Happy Cinco de Mayo Y'all

We've had a nice weekend even though it was a little cold and rainy.

 

Yesterday, the kids and I picked Meg up from the kennel and delivered her to Ron and Freddie's house for them.  She was happy to be home, and she showed it by peeing in my car and pooping in the house.  Ha!

 

Then we went to the mall to look for a few things Parker needed.  The Boy Scout Expo was going on at the fairgrounds, so we headed over there during the afternoon.

Brian spent two days helping with all of the construction going on at our church. 

Last night, we were going to celebrate Cinco de Mayo a little early at La Carretta.  In the end, we went to Taco Bell.  I don't know what I expected, but yuck.

So today we needed a redo after church.  We headed to Chili's with family.  It still wasn't overly Mexican, but definitely tasted better!

  

Unfortunately, one of us didn't have such a good day. 

Cinco de Batho

"Help"

 

Have a great week!

Fun Friday!

I had a fun Friday! 

 

Reason Number One:  I was off from school today. 

 

I have some personal days burning a hole in my pocket, so to speak.  If I don't use them, I lose them. 

 

Reasons Number Two, Three, and Four: Books A Million, TJ Maxx, Target

 

I even found this little beauty.  I've been looking for a new journal forever, and Boomama put this one on Instagram the other day.  It stole my heart.  Imagine my surprise when I actually found it!

 

Reason Number Five: Lunch with Lisa (sadly there are no pictures of lunch or Lisa)

 

Reason Number Six: She surprised me with this little gift. For no reason at all! 

I have the best, most talented friend ever!  Don't try to steal her.

I love it!

 

Reason Number Seven: Pizza Night (Yes, I ate too much today)

 

Reason Number Eight: It's Friday Night ~ NO ALARM CLOCK!

 

Reason Number Nine: Ice Cream

 

Reason Number Ten: Oreos

 

(I've already blown it, so why not?)

 

(It ain't over til it's over.)

 

Jason Aldean!

Megan and I were lucky ducks because Andy hooked us up with free Jason Aldean tickets AND MEET AND GREETS!!!  For all of you non-country fans out there, that is a big deal!

We were just a tiny bit excited.

Excitement: Exhibit A

We headed back to the Meet and Greet area.

Then Martin from Duck Dynasty came in to see Jason.  It was fun to see him too!

Here I am in front of his truck. Ha!

He was super nice!

We finally made it back to our seats.

Jake Owen

And Jason!

It was a really great night! 

Of course, now Jason and I are BFFs.

But for the record, I had nothing to do with this little announcement that came out a few days after I met him.

He may be Jason Aldean, but he's no Brian Murray.

Pinterest: Fail

Phoebe the doll had a little bit of a hairy situation.  Her hair was a hot mess.  We decided to try a Pinterest doll hair solution.

So Phoebe got in her salon chair, and we went to work.

We started by mixing fabric softener and water in a spray bottle just as Pinterest told us to do.

It didn't work worth a flip.

(I should probably explain that Phoebe is a special needs doll because she had a tragic accident when she was younger in which she lost her right leg.  She is doing beautifully now adjusting to life with one leg.  When we tried to order a new leg for her from the company, they sent Claire a brand new doll.  That was very nice of them, and Claire also loves her new doll named Rosetta that is Phoebe's two-legged twin.  However, Claire really just wanted Phoebe healed as any mother would.  Claire insists that she loves Phoebe just the same, just like I would love her the same if she only had one leg.  Awww! Anyway, back at the time of the accident, Claire didn't want the news shared because she was too sad to tell the world.  Now, all is well.)

After the spray bottle didn't work, we just filled the sink with water and fabric softener and went for it.

Then Claire wrapped her head in a towel and left her like this to dry.  Bless her little one-legged heart.

(HA! I just noticed my curly toes in the corner!)

I don't have an after shot.

If you want to know how she looks now, see picture number one above.

Pinterest: Fail

(Anybody have an idea for what to try next???)

RIP Rex

RIP

Rex "Catfish" Murray

2011-2013

He was a good fish.

Happier At Home

I read about the book Happier At Home by Gretchen Rubin from several different blogs that I read.  I certainly didn't feel like I was necessarily unhappy at home! However, the topic of home is always one that interests me.  So, I checked it out of the library. 

I really enjoyed reading about how she chose one home-related topic a month to focus on improving in order to improve happiness.  She had some good ideas.  A few of them don't really fit for our family, and there were a few we already had in place.  Overall, I found it to be a good little book! 

  Here is the (long) Amazon description:

In the spirit of her blockbuster #1 New York Times bestseller The Happiness Project, Gretchen Rubin embarks on a new project to make home a happier place.  One Sunday afternoon, as she unloaded the dishwasher, Gretchen Rubin felt hit by a wave of homesickness. Homesick—why? She was standing right in her own kitchen. She felt homesick, she realized, with love for home itself. “Of all the elements of a happy life,” she thought, “my home is the most important.” In a flash, she decided to undertake a new happiness project, and this time, to focus on home. 

And what did she want from her home? A place that calmed her, and energized her. A place that, by making her feel safe, would free her to take risks. Also, while Rubin wanted to be happier at home, she wanted to appreciate how much happiness was there already.  So, starting in September (the new January), Rubin dedicated a school year—September through May—to making her home a place of greater simplicity, comfort, and love.

In The Happiness Project, she worked out general theories of happiness. Here she goes deeper on factors that matter for home, such as possessions, marriage, time, and parenthood. How can she control the cubicle in her pocket? How might she spotlight her family’s treasured possessions? And it really was time to replace that dud toaster.  Each month, Rubin tackles a different theme as she experiments with concrete, manageable resolutions—and this time, she coaxes her family to try some resolutions, as well.

With her signature blend of memoir, science, philosophy, and experimentation, Rubin’s passion for her subject jumps off the page, and reading just a few chapters of this book will inspire readers to find more happiness in their own lives.

Are You A Bobcat Believer?

Back around Christmas, my family went through a little bit of a crazy phase.  Actually, we live in a continual crazy phase.  This was just beyond crazy.

It all started when Andy made a comment about thinking he saw a bobcat in my mom's yard.  Oh, he was sure that, without a doubt, it was a bobcat.  Then Mom/Nana started saying that yes, indeed she had seen a bobcat at a different time. 

In an effort to convince the rest of the family, much insanity ensued. 

There was food left out to entice the bobcat to visit.

There was a camera installed.  I'm not kidding.

(I told you we are crazy.)

There were multiple gatherings at Mom/Nana's house.  Some of us were there to watch for a bobcat sighting.  Others of us (ahem) were there to eat and talk.

Here are a few pictures of one Bobcat Gathering:


The dogs were especially on the lookout.
  "One thing you don't want to be when a bobcat is around is a small dog." ~Charlie and Bear

See, some of us were just hanging out, eating, and talking.

Others were literally staring out the window at the alleged bobcat hideout.

There was musical entertainment.

(Probably a song about a bobcat.)

Max even made it to the party.  He thinks he sees a bobcat on the ceiling.

Wonder why you can't see anything in this picture?

That's because a bunch of crazies were sitting in total darkness staring out the sunroom window. 

Looking for a bobcat.

Seriously.

The whole thing went on for a couple of weeks.  Because the crazy runs deep.

There were pictures like this sent around to each other...

There were even persuasive videos made...

In the end, some still believe there was an actual bobcat visiting the premises.  Others have concluded a very large house cat may have been an impostor bobcat.  Others just think everybody is crazy. 

I'll let you guess which group in which I belong.

I love my crazy family!