Saturday, July 23, 2011

dry erase board

Since I have stopped working, I have been adding to the long list of home improvement projects I'd like to get accomplished.  

Unfortunately, I have been adding to the list and not necessarily tackling it.  I'm going to go ahead and blame it on the fact that the kids are home for the summer--and hopefully more will get completed once they go back to school.  

One super duper easy project I did complete, though, was my new dry erase board.  I had seen various versions of DIY dry-erase boards on craft blogs and Pinterest and knew it was something I could easily do.   (That's my criteria--it HAS to be easy!)

This is just a piece of scrapbook paper in a frame.  {photo from Pinterest}


Mine was a teeny bit different.

I had this large space in our mud room that I needed to fill.  I had to use a poster-size frame, so scrapbook paper was not going to work.  My first thought was to use gift wrap in colors and a pattern I liked, but I couldn't find anything that was right.  Then, I remembered a tablecloth I picked up at Target on clearance ($3) and thought it would be the perfect choice.  

All I did was use the cardboard backing of the poster frame as a template--cut the fabric to size--and spray adhered it to the cardboard.  Then, put it back in the frame and hung it in the mudroom.

It's the perfect space to leave notes for the family, reminders, or Lady Antebellum pearls of wisdom






Sunday, July 10, 2011

the Fourth

We had our second annual 4th of July party at our house last Monday.  We hosted many of our good college friends and their kids (along with the VIPs, the Millers and my sister ;) .

I'll mostly let the pictures speak for themselves--it was a Fourth of July party, afterall.  Friends, family, food, pool, laughter, shenanigans, etc.  The only thing missing this year were the fireworks--thanks to the Parker County ban.  Hopefully, we can reincorporate them next year.  

Me and Jeff (side note--taken on our 13th "dating" anniversary day;)  


American honeys!


Lulu and Landry (twins?)


Lulu and Tiffany 


Karin and Jami


Livi and Mirk


Lauren and Larson


Jeff at the grill....bless him--it had to be forty million degrees right there


me and Lulu


Landry


SO. MANY. KIDS!


Horace, Matt, Mirkes, Tim, Files, Scott, Opey, and Jeff


Secily.  Today was Miss Independent's 5th birthday!! 


SO. MANY. KIDS!


Pinata watching.



The mean "big boys" soaked Karin.  


Our little firecracker!!

San Antonio

Jeff started a new job on July 5 and was "unemployed" the last week of June.  So, we snuck in a little family vaca to San Antonio with our friends, the Andersons.  

We spent a couple of evenings on the Riverwalk, and went to the waterpark at Fiesta Texas two days in a row.  If you're going to be in San Antonio in June/July, you HAVE to be in the water!!

The kids enjoyed all that the Riverwalk had to offer.  


Actually, Landry's and Korley's favorite thing was feeding the ducks.  Go figure.  


Beth and me


Jeff and me (taken two days before our 11th anniversary!)  :)


So glad we got a family pic on the beautiful San Antonio Riverwalk! :)
Ha!  We could have taken this picture in a black room!


Kids enjoying the finest Joe's Crab Shack has to offer--dancing.  





So stinkin' cute, I can't stand it.  


The purpose of the trip was to go to the waterpark at Fiesta Texas.  However, waterparks and cameras don't go together well and I didn't get many pictures.  I did snap this gem, though.  Poor Korley--the sun in her eyes is like kryptonite to Superman.  

just because....

Jamaica!!

A couple of weeks into June, we went on our family summer vacation with our dear friends, the Schwertners, to Jamaica!!

Korley had been in a plane and on a beach before, but she was one then and definitely doesn't remember it--so, this was (to her) her first flight and beach trip!

We stayed at the Iberostar Rose Hall Suites in Montego Bay--which we loved!!

This was our view from our basic, standard room.....not too shabby!  I loved waking up to this view every morning!



We loved going on vacation with Scott, Kristen, Meghan, and Kate.  It was basically like we all got to "take a friend"--a win/win for everyone!  :)  Cheers!



One of the best memories I'll take away from this trip was how much fun the girls had singing and dancing at the "kids' disco".  I love how completely unbashful our kids were.  


Especially Korley and Kate.  These two knew EVERYONE at the resort.  They were the life of the party everywhere they went.  




Sweet girls and sweet friends!


Landry and Meghan performed, too.  Though, their "routines" tended to be more planned and less fly-by-the-seat-of-their-pants like the younger ones.  




We got a couple of babysitters one of the nights we were there so the grown-ups could go have a nice dinner without the littles.  

Scott and Kristen

Jeff and me


Me and Kristen


Ahh, the infinity pool....this is where we spent about 8 hours a day.  


EVERY picture is pose-worthy!


Meghan and Landry


The girls loved the afternoon pool games!!









We had a blast!  Our kids even said they would rather go back to Jamaica than go to Disney World!  We can't wait for our next tropical family vacation!!