The Allred Life

Antique Trunk

2012-01-21T10:03:00.000-06:00

Last weekend when we were traveling home from having visited some of Casey's family, we passed by this little side of the road antique store. We turned around to check it out and it was such a fun little adventure! There were two old ladies who own it and were so excited to see us walk in. We started looking around and noticed they had some really great things and great prices. Casey and I both love antique stores but we get frustrated when you walk in and it's junk, overly polished and/or way overpriced! This was definitely our kind of antique store! The ladies were so much fun too! They were excited to find that we recognized what a lot of the things were and had an obvious appreciation for antiques. They were slashing prices on pretty much anything we looked at and we found out it was because they love to shop for antiques so they need to clear stuff off their floor to have more room to buy more! Haha.

This trunk was one of the items that we purchased from them...and for a ridiculously low price! It was sitting on top of another trunk and there were told old saddles sitting on top of it. I noticed the side profile of this trunk and was immediately intrigued because I'd never seen this style before. Casey and I both loved the look it has and when they told us how much they'd sell it for...we were sold!

In our research since then we have discovered that it is a very rare trunk and one of the most sought after styles that is very hard to come by...and definitely not for the price we paid. We don't know if these ladies were feeling particularly generous or if they didn't know what they had.

It is a Jenny Lind hour-glass stagecoach trunk and they were only made from 1855-1865. They were named after a singer known as the 'Swedish Nightingale' who in the mid 1800's came to the United States for her first concert tour, riding the wing's of PT Barnum's promotion. She became a star, and as stars are often imitated, the hour-glass trunk she used became all the rage.

Here is ours...before it's restoration...which it does need quite a bit of.

Again, obviously it needs quite a bit of work. We found a guy who is going to fix the structural aspects for us and then we'll see what we do with the rest. We do not want it to look brand new or even close to it. We want to leave a lot of it 'as-is'.

Anyway...we'll definitely post 'after' pictures when we have those.

Drive across Texas

2012-01-17T23:05:00.002-06:00

This past weekend we were heading up to north Texas to see some of Casey's family and celebrate his mom's 70th birthday and attend the birthday party. It is a 6 hour drive that can be very boring driving up I-35. We decided to take a more scenic route this time and have a mini roadtrip along the way!

We stopped in Marble Falls and had breakfast at a cute little bakery--and it was delicious!

We drove past Longhorn Cavern State Park...and then turned around to go check it out!

This is the hole above us as we're underneath this rock, about to go into the cavern.

A kind stranger offered to take our picture...yippee for another family photo!

And down we go...

Super cute little teeny tiny bat!

This cavern, back in Prohibition was a SpeakEasy...there was a bar, a stage, musicians would come down to entertain, there was a wooden dance floor, there was even a location where an organ, pews and pulpit were set up...passed out Saturday night and you were already there for church on Sunday morning! This cavern was also the bomb/fall-out shelter for President Lyndon B. Johnson if a nuclear attack occurred while he was at his nearby ranch in Johnson City. The "oval office" is still set up. (We didn't go to that area) I thought the history of things that have taken place in this cavern was interesting.

Another cute little bat!

I thought Longhorn Cavern was alright. We've been to more beautiful caverns for sure....but glad to have been to one more.

We saw this beautiful butterfly on our way out of the cavern. You'd really never know it was winter.

This is the view of the hole from up top...

Our next destination was Dinosaur Valley State Park in Glen Rose, TX. It was a beautiful drive up there and going through parts of Texas we hadn't been yet.

We had to cross this river going across rocks that were nearly submerged and not exactly close together. It was an interesting task with Tabitha and Mckayla.

DINOSAUR TRACKS!!! Reeeeeeal dinosaur prints!!! I have NEVER seen anything like this before! It was SOOOOO cool! This was where they were, right here, stepped here! So much more real to me than a set of bones in a lobby of a museum.

They were big too! They are under the water...this one was probably 2 feet by 2 feet.

This was probably the footprint of a T-Rex or a dino of that variety...a predator for sure.

There are several prints here, facing various directions.

This is a Brontosaurus type dino. This print was huge. Fascinating right?!?! Even seeing the pictures I am still in awe...and it was SO cool to be there to see it in person!

There were pretty views throughout this park.

There many more tracks that are normally visible along this part of the river but because there'd recently been rain and the mud had been stirred up they were not visible.

From this vantage point we were able to see a couple more tracks down in the river. Again, just amazing! It was so easy to envision those thundering lizards tromping through this river and the fields nearby.

The girls thought it was pretty cool too! They were excited to share their adventure with their classmates when they got back to school.

There were even some friendly dinosaurs to check out on our way out of the park!

Our next destination was visiting Casey's family and spending Sunday with his parents at their home.

I think every time we are there, I witness a beautiful sunset off their back porch!

Tabitha was enjoying story time from Grandpa that evening. She thinks he's pretty great.

A favorite activity of the younger girls is to have Logan pull them up and down the driveway in the wagon.

We took a scenic route on our way home too and stopped a few places. One stop was an antique store--we'll stop there again on other trips. It was such a cool shop! We came away with a unique and very old stagecoach trunk (a restoration project for sure), an old milk can and a washboard. The milk can and the washboard are things we were looking for and so we were excited to find them for such GREAT prices. The trunk was a steal, they practically gave it to us and we're so excited for the project!

Driving through Hamilton, TX we came across Billy the Kid's gravesite...or so they say. (I think there are a few claimed Billy the Kid gravesites) Interesting to see though!

As we were driving out of Hamilton I could not pass up this photo opportunity! Central Perk!!! I am a big fan of the TV show 'Friends' and am thrilled to have this shot...even if it is in TX and not NYC. Haha.

In the end we drove 700+ miles across Texas and had a good time doing it. We saw parts of this great state that we had not seen before and if possible I am even more in love with this state. It is beautiful!!! We saw many varieties of deer, cows, longhorns, horses, chickens, goats, sheep, buffalo, birds of prey, geese, rabbit, donkeys, miniature donkeys, miniature horses, ponies, emu, llama, dead possum, dead skunk, dead raccoon...the animal sightings were endless.

Park Time

2012-01-17T22:13:00.001-06:00

We have had some GORGEOUS weather here in San Antonio for most of this winter and the other day we took full advantage of it. Logan had an after-school art program so while we were waiting for her to finish up, we took Mckayla and Tabitha to a nearby park.

Tabitha was SO excited that she was pulling Mckayla across the field at a full on sprint.

She loves to swing! The girl will let you push her on the swing for hours!

Mckayla was having a good time making sure that she hit every single apparatus there was.

Hehehe...I love the sly look at Tabitha's face!

This slide is taaaaall...and she would go down, climb back up, go back down, climb back up and go back down...

I love beautiful days and I am so very grateful for healthy children who love to enjoy them too!

Cathedral Rock Park hiking

2012-01-05T22:25:00.003-06:00

The other day we went hiking (me, Casey & Tabitha) at a nearby little park and here are some of the pictures I snapped...Tabitha was being quite the ham and posed several times.

2012-01-03T22:38:00.003-06:00

I saw an idea like this on one of my favorite websites--Pinterest. I wanted to do my own thing with it though and this is what I came up with.

1 canvas

lots of crayons

blow dryer

My medium is melted crayons! I arranged them in the colors I wanted for my sunset and with a blow dryer the crayons begin to melt and drop down the canvas, blend and create a beautiful sunset! I painted the silhouette on there and I am thrilled with the result!

It was a fun little project to do this evening and definitely a one-of-a-kind piece!

Enchanted Rock

2012-01-02T15:12:00.002-06:00

During the Christmas break we took a day trip to Enchanted Rock near Fredricksburg, TX. If you haven't been there, it is a worthwhile visit. It is such a near place to see and hike. Enchanted Rock is the 2nd largest batholith (a large mass of igneous rock made of once-molten material that has solidified below the earth's surface) in the country...Stone Mountain in Georgia is the #1 largest.

Enchanted Rock got its name from the local Indians who thought the rock was possessed. As the sun warms it and the night air cools it, it shifts and makes noises--the Indians thought it was Spirits in the rock. Thus...the name.

The hike is about a mile long from the base to the top...Casey carried Tabitha in the back pack and the rest of us hiked on up!

My best friend, Melinda, was visiting us that week and one of her favorite hikes is Enchanted Rock so we were glad to share it again with her. Here she and the big girls were waiting for us to catch up. Casey was carrying Tabitha so was a little slower and I was sick so I was moving much slower too.

Mckayla and Logan taking a short breather.

Logan at the top of the rock...what a view!

There are lots of these little pools on the top of the rock...and Tabitha was so tempted by them!

Me and Melinda!

When we were coming back down the rock after having been up top in the crazy wind for awhile, I saw this indention in the rock and thought it looked like a giant footprint. Sasquatch apparently once inhabited Enchanted Rock?!?! Hehehe...

Casey and the girls thought this very large rock was pretty cool...and they were not content enough to just have their picture taken in FRONT of it...

It was pretty cool watching them climb up there and I think this shot was worth getting.

Melinda carried Tabitha on the way down...Tabitha loooooves her Ma-nin-a!

At the bottom of the trail there is a small creek and it's been tradition for us to let the kiddos take their shoes and socks off and soak their feet a bit. They said the water was COOOLD! But Tabitha was so excited to finally get to play in some water. This water was moving so I was fine with her splashing around in it.

It was a really fun day! I love doing these outdoor activities. I gave Casey a Texas State Parks pass for Christmas so hopefully we will take full advantage of it and see so many more of these beautiful pieces of Texas this year. I was thrilled to share another fun day with my family and with Melinda too. I have missed her tons and LOVED having her here for a few days!

Christmas 2011

2012-01-01T22:00:00.002-06:00

We had a busy, but fun, December and Christmas season! We managed to do many of the things we'd hope to and then were smart enough to also skip some things so as to not completely make ourselves crazy. It is a time of year that I love so much because there is a magic that I enjoy. I hope that your holiday season was magical too.

On the 23rd we had our gift exchange with my parents...

Mckayla with her Santa Bag...

Logan with her Santa Bag...

Tabitha with her Santa Bag...

We enjoy our Wii fireplace! It makes all the sounds that a real fire would make...snaps and pops and crackles...and we simultaneously light our Crackling Campfire candle to add to the ambience.

My mom made this quilt for Casey. It is a memorial quilt for his grandparents. It consists of a few scraps that were leftover from his Granni's mumu's (and memorial quilts she'd made for Casey's mom and his aunts), a picture of me and Casey with his grandparents and the large fabric selection is cowboy hats since Casey always says his Grandpa was a Texas cowboy. It's a pretty great quilt and something we're happy to have.

Among other things, Mckayla got a couple beautiful scarves from MawMaw and PawPaw and she LOVES them!

Here Logan is showing off one of her scarves too.

Tabitha loved all the jewelry she got! She insisted that MawMaw help her put on every necklace and bracelet.

After we had dinner and exchanged gifts, we headed downtown to see the lights on the Riverwalk and enjoy that Christmas scene.

My mom and dad! They're adorable.

Casey and the girls with the Riverwalk Christmas Tree. I have a beautiful family!

I LOOOVE, LOVE, LOVE this shot! The lit church steeple in the background, the lights and the Riverwalk boat coming along...this is ultimate San Antonio right here.

Logan and Mckayla with the lights...have I mentioned yet that it was COOOLD!?!

My family! My parents with Casey and my girls. This picture makes me smile. It was a fun night.

I also very much love this picture and the lights reflecting off of the water.

They even lit the bridges a bit this year. This was the first year that they had the LED lights on the Riverwalk...previously the lights were very different looking.

Ok, how cool is this picture?! Logan is standing up on a light post...but look at Mckayla's flapping arms in the background. I LOOOOVE my new camera!!!

Can't go to the Alamo Plaza without snapping a picture of the beautiful Alamo.

