Dave and I spent all weekend on projects around the house. The list is never-ending, but we love it. There is something so satisfying about using your own blood, sweat, and tears to fix up your house. The landscaping has been taking forever and we have along way to go. But after finishing project 3 of about 15, we are seeing results! Hallie & Sitte joined in the fun yesterday, so I brought out my camera for a few pics instead of the camera phone.
On Friday I went to the Warrenton Antique Show with my friend Hannah… if you don’t know what it is or you haven’t been, you are kidding yourself. Talk about acres and acres of anything old and cute you would ever want. Add kettle corn, BBQ, women in ridiculous outfits and vintage ribbon galore. Here are some pictures of the gorgeous bluebonnets we saw on our way home! Plus Hannah had on her God bless Texas shorts so she had to make an appearance in some of the photos. Who wouldn’t want to run around in this field?? Seriously. Get outside… this spring is beautiful!!
I say that as somewhat of a joke. I’m known as a plant-killer. I even kill cacti.
Maybe its the new house and all the plants we’ve aquired with it…..or maybe this is just some phase. But I am OBSESSED with plants and gardening right now. I realize I’ve only really planted some flowers in pots, but that is actually a big step for me. My old method was buy a plant and stick the whole plastic container right inside my nice pot on the front porch. Why bother actually planting the flowers in the pot when they’re going to die soon anyway, right? They never lasted too long. So I would go buy more and repeat the easy process whenever they died from thirst (the usual reason). I’ve never had much confidence in my gardening skills (well, really still don’t) but now I at least have motivation. Our house has so many flower beds and different areas to do so many cool things with plants (and even typing that makes me wonder “who am I?”). I’m just hoping I can transform my plant-killing tendencies into plant-growing skills to make good use of them. We’ll see.
For now I’m enjoying my new blooms every day. These are just some of my favorites…
In January I had the wonderful opportunity to travel with Noonday Collection to Guatemala to photograph some of the artisans that they work with. Learn more about Noonday Collection here!
We started in Antigua where the first photos are taken and then traveled to smaller villages to work with two different groups of scarf weavers on designs for both the spring and fall lines of Noonday. It was such an honor to capture stories of these beautiful women and how they work so hard to provide for their families. I made friends especially with three of the little girls from the first group :).
OH. And I got to go to a place where they grow/harvest coffee. Seriously?? I think that I am even more in love with coffee after seeing the pretty shades of cream and brown and grey that the beans turn in the drying process. As well as how they hand pick the good out of the bad beans for roasting.
All in all, it was so cool to see how women are women wherever you are… how beauty and craft and hard work and love for family are a heartbeat behind what we do no matter what language you speak. I think I might just have to go back…
There are two reasons I wanted to do a post on my boys. The first one is for proof that they do actually exist. The second reason is because Shane and I are about to welcome a new addition to our family and I wanted to give a “shout out” to my little men before their world gets rocked a bit. We don’t know whether we are having another boy or if this one is a girl. Either way, we are so excited about this baby that should be arriving in just a couple of weeks. For now, these little guys are what keep me busy, make me laugh, make me crazy and show me what true JOY is! I love their unique and funny personalities! Gage, the oldest, will be four in June. Having a conversation with him would most definitely make you laugh. He says the funniest and strangest things! Case, the youngest (for now), will be two in May. He is our silly and sneaky little guy. He will try to charm you immediately when he thinks he is about to be in trouble. We are praying right now for his teenage years!
Shane and I are truly blessed by these boys!
Oh and their little “friends” in the pictures are their very special LOVES! These “animals” are affectionately known as Dougie and Walter. They, of course, had to be in the pictures with them.
Today we celebrate our sweet Hallie….our loving, cuddly, and adorable little girl. I love her hugs and the way she looks for any victim to fall for the “Hallie hug”……and then ends up carrying around that dead weight as long as they can stand it. She loves to be held.
Even though she’s already two, she’s still my sweet baby girl. I love the funny words that come out of that mouth and the way she makes faces. Her sense of humor cracks me up with that infectious laugh. She is a rough, tough, and rowdy little girl with the sweetest heart. She’s her brother’s shadow and her sister’s guardian….and has her daddy wrapped right around that chubby little finger. He’s in so much trouble already.
Happy Birthday sweet girl! We are so thankful for you.
Yesterday Travis turned 4. We celebrated with a trip to the zoo with friends and a trip to Kiddie Park for a few rides. We even ate out for dinner and finished up with a huge birthday cupcake with candles. It was a great day…..full of excitement, wonder, and sheer joy. I love watching Trav take in the world around him. What a gift the past 4 years have been. Happy Birthday T!
With Cyndea in Florida for a YoungLife retreat and Kate in Guatemala with Noonday Collection, I find it tough to work knowing they are both on vacation :) But I had fun with my iphone this past weekend taking the place of my usual camera. So I’ll share some favorites that just about wrap up our weekend at the ranch.
(ok I lied….the pic above was taken with my MarkII….just before it died)
Well, there wasn’t going to be a post today until I found out something really cool. You might remember our friend, Kim, from some blog posts awhile back about Bella Bridesmaid in Austin and in San Antonio. This whole time I thought she just went on a long trip out of the country last summer. But here’s what she was really up to….
We had a little gingerbread house decorating party in our pjs the other day. It cracked me up seeing the decorating techniques of these two. Travis very deliberately placed each piece of candy on the house, while Hallie used the pieces of candy to scrap icing OFF the house…….to eat it.
The effects of Hallie’s “technique”……gives it character, right?
