We have puppies!!!!

Not only did we celebrate Brodie's birthday on the 1st of October, but our dog, Coco had her litter in the EARLY morning of the 1st of October! 

There were 12 puppies total, but unfortunately, we lost 2.  The 10 that remain (5 boys, 5 girls) are cute, cuddly and energetic as ever!

Luckily, it's not freezing cold outside, like Coco's last litter, so they have been basking in the sun during the day.  Coco is becoming a good mom, making sure they all stay close and so far none of them have been pushed to the side.

I'll take pictures each week so we can watch them grow!

Birthday Girl turns 6!!!

My Brodie turned 6 on 01 October!!!

This year she chose a Horse theme... go figure.

Cake complete with little horses.

Awesome gifts made by her Big Sister Jamie!

 No horse party would be complete without a ride on a real horse!

Thank goodness Midnight was up to the challenge!

Brodie's best bud, Rylynn.

Jamie and I came up with some really fun games for the kids!

 What party wouldn't be complete without a pinata!!!

 GO BUCKS!!!!

Brodie went to her first football game for the local high school and has found a new love!  Between her grandmother and her big sister, I think I may end up with a cheerleader!  (UGH)

Card sighting...

Since about mid June, I've had my supply of stamps boxed up in anticipation of our big move.  It's been difficult not being able to stamp when I needed a stress-fix, but I did manage to make a few cards before I boxed everything up... ok a few hundred.  :-)

Here is my new address cards this time around.  Sad thing as I was making them... I realized that this might be the last change of address cards I make for us for a LONG time!  With the purchase of the new house, we don't plan on going anywhere for quite a while! 

Made these as my "Thank You" cards for my wedding guests.  The birds compliment the birds on the invitation, as well as the green script wording.  I LOVE the embossed part of this card.  It added a bit of elegence to my country-themed wedding!

 Here is the front of my wedding invitations.  It took MANY failed attempts to figure out how to close the cards without having a large lump that would hinder mailing.  The scallop tag was a repeated theme throughout the wedding, found on the cups, gift boxes, vases on the table...

 Inside where the good stuff is...

I knew I wanted to make my own invitations and wanted something simple.  I saw this layout online and knew right away this was it.  I printed off all the information, die cut the birds and stuck it all together.

 My favorite part was the RSVP card.  I had fun personalizing this to fit our wedding theme!

I also have my Christmas Cards done, but those will have to wait till December to post!

In my garden, good things grow...

I LOVE fresh vegetables, and Jimmie has a wonderful garden plot in the yard.  We have tomatoes (of which I am the only one that eats them so they are all mine!!!) okra, squash, bell peppers, jalapenos and cucumbers.  It's been a daily activity to pick whatever is growing and to watch them develop as day by day they bloom and form into something that we will eat!  What a better way to watch God do his miracles!

MY tomato plants!  It's great to work in the yard and walk over and pick a juicy red tomato, or 4 or 5, and eat them on the spot!  YUM!  One grape tomato plant and 2 BIG tomato plants.

 Our yellow squash.  We have 2 of them, but this was the only one that had some growing big enough to show!

 This inly only about 4 of our Okra plants.  There are 10 that are actively producing okra at a rapid rate!  I've froze, fried, sauted, boiled and now I'm about to try pickling.  Double Yum!

Just a little corner of our world!

Horses, Horses, Horses.. and their muck

I've always felt I am a country girl trapped in the city, and moving out to Alpine has finally allowed her to find it's freedom.  I love having horses out my back door.  That has always been a dream of mine, suppressed for MANY years!  I always had an idea of how much work it would be, but now my fingers and nails and sense of smell confirms it!!!

This is the horse water trough BEFORE I tackled it!

This is the horse water trough AFTER I got done.  The water was so crystal clear and I was so dripping wet that it was actually tempting to climb in and cool off!  Yeah, ok, I wasn't THAT desperate, but it was CLEAN!!!  I know the horses appreciated it and wanted to know how much they needed me, because they got it dirty the same day just so I would continue to be needed!  But, it's worth it for the ability to walk out the door and pet MY horse!  I'll post pictures of them soon!  I'm getting back into the swing of blogging! 