My parents and my girls with the Alamo Plaza Christmas Tree and look who they ran into!?! The San Antonio Riverwalk is the #1 tourist attraction in Texas and I suppose he wanted to check it out too! My mom was so excited and Tabitha was too! She loved Santa!

Here Tabitha is telling my dad all about Santa and the stars on the Christmas Tree and the lights. She has so many little words right now and she gets so excited about things.

Aaaw, my Mckayla!

Casey had to work on Christmas Eve but my parents came down to share a lot of the day and the evening with us.

For dinner we made blueberry pancakes...red and green pancakes!

Logan showed off her new scrambled egg making skills and made some delicious eggs to go with our pancakes and bacon.

The big girls decorated sugar cookies too! We did all our usual traditions while missing Casey, but I was so grateful to my parents for sharing the evening with us! It made it so much more fun and a lot easier for me too.

Christmas Day!

The girls in their Christmas Day Sunday outfits!
We had church at 9am and since Casey was getting home just after 7am, we went to church and then we came home to open gifts after we got back into our pajama's. We didn't want Casey to miss anything. The girls were great about not sneaking out so that their dad wouldn't miss their inital reactions.

While they got back into pj's, I snapped a few quick pictures.

The traditional Candy Cane pastry. So good!

Decorated sigar cookies!

More cookies!

Pecan Pie too.

Here comes Tabitha!

Here come Mckayla and Logan!

Tabitha got a Winnie the Pooh card and she was pretty excited about it.

After Casey started her...she finally figured out there were more things inside her stocking to dig in and find!

Casey and I made 'monsters' for the girls. We wanted them to be strange and a combination of cute and ugly.
Here's Logan with hers...

Mckayla with hers...

And Tabitha with hers...

Logan asked Santa for a Cheetah print Nintendo DS cover...she got one.

Mckayla asked Santa for a Monster High DracuLaura doll...she got one.

Tabitha got this little pull puppy from Logan and Mckayla...

She loves it!

We also made the girls these Elephant Feet stilts out of #10 cans...hehehe

It is so fun watching them play with them and I am so thrilled they think they're as cool as I had hoped they would.

The girls wanted to get Casey a hiking stick. He's wanted one and they love going hiking and geocaching with him. They also wanted it to say World's Greatest Dad on it so Logan wrote part of it and Mckayla wrote another part and I used my wood burning tool to burn the etching into the wood. If you click the picture it will enlarge it and you can see it better. I love that it's in their handwriting!

Tabitha received these sunglasses and this book that has a mini keyboard...she was content to play some tunes while we opened her gifts.

It was a wonderful Christmas of being together as a family, remembering our Savior and His birth and sharing a lot of laughs and smiles.

Barn Quilt

2012-01-01T21:05:00.001-06:00

I made this Barn Quilt for my mom and dad for Christmas. (Google 'barn quilt' if you're not familiar with what it is) I wish you could see it better, there is red barb wire around the sides.

Anyway...my mom is a quilter and we have a distant cousin who paints barn quilts and told me about them awhile back. I thought it would be something my mom would really enjoy putting on her little barn at the back of their property...she put it on the side of her house instead to be more visible. Haha.

This is not a traditional barn quilt--I took some creative license and pretty much did my own version, but I was also extremely pleased with the results. The center is a Texas Star quilt block and the corners are West Virginnie Moonshine quilt blocks. (Because we're now in Texas but my parents and their heritage is West Virginia). I loved how the wood looked in this piece and so I opted to leave it and just stain it, versus painting the entire piece.

My parents love it and for that I am thrilled! They even want me to create a couple more...Casey wants me to recreate the Texas Star on a table that we have. Looks like I might have a new mini-hobby.

Mckayla's Winter Program

2012-01-01T20:53:00.000-06:00

At our elementary school the kindergarten is in charge of the winter program. Oh. Yippee. Mckayla was very excited about her on stage debut so we went to support her.

Meanwhile, we had to take our seats long before the show was to start...so Casey and his phone provided entertainment for Tabitha. She enjoyed racing with him.

Mckayla's class came out and sat right on the front of the stage...they performed to a narration of the story about a bear who needs to hibernate for the winter.

At the very end they all sang 'Feliz Navidad' to the audience. Mckayla was singing at the top of her lungs!

She looked pretty adorable in her new outfit and her "bear ears".

We honored our little performer with some roses and a candy cane full of Starbursts. Unbeknownst to us she ate the WHOLE thing that evening when she snuck it back to her room. *sigh*

Logan LOVED this door! The girl loves Eiffel Towers!

December Wedding Cake

2012-01-01T20:35:00.001-06:00

This is a wedding cake that I made for a young couple earlier this month. The bottom tier was chocolate cake with a chocolate mousse, the middle tier was a french vanilla cake with a vanilla buttercream icing and the top tier was chocolate cake with a raspberry cream filling. (That raspberry cream filling was SOOO good! I was particularly proud of how it turned out)

Gingerbread...er Graham Cracker Houses 2011

2011-12-12T22:42:00.000-06:00

Every year we have a night where we make Gingerbread (Graham Cracker) Houses. Every year I have intentions to try and make real gingerbread...and it hasn't happened yet. But we enjoy the graham crackers, they're cheap, already made and we construct very well with them. Haha.

Tabitha enjoyed sitting in her chair munching on some cookies and candy for awhile.

Logan has her bowl and is getting ready to start...can't wait to see what she comes up with or to see how much she eats. Haha.

Here is some of the candy we had to use...

It doesn't snow in Texas...but even in a drought ridden Texas my mom's creation will have green grass.

Here's more of the candy we had...

Casey also made some homemade candy to use too.

Mckayla is getting started...or did she already eat all her candy?!

Casey and I are going to work on one together this year...who knows what we'll come up with!

Jodi has been a part of our annual Gingerbread House tradition from the very beginning! We've done it every year with her for like 9 years I think!

Surprisingly my dad decided he wanted to make his own this time and not work with my mom on one. This should be fun!

I love seeing the creating happening and how people use the various candy for different things!

Tabitha was enjoying the candy free-for-all!

Can't you tell by the front of her shirt that she's had quite a bit?

Jodi and my girls are SOOOO silly! There was much laughter and silliness going on at this table.

My dad was being pretty serious a lot of the time, he was hard at work!

Casey and I made a boot!

It had a Longhorn logo on the front and wood floors!

My favorite part was the spur! Hehehehe!

Logan is all done! She did such a cute job on hers!

The aerial view of Logan's creation.

Mckayla finished hers too...and still managed to get candy on it...because for awhile there she was eating the candy! At one point she was dipping candy in the royal icing like you would chips n salsa!

The aerial view of Mckayla's...it was so funny having her explain hers to me. She has a great imagination!

My mom and her creation...so fun!

She even made a Great Dane out of tootsie rolls!

This is Jodi's creation! Army gummi men are invading!

I LOVED her fire! She used Casey's ribbon candy for the flame...so creative!!!

My dad's finished project. How sweet is he with his little love note to my mom!?

The Allred Gingerbread Houses 2011!

San Antonio Zoo visit

2011-12-12T08:32:00.000-06:00

This past Friday we went to the San Antonio Zoo. The girls needed a mental health day from school. Logan had been very stressed about some testing they were doing and the pressure of it so the day after she took the test we went to the zoo! It's not the best zoo I have ever been to, but it's a good zoo, it was great to be together and it was a beautiful day!

Who doesn't love to pretend they're riding a couple of lions?!

I was VERY excited to have Tabitha at the zoo and get to see her various reactions to the animals...she did not disappoint!

Flamingos are just cool looking! Their colors are so vibrant and...yeah, they're just cool!

The American Black Bear was pacing back and forth and was very annoyed with the birds that were hanging around. He even took a few swipes with his paw at them! Tabitha thought the bear was great! "Beeeeaar! Beeeaaar!" *as she waved for it to come to her*

The great Grizzly Bear...resting its head on a rock. Tabitha was beckoning this one closer too.

She has quite a ways to grow before her paw is as big as a Grizzly Bear's!

And they got to "ride" a Komodo Dragon statue too!

These black squirrels were all over the place! As you can see with how close Casey and Mckayla got, they're also not very shy. Tabitha was having a blast chasing these guys around when she would see them.

I love the birds that are all so colorful. San Antonio Zoo is renowned for their birds.

The girls and the hippos! Casey and I were amused with the sign that said it's ok for kids to climb on the hippos, but be careful because they get HOT in the sun! Haha.

I am fascinated by hippopotamus'. I love this picture! Me and my girls.

The hippos were being lazy when we were there, but at least they were right up by the glass so we got a great look at them and watched the fish swimming all around too.

This African Crocodile had some serious teeth! They're just amazing looking--definitely a "don't mess with me" type of animal.

I told the girls that this is the closest they'd EVER get to a real crocodile...and live. Just the thickness of the glass between them and it. Sooooo cool!!! We sat and watched the crocs for quite awhile.

Tabitha was pretty fascinated too...and no doubt that crocodile thought she looked pretty tasty!

A little baby elephant statue...and how cute is Tabitha holding its tail!?! Don't know why she did, but made for a super cute picture!

So my cats aren't too far off of what wild Cheetah's do...laying around, basking in the sunlight.

The Rhinoceros is just a fierce looking creature! So tank and armor like!

The Laurie exhibit is a favorite of ours, a very upclose and personal experience with these brightly colored beautiful birds!

The most magestic looking bird on the planet! The American Bald Eagle!

Mckayla is pretending to be a Giant Tortoise.

It was a great day at the zoo! I was glad to share it with my family.

Trip to the Fire Station

2011-12-11T22:52:00.000-06:00

Last week Tabitha and I took some friends over to the fire station so the kids could see the trucks and the ambulance. Tabitha was very excited to go see 'da-da' and to wear her fire helmet that she had received earlier in the week when she went to run some errands with Casey that included stopping by the Union Hall.

He looks pretty great in his uniform (I think)...this was a cold day when he was wearing his sweatshirt. Here he is with his ambulance, which is where he can normally be found if he is not at home with us.

Isn't this a super cute picture!?!

Tabitha in her pink fire helmet...and with the ping pong ball that she found.

She sure does love her daddy! I think he's pretty smitten too.

A Visit With Santa Claus!

2011-12-11T22:37:00.000-06:00

Bass Pro Shop here in San Antonio invited Santa to come and visit their store this year and he brought a part of the North Pole with him, so we took the girls to go see him! The big girls even had the opportunity to hand deliver their letters they'd written to him.

He brought a few reindeer...

Some foxes...

Some toys from the Elves Workshop...

A cute skunk...

And a Merry-Go-Round! Logan rode the black bear...

Mckayla picked a reindeer...

Tabitha and her candy cane sticky face picked the moose.

And here is their proof that they did indeed meet the man in the red suit! Logan and Mckayla were very excited to see Santa and talk to him! They were quick to give him their letters and talk to him about how good they've been this year and what they would like him to bring them. Tabitha was a little bit unsure of this strange man...but she was quite pleased when he gave her a candy cane!

Baby Shower Cake - December 2011

2011-12-11T22:25:00.000-06:00

Recently I helped to co-host a baby shower for my wonderful friend Nicole who is expecting her first little girl next month. I was very excited to make this cake for my friend and was very pleased with how it came out.

Her nursery theme is Shabby Chic, as was the theme for the shower, and so that's what I aimed for with the cake decor.

I utilized the invitation that had been sent out which had the colors, paisley's, gerber daisies, etc.

I have known Nicole a whole lotta years. Way back in the day she knew me before Casey and I were married. She actually even attended our wedding reception. We lost touch for a few years in between and randomly got back in touch, have done a few years of Girls Camp together and spent a lot of time hanging out and I've loved every bit of it! I really do think she is a wonderful, fantastic lady and she is one of my dear friends. I am SO excited for her and her husband and their upcoming baby girl and I cannot wait to meet her.

Nicole had requested a lemon cake and we had lemon frosting in between the layers along with chopped fresh raspberries. It. Was. Soooo. GOOD!!! I thought it tasted good the night before and then apparently while waiting to be cut open the flavors all got really happy and it tasted even better! So lemony and fresh and then the raspberry flavor included...too bad this is a blog to read and not taste.

