A Little Break

I'm sorry, sorry, sorry!! It's the same ol' excuse, but completely legit, ask anyone! It has been (and continues to be) extremely busy! It seems like every night and/or day there has been something going on. There's just not enough time in the day. I'm not sure how long this post will be since it's already almost 10:00. It took a while to upload all those pictures below.

I have to start by giving a shout out to my niece, Brittany Ryan. We've spent many of the past days watching her "lasts" of everything. Last Youth Orchestra concert, last SHS concert, last flute recital, and the list goes on. In that time, she has been awarded with numerous scholarships and prestigious awards. You can read RC's blog here to get the run down. But she received the highest award from her band and we were sooo proud of her! I know we've all said it before, but Brittany has made us all so proud and we can't wait to watch where she goes from here!

Before the SHS spring concert was the Annual Chili Cook-Off that raises money for the Band seniors for scholarships. You may remember that I won last year. Plus I had won "Best Presentation". This year I worked my tail off to make a ton of chili because last year we had run out and I didn't want that to happen again. Plus my chili was delicioso!! My Mom entered this year too,. Kevin and Ally wimped out this year...they knew they couldn't beat me :). Anyway, I lost. I didn't even win best presentation and I had a freakin' "Kid's Korner" with little smokies, goldfish, and cookies. I was so robbed! You should have seen the table that won, it didn't even compare to my awesome table! Regardless, it was for the seniors, and I'm glad I was able to help. I did win "People's Choice" thanks to Sherry giving a generous donation. It cracked me up because my prize was 50 gallons of water from the local health food store. Which is a nice prize, but it says "BYOB...bring you own bottles". hehehe, okay, I have 50 gallons of bottles laying around the house! Too funny! Thanks to Jessica and Sherry for being a big help in getting me and my table cleaned up afterwards and everything loaded into the car. Thanks to Kevin and RC for getting me set up and unloading the car! Brian was home with the kiddos, so it was helpful to not have to worry about them.

Yesterday was my Dear Mom's 60th birthday! We took her to J.R.'s Steakhouse in Grapevine for an awesome dinner! Probably the best steak I've ever had. Definitely rivaled Del Frisco's. Woo, it was hard parting with that chunk of change, but it was well worth it for my Mama! Then afterward we had a little "surprise" party for her at her house. We had her cousins and a few of her closest friends there. John gave it away earlier in the day, but it was nice nonetheless. A HUGE thank you to Jessica for babysitting Addy for us!! She ended up spending the night so we wouldn't have to wake her up and she behaved well (or so I'm told) and all was well! It was so helpful because the kids stayed at my Mom's house while we went to the restaurant and Brittany set everything up. It would have been too much for her to watch Addy and get everything ready for the surprise portion of the evening. I'm just thankful that Addy wasn't too much trouble for them! Happy 60th Birthday, Mom!!

Earlier that day me and Ash went to Noah's birthday party (my friend, Alma's son). He turned 2 and is just such a cutie! It was at the Mesquite Aquatic Center. It was a neat little place that had a splash park and a separate pool. A special thank you to the Harris' for watching Addy while me and Ash went and Brian was working. Starting to see a pattern? My kids were passed around all over the place! LOL! But understand, I never ask anyone to watch Addy. Her whole 16-months on this Earth, I can count on one hand how many times I have had someone watch her. I always worry that my "spirited" child will be too much trouble for someone. But as it turns out, she is only "spirited" for me and Brian! The little sucker was an Angel for the Harris' and the Rogers'. Interesting, huh?!?! But I am very thankful! I guess I may have to have people watch her more often! :) Oh, and Ash didn't want to leave the party early to go get ready fro my Mom's shindig, so Deena and Kevin (more friends) offered to let Ash stay longer with them and take her home with them since they live in Bedford right down the street from my Mom and I could pick her up before going to Mom's. So I agreed. This was unusually hard for me. Not because I don't trust them, because I do, like my own sisters. But we were in Mesquite. It just felt weird leaving her in Mesquite. So far from home. But I did, I left her in Mesquite, and of course, everything was fine. Except I'm a bad Mom and accidentally took her shoes with me so she was shoeless. Kevin was nice enough to give her a piggy back ride to the truck when they left. Deena is due in August and looking quite pregnant these days! She looks very cute carrying that little girl! There 1st child was a boy, Jack.

Yesterday me and the Girls went to my Dad's for his Memorial Day party while Brian went down to Arlington to his Mom's to replace part of her fence. We swam for several hours and Addy loved it. Luckily, Dad had warmed the pool to 84, because I am quite the wimp with cold water. Addy cried for about the 1st 3 minutes and was more than content for the next 2 hours! Ashleigh is still wearing her floaties. Her ears have really set her back in her swimming. She still won't put her face in the water. We have got to get her in swimming Lessons before the darn floaties don't fit her arms anymore! She is almost 6 years old after all! But she had a great time! Unfortunately, we had to miss Allie's (my friend, Meredith's, daughter) 6th birthday because of Dad's party. I believe it is the 1st party we have missed of hers, but she understood the craziness of our schedule and I was able to give her gift to Alma to give to her since she was going to her party. It, too, was a pool party. I hope Allie had a VERY Happy Birthday!

Here are some photos from the past 2 weeks:

Peyton at the Fort Worth Youth Orchestra concert at Bass Hall:



Brittany is there in the middle at the FWYO concert at Bass Hall:



Addy trying on Peyton's headband, she loves that thing!



Addy at sissy's Field Day, she was a very good girl:



RC, the PE Teacher's Aide, at Field day, working hard:

Ash at Field Day at RC's event:

the sponge event:

Addy loving sissy's sunglasses:

Ally and Brittany at Mom's birthday party:

Mom with her cousins (Cindy, Connie, Mom, and Cathy):

Daddy and Ashleigh at Mom's birthday party:

Self-explanatory:

Joy did a FABULOUS job on the cake!

Peyton and her Mommy at Mom's party:

The Brother's-in-Law at the party:

RC and Britti at Mom's party:

Me and Brian being silly taking a picture of ourselves:

Brittany was trying to jump in front of every picture I took! She's such a brat!:

Steve and Brian (yup, that's Brittany in the background, see what I mean?!?!!?)

Ash claiming her position at the food table:

Her partner in crime, Peyton, on the other side of the food table:

At Dad's party yesterday:

Me and my P-R-E-C-I-O-U-S Girls:

Addy's 1st dip of the season didn't make her too happy at first:

Pretty Sydney:

Today, at Brian's Mom's house. Brian and Addy:

My VERY tan Ashleigh (after only 3 days):

Super Star:

Daddy and his Girls:

From l-r: Ashleigh, Margarete, Kaileyanna, Tante Dagmar, Tekoa, Addyson, Brian, and Katie up top:

My Sweet Baby toddler:

Happy Memorial Day, everyone! Geesh, now it's 11:00!!! Sleep Tight!