Weekend on the "Farm"

Since Brent went riding 4-wheelers and camping with the gang (didn't think I would make a good riding partner being 7 mths prego and all) Madison and I headed to Houston.

We mostly just hung out at the house and played which was nice since the weather was beautiful!! Maddie played with the dogs, rode her little four-wheeler, played with bubbles, drew on the driveway with chalk and had her first horse-riding experience. Needless to say she had a GREAT time!!

Here are some pics from our mini vacation...

Happy Heart Day!

Every now and then I like to pretend I'm an actual photographer. I'm always quickly proven that I'm not, but regardless I can't get enough of taking pictures of my little beauty!

Here are some Valentine's pictures that we got the other day of our sweet little Valentine:

Wishing you a LOVE-ly day! xoxo

Cute {and Easy} Fabric Bunting

I've finally started the decorating phase of Reid's nursery and am loving how it is turning out. I'm not really into themes so I'm decorating with patterns in navy, yellow and grey. I've done a few projects, but I just had to share this one because it turned out great (biased) and was so so easy! (And I only say that when it is!) ;)

I'm usually a paper-only crafter with a few spray painting projects here and there, but I steer away from sewing crafts. I was so excited that this project turned out well with ZERO sewing involved- no needle, no thread, no problem!

Here's how to make the super easy, no-sew fabric bunting:

What you'll need...

• Your fabric (How much depends on how many different ones you want and the size bunting you'll be making.)
• Bunting Template- I downloaded/printed mine for free at Chickabug Blog and used the largest size triangle.
• Rotary cutter & cutting mat (You could just use fabric scissors.)
• Iron-on Hem (Remember: No sewing needed!)
• Iron

Step One...
Cut out the size of triangle you want from the template and use to cut out as many triangles from each pattern that you want.

Step Two...
Iron on the hem to the top, front side of the triangles in whatever order you want. I just used medium heat and went over it a few times to be sure it stuck well. (If you pull hard enough, you can peel it off. It holds just fine for a project like this, but I would be worried if it was on something that you needed a strong hold for.)

**Note: This bunting is only one-sided. I'm hanging mine on the wall so I didn't need a two-sided bunting.**

Step Three...
Hang it on the wall! Yep, like I said- super EASY! I hung mine with plain old silver thumb tacks since my hem was silvery-grey.

Have fun! :)


Sharing on Kelly's Korner

Recent Memories {Christmas}

Ok, so now on to my promised Christmas post (Beware: picture overload about to happen)...

We had a very busy and beautiful Christmas vacation! For the first time Brent was able to have a long break as well, so that meant lots of traveling for us. Before we started our travels, we celebrated Christmas with Nana, Pa and Brent's side of the family.

(mesmerized by Elmo...cracks me up!)

 

Since my sisters and I are all spread out, we are rarely all in the same place at the same time. This year we made a point to all be in Houston for Christmas. Such a blessing for the whole family to be together!

Our Christmas Eve tradition is to open one present (which is a set of new PJs,) read the Night Before Christmas and read the Christmas Story from the Bible. Papa does the reading, and this year Maddie snuggled up to read with him in her new PJs...

And like any child, when Christmas morning came, Maddie was all about opening presents! She even enjoyed helping Aunt Gelly pass the out! I love the first picture below because she looks so sweet just waiting for us to say, "Go!"

Needless to say Baby Girl was spoiled like crazy! That evening we headed home to Waco to do our Family of 3 Christmas. And no, Madison was not bored of opening presents! She dug in to the pile she got from us and from our St. Louis family!

Next stop on our Christmas vacation: Keystone, Colorado.
To be continued...

Recent Memories {Ski Trip!}

Well, we're almost all caught up!

We were so excited, Brent probably the most, to get to head to Colorado for a snowy vacation! Of course Reid and I were NOT going to be hitting the slopes, so instead I played around the ski resort with Madison, Janet and Brian while Brent, Chase and Lauren had fun on the mountain. Pregnant in a ski town is really not optimal, but we made the best of it, and watching Madison have fun in the snow was a blast!

The plane ride there was a breeze with this expert traveler! She spent most of the trip like this, and then woke up in time for the decent and to take a few peeks out of the window.

She really wasn't sure how to handle the cold when it got really bad, so we spent a lot of time in the hotel room. Even still, we kept ourselves thoroughly entertained!

Once we did hit the outdoors, we made sure Madison was all bundled up. She was not quite a fan at first, in fact, she resembled the little boy from the Christmas Story who couldn't put his arms downs...it was slightly hilarious. Once she got used to getting ready, she was a pro and loved wearing her ski bib and jacket. I'm fairly certain she was the cutest one in town!

(LOVE this picture!)

 

We tried to take her sledding one day, but she wasn't really a fan. This was probably the only point in time where she had half a smile...oh well, maybe next time.

On the last day, we hopped on a bus and checked out a couple of spots in the surrounding area. They weren't very eventful, but Maddie loved riding the bus sitting next to her "Boo."

Take note: the following picure is currently the only in existance where she is smiling with Uncle Chase! This was a great bonding experience for the two of them. ;)

Well, that was our vacation! I wish I could post all of our pictures, but I think I pretty much covered the highlights! I'll end with two New Year's Eve pictures to complete my 2012 posts posted in 2013:

(Oh and she was actually laughing, though it looks like she's screaming for us to stop kissing her!)

 

Recent Memories {Thanksgiving}

Yes, you read that correctly. I said "Thanksgiving!" I guess that pretty much sums up how good of a blogger I am...sorry folks! So, since I promised I would eventually get to our Thanksgiving week, let's see how much I actually remember! ;)

I love the way our school district does Thanksgiving week. If you do two training days in the summer, you get the WHOLE week off! It is sooooo nice to have a break in the fall semester since we don't get a "fall break" in Texas like some people do.

For the first part of the week, Maddie and I headed to Houston to hang out with my mom, stepdad and little sister! Maddie LOVES to visit because she is obsessed with the horses and dogs Grandma, Papa and Aunt Gelly!

We visited the Children's Museum, the Houston Zoo, Niko Nikos (my favorite restaurant) and other places I've probably forgotten about (remember my comment above?) Here are some pictures from that part of our week:

 

 

Then, on Thanksgiving Day, Brent and I went to the Dallas Cowboys game with some friends!

We had such a fun week visiting family, friends and driving around Texas! ;)