Our Week(s) In Photos!

Wooooow I've been a neglectful blogger but I'm bound and determined to not let this be a regular thing!

We have not been up to all that much in the last couple weeks but they have still been very good! 

We've made lots of babies. Play-doh babies. ;) (I couldn't resist.)

I watched these two brothers scheme on one of our trips to our favorite park. The weather has bene wonderful lately!

I've made several pretty darn good suppers (in my opinion), one of them being Paula Deen's Potato Soup. 

I am very obviously not a food photographer.

Lily has covered herself in various types of chocolate more than once in the last week. The below photos are evidence of her encounters with a glass of chocolate milk.

I literally don't even know how she could get this messy from chocolate milk but it happened. 

Y'all know me and my memes. This one made be laugh!

Buzz tells the truth.

I was sitting on the couch enjoying my precious quiet time last week when Bumblebee himself peeked out from around the corner.

I slowly got him to come closer and closer until I could kiss his sweet little cheeks!

We also did another go-round of Texas Sheet Cake in honor of my Mom who had ear surgery last week. (It's her favorite--and don't you worry, I hear my sister made one for her too.)

I found a few Haysie selfies on my phone and they made me so happy. (He has the perfect lips for the good ole' kissy face selfie.)

The little kids pulled out the couch cushions probably 45 times last week (and drove me crazy in the process). Here we see them using the cushion-less couch as a drawing table....

Lily for sure got her nose AND THE COUCH with a few pen doodles. I cleaned her off but not the couch--I have given up.

And our big event of the last few weeks has been a surprise visit from the one and only Grammy! I have no photos except for this super professional-looking shot while we were waiting outside of Uncle Julio's (where else) yesterday. I will try and fix this photo situation before she leaves!

Hayes is apparently the winner of "featured in the most photos" for the last few weeks. Here he is in pirate form with Parker's church tag.

So dang cute.

I love this boy!!

Bryan and I have also been on a few little dates and are going on a big one TONIGHT! YAY! 

Parker was presented with the KINDNESS AWARD at his school pep rally on Friday but don't tell him I told you because he gets super mad (and also did not want to go up on stage!) We are proud of him!

I probably have 50 other things to tell blog world but am out of time--the day is beginning....and I must go!

Our Week In Photos (and scroll to the bottom for a semi-lame request....)

Yay for normal life! Parker started back to school last Tuesday and we have been enjoying the routine again. 

I actually don't have many photos from the last week--whoops.

Here's what I've got:

Lily the photographer. 

We made another trip to the fire truck park on the last day of Christmas break and had a picnic. The weather was perfect and the kids were happy (for the most part). 

We had a BIG day on Saturday because Bryan turned the BIG 3-2! Are we really that old?

We celebrated him with homemade lasagna and Texas sheet cake. 

We sure are thankful for him!!!! He is my favorite.

Our other treat of the weekend was having a very spontaneous overnight visit from the one and only Nonnie! My Mom had flown into Dallas to drive down and see my grandparents, but she also surprised the kids and gave us all a day of fun.

She was there for Bryan's birthday celebration and was also there to sit with us and watch the Cowboys lose (not the best birthday gift!). She also went to church and Uncle Julio's with us before heading off. (And have us lots of play/rest time!)

I am fairly certain my kids wore her out! But I'm also sure she loved it!

Parker was very upset when my Mom had to leave on Sunday night and the next morning when I went in his room to make his bed I found the book that my sister made him to show where our family lives propped open to the Colorado page. So darn sweet!

Other things that happened that I have no photographic evidence of and/or feel are worth the mention:

1. I went to see the Rachel Hollis documentary with my friend Aubree and it was SO good. She also texted to tell me that Rachel announced she is coming to Dallas for a RISE Conference! Anyone want to give me $200 so I can go? ;) (KIDDING.)

2. My friend Tara told us about a new podcast called The Bible Recap that gives you a reading plan to read the Bible through chronologically in one year and provides recaps to listen to after each reading. I'M DOING IT. I'm so pumped! I've attempted to read the Bible through about 45 times and always quit.

Anyways. It is very good and very interesting so far! I highly recommend checking it out on your preferred podcast app and catching up! Tara Leigh Cobble is the host and she is hilarious and just happens to live in Dallas and I'm really thinking there are too many people around this place that I could potentially stalk. ;)

3. Lily is sitting in my lap "talking" on my phone about birthdays and yelling "Bryan! I can't hear you!" Um, where on earth did she get that? (Insert raised hand lady and embarrassed emoji face here!)

4. I made a very tasty one-pot pasta dish last night that was deemed good enough to go in the recipe binder! It is called Creamy Sausage and Spinach Pasta and it is DARN GOOD. I found the recipe right here via Pinterest. (Maybe use normal tomatoes instead of the green chile mix if you don't like spice!)

(via)

5. I finished a book! And I may have read it in one day! Oops. This is why my reading is so sporadic....that whole "live a normal life and be a good mother" thing really gets in the way! Ha. BUT SERIOUSLY. I loved "Where The Crawdads Sing" just about as much as I can love a book. I keep thinking about the characters and I finished it a week ago. It's a little slow to start but the writing is superb (one of those where you feel like you are there because the setting is described so well) and it's got a good mix of heartbreak, young love, and mystery. All good things. 

