Mother's Day 2016

Mother's Day- such a bittersweet day. On one hand, I miss my Mama so much and Mother's Day is a hard one to bear without her. The day used to be focused around her. But on the other hand, I am the Mama to two of the most amazing gifts from God. How can I possibly be down on a day when they look forward to celebrating ME?! So as much as my heart ached for my Mama on this day, it filled with pride that my 2 angels wanted to spend the day doing anything I wanted to do! And my choice? SHOPPING of course! I was in fact raised by Sherry Johnson, and she taught me well!
I woke up that morning to a sticky note that told me to stay in my bed and not leave my room. HA! So I did just that! And soon this was delivered to me in bed!

Josh was home for a few hours that morning- so he helped them with my breakfast in bed. And it was sooo good!

My sweet girls! I think poor Macie had to be woken up to bring me my breakfast. Poor kid was worn out! They also got me a gift certificate to the spa for the day! Wahoo!! I can't wait to spend it! 

I also love this book Macie made for me at school! 

Notice my "big round earrings- just like I wear all the time!"

Reba?! Yep! She knows me well! 

Glad I'm good at this chore. I do it often. 

Spot. On. That is my biggest pet peeve! And if she is aware of it.... Why does she still do it?!?!?!?! 

I'd go for a necklace. 

Haha! Sorry baby- but Megan Trainor is not my favorite artist. Lol!! 

Too sweet!! And funny. 

After Josh went to work, we lounged around for a bit and eventually got dressed and headed into town.
We stopped by to see Nina and Aunt Kim and tell them Happy Mother's Day! But did I get a picture?? Nope. 

After that we headed to Ft. Worth! We were starving!! I figured since it was already almost 2, that the lines wouldn't be long at Uncle Julio's. WRONG!! Man. I thought people ate at noon on Mother's Day! Nope! So we headed to El Fenix. It wasn't any better. So we opted for the food court at the mall! Subway for Mother's Day lunch it was! At least we didn't have to wait in a line. 

These two were the best lunch dates I could have asked for. 

Then we set out to do some shopping! Aunt Kim have both girls some money to buy me something. They were so excited to pay for my new shorts! Sweet girls! 

And no trip to Ridgmar Mall would be complete without a ride on the animals! Macie insisted that I ride with her... So I did just that! 

On our way out we were thirsty, and noticed that sonic had .99 drinks for Mother's Day so..... Oh yes....I let both kids have their own large Dr. Pepper! 

 

Our next stop was at Target to get Brenna a new book to read during the TAKS test the next day. Both girls were excited to get a new book. And I loved the view on my way home!! 

(Aunt Kim would be proud of her book selection!) 

This girl LOVES to read. 

After we got home, we checked on Josh since he came home with his back hurting at about 2:00. I was sorry he felt bad, but was glad to have him home with us. 

It was a good day. I spent my day with the two gifts that made me a Mom. I am forever thankful for these 2 blessings.  

Baldwin Crawfish Boil-2016

After Macie's party, Brenna and I headed to her volleyball game and Macie went home with Maylee. The game ended with a win- but it wasn't pretty. But as soon as it was over, we headed home so that we could go to the Baldwin's crawfish boil!
This boil always proves to be a great time. Good food, great friends, and lots of laughs. Since their boil is kid friendly, the kiddos always look forward to it too. (our boil is no kiddos- just because...well- just because!)
The kiddos had a great time swimming...

And the adults had a great time eating mudbugs! 

I learned my lesson last year and didn't try to out-eat everyone at the party. Lesson learned the hard way! 

Eventually the kiddos moved on to volleyball. 

 Some a little more competitively than others..

Is this not the cutest rear end you've ever seen??? 

This is the result of borrowing your tiny BFF's swim suit! 

Sarah and I moved on to selfies! 

Schaef the photo bomber! 

Me and my Daddy!

I was so glad Dad and Kathy joined us! 

The kiddos decided the pool was a great place to end the evening! 

How many kids can you fit in a hot tub?? 

How many pictures does it take to get a good group photo of adults? Apparently a lot! 

I spared you the rest of the skyward photos! 

Here are the best ones! I love these ladies! And am so grateful to get to do life with them! 

