Our Sweet Madi is 16!!!

Hard to believe, but our girl… our sweet Madi, is 16!  Her Birthday was a month ago and while it was a little heartbreaking for her Dad and me, it was, in all, a truly happy time!  It’s a strange combination of pride, joy, sadness and fear watching your child mature and become more and more independent.  As parents, I think we always carry around a mixed bag of emotions though.  And, I honestly think it gets worse the older they get! 

Anyhow, Madi’s special day turned into a weekend long event – as it usually does!  Madi’s friends come out to the house on Saturday, Feb. 22, to do some celebrating before we all traveled to Austin.

Her friends put together a really sweet video wishing her a happy birthday and talking about how special she is and how much they enjoy spending time with her. It was really kind and pretty funny, too! Lots of smiles and lots of tears. But, that’s a room full of fifteen and sixteen-(and one 30 something) year-old girls for ya! 

Madi’s main Birthday request was to spend a full day in Austin shopping.  So, that’s what we did – we stayed the night in Austin (the girls had their very own room which they were thrilled about!) and on Sunday, Feb. 23 (Madi’s actual Birthday) we took Madi and her friends exploring around Austin for a little bit and enjoyed some super-tasty donuts courtesy of Gordough’s on South Congress! Then, at their request, it was off to Lakeline Mall for some serious shopping.  To Jack and me, it felt like we were there for days, but for the girls – it was heaven! And, as the day was coming to an end, we convinced the whole crew to stop at a park on for some pictures before driving home.

Here are a few pictures from Madi’s Birthday weekend….

Madi's Tiffany Blue themed dessert table 

This GORGEOUS cake was made by Lily's Cakes in Harker Heights, Texas. 

I made mini cupcakes and cake balls to go along with the cake.

Instagram picture of the cake 

Sweet 16!!!!

Video of Madi opening her Nana and Papa's card - they moved to Georgia almost two years ago...she, obviously, misses them! 

Most of these pictures were taken on my cell phone - thus the granny quality. Anyway, here's the gang - Austin bound!

The girls at the Hilton Austin.

On one of the balconies at the Hilton - watching all the crazy fools on 6th street. 

We had the yummiest donuts at Gourdough's in Austin! 

I don't remember the name of the park that we stopped at, but we walked around for a little bit and took some group photos just before driving home. 

These two...

Dad and his 16 year old!!! 

First family photo with our 16 year old! 

 So, Madi got to spend her special day with good friends, doing what she enjoys most – SHOPPING!  It was the perfect 16^th Birthday for her. 

We really hope that these memories are as special to her as they are to us! It seems like just a short time ago when birthday parties were filled with little ones running around and playing games with gifts of little toys and cute stuffed animals. It’s hard to think about how few birthdays we have left with our Madi-girl before she’s grown up but, we will definitely treasure every one!!!

Just One Month

Sometimes I forget about the blog or - if I'm being honest, I get too lazy to post to it. I end up posting things that belong here on Facebook instead.  But, it's just so much easier (in my opinion) to hop on Facebook and share things.  It's a little more complicated to get it all together and write it here on our blog.

Here's an example.  On Thursday, January 23, 2014, I was thinking about Madison and her upcoming Birthday.  Jan. 23rd means that we have just one month before her Birthday on Feb. 23rd!  Just one month! And this year, she's turning 16! It's an exciting time. It's also a little stressful - trying to figure out what to do for her on her special day and how to get it all done in just one month.  And, again, if I'm being honest, it's a little heart breaking. I can't believe our little girl is turning 16!  Wasn't it just yesterday that I was kissing her chubby baby cheeks and rocking her to sleep? Sure seems like it.

So, I'm full of mixed emotions. But, one thing is for certain; I couldn't be happier for our sweet Madi! For this special time in her life and all the things that go along with being a free spirited teen.  I want her to have the BEST teen years! I want her to look back and say - "yep, it was an amazing time".  Other than school and making good grades (so that her dreams of going to her college of choice are attainable),  I don't want her to have a care in the world.  Those cares will come in due time, lets not rush it.

So anyway, here's what I posted on Facebook when I got to thinking about this special time...


