my birthday dinner

I have been wanting to try The Buckley House restaurant for months now and so I decided to do that for my birthday dinner.

The food was absolutely amazing and I loved every single bite!

We went with Erin and Sean and they are great company.  We had a nice low-key dinner!  It was perfect.

After dinner we went out for drinks and listened to a fun band called The Bash.  It was a great way to start out my birthday weekend!

last day of school!!!!

Hooray!!

She's now a 4th grader!

And he's a first grader!

a fun long weekend!

We started off the weekend with me losing my voice.  It was awful for me because I'm a talker, but I was ok by the time the weekend ended!

We grilled delicious homemade bacon cheeseburgers!

Layla and Gary made piggies and cinnamon rolls for breakfast.

We just gazed into the sky loving the sun shining on our faces!

Gary built the kids a rope swing!  The asked him for one in Texas, but we didn't have trees for a rope swing.  He was glad to create one here with our giant trees!

Hayden helped.

The kids swung for hours and hours.  I hope they love swinging all summer long.  I got on the swing for a few minutes and got dizzy.  I'm such a wiener in my old age.  I get motion sick within a few minutes.  Don't ever try to get me on a merry-go-round. Yuck!

Gary built a new fire pit, here is the before and after.  Hayden was helping dad with this while Layla and I were painting our barn door.  He impressed me with his brick hauling skills.  The boy can work!

I love the rustic look and it fits the old barn.  It isn't a perfect shade of red because you can see some of the wood through the red.  Perfectly imperfect in my opinion.

Our first bonfire was perfect including s'mores which are a family favorite!

We had two chairs outside the back of our garage just sitting there in the weather.  I've been thinking and thinking of what to do with them.  I kicked the nasty stained wet seats out and put flower pots in them.  I love the way they turned out.  There were two chairs one for the front yard and one for the backyard.

We managed to get in a round of putt-putt and headed to Wal-mart to pick out a new bicycle for Layla.

I think this one is perfect.  I'm partial to purple.  I love it.  She loves it too and her helmet even matches!

I enjoyed cooking for my family this weekend.  I made a fun pasta salad with Italian dressing and a bunch of veggies I found in the fridge.  I love summer salads!  I'm ready for a fun summer ahead and many more fun weekends with my people!

HC's first motorcycle ride

This morning Hayden went on his first motorcycle ride.  It was quick, thankfully, because I was a little nervous.  He told me he was scared at first and then once they were on the road he gave me a thumbs up and he was perfect!  He had a super fun ride.  Yes, I was following them in the Jeep because I'm a freak like that!  haha!

kindergarten celebration and the orthodontist

Last night was Hayden's kindergarten celebration and it was fabulous!

The teachers did a great job putting together a very special performance that brought tears to my eyes!  I'm such a sap!

I'm proud to say that Hayden's award was Fantastic Math Mind.  He really loves math and it's totally his thing!

I also got recognized for volunteering my time. 

Layla had a big day today too.  She had her first orthodontist appointment and she needs a few things done to fix her smile.  I couldn't be happier with the orthodontist we picked and I think she will be all set starting this summer.  She has to have an expander and braces on the top four teeth.  I'm quite sure I will be taking lots of pictures of the braces and retainer process!  She's kinda excited about this new chapter.  She'll do great with getting her smile all in line!

one more week!

These two are so excited for summer break and I am right there with them!!

Monday is for golf!

Gary and I played golf today with friends and I was in awe of the beautiful scenery.  I just love the weather and feeling a breeze while playing golf.  I'm hoping for many more golf outtings and maybe a few including the kids this summer!  It's such a fun activity and I hope the kids will enjoy it as much as Gary does!

early dinner on Saturday

Gary and I discovered a wonderful Mexican food restaurant a few months ago.  We love it and were thrilled to finally introduce it to the kiddos.  One thing we all miss about Texas is Tex-Mex, but this place has it down!  It's our new favorite place and the kiddos loved it too.  The especially enjoyed the fried ice cream!

Nature Field Trip

Yesterday was a fun day for the kindergarten classes!  We went on a fun field trip exploring nature.

We touched caterpillars and all kinds of bugs.

We went on a super long nature hike through hills and along the creek bed.

I'm so thrilled I got to go with Hayden's class.

Hayden turned a rock over in the creek and found salamander eggs!  It was the coolest thing!

If you look closely you can see water lining the outer part of the leaf.  I thought is was so neato!

My very favorite thing about the day was seeing this simple little waterfall.  It was a little bit of heaven all tucked into the little forest we were exploring!  We had a great time exploring and learning!

Mother's Day 2014

I had a great day with family and friends.

Gary cooked his first brisket since moving to Ohio.  He has been so busy with work and hasn't taken the time to smoke one.  It was so tasty!  I've missed it!  I made potato salad and beans too.  And of course deviled eggs.

The kids played outside all day long.  They will sleep great tonight!  The played in a giant inflatable ball.  It was so fun to watch them roll all around the yard!

Look how big this ball is?!?! 

I'm so blessed with great friends!

I'm also blessed with great kiddos.  I love this two munchkins more than they will ever know!

I splurged and made a cheesecake.  I mean all moms need cheesecake on their day right??!?

It is the first time I baked a cheesecake and it came out of the oven with no cracks!  Gary even commented on how pretty it was, and it tasted even better.  I was in my happy place Saturday preparing all the food for Sunday.  I miss making big fun meals.  We've been so busy running from game to event to event.  It was nice to slow down for the weekend and just rest and enjoy our yard.  I'm excited for the lazy days of summer approaching!

Happy Mother's Day!!