Christmas Decorations 2011

2011-11-30T21:39:00.000-06:00

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!!!
Time to get out the Christmas decorations! Here are some snapshots of our Christmas decor this year.

I love this little tree. Christmas 2002 my sister bought this little tree for me. We'd just had Logan and decided that with a brand new baby and me recovering from a c-section that we were not up to the task of putting a tree up. I love this little tree.

My mom made me this beautiful quilted table runner. This is the fun "festive" side. The flip side is a poinsettia "formal" look.

We have a Firefighter Santa Claus! The wolf actually stays out year-round but it fits quite well doesn't it?! My mother painted it and we LOVE it!

A friend of mine was recently getting rid of this china hutch and we grabbed it. It's fun to have my Christmas dishes displayed (and my wedding china in the 'off season'). The Mrs. Claus on the top is a piece from my childhood and has always been a favorite of mine! The poinsettia is a gift from a friend and is waaay up there so the cats don't gnaw on it--poinsettia is poisonous. But it's beautiful!

These mice are also from my childhood. My mom painted them. I just think they're adorable!!!

This is our version of a Christmas Village. My little white church, 3 fire stations, a bunch of firefighters, a lighthouse and a gingerbread post office!

The fire station on the right is our most favorite! It is "Station 1" (which was the station Casey was assigned to when we bought it) and has the wooden folding doors just like old fire station 1 that he was at!

This little white church reminded me of the little white church (below) that is in Browns Creek, WV where a portion of my ancestry lived and attended church.

How cool is my San Antonio, TX snowman!?!?!?! Hehehehe! This is a new thing we did this year. I laminated the pieces and put small magnets on the backs so they're easily movable (except for the main portion of the scarf) and hopefully will be reusable for next year.

Our stockings! Mine has my name on it, the stripes is Casey, Logan is the cream colored one, Mckayla is the black and white cats and Tabitha is the pink and brown.

Our nutcrackers--a couple firefighters and then Logan's little collection. When Logan was 4 she asked Santa for a "Baker Nutcracker". What an unusual request! After searching and hunting high, low and everywhere in between, Santa found one! She was SOOOO excited!!! It's been on a shelf in her room ever since and he joins our Christmas decor every year.

This is our Abominable Snowman scene with the Marshmallow S'more Snowmen sitting around their campfire. It's very whimsical and so fun...we love it!

Also among our collection is a steadily growing Nativity collection. We definitely make an emphasis on the birth of our Savior during this magical time of the year. This is a particular favorite of ours--one that Casey made a few years ago. Is that not a super cute sheep?!

Hehehe...this is an Afghani camel! (Made with real camel hair) When my best friend deployed to Afghanistan a couple of years ago Casey asked her to bring him back a camel...he asked for it, she delivered! We now include it in our nativity collection.

Our Christmas Tree! We purchased a smaller tree this year. It's taking some getting used to, but we are generally very pleased with it. It's so fun to our ornaments on it and recall the memories that they stir up. We have the lights 'blinking' this year so excuse how dark it looks in a still photo.

My tree train!!! I love my tree train! It choo-choo's, goes around the track and occassionally (when it's working correctly) it even blows smoke!

The handmade garland my mom made for one of our trees in my childhood. That was a favorite tree! Funny thing, the memory I recall of that particular tree when I see this garland...always makes me a little teary eyed.

Our advent calendar. The girls move Rudolph every day and this year we've started a new thing...each day/glove has a small piece of paper on it that indicates an activity, craft or treat we will have that day. For example: Go see the Riverwalk Lights, Read Luke 2, Make Christmas cookies, Make a reindeer craft...etc.

My light up Christmas Cow on my patio!!!

Our firefighter Christmas penguin!

Our Thankful Tree

2011-11-30T21:04:00.000-06:00

I had seen this idea for a Thankful Tree before but every year I saw it, it was already some portion into the month and I didn't want to start late. This year I remembered about the Thankful Tree in time and we started ours on November 1. Casey was so great to help me cut out 120+ leaves so that we could each write on a leaf every day. I used the scrapbook paper that my Nana sends me all the time...just picked out some fun "fall color" patterns, added a couple super cute little birds, a mason jar and I think it came out super cute!

This is our tree on November 1.

It was so fun throughout the month of November to write down something we were thankful for every day. I was surprised at how much Logan and Mckayla loved it! They would often write more than one a day and would get so anxious for the next day to get to write another one. It was funny how most often Casey and I would write the exact same thing each day. It was so cool seeing the tree grow each day. It was not so fun trying to keep the cats from trying to steal leaves or eat the ruffia. Haha! I had to hide the tree in the laundry room every night.

This is our tree on November 30.

We are a blessed family and for that...I am thankful.

I can't wait to continue this tradition November 1, 2012.

Lost Maples State Natural Area

2011-11-27T12:28:00.000-06:00

This past Friday we went to Lost Maples State Natural Area for the day. We've been wanting to go and this is the best time of the year to go because of the fall foliage. We don't have 'color changing trees' in most of Texas and so it's somewhere to go to experience a little bit more of fall. We were excited to head out there and we were not disappointed at all!!! If you love fall, autumn leaves, beautiful scenery, a gorgeous hike...DEFINITELY go here!!!

I also had a new camera to play with thanks to Casey and Logan heading out at midnight for some Black Friday shopping for this great deal we found! I was going to wait to play with my Christmas present until after opening it at Christmas, but we decided that this was a destination to definitely have a good camera for. I am in LOVE with my camera!!! I took over 150 pictures...here's about 1/3 of them.

This leaf was bigger than a dinner plate!

As you'll notice, I am not in any of the pictures...but a kind gentleman offered to take our picture...and I LOVE it!

So pretty!!!

The girls were enjoying watching the tiny little fish and the water bugs in the water.

Tabitha loves riding along with Casey on hikes! Casey's shoulders don't love it so much (she's getting big!) but he loves having her close.

This was our favorite area along this particular trail...lots of leaves, big rocks, etc for the girls to play in and climb on.

Tabitha got hold of a leaf and was so excited!

She is soooo great!

She was throwing the leaves up in the air...

Mckayla found a big leaf!

Logan was throwing leaves up too...

They loved playing in the leaves!

This area of the park was stunning! That canyon wall/rim was so high!

I absolutely LOVE this picture!!!

A small waterfall along the way.

This is 'the Ponds'...you can swim in there and it is spring fed. It was so clear and so beautiful!

Tabitha thought it was so cool to be by the water.

She is growing up so quickly.

We really enjoyed the contrast of the bright fall colors against the white & gray rocks.

I saw this leaf up against this rock along the trail and could not pass up the photo-op.

The swirls and designs in this tree trunk were so beautiful!

We hiked for over 4 hours and the girls loved it just as much as we did.

Logan was enjoying going up ahead

If you go to Lost Maples, we took the East Trail to 'The Ponds'. It's a nice stroll and easy for the little ones. Granted we took a looong time on it and the kids played quite a bit along the way and we took a detour on our way back.

This was one of my most favorite days! I really cannot put into words what a great day it was. It was SO beautiful! I LOOOVE the Texas Hill Country! It was a perfect weather day, we were together as a family...it was just simply wonderful.

Thanksgiving 2011

2011-11-27T11:31:00.000-06:00

How great is Thanksgiving!?! Great food, good people, much to be thankful for! I love Thanksgiving...and TURKEY!!!

Casey and I had a good time cooking this year. We tried some new recipes and included some traditional ones as well!

We brined our first turkey this year. I saw a show on Food Network where a woman brined the turkey--kind of a rosemary and citrus brine. I was intrigued by the possible flavor and so we gave it a shot. Here is my 30 lb. turkey getting all happy in the brine!

I don't brown and crisp up my turkeys like most people do. I like them to be crazy juicy and moist...it ends up that they look like this when you take a picture and not so pretty. But it tasted AMAZING!!!

I'm glad I tried the brine recipe, it was definitely good...I don't know that it was worth the extra work though. I already made a pretty perfect turkey that was half the work.

Our friends brought a gorgeous spiral ham and it tasted SOOOO good!

MmmMmmMmm! Gravy! It was DELICIOUS!

Broccoli and Cheese Sauce, Mashed Potatoes, Stuffing (Casey tried a new homemade recipe and it was DELICIOUS!!!), corn, homemade rolls...

We tried a new homemade cranberry sauce...Pomegranate Tangerine Cranberry Sauce. HEAVEN!!! We made it the night before and when I tasted it I was so-so on the flavor, but after it sat in the fridge overnight and chilled...on Thursday it was amazing! This is definitely being added to our permanent Thanksgiving menu.

This is another new one we tried--Autumn Branches Punch. It is Pink Lady and Granny Smith apple slices, Apple Juice, Pear Nectar, a little bit of lime juice and Italian Apple Pear Soda. It tasted like fall...such great flavor!

We ended up with many, many desserts--pumpkin pie, brownies, banana bread, cheese ball & crackers, chocolates, nut bread, pecan pie and a tangerine cake.

This is the Tangerine Cake that Casey and I made, garnished with sugared cranberries. OH.MY.GOODNESS! This recipe is amazing!!! We love, love, love it!!!

We had my parents to share the holiday with and our good friends the McArthur's! It was such a great day!

The big kids sitting at their own table and eating a whole lot of food! They ate a lot!

Later in the evening the kids were piling up on my dad in the 'most comfortable chair in the world'! The McArthur kids pretty much adopted my dad and it was too cute watching them snuggle up with him!

And on a side note...it was SOOO much better a day when the Dallas Cowboys won their football game AND my Texas Longhorns beat Texas A&M too!!! GOOOOOOD football day as well!

Mckayla the Indian

2011-11-22T13:23:00.000-06:00

Wanna hear a funny story?

Last Wednesday afternoon after school, Mckayla told me, "Mom! I need you to sew me an Indian costume for my Thanksgiving feast tomorrow! I am supposed to dress up as an Indian and we have to have costumes."

It was a crazy day, lots to do, I was playing solo-mom since Casey was on shift and so without thinking of things like 'there was no note from the teacher about it' or 'they usually wear construction paper hats as a costume', I was more in the mode of, "Ok, well if there's one more thing to add to the list today, let's hurry and get moving on it!" All the meanwhile, laughing at her suggestion that I sew her something! HAHA! As if! This momma does not sew.

So I came up with an idea and we ran to Michael's!

A plain brown t-shirt, fringed and I puff painted 'turquoise beads' on it. We already had a leather headband and I just added feathers to it. Pretty great huh?!? She was SOOOO excited!!!

Here she is sitting with her class of Pilgrims and Indians during her Thanksgiving feast. Now, do you notice that they are all wearing construction paper costumes? Well, here's the rest of the story.

I was helping out as a class mom and was talking to her teacher while watching the kids party and I told her about Mckayla's costume and what she had told me the afternoon before about needing one. Her teacher started laughing and said, "Would you like me to tell you my side?" Apparently on Wednesday during school when the kids were starting to make their construction paper costumes Mckayla told her teacher, "I do not need a costume made out of paper because my mom is making me an Indian costume." The little stinker right!? But we all laughed so hard about it!

She enjoyed her Thanksgiving feast and her costume and if it made her feel a little bit extra special I guess that's not a bad thing!

Logan's Birthday Parties!

2011-11-20T21:53:00.001-06:00

Logan is turning 9!!! Can you believe it?! 9 years old...wow. So of course we had to celebrate!

The girl loves anything Paris or especially Eiffel Tower! So I made these invitations (with the help of my friend Kelli and her Criket!) and Logan loved them! Party in Paris!

This past Friday I took cupcakes to her classroom. The school rules are that you can only bring in store bought treats. BORING! So I bought cupcakes from HEB (our local grocery store for you non-Texans) and then I customized them!

