Weekending: Independence Day Edition

After such a busy beginning to our summer, we're looking forward to spending some time at home over the next few weeks before school starts. As such, we spent some much needed time at home this past weekend.

While we were visiting the Hill Country last weekend, we stopped at a brand new HEB, and it had me longing to grocery shopping there, so Friday the kids and I took off for a quick trip to the next town's HEB. Plain and simple, we need an HEB in Fort Worth, specifically the west side. I spent the rest of the day digging us out from under our trip the previous week. That evening, we grabbed dinner out, snow cones on the way home, and The Good Dinosaur from Red Box. We were neither hot, nor cold on the movie.

instant winner at the Buddy Bucks machine, right there
Saturday was a slow day, and that was perfect! I was able to finish a new book by a new Bethany House author that kept me up late into the night. I'm working on a couple of book reviews that I've really enjoyed lately.

We headed to church on Sunday morning, and it was just good to be there. Our pastor preached an atypical July 4th sermon on how we live in a post-Christian America and what our responsibilities are as Believers in a society that has turned its back on God's plan for how we should live. Sobering to say the least.

On July 4th, we slept in as late as our children would let us (7:30 am), then swung through Krispy Kreme for red, white, and blue donuts. They are my fave sprinkle donuts--a good crunch to the sprinkles.

For the very first time, we made one of those famous flag cakes that people have been making since probably 1776, or maybe not because they had more reverence for the flag than modern society. I don't know. Either way, my kids thought this was the most original and brilliant idea I've ever come up with. So thanks, internet.

That evening we headed to Granbury to view the fireworks over the lake. They tend to tout that their fireworks show is the best in Texas, and I have to say they do an awesome job. We spread a blanket, drank Sonic drinks, and celebrated!

Weekending

Our first June weekend came and went without a lot going on. The rest of June is busy, so that's perfectly fine by me.

The kids have been in swimming lessons for the past two weeks, which just piled on to the already busy end-of-school. They were tired. It was overcast all day long, and I think all of our moods matched it, so we ordered in pizza and read another chapter of Charlotte's Web, our current bedtime story. I haven't read it or watched the movie in a long, long time, so I was slightly horrified when the goose's thoughts turned to fattening Wilbur up for the Zuckerman's Christmas dinner. This led to a nice little discussion about what's going on when we eat ham for Sunday lunch at Grannie's house. Good times.

Saturday was a routine day of regular life: housework and parenting. We met our supper club friends in Burleson that evening for tacos and snow cones. I've posted several times about this group, but we had a good laugh off of how well rested and fresh we looked in this post. We only occasionally get sitters to meet up, so we have to be creative about where we eat. There are 18 of us including children--hence the tacos and snow cones.

This Sunday was a unique day for us because it was our first day serving in the children's department at our church! Mr. G is teaching 6th grade guys Sunday school, and I'm just doing whatever I'm told. I had a lunch meeting for adults going to student camp as sponsors, followed by another meeting later that afternoon for the strategic advisory group I've been serving with. I've loved being part of it as I get to bring some of my work experience out of retirement to serve God! Requirements documents, anyone?

So that was a long day for me. While I was there, Mr. G held down the fort at home. When I got home, we played in the sprinklers.

Now we're back here to Monday. Time to get started on laundry and finish the sprint up to VBS this week!

Memorial Day Weekending

Thursday was Mr. G's birthday, so we extended the celebration into the weekend. Friday night started with a little road trip to Stephenville for supper at the original Hard 8 BBQ. The way to Mr. G's heart is definitely Texas BBQ.

It truly was the perfect Texas evening. The weather was in its late May sweet spot (not too hot, definitely not cold). A gentleman was covering all sorts of great old country on the patio, and the food was excellent. I think it checked all of the favorite things on the birthday boy's list. The only thing missing was golf, maybe?

Saturday was a day spent enjoying Fort Worth. It rained like crazy overnight, but cleared up to a beautiful day. We only got out for a little bit, preferring to stay at home and Lego build and bike ride. Saturday for lunch we checked out a pizza place that has opened up on Camp Bowie called Olivella's. The pizza is Neapolitan style, which is great, but the patio is AMAZING. It's climate controlled and has a retractable roof, along with just straight up being pretty. Its location makes it a hidden gem. If you live in Cowtown, definitely go try it. We also visited the new REI. Yep, we have an REI now! If we could only get a Nordstrom...

