* Sunday Afternoons *

We have made it a new habit (as long as gas prices stay down), to take little trips on Sundays after church. Last week, we wound around the backroads of 105 thru Navasota...eventually ending up in Brenham and then heading home. Today, we headed out 529 into Belville. We just like to see things that we haven't seen. We won't mention that it's nice to have Trey and Em secured in a seat and Trey insists on wearing these...can we say, LIFESAVER ...I mean EARsaver.

I don't think there will be a Not Me Monday tomorrow, because we ALL need to be praying for baby Stellan, but in honor of MckMama, we'll just say that Trey did NOT find my makeup bag in the backseat while we were out and about. I did NOT get in the car from Walmart to find this...You cannot see the lip gloss on his eye lid in this shot...but I think you get the idea.

I made this tutu when Emery was way too little to even think about sitting up. I decided today was the day to debut it. Don't tell anyone that we made it all the way to Waller, when I realized it wasn't in the car...YES, we had to go home and get it. A girl needs her tutu. Would someone PLEASE look at this camera. *sigh*

Oooh, I got one to look.

I know this picture is blown out, but she's pretty.
Someone once told me the world is a much
better place to be if you're pretty...and she's pretty.

Here's Mr. Tough Guy

I want one of these in our backyard!

Busy week ahead....better get to sleep! Hope everyone has a fabulous week.

* Little Girl *

Where'd my baby go?




P.S. She has her first tooth.

* Official...Almost. *

I'm almost official y'all. Check this out.

We don't need to discuss the fact that I'm trying this out for free for 10 days. If I like it, I'll go ahead and customize it to MY colors. The gray and green is on my last nerve, but you get what you pay for right? :) Hope you like it.

Peace.

Meet my Nana.

Nana is my dad's mom. The time is drawing near when we will have to say goodbye to my last grandparent. In my opinion, having grandparents is one of life's little gifts. They spoil you rotten, they share their history with you, you look up to them beyond measure, and hope that you will live life in a way to honor them. Please say a prayer for Nana. Her body is growing tired and starting to let go. Long story short, she had been ICU downtown this past weekend, and the doctor has advised us to just let her let go. No more medicine. I pray to God that she just falls asleep and is joined by some great men in her life. My Papa, my dad, and her brother Don are all waiting for her. I know that will be one of the happiest moments in her life. However, we will miss her here. Her deepest desire in the last few months, is to go home. I can't wait for her to finally be Home and to be happy.


I find myself listening to old Gospel hymns when I think of my grandparents. That is something that reminds me of them and makes me feel close to them. Here is a little chunk out of one of her favorite songs: (It's also now playing on my music, along with some others...)


"When Christ shall come, with shout of acclamation,
And take me home, what joy shall fill my heart.
Then I shall bow, in humble adoration,
And then proclaim: "My God, how great Thou art!"

* Trip Home *

We decided to take the scenic route home today from Dallas. Joe decided to grab the camera when I took over driving from Waco. Just thought I'd share a few of the shots. He got most of these out of the passenger side window, so no judging! I happen to like them though... :)

I wish this barn was purple and said, "Go Jacks!"...
However, props to whoever painted this super cool barn.

This is Trey's picture...Meaning, Daddy was
brave enough to let Trey snap a picture.

Our favorite rest stop on Hwy. 6.
Trey posing...

Would someone please buy this boy a farm...
He cried because we wouldn't let him go 'play with the cows.'

Also, if someone could contact TEA and tell them that Spring Break needs to be 2 weeks long. I'm just sayin....

Good times...

Spring Break is off to a good start. We got up early Saturday morning and headed to Murphy (aka...Plano/Wylie). Had an AWESOME sushi dinner last night and came home to play. This is how Trey decided to relax....

He's his father's child. :) j/k.

This morning (Sunday) Joe and I got up and took our nephew, Kyle, to do his senior pictures. You can see them here. We decided to head downtown to take the pictures, because Kyle goes to a high school for the performing/visual arts. He can flat out play guitar, no two ways about it. He was playing in the backseat, and I'm pretty sure I need him to ride around with me as my personal musician. After we finished up the pictures, we met the rest of the crew at the Dallas Aquarium. It was sweeeeeeet. It's 3 stories high, and you start at the top with the birds, monkey, etc...and wind your way down until you get to the bottom where all of the underwater creatures are. We had a great time with all of the family. WARNING: MPP. Massive. Picture. Post. Sorry.

Ticket please.

So sweet.


He didn't know what to think about all of the animals!

This nasty thing eats birds. *sick*

Any guesses as to what this is?

A seahorse!! Get out of town.

I LOVE Penguins

Emery was taking it all in!

Best Buds.

Checkin' it all out.