Now aren't these MUCH better?!? Logan was SOOOO excited when I walked into her classroom and she saw them. That's what it's all about...the huge smile that hits her face and the way her blue eyes just sparkle.

We decorated for her birthday party...lots of balloons, swirlies hanging from the ceiling, beads hanging from the light fixture to make it look more like a chandelier...very festive!

A lit up Eiffel Tower centerpiece...

This is the cake that Casey and I made. The silhouette of the Paris skyline...maybe tweaked here and there to make it fit. (For those of you more familiar with the real skyline...no judging! Hahaha!) And we topped it off with a 12" solid chocolate Eiffel Tower.

My beautiful birthday girl!!! I remember, like it was yesterday, the day she was born.

Casey makes an awesome sous chef! The birthday party refreshments were tiny chicken salad tea sandwiches, fresh fruit and a veggie platter--(we didn't have anything left!) We were amazed that the veggies were the first to disappear.

Logan really wanted to use the punch bowl, so we got it out and the girls all dined on our fine china as well. The beverage was simply Diet Cherry 7-Up with fresh sliced lime...and the girls LOOOVED it!

Tabitha, Logan and Mckayla...I am so crazy about these girlies of mine!

It was so fun having so many of Logan's friends celebrate with us! She had several girls from school, church and our neighborhood show up. We are grateful for the good, sweet friends she has. In this picture she is so excited about the watch that Mckayla picked out and gave to her.

Mckayla also picked out this set of skull pajamas with guitar crossbones. She loves them...especially since the pants are fuzzy.

She was very, very excited about these pink tennis balls too! She has started taking tennis lessons from a good friend of ours and just loves it. She goes out and practices throwing up her serves almost every day.

This is her gift from me and Casey--a new bike! It was so sad watching her pedal on her old one with her knees up by her ears. Haha! This one should last her a little while even if she does keep growing. This was a sweet moment because she started crying. I appreciate her tenderness and sincere gratitude.

She received several other wonderful gifts from her friends and we are grateful for their thoughtfulness as well!

Logan with her birthday cake and her 9 candles. She was SOOOO excited about this cake! It was so fun to unveil it to her and see her reaction.

She asked for a yellow cake with chocolate frosting.

As a party activity, the girls all made their own party favor...a bracelet with pink and black glass beads. This was my favorite part of the afternoon--watching her sit around with her friends and listening to them chat with each other and interact. They really are good kids.

It was so fun to see the different bracelets that the girls created. Some went with a pattern, some just randomly put beads on. They were all so adorable though and best of all they walked away with a great little gift.
(Here, you can sorta, kinda see that she has a French braid in her hair too. She asked me to do one...hahahaha! Yeah right, I have NO idea how to do that. Fortunately my friend Kelli is AWESOME and lives right next door...so she did it and Logan was ecstatic!)

Later in the evening we had our family gathering with my parents and the Torrez Sisters. (We definitely include Jodi and Didi as family around here!) Jodi has been to every single one of Logan's birthday parties and Didi to most of them. I am grateful that they love my children so very much, and the feeling is definitely reciprocated!

Jodi and Didi spoil my girls ROTTEN!!! Logan ended up with so many things from them--the theme was definitely Skull stuff! Logan was so excited about this cup with a skull and crossbones on it.

Can you tell she's excited about the Eiffel Tower clock that she received from my sister and her family?!

And then in her "Shopping Trip in a Bag" from my parents, she received a gift card to her favorite clothing store among many other things.

For dinner we made French Toast (ha ha!) with bacon and fresh berries. For dessert we had French Vanilla Ice Cream (ha ha!) and "fancy" cookies.

Logan also enjoyed a bit of her chocolate Eiffel Tower.

It was too hard to bite into so we had to beat it into littler pieces. Logan loved this part! That face is hilarious!

Tabitha thought the ice cream was particularly yummy...and I thought it was particularly messy.

What a FUN day!!! Best of all, Logan felt special and that was the whole point to begin with!

Veteran's Day

2011-11-14T23:00:00.000-06:00

On Veteran's Day we took the girls over to my dad's school so that he could take them home with him for the weekend. It didn't occur to me that he would be wearing his Air Force uniform for Veteran's Day! As we walked into the office area the secretaries started commenting about us getting to see him "all dressed up" and then when I stepped around the corner, he stepped out of his office in his dress blues with his wheel cap on...I cried! My daddy looks AMAZING in his uniform! I am a VERY proud Air Force brat and I cherish my memories so very, very dearly of my dad coming to and from work every day in his uniform. I am grateful for him and for his service to our blessed country!

It also meant a lot to me for my girls to get to see him in his uniform and explain to them that part of their heritage...and that their other grandfather (Casey's dad) and their great-grandfather also wore the same uniform! We also mentioned the vast other members of our family who have served his nation so well.

Mckayla did what my sister and I did so often...put on the wheel cap!

God Bless our Troops!!!

Oobleck Dances on a Subwoofer

2011-11-11T11:39:00.000-06:00

The other night we did a little science experiment...Oobleck! 2 cups of cornstarch with 1 cup of water and it makes this crazy substance that is almost solid, almost plasma, almost liquid. Put it on a flat, thin cookie sheet, set it on a subwoofer, find some tones and watch the sound waves become 3-D!

The stuff is a little messy so we put down our "messy stuff cloth"...

Here's the beginning of what we found it could do...not a whole lot different from water. We decided our mixture was too thin so we added more cornstarch.

We also added various drops of food coloring to create an additional effect...

See it rising? It was like it was dancing.

It came up a good inch or so...moving and wriggling about...

We invited our neighbors over to join the entertainment...and use some of their cornstarch since we'd run out. Hehe!

After we were done playing on the subwoofer we moved the tray into the kitchen and let the kids play with it. They had a great time!

I love fun activities like this! The kids definitely had a blast but they also learned a little bit about sound waves too!

Halloween Geo-Caching

2011-11-06T22:04:00.000-06:00

On Halloween Day we went geo-caching and walking along a new trail near our home. The girls had their walking sticks, their little bags slung across their shoulders, Logan had her scarf...they were ready to go! They found a couple along the way. Mckayla walked into and through a cactus at one point--that was fun. Tabitha drank a blue gatorade and spilled it all over herself--she she was wet AND looked like Grover. Here Casey is telling the girls about these little yellow flowers we came across. The trail was so pretty with lots of wildflowers along the way--I love Texas for that reason (among many others).

Playing on the iPhone

2011-11-06T22:00:00.000-06:00

Last night my dad had a blast lounging in my 'most comfortable chair in the world' with the girls and playing on his iPhone and/or his iPad. This shot is when Logan and Tabitha were playing an air hockey game. Tabitha was just swiping at the screen and she was beating Logan! She ended up winning the game with no help from my dad. Haha!

Halloween 2011

2011-11-06T21:50:00.000-06:00

Halloween was once again a super fun time of the year! I love this spooky holiday. It was always my favorite as a kid and even as an adult I love it just as much!

This year the girls modeled (kind of) after the movie "How To Train Your Dragon"--if you've not seen it, it's about some Vikings who try to train dragons. So Logan and Mckayla were Vikings and Tabitha was a dragon. She wore the dragon costume that my sister and I made for Logan's first Halloween. I was glad to get one more use out of a costume that has such a special memory.

Tabitha wasn't going to wear the dragon hat...and wouldn't wear her boots. So she's a pink footed dragon. Haha! But she was ADORABLE!

I loved how the Viking costumes turned out! Casey made the wrist cuffs and did a really great job!

We took the girls to Sea World to get their faces painted so they could be even cooler Vikings!

This face melts my heart.

Now I think she just looks fantastic!!!

And how cuuuuute is she?!?!

Hehehe...Tabitha has a tail! She was extra cute when we could get her to Rowr!

Casey dressed up as The Swedish Chef and I was the mouse in his kitchen! (No, we were not 'Ratatouille'...that's a rat! I was a mouse.)

I thought Casey was an AWESOME Swedish Chef!!! I love that he participates in dressing up for Halloween.

Our big Halloween celebration this year was once again the Darnall Halloween Extravaganza! My parents are amazing and throw quite a haunted experience. This years theme was 'Alien Halloween'.
It is VERY difficult to get good pictures because it's meant to be experience in the dark with the blinking, flashing, glowing lights. So a camera flash messes that up, but without a flash you can't see it. So use your imagination and just know this is INCREDIBLE! My parents spend an entire week setting up and decorating, they had this plan LAST Halloween and already know the plan for NEXT Halloween. They do not invite other kids...they do it for their grandkids and daughters. (And since my sister moved to Alaska...they do it for just my family). I sometimes think it's sad more people can't see it, but think it's sooooo sweet that they love us so much to do it. We tried hard this year to convey to the girls just how amazing this whole thing is and how much they need to appreciate it.

Anyway...ok, here we go:

Tabitha is about the step in...she loved it!

This is right after my mom scared the ever living life out of me! She popped out from behind a sheet and yelled BOO! I screamed, had a heart attack, nearly died...and she laughed hysterically!
She was pretty excited to get to use her iPad for sound effects--bleeping, blipping Star Trek type sound effects.

The greatest thing about what they do, I think, is the little effects. The funs signs, the creative use of lights, glow sticks, blinky necklaces, paper spirals hanging down, the sound effects, etc etc.

There were several of these little wind-up glow in the dark alien/skeleton things walking around as we walked through the maze! Haha.

This is a good example of how my camera ruins the true experience. This thing glows green and the sign above it says "Caution Bio-Hazard"...so great!

All of this is dark, with blinking lights...you can see my wonderful friend Jodi through there in her black and seriously scary costume!

Traditionally we have a Skeleton Bride every year...this is the Alien Bride! Haha!

This is the Jack-O-Lantern Casey carved!

If you are familiar with Star Trek, you know the guys in the red shirts always die...I thought it was hilarious my mom included this feature.

You can kind of see the glowing green guy...

My amazing parents! I hope they know how very much we love and appreciate their creativity and time, energy and money spent to do this for us every year! It is one of my most favorite events of every year.

While my parents are in charge of the "entertainment", we are in charge of the dinner. This is our Witches Brew with dry ice. I love how it swirls and flows out.

We had Ghost Potatoes, Mummy Dogs, Brain in a Half Skull (deviled eggs)...

Casey also made Ribs...and we had Floating Ghosts (Root Beer floats) for dessert!

This is the video I took on my camera...it gives a little better view of what it was like walking through this Alien Halloween Experience. If you have your volume on, just into the beginning of the video you will hear my mom jump out and yell BOO! (for the second time) and (again) scare the ever living life out me! (for the second time).

My Three Amigos

2011-10-27T16:03:00.000-05:00

The other night after I got the kids to bed...after a VERY long, VERY difficult day...I hopped into my 'most comfortable chair in the world', threw a quilt over me and watched mindless television. It did not take very long for the cats to join me.

At first it was just Cayman (left) and Static (right) curled up on my feet...

Eventually Cheeto joined too up by my side and I had all three of them with me.

I love my cats. They're soft and snuggly and very sweet. I appreciated their companionship to wind down that particular evening.

Me and Angie

2011-10-25T11:29:00.000-05:00

One of my most favorite people on the planet came to visit San Antonio this past weekend...my aunt Angie! Actually, she's more like my ex-aunt-in-law...but she is and will always be family to me! I have loved her dearly since I was a kid. I have wonderful memories of her from my childhood and was so excited that she lived here in San Antonio when we first moved to Texas many years ago and I got to spend a lot of time with her then too. Since then the visits have been few and far between but they are always so very welcome and I wouldn't miss any of them. She has a sense of humor that never stops and she is one of the kindest people I know. I was SO thrilled for her to get to know my girls--for them to get to know HER! They hear about her all the time and now they know who she is. Mckayla's tag-along stuffed animal, Lambert, that she has carried around her whole life...Angie sent it to her before she was born. My girls, as I knew they would, instantly fell in love with her and with her husband, Elliott. We enjoyed a great evening wandering downtown San Antonio--the traditional viewing of The Alamo and then dinner on the Riverwalk. We had dinner at The Rainforest Cafe...the food there is lousy, but the atmosphere is a lot of fun and the visiting and conversation was wonderful. I hadn't had the opportunity in my other visits to chat with Elliott much and so this was a great visit to get to know him better. I like him! He is a great guy and he makes Angie happy. It was fun one of the evenings to watch the girls as they snuggled up next to her in the recliner and just chat, chat, chat. And then another evening when it was just the adults and we talked for a couple hours. As you do with most visits like this, I wish it had been longer and there would have been more time, but I am so glad they opted to come to San Antonio! I hope they loved it enough to come back again...SOON!

