A Weekend Recap: 4th July 2014!

What a WEEKEND!

 

This 4th of July holiday was one for the books!

 

My Godfather had my dad fly out from Oklahoma Thursday evening to spend the 4th weekend with us and needless to say the trip was an over all hit!

 

His flight came in Thursday night around 5pm and the hubby was kind enough to say that he would go get him on his way home from work. I thought this was a perfect way to surprise Dad in making him thing that us girls would not be there to get him (it also worked to my advantage that he thought the older two were in Alabama seeing their dad though that was not the case either)

 

 

Dad arrived and the fun began!

 

Dad wanted to take us to dinner (of course the kids thought they are dying of hunger... and he doesn't know the word "no" is when it comes to the grandkids) so we opted for IHOP since it was close to the house.

Since we were in 2 cars I took the girlies and headed toward dinner...

The hubby sent me a text to tell me they got side tracked and had to stop at the liquor store... why of course :) (I had already predicted this stop... what can I say I know my dad) 

Dad's choice...

 

 

After dinner we got home and enjoyed some drinks and relaxation, and our neighbor Tracy came over to meet dad.

It was a long night of laughter, stories and some much needed one on one with dad until 2 am when I kinda made him go to bed ( I will NEVER live this down I am sure)

 

Friday was the 4th and the hubby had the day off so we were super excited. We were heading to spend family time with my Godfather and his parents.

His parents were like second parents to my mom and dad and they also happen to be my sisters God-Parents.

We love spending time there with them and since we do not have actual "family" here they are always so sweet and nice enough to allow us to join them for the holidays.

 

Dad has not seen my God-father (his BFF from HIGH SCHOOL) or his adopted parents in close to 25+ years so he was like a kid headed to Disney World...

 

 

There we spent the day with slip and slides, music, fireworks, TONS of food, drinks, a million stories, and twice as many laughs!

 

Best Friends Forever! These two were back in high school it seemed... Nothing has changed...

Making S'mores...

  

Music time!

These two together are a MESS!

Fireworks!

25+ year reunion with Dad Terry and Ken!
A moment I will always cherish as will they!

 

Saturday we opted to go do something a little fun with Dad and give him the chance to do something with the girls that they all love. Since we have the zoo passes we decided that would be a great thing for them all to do together and again it was a hit.

 

Feeding time for the Alligators

The Grizzly Bear was unafraid of us... I think it was because Dad was wearing his Chicago Cubs Shirt ;)

Penguins were up close and posing :)

These two men are amazing at what they do and my heart is filled with joy that they get along so well. They are "father and son"  What a Blessing!
 

Saturday evening we were all kinda worn out and it was the last night that dad had with us.

So we ordered pizza and Ant and Dad made a beer run (you can not have pizza without beer of course). Tracy came by later that evening to hang out and say her good-byes.

He also got to meet her daughter Courtney and her fiancé Joey which was great since we are all apart of the neighborhood family.. We were however missing the other neighbors who happen to also be on vacation.

 

 

Yesterday was the last day with Dad.. We were all very bummed but we made the best of it. Terry wanted to see Dad for a little bit longer so we met for lunch at the Olive Garden and then went and hung out at Terry's for a little bit while we waiting for the airport check in time.

 

 

It was so sad to see him go, and I am so wishing he could move closer to us, but I know that as of right now he is settled in Oklahoma.

 

 

I am so very thankful for this last weekend, there are not enough words to explain how much this weekend meant to all of us here.

 



Transformation Thursday

 

A few weeks ago I bit the bullet and finally made arrangements to cut my hair and do something with the grown out mess I was sporting...

If you know me you know this is a HUGE deal and SEVERAL years in the making... several as in...OVER 7 years... but who is counting right...

 

 

While we were at it we decided to go ahead and di something with D's and Lo's...

 

Here is what we came up with...


With Lo's hair once it reaches a certain length her natural waves come out and it is a PAIN to overcome... I am almost to the point on attaching a hair brush to her hair just to get it to look brushed! I personally like to keep her hair on the shorter side since it is easier for us BOTH the manage and deal with it, but with three kids it is hard to make the every 6-8 week hair appointments and I am no cosmetologist!
She has also been DYING to have purple in her hair... I have done pink before as you can see but I wouldn't do purple because one kit could do ALL of our hair and I am not a HUGE barney fan...
Lucky for her she hangs out with this boy who's mom happens to be a cosmetologist and we struck a deal :)
She came to the house to do our hair and let the kids play together... WIN WIN!

