Sleepover

Josh's birthday was last week.
He turned 10 years old.
I cannot believe it.

This boy has had an abundance of personality since the day he was born.

 

I told Josh instead of a big birthday party this year, he could have a couple of friends for a sleepover.

I had