Rain, O How We Love You

 A few weeks ago we arrived home after school and it started raining. There was no lightening so what did we do????

 We just ditched our socks and shoes and ran around in it.

Dear Rain, please come back soon.

Slade Smart Happenings

So Slade has had an eventful month. 

 This was his hand 5 days after he hurt it at football practice. He was running with the ball and a kid hit him with his helmet while trying to tackle him. We iced it. And it never looked much different.  He did it on a Thursday and by Monday I though he needed to run to the doctor's office and make sure it was alright. We thought it was jammed bad. The doctor agreed and said that the xray looked ok but he would send it to the radiologist just in case. Tuesday afternoon I was doing things around the house house and my cell phone rings. It's Dr. Pollock's office wondering if I can bring him in immediately before he doctor went into surgery. Ummmm, Ok. I was a little flustered. Nobody had called me, and I was thinking what the heck?!?  Evidently, the hand doctor had called me before the other doctor called. I had to rush to school and check out both kids so we could make it the the orthopedic hand doctor before he left.

 NICEST. DOCTOR. EVER...He was the kindest man. They waited for us, talked to us, and did an extra xray so that I could see the BROKEN FINGER beside the growth plate. Yes, evidently the family doc missed it. Dr. Pollock said that he knew it was broken. Note to self......bruised AND swollen usually indicates that it's a broken bone.

Because of the location, he had to have a "real" cast, as in no shower, has to be wrapped in a trash bag cast. Fun times here during bath time! He wears this one until October 3rd, then he can wear a removable brace for a few weeks. Hopefully he can get to play the end of his football season.

His uncle and aunt in Abilene sent his a cookie bouquet because they felt sorry for him.

 Two weekends ago, Slade got a special treat! His friend, Ben's dad, is the Tech baseball coach. They asked Slade to the football game and he got to wear special passes and go on the sidelines. It was really cool!

 He loved it!!!

 Then we decided to kick him while he was down and get his ingrown toenail cut out since he's not able to play football right now. We went to the podiatrist last week, and he said that his nail just grows curved and it would always be sore unless he cut out the root. (yes, gross and painful)

 So five shots of Lidocaine, a horrible looking nail chisel, 10 extra long cotton swabs, and some nail killing acid later, they bandaged him up and sent him home with a note to sit out of P.E. the rest of the week.

 He was a real trooper!!! Tough as nails! And I know this because the same thing they did to him in the office, they did to me 15 years ago under local anesthesia. He's pretty tough. Yep, he inherited my ingrown toenails and white skin. Lucky boy.

 Slade's first day of Cotillion was this past Wednesday. He looked very dapper in his new duds!

A bunch of his friends are going to Cotillion and they, surprisingly, had a great time. I think these three liked to dress up "fancy"!!! LOL! They learned the Fox trot, manners sitting, escorting, and had to serve their dance partner punch and cookies. Slade's dance partner was named, May. He said she was really nice! Ha!!!

Big 3-6

Yesterday was my 36th birthday. I woke up to beautiful flowers sitting in my kitchen. After I picked the kids from school, there were cupcakes and some sweet gifts from my bunch. I had tons of FB messages, cards, calls, texts all throughout the day. I took in a movie with my friend on Wednesday night and ate dinner with my sister on Thursday. I received some great jewelry, too! I had dinner without kids with friends last night. And I did not get one single pic of my celebration. So this bday will be only in my memory and I will not forget the day I turned 36. I had a great birthday. I'm a lucky, lucky girl!!!

Favorite Things........

Oh how I love a good list of favorite things!!! Mandy Watts inspired me to get another list together! Which was not difficult because who doesn't have favs?!?

 So this summer I fell in love with these Cobian black flip flips. I'm not sure what you like, but I love a thin, but cushioned flip flop. I heart these so much. I wore them to the pool. I wore them around the house. I wore them with shorts. I'm now wearing them with jeans. The were 20 bucks at the Flip Flop Shop and evidently this brand is big the the flip flop industry. Who knew??? I just stumbled upon them and they are fantastic!

No, your eyes do not deceive you. Dickinson's country pumpkin butter. Heaven in a jar. Need I say more?!?

Round here in the Hub City, our air gets dry and this saves the day. Some of my silky shirts get staticky(is this a word) and Slade's soft Nike shirts start to cling. We actually leave it in the garage and sometimes spray as we hop in the car. Good stuff.

Be afraid. Be very afraid. Pretzel Crisps will become your new addiction. Thin, crispy, and delicious. My favs are the everything crisps in the red bag. And if you love hummus, well it's just ridiculous how good these are with hummus. You will eat the whole bag, People. Pace yourselves.