State Fair of Texas

2011-10-17T20:04:00.000-05:00

This past weekend we went to the State Fair of Texas up in Dallas. I had never been and was so very much looking forward to it. I didn't end up taking many pictures but here's what I got.

This is the 'Texas Star'. It is the tallest ferris wheel in the Western Hemisphere and the 25th tallest in the history of ferris wheels at 212.5 feet tall.You can see the Fort Worth skyline from the top of it and Fort Worth is almost 40 miles away.

Casey and the girls took a ride...I safely guarded the stroller. That's a wee bit too high for me to just be dangling in a basket.

This is Big Tex. He is the mascot of the fair. He is 52 feet tall, wears size 70 boots, a 75 gallon hat, his pants require 72 yards of denim and weigh 65 pounds. He has been an icon of the fair since 1952. I was really excited to see Big Tex! Fortunately I was able to quickly capture this shot of the girls in front of him but was unable to get one of me.

Tabitha...in Boots

2011-10-17T13:22:00.000-05:00

The other night Tabitha was playing in the big girls closet...she found Mckayla's boots. You'll notice she'd also been in the dress-ups and found a beaded necklace too. She LOVES to dress-up and hear all the oohing and aahing that you can possibly express. The girl lacks no self-esteem whatsoever. Haha! Look at that mane of hair too! I think I need to look into some haircut/trim options.

Halloween Spooky Kitty craft

2011-10-13T23:51:00.000-05:00

A friend of mine came up with this ridiculously cute and fun Halloween craft idea and when I saw it I immediately wanted to try it too! (Keep in mind that I am generally not a 'craft person')

I decided to make it a fun morning/afternoon of Halloween crafting with a couple good friends and my mom too!

We did tweak our version a bit to make a little more our own...Casey had this great idea of using wire hangers for whiskers!

We also had lunch...and the kids that were all here enjoyed some lunch on the patio together. Such an adorable group of kiddos! (My Tabitha is front right)

One of my favorite things about this was that we all had the same goal, same materials and yet all the cats looked completely different because each of us did our own thing with them. Here's my mom's finished product! So fun! She had the best whiskers!

Casey was SO awesome helping out! He cut the wood for me, he cut the whiskers for us, bent whiskers for us and even helped hammer some whiskers for us. I very much appreciate his support and help with nearly all my wild ideas.

Michelle and Kelli working away on their cats...paint, wood, tools...who doesn't love that!?

These are my Halloween Kitties! I loved doing this project! I thought it was such an awesome idea, it was so much fun to do, I LOVED spending the time with my friends and mom and I am so thrilled with the final result! I think they are ADOOORABLE!!!

Sea World

2011-10-13T23:36:00.000-05:00

We went to Sea World last weekend with my parents--it being their first time there! We LOVE to go to Sea World during Halloween because of the fun things they have around the park...not to mention we generally love going to Sea World anyway!

Logan and Mckayla were most excited to see Jack! "JACK IS BACK!!!" He is their Halloween character and quite a spooky looking guy...and they love him! They were SOOO excited to get a picture with him.

Of course our FAVORITE part of Sea World is Shamu! This show was particularly funny because they whales were not really into it--so there wasn't a whole lot to see. At one point the trainers were scurrying back and forth while whales were just swimming around or floating as they pleased. Whatcha gonna do about it right?! If a giant whale doesn't want to play, can't really make it. Haha. I love it though, it adds to their character and awe.

There was one whale that kept begging the trainer for more treats, without "earning" them. She would tell it to go do something and it would shake its head NO! (I recognized it because I have the same issue with my 18-month old! Hahaha!) This was repeated over and over, it was very funny!

The whales did cooperate for 'Splash Time' though and a whole lot of people got soaked! We chose not to be in those areas though...that water is COOOOLD!

I feel so silly for not getting any pictures of the girls with my parents there, or with the Halloween decor, or more of Tabitha...but we were too busy having fun and seeing everything.

As we were leaving the park that evening my parents stopped to pay for the girls to get their faces painted.

I don't think either of them have ever sat this still for this long!

Mckayla got a butterfly...very glittery and sparkly.

Logan got an Eye Swirl...it made those blue eyes pop!

As we were leaving the park they ran into Mrs. Jack and were excited to get a picture with her too. (At this point Tabitha was sitting in her stroller squeezing tightly to the stuffed dolphin we bought her in the gift shop)

I know it's not the most exciting blog post and definitely lacks photographs that should have been taken...but we had a REALLY great day and it was a whole, whole lot of fun being there to share it with my parents. I loved watching my dad tear up when he was sitting with his grandbabies watching the Beluga Whale show 'Azul', and watching him get so excited about seeing the penguins and learning that he LOVES penguins. It was fun watching my mom get a kick out of the big whales and all the Halloween decorations. It was fun walking through the kid-friendly haunted trail and all of us pretending to be scared with the kids...it was a great day.

Antique Show and some Geo-Caching along the way

2011-10-03T15:23:00.000-05:00

Last Friday we went on a day trip--our destination was Warrenton and Round Top--just a few hours from here. We were on our way to a huuuge antique show and as seems to be tradition now, we did some geo-caching along the way too.

We met my parents at this Buc-ee's gas station in Luling, TX. We had never been to a Buc-ee's before and I now understand some of the hype they receive. It's huge! There's some fun shopping available inside--for example my mom bought a cast iron wok. Camping and fried rice??? Haha.

Buc-ee's is most notably famous for their restrooms and how clean they are...I was not disappointed! There's great artwork as you walk in and it was nearly sparkly.

Casey and the girls were excited that this location also had some Geo-caching! At a far end of the parking light, hidden at a light pole was a cache. Another one found!!!

Next, we were on our way to Warrenton. Now, this is a small town area. Like a "blink and you'll miss it" kind of area. Not during their antique show! Tons of traffic, lots of people and soooooo many antiques! It was a lot of fun to walk through and I'm sure something we will attend annually.

Round Top is the town amongst all of this antique-ing--actually I think this is an old sign because I'm pretty sure we'd seen one that said 'Pop. 90'.

We were there for HOURS! The girls were all AMAZING! It was fun to show them various things and tell them what some of the old things used to be used for or how they worked. I was also amazed at how much Logan knew already. We are pretty sure that they learned a little more that day about history than they would have at school that day.

We also found a few fun things. For awhile now Casey has been wanting a fire hydrant--you know, firefighter and all. Anyway, he found one that he liked and it was for a great price...we now have a fire hydrant in our home! I also found an old well bucket. My great grandfather, Papa Dale, at Brown's Creek in West Virginia had a well and as kids my sister and I would often ask him to draw water for us and show us how it worked. He'd pull it on up and this old well bucket (a long, metal tube) would come up filled with water. I found one! A silly thing maybe, but something I have great memories of. I think it makes for a great display piece and definitely tells a story. We also found a few decor items for our bathroom that will make it a little nicer.

After a very, very long day of walking around and not even coming close to seeing all the tents it was time to call it a day. But before we headed home we needed to find one more geo-cache...

This little, and I do mean little, church is just about a mile up the road from where we were. The cache was hidden near a gravesite, in the hollow of a tree.

St. Martin's Church is 12 ft. x 16 ft., and has been proclaimed the "World's Smallest Active Catholic Church." Built in 1915 with leftover lumber from a school construction, it holds 12 wooden pews and seats about 20 people. A yearly service is held on November 11th - All Soul's Day.

This is what the inside of the church looks like.

It was a fun day. A long day, but a very fun day. I am grateful for family outings like this and seeing new and fun things along the way. It's what memories are made of.

Tabitha visits the Doctor

2011-09-23T20:15:00.000-05:00

Tabitha had her 18-month checkup this week. It was confirmed that she is adorable and incredibly healthy. =) The doc described her as "a healthy, tall-ish, chunk of a cutie!".

While we were waiting...and you know how those waits can sometimes get long...Tabitha was amusing me and so I snapped some shots with my camera phone. I realize you cannot fully see her cuteness because of blurs, etc...and you may not see the amusement that I did either...haha...but the girl never ceases to make me laugh.

Our pediatrician's office has a great waiting room outside that she thoroughly enjoyed, especially since she had it to herself. She also decided to do some rearranging. There were two kid tables like this one...and she moved them all over the place.

The funniest part was not captured...and that's the grunting that she is doing as she shows her super strength.

Once they took us back to the room to wait, and again we waiting some more...she found plenty of things to check out, look into, etc.

It ROLLS! She loved this feature!

There was a handle back there that was moving the tabletop back and forth.

She discovered the "cave" and then she was scooting back and forth on her bottom across the floor.

She is like the energizer bunny...NON-STOP! She goes and goes. She loves to be entertained and if not will find her own entertainment--whether I like it or not. She also never thinks her audience is big enough.

Tabitha Marie

2011-09-13T18:08:00.000-05:00

Tabitha is growing SO fast! I often tell people that I feel like I got jipped with this one. She did not stay 'baby' very long. She is a running, climbing, talking, funny little toddler who's very quickly on her way to being a little girl. She is doing her very best to catch up to her big sisters.

She makes me smile and makes me laugh every single day and many, many times a day at that.

I wish I could keep her this size (with maybe a little more cooperation) forever and ever!!!

Fishing Cat

2011-09-07T14:06:00.000-05:00

I know, I know...one more picture of a cat. Having a kitten is pretty funny though and offer many photo ops.

He is fascinated with Casey's fish tank and is determined to one day catch a fish.

Who needs a bed?!

2011-09-05T21:13:00.000-05:00

The other night I went in to check on the girls before I myself went to bed. I looked in their room and saw empty beds. You see that this is a rather large bunkbed...a twin sized bed on the top and a full sized bed on the bottom...

And this is where they chose to sleep...

And not only did they decide sleeping on the floor would be so much cooler...but crammed underneath the table?!? Odd kids.

(I moved the table from atop them, as to avoid bruised heads if they got up in the middle of the night)

Phineas & Ferb on a REALLY hot day

2011-08-31T14:02:00.000-05:00

This past weekend I found a note on Facebook that mentioned that Perry the Platy-bus was in town at an HEB (our grocery store chain)--us being big Phineas and Ferb fans, and knowing the girls would LOOOVE it, decided to go check it out. Besides, we needed to do some grocery shopping anyway.

I got some MEGA brownie points from the big girls for this one. They saw it as we pulled into the parking lot and there was shrieking and squealing and yelling. (We hadn't told them where we were going) I had never heard of Perry the Platy-bus before, but apparently they had.

Tabitha found this little bench delightful!

The girls walked away with a few free goodies--some P&F fake tattoos, buttons, frisbees, etc.

The bus was VERY cool looking. I love how much it does actually resemble Perry the Platypus. We waited in line for about 30 minutes or so for the girls to go inside. Did I mention it was also the hottest weekend of the year? It was easily 110 degrees when we were out there. But...we love our girls and braved the elements.

I got into the spirit of the day and pulled out my Perry t-shirt. Yes, I was the cool mom there. Haha!

The Three MouseCATeers

2011-08-30T20:59:00.000-05:00

Our cats. They are lazy. They are spoiled. But they are REALLY cute!!!

Cayman has recently discovered lounging on the top of the recliner.

Static does not care for it when we vacuum. He assumes this spot on the couch and glares the whole time...every time we vacuum.