Sunday afternoon was church, then the guys went to Colonial while the girls went shopping. Little sister was not pleased to be stuck with me, until we ran into a random dance party in Dillards. Nothing cheers her up like a good beat, and apparently, a photo booth!

Monday we spent the day mostly at home. I picked up filets from Roy Pope's earlier in the weekend, and we grilled corn and roasted broccoli to go alongside it. This roasted broccoli I found on Pinterest is one of my favorite veggie recipes. I've parked in on my "Food Wins" Pinterest page here, which has every successful Pinterest recipe I've tried.

I even set a patriotic table to observe Memorial Day. I found some super cute "charming check" placemats by the Pioneer Woman at Walmart (found here) and couldn't help myself. Asking "why" the table was red, white, and blue opened up a good discussion with our oldest on freedoms and the sacrifice others have made protecting those freedoms. We are grateful for our men and women who serve and have served our country.

It was a great weekend of downtime, good food, and reflection before heading into the summer!

Why Weekending Is Coming Back to This Space

On Friday night, Mr. G and I were taking a little walk down memory lane and had varying recollections about a now-defunct restaurant in Fort Worth, and it hit me, "Maybe I blogged about that?" I searched the blog right then, and we spent the next 30 minutes laughing about what our life was like as DINKs back in 2007 through 2010 on a trip through this website.

All of that to say, I realized how much I have come to love this space as a diary of what's been going on with us. GROUNDBREAKING, I know.

So here's what I've been up to for the past many months that may or may not have landed here:

Raising two precious preschoolers and all of the fun playing, singing, and boo boo kissing that comes with it.

Serving on a strategic advisory team at my church.

Teaching a lot of Pure Barre, as well as growing my skills through additional training.

Taking a lot of Pure Barre, because I still enjoy it as a primary exercise.

Potty training a child.

Mentoring an awesome young lady at TCU regarding our mutual faith in Christ.

Reflecting on life with a child in kindergarten next year.

Laundering everything we own on Mondays and Fridays.

Leading a Ladies' gathering on Wednesday nights at church.

Writing for Fort Worth Moms Blog.

Currently finalizing the craft list and supplies for VBS 2016.

Reading a lot!

Taking time off from leading a Sunday school department, we've been part of a young adult Sunday school class since August.

Over the next several weeks, maybe I will find it in myself to break these down into separate blog posts, because a bullet does no credit to the amount of time I've actually dedicated to them. Especially those first and second items. When people ask how I've been, I usually say, "Busy." It feels good to list it out and see that I'm not making that up.

{Because you can't have a blog post without a picture.}

Am I the only one with photos like this on my roll?
I bought this shirt a while back and love it,
but not with a sports bra and tights. Found here.
I had a friend comment to me about how easy it is to be a stay at home mom. Yes, it's very easy to be a stay at home mother if you have no commitments to anything except your kids and the occasional playdate. I find it harder to balance when I'm volunteering at a high capacity with a child on my hip and the other pulling at my leg. I don't have a nanny, and the children always come first. However, it's absolutely my choice to take on those commitments, and my husband and I both find it good stewardship of my time to give back so much to the Lord through service to our church. One of the nice things about staying home is choosing how to spend the available time.

My heart--and my schedule--is full!

Weekending

Ahh, weekending. So nice to meet you again.

We kicked off Friday with an earlier than usual start to run my car to a body shop before they got too busy. Sadly, I was rear-ended on Thursday, but thankfully was by myself and am fine. My car needs body shop therapy, so I'm ankle deep in insurance dealings. It could be worse. The rest of the morning was spent with donuts, laundry, and legos. The house was in ship shape by the time Mr. G made it home from work. I grabbed a late afternoon PB class and headed home to get ready for...

Date night! This past weekend was Parents' Night Out at our church, which means awesomely inexpensive childcare. Such a great ministry to parents! It was also the last one before a break for the summer, so tons of kids were at the church. A good thing, I think. We ended up at Rio Mambo (very random), then shopped for socks for the kids (very wild). We picked up the munchkins a little early to head home for an early start the next day for a...