Plus Lo got her Purple...:)
She also got her hair cut which really needed it and she loves it!

 

 

For D the original plan was to also add purple highlights. She has yet to choose a "fun" color to add to her hair so I was shocked when she requested them. Needless to say she is SO not my girly girl and was way OVER the hair process after she got it bleached in order for the purple to show...

She stayed with the bleached streaks through out instead of just the front bleached like her usual request and seems happy with it.

She tried to get me to allow her to cut it again but I am still getting over the last time we cut it. See that post here

 
As for mine I went with this inspirational image to give Amanda an idea on what I was wanting. If this image looks familiar it is a Pinterest find and it was featured in the blog here when I was in  need of opinions.

 

Like I had said I NEEDED to do SOMETHING with my hair. I have been so busy with life that my hair was showing it . It was unhealthy and LONG and I always threw it up with the lack of desire to make it do anything.... FYI... it takes FOREVER to curl, straighten or do much of anything with it.

My hair is thin so it tangles very easily and I was shedding like a mad woman!

Overall I am happy with the cut, honestly I have done something with it only one time but I like that I was able to do something with it.

The summer project I am speaking of so much has me on the go and looking a HOT mess anyways with what it entails that honestly I wear it up in a stubby little ponytail unless I am going somewhere important... Like to D's band concert... or out with the hubby for anything more than a grocery run...

Here was the results...

This is un-styled just so you know.. 

 

 

I do plan on doing something with it tomorrow for our 4th celebration with my dad flying in today. I am super excited and I can't wait to have him and my godfather (who have been best friends for OVER 30 years) reunited after many many years of life taking them on different roads.

 

Well we are off to get things prepped for this weekend and to get ready to go get my dad from the airport... I can't wait to see that man!

 

Here is to you and yours may you have a safe and blessed 4th of July!

See you all Monday!

Water Fun Wednesday!

My household is fish in a human body, I am just sure of it.

Usually our summer days contain swimming form sun up to sun down but this year we did not invest in a pool since our summer project is taking extra time and money.

We have however made up for water fun in other ways and the kids seem to so far enjoy it.

We have more water fun planed with them but here is what we have done so far.


Water Balloons:
Aww good ol fashioned water balloons, they take longer to fill up then they do to be used so this is NOT my favorite but the kids do enjoy it...
I enjoy watching them find all the pieces (evil mom...maybe)

 

The Sprinkler!

This is some total retro 90s here and I love it! The kids did too as you can see.

I like the fact that it teaches them other ways to enjoy the water than in a pool and as you can see Lo liked the opportunity to soak in the sun.

 

Mills Park Pool

The great thing about Arkansas is that there are SO many swimming options between the lakes and river but they also have some great public pools. One of our favs is at Mills Park. It just got remodeled over the winter and we were excited to try it out.

Down fall... Family of 5 will be $20 to get in so if you don't plan on spending the day there then your wasting your money...

Perk: There is a splash pad, a slide and a diving board. Everything this mamma needs to keep all the kiddo's happy.

Tyndall Park Splash Pad:

Ok so I did not actually go with them but our neighbor Tracy and her daughter Courtney grabbed the girls to check it out.

I needed the break and they needed the break.

Anyways this is at the local park. It was put in last year and we never got the chance to go visit and check it out.

This is a FREE place for kids to enjoy the water and the sun and it was a hit from what I gather from Tracy. Even the oldest who did not want to go decided to join after she got there and fully clothed!

No I am not mad I am just glad she got to enjoy it and took her music out of her ears long enough to be involved!



 

What are some things that you do in your local area to beat the summer heat?

Do you have a recommendation for us?

Lets hear it!

Operation Brace Face: Phase 10

Hard to think we are already on phase 10 and towards the end of this journey.

In November we will be starting with my middle daughter and I am in need of a name for the series...

If you have am idea lets hear it...

Who knows I may choose yours!

 

 

Anyways last week we went in to the orthodontist expecting the worst of news that we would be oral surgeon bound for her k9 teeth that are deciding that they are not in any kind of hurry to join the brackets team.

 

By the time we made it to the appointment one had begun to appear through the gums and the other is still nested away and hasn't shown itself so I was pretty sure we would be getting a referral.

 

 

Shockingly the orthodontist decided we will wait another 8 weeks!!!

She felt the k9 at the edge of the gums and I hope that they will decide to show them selves by August so we can finish this all up on time!

