Weekly wrap up!

What a fun start to Summer!! Here are some memories we've made this past week. We've had lots of fun swimming all day some days, though I don't have any pictures because I was in the water with them!














Kamri cooks breakfast for us sometimes now! Super yum!














Bike riding- it was way hot. I walked and had to pull little one's handle bars most of the way. Next time maybe I'll attach a rope to pull her.

After that bike ride and a few minutes of A/C, they went on the slip n slide, while I sat in the shade on the porch and read James.














picture of my newly covered OLD Bible.
My poor purse Bible was falling apart and looking pretty bad, so Kamri got after it with some Flamingo Duct Tape! Flamingo and Bible- love it! Anyway...as a side note- James is one of those books of the Bible that will make you think before you speak! With VBS coming up, and me being one of the teachers, it makes me really take it even more seriously. Not that I didn't before, but it's just a good reminder, that if you're teaching you're held more accountable because more is entrusted to you. I feel like I have a duty, with the little ones coming through our doors, to be careful to teach God's word, and no more. And to show them God's love. That's the easy and fun part!
















And now for some water fun on the wave runner!














And some patiently waiting their turn...














Just sittin' on the doc of the Bay... :)

At night they have been sooo tired. I decided to use that time to read to them from Isaiah, for the summer reading club at church. It has worked quite well for putting them to sleep, lol!
Me on the other hand- it's speaking volumes to me! I have been thinking as I read, how old Isreal reminds me of current America. Our God is the same yesterday, today, and forever! Now that's some deep discussion for another post all of it's own.










Here they are painting canvases. Like mother like daughters!

Over the weekend- we got to see my cousin and his handsome family. They live about an hour away so we really don't see them much. The girls had sooo much fun with their little cousins!! And the adults did too! James barbecues for us when he comes down- score!

That's it for now.
More fun ahead!


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WAYS TO SAVE $$

I'm sharing this on Friday Favorites here at Momfessionals
saving and getting good deals is one of my favorite things. It makes my heart happy to know I got a good deal and was wise with what we have.

I consider myself truly blessed. I am a former school teacher. 10 years ago I had my first of 3 children, and I have been able to stay home with them while my husband continues teaching and coaching. I know we have more than many and not as much as some. I try to be content whatever I have. I do try to be frugal. Here are some ways I save and make bucks $$. Hope this will help some who may not already use these ways.

1. Repurpose things in the house. An example is moving furniture around. This is one of my favorite things to do. I know it seems odd, but just rearranging things can make you feel like you've got a new space all together! When I need (want) something new in a spot, I shop my stuff first. Here's an example.























For a while this was an empty wall. I wanted to fill it, but didn't really have the funds to go out and buy a new piece of furniture.
This was a dresser in a bedroom, then it was a changing table when I added a changing pad on top when all my girls were babies. And now it's latest use, this hall side table where there used to be an empty space on the wall. It now holds our photo albums and loose pictures I need to sort.

2. Make things I can that would be more expensive to buy. This plain shirt, I got off of a 70% off rack at Target, plus another %off on my cartwheel app (another great way to save). It was just plain on front with no words.























Then I wrote LOVE across the front with a fabric marker. Voila! New shirt that looks very similar to one I saw at Forever 21 that was way more. Can't beat 3 buckaroos for a cute shirt!

3. Sell things I don't need, or that are taking up too much space, making clutter. I sell on Varage Sale, which I told a little about here.
I also buy things from VS for far less than I could new. Here's an example. This lady was moving and wanted to get rid of things quickly, so she posted this Ikea shelving unit for 10 bucks! I snatched that up real quick!



















And here's another Ikea unit I got for $70!


















These are actually the same Ikea system just different sizes, from two different moving sales! Score!!

4. Making things for personal use and selling then making more! Lately I've been on a painting kick. Specifically with canvases. I decided to start a little blog to keep track of what I can make. You can see some of it I've uploaded here.. Although I need a good camera for better pictures, this will have to do for now.


Keep an eye out for more ways to save coming up soon! Happy Friday!