Road trip! Friday afternoon we were pining for Aggieland, so we grabbed up baseball tickets and headed that way Saturday morning. There was a 30% chance of rain, which I noted was a 70% chance that nothing would happen at all. I would make a poor meteorologist. The heavens opened up, and it rained like crazy. It made for fun to watch the grounds crew batten down the hatches. After we realized it would be a more than 2 hour rain delay, we dashed to Wings and More for a late lunch.

We toured the campus a little, then as we debated whether to head back to Olsen Field, the kids both fell asleep in the backseat. It was a sign to let it go. So we did. With a stop at the Czech Stop in West on our way back home with sleepy kids.

Sunday was an early start to church for me. We are no longer serving as directors in the 12th grade department, but I offered to help them with breakfast for Senior Sunday as I remember always feeling like I could've used another set of hands when I was leading it! I laid out everyone's clothes, and Mr. G did an awesome job getting them together on his own. After church we lunched with our Sunday school class, celebrating two families who completed their time at seminary and are departing to go out into the world beyond Cowtown to preach the Gospel.

We ended the day with a trip to the park and snow cones. Bring on the last week of school!

Weekending

Another Christmas weekend has come and gone. This one was full of holiday fun, and I'm dragging! Today I'm linking up for the first time with B Loved Boston for her Weekending series.

Friday we headed east to see Santa at Northpark Center. I've posted about it in years past, but the Santa there is just so wonderful and great with the kids. There were children's choirs and great decorations, and it's just a lot of fun. Tomorrow I'll be posting our official Santa pic with the details of how that went down.

Checking out the ducks and turtles	The calm before the Santa storm

Friday evening, after some awesome post-Santa naps for everyone including me, after Dad got home we decided to take our chances with Sundance Square here in Fort Worth. We ate at Uno's and then walked around the square. It's absolutely magical all lit up for the season, and even more so with the live jazz band playing Christmas music Friday night.

The mural at the base of the big tree	Family selfie

Saturday we all slept in (that means we were up by 7), then had a lazy morning. We drove to Corsicana in the late afternoon to catch the Living Christmas Tree at First Baptist. My mom sang in the tree this year, and the kids loved it. They were quiet and even still during parts of it! After a quick supper, we changed the kids into their pajamas for an easy move from carseat to bed when we finally got home around 11:30.

After church on Sunday, we all came home for naps after such a late night. Later I wrapped gifts with "help" and made lists of everything I have to do this week. We have supper club on Friday night, we're hosting a Christmas party for our Sunday school class on Saturday evening, and my in-laws are coming to celebrate Christmas with us Sunday afternoon through Tuesday. I've got backing and cleaning to get moving on, plus those last few Christmas gifts to track down.

I'm sure your to-do list is as long as mine. Here's to getting it done with our Christmas cheer still in one piece!

Weekending

Our weekend was filled with Christmas fun!

Friday night, all four of us headed up to the church to help with the annual Christmas Store. To help give children in the surrounding community a joy-filled Christmas, our church sets up a store for their parents to come and shop. The toys are a gift from our church family. While the parents are shopping, our middle and high school students (with adult supervision, of course) do fun activities with their kiddos. It's such a fun night--you can't help but leave with an abundance of Christmas cheer!

After that, we headed to Ol' South Pancake House with the students. It was a late night, but that didn't stop our kids from waking up at 7:15 am like they do every single morning. Good times. And great naps, later that afternoon. I had a Christmas luncheon on Saturday for a "new mom" ministry I'm involved in. Not only was it at my favorite tea room, but I also splurged and had peppermint chocolate chunk cheesecake. Merry Pure Barre to me.

That evening, Jack and I headed out to find Annabelle's Christmas present from him. He has decided on his own, that since sister pink puffy hearts Elsa, he wants her to have an Elsa doll. A singing Elsa doll, to be exact. (Sister sings it non-stop, so now she'll be able to duet.) We only visited Toys R Us, and their shelves were totally empty. If we strike out at Target tonight, he may be getting his first lesson in online shopping tomorrow.

Sunday was church in the morning, then back in the evening for the choir's beautiful Christmas performance. This year the special guest performer was Jodi McBrayer formerly of the Christian group, Avalon. Jack went in with us and did great! Any wiggles were calmed down with a few marshmallows I packed in my bag for such a time as this.