 

 

The appointment was real simple in the weight lifted off our shoulders and we just had a color change and re-shifting of the top wire.

 

 

 

She went from blue to red this time. Red being her favorite color along with the 4th coming around the corner I thought it was a great choice.

 

 

I am not sure what they will do if she doesn't have her teeth in by August but I hope we avoid the oral surgeon... I REALLY didn't want to have to go with it being during the school year...

 

 

So lets hear what you think the next orthodontist series should be called...



Highlights from the Last 2 Weeks: In Pictures

 These last few weeks have been SUPER Crazy!

I have not forgotten about my readers and wanted to catch you all up on the last few weeks in a nutshell.  

Our Summer Project is in FULL swing and time is NOT on our side.

A anniversary gift to me and the Hubby from our Amazing Tracy!

I did it! I cut it all off! (More to come on this)

A day at the pool with the kids is just what we needed

A hint to the summer project on which we have yet to confirm what it is... :)

Our Annual Yard Sale was a hit!

Wine and Fire makes a Friday night worth all the hard work during the week

                                     
 

Band Camp Dorm.... EEEKKK

Swimming is what we do best :)
 

JUDY! I love this woman! She stopped by on her way through to see her first grandbaby!
BTW he is a DOLL!

Purple Hair?! Why NOT!

Operation Brace Face continues! (More on that to Come)

We celebrated our 7 year wedding anniversary!

Band Camp was a success! (More to Come)

Another Summer Project Hint

My newest favorite pick me up!

Star Wars piece was played at the last concert!

We celebrated the first day of summer with water fun and tanning!

 

As you can see things have been very busy! I will be highlighting a few of the things this week like band camp, our hair, and more...

Hope you all will join us!



While We Were Away: A Father's Day Weekend Recap

This weekend was one to remember as I epically failed numerous times. :/

 

 

Friday night we went and got the hubby his Father's day gift in the city and though I can not say what it is due to the fact that it will give away our summer projects I can say that we think he is allergic to it...

Fail #1!

 

 

We relaxed Friday night chatting the evening away with our neighbor Tracy and were excited to spend some time with her.

 

 

Saturday it we tried to relax some and enjoy the beautiful days that we have been having after 3 weeks of rain.

That night we went to a friends house to attend their son's 10th birthday party and left without two of the kids as they got to stay with their daughter for a sleep over. They were super excited and the hubby and I enjoyed the company of some great friends that we don't get to hang out with often enough.

 

Sunday morning I over slept... A LOT like 9:40!

(Epic Fail #2!)

 

I planned on getting up before the hubby and surprise him with breakfast and a small gift but needless to say ummm that it didn't happen... (face palm)

 

We ran errands and spent more time with Tracy shooting the breeze that evening.

We are super excited to have nice weather finally and it is starting to feel like summer!

 

We have a BUSY BUSY BUSY week ahead as I take the oldest to band camp in the morning and get the middle one ready to go to her dad's when D gets back.

Then it's hair, fun in the sun, working on our summer project, getting D from Band Camp, school work and a Surprise visit from a good friend from Bama who is passing through the area!

 

Are you tired yet?!

Thank God my hubby found me a red bull that I like! I foresee us having to buy stock to survive our summer! 

While We Were Away: A Weekend Recap

This last weekend we were busy, busy (like that is nothing new right).

 

Friday morning and into Saturday we had our neighborhood yard sale.

We have 5 out of 8 houses on the block gather their unwanted/needed things through out the year and set up shop together one weekend a year.

We have found this very effective for us all and we LOVE being able to sit out there and shoot the breeze as we clean out our home to rid of the clutter we have all gathered.

 

 

The best thing about our yard sales though is that what we don't sale we make sure to donate it to a local charity. We think that it is more important to donate than to hold on to the things and hide them away until the next yard sale.

With the rain this year the sale was not fantastic but we did a decent amount, and every little bit helps :)

 

Saturday night Tracy came by to visit and chat for a while and we relaxed and enjoyed the thunderstorms.

 

Yesterday we cleaned our own home, did laundry and did the ever so dreaded trip to Wal-Mart and watched the new RoboCop 

 

Since I do not remember seeing the original 1980's movies of the franchise I can not say how well it kept to the original but I can say it is defiantly a man's movie :)

 

Sunday we also worked on our big summer project that I have been hinting about on my Facebook page and I am happy to say we are one step closer to the reveal. There is however a lot more work to be done..