6. OH!!! IMPORTANT: I've been hard at work on my Etsy shop! It's still FOR SURE a work in progress, but to anyone reading this: could you pretty please click on the link below and click around in the listings in my shop and spend time looking at them??? I know, such a weird request (!) but Etsy analytics and algorithms rank listings in search based on how many times they are viewed and how long each person stays on a particular page and since I don't have a single item from my old shop still listed, I'm really needing some help! 

Pretty please click over to my shop RIGHT HERE. Thank youuuuuu!!!

On a side note: Lily has now moved on from making phone calls to "taking selfies" and then saying things like, "Awwwwww, dat's so cute!"

Bye!!

Christmas Break Recap Part Two!

 After our at-home Christmas, we packed up and headed to Lubbock to see our sweet family and friends that we miss dearly! 

Bryan's brother and his family also made the trip from Houston and my kids could not have been more excited to see their cousins. 

We did lots of things during our week there, most of which included opening lots of presents, eating lots (and lots) of good food, watching football, wrangling all those crazy kids of ours, playing games (mostly done by the original Roberts and Luke), and playing with alllll the new toys. I also got to sleep more than usual (praise) and work on my Etsy shop quite a bit which I feel is worth a mention.

Parker and Hensley played Santa when we opened gifts. It's so weird to watch Hensley read. (And Parker begin to read!) I promise you they were JUST babies.

Lily has for sure figured out the fun of presents. "Open dis!" came out of her mouth probably 100 times throughout the week.

The grown-ups got spoiled, too. ;) 

Grammy (as usual) did her part so well--making us all feel so warm and cozy and entertained and of course, stuffed with food. She spent lots of time playing with her grandchildren--and it's a good thing she likes kids, because she was definitely the hot commodity among them all!

We added another 2,000 LEGO pieces to our collection.

Beau and Hayes (usually) loved playing together. Hayes was so excited to see his cousin!

We went to Cook's Garage one night and enjoyed some greasy food and let the kids run wild on the old toys outside. I had to snap a photo of Lily driving the Smokey the Bear truck! My Dad worked for the U.S. Forest Service when I was growing up and wore the Smokey the Bear costume more than once to my school assemblies. I think this is hilarious now and as a kid I loved it so much! I thought it was so cool. And remember: Only YOU Can Prevent Forest Fires.

Somehow Judy caught me off guard and before I knew it I was helping with a scavenger hunt around the house for the cousins (I'm horrible at the Pinterest Mom stuff!) but it was so much fun and the kids absolutely loved it. And again--so weird to watch Hensley read and Parker reason out the riddles (and use words like "certainly" and "unusual" like a tiny detective). 

Grammy with all her grands (mostly smiling!) after the scavenger hunt finale! 

Five peas in a pod.

Our cousin Beau happens to have a December 31st birthday so we were lucky enough to get to celebrate him and his FIFTH birthday in person this year! Sweet Alisha earned Best "Oldest" Aunt of The Year because she let Parker draw all of the Mario characters to use as decorations for Beau's party. You would have thought Parker won the lottery, he was so excited and it was SO sweet. He got to stay up late with the grownups and felt so special and important and I'm quite sure I'll never plan another party solo while he lives in my house!

On Beau's birthday he opened his presents (or so I hear, as I slept through that part after our late-night party-planning festivities!), and then we played and headed to the movie theater to see "Ralph Breaks The Internet" which was SO darn cute.... 

....almost as cute as these cuties! (Note Hayes in background---always my smiler!)

Beau had a cute little birthday celebration at home with pizza, cake, and cousin craziness.

 I put my newly-found piñata-making skills to use and made a pull-string piñata for the kids (which Alisha filled with 30 pounds of treats and I'm still shocked it didn't prematurely break apart from the weight!)

After celebrating the birthday boy, we headed out to our dear friends' house to celebrate the New Year!

I love these people SO much!!!! 

We had a blast and loved talking and watching our babies play with their future spouses (HA!)

I miss them! Wah. 

On New Year's Day the girls escaped to my favorite Dillard's sale (!) and the boys took the kids to the Science Spectrum (aka one of my kids' favorite places on earth). I would say the girls got the better part of that deal, muahaha. 

We also had enchiladas for dinner, made by the Roberts siblings and their sweet Mama!

I stopped taking pictures after this point (oops), but everything settled down after the New Year as the cousins left to head back to Houston. We spent our last few days chilling out/recovering and I was able to sneak off to a dinner date with my college friends (SUCH sweet fun!) AND on a mini-date with Bryan were we had a long, good, eye-opening talk about our plans for this year. I am feeling hopeful for 2019!

Our trip ended too soon and now we are back to normal life. It is always so hard to leave these people that we love so much. We have such a good life and have so many who love and care for us and always want the best for our little family. Life couldn't be fuller and we are blessed!