Here's my current view from the couch where I'm blogging this afternoon. I finally got something up on the mantle Sunday afternoon. Simple, easy, twinkle lights, done.

I hope you have a great week!

Thanksgiving Holiday

Last week, the kids and I set out for Corsicana on Tuesday after naps. Mr. G was working Wednesday, and we were planning to take two cars anyway because we had that much stuff between his hunting gear and Jack's 4-wheeler. I hadn't been home in a while, so it was nice to grab a little extra time with my grandparents before the chaos of the holiday hit.

Pretty much all we did from Tuesday evening to Saturday was hang out and eat. Wednesday we headed to downtown for lunch and little shopping. It's really picturesque, and we stopped in the pocket park for a picture. The pocket park is a break in the buildings that was created after a fire ruined a store there. The city has created a really neat spot for all sorts of events: Santa pics, choir performances, you name it. I couldn't get the kids to look at the camera, but they were being so sweet to one another.


Thursday was a huge food fest. We were missing one person from my mom's side of the family. My cousin was working, and I was missing him because he's getting married this summer. I wanted to pump him for info. I'm excited for the wedding but also excited for another girl in the family! Until I was 20, I was the only granddaughter on that side.


The kids didn't nap that day, which was so crazy. Annabelle finally passed out in my arms around 5. Celebration, indeed. I couldn't believe it when they went to bed late after no naps and woke up at the exact same time as they always do. Friday included an extended nap.

The rest of the weekend, Mr. G woke up at 4 AM to duck hunt, and the kids and I stayed back at my parents in our pajamas as long as we could. Any black Friday shopping I did happened from the couch. Saturday was a special celebration for my grandparents' 60th wedding anniversary, so I'll post about that later this week.

It was a great weekend in my hometown, and I was thankful to see so much of my family.

I hope you were well and had safe holiday travels this past week!

Weekending

We had an earthquake this weekend!

With that crazy exception, the days were average. I found time to power watch some Gilmore girls and am currently mid-season 3. I need someone to explain why the "girls" in Gilmore girls isn't capitalized.

Is is simply stylization?

Is there a deeper meaning?

Is it capitalized in later seasons symbolizing hopefully Lorelai's maturation?

Have I spent too much time considering this?

Anyway, Friday was Mr. G's off Friday, so we lazed around before I headed out to Pure Barre for an afternoon session. I met a friend at Starbucks that evening and fed my family tacos from Rosa's before settling them in with for Toy Story 2.

Saturday it poured buckets, and Mr. G had to go in to the office. That afternoon, the kids and I loaded up for one of their friend's birthday party. It poured some more. And then, earthquake!

I put the kids to bed around 8:30 and since I was flying solo, climbed into bed around 9 for some Gg, when around 9:15, the floor shook for a brief couple of seconds. I felt the entire wall behind me shiver, and then the headboard vibrated against the wall. It took me a split second to decide that it had to be an earthquake. Immediately I headed to twitter where most news hits first.


Not long after, our local NBC station tweeted that folks were reporting feeling an earthquake in downtown Dallas. Not long after, it was confirmed by the USGS. The epicenter was all the way over in Irving, very close to my former office.

So that's my rather boring earthquake story. I couldn't believe it happened though!

Sunday we spent the day at church, and I headed to a senior violin recital for one of the girls in my Sunday school class. We spent the rest of the evening putting up our Christmas lights. We're ready to flip the switch!

Weekending

We had a super laid back and typical cold weather weekend for us. I say typical cold weather weekend in that we didn't go really anywhere as a family other than church on Sunday, ate lots of warm, hearty food (taco soup!), and built a fire in the evening.

Friday night was Parents Night Out at our church (i.e. inexpensive, great childcare), so we took the opportunity to knock out some of our Christmas shopping. For our kids, we do one big Santa gift and a few other small toys, plus some clothes. During PNO, we picked up one of our Santa gifts and nearly all of the smaller toys. We're about 60% done with all of our Christmas shopping.

All day Saturday we pretty much vegged out. Pure Barre, naps, football, and a fire. I did a little solo shopping and snagged Jack a Gap hoodie for 40% off. They're soft, comfy, and durable, so great for busy little guys. I think he's had one in every size so far.