School Days, School Days...

Yep... It's that time again!

School Year 2011-2012

Randy is my BIG 6th Grader. He's starting his first year in Middle School.

So far his favorite class is Robotics! That's my Engineer!!! Riley is now in 3rd grade.His favorite thing about his first day of school was riding the bus home! My little girl is now in Kindergarten! Where has the time gone?
She loves riding the bus, too! (My kids think they have been deprived since they haven't ridden the bus before)

Waiting for said bus. "It's still dark! How can we see in school!!!"

I LOVE this picture because it shows that Riley and Brodie CAN get along! Randy has not one, but 2 locks on his lockers so we spent the last 2 weeks practicing how to unlock it! He got an easy combination for his hall locker... 10-00-22

Here we go again....

No seriously. I'm in my new town, with my new husband, about to start a new life. Things are finally getting organized and I have more time to blog. I'm not working, as of yet, and just organized all my pictures so I'm ready to blog!!! I have new exciting adventures looming just ahead and I'm determined to blog about them! With the urging from my 2 wonderful blog-friends, I'm encouraged to start new!

School starts Monday and I WILL have pictures posted! :-)

New Beginnings

Yep... it's official. I'm engaged.

Jimmie came out for a visit this weekend and surprised me on Sunday morning before church with this. We announced it to my parents at lunch and now we are on the road to a new beginning!

We're making some starting plans and are getting things together. I'm finally happy and on the road that I believe I was meant to be on all along. It just took 12 years to finally find it!

And I have God to thank!!

New Year, New Beginnings

Yes, I know. It's been forever since I've posted. However, I'm determined to change that this year. I missed my blogs! It was a chance to "air" what happened that day and to make me relized that it wasn't as bad as I thought! Plus, it gives me a chance to laugh at myself... very important!

So, where does 2011 start for me? WOW. Talk about a year. If you aren't ready for this, then don't continue on and consider yourself spared. LOL

2010 started out at Fort Hood, married and facing an up-coming deployment. In April, Jason decided that he didn't want to be married and wanted it over before he deployed. I had foot surgery in May and moved out to my parents at the same time. We divorced and I'm SO thankful I didn't allow him to talk me out of it again. (Yes, there had been MANY prior opportunnities). Divorce was final, and the kids were preparing to go back to school which means I had to find a job. I went to work for KISD as a pre-K Special Ed Aide. I LOVED my job, but knew my heart was with my Severe and Profound children, so continued to search for a job at the school with my boys. As luck would have it, one became open and I now work at Saegert with my boys and I LOVE it even more!

Meanwhile, Jason continued to struggle with the divorce and was eventually sent home early from Iraq to deal with his issues. The kids and I continued to adapt to the change in our lives and are doing very well. Jason got married this past week, to someone I considered a friend. Brodie and Colt are having troubles adjusting to him being married to someone else, but they know I will always be here for them!

As for me, I am actually in a relationship myself. I met Jimmie back in October and I am taking things slowly this time. I learned the risks of rushing into a relationship and will not regret this one at all. He lives in Alpine, Tx, and the kids and I have made 2 trips out there already to visit. The kids all love him and he has easily fit into our family already. He has a grown daughter and Brodie LOVES having an older sister! Jamie dotes on Brodie and Brodie hangs on Jamie's every word! It's cute! All 4 know Jim's ring and run to the phone and fight for who will get to answer it. I have always doubted what some called "true love," and "love at first sight," but after meeting Jim, I do know it exists. I just hadn't met the right one yet! God knew he was out there, and I had to go down my broken roads to get me to the one paved in gold. God brought Jim and I together, in this I have no doubt, and I am thankful!

So.. that's my life in a short summary. I plan on posting more often, as well as pictures. I hope that at least one person will enjoy seeing what I have to share. I have missed my friends and reading about their lives and hope that I will again reconnect with them here!

Until then, God Bless my friends and may you have a blessed 2011!