Ooops...forgot to flip that picture. Oh well, just turn your head to the side. Could Cheeto look any more comfortable?

Oh wait...he possibly looks more comfortable in this picture.

But there is NO way he could look ANY cuter!!!

First Day of School 2011

2011-08-22T10:52:00.000-05:00

Today was Logan and Mckayla's first day of school! Mckayla started Kindergarten and Logan started 3rd grade!

Mckayla walking up to school for the first time...she was very excited!

I can't believe that she is already old enough to be in school. All morning I have been picturing the day she was born and when I first laid eyes on her beauty. She is such an amazing kid! I love her so very much! I will miss her every day she's at school. I hope that she loves Kindergarten and that she learns and loves the experience.

They both looked so cute in their new outfits and sparkly new shoes! It's so fun seeing all the kids walking into school on the first day.

Logan is a 3rd grader this year and she is SOOO excited about the teacher she has! She is anxious to see her friends and see what all she is going to learn this year. I hope it lives up to her expectations. Casey and I both commented after we dropped them off, how big Logan is this year! She is growing up so quickly...too fast for my liking.

So I reminisced...

First day of 2nd grade...

First day of 1st grade...

First day of Kindergarten...

Ford Canoe Challenge 2011

2011-08-22T10:39:00.000-05:00

This past weekend Casey and I participated in the 43rd Annual Ford Canoe Challenge on the Riverwalk.

We had never heard of this event and thought it would be fun to give it a shot. I think canoes are so fun and who doesn't love the Riverwalk?! Perfect combination.

We came in 2nd place in our heat and 5th place in our division, with a time of 7 minutes and 6 seconds. It was a lot of fun!!! We didn't flip or sink...a feat many other teams did not accomplish. (And yes, I did say 'sink')

Casey and I made a great team--especially since we'd never been in a canoe together. We managed to steer our canoe well and enjoy the ride.

Looking forward to next year!

Bevo Sighting

2011-08-21T21:07:00.000-05:00

The other day when we were heading home from San Marcos, we merged onto the highway and this trailer was right in front of us...BEVO!!!!!! (For those of you who are not familiar...it is the Texas Longhorn's mascot...a huge Longhorn!)

I immediately asked Casey to snap pictures with my camera phone...hehe...he's such a good sport. =)

You can sorta, kinda see him! But believe me...he's HUGE!!! Those horns were looooong!!! They were...*wait for it*...LONGHORNS!!!

Hahahaha!!!

Anyway, being a big Texas Longhorns fan--and the fact that I pretty much love cows too...I was super excited!!!

Beautiful Burger

2011-08-21T21:02:00.000-05:00

This is THE best burger...ON THE PLANET!!! Seriously.

Red Robin's Bonzai Burger.

Teriyaki marinated burger with an amazing teriyaki sauce, grilled pineapple, mayo, lettuce, cheddar...my mouth is watering right now.

I LOOOVE this burger!

Let's Tour San Antonio!

2011-08-18T22:49:00.000-05:00

On Wednesday we did some touring around San Antonio! There is so much to see and do here and bit by bit we'll get it all done!

I think there are so many beautiful aspects to San Antonio. This fountain is just off the back corner of the Alamo walls. Of course it's not running because we're in the middle of a massive drought and have not seen rain in months!

Beautiful flowers along the way...

I love, love, LOVE this shot! The cactus against the old Alamo wall! If this isn't a snapshot of Texas, what is!?

The beautiful archways of the Alamo walls.

This massive oak tree is outside the Alamo walls and its branches are amazing!

Can't go downtown without capturing the Alamo!

Our big reason for playing tourist today was so that we could ride on the big red Double Decker bus. Mckayla saw one of these buses in a parade earlier this year and has wanted to ride one ever since! And yes, even in the 100+ degree temperatures, we rode ON TOP! Mckayla LOVED it!

And we FINALLY got to go to the Spanish Governor's Palace!!! I have been wanting to come here for a long time now and it just hadn't happened yet. I love the quote on this plaque: "Where traditions of glamorous days, romance and tragedy still linger."

This is a beautiful building! It was built nearly 300 years ago and, obviously, its history spans so much of the history of San Antonio.

There was a well in the courtyard where the girls made their wishes and dropped a penny into the well.

This courtyward was BEAUTIFUL!!!

I very much enjoy sharing historical places like this with the girls. They really are interested and it's fun to share with them and help them relate bits and pieces of it to their own lives.

Can you imagine cooking in this kitchen???

The front of the Spanish Governor's Palace.

Afterwards we hopped back up on the bus, drove around some more, listened to some great facts about San Antonio, nearly died of heat stroke...and headed to the nearby mall for lunch and A/C!!!

While we were in the mall we also decided to check out their Dinosaur Quest. Logan, since she was small, has been fascinated by dinosaurs. I'm pretty sure we won't ever go back, I'm not sure I'd recommend it to anyone else...but we can say we've 'been there, done that'. Haha.

The skeletons are fake but very real looking. They are lit by various colored lights. It's about half-way cool. If they spent a little more time/money/energy on making the displays more than a skeleton set up in the middle of the floor it might be better.

Logan would be squashed if she ever came across T-Rex! (This is how big his leg would be)

It was fascinating to see and hear how many of the dinosaurs Logan knew and how well she pronounced their names.

The girls enjoyed themselves and seeing what they think were real dino bones. =) That was really the whole point anyway!

And while wandering around the mall, I ran into John Wayne!!!

Alligator Cake August 2011

2011-08-14T16:46:00.001-05:00

I made this cake last week. It was my parents anniversary and my dad had been commenting about the fact that when they got married he did not get to taste any of his groom's cake. A perfect excuse to make a cake! And when I'd had this idea for a cake--the alligator, it was even better!

The pictures below are what inspired my cake idea. I think it worked out well! It was definitely what I envisioned! The fondant color worked out perfectly, Casey made eyes out for sugar candy for me that turned out perfectly, the "muddy river", the green cloves just like in the swamp...and it tasted good too! (The cake itself was chocolate) And if you noticed, the cake says "Suzie". The gator that inspired this cake was named 'Suzie' and that's what my dad calls my mom too!

I LOVED making this cake. It was SO fun! I love when I can come up with a fun idea and execute it. This cake is definitely at the top, as one of my favorites.

(Hehehe...pretty gators! I love looking at these pictures.)

Mckayla is losing her teeth!

2011-08-14T16:12:00.000-05:00

Excuse the camera phone shot...but you get the idea!

Mckayla lost her first tooth on Friday!

Fortunately my mom was here hanging out for the day so she pulled it! Hahaha!

(I will if I HAVE to...but if someone else is willing, I'm happy to share!)

GeoCaching

2011-08-14T15:04:00.000-05:00

Casey looked into geocaching awhile ago and recently we've started getting into it quite a bit. Most geocaching involves hiking around a park somewhere, but this adventure had us driving around old Kelly Air Force Base--which is now Port San Antonio and open to the public. We'd drive up to the displays and look for the clues or the cache. This particular version worked well with how hot it was because we'd be out for a few minutes and then hop back into the A/C.

This is the B-58. It is a large plane and one that was neat to see so upclose. The girls and Casey enjoyed looking for their clue here.

Across the street from the B-58 I noticed this memorial area so we wandered over to check it out. It was beautiful! This flag is amazing. Every other brick is the name of someone from the S.A. area killed in action. Surrounding are busts of notable S.A. citizens who had an impact on the military history here.

"The American flag stands before the world as a guiding symbol of liberty and freedom. This monument is dedicated to the men and women who in times of conflict have responded with a tireless and unwavering devotion to uphold and defend those ideas."

"One Flag. One Land. One Heart. One Hand. One Nation. Evermore."

This is a 'Dart'. Mckayla found this cache hidden in the nearby bushes.

This is the F-15...

We looked long and hard in this one! Heads up through the landing gear, popping open compartment doors, etc as we looked for this cache! Unfortunately we never found it--think someone didn't return it. =( But it was fun getting so close and nosey with this plane!

This cache was hidden in this light post! It really was a clever place to hide it--not sure many people would try lifting pieces of the light. Haha.

We didn't find the cache here...seeing as they've recently started to demolish this water tower! Haha. We made sure to note on the website that this one is gone now. =)

It was a SCORCHER! After we finished up, we headed to Sonic for some cold slushies!

We enjoy the geocaching. It is a great time to spend together as a family and have some fun. Thank you Casey!!!

Miscellaneous Tabitha pictures

2011-08-11T00:30:00.000-05:00

Have I ever mentioned that Tabitha is a big ham? That she loves to show off, be oohed and aahed at and receive any and all attention she can possibly get? Her favorite thing to do is try things on and see what reaction she will get from us. (And really, no wonder she does because we give her all sorts of praise and adoration!)

Anyway, the other day she put on one of the girls bathrobes. SO CUTE!!!

And then later in the day she tried on some little pink cowboy boots! ADORABLE!!!

And then today she was trying on hats...PRECIOUS!!!

We love Tabitha! She is so wonderful! I light up around this kid and I feel it every time I see her. She is so very special to me and I am so grateful for her!

Random cat photo

2011-08-08T01:12:00.002-05:00

This is Static...

Can you tell he lives a hard life?

Texas Mini-Vacation July/August 2011

2011-08-04T22:28:00.000-05:00

This past week our family took the opportunity of some of Casey's vacation time and a little wander lust to go see parts of Texas we had not yet been. Our destination: Brenham, TX!

Brenham, as we found, is such a great little town! It is right in the middle of a lot of old Texas history and from that has created an identity all itself. We thoroughly enjoyed seeing it.

This is the Wood-Hughes House near downtown Brenham. It is a private home and when we looked it up it doesn't have any significant history other than it's old--but man oh man it is BEAUTIFUL!

As we wandered downtown a little bit we came across this old building with these old red doors. Just a fun little photo moment with Logan and Mckayla.

Brenham doesn't have any buildings older than 1880 because of a number of fires. There is now this little Fire Museum in the middle of town. Unfortunately it was closed so we just peeked in from the outside. But here Casey is standing in front of the 1894-ish, 5500 lb, coal-fired fire engine. It would be pulled by two very strong, well-trained horses.

There were two antique fire trucks inside the museum that looked like they had been amazingly restored! They were pretty awesome looking.

The fire station museum. We were sad it was closed the whole time we were there because it looks like it was a neat place.

Brenham is probably most famous for being the home of the famous Blue Blue Ice Cream factory. They offer tours that show a little of how they make their ice cream and at the end they give you free scoops. YUMMY! Mckayla ordered her favorite Rainbow Sherbet, Logan chose the #1 Blue Bell flavor Homemade Vanilla...and Tabitha had that too. Casey loved his pick of Peaches & Homemade and I chose Cookies & Cream because we watched them make that particular flavor.

As you can see, smiles all around!

Blue Bell was fun to tour. I recommend it to anyone in the area.

Tabitha got a big kick out of the statue out front. She was moo-ing at the cow. That's my girl!

Next we headed a little ways up the road toward Washington-On-The-Brazos--the Birthplace of Texas! I was VERY excited about this particular leg of the trip.

On the road we came across this sign: "Notice: You're in the FM 912 (a road name) Watch Area. All citizens are armed!" Haha! We turned around and went back to get a picture of this sign. Gotta love it!

In the museum I came across this sign. I LOVED this!!! If you cannot see, it is a quote from "Travels with Charley". Not quite the spelling of my name, but not far off and definitely something I would say. Haha.

Washington-on-the-Brazos is the Birthplace of Texas because it is where the Texas Declaration of Independence was created and signed.

The location is in Washington, Texas and it is located just off of the Brazos River--thus the name. This building is Independence Hall.

Right now, in this picture, I am LOVING THIS! The history, to me, is amazing! In this building men gathered and debated, argued, listened and prayed for what they should do that would ensure a better life for them and their prosperity. They were tired of the Mexican tyranny and wanted a better life. They knew that an independent Texas would get that but they also knew that they themselves were putting their lives and those of their families in danger by signing. And in 1836 they did it anyway.