Sunday we headed to church in a misty, cold rain for Sunday school and worship. In January, Mr. G will start another term as a deacon in our church, and one of our friends was ordained as a new deacon, so we went to the ordination service and reception that evening.

(What I mean by "starting another term": deacons in our church serve for 3 years, then have one year off before their next 3 years of service. Mr. G is just finishing his off year. Southern Baptist churches are autonomous, so not all of them have their deacon service organized in this way.)


During last year's snow/ice storm
As I'm writing this, it's snowing outside, and I'm reminded of the last snowy week we spent wrapped up in our house getting ready for Christmas. While this doesn't appear to be nearly the same degree of storm, it's going to be a cold week.

Bundle up, friends!

Halloween Weekending

Friday morning I kicked off Halloween with a 6 am special edition of Pure Barre: Glow in the Dark. I almost slept in, but the prospect of glow in the dark got me up. It was so much fun! Everyone wore white or neon colors, and PB handed out glow necklaces and bracelets. I had vertigo pretty much the entire first 20 minutes of class due to the black lights. #oldladystatus

The kids kicked off their morning with Halloween sprinkle donuts. I mean, why not get the sugar rush started early? They were fresh out of the fryer too. So much for that Pure Barre class.

After really great naps and frito pie for supper (I promise I fed them a healthy lunch as an interlude to the junk), we headed out to trick or treat. Fall weather finally rolled in, so it was slightly cold and a bit windy. And of course, that turned into runny noses the next day. The kids had so much fun though, so they would say it was worth it. Trick or treating really cemented Annabelle's proper usage of "thank you!" She loved keeping up with her brother, and he loved filling up his candy bucket.


We had a lazy morning and headed to our little friend Chara's birthday party that afternoon. She turned one, and her mom had a precious hot air balloon themed party for her. We did a little shopping later that night, which is always a touch and go situation when we're all out shopping together. I'll be telling that story tomorrow.

Sunday we had church and a great afternoon of napping. Time change has seriously messed with the sleep schedule of one little boy residing in this house. He has always been a great sleeper since like, day 5, so I'm a little baffled that this one hour change has thrown him off. I know it'll work itself out eventually. These things always do, however, yesterday he was awake at 5:45 am, and today it was 5:30. That's ANTE MERIDIEM, as in AM.

I should note: I'd given myself off a couple of mornings to sleep in instead of going to Pure Barre as a 20 in 30 reward. Joke's on me.

If you need me, I'll be drinking more diet coke.

Weekending

It's halfway through the week, so why not recap the weekend?


My Fighter Pilot and Little Red Riding Hood
Friday, the kids and I kicked off our weeklong Halloween celebration with Boo at the Zoo at the Fort Worth Zoo. It was a gorgeous morning to be outside, and I thought everything was so well run this year. We arrived right at 10, parked fairly close, and there was no line to pick up our Boo at the Zoo candy tickets. (Last year was a different scene.) We made our usual circuit and stopped by for a fun craft and some trick or treating. Annabelle caught on to trick or treating quickly and continues to say it to me throughout the day, expecting candy. I'm excited for Halloween night!

the craft pavilion	trick or treating

That evening, we left the kiddos in the capable hands of their grandparents and had a date night. We did some shopping: new jeans for him, new coat (browsing) for me.

Saturday we had no soccer, so I spent the morning at Pure Barre and running kid-free errands around town while they were still in grandparent hands. Then I took a great nap on the couch! We rounded out the day with Mexican food with my parents at suppertime.

We had church Sunday morning where I was busy with Pinterest ticket sales. That's coming up on November 8th! And Sunday afternoon, I made my way to Lululemon to claim my Lululemon Experience prize pack. Yes! I won the contest thanks to your voting, so thank you very much! I'm posting the details next week.

Enjoy the rest of your week!

Weekending

This past weekend, after soccer practice on Friday and a game Saturday morning, we headed west to my cousin's wedding in Christoval. It's a small, small town right outside of San Angelo, which is where we overnighted.

God provided them with a stunning Lone Star State evening. The weather was perfection for an outdoor wedding. The ceremony and reception were tucked under some tall trees by a small river, there were plenty of "Christmas lights" as Jack called them, the BBQ was great, and I even got a turn about the dance floor with both of my babies.