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What I'm Wearing Wednesday

Today the most important thing I'm wearing is a smile 😃






No matter what you decide to wear today- be sure to wear a Smile :) it'll brighten someone's day!
"Pretty is as Pretty does"
Smile and be kind:)

Weekend Wrap-Up

After a busy last week at school we didn't slow down a bit! In fact, right after the crying fest on the last day, Thursday, the girls were quick to remind me that I promised to swim and get my hair wet on the first day of Summer. So that's what we did - all afternoon we swam! Then 2 of them napped a bit before we went to celebrate our friend's graduation.
Friday Pat and I got to have a day to ourselves to celebrate our anniversary. No big plans- just a nice day of eating, walking the shops at Kemah Boardwalk, and movies. MacFarland USA is a wonderful movie. I loved it and highly recommend it if you haven't seen it yet. It makes me miss the Mexican culture. I grew up going on mission trips to Mexico, and always loved the culture, the people, and their hearts. I know there are other places like this too. I just loved the areas we went to. The people were what we would consider poor, but they lived as if they had the world. They were happy. They didn't act sad. They loved and took care of each other. They were proud of what they did have. Every time I went when I was a kid, it made me thankful for what I had when I came back. But it also made me realize I didn't need half of the things I thought I wanted before. I almost felt ashamed for having such nice things. I am so very thankful for those experiences I got to have as a child. Wow- guess I got off of the weekend wrap up there! Ha! So anywho.
Saturday we spent the day at my aunt & uncle's house for the annual crawfish boil. They always throw a great party, full of fun!
The kids waterslide all day! They finish up, wiped out and ready to conk out!





















I picked up this bike on the way- Varage Sale find- $15. Can't beat that to make a little 4 year old's day!) I talked about here if you don't know what it is. It's an online garage sale!

We're off to a great start- The Summer Fun has just begun!


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Last week of school

Loads of fun- summed up in pictures!






Eating at Tookies with the cousins!






Ballet Folklorico! (Gloria Estefan- Conga)










Kindergarten Beach Theme Music Performance
















Kinder class party!




Yearbook signing


4th grade class party


After the Talent Show

It was a great year to say the least! The girls LOVED their teachers, and cried the last day because they didn't want it to be over. They'll miss them so much this Summer!

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Small Business & Varage Sale

Have y'all heard of Varage Sale? It's pretty cool- it's an online garage sale. No digging through the piles at a garage sale. Just search for an item or just stumble upon something you at a very good price! You can be picky. You can also sell your stuff.

Well. I painted a few canvases for my house, then decided I'd post them on varage sale, to make a profit, and if I sold any I could just repaint them for my house. Well there are rules that I hadn't read and I got told that my canvases were supposed to be in "Small Business" category. Say what? That sounds weird since I don't really have a business... But the rule is...






- So there you have it. I posted one canvas for an example of what I could do, and listed it in the Small Business section. I have sold a few so I keep painting. I think I mentioned before that painting is very therapeutic! It's calming and relaxing for me. When the kids go to bed, many times I can't wait to have that time to myself to paint away! I'm not a long term project kind of person either, so that's why I like these canvases so much. I can usually get them done in a short amount of time. I like that I can quickly see my finished product and hang it the next day.

Back to Varage Sale. If you haven't tried it, and you don't mind second hand stuff or want to sell something, you should!






It's fun, but watch out.... It can be addicting! A word of advice - set a time of day you'll check it. Otherwise you'll be on it way too much like I was at first. ;).

Have a look at some canvases here at "by5design".
I decided to call it that because there are 5 of us that will be creating and crafting here....and several other names I chose were taken. :D
Update: Varage Sale just made the News. Click here for the link.
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Weekly wrap up

We had a LOT of fun this past week!

Kaci was in her first program of the Kindergarten year. It was Ballet Folklorico. The kids practiced everyday at school for a few weeks and the dances were so cute! Only a couple of kids from each class got picked to perform in it. The kindergarten song was Gloria Estefan, Conga. Super fun!

They also had PE fun day at school the week before, which was lots of wet fun! It was a bit chili that day though... Glad I didn't have to get wet and was just an innocent bystander that day ;)












Then on Friday night they had the school dance. The theme was Holllywood. And let me tell you, those kids went all out! They dresses up head to toe! As my girls were getting dressed they wanted to dress up, curl hair, have makeup and all. I wondered if they would be the only ones! Man, I couldn't believe it when we got there. It was so cute- the boys wore dress shirts, some had ties, or suits and dress shoes too! The girls were in their best dresses, hair and makeup done up and all! It was really cute and they ran around having the best time!

On Saturday morning I took the girls to a birthday party that was super cute- a painting party! Those parents were brave- it was a 4 year old party. They decorated cans, painted canvases, made string bead necklaces, painted little bird houses, and decorated cupcakes!

After that party we went to a crawfish boil. Now the man that threw this party knows how to party!!! He rented kayaks, paddle boards, golf carts and bikes for all of the guests!! He had a live band and the crawfish truck in! He even had a Mexican food spread for those that didn't care for crawfish, sausage, potatoes, and corn. It was so much fun!!!






