I am glad my girls were here too!

Sometimes you can be someplace other than in church or other religious locations and feel a reverence--and I very much felt that in this building. I felt the significance of what happened here and all that it has since meant. Yes, it was the Independence of this state that I really do love but in the bigger picture it was a huge part of American history! "Texas" at that time was also what we know today as New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, parts of Utah, etc. So in 1845 when Texas became the 28th state, it was so much more than what Texas is today. Anyway, it was a special moment for me sitting in this room imagining what happened and the conversations that took place.

In the museum I had been discussing with Logan some of the daily living history like what school was like. This is a bench that a school child would have sat upon.

Huh...looks like a Blue Bell Creamery picture got out of order. My girls!!!

Back to Independence Hall now. I love this picture of Mckayla looking out the window. =) Isn't the wood in this building amazing?

There was a second museum that we ventured into and this particular display caught Tabitha's attention.

I love Historical Markers. I think a great trip would be stopping at all Historical Markers you came across.

Another picture that snuck its way somewhere else...but another marker. =)

My mom is a quilter and so I took definite notice of this display.

Tabitha finding her inner-Cherokee heritage!

Texas eventually became the 28th State in The United States of America! This is one of the original flags from that occasion...just can't recall at this moment which one.

One of the museum displays had this "riverboat" kids could climb onto and steer the Brazos...Mckayla particularly enjoyed this one.

This is the Riverboat that was replicated.

There were great quotes all throughout the museum. I want a bumper sticker of so many of them. Haha!

Another rogue picture...this is just another inside shot of Independence Hall and what it looks like now and then.

Another great quote...

There was also a Living History Museum that was once the Anson Jones farm. He was the President of Texas when it joined the U.S. This is part of that farm. Normally there are people wandering around, things that you can try to do hands-on...but that doesn't happen when it's 108 degrees! We just look, take some pictures and then climb back into the air conditioned car and read about what it might have been like on our internet phones. Haha!

The farm home. They're currently restoring the roof.

The barn. Inside there were turkeys, a pig and some chickens.

Old slave quarters.

On our way out we came across these Longhorns. LOOOOVE them!!! I really think this one wanted to come home with me. (It probably would have once it felt the A/C from my Jeep!)

The 3 pictures above...if you can imagine them strung together from left to right in a panoramic sort of shot...this is a property we drove past that we thought was fantastic! There was a historic plaque on the door, but nowhere near the road. So sad.

Another old looking place we drove past that had no marker.

The next day we wandered around downtown Brenham and visited the Olde Towne Bakery (SOOO GOOD!!!) for breakfast. They are also famous for their cake decorating. I very much enjoyed speaking to the owner about her cake business and was given the opportunity to show her a few pictures of mine. I was extremely happy that she was so sincerely complimentary of my work. We also wandered through some antique shops. My fun find--a 1930's postcard from Cuba!!! I definitely do not have Cuba in my collection so I was excited about that. We found a few other things and even bought some original Brenham artwork to display in our home.

Next we headed off to The Jersey Barnyard near La Grange, TX to visit their Dairy Farm. We thought it would be a lot of fun, (who can't resist cows!?!?!), but we also figured the girls would especially enjoy the variety of animals and the experiences they could have.

Some of Tabitha's favorite books are the ones with animals. She was so much fun to watch.

She cock-a-doodle-dooed at this chicken.

She neighed at the pony.

Chickens have ears! Who knew!? Haha. This particular species of chicken also lays colored eggs--we saw a green one this one had laid.

Feeding the chickens cheerios! They peck hard at your hand! Haha. Tabitha was only happy to watch. Haha.

Mckayla feeding the ducks.

Tabitha got a kick out of feeding the ducks with Casey.

WE GOT TO FEED BOTTLES TO BABY COWS!!!!!! THEY'RE SOOOOO CUUUTE!!!!!!!!!

This cow DEFINITELY wanted to come home with me!!! How sweet!!!

Look at that sweet, beautiful, adorable face!!!!!!!!! This one was trying to chew its way out to follow me home. Mooooooooo!!! Oh he's precious!!!

We also got to learn how to milk a cow. Hehehe! I have never had the opportunity to milk a cow before so I was pretty stoked for this part of the afternoon. Logan really enjoyed it too! Mckayla...not so much. Haha.

Logan is startin' to think like her momma now...she's thinkin', "I want to take this cow home with me!"

And lastly, just a fun photo-op of the cows, under a tree with an old rusted out car.

We had a GREAT trip! Ending it off we traveled through Lockhart, TX to have dinner at the famous Kreuz Market for the great bbq. Their slogan is "No Sauce No Forks". (I was not a huge fan of the no sauce part because I love bbq sauce!) It was good meat. Also, when Casey was a kid he lived in Lockhart for a couple of years so we drove past the home he'd lived in and the school he went to.

I am grateful for such a fun family and the adventures we have together!!! Oh yeah...and, GOD BLESS TEXAS! =)

Road Trip through the Deep South July 2011

2011-08-03T17:01:00.000-05:00

July 23-29th I had the opportunity to go on a Road Trip through the deep South with my very good and dear friend Melinda. She was moving out to North Carolina so I went with her to enjoy the trip, help her get settled and then I flew home. For months I have been very excited about this trip and seeing parts of this great country that I had not yet seen, and to be able to spend that time with Melinda. It was an AWESOME trip! I was not disappointed! This country is AMAZING! It is beautiful! The history is fascinating! And I very much enjoyed sharing it with my friend.

Sooo...if you're interested in reading further, there are a LOT of pictures coming up!

This is the Memorial at San Jacinto! As we were driving on the eastern side of Houston I was looking out the window and seeing this as we were getting closer and suddenly realized what it was! I was so excited! This marks the spot of the Battle of San Jacinto--the final battle in the fight for Texas Independence. We tried to get out to the actual site but the only ferry boat to get there from where we were was closed. So we took pictures from afar and then continued on our way.
(Have no clue why the bottom part of the picture is missing...ah well)

Leaving Texas and heading into Louisiana...

We stopped in New Orleans on the first night. I had never been to New Orleans and wanted to see it. This is the Mighty Mississippi! I was pretty excited to get to see this great river again. We crossed it a thousand times when I was kid moving here and there or traveling to and fro, but it's been a lot of years since I'd last seen it.

Our first Alligator encounter...what we didn't know is that there'd be many more to come!

Is this not picturesque? The tuba man walking down the streets of New Orleans.

One of the streets of the historical district in New Orleans...notice it is wet and rainy.

This was a place that Casey had highly recommended we stop to eat...too bad it was closed! But he's raved about their Muffeletta sandwich for years so I had to give a shout out.

Our goal for dinner that evening was for Melinda to get to try a Muffeletta. I had a really yummy gyro.

My goal was to try the famous Cafe Du Monde beignets. I've tried making them at home and sure enough I was doing it right--tasted just the same. The ambience of this place was a whole lot of fun though!

I was glad to get to see parts of New Orleans. I was very sad to see that it really is what people say...dirty and pretty beat down. It is unfortunate that a city with such a history and such a unique quality to it isn't better taken care of. The architecture in the historic district is beautiful! (Well, what's kept up with anyway) So for me this was a "glad I got to go, but been there...done that".

The next day we traveled a little ways up to the road to head to Cajun Encounters where we were going on a Swamp Tour!!! We wanted to see the real Louisiana and possibly some gators too!

And sure enough...right when we got in the boat....

Our first alligator! This was a little one, probably only 2 feet long, swimming along past our boat to go hide in some trees overhanging the river.

I was pretty happy at this point, if we saw nothing else I had at least seen one.

Now I was really excited about seeing the environment of Louisiana and being down in the swamp and the bayou...it is BEAUTIFUL!

And then we saw another alligator! This was is maybe 5 feet long and was just chillin' out on a log as we went cruising by on our boat. How cool is that?!

We were on the Pearl River and unfortunately these pictures really are not doing it justice. It's also not accurately depicting how HUMID it was!

The Pearl River and especially this area we were in is where the eye of Hurricane Katrina came up. We saw a few spots of debris still laying about, like this fridge. Our boat captain pointed out areas that used to be rows of homes and house boats but that were all destroyed by Katrina. Katrina also changed the river and ecosystem--where there were trees, there now weren't any or where there weren't waterways, there now were new waterways.

These big beautiful trees with the moss hanging off them were my favorite.

This shot is an area that used to be thick full of trees until Katrina came along...now it's a marsh.

These white birds are EVERYWHERE!

This turtle species, and I have no forgotten the name, only exists in this part of the Pearl River. You won't find it anywhere else.

Blue Heron...though so elegant looking, you can imagine that we were all secretly hoping that an alligator would suddenly leap out and grab it.

This is "Cindy". She was hiding up by the bank, under some branches.

This is all we could see of her for awhile, just her head. Our captain told us that in order to determine the length of a gator you measure the distance from their eyes to snout and whatever that is is inches...they're that long in feet. This alligator was about 9 feet long.

Here she's moved a little more and so we're starting to see her back some.

She's getting closer! The bar in the bottom left of the picture of the rail of the boat.

This gator is our captain's favorite. He was feeding her hotdog pieces. The alligators recognize the tour boats so they will come up to them a lot of the time, knowing they'll get a snack. They will not go up to the other boats in the river--those of people who are fishing.

If you look closely, in this picture you can see the length of "Cindy". Her tail is just under those branches in the top right. She's a big 'un! And SOOO beautiful!!!

Me and Cindy!

Cindy moved toward our end of the boat to get more treats from the captain and she stopped RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME!!! She is literally only inches from me.

This is NOT zoomed! Easily like 10 inches from me. It was so hard to resist not trying to reach out and pet her. Isn't she amazing?!

After we were done adoring Cindy we moved on and this another alligator came swimming by. He was probably about 5 feet long but he ignored us. I VERY much appreciated that this tour was not one to harass the alligators! We got to get close to the gators if they were interested, otherwise we left them alone.

A racoon braving it in the water...another moment we sorta kinda hoped to see some dinner-time action.

This is "Susie"! We went back into the swampy part of the river to find her. How cool does that look, her swimming through the green?!

The captain threw a marshmallow out there to try and lure her closer.

Chomp chomp!

This is another super close shot! She is right in front of me! Hehehehehe!!! I was beyond excited and giddy!

She was very different looking from Cindy. A lot darker, a lot sleeker looking. But she was just as big...about 9 feet long. You'd have never known it!

I thought this part of the tour, back in these trees, was A-MA-ZING!!! Soooo beautiful!!!

I plan on getting a print made of this picture. I LOVE it!

If you were to ask me what my favorite part of this trip was, there's a pretty good chance I am going to say that it was this tour. It was exactly what I was hoping it would be! Yeah we got to see some gators, but really it's because it was just SO beautiful!!!

Alabama!!! This day was our LOOONG driving day. We drove for over 11 hours from eastern Louisiana heading toward Savannah, Georgia.

In Montgomery, Alabama we stopped to get gas and I noticed a sign that said the Confederate White House was about 3 blocks over. I could not miss this opportunity! Growing up with two parents who are very interested in the Civil War, having ancestory that is a significant part of Civil War history, etc--I was pretty excited to see this part of Civil War history.

And now I have some family history to dive into, because this sign states that 'William Sayre' built it--Sayre is a family last name! My great-grandfather was a Sayre. So I'm looking forward to looking more into that!

By the time we were here the museum was closed, so we just took a few pictures outside. Good enough for me! I wikipedia-ed about it later! =) I used wikipedia a LOT on this trip!

After a long day of driving, we arrived in Savannah and checked it out the next day!

I'm a big Paula Deen fan so of course I had to see her restaurant "Lady & Sons"! We did not have time to eat there (they only take reservations and we were limited on time) but I'll DEFINITELY be back!

