the only thing missing from her outfit was a bonnet. Yes, a bonnet. My child refused to take it off, and went to school wearing. So funny. I’m sure teachers see all kinds of crazy stuff from the little ones. By the time I picked her up from school, she had removed the bonnet.

The transition to preschool has been very easy for Mae. She loves going to school, and if she hears you mention school she gets so excited. The school is wonderful, and her teachers are exceptional. Her teacher has been teaching for 43 years! I think Mae is really going to thrive in this environment.

On Sunday Mae and I planned on going to Six Flags. As a season pass holder we had a coupon to bring a friend for free. We asked Uncle Wade to come as our friend. We had a great time walking around and riding a few rides. The only complaint I had was how miserably hot it was!! So humid too! I think we all enjoyed being together and having some fun. Mae was so exhausted after our outing she took a 4 hour nap!
Monday morning Ashton returned home from his hunting trip all stinky and hairy! We spent the entire day doing nothing! That was a great way to spend the day.

I’ve also started a little mini-remodel. When we bought our house, it didn’t necessarily meet all of the items on our wish list, but I saw potential in it. We’ve (mostly Ashton) have remodeled our living room and kitchen so far. The next room I’m working on conquering is the mud room. When we remodeled the kitchen, we removed the wet bar from the mudroom to reuse the cabinets in the kitchen. That left us with a wall that needed to be textured. I have now textured the wall and I’m working on picking out a paint color. The mudroom is going to be changed into a dining room. It’s a small room, but it will make a cozy dining room. I really enjoy having a place to host meals for big groups. This room shouldn’t take long to remodel. We still need to scrape the popcorn off of the ceilings and texture them. The biggest thing after that is polishing and sealing the tile floor. I hope that we can have this process complete by Thanksgiving so we can host a meal for Ashton’s side of the family. Wish us luck!

We have another packed weekend ahead of us. More fun times to come.

First Day Of Preschool

The first day of preschool was a success! The day started off great with Mae sleeping in. She had some breakfast and we got ready for school. As soon as she was dressed, she was ready to leave!! We got her ready a little too early. We all three headed up to school and walked her to class. She couldn't get in there fast enough. We said our goodbyes and she headed into class. We stood outside to sign her in, and we overheard the teacher say "Mae is dancing for us!" That made me smile and we left. I thought about her all day. When I arrived at the school to pick Mae up, she had no interest in leaving! She was having too much fun! I finally talked her into leaving. My poor girl looked so exhausted! Let's hope that she is always this excited to head to school!

Week and Weekend Wrap up

What a fun week we had. Mama took off all week to be with Mae during the week prior to her starting preschool. We filled the week up with lots of fun. One of the fun highlights of our week was going to the Dallas Children's Museum. In general I'm not a fan of Dallas, but in this case Dallas did something right. The museum was great. Mae loved being there and explored everything. She really enjoyed putting on the firefighter apparel.

We filled the rest of our week with playing at different parks and just spending time together. We did go over to Grandpa's pool a few times, but for one reason or another we never ended up getting in the pool. Mae opted for bubble baths instead. I guess she just wanted to get in the water. She's a crazy girl.




There are a lot of changes going on in our household this week. Mae is going to preschool for the first time and Ashton is going back to college. It's going to take some getting use to, but it will be great. We went to Mae's preschool on Friday to meet with her teachers. We are so happy with the teachers she has, and I feel totally comfortable with leaving Mae in their hands. It's hard to go from having a close family member watch her to a new person. It will all be great! Mae is so excited! I was packing all of her things tonight, and she was excited to see her backpack and lunch box. Let's home that mama keeps her composure while dropping her off at school tomorrow!!

Wordless Wednesday

Wonderful Weekend

All weekends are great, but the one’s where I have Friday off are even better! I normally try and plan something outside of the house on my Friday’s off, but I didn’t this time. I considered going to Six Flags with Mae, but it’s just too hot. So instead we just stuck around the house and played. At one point Mae brought me one of her Golden Books. She was pointing at the back of the book saying “I wanna ride a boat” while pointing at a tug boat. This might sound familiar (see a few posts back). First it was a horse and now a boat. She has also requested a bus ride, but we have yet to do that. When she was pointing at the book I told her we could not go ride on a boat today, because we don’t have a boat. This was not enough for her. She then decided that she needed to throw a fit about it. How could I not throw on my clothes and take her on a boat ride?? I’m such a mean mama! I did mention to Mae that her Granddad has a boat and maybe sometime she could go on it. We carry on with our day with only a few more mentions of riding a boat. After lunch time we traveled down to Grandma & Grandpa’s house to swim. I tried to sell the pool raft as a boat, but she wasn’t really buying it. After swimming it was time to head home for a nap. We took a good, long nap. By the time she woke up, her daddy was home. The first words out of her mouth upon waking were “I wanna ride a boat!” Like most daddy’s they will do anything to make their little girls happy. So, he get’s on the phone with Granddad and sees if it’s okay for us to take his boat out for a spin. Off we go to ride a boat! Instant gratification! By the time we drove out to the lake and got ready to leave the slip, we only had time to take a short spin before the sun set. Mae loved every minute of it! She started shouting “woo-hoo!!” and even got to help daddy steer the boat. Good times! Stay tuned for her next crazy request that we fulfill. She will probably want an Oompa Loompa next!

I wish Ashton luck finding one of those!

Saturday we were up early to have a garage sale. We both loathe having garage sales, but we had some items we were sure would sell. I guess we were wrong. It was the worst garage sale I’d ever had. We packed up after about two and half hours of very little traffic. I will be calling someone to pick up all the leftovers this week. While going thru stuff to put in the garage sale Ashton handed me a huge box of wires to untangle and sort. While doing this, I came across this rigged up wire! How crazy and dangerous does this look!! Come to find out, he used this wire at our old house! Thank God it never burned the place down! What a crazy man!

