Sweeet Moments with Papa, Nanna D & Aunt Ami

Tripp's dad, step-mom and sister came in town for Joseph & Charly's wedding this past weekend and Alex LOVED getting to see them. He has a precious relationship with his Papa...which is truely unique as they do not see each other very often. We were able to get several sweet moments of them together.

How sweet!

Aunt Ami & Alex could play together for hours! Alex loves to show her his room, wrestle with her and just all around give her a hard time. When he realized she was gone Sunday after church, he cried for her. Awh! Aunt Ami, Alex is yearning for you!! :)~

Alex + Golf Lessons= Good Times

Alex started golf lessons a few weeks ago and so far so good. Well, about as good as to be expected. He is only 2 1/2 and most golf professionals like to wait until the child is at least 3 years of age to start lessons. Alex is focused for the first 15-20 minutes...and that's about it.

He really likes it though! He gets super excited everytime he hits the ball!

Tiger Sparks in the flesh!

Guess what I just learned to do?

I just learned how to seperate pictures with text! May not sound like to a big deal to many...but for me..excitement! For forever, I have been posting several pictures and texting at the bottom of them all. Now I can seperate them! Whoo hoo! Just want to celebrate for myself! Toodaloo!

More Recent Projects..

Yippee for me! I have had the chance to work on several client projects lately as well as some fun stuff on the side. One of my client/friends recently had a super adorable set of boy/girl twins and she came up with the cutest idea for a door hanger. I wish I would have come up with it! Way to be creative, R! I also got to paint name boards for over their beds. So happy with them!



She happens to have a super sweet sister with a precious step daughter. B asked me to paint a canvas for M and picked out some cute bedding for me to match. I love the results!

Now comes the extra stuff. For Christmas last year, my sweet hubby got me Cricut machine. I LOVE IT! I am sooo amazed at all I can do with this thing! It is very easy to get addicted! I only wish I had more counter space...or since I am wishing, how about a HUGE craftroom? That would be great. Anywho, these are a few of my latest creations: covered clipboards. (I know the idea is not a new one...but for what these things cost in Canton, I knew I could make my own and make them cuter while I was at it!) I decorated both sides differently and was super pleased with how they turned out.

Good Googly Moogly

I use that phrase to sum up these last few weeks.
We have been so incredibly busy. It seems like we are running here, visiting there..you name it. Sadly, it is all my fault. I am the one making all of these plans so really...I should kick myself! No one else to blame but me, myself & I. As much as I am complaining, I do like it sometimes. It is nice to get to spend time with family & friends or to just be out with Tripp & Alex. I especially love the Mommy & Me time I get occasionally with Alex. I don't mean the boring stuff like grocery shopping or any of that. I mean the fun times to where we can just goof off.

Like last Friday for example. Tripp had prior arrangements so Alex & I loaded up and headed to the big city, ie Longview. We went to Wet Pets & Critters, which let me just say that place stinks to high heaven...but Alex loves getting to see the animals (I make him walk around with his hands in his pockets the whole time..quite funny) followed by an extensive rub down with some serious antibacterial soap, then a trip to Chick-Fil-A. We ran into a friend of a friend which was really nice because she & I were able to visit while our children played together. A whole lotta fun for us all! Afterwards, Alex & I went to grab some quality time at Target. One has to wonder how much fun could a two year old possibly have at Target and my answer is LOTS of it! Especially when they get cool goodies...like a super cool bike!!! He has loved his little bike which he named Ike. So funny! I am really glad I got it for him as he has had so much fun on it already and it has only been a week since he got it.

Lately I have felt like Alex and Tripp & I were in a very weird spot. Alex is two and naturally is testing his limits. There are several times when Tripp & I are not exactly on the same page regarding how do deal with Alex. I am more of a disciplinarian and Tripp is more laid back. This is both a good combo as well as a bad one. I am super quick to want to get Alex in control and Tripp wants him to have the opportunity to control himself. These past few weeks seem to have been filled with lots of correction for Alex. I was starting to worry about crushing his sweet little spirit, but after last night, I think I am better.

Alex was taking a bath and was pretending to be a whale. Out of nowhere, he said that he swallowed Jonah. I asked him why he swallowed Jonah and his reply was, "Because he did not obey." I asked him why Jonah didn't obey and he said he said he didn't know but that he would spit him out soon. I asked why he was going to spit him out and he said, "Because he is ready to obey God." Then he said, " I'm gonna obey God!" I told him how amazing & great it was that he was going to obey God. Alex told me that he was going to obey me & Daddy too. I always tell Alex that it makes my heart happy when he obeys and is a sweet boy. He told me last night that he was going to make my heart happy all the time. HOW SWEET IS THAT!

Honestly, this conversation with my son really put alot of things into prespective for me. I think that God used my two year old little boy to remind me that even when situations are trying and frustrating, the Lord is in control. I need to just go to Him and leave it all at His feet. I know that I am not the only person in this world with a two year old that can be a handfull. Thank you God for using Alex to point out the fact that you are in control of everything. For helping me to realize that I need to choose to do your work & live for you as Jonah did. Thank you Alex for being such a sweet reminder of how much God loves us all! O~how I love my little man!!

My Sweet Baby

I love my baby boy! He is just so stinking precious & wonderful & amazing & joyful & fantastic! All of these plus a million more! That being said, I pray that I can focus on how wonderful he is the next time he is overcooking my grits! Yesterday was one of those days and in all honesty, no, I did not focus on how he lights my day, how me makes my heart happy, how fills me with purpose. I got blocked by the frustration & irritation that comes with raising a toddler. But today is a new day. A new day to pray for forgiveness for not being as patient as I should. A new day to pray for direction. A new day to savor my toddler. Because remember...I love my baby boy!

