Vacation at the Lake

We had a much needed and relaxing vacation this year. We went to Lake Cherokee in East Texas. I think my boys could have lived there!!

This was before 8 a.m. in the morning. My boys were swimming while I was just getting into my first cup of coffee.

Gray loved tubing.

Drum Roll please...

This was what our house looked like for two weeks while we did the main living area.


The floors are finally done. Well, they have been done for about a month, but my computer hasn't worked so I am just now blogging about it. When we moved from Dallas to Austin I swore we would never have carpet again. Well, that is all good until you start talking money. 4 boys plus carpet is just a bad combo all together. We had gotten several quotes when we first moved in, but it just wasn't going to happen. As the color of our carpet turned from beige to beige with spots coupled with our journey into financial peace my sweet husband decided to do it on his own. He worked really hard and he did an awesome job. I love it. I know we should not love material things, but I love stained concrete. It is easy to clean and ridiculously durable!

Six

Blake turned 6 on July 29th this Summer. Birthdays seem like they last a whole week around our house between grandparents, friends, and family. Blake went shopping with Honey and Jessie and bought some awesome Nike Air Max that he has been wanting one day, golfing with my dad one day, and then two celebrations with his cousins.

Jeremy and I are so proud of Blake. He is so sweet and compassionate, loves life, is all boy, and cuter than cute! Happy Birthday Buddy!!

His new Alabama hat.
The cousins and brothers trying so hard not open Blake's gifts.
Blake asked for homemade Oreo ice cream for his dessert instead of cake. He is so my child.
His new Golf shoes.
Golf shoes were an early gift so he could use them that evening.
Jax made Blake a cake on his actual birthday. I love that all the boys have no shirts on. Believe me it is better that way!

Thanks Jax for the yummy cake.

We So Do Not Have Cable!!

I am not going to lie, I was really sad giving up cable, but it does have its perks. The boys come up with some creative playing time. Here are a few pictures to show you what I mean.

They were all working at their desks. They even pulled our neighbor into their world. Also, this was a day that Blake was grounded from playing outside or he never would have been playing inside.
I have no idea about the above picture except that they were putting on some kind of play. A cowboy, Scooby, and a chicken????
Gray reading his book upside down.

This Boy!!

He is into EVERYTHING!!! Enough said!!

FRUSTRATED!!!!

I have about 6 things that I am ready to blog about, but unfortunately my computer is not working. It was dropped and got a virus within 24 hrs. Anyway, I use one of Free Chapels computers to check e-mail. I don't want to download my pictures on this computer. Until then here are a few things I need to blog about:

1. Blake turns 6!!

2. Our Stained Concrete floors.

3. Gray is into everything.

4. Boating on Lake Travis

Top 5 in '09 Summer Edition

These are in no particular order.

#5 Sex in the Suburbs

This Summer Free Chapel is doing a Sex in the Suburbs series based on the Song of Solomon. It has been awesome. We also have been going through the text in my small group on Wed. evenings. I love the girls that are in the group. I especially love opening Gods Word and seeing what he has to say about sex and marriage. So cool.

#4 Smoothies

We make at least one smoothie a day around here. We make them super healthy and the boys don't even know. They also like to help us make them. It has been around 105 degrees every day here. Believe me you need something cold.
This is a before picture and I was going to have an after picture with the smoothie in a cute cup. My blender died. I had to take it back this morning since I just bought it last month. Ugh. I will have to replace this fast.

#3 P90X

Jeremy and I are in phase 1 of P90X and it is kicking our butts. I wake up everyday sore, sore, and more sore. Wow! What a work out. By the way we bought ours on Craigslist. :)
#2 Financial Peace University

Our finances have been revolutionized this Spring and Summer. We are in Financial Peace University every Monday night. It is so cool to see what God is doing in and through our finances. You can go online to this site to find a f.p.u class near you. It is 93.00 buckaroos and it is well worth it for the materials alone much less the teaching and community you get from it.
#1 Neon's

This one is kind of shallow, but it is true. Neon's are IN girls!!! The same obnoxious 80's type neon's, but pulled off in a more subtle way. Below is my new neon green purse that the boys call my "highlighted purse" (Birthday present from my Mom and Dad). Also my neon pink fingernail polish. I only paid .94 cents for it, because lets be honest neon's will probably be out by September.