 Pretty much I'm a sunblock snob. And since I'm second cousin to Casper, I feel as though I'm somewhat of a sunblock aficionado. I've worn all sunblocks. This is a great sunblock for your face. It's light and absorbs well. I HATE greasy sunblock, especially on my face. Yuck! This works well under makeup, too. I used it all summer. Dark or light, everyone should have SPF on your face and neck. Wrinkles, people, wrinkles.

I came across these little jewels at Home Goods in Dallas & San Antonio. If you have a Home Goods near you, stop what you are doing and go now. It. Is. Awesome. I never visit Dallas without going to a Home Goods. These throws are the BEST, SOFTEST, most WONDERFUL little blankets EVER. Soft is an understatement. Its like liquid silk sewn in to a rectangle. I bought 2 in Dallas and the whole family fought over them. When I went to San Antonio, I bought another. I'm going to buy 2 more when I go back and we will all 5 have a Cynthia Rowley Decorative Throw. Best thing.....they are $15!

I ended up buying a three pack of this at Sam's, taking a big chance on if I would like it or not. Since the regular Sprayway is Kyle Smart's favorite thing in the world. Like he has an addiction to spraying everything with this, I felt pretty hopeful that it might be good stuff. It did not disappoint. My stainless steel fridge and other appliances look great. No streaks. Sprayway Stainless Steel Cleaner. Two thumbs up!!!

These Stella and Dot Goddess Teardrop Earrings are some of my favorites. $34 and they come in silver, gold, and rose gold, I believe.

And I love these Brighton Destiny Bangles, $48. I've been trying to incorporate gold into my jewelry selection. If you know me at all, you know my love for bangle bracelets. I heart bangles.

This boiing concealer from Benefit is just good. I wear it under my eyes. It coats evenly and the container lasts forever. Sephora, $20.

Since milk hurts my stomach, I use this Almond Breeze milk. It tastes really good, plus I'm not crazy about milk so I don't miss regular milk a bit. I actually buy the one that is only 30 cals per serving.

Happenings......

 The boys went to the first Tech game of the season. Gunnar was into it! He came home with cotton candy.

 Kyle said that it was great with both of them! I dig the eyewear.

 Finley started her art classes at Art & Co. She attends Thursdays afternoons. They learned about brush strokes and she thought it was the best thing she's ever done. She has found her calling!!!

Last week Finley was the first Star of the Week in her class!

She made her star board all by herself!

Finley went to a soccer game with the neighbors. We have 14 kids that all play together on our street. These are some of the girls!!!

Gunnar got to have lunch with his sweet teacher from last year, Ms. Marla. Boy do we miss her! We met her and her twin boys at Chick-Fil-A. She got lots of hugs!!!

I bought this huge canvas at Home Goods in San Antonio this summer. I hung it in the hall, upstairs between the big kids bedrooms.

This is Ambo's desk from high school. He graduated in 1947 and it was sitting under Nana's carport. We brought in back with us on Labor Day. I wanted to put it upstairs for Slade to use.

I've worked on it for two weeks! Here's the end result after I cleaned it, chalk painted it, glazed it, waxed it, and spray painted the knobs. It is actually darker in real life and it matches the huge canvas in the kids hall. I'm in love with it. I just need to find a chair now!!!

 We have been finding these tiny little lizards around our house. And when I say around, I mean inside also. Finley was brushing her hair in my bathroom and she walked out and nonchalantly said that there's a lizard in my bathroom. Yes, we think it's weird, too.

We swam our little hearts out in the pool at the ranch on Labor Day. We had a green tint when we left because of the pool cleaner my dad uses to clean their pool with!

The kids helped Cita clean out her pond.

Gunnar sported my old paint apron while he made cookies with Cita.

Cita always receives lots of help making cookies at the ranch.

Finley pretty much knows the recipe by heart by now! Ha!

Eating popsicles at the pool during the last dog days of summer. Boy, I sure miss those summer days.

Finley went to Cotillion classes the week before school started. She had a great time! I'm trying to see if she's more mannerly now. I will keep you posted.....

Swimming. We love swimming. We miss swimming.

Slade is in full blown football mode. Practice three nights per week for two hours and a game on the weekends. Busy. Busy. Busy.

I just wanted a pic of the pristine, white, clean pants before they were stained to an oblivion. They were nice for a total of 15 minutes on the way to the practice field.

 Cheesy Lego maker.

We went to Violet's 3rd birthday.

Logan, Finley, & Violet. We also just found out last week that Violet is going to be a big sister in the Spring! Yay!!!

And we got to see our good friend, Jackson, who moved away. We miss that boy!