Fun @ the Pumpjacks game

Alex got to go to his first "real" baseball game this past week. We had free tickets from the Kilgore Chamber. Tripp had plans allready so we grabbed Tonya & Drew and made our way. I would like to tell you that Alex & Drew sat and watched the game but that was not the case. They had a BLAST running up and down the bleachers. We met the Woods family there so they got to play with Elle also. The three of them really had a good time. Derrick, one of the two mascots (don't really understand why they have two) paid the kiddos a visit. At first Alex was a little hesitant but he came around pretty quickly. Judging by how much fun they had there...and add in the amount of fun had at the park afterwards, looks like this will not be our last Pumpjacks game!

Cupcake Cakes are AWESOME!

So a professional I am not...but I did have a really good time making this cupcake cake for my friend Kristie's little girl. I love how the flip flops turned out! One of the little kids even took a nibble out of the bottom of one! So cute! Thank you Kristie for letting me do this for Kynlie! Glad you were happy!

**Aunt Brenda~ hopefully, maybe, one day...I'll be as good as you are! I know what you are thinking ...but quit! Your cakes are AMAZING & NOT beginner AT ALL! Love you and thank you for the great advice!

Bunny Chasing

As we were leaving for school/work today, we noticed two bunnies chomping on some goodies right by our driveway. As is now custom for little Alex, he proceeded to chase them. The first time he chased the bunnies, he chased it all the way around our house, several times getting within about 2 feet! He was so excited! I followed him laughing like a mad woman. Afterwards, I kicked myself for not having my camera. I just know we could have won some funniest video award! Anywho...I just so happened to have my camera in my hand this morning as was able to catch a few pictures. You can't tell how hard Alex is laughing because he is running..but he was laughing HARD! So sweet!

Drew & Alex

These little guys crack me up! They love each other and talk about each other all the time...but something happens when you get them together! For a while, they liked to chew on each other..literally. Now they just like to run from each other. Mostly Alex running from Drew, screaming like a girl, and Drew just wanting to play. Makes for great entertainment! Alex has learned how to say 'proximity' from the ordeal so if there is a silver lining..there you go! It is very comical to watch them together. Once they outgrow the 'watch as I pester the living daylights out of you' stage, they will realize that they are great friends and have been all along!

Alex & his Great Wolf Lodge suite

Alex LOVED his room @ Great Wolf Lodge. It was so precious to watch him 'play' with each of the wolves painted on the wall. He continually said "What's his name?" and wanted each of them to have their own special name. So sweet. He also enjoyed the window in his room. I could sit all day long and watch him enjoy that window! Many games of peek a boo were played that day!
We had a really great time during our stay at Great Wolf. I would love to share the pictures with you....BUT goofy me..I didn't want to hurt our digital camera so I bought a water proof camera from the gift shop. ($19.99 later...definitely recommend purchasing that item before you get there!) Guess what...that's right...not a single picture turned out! Go figure! Broke my little heart! But we did have a great time! Sadly, Tripp got REALLY sick early the next day so we had to leave early. That broke out hearts too! We hated to leave...but mostly we hated Tripp being so sick. For those of you who don't know..I hate to drive in Dallas. Not good at it at all. You add a sick husband in the next seat to the situation...and well...it just gets all kinds of ugly from there! We made it to Tripp's parents house and he was out for the rest of the day. Not exactly the way we all planned on spending the last day of our mini-vacay but it is what it is.
Another funny note...Alex thinks that all people who have a pool have a water park. So sweet!

Alex & The Rain Forest Cafe

We took Alex to the Rain Forest Cafe this past weekend and much to our surprise, he was not a big fan....at first! He loved the outside of the mall, the part with the animal heads coming out of the wall. He was not so crazy about the alligator...or the snake...or the elephant..or the gorillas for that matter.His theme word of the day was "HELP!" in which he screamed over and over for a WHILE! After we were there for a little bit, he got comfortable and decided that he loved it. The fish were his favorite. Oh..and the gift shop! He really liked that! We asked him if he wanted to go back and he said "Oh Yeah Oh Yeah!" He is so precious!

In a hurry...

He had to rush to save the day!

Now all is well!

Alex & Worm

Alex loves worms. Simple as that. He could stare at a worm for forever! He loves to play with them and if I am not careful, he will slip them into his pockets. I love to watch him interact with his new buddies. He looks so intently at them. Each time he finds one, he gets so excited...as if it is his very worm. So sweet!
Thank you again Lord for choosing us to be with Alex! :)~

Some recent projects..

I have not been able to paint as much as I would like to lately so I thought I would go through my project photos and motivate myself a little. I really enjoy painting and wish I made the time for it more often. I have decided to stick to children stuff only. I know that is where my heart is. I did a few larger grown up pieces...urgh...and just decided that painting for kids is sooo much more fun. I recently acquired about 30 more windows so I am super excited to have those to work on now. The windows always turn out soo pretty. They look so sweet in little girls room and contrary to what some may think, they look good in boy rooms to. Maybe I should paint a basic boy window up for display purposes. Or better yet, maybe I should paint one for Alex's room. That poor baby, he doesn't have anything "Mommy-painted" in his new room, which Daddy kindly reminds me. It is in the plan though. I have some cool ideas in store. Anywho..just wanted to encourage myself a little. Now that I am back on the band wagon, I will finish my project for Baby Jake.

Such a sweetie..

The day is coming to where we will have to buy a horse...