I'm watchin' you.

After the aquarium, we grabbed a bite to eat and came home. Michelle, suggested Chiloso's Mexican Bistro, and it was AWESOME. Blows Taco Cabana out of the water. I'd link you up to it, but there's no web site...bummer. The big break through was that Joe kept saying how good it was, and he doesn't say that about Mexican food. Therefore, we are going to have to scout out one in Houston. Well, now that my novel is half written and illustrated, I will say goodnight. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I get to sleep in tomorrow. We'll see! :) Hope everyone has a great week!

Introducing...

My new best friend. The Boon Spoon. This has to be one of the single, best inventions in our life time. I may be way behind in this new revolution, but I am LOVING this! I first saw this a couple of months ago, when my friend Tammy was using it. I finally remembered to get one yesterday. I think Joe and I are going to be fighting over who feeds Emery now. I know, it's sad that this is so exciting. Welcome to my life. :)

* Pictures *

The newest pictures are over here. Chappell Hill....fun.

...Two of a Kind...

I distinctly remember people telling me, that there was NO WAY that I was going to get lucky with baby #2...that she would be nothing like Trey. Ahem. Check that out. This is our morning snuggle time. I'm pretty sure they are twins separated by 2.5 years. The second one is just for close up purposes and proof.

By the way, if you haven't checked out The Riggs family blog you should. Brent puts out an awesome publication called Serious.Life Magazine. They just published the March issue today, and I am in their Featured Blog Directory. It’s a great, quality magazine… you’ll really like it.

The magazine includes a lot of great content from bloggers you’ll appreciate, as well as great features, photos and other content. The magazine is owned and published by a family who have seven kids, three adopted and one who has Leukemia (http://www.riggsfamilyblog.com/). The magazine gives away a bunch of ads to charities and ministries. Besides great articles on interesting people, there is a lot about family, adoption, personal finance, spiritual life, humor… all sorts of “life” topics.

Again, the subscription is FREE, and I know you’ll enjoy the magazine, so take a minute to check it out and sign up to get future issues. www.seriouslifemagazine.com

*What happened?*

Can someone please tell me where my babies went? Emery is now waving and saying bye bye. Trey has not worn a diaper in a week...that deserves a hallelujah! Daddy took these pics, I jazzed them up and wha la...I can't wait to get back to my fancy camera this week. Stay tuned!

Not Me Monday is Back!

I've been on a bit of a hiatus from Not Me Monday lately! Gotta love MckMama's blog carnival. Head over there to check other people who 'don't do' what we do. Ha!

1. I did not spend a fabulous week in Las Vegas learning Adobe Photoshop, InDesign, Acrobat, & Dreamweaver. I would never spend 70 hours in a classroom...never.
   
2. I did not want to cry like a baby when Joe and the kids dropped me off at the airport.
   
3. I couldn't eat Alaskan King Crab Legs at least 4 nights this week on various Vegas Buffets...not I.
   
4. We did not love the Bellagio buffet so much, that we went there twice this week.
   
5. Our instructor did not have us participating in a week long contest for the craziest thing we saw in Vegas...scroll down to see my Grand Prize entry.
   
6. My brain was definitely not fried by noon yesterday!
   
7. My husband is not the recipient of Husband/Father of the Year for surviving all week by himself with Trey and Emery! (with a lil' help from Mimi, but that's it!) FYI...he did AWESOME.
   
8. I would never doze off while typing this post because my flight arrived at 12:30 a.m. Emery wouldn't dare throw me a homecoming party when I got home. I am not surviving off of about 2 1/2 hours of sleep today. *Note to self: never (no really...never), let a travel agent book your flight out of Vegas to Houston for 7:30 p.m. the weekend of Spring Forward.

Okay, so for the grand prize entry for the week. Disclaimer...I tried to blur faces. I did take this picture out at the Flamingo pool during one of our lunch breaks. I had no idea the woman was making that face, but it is what sealed the deal for my victory. Sorry if the picture offends anyone, but you've gotta admit it is pretty stinkin' funny. P.S. Crack kills.

...YUM...

Tonight our class ventured out for dinner...after we scalped our buffet vouchers, of course. We had a suggestion from one of the group members about a little Italian restaurant around the corner. It started looking a little sketchy, but me and another lady decided we would be nice and not judge until after the meal. We ended up here...it was AWESOME. Great atmosphere, and as our teacher said, "they have more stuff on the walls than Bennigans." I got the Chicken Rio, and it was delicious! We are headed back to The Bellagio tomorrow night to introduce our teacher to that buffet. I definitely miss home, but I've gotten to know a few of my classmates, and we're having a good time together. I only have 2 pictures tonight...