And to finish off our weekend or Start our new week, we had an awesome day at church! It was Senior Sunday Celebration! We have a big group graduating. A very special group of kids. The sermon was geared to them dealing with Selflessness, but in reality was geared to all of us and such a great lesson for anyone at any point in life! I want to read one of the books the speaker, Jeff, mentioned that had some very good insights to living like Christ, in line with God's will.

After the service we had Potluck lunch, along with a slideshow of each one graduating and a little quiz we had to guess which senior it was talking about. Such fun! The slideshow kept making me tear up, of course. A few of our dear friends have sons and daughters graduating. It's crazy how time flies! Here's a pic of our best friends' kiddos together with ours.



We were so honored to be there to celebrate with all of them! Reid, is our best friends' son, who we have watched grow up from cute itty bitty to this handsome young man!

Audrey is another senior. We have grown so fond of her and her family over the past few years also. We have watched her grow as an actress in her high school plays and now, after winning Best Leading Actress in the Tommy Tune awards, she's headed to Pepperdine and also to compete on Broadway this Summer. We're so excited for her. Here she is as Mary Poppins with the girls:











-
To finish off our Sunday night we had an awesome report from one of the missionaries who lives on a reservation in Phoenix. He told of so many of the Native Americans who have obeyed the gospel. I think it's such a wonderful work he and his family are doing there, and he is an awesome speaker. After night church, the little kids got to get up front and song a few songs they learned over this past year. Little Kylie was quite proud and excited to be up in front getting to sing. Kaci has done it before and was excited again to get her certificate showing that she knows all the songs 100%!






I'm so thankful for a church that helps train and teach our kiddos to praise The Lord!

Among all the fun stuff this week, mom and I spent 3 days moving her out of her house! Phew!
Now that's a wrap!
Now we're into the last few days of school and they're just as jam packed as ever, full of fun stuff!

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Memorial Day weekend.

We had a great relaxing weekend!
Fun Friday:
the kids got to swim and ride bikes after school. It was a pretty day!

Fun & Spruce up Saturday:
We had a birthday party to attend, which was lots of girly Princess fun!
We decided to have friends over for Memorial Day. I like to have at least a semi-mostly clean house when people come over so I spent a good portion of Saturday picking up little things here and there and vacuuming. Pat did all the outside yard work while the girls played- and helped too. It's all the little things strewn here there and everywhere that take so long when doing house work.
It cracks me up the way we plan parties over here. Here's how it went down: one friend texted: "So my peeps...are we gonna do anything on Monday?😘🇺🇸🇺🇸". And I quickly texted Pat and said wanna have a party at our house for Memorial Day? He said sure. So I texted a few friends: "party at the Marrie's". To which I got a "really? awesome! What time? Swim suits?" And the ball was rolling from there.

Lights out & pjs Sunday:
the weather had been horrible on Saturday night into Sunday am. Sooo our power went out, which meant no alarms went off, no lights were on, which translates to extra sleep! The bad thing is we missed church, by the time we woke up and me with my wet hair (I always wash my hair at night and wake up with it wet to fix the next morning), and no power to fix my hair or my face. It was quite eventful though because Pat told me he had had a piece of glass stuck in his foot since last week when I busted a glass outside. So I spent much of our afternoon after the lights were back on, digging in his foot with a needle prying the glass out. I know- ewww! The girls got all into it! They got their tablets out and played nurses and assistants and got all his info. And most importantly got his credit card info and made sure he was going to pay his doctor bill, which they jacked up pretty high! You know, stitches, x-rays and all cost a lot!

Party Monday:
Well of course this was the best day of the long weekend! We love to party! The kids got to swim, and play basketball. The guys played ping pong. The gals were busy with kiddos and visiting in between interruptions ;). We laughed because we kept ending up in different parts of the house or on the porch because of moving to help Kylie with her life jacket, or go potty, or get a drink, or get food, or ... Well you get the picture! She's just 4. Oh and eating.... Lots of eating!
Everyone pitched in and brought something which makes it easier to have a party! The most popular item brought made it in a pic...








What's a Memorial Day party without LOTS of chips?!
But these were the cutest ones of the bunch:



























And the guys:

















And the mamas:








We had the traditional burgers, dogs, and Flag cake,









with some dips and cookies too. Oh and watermelon- YUM! Always way too much food, but better too much than not enough! I always have fun decorating for the seasons and holidays. It's one of my favorite things to do! It's like some kind of therapy for me (not that I need any...I don't think...;)
Anyway, this time I just painted a canvas and focused on my entry table. Here's a link to the canvas and entry table stuff.