This is my favorite picture of baby Madi and me. It's hard to believe that in a month my sweet, sweet girl will be 16! What a joy it has been watching her grow and mature into the young lady that she is! Her Dad and I couldn't be more proud! She is truly exceptional - and I am so blessed to be her Mom!

 This is exactly the kind of thing I want to have here on the blog so that one day we can look back and remember these times.  Facebook is nice for sharing things, but all the important things eventually gets buried by all the unimportant posts that come in after it.

One day, Madi will comb through these blog pages. She'll smile, laugh and probably cry as she does.  She'll be reminded of how very much we - Mom and Dad - have loved her and how we have dedicated our lives to making sure her's is an amazing one.  And for that, taking a few extra minutes to post here rather than Facebook is SO worth it!

Madison, we love you! As you're approaching this special time in your life, we hope that you embrace it and that when you are reading these words, years down the road, you'll be thrilled to say "yep, it was an amazing time!" 

42 Years

Today my parents are celebrating 42 years of marriage! 

I took this picture of Mom and Dad 2 years ago on their 40^th anniversary.  They no longer live here in Texas –they moved back home to Georgia a 
little over a year ago. So, I can’t be with them today or 
take an updated anniversary picture. But, this one will do 
I think - it’s my favorite anyway! 

My Mom and Dad have such a strong, united marriage and are a wonderful example of a lasting love.  I feel blessed and am so thankful for them.  

With a heart full of love for you both - Happy 42^nd Anniversary Mom & Dad! Thank you for the amazing parents amazing and even more amazing grandparents that you are!

MoonPie and RC Cola | A Sweet Southern Treat!



Holy cow were these babies good! 



Father’s Day is always a difficult time for me as far as gift giving goes.  I have a father who is extremely hard to buy for.  He has just about everything and even if he didn’t, he would never admit to wanting anything.  I guess most men are that way – especially Dads.   Anyway, as Father’s Day began to come into focus this year, I was at a complete loss as to what to get him.

Well, thank goodness for Pinterest because it totally saved my bacon this year! About a week or so before Father’s Day, I was browsing through pins on pinterest when I ran across a link to a recipe for homemade MoonPies!  Homemade MoonPies??! How absolutely awesome is that?!  So anyway, as soon as I saw that link, I knew that that was it – that was the golden ticket!

I have so many wonderful childhood memories of my Dad, my sisters, MoonPies and RC cola! We lived in Alabama back when I was a kid and on the weekends, my Dad would let us girls {me and my two sisters} walk to the store {about a mile round trip} and buy MoonPies and RC Cola {because you just can’t eat a MoonPie without an RC Cola!}.  And sometimes, we would get to have boiled peanuts {which is my all-time favorite southern treat!!} and RC cola instead - it just depended on my Dads mood, I guess.   It was a special treat for us girls – a treat that my sisters and I would sometimes have to arm wrestle our Dad for.  Even though it was the three of us against his one arm, we never won; he was as strong as a bull {and still is, mind you!}, but he wasn’t a mean bull, he was a gentle one and even though my sister’s and I didn’t win, he’d usually give in and let us get MoonPies or boiled peanuts anyway.   

So, thanks to Pinterest, I had my gift idea – MoonPies, RC Cola and salted peanuts {for dumping into his RC Cola, of course!}. By the way, I had to go with salted peanuts rather than a bag of boiled peanuts because, believe it or not, in Texas where I live, boiled peanuts are pretty much unheard of - crazy, I know!  So anyway, I was totally psyched about this gift -  I knew that my Dad would be delighted with a nostalgic gift such as this!

Madi was also pretty excited! She couldn’t wait to get started and I was so thankful for her help because, turns out, these babies aren’t that easy to make – well, sorta easy, but really time consuming.  But!!  Boy, were they worth it – the finished product tasted just like the store bought, sweet southern treat I’ve enjoyed so many times before!  

Marshmellow filling  - sorry for the poor quality photo, I took it with my blasted cell phone.

MoonPies before they were dipped in chocolate!

Another shot of the MoonPie, pre-chocolate coating.

 MoonPies after being dipped in chocolate - another cell phone shot, sorry.

Madi and I wrapped them up and placed labels on each. 

  Dad's gift basket completed!