Thanks for a great evening Baldwins! It was great as always! 

Macie's 6th Birthday Party

Lots of thought went into where to have Macie's 6th birthday party. She had tons of ideas that included Memaw's house, roller skating, bowling, and much more. But in the end- we opted for a simple park party! And it turned out perfect!
We had pizza, and just let the kids run and play on the playground. It was a beautiful day. EXTREMELY windy- but not too hot or cold and no rain! I consider that a WIN!
I baked her cake on Friday night. By request we had chocolate and strawberry cake with white icing! I decided a layered cake would be fun! (I must have drank my breakfast the day I decided this...). On Saturday morning, I started icing and layering. Only the strawberry layers were so moist that they started cracking! I didn't think this was a big deal until the entire cake started to crack and slide apart as I was icing!

This picture was after I attempted to fix it with more icing and sticks! oops! I stuck it in the refrigerator quickly in hopes that it would firm up and the icing would hold it together. It seemed to work. And in the end, it turned out looking ok.

No worries...the awkward sticks were replaced with candles at the park...
The kids all had a blast just running around playing! Even the BIG kids!

Pops has always just been an overgrown kid. Today was no exception.

I do believe he was having fun!

Swinging is way more fun when Aunt Kim touches your feet every time you swing forward!
It's the simple things that bring the most joy.

I love the friendship that these two share. God blessed our whole family when he placed us in Quail Springs.

Macie's "My Mrs. Sara" and Prissy came by to say HI and see the birthday girl!

If only Macie loved her Mrs. Sara....
Macie Claire thinks Mrs. Sara hung the moon! She has good taste. 

Aren't you girls a little BIG for the baby swings??
Macie, Kaleigh, and Makala

What really melted me was that Macie wanted to invite Brenna's friends to her party. Sweet girl is convinced that they are her friends too!! And bless them- they do love her!
Brenna, Kallie, and Tia- All great role models for Macie Claire!

Macie talks about Makala all the time! I was so glad that she and her sister were able to come to the party!

I spotted sisters, pushing sisters! Because....pushing your OWN sister is just not fun.

Finally it was time for presents!!! The highlight of the party for ANY birthday girl! And this girl was spoiled beyond belief!

I dearly love all of these girls!!! I am so glad that Macie has such great friends

Her friends must know her well...she got 3 baby dolls!

BFF Hug Break!

Mrs. Nikki and Tia made her day with a bubble toy and lots of paper and envelopes! This girl loves her paper!!!

Graddy and Mrs. Kathy hooked her up on swim wear and water guns! Poor Wyatt was a little outnumbered at the party, but he was close to the action at the mention on water guns!! Even Za'Mariyah wanted to play!

I didn't get a picture of her opening her money from Nina and Aunt Kim, but when she opened Aunt Kim's card and was asked how much money was in it ($60), she looked closely and said "Twenty and twenty and twenty!" haha!
Next up was CAKE!!! The wind was so bad, I knew candles were never going to work, but when I mentioned not doing them, she started to freak out! So- our party attendees set out to make sure this girl had candles to blow out!! Teamwork!!

And it worked! I'm not sure who blew them out, her or the wind. But all that matters is that to her- she got to blow out candles on her birthday cake!
And if I do say so myself- the cake turned out pretty cute! Despite my struggle to keep it together.

Macie said "I love it Mommy! It's so pretty!" And that right there.... is the only thing that mattered with this cake!!

We managed to get a group photo before everyone left!

Since they couldn't get there until late, we took Z and Peanut to swing!!

Despite the look on their faces, they loved it!!

My sweet Arleigh!!

Za'Mariyah is always happy if her Macie is nearby!

Brenna is in heaven when she has her Peanut.

In case you didn't know- swinging is hard work!! This angel melted my heart when she just laid her head over and went to sleep! I could have held her all day!!

Our youngest party attendee got a lot of lovin' that day too! Mr. Walker got passed around and got lots of cuddles. But no one was as proud to hold him as Maylee!!

It was a great party! Macie Claire enjoyed herself and had fun playing with all of her friends. Thank you to everyone that came out and helped her celebrate!!