(Photography during the party- thanks to Kim! I took none!)


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the Good old Days

I was doing dishes in the kitchen, the kids were in bed, and Pat was watching the Rockets in the bedroom (I could hear it from the kitchen). I went down the hall to go see what was happening with the game and found out he wasn't really 'watching' the game... He was listening to it. We don't have ESPN, so we can only catch some of the games.

Anyway, It sent me back 30 years! I immediately and fondly thought of my Paw Paw listening to the ball games on Sunday afternoon! I loved that time. He would prop up on the couch with the radio on a little side table near his head and the antenna sticking up and him getting it just right. Of course there was a little static still but good enough for him. Now I'm not that old. We had the TV. The game was actually going on the TV as well, but he would have the TV volume down and just listen to the radio version. I'm not sure why. Maybe because he had hearing aid, it was easier to just have the sound right by him. Oh and that hearing aid! I loved hearing it whistle, then hearing my Meme or my mom, or any of us tell him he was whistling and then watching him turn that tiny dial down. I thought that was so cool... and funny that he couldn't always hear the whistle. And especially hilarious if it went off in church!
Back to my thought- it also could have been because maybe he thought the radio commentary was better than the TV one back then. Whatever the reason, I just think it was neat. I could lay beside him for a minute, grab a hug, kiss, and then run outside to play again. He didn't care. He loved all the kids to be around. The women folk would all be either cooking, cleaning up kitchen, or playing on the piano, talking and laughing the whole time. It was just such a fun time. It was carefree and I loved it. It's why I paint things like this canvas sometimes. When I see it, it's a good feeling.

I try to make sure my kids see fun and carefree here too. I let them see me laugh and have fun, I sing and dance with them, and just let loose...even while putting up dishes or clothes. Sometimes I'm the morning pick me up for them while their eating their Lucky Charms. They may roll their eyes but they pretty much always join in and we have pretty good mornings before school! It's easy to let daily life get in the way of that sometimes, but I want them to know that life can be full of joy. Let loose and have fun! I want them to be able to look back one day and say "those were the good old days" and then to be able to create their own good old days with their kids. After all "these are the good old days" aren't they! I love being right where I'm at!

Oh, and the Rockets lost 😞. That was fun to follow though! I love a good game of b-ball!


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Kid time = Mama time

Lately I've noticed that I've been getting to just sit... a lot. Not because I have nothing to do. Far from that. I have to do lists out the wazoo (what is one anyway?). I have laundry piled high, dishes in constant use, toys strung where no toys have gone before, and many more things, (all of which drive me nuts the instant they pile up an aren't done). Its been the "let it pile high all week then get it all done in one day" season with my housekeeping lately. My best me likes to never have it piled up and be able to constantly keep up with it, but sometimes that's just not possible. I wish I was Mary Poppins. So back to the reason I've been sitting is because of 3 little monkeys (aka- my girls). They love to play outside (they've only recently rediscovered this love and I love it) but only if I'm right there with them. I pretty much have to be there if they're riding bikes around our front drive way, and if they're swimming. These are the 2 main things they've been doing lately- a lot! So I have thoroughly enjoyed my time just sitting and watching them. The pool water isn't quite as warm as I like it yet. I absolutely don't like cold water. When it heats up I'll be right there with them. And when they ride bikes in front, sometimes I'll get out of my lawn chair and shoot some hoops or ride bikes for a few minutes. But I really love watching them when they forget I'm watching - and just go carefree and sing and wave at all the cars passing by. Actually they don't ever really forget I'm watching because every once in a while I see them glance over and make sure I'm still right in my seat where I'm supposed to be. And don't think I can sneak off to grab a drink! As soon as I get up they holler "mom, where you going?" They are so funny about me being right near them and always have been. I suppose one day I'll be missing that.
With all this sitting around I've had lots of time to browse Pinterest and actually check some emails, or read a new book, but sometimes I just drop everything and sit and watch. Its also been a time where I realize I can blog a minute or two. I like writing and sharing things once in a while so I found myself back here. It may be something the kids enjoy looking back at sometime in the future. It's been such a fun spring and we are so ready for summer break! Can't wait for some lazy mornings, fun times, and late nights! I miss those crazy lazy hazy days of summer (did you just start singing 😄) where all our time is together for a while and kid time = mama time (sometimes;)! I guess we're starting early!!!

Navy and Coral canvas and burlap

Wrapped burlap with last initial, Blessed, anniversary date at the top, then the kids birth dates below. Navy, cloud blue, and coral.


BLOOM gallery wrapped canvas. Navy, mint, yellow, coral, cloud blue.


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