These are a few of my favorite (Texas) things

(sing along in your best Julie Andrews voice!)

Girls in white T-shirts with holsters and cap guns
Flowers and plants that will thrive in the hot sun
Big hair and jewelry with plenty of bling,
These are a few of my favorite things!

Red, white, and blue flag that’s holding our Lone Star
Tacos and nachos and fire in a glass jar
Brown ice cream truck with a cow on a string,
These are a few of my favorite things!

(chorus)
When we move here, when we move there,
No matter where we roam,
I’ll simply remember my favorite things
And then I will fee-eel at Home!


Big trucks, big buildings and Caddies with longhorns
Hats, boots and jeans and those chips made with blue corn
Where everyone knows that George Strait is the King,
And nobody worries about “going green”!

From Longview to Lubbock, and Ft. Worth to Austin
Pride for our state leaves us all fairly bustin’
“Remember the Alamo” sums up our creed
These are a few of my favorite things!
(repeat chorus)

Proud

I love Independence Day. LOVE it. Love the flags, love the pride, love the story. (Love the BBQ.) I'm currently reading 1776 by David McCullough, so the story is much on my mind this year. All throughout, primary accounts of the Revolutionary War comment on the "hand of Providence". The odds against the "rebel Americans" were impossible. As in, with man...but with God - you know the rest of the verse!
I'm so blessed to know Providence by Name and call Him mine!

As you are sweating your way through parades and BBQ today, remember our troop sweating through another day in the 120+ heat of the desert and pray the Hand of Providence continues to move on behalf of them!

Glory, glory Alleluja!

A Decade

Ten years! I’ve been married for 10 years. Wow. My honey and I went away for a couple of days to a bed and breakfast in Jefferson, TX. His mom took the 4 big kids and we took Baby Josh along with us. The town has lots of little antique and junk stores, and a neat Main Street area. It has great historical value with all its Victorian homes and buildings.

The first day we got there was a Wednesday afternoon. We walked into town and found nothing was open at 4:00! Did I mention that this town is small? Many businesses are only open on the weekend for tourists. So we only visited the General Store, the Fudge shop and then had dinner.

Each morning, we ate a yummy breakfast of an egg baked dish, sweet bread and biscuits or pancakes. They made their own flavored butters, one strawberry and the other molasses and cinnamon. Way yummy. I put it on everything. We walked into town the next morning and went thru most of the antique shops. We found a neat huge yellow enamelware bowl that had promise, but it was full of loose beans and rice, so we couldn’t look it over good. We also wanted to go to Marshall Pottery first in case we found a crockery bowl instead.

In all, our time was very refreshing. Having no responsibility for our many (albeit sweet) children was very mentally freeing and we were immediately in relax mode. Speaking of, when we showed a picture of the kids to our hosts, the lady said, “You better quit while you’re ahead…you’re due for an ugly one! Nobody can keep having kids that cute!” We laughed hard!

Happy Anniversary, Honey! I love you!

Stuff Texans Like

(idea from a great blog, Stuff Christians Like)

The Texas Flag
Want to sell something in Texas? Slap a Texas flag on it! From BBQ to tote bags, from salsa to swimsuits, a Texas Flag will make a Texan at least pause and consider the product. (Seriously, I just saw a billboard for weight-loss with a big ol’ Texas flag on it!) The Lone Star is like Old Glory down here, probably taking second place only because it’s law. It represents our Pride and Patriotism. We fly it and decorate with it. (Go down to your local Wal-Mart…can you find a shower curtain and matching bathroom ensemble with your state’s flag?) We put it on purses, clothing and furniture; we paint it on rooftops. It’s very cool, actually. It’s like we’re in a club and all different kinds of people come together under that banner. (It’s a very big club.) Uh oh. I feel a song coming on…”Texas, Our Texas, all hail our mighty state...”

A Father's Day Letter

Dear Daddy,
Since you’re not here on this Father’s Day, I thought I’d let you know how we’re doing at your house so you don’t worry.

We’ve been keeping the back door open to let the nice 90 degree breeze come in and freshen up the house.

The carpet cleaning guys did a great job of cleaning up in the living room after the accident with the cake. But you probably don’t want to hear about that…

All the 100 watt bulbs were turned on, and it was awfully bright and cheery around here. We turned them off after a couple hours, though.

The kids did a super job of sweeping up all the hibiscus blooms that accidentally got knocked off during Seth’s party.

I did let the kids jump your bed (it was closest to a tramp we could find). Hope you don’t mind. We found all the pillows again!

We ran the dishwasher on the 3 hour cycle to get your dishes extra clean.

And the splash of orange Tang under the bar blends nicely with the fingernail polish I spilled a few years ago.

See? No worries while you’re gone! We’ve got everything under control! Happy Father’s day!



(for those of you who aren't my dad, all of the above are things he hollers - I mean lovingly speaks to the kiddos about...except the dishwasher thing...that one he holl- speaks to us about) :)

Had to do it

Although I still love the old blog template with the clean lines and Texas Tech colors, I felt the need for some summer sun to shine in here. Here's the cheery result! (along with a complete waste of my Saturday!) I'll likely go back to gettin' my Guns Up when the seasons change...

Ahoy there Matey!

Seth is 5! Here's a taste of the Piratey festivities:

The Birthday Spanking Machine!