This was probably our 5th or 6th road trip since Annabelle was born. Both of our kids are fairly flexible, although sister has to be very, very tired to fall asleep in her carseat. She and I shared a bed, but really, it's incredible how much territory such a small person can take up in a queen bed. We had the pack 'n play. Next time she'll be sleeping in it.


We had a fairly uneventful ride home. On our way, we passed through a couple of those crazy looking west Texas wind farms. It feels like you're on a completely different planet.

The weekend came to a crashing end Sunday evening when my little guy took a tumble backwards into the coffee table and bumped his head. I called our neighbors (they are both nurses) for triage, and it was determined that he would need staples or stitches. After trying to decide between ER or urgent care, Jack and I jumped in the car and headed to a new pediatric urgent care clinic where we were seen immediately and given 5 staples, along with a light-up spinning prize thing, some apple juice, a sticker, and a sucker. (Those last 4 are the things he remembers most about the incident.) He was such a trooper, bless his poor heart. He woke this morning like nothing had happened. His resilience is amazing.

We spent the rest of the night trying to bring it back down a notch to normal around our home. Maybe by Friday we'll find whatever our normal is.

Weekending

We had another great Texas fall weekend, which of course is more like early summer. Friday night we took a little road trip down to Lorena (near Waco) to watch my cousin play football. He's a senior this year, which makes me feel especially old since I remember driving myself to the hospital to see him when he was born. That's old lady status right there.

We had a great time and got to see quite a bit of our family: aunts, uncles, cousins, plus my parents and grandparents. It was their homecoming game, and my aunt had the little lady a mum and brother a shirt with my cousin's number on it. He loved his shirt, and the little lady who loves accessories loved her mum. She was delighted by it. Thanks, Aunt Julie!


On our way home, we stopped in West, Texas for kolaches. West is the same small town that had a large devastating explosion last year, where lives were lost and their schools and many homes were damaged. Before that happened, West was known in our great state for the Czech Stop and it's delicious kolaches. It's open 24 hours, and when we went through there at nearly midnight, there was still a 15 minute wait in line.

We got home so late Friday night, and the kids slept an entire 15 minutes later than normal. (Thanks, kids.) So we had kolaches for breakfast before watching a lot of football the rest of the day. No soccer this week!

After a morning at church, an afternoon nap, Pure Barre, and a grocery trip to stock myself with Diet Coke, we're ready to greet the week.

Weekending and the Ramp Up to Summer

This weekend was full!

Friday night started out with Parents' Night Out at our church which is awesome, low-cost childcare for a date night. Mr. G and I headed down to Sundance Square for supper at Bird Cafe. While we enjoyed our dining experience, I think we decided it wasn't really our kind of place. For example, we ate some part of the base of a cow's brain or something like that, without knowing what it was. I tuned out after the waitress said "cow" and "brain." Thinking about it makes me want to go grab my toothbrush again.

Anyway, nothing against Bird Cafe. The atmosphere was great, and the service was fine. I'm not an adventurous eater, although I now feel practiced up to try out for Survivor.

We washed that down with a cupcake, as we enjoyed the fabulous new open space in Sundance Square. If you've never been to Fort Worth, it's a fantastic place to spend a summer evening, with the fountains for kids to play in and plenty of seating to just relax and visit with friends and loved ones.


This pic was from brunch on Mother's Day weekend, which was very lovely.
Saturday was filled with errands for Senior recognition Sunday at our church before a 75 minute intensive Pure Barre class for 100 Club Members. It was with one of my favorite instructors who you seriously cannot help but love as she challenges you in a very sweet voice to push yourself harder than you ever have before. That was Saturday, and I'm still sore. It was awesome.

Moving on to Sunday. Our church's Student Ministry has a lot of traditions surrounding Senior Sunday, and I really enjoy getting to be part in honoring those. We have a robing ceremony during the Sunday school hour where each graduating senior chooses someone who has had a significant impact on their walk with Christ to honor that morning. The honoree helps the student into their graduation gown, followed by the student saying a few words of thanks to the honoree. It's really moving. After, the students are recognized in the worship services, then we have a special luncheon. After all of the running around, the fam came home and took a big nap. We rounded that out with snow cones and guacamole on the back porch.

I keep looking at the calendar and can't believe my eyes. Between youth camp, VBS, and swim lessons, our June is booked. So much for the lazy days of summer.

