My main squeeze celebrates his birthday today. As much as I want to throw him a HUGE bash, he's all, "Let's just do dinner as a family." One of these years I'm going to surprise him. When we first met 24 years ago, he was this hunk of cute. Of course, I did meet him before he put on those yell leader whites. Blue eyes, self-confident and dressed in military uniform. Alex, I'll take YES for $1,000. Fast forward all those years and he is still my biggest cheer yell leader. He's also my business' chairman of the board, my equal partner in life, my let's-stay-up-late-and-watch-netflix date, my honey-do man, my God-fearing, Aggie-loving man, and, quite simply, the greatest thing that ever happened to me. Our days have not always been Instagram-perfect as Mr. and Mrs. But we have been faithful - to one another, to our children and to our God. I love that the kids chant "Dad is great" when I leave him in charge or that he knows how to fix all the things. He makes powerwashing just as much fun as cleaning toilets or going to get ice cream. He's passionate about his work … [Read More...]
1 Faith, 2 Beautiful Journals
Advent will be here before we know it. I know, fa-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-I am not listening! But, seriously. It is a gift to share both of these beautiful Advent journals with you, one from Take Up and Read (Rooted in Hope) and the other from Blessed is She (2017 Advent Journal). Aren't we lucky to have such stunning, faith-filled books at our disposal as we begin to prepare our hearts for … [Read More...]
My Photos Stunk, and I How I Changed Them
Once upon a time, I knew enough about photography to be dangerous. In my past life, B.C. (before children), I had an awesome job as a communications specialist with the National FFA Organization. We set up press conferences, booked speakers, wrote releases and worked with AP photographers. I was in heaven. That was all fine and good until I had kids and left my full-time job and my access to … [Read More...]
Texas Forever Vacation: History at Its Center
Vacation is finally blogged! You can read all about our travels out west, then south and back central. Texas forever, y’all. ---- West and south Texas were so, so good to us, but we were itching to get close to home. Well, that and eat some good BBQ while teaching the kids about Texas history. Our destination? Gonzales. It is the quaintest, cutest, most historic Texas gem there … [Read More...]
Texas Forever Vacation: Some Like it South!
Vacation is finally blogged! You can read all about our travels out west, then south and back central. Texas forever, y'all. ---- The last time we traveled to Texas, the furthest south we got was Galveston. We *really* wanted to take the kids to South Padre Island, but it was day seven, with a six kids (including a six-week-old) and so we cut our losses. But this time? We did south Texas … [Read More...]
Texas Forever Vacation: Go West Young Man!
Vacation is finally blogged! You can read all about our travels out west, then south and back central. Texas forever, y'all. ---- Summer. I really do miss you. This is why I have a blog, so I can reminisce a bit longer and take y'all with me. If you're new to the blog, I kinda/maybe love my state. And, we really want our kids to know and love it, too. State pride in Texas, y'all, it's … [Read More...]
A Birthday Letter to the Preemie
Luke is 8 today. And with that sentence comes all the feels. If you've been hanging around here for any amount of time, you know that he's our miracle preemie, with a serious backstory. He's getting older, though. His story is becoming less mine, and more his. That's another blog post for another day. Today? Well, we celebrate all the awesome that is Luke. This year's birthday letter, comin' at … [Read More...]
4 Way to Help Our Kids Navigate Social Media
Gone are the days at the pool, mornings filled with singing Vacation Bible School songs and evenings eating ice cream and chilling with neighbors. Summer is over and no one is sadder about that than me. It’s like a vacation from my real life. Time to buckle down, though. School is in full swing and my planner tells me I’ve got lots of places to be. It’s so easy to get lost in the … [Read More...]