Because we hadn't seen my Mom since before Mother's Day {they were gone to Savannah, GA for a few months} we weren't able to give her her gift until the same day we gave Dad his Father's Day gift - July 19th.  Mom's gift was ALSO a pinterest find!  I modge podged a photo of my her and my Dad to  an 11' x 14" canvas.  It turned out pretty good; it almost looked like a painting rather than a photo.

Jack giving Dad his gift basket.

Dad - not really sure what it's about just yet.

He's eyesight ain't what it used to be. Lol!  It took him a minute to figure out what the labels said - I think the one he picked up just said "Happy Father's Day", so he had to pick up another one ...

NOW he's figured it out!   I love his reaction here - his big ol' smile!  It says it all and makes me :) big!

Lucky Me | A Birthday post for my Mother in Law.

Today is my Mother-in-law’s Birthday!  I can’t express how very blessed I am to have her as my mother-in-law and as my friend.   She’s an amazing lady with grace and class that I hope to one day possess.  Lucky me, I totally hit the Mother-in-law lottery!  So, Happy Birthday to my Mother-in-law, Camille!  I love and cherish you {we all do!} completely! *Madi, Jack, Camille {the Birthday girl!}, Jackson & Johnny.  I had really hoped to have a picture of Camille with both her boys,  daughter-in-laws and grand kids.  However, this will have to do, for now.  Picture taken on June 16, 2012.

Big doin's...

We had a super busy, but super lovely Valentine’s Day weekend.  As you know, Valentine's Day fell on a Monday this year, but most of our weekend was devoted to Valentine's Day activities as well as Bella’s Birthday. I have a lot to cram into this post, so bear with me here.  I want to make it quick because I have MUCH bigger things to move onto, like Madi's 13th Birthday which is tomorrow!!  YAY - it's exciting and at the same time very, very frightening!

So anyway, I'll try to wrap-up our Valentine’s Day weekend as quickly as possible, starting with Friday, February 11th which was the night of Madison's middle school Valentine's dance. After school  on Friday, I picked Madi and her best friend, Carly up and brought them home to get all dolled up for the dance.  My sister and brother-in-law brought our nephew, Jason, over about an hour before the dance began.  My intention was to take pictures of the kids (together and separately) before the dance. Yeah, that didn’t really work out. The girls (who weren’t looking forward to pictures anyway) took waaay too long to get themselves ready and by the time we got out for pictures, the sun was setting and we didn’t have time to drive to the location I had in mind.

So anyway (sigh), this is the only worth-a-darn shot I have of all the kids... 

Carly is not smiling and I had to make Madi stop making faces...Mom & Dad, I know you are laughing right now!  You get what you give, right?

Jason, on the other hand, was down with the whole picture thing. Or, at least he was kind enough to pretend that he was and never complained.  I got a few of just him.  He looked very handsome I think. Here he is seen, kickin' it outside of "Tiger Stadium".

The dance was over by 9pm and all three kids came back to our house to hang out afterwards. They were all wound up;  Jason was showing Jack and I video’s of friends he recorded breakdancing while Carly and Madi demonstrated their a.w.e.s.o.m.e (hehe) new dance moves!!  I wish I would’ve recorded those!  Jason only hung out with us for a little while after the dance, but Carly spent the night - well she actually spent the whole weekend with us. I feel kind of sorry for her, having to hang out with Madi and her crazy parents for two whole days!  Poor thing, we had her up early both Saturday morning, for a basketball tournament and Sunday morning for Church. 

Early Saturday morning we drive to Bruceville-Eddy to watch Madi’s long time friend, Micaela, play in a girls middle school basketball tournament.

Micaela during the game.



Micaela's little sister, Ashley.  What a cutie!  And super sassy too! 

 

 

Ashley playing with Madi.  Madi has a way with little ones and it was so sweet to watch she and Ashley together.



Micaela’s team didn't win their game, so they did not advance in the tournament.  I know Micaela and her family was disappoint, but those girls played so hard and should be very proud of themselves.   Micaela was really impressive and we think we'll be seeing big things from her in the future.  She’s super talented and such an all around great kid. 

The girls after the game. That Ashley really loved Madi - it was so sweet!


Thank you Micaela, as well and Albert and Melinda, for inviting us to come out and watch the game!  We had a great time with you all!

After the game, we drove home and started baking for Valentines Day!  I was a little lazy this year and decided not to bake sugar cookies.  Instead, I made No-Bake Cookies.