This cute little guy came around at dinner and played for us. The waitress said he won't tell you his age, but they've 'guesstimated' that he's around 75.

Yep, he's real. He made really good robot sounds too!

Stay tuned for more pics, hopefully tomorrow night or Sunday. I think I'm going to whip out my camera and take pictures of my food at The Bellagio....so good.

* Artist *

Trey's Artwork...love it.

...Fun Night...

I had a great time last night. A few of us scalped our buffet tickets, so we could eat somewhere other than our hotel last night. I suspect we will be doing the same thing tonight. It worked great! We headed over to the Bellagio to try out their buffet. It was FANTASTIC. I was eating things that I only see on Top Chef and Hell's Kitchen! We then ventured out to see some of the strip. I couldn't help but take a picture of what you see down there. Yes, that poor thing is being hauled around in a baby backpack. Serious. If that offends you, sorry...it just struck me as funny and definitely blog worthy! I think if that is what I had to resort to, I'd be hangin' at home.

This was our final stop, love it when Blogger re-orders. It's the Venetian. Pretty obvious.

This was our after dinner entertainment. So pretty. The Bellagio had a magic show too, you know the one that turned my $7 into $30. Yay!

Well, I better hurry up and get ready for class today. A 10 hour class dedicated to Adobe Acrobat....someone help me. Thank goodness for the Internet. Shoot me a comment or an e-mail to keep me entertained! :)

* Testing *

I have wanted to add bigger pictures to my blog...mainly for the photography site, but I just wanted to try it out. I like it. Thank you Photobucket.

*Passing Time*

Here's what I decided to do tonight, instead of climbing the walls of my hotel room. Enjoy! P.S. Feel free to do it yourself! I got the idea here, go check her out...inspiring.

Here's how it works....

a. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.
b. Using only the first page, pick an image.
c. Select the size of boxes as 3 by 4. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into fd’s mosaic maker.

Use these questions in each URL box!!!

1. What is your first name? K
2. What is your favorite food? fajitas and ritas!
3. What high school did you go to? CCHS Cougars
4. What is your favorite color? all of 'em...too many to choose!
5. Who is your celebrity crush? Garth Brooks
6. Favorite drink? Sangria Margarita
7. Dream vacation? Bora Bora or any other secluded island
8. Favorite dessert? Hot fudge sundae (brownie's an added bonus)
9. What you want to be when you grow up? a real photographer!
10. What do you love most in life? My family.
11. One Word to describe you. Caring.
12. Where do you live? A really big town in Texas

(click to enlarge)

* 4 more days in Vegas * or you can look at it as 40 more hours in a classroom???

...Pics from Joe...

Joe took some pics this afternoon, and just thought I'd share. He sent them to me to 'pretty up'...Enjoy!

She's thinkin' hard about somethin'!

We'll just pretend that I didn't
crop out his bare booty...

Dixie... Beaux...

* First Full Day in Vegas *

One full day down....6 1/2 more to go. *sigh*. I think I missed Joe and the kids by the time my flight took off yesterday. Let's just pretend I didn't cry. Okay, I did. I wish they were here with me. Ok, let's move on before I get home sick. The class was great today...we worked in Photoshop from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Yeah, rub your eyes...you read that right. We had 15 minute breaks at 10 & 3, and a 30 minute lunch at noon. Thank goodness for a great teacher, and learning new things. I didn't even doodle, and if you know me...then that is a huge compliment to the teacher! Tomorrow we work in Photoshop ALL day AGAIN. However, I'm actually looking forward to it, because it is more hands on stuff.

On a different note, I have The Bachelor on while I am finishing this post. I cannot even believe it. R.I.D.I.C.U.L.O.U.S. I might just boycott. *disgusted* I'll leave it at that.

Here are some pics that I've taken so far. Ummm, by no means are these great shots. I left my new camera at home, and I'm making due with my old one. Just wanted to share. Daddy, can you please show Trey the trains...thanks! :) Enjoy.

Here's my home away from home for the next week!

I got up a little early this morning, so I strolled outside. I have to say,
their little wildlife habitat is nice. Flamingo's and all...

Just a few of the waterfalls.

This is where we went tonight. It was a huge walk.
You know. Across the street. :)

Just strollin' thru the Caesar's shops.

I took this from my chair at dinner. Who knows what was going
on over on the other side!

This is the horse out in front of a 3-story FAO Schwartz.
I think Trey would campaign to set up a tent and stay for days!

This would be the main reason. They have 2 set ups of trains like this.
I put this on here for Trey. Maybe I shouldn't, I don't know where
we'd house something like this! Yikes!

One of the newer sections of the Forum Shops.
I will be here before the end of the week.
Sooner, rather than later!