Happy 12th Birthday, Ben!

Today, Ben, you turn 12. I can't even believe 12 years have gone by. I feel like you were born, then I blinked & now you are12. I am so very proud of you & so thankful to be your mommy. 

Happy Birthday, sweet boy! I love you!!

It's official! We are moving!

After 2 LONG years of looking for a bigger house for our family, we finally found the perfect house. And today, we closed! We are so excited! We start moving on Monday. We have a lot of work to do, but we are excited to start a new chapter in our beautiful home! 

Bubble Bath Fun!

Andy loves bath & definitely bubble baths. Since we are moving to a new house on Monday, he wanted to take one last bubble bath in our house. 

New Years Staycation!

The boys are out for 2 weeks for Christmas break, and they go back on Monday. We haven't really done anything, so I wanted to get them out and have a little fun. We went to the Embassy Suites in Frisco for a stay-cation, January 1-3. We actually did the same thing last year, and met our friends, the Hall's. We really missed them, but we had a great time! 

We were in room 804, which had an awesome view of the Dr. Pepper Ballpark. It would be a great room to stay in the summer when they have the baseball games and Friday night fireworks. 

Few pictures during breakfast. They have an amazing breakfast. Waffles, Omelets, and lots of other yummy hot/cold foods. We love it!

It's not too often that the kids are sweet to each other w/o me asking them to be. So when I catch them being sweet, I must document it. Will & Andy were playing very sweetly together on the iPad. 

And Ben, watching TV and Netflix on his phone : )

On Thursday, our friends Shauna & Jay came out for a swim. We love having friends join us on our stay-cation : )

Coming back from swimming. 
Andy, Jay, Will & Ben.

We had a great time as always. Can't wait to go back next year and make it a tradition. Maybe the Hall's could join us next year : )

Now, Back to School on Monday for Will & Andy; and Tuesday for Ben.

My Daddy's Headstone

It took 2 months, but the cemetery finally received & set my dad's headstone. It's as beautiful as a headstone can be. It's still so hard to believe that my daddy is gone. My heart is so sad, and I miss him so much. 

My sweet mommy is lost w/o my daddy : (

Great Wolf Lodge

Since the boys are in 2 different schools, there Fair Days are opposite. Will & Andy's Fair Day was on Friday, October 4; and Ben's Fair Days were October 7 & 8. So since it's not as big of a deal for Will & Andy to miss as it is for Ben - we kept Will & Andy out of school on October 7 & 8 and went to Great Wolf Lodge. 

Oh my goodness ..... it was soooooooo fun! We had the greatest time! 

Homecoming Week! College Day

This week is Homecoming Week at Will & Andy's school. They have a different theme everyday; and today was college Day. They got to wear a t-shirt to their favorite college and blue jeans. We actually don't have any college shirts; so I borrowed Will's from our babysitter, Jamie; and Andy's from our neighbor's son, Jacob. I asked them to pose for a few pictures and this is what I got.

 

 

 

 

I don't know what the future holds. But hopefully they will go to Texas A&M. We shall see : )

 

My siblings & I

My 4 siblings & I hardly ever get together. It's sad that it took an occasion like my dad's funeral to bring us together. But my oldest brother, Danny, is in jail; my sister lives in Colorado; and we don't always see eye to eye.

 

Christopher, Me, Chrystal, Danny & Stephen

Roughly taken around 1998

 

When we all came together at my dad's funeral, we re-took the photo, in the same order.

 

Christopher, Me, Chrystal, Danny & Stephen

September 9, 2013

 

A few family photos

We had a lot of family come for my dad's funeral. Although we weren't in a smiling mood, we took a few pictures. We don't see our family that often, and these times together; whether sad or happy; are ones we want to record. I wish we had taken more pictures; but I just couldn't bring myself to do it or think about it.

 

This is my Uncle Leroy, Aunt Pam,

Aunt Charley & my mommy

 

 

My sister & her kids

Anson, Chrystal, Kenny & Brandy

 

My nephews, Anson & Kenny; My niece, Brandy;

my sister, Chrystal; my Mommy & Me 

My Aunt Charley & My Mommy

 

Christopher, Me, Chrystal, Danny & Stephen

 

 

Christopher, Me, Chrystal, Mom, Danny & Stephen

Brandy, Kenny, Chrystal & Anson

 

Stephen & Danny

 

 

My nephew, Kenny, & I

 

Mom & my cousin, Nena

 

 

Schlitterbahn!

July 23-26

Amarillo trip!

July 19-22

Visit w/my Sister

june 17-21

Time w/David

May 24-26

David Alabama!

May 4-10

Saving Sunshine!

Just before Spring Break, the boys and I were on our way to school - when the boys saw something on the side of the road. I couldn't tell what it was, but I could tell it was an animal. I pulled over, and discovered it was a dog, a Chihuahua. She had been hit by a car and couldn't move. I scooped her up, and put her in my truck. I took the boys to school, then immediately called a rescue that I love and support, Take Me Home Pet Rescue. The director, Elise, told me that if we could foster her that they could take her into their program. I took her to TMHPR's vet, and she spent the next few weeks at the vets office. She had emergency surgery to replace her broken pelvis. She had to have 30 days of complete cage rest in order for her pelvis to heal correctly. After a few weeks, we brought her home to foster her and for her to rest. Andy named her Sunshine. He said that she seemed really sad and looked like she needed alittle Sunshine. So .... Sunshine it is : )

Over the next few weeks, she had strict cage rest.  But over that time, I started to notice that her stomach was getting bigger. I took her back to the vet for a check-up, and discovered that she was going to be a mommy. On the way to the vet, Andy was trying to figure out how Sunshine could be a mommy since she wasn't married. I didn't answer. And then he said "Oh, I bet I know what happened. I bet she got married before we found her." In which I responded, "I bet that's exactly what happened."

TMHPR had another foster lined up for Sunshine after she was done w/her spay surgery (which she didn't get since she was pregnant), but I told the boys if she was pregnant that we would keep fostering her. They have never seen puppies, and really wanted to experience that.

Sunshine has been so fun for our family. We all love her. She's small, but so very sweet. And, the dogs and the cat all tolerate her. They seem to all get along pretty well. I really think she wants to play w/Teddy, and that she and Ralf would be BFF's if she weren't pregnant.

We are in the final days of her pregnancy and actually awaiting her to go into labor. She lost her mucus plus, and her temperature has dropped. It should be anytime. I have educated myself w/as much information off the internet as I can. I have watched countless dog birth videos trying to prepare myself. I am a bit nervous b/c I have never done this before. But mostly, b/c I want her to be okay. The vet says that her pelvis is completely healed and she should deliver safely. But then I worry about the puppies, that they are okay. I pray for a safe delivery, and for healthy puppies.

My awesome husband and I created a video for TMHPR to help raise money to pay for Sunshine's surgery and medical bills. You can view it here! If you would like to donate towards her care or support TMHPR, you can do that here!

Here are some photos from her journey so far....

We went by for a visit before we went out of town for Spring Break!

After her surgery!

Bringing her home!

 

A few photos of her lazy days : )

 

 

Going to the vet to get a sonogram to look at her babies : )

 

You can see one of the puppies spine in the top of the picture.

Then underneath that is the babies heartbeat : )

Next photos will be of Sunshine's puppies. The vet thinks there are three! Lots of prayers, please!!