Our Day on the Texas State Railroad

One of the most fun things about having children is the ability to revisit parts of your childhood that you loved without anyone questioning your maturity. If you lived anywhere in east-central Texas growing up, you've probably ridden the Texas State Railroad at least once. When I called to purchase our tickets, the customer service agent asked how I had heard of it. I can't remember how old I was the first time my family rode it, or there was that time we went on our 3rd grade field trip, or when my brother was old enough to be into trains.

We caught the train out of Palestine, but there are also departures from Rusk. As I mentioned in our Easter recap, this was Jack's 3rd birthday gift from us, and we took a crew along. It was so fun!

They are in the process of restoring the old steam engines, so for now, they're running diesel engines instead. And of course, this gives us a reason to go again!


It's an hour and a half one-way to Rusk from Palestine, leaving at 11:20 and arriving back around 4 PM. We rode in the enclosed car with windows we could adjust to keep the wind at our liking. The weather has been so unpredictable lately, but the day was nice enough that we kept the windows all the way open both ways.

Right behind the engine as we were going out, the open air car had an open air deck/porch area where you could go and see what was going on. The engineer turned around and waved at us, and of course that made the trip.


On the deck watching the action
Once we pulled into the Rusk Depot, we picnicked under the tall East Texas trees. It was such a perfect day to be outside. We couldn't have asked for better weather! Jack was flipping out with excitement as they turned the engine around and attached it to the other end of the train to take us back to Palestine.


We're so proud of this big little guy, and it's a blast to be his mom.

This is a great day trip from the DFW area. They offer box lunches for $10, but we packed our own lunch which was just as fun. I think the non-climate controlled cars are where it's at. Not only are they significantly cheaper than the climate controlled car, the seats are not assigned, and you feel a little more at ease roaming around if you need to stretch your legs.

Also--there were quite a few "adults only" parties checking out the scenery that day. As they say, "All aboard!"

Weekending

I had a really sweet weekend. We have quite a few exciting things coming up, so to spend it at home in anticipation of those was nice.

Saturday morning, praise the Lord and hallelujah, I had a hair appointment. My hairstylist books up fast, and about the time I decide to call for an appointment, she's solid for two months. I had an awesome, restful morning with a Pure Barre class and trip through Bluebonnet Bakery for a diet coke and a petit four before climbing into the chair for a trim, highlights, and blow out. Along with a copy of February InStyle. Yes and yes.

I wised up this visit and pre-booked my next appointment right before Easter. And then I wrote it in my planner. Such a novel concept, I know.

Saturday evening we loaded up to try a new pizza place in the shopping strip across from the TCU campus called Pizza Snob. It's a build-your-own pizza concept, and we all liked it a lot! Even Annabelle had her very first bites of pizza. The crust definitely made it.


And then we happened to be right next door to Cold Stone Creamery.
Sunday was a full day. We are prepping for D-Now, and I'm coordinating the 11th and 12th grade groups. Between rounding up drivers to move kids here and there throughout the weekend, getting t-shirt sizes for adults helping my groups, making sure food is covered, encouraging students to sign up, and various other tasks, I have a long to do list. This is right up my alley, so I'm glad to be able to serve the Lord in this way. We're excited about the weekend!

Christmas Weekending

The march to Christmas day just hasn't slowed down one bit since Thanksgiving day came so late! I feel like I'm behind on just about everything. How is this possible? I ask myself this every day.

Friday night our church provided one last Parents' Night Out of the year which Mr. G and I took advantage of to complete our Christmas shopping. We have very little other time between now and next week with his work schedule plus other Christmas events. We're starting the tradition this year of our kids opening two gifts Christmas eve--one from us and one from their sibling. And we realized that we didn't have some things that really fit that bill, or maybe what we thought fit the bill was something we didn't want to deal with on Christmas Eve? Can anyone relate to this?

I promise we found something that will bring just as much joy, to be opened on Christmas eve. And with many pieces, just not one million. Or even one hundred.

I was moping through the aisles of TRU, lamenting the fact that I couldn't find a cute infant play toy that was undeniably pink and definitely for females and not remotely gender neutral when I randomly found this gem on a shelf. It was the last one, and I knew it was the one. Can we get more girly than this? (Oh yes, we can. With baby's first baby doll and doll stroller. Oh yes ma'am, we are.)


