Trip to Texas....Part I....Frisco

We are home! We left two weeks ago for our two-week trip to Texas and after about six gallons of Blue Bell and several hundred miles covered in family visits we are pooped! The girls and I went ahead of Chris for a week and he met up with us on Monday (Thanksgiving week). We spent one week in Frisco and then rented a car and drove to San Antonio for a few days, then loaded back up and drove to Fort Worth where we finished our visit before flying home yesterday.

The reunion between me and my bed was a beautiful thing.

We started our trip in Frisco with the Jolly family. The quick background story with our families is that we met at a Mother's Day Out when our oldest children who are now almost 13 were just months old. Tiff and I were trying to make ends meet by working at the MDO program at our church. Tiff was the director and I was her minion. Because we were best friends (instantly), I had some clout and was able to be with my baby girl in the nursery and then move up with her when she moved up. Even after Emma was born I was able to continue to manipulate my boss in order to be with my babies. We spent our first years of motherhood and marriage sifting through the joys and heartaches that came with both. When the time came for us to move here, the pain was unbearable and unsuitable to speak about on this happy-go-lucky recant of my recent trip. So the background story ends here for now :)

Tiffany served us with a plethora of pop-tarts and ice cream and we had something fun planned for the kids everyday.

What's that boys? Sam Moon is not your idea of fun? You don't see dirt cheap silver jewelry, clip-on hair, and fabulous luggage as heaven on earth?

Whatever.

The girls and I got about 8 pairs of sterling silver earrings for less than $30.00.

Nuff said.

And have mercy. The luggage. Would you just look at these precious duffels?

I got Samuel a camouflage duffel bag for $12.95. He was simply overjoyed. (not) He spent the majority of his time piling large quantities of gaudy jewelry around his neck and hollerin' out to Davy Jones to come and try and steal his treasure.

I did buy the girls luggage there as well but they were higher quality than what is shown on the website so they cost a bit more.

Here is Hannah's big girl suitcase...


Here is Emma's...




And here is the get-off point for most, if not all the men who were reading this post.

Moving on. Look guys....It's a house in the middle of nowhere and a huge dirt pile.
Got your interest?

The Jolly's are moving to a country abode in the small (peanut-size) town of Blue Ridge, Texas. Where's that you wonder?

Well, just a skip and a jump past Squeezepenny and Frognot, that's where.

Not a joke.

We spent an afternoon out at their new place and the kids relished in this fresh pile of dirt. Cause it just doesn't take much.

I think for Samuel's birthday I may just have a load of dirt hauled out here and set those boys free in my backyard.

On the way to Blue Ridge....


Look how happy Samuel is to be awake.


This is Robby. He lives next door with his great-grandparents. His sun rises and sets based on whether he gets a visit from the Jolly kids.

I have told Tiffany he has a special place in my heart if I ever write a book because he is truly a character.



Jeffrey and Samuel....making our hearts melt.


Emma...


Julia...


Jeffrey...


Hannah...


Jacob...


Samuel...


From their front porch...


How I'm feeling about unpacking...

A Glimpse of our Week...

This post has been held up for a couple of weeks while I prepared for our trip to Texas. I had big plans to get it out before I left town (over a week ago) but the necessaries of packing for three kids and myself required that blogging be less than a priority.

I am sitting at the computer in San Antonio where it is unseasonably cold (thank you God for adjusting the outside thermostat to accomodate the inferno in my body) with a baby deer walking in the front yard.

Here is an overview of our week at home before our trip....

The girls at co-op working and packing boxes for Samaritan's Purse.





Our weekly superhero pictures...

House progress... The first picture is our front yard :(

A Glimpse of our Week...

Soccer....done

Field Hockey....done

Cross-Country....done

WAHOO! The weather has changed and it is officially fall and we are entering our blessed stage of rest. I could not be more ready :)

Hannah had a great time with XC but we think this may be her last year. She loves field hockey and will definitely continue that in the spring, but the demanding after-school schedule of XC practice (every day) really cuts into our homeschooling "freedom". She is a good runner and I hope to have gained a partner out of this! She shaved over 5 minutes off her time from the first race of the season and is definitely faster than me, even on my good days.

The county meet was last Wednesday where she ran for the JV team against almost 200 girls!





We took a week off from History in order to try and catch up on some household things. The dreaded switching of the clothes from summer to winter! Why does this project last for so many days??? I have tried really hard to purge the things that I know will cause conflict but it is not easy to part with perfectly good clothes. If you are reading this and wonder what kind of "conflict" I am talking about, then I welcome you to the world of...

"it's too itchy....it's too brightly colored....it's too hot...."

Otherwise known as,

"Hello? I am almost 13 and that shirt makes me look like I am like 11 and like 1/2!"

I am grateful that despite the picky nature of my daughters, modesty reigns supreme.

We are cracking down on the schoolwork this week in preparation for our trip to Texas NEXT WEEK!!! Our last trip was the summer of 06' and we are long overdue.

I am looking forward to some Whataburger, Blue Bell Ice Cream, and homemade flour tortillas.

Sorry...I faded away there for a minute while I fantasized about the flour tortillas.

Oh, and sure we are looking forward to seeing friends and family but I am trying to keep it real when I tell you that the ice cream and tortillas are running a close second.

The progress on our addition is going great. Since this picture was taken, a very large pile of sand was dumped in our front yard and Samuel has been salivating over it ever since.

How to check the mail....Batman style

What He Said...

I have always felt this way about women in combat. Piper has a way of articulating thoughts so that they make absolute perfect sense.

I love perfect sense, especially when it centers around God's design, which is always perfect.

He followed up with this article.

A Motley Crew

Don't ask how the girls came up with their costumes. I am not sure how more polar opposite two people could be, than that of a geisha and Napoleon Dynamite. Too bad we weren't in Texas with the Jolly's because unbeknownst to us, Jeffrey had gone as Pedro.

Coincidence? I think not.

Rather, I think that our oldest two children love to make people laugh and are quite good at doing so.

Samuel managed to keep Mr. Incredible in one piece for the actual trick-or-treating event but after a wearing the costume as a ditch-digging uniform, I had my concerns.

I think Emma made a beautiful geisha, but she kept insisting on this serious frown in all the pictures, so we discussed the difference between the geisha and the sumo wrestler.....which she was not. I managed to coax a smile....

We went to Dusty's house for chili and rotel cheese dip. I avoided both like the plague and ate cornbread and Butterfingers all night, which agreed with my stomach much better.


Napoleon spent a great deal of time agonizing over chapstick.

The neighborhood was relatively quiet, but the kids managed to gather a fair amount of loot. I have used my pregnancy to play each one of them like a fiddle, in order to acquire chocolate by the pound.

According to the scale....several pounds.

I posted a picture of Dusty's youngest as a pirate with a pacifier because he was way cuter than a pirate was supposed to be.

What a fun night!