Ahh

With a big sigh of relief, I've finished not only the fall semester, but my last semester at TCC. I'll be receiving my Associates of Arts in May (they don't have graduation but once a year :/) and then next fall will be back at UTA finishing up my Bachelors of Graphic Design and Communications. So...once this holiday is complete I will be uploading the (gazillion) pictures and blog entries that I have not been able to get to with finals and everything else.

Jumping on board

To catch up, in no particular order.

I am thankful for:

1. Coffee, without it I'm a bumbling fool at times.

2. Good tv shows. Gives me something to do when I need to be distracted. (In no particular order).

 

3. Computers. Without these, I wouldn't have a career I love.



4. My dog. He's the best.

5. My car. Callisto gets me where I need to be.

6. My home. Because it's where I'm happiest.

(sorry no picture)

7. My Friends. I would be lost without you!

8. My kids. I have two of the greatest, cutest, smartest kids. Other people tell me so ;)

9. My husband. He's my everything.

10. God. He's saved me and helping me and my family with everything. He shows me the path to follow and helps keep me there.

Where have I been?

Between Halloween parties, trick-or-treating, dinner, school, homework, exams, and all the upcoming festivities to prepare for at work. I've been here:





Well not this bed, but my own.



Why? Because I've been sick with fever. Yuck. Now my husband is sick, too. I told him no game night tonight, he's getting plenty of rest and chicken broth. He has to get better. Tomorrow we have the last soccer game of the regular season for Houston. We also have the first flag football game, and Houston is the quarterback. From what I hear, it's the most important player on the field (j/k I know it's THE position if you want to be important). I told Houston he'd play even if he broke his finger. I don't think he got the Romo reference. Oh well.

I think besides stressing over my next exam in biology (on Tuesday), or my countless work duties that have yet to be fulfilled for my 11/10/10 deadline, or the messy/dirty house awaiting my recovery to clean it, I will be playing with this all weekend:



Scary thing, isn't it?

 Everyone keeps telling me they'll help. I really don't want anyone to see how inept I've become with this thing. I mean where does the thread even go? Bah.

I need coffee, lunch date, and a haircut. Any takers?

Happy Halloween!

Exhaustion.

Complete and udder exhaustion. That's why this isn't a real post. Things I wish I had right now:

I really want to try this stuff out, every site I see it on has awesome reviews and great before and after pics. Check out House of Grace!

We do not have any family portraits! We have our wedding photos, but none in causal clothing. I really want to get some shots of us together and put it on a canvas for above our fireplace.

Everyone is scoring these coffee mugs at Hobby Lobby! I love the discover one! Too bad pay day is not till Friday. They are only a dollar a piece so hopefully they won't be gone before I can get there!

Pumpkin Carving!

We didn't carve pumpkins last year so this was Kinzey's first time. She loved the end result but was hesitant to stick her hands in the pumpkin guts! Once she did she loved that she was helping! Houston had fun using the hammer to push the pegs and stars in and was so proud of his creation! He also loved wearing glow in the dark vampire teeth all night! I'm proud of Aaron's! It's so good! His grim reaper and gravestones look perfect! Instead of candles (real or fake) we used orange string lights and put them inside for some extra glow!

I also sorted out the seeds and with some butter, salt, and a 350 degree oven for twnety minutes (flipping once) made some awesome seeds. I haven't had them since I was pregnant and craved them!

Tot School Numbers and Soccer



Kinzey loves her number puzzle from Dollar Tree. She also loves telling you what the numbers are :D





Houston had two soccer games again this past weekend. I forgot the camera for the first one though :(




Kinzey loves watching her bubba at the games and shouting "Hustle" and "Go Jets!"



Things will get better.

My husband made me do this...

So remember this: driven! ?

My husband's site is up and running with the new redesign and new server. It looks great, thanks in no small part to myself :D and my husband working together (yes we did want to kill each other over it, but we escaped with only a few cuts a briuses, j/k).

He is hosting a giveaway! Total Value $200

Yes. Really.

How? Like the driven! facebook page and then tomorrow at 3:00 pm a trivia question will be posted. First one to answer wins a four 2-day passes to Texas Motorplex Oct 22-23 (check it out here).

Tot School and Science



We went for a great walk


Today we collected acorns and pine cones since the weather was so nice out! Kinzey loved filling her bag up! She was great at finding the acrons that still had a "hat" on them!

Meaning

Soccer Weekend

Had so much fun watching Hootie play this weekend! I think I got some great shots of him and his fancy footwork!

True Love

I'm in love!




And I don't care who knows it!