But lo, in a sea of gender neutral, the Fisher-Price Laugh & Learn Magical Musical Mirror stood alone amongst the infant playthings of Fort Worth Toys R Us some mere days before Christmas.

It was a successful evening for both of our kids.

Saturday I had time to sit down and address Christmas cards that had been delivered Friday evening. And hopefully today they'll get in a mailbox somewhere. Tick tock tick tock!

We had a wonderful day at church yesterday. It was good to be back after the weather we had last week shut us down. Our church Christmas concert has featured a special guest over the past several years, and this year it was the Katinas. It was Jack's first year to go with us, and he did awesome. He's growing up on me!

We're looking forward to a busy week on the march toward Christmas. I'm praying for additional focus that the Price of Peace would reign in my heart this week and that I would make time to slow down and enjoy these beautiful days of the season.

A very merry Christmas to you!

Weekending

I'm just a few days late with this one. This has been a busy week, with sick kids, meeting up with friends, and prepping for a Pinterest day at our church this Saturday where I'm leading a class. Busy!

Last weekend I dropped our babies off with my parents on Friday afternoon and headed back to Fort Worth after eating supper with them and my brother. We had gotten a call a couple of days earlier inviting us to take advantage of some Aggie football tickets our friends had been given. Everything totally aligned--childcare, tickets, and a mostly free weekend. YES!

The tickets were passed along by two gentlemen in our church who have had them for probably decades. Our parking pass was in the lot right in the shadow of Kyle Field, which really uncomplicated a lot of game day for us. So wonderful!


We caught one of our former high school students who is in the Corps during march-in, saw Luke Joeckel on his scooter with his hurt ankle, and managed to grab some Aggie stocking stuffers for the kids. After a ridiculous first quarter, the Aggies started to come alive. It was great to watch Johnny play even a little longer than we expected. We headed out in the fourth quarter since it was already late (kick-off was at 8 PM), and we all had to be back for Harvest Day, our new building dedication, and other responsibilities at church the next morning.


8 AM came pretty early the next morning, even with falling back an hour. It was Harvest Day at church, and we dedicated a new building with dining facilities, music suite, and education space for Senior Adults. It was a great day! After, we headed back to Corsicana to pick up my kids and visit with my family for a bit. It was a great weekend, and we were so grateful we got to make a trip to Aggieland this year to see our Fightin' Texas Aggies!

Weekending

This weekend was just an ordinary weekend. Nothing fancy, nothing big, just hanging out as a family doing the things that we do.

By some strange course of events, Thursday I had an allergic reaction--red welts and itching on my arms and legs. It got worse on Friday, and by the time Mr. G got home from work, I had checked in on the web at CareNow (a local urgent care clinic) to be seen ASAP! It was also parents' night out at our church, so first he dropped me off at the clinic, ran to drop off the kids, and came back to pick me up. By the time he was back, I had a steroid shot and a prescription.

We had easy plans to hang at Brewed so that's where we headed after my prescription was filled. Brewed has a Sweet Eugene's feel to it, if you're familiar with College Station, except they serve a full menu of food as well as coffee. We ate, people watched, and talked about Christmas. We're anticipating so much fun with our kids.

I wouldn't have even mentioned the breaking out allergic reaction thing, except that on Saturday we had family pictures scheduled. Red welts. On arms and legs. Some on neck. Awesome. By that evening, it didn't look too bad. (At least that's what I'm telling myself. And yes, #firstworldprobs.) We had a 20 minute mini-session for pictures this year because I wasn't sure how it would work out with a baby and preschooler. They were both great, although Annabelle didn't have the usual smiles I was expecting out of her. We're talking kids though--so really I should've known to expect the unexpected.

After, we made good on a promise for ice cream since the preschooler smiled well for the pics. I can't wait to see how they turned out. He definitely earned his ice cream!


A cookie monster from Cheddar's. YUM.
Sunday we spent the morning at church, then lunch after with friends. Later that afternoon, we BOO'd our neighbors. I took some covert pics, and I think the little guy had fun!

We filled the in between times with football (mostly him) and Pure Barre (all me) and trying to forget about the Aggie loss (both of us.) I hope you had a relaxing weekend too!