Savannah is GORGEOUS!!! I was in awe as we drove around, rode around (took a trolley tour) and walked around! It is really amazing. The history here is overwhelming! Savannah is one of few major Southern cities from the Civil War era that General Sherman did not burn. He presented it as a 'gift' to President Lincoln for Christmas, and Lincoln told him to leave it alone. So because of that, the homes are still there and have been maintained so well! But don't forget, they're not just Civil War era homes...also Colonial...and pre-Colonial!!!

There are these big, beautiful, moss covered trees everywhere! And oh yeah...CRAZY HUMIDITY!!!

This is one of the many waterways that is so significant in the history of the cotton industry. Cotton was shipped in and out of here. And before that...Pirate ships!!!

This building is OLD! We could never find a year for it, but it is Colonial. The cotton was brought through here. Now it houses various businesses and shops...one of which was a great candy shop.

There was candy everywhere! On the ceiling there was this track that taffy would run along as they pulled it.

These planks is where they'd carry the cotton across and people who come out yelling the current cotton prices to the buyers below...long ago.

These roads were these large cobble stones. The ships would come across with the stones in their hulls to help balance the ships...but when they were leaving here, they were full, so the stones would be left behind...building these roads and walls. The trolley driver, in apologizing for the VERY bumpy ride, "It's not my fault. It's not the trolley's fault. It's the asphault." Hehe.

For lunch we ate at The Pirate House. It is an OLD, OLD, OLD building! It was a pirate tavern/bar for the likes of various pirates who came to Savannah, including Black Beard. It is now a restaurant and we had DELICIOUS food there! The amazing thing about this place is how original and authentic SO much of it is. There has been some work to keep up with building codes but it is very original.

One of the hallways.

This is looking down into one of the tunnels that people might "disappear" into...

(read the sign)

And a stairwell to the tunnel they might "disappear" into...

This doorway is leading into the Herb House which is THE oldest structure in the state of Georgia! Many, many, many years ago they attached it to the Pirate House restaurant.

Standing in the oldest structure in Georgia. Original floors.

Me and Melinda outside of The Pirate House.

What you see has been repainted a time or two, but is all original. This is the outside view of the Herb House.

The front of The Pirate House.

What you see is original--all the wood, all the brick, the gates, etc. If you look inside the gate, there is a well and it's where water was retrieved to bathe in...and then that water was used to wash the dishes. Eeew.

After The Pirate House we went back to Paula Deen's so I could peruse the shop. And I "met" Miss Paula!

There are little squares like this ALL over Savannah! This particular one is where the Declaration of Independence was read for the very first time.

One our trolley tour, this ice cream place was pointed out to us. It was recently listed as a Top 10 Ice Cream place in THE WORLD! We could not resist that! The ice cream was pretty good. =)

I will DEFINITELY be returning to Savannah! I cannot wait to go back with Casey and see more! I think one of my favorite 'facts' of Savannah was when the tour guide pointed out the Confederate War Memorial to us in one of the parks. The Daughters of the Confederacy and other Civil War Confederate families raised money 10 years after the war to purchase a memorial. The Union would not help with funding. They decided then to have the memorial built in Canada and when it was complete they shipped via ocean routes to Savannah...so that it would NEVER touch Northern soil. Haha! Love the ornery nature of that!

After our morning/afternoon in Savannah we headed up the road a little ways to Beaufort, South Carolina. Melinda's mom had recommended it to us as another place we'd probably enjoy.

We came across this old church and cemetery in Beaufort and wandered through it a bit.

The history in this town is pretty amazing too. This is a gravesite of a Confederate soldier who died in the war.

This gravesite has the death date in the year of 1734!

We came across this marsh on our drive and stopped to check it out. It was so beautiful!

These little tiny crabs where all over the place in the water.

We walked all the way out on this pier/boardwalk to that grove of trees.

Melinda and a great photo-op. I told her to be careful not to lose her flip flops because I was not going in after them.

Right before we left, someone else came along, so we were able to have them take our picture. Again though, these photos don't do this location justice. It was so beautiful.

We headed over to Hunting Island State Park and as we drove in...we came across this sign.

We thought, surely we can find an alligator! Probably not...but hopefully!!!

AND WE DID!!!!!! We found this alligator all by ourselves! No one else was around! No tour guide! No hot dogs! No marshmallows! ALL.BY.OURSELVES! And we took a hundred pictures!

She found us too...and was getting closer.

And closer.

We were SOOO excited! We were seriously giddy...even Melinda!

And closer. At this point we started determining that she was going to have to come uphill, there was a wooden fence between us, and our Jeep was right behind us...so we could get there is she started running at us. She really is only about 10-12 yards from us and she was about 10 feet long. SOOO COOL!!! This was a BIG highlight of our trip...finding a gator all by ourselves.

We wandered a bit more through the park and walked down onto the beach.

It was so beautiful! I love this shot! Another one I will probably get a print of.

I made sure to dip my toes in the Atlantic Ocean again...it'd been MANY years since I'd done so. I also grabbed some Atlantic Ocean seashells for Mckayla to add to her collection. She was VERY excited.

Despite the alligator discovery and the beautiful beach, this was actually our destination--this lighthouse. And it was worth seeing!

Isn't that amazing?!?!

Another favorite shot that I will probably get a print of.

If you're ever out in South Carolina, I definitely recommend Beaufort!

We left Beaufort that evening and headed up to Charleston, South Carolina. That evening we wandered through a few neighborhoods and saw some gorgeous homes! We also ate a delicious meal downtown. But we were exhausted and time was running short, so we called it a night.

The next morning we ventured over to take a tour of Fort Sumter--where the first shots of the Civil War were fired.

Fort Sumter as it looks now. When it was built its walls were much taller and cannons peered out from all directions. However, it was not complete when the Confederate soldiers began firing upon it and though it was built to man about 650 troops, there were only about 80 there at the time.

As we were walking up to the fort, we all stopped to watch a disturbance in the water...to very quickly discover we were watching a Sand Shark attack its prey!

It was rainey on this day too. I bought a plastic poncho and then it just drizzled!!! I like to think though, that I saved the other tourists from a drenching. Had I not bought the overpriced plastic bag, we would have been poured on.

The old walls and bricks were amazing. Our tour guide told us that if you look closely at some of them you can see the fingerprints or handprints of the slaves who made these bricks. I did not, but the thought was fascinating. The sacrifice that those men and women made to build our country is humbling...and in circumstances I cannot obviously fathom.

Me and Melinda and a giant cannon!

The view across to Charleston.

There is our ferry boat. It is a 30 minute ferry ride out to the fort. You can also see a few of the cannons. This was obviously not their original placement...and there were far greater numbers of cannons.

This is THE original flag that flew at Fort Sumter when it was attacked. I LOVE that this piece of history was preserved! It is amazing to see in person.

This wall is leaning. It is leaning because of the cannon blasts that nearly knocked it over. This wall is part of the room that housed the munnitions. When the Confederates started targeting this spot and getting closer and closer, the Union surrendered before the whole thing was blown up and numerous lives were lost. I very much enjoyed seeing Fort Sumter and learning more about that history.

Charleston was beautiful and a city that I would also like to return to. A favorite thing of mine was these old lanterns outside the homes. They were flame lit and not light bulbs. The light they emitted was so beautiful and authentic looking. I loved them.

After spending a few hours in Charleston, SC we headed on up the road to Durham, North Carolina! This was our final destination. North Carolina is beautiful! It is also VEEERY humid! We have heat in Texas but our humidity is nothing!

For lunch one of the afternoon's in Durham we ate at this burger joint that Melinda had learned about on Man vs Food. She ordered their Garbage Burger. I ordered a cheeseburger. We both thoroughly enjoyed them!

Melinda will be attending Duke University for Physician Assistant school and so of course I wanted a drive through tour. The campus is beautiful and the old buildings are amazing.

I am SO excited for Melinda and this new phase of her life! I look forward to hearing about it as she goes through it and I definitely look forward to seeing her again. I will miss her terribly. She has been such a very good, dear, close friend for 4-5 years and it won't be the same not having her around. I am SO grateful for this trip I got to take with her. I am grateful to have been able to help her move one more time and get every single box unpacked and her new home semi-put-together. I think every person should be so blessed to have such a friend as I have found in Melinda and I will always cherish the time we had here in San Antonio. (Now I just gotta campaign for her to move back here someday...hehe!)

As I flew home I had window seats on both of my flights and enjoyed the view of my trip home. Here we crossed that Mighty Mississippi! It was beautiful driving across this country, and flying back across it. (Though I DEFINITELY prefer the driving!)

Thank you to my sweet family, Casey and my girls, for letting me go off and enjoy this trip without you. I missed you! I am glad to be back home with you.

Lulu's Cafe & Charly vs. Food

2011-07-19T17:23:00.000-05:00

This past weekend my friend Rachael and her family were here to visit from Colorado and for dinner one evening we headed downtown to Lulu's Cafe.

My whole life I have LOVED chicken fried steak. When we go out to eat, if it's on the menu, there is a really good chance I will order it. So needless to say, I have had chicken fried steak of many varieties, sizes and flavors. This is THE BEST EEEEEVER!!! And it is HUUUGE!!! This thing really is about twice as big as it really looks. Logan and I shared it and Tabitha nibbled on it a bit too. Sooooo good! My mouth is watering just sitting here typing this.

The novelty that makes Lulu's famous is its 3 lb. cinnamon roll. It is HUGE! My friend loves cinnamon rolls so that was the big reason we came here. It was fun to see the look on her face when she saw it. =)

Meet Cheeto

2011-07-18T00:14:00.000-05:00

I met Cheeto a couple of weeks ago. I was sitting in my living room late at night and heard a cat fight outside. I went out to see if I could break it up and I saw this little guy and ran the bigger cat off. I grabbed some cat food to give him a bite and while I was out there another cat came along to mess with him and he literally climbed up me and tried to hide under my chin. At that point he was not staying outside! I brought him in, made him a little cat room in the girls' bathroom and made plans to call the shelter and/or Humane Society the next morning. Next morning, I did just that...with no luck. They were all full and so they would not take him. After attempts to find a home for him to no avail, and him quickly settling into the Allred Life, he is now ours. The other cats have finally forgiven us and (though they won't admit it) they sorta, kinda like him too.

Anyway, so his name is Cheeto! He is super cute and sweet! He purrs loudly and all the time! We're pretty sure he literally does purr all the time because...he always is! He is a little heater too! Definitely one of the warmest cats I've ever had. He has no gracefulness whatsoever! He falls off the bed, cat climber, chairs...and he does NOT land on his feet! (It's so funny!) He lets the girls carry him around all the time with little fuss. And, as you can see, he has made himself quite at home! We're pretty fond of him.

Swimmer's Groom's Cake July 2011

2011-07-17T23:55:00.000-05:00

I made this cake for a groom who presented me with a picture of a somewhat similar looking cake and asked me to recreate it for him--though I tried to add my own little bits here and there. The cake itself is chocolate. I love the little swimmers!!!

4th of July

2011-07-17T21:47:00.000-05:00

Ok, so my posts are a little out of order...

We had a really fun 4th of July! In the morning we made pancakes for breakfast...red, white & blue!!! How cool do these look!?!?

The girls had their matching outfits...(Casey and I had our patriotic shirts too). Tabitha kept bending down in all of the pictures because I was squatting to take the pictures. Haha! She's such a funny kid...like seriously, hilarious. She makes us laugh ALL the time.

For those of you not in the know...it is HOT in San Antonio in the summertime and we have also been in a pretty serious drought for many months. There was a fireworks ban pretty much across the whole state and that included the professional displays. Soooo...we got creative! We had soda geysers, bottle rockets and bubbles! My parents came to spend the day and we had a really great time!

Logan is about to pull the string...

Soda Geyser!!!

Film canister, alkazeltzer in a little bit of water, pop in the lid and get back...POP!

Tabitha LOOOVED this! She kept throwing her hands up in the air and cheering.

Logan pulling the string and taking off!

Tabitha getting ready to blow some bubbles...