Sunday was a day that we knew would be busy. Over the years we’ve moved quite a few times, and sometimes certain items just can’t go with you. When you live in a downtown loft it’s just not very easy to get a piano up to it, and then when you sell your house and have to store all of your belongings the piano must have a home. Luckily in both of these situations my brother and sister in law have taken custody of our piano. This is a very special piano because Ashton’s mom received it for her 16th birthday. We love it, and were very excited to get it back in our home. This weekend seemed like a perfect time to pick it up because we were renting a trailer to get trees for our backyard. Ashton picked up the piano at 10am and then went to get the trees in the afternoon. The piano delivery went flawless! We are always so stressed about moving the piano! Mae loves the piano and she played and sang along with it off and on all day. Ashton is really talented when it comes to musical instruments so he was trying to teach her a few things.

As for the trees…we almost didn’t get trees. Ashton and his father went to Dallas to get the trees from some in-laws that own a tree farm. This sounds easy enough, but it wasn’t. Long story short, we have three beautiful trees to plant in our backyard. As you can see, Ashton was quite tired after transporting the huge trees to the backyard. Mae must have been worn out too!We have two Live Oaks and one Bald Cypress. Soon we will have those planted and get our backyard project moving along! It was a wonderful weekend!

Wordless Wednesday

Late Weekend Recap

We had a great weekend, it began sans child on Friday night, LuLu had picked Mae up earlier in the day to spend the day (and night) with her, so as soon as we got off work, we headed out to Happy hour. Our good friend was celebrating her 30th bday at a new restaurant/bar called Blackfin. As you can tell by the picture, we had a great time. Meredith was pushed into the cake! Good times! The Owner even gave us a $10 off coupon for our next visit!

Mae has now graduated from potty training - she is such a big girl and we are so proud of her. She has amazed us with how she has taken to it and is growing up much too fast! We thought we would have to keep her in diapers at night for her to sleep in, but so far she has proven us wrong.
The rest of the weekend was very low key and relaxing. Saturday, Meredith had a girls outing with her mom and sisters and Daddy and Mae had a fun time running a muck. She has these looks that she dishes out and I believe that she believes that she runs the house! On Sunday we went to Paw Paw's Pool for some afternoon swimming and came home to play and be lazy.
We have had a difficult time getting her to eat what we eat. The list of good food that she will eat is growing slowly - currently it is Broccoli, Mac & Cheese, Green Beans, Black Beans, Black Olives & Brussel Sprouts. At least we have these foods that she likes, and I am sure that the list will keep growing.

Next weekend we will be getting several new trees for our backyard, hopefully 2 live oaks and at least 1 ornamental tree that is Texas proof. When we had purchased our house, the previous owners had installed an above ground pool that did not agree with me, so I have since removed it and now have an ginormous hole to fill - and a large open area is just begging for some shade trees. Pics to come after delivery.

No Words Wednesday

Weekend Wrap-up

Another weekend has come and gone. This one however, was quite monumental in our household. Mae is officially a "Big Girl"! She is now potty trained. We dedicated all of Saturday to throwing Mae a "Potty Party". This is a one day, all day event where you disguise potty training as a party. We decorated the house like a party, made cake and even had presents. We invited those close to Mae to come over and encourage her on her big step towards being a big girl. I discovered this idea of a potty party online, and loved the idea of it, and obviously Mae did too!The day went flawless. Mae loved using the potty, and opening presents. She was allowed to drink and eat whatever she wanted and watch her potty video over and over...and over again. Mae has a recent fascination with Coke! So we loaded her up with it all day so she would maximize use of her potty. We even ended the day with our first outing wearing panties. She did great, and used the potty while we were out. In the days leading up to the potty party Mae started showing a lot of interest in the potty and used it a few times that week. It seems like it was all good timing!

Ashton and I took advantage of the time at home to also get some household stuff done. Back in February and March Ashton renovated the common areas of the house. He totally gutted the kitchen and re-did the living room. When all was done we just kind of stopped working on it. Ashton has just now recovered from all the work, and we worked on some of the detail work to get things totally complete. We hung our crown molding in the living room, painted the fireplace and front door. We also managed to get some things hung on the wall.

The only things missing from this room are the piano and an area rug. It will then be complete! I love it! Ashton also started doing some moldings in the kitchen. They should be done later this week. We also got a painting for the kitchen to take up some wall space. I'm still wanting to put up a few more things.

Sunday was obviously "Shower Day". We were having a wedding shower for my cousin at our home, and at the same time a longtime friend of mine was having a baby shower. Poor Ashton and Mae were kicked out of the house for the afternoon. They headed off to Fort Worth for some fun. They went to JJ's oyster bar. The obvious place to take a two year old. Mae had her first popcorn shrimp and Ashton said she loved it. After lunch he tried taking her to the Omni Theater, but this did not go over well. It proved to be a bit overwhelming for her, so they had to leave fairly quickly. They headed outdoors instead. They played on the playground and fed the ducks at the park. You can never go wrong with that.

I only stayed at the shower held at our home for about 20 minutes before heading to my friend's baby shower. I had a great time at the baby shower visiting with my girlfriends. I've known them all for well over 20 years.

My gift for the expecting mom was my FIRST EVER sewing project. I made a hooded towel for her baby boy. I'm really happy with the way it came out and look forward to making more soon! After the shower I went home to an empty, and clean house. You would have never known that there had been a shower there just a little earlier. We spent the rest of the evening hanging out and just enjoying each other. Now here we are starting another week. I'm sure it will be a great one!