Our trip to the pumpkin patch!

Pictuers are more than words, best pumpkin patch we've visited ever!

Sneak Peek

So the bedskirt and headboard ideas are in the making.

While I work on that, this post has haunted me since I posted it.

Our room does NOT normally look that bad. Here is what it looks like right now:

We changed the art work above the bed. My parents gave me the piece for my birthday. The two candle holders on the chest of drawers will also be hung on each side of the artwork above the bed. Still ahve to get candles for that, and curtains for those two windows. I think I am going to hang fabric on the bottom sections of the entertainment center to have a place to store all of our bedroom stuff. Other than that and the bedskirt and headboard this room is done!

The bunk bed for the kids room is finally painted! We put that in this week and got to break out the new comforter set and sheets for Kinzey. She loves the colors. We also moved all the kids toys into the closet but my mother in law is giving us a wooden chest when she refinishes it to store their toys. We are also searching for these:

 So we can get rid of that dresser. These storage drawers will go in the closet and a shelf with nine cubby wholes with green and turqiouse storage bins to hold toys will replace it (we have the shelf but getting new bins is going to be around $40). We also need curtains and I'm working on the wall art (everything that's there right now will come down).

Tot School Chalkboard Time

This week we've been playing with all our new toys, but Kinzey is really loving her chalk board. We reviewed shapes, colors, and we're starting to write the letter K.

She loves to tell me what's on the board "pink circle", "yellow square", "triangles, oval, numbers. She didn't really want a "K", she wanted a "pretty K!"



My nephew came and stayed the night, and the toddlers had a blast in the bath tub! Look at those faces!



Bible Study

I'm having difficulties figuring out what to read, how to interpret, and what to gain from reading the bible. I love reading it, it's just that since I have yet to be placed into a bible study group at church (I help in the nursrey Wednesday nights, and my husband and I attend the parents course Sundays) I'm at a loss as to where to begin. I read through Proverbs and Ecclesiastes, but what next?

I was trying to find a bible study group online, but so far the only thing I've found is bible study outlines and lesson plans. These could help, but I am still missing the interaction with others on their insight into the reading. I do a weekly bible study that came with my bible, but want a book(s) to focus on for the month.
Does anyone have any suggestions?

Kinzey's Birthday Party Part II

I finally finished going through Kinzey's party pics! Here are the ones that didn't make the first two collages:

Kinzey had lots of friend and family show up, she loved seeing everyone!

All her gifts were a huge hit! She hated having to put them aside to open the next ones. I'm really excited by all the learning toys, I think she loves all the dress up toys the most!

Thanks everyone for helping to make Kinzey's birthday party a huge success! She loves everything and we are so excited that she will have all these great learning tools to use! She also showed us she can count to twenty at her party! Smart girl!

Be careful

Kinzey's Birthday Party Part I

So I guesstimated being back this past Monday/Tuesday with pictures from the birthday party on Saturday.



I sat down Monday night, opened blogger and began reading while I uploaded pictures from the camera.

Even opened a new post.



Then the total picture count came to 229 images.



Really?!? I'm supposed to sort through 229 images and decide on what I want to put on my blog. Of course Kinzey was being extra cute so it's really hard to decide.



So I put it off, and put it off, even posted my little canvas art up thinking oh I'll do this one now and the birthdya party ones tomorrow. And then I put it off again.



Let me sidetrack here by saying this week has been a no-sleep, can't think, sidetracked kind of week. GOd's been awesome with the weather and my work, but testing me out in ways I thought I had previously put behind me. Guess a reminder test is always right around the corner.



Anyway, without much further ado, Kinzey's Second Birthday Party: (By the way if you were there, she loved absolutely EVERYTHING she got, and we've had to go through her old toys to make room for the new ones, but they are all still sitting in my living room waiting on something to be finished for the kids room. So thank you everyone!)



Kinzey wore the tutu I made her last year for her birthday again. I sense a tradition (no not the same one every year, lol).




Her decorations and cupcake cake.




She cried when we all sang happy birthday, and then she got mad that I didn't give her a chocolate cupcake first.


I still have all the pictures of her opening presents and playing with the family to sort through but this should tide everyone over for a bit!
If you have any questions over the decorations or food (or anything really) leave me a comment and I'll get back to you!

Wall Art

I was finally able to finish this project and convince my husband to get it hung up for me.

Modge podged craft paper onto dollar tree canvas, edged all the sides with ribbon, used my cricuit to cut out the letters, modge podged them onto the canvas. Then added the turqiouse ribbon to hang it with.