My Mom use to make them all the time for my sisters and I, when we were going up. Not for Valentines day, specifically, but just on a regular basis.  This was my first time making them since I was in 4H back in 5^th or 6^th grade and they turned out just as I remembered – super delicious!  After making them the traditional way (with oatmeal, cocoa, sugar, vanilla & peanut butter) I decided to put my own spin on them and made a second batch with cayenne pepper.  Yum. I have to pat myself on the back for that idea!  Never whoulda thunk it, huh?!  Actually, I wasn't a bit surprised because I've found that a little bit of heat/spice and chocolate can compliment each other quite nicely.  When I told my Mom about adding cayenne pepper to her No-Bake Cookie recipe, she sounded straight up horrified and somewhat disgusted at the idea!  I think its fair to say she'll be sticking to the traditional way.

While I made the cookies, Jack made his 4th annual Valentine's Chocolate Cheese Cake.  This is always the highlight of my Valentine's Day!  I've look forward to one every year since we got married and he never disappoints!  

 

Seriously the best chocolate cheese cake- ever!
Jack shared a few pieces with his Mom and Dad and they both agreed - it's the best.

Once the cookies and cheesecake were done, Jack and I desided to go for a trail run. We couldn't resist, it was gorgeous outside and it would've been a shame not to take advantage of it!  We went to Dana Peak Park and took the girls (all three ~ Madi, Carly and Bella) with us. We didn’t make Madi and Carly run; we ran (with Bella) ahead of them and just before they got out of our sight, we turned back and ran toward them.  Bella, who hates any form of exercise, was in misery, but Madi and Carly seemed to enjoy themselves. I didn't take picture during this run, but I did take pictures during our run the following day (Sunday) out at Miller Springs - which I'll get to later in this post.

Saturday evening, as a Birthday/Valentines day present, Jack made homemade dog treats for Bella...  

Madi, Bella and I are so lucky to have Jack!  He does such a great job taking care of his girls!

and we celebrated her 4th Birthday (which was technically on Feb. 5th) by giving her a few along with a stuffed froggy.

Jack giving his princess her toy.

Madi & Bella playing with Froggy

Bella loves her froggy!!



Sunday was a little bit more relaxing.  We went to church and afterwards we took Carly and Madi out to lunch.  Later, Jack and I went to Miller Springs Park, as I've already mentioned, for a long run.  Miller Springs is just about a mile from our house!  The trails are fun and the scenery can really be stunning.  At this point, if I had to choose between Dana Peak (which is awesome as well) and Miller Springs, I would choose Miller Springs as my favorite place to run.  Anyway, I got some pretty good pictures that I can't wait to share later in the week.  

By the time Jack and I got home from our run, our Sunday-funday was almost over and it was time to wind-down and get prepared for another work/school week.  But, to my surprise, while Madi and I drove Carly home, Jack stayed home preparing my Valentine's day gift.  I didn't know it at the time and it wasn't until a little while after I got home, that I found it.  I went into our bathroom to grab some laundry and right away, this is what I saw...



Knowing how much I love long, relaxing baths, Jack got me all new bath stuff!     

I was so surprised, I teared up!  He had totally redecorated the tub area with apothecary jars (I love the jars!) each filled with different bath goodies, candles, and a sponge in a beatiful dish with little roses that float on the bath water.  He truly amazings me sometimes!  I was thrilled with my gift, but felt very guilty because I didn't put as much thought into his gift as he had mine. :(   

I waited until the next morning (Valentines Day) to give Jack his gift - 

A birdfeeder.
So, yeah...now you see why I felt guilty.


















We also gave Madi and Bella their gifts on Monday morning...

For a Valentine's day breakfast, I fixed eggs and cheese toast for Madi  and Jack mixed Bella's dog food in yogurt (an every morning thing) and placed one of his homemade heartshaped dog treats on top! His girls (Madi, Bella and I) are pretty spoiled like that!  :)

Tomorrow is a pretty important day - it's HUGE - it's Madi's 13th Birthday!  We'll be celebrating her birthday a little tomorrow before and after school, but we'll do the major celebrating this coming weekend.  I plan to write a short Birthday post for our beautiful young TEEN tomorrow, so look for that.

Have a blessed day!