PEACE OUT!!!

Sock It to Me Baby!!

How do I start this? Laundry, like many of you I am sure, overtakes my life. It never stops. I am constantly trying to catch up to no avail. So, here is the confession I just need to put out into the blogging world. I only fold socks about every two months or so. My friend Jacy (she is super cool and has three boys) and I were just talking about this at our girls small group last week. We have the same sock method. The boys come in " I need socks!" I say "go match a pair in the blue basket." It is awful I know. Jennifer (another fabulous friend and neighbor also in our s.g.) washes and folds every ones clothes separate. I love that and kudos to her because she works full time, has a 12yo, 8yo, and not even 1yo. What is your sock method? Please don't tell me that you pin the socks. I can't handle that kind of perfection!!!The infamous blue basket!!!!

Here We Go...Again

This is the story of my life the last 6ish years. I say six because Tyler was not a climber. Blake, Sam, and Gray are a totally different story. Here are some positive things that goes with boys that are climbers: they aren't scared of anything, they are ambitious, they are adventurous and they keep you (the Mom) very active.

Excuse my house!!

The Self's

We recently had a friend of ours, Kendall, come and take some pics of the boys. We were in desperate need since all the professional pictures in our house only are of Tyler, Blake, and Sam. Poor Gray, the baby, the last born.

Anyway, Kendall is so sweet and did such an awesome job. I love them. I can't wait to put them all over the house.

I love this picture.



I love Sam's smile in this picture.

These are so my boys.
Tyler 8
Blake 6 in 19 days
Sam 4 in Aug.
Gray 2

Happy 4th of July

We had such a great 4th this year. Early Saturday morning Free Chapel participated in the Lakeway parade. Then we had a cookout along with swimming at our friends house, one fat afternoon nap for everyone, dinner, and fireworks in the neighborhood.

We had church the next day, so we didn't really let the boys stay up to see professional fireworks. They still didn't get to bed until 9:30.Derek accidentally caught all the sparklers on fire at the same time.
Gray chilling with Papa.
Blake and Jeremy. Ty, Blake, Sam, and Jeremy has so much fun with the fireworks.
Tyler and a couple of his friends.
Sam didn't like how loud it was at first.
Gray was "cared" and "go inside" almost the whole time.
Parker and Gray before they were scared half to death by the fireworks outside!

Update

I love blogging. I love reading other peoples blogs even more. I have had a much harder time since we started Free Chapel. Time seems to just slip away and blogging gets pushed to the bottom of the list. Anyway, here is what we have been up to for the last month.

1. Swimming. We joined our community Swim Center (water slides and all). It is worth every penny and we practically live there. Most of the lifeguards know my boys. I am not sure if that is bad or good.

2. Staining Concrete. Our house has been under construction. We are pulling up our carpet and staining our concrete floors. What a stinkin project. I know it is going to be worth it, mainly because they are indestructible.
3. Financial Peace University with Dave Ramsey. We have FPU every Monday night and it has rocked our world for the last three months and continuing. It has been hard, but we love it.

Now I am off to dinner and fireworks. Happy 4th of July!!!

And Jax made 5

I promised my nephew Jax, weeks ago, that when his Mom had his new baby that he could come spend the night with us. The boys were beside themselves. This was them watching a movie while I made them popcorn and skittles. Tyler, Gray, Sam, Jax, and Blake

Worth Making

My Mom found this recipe for these cookies. They are sensational (I am a sucker for a reeses peanut butter cup) and they are EASY. The boys can actually make them. The recipe is on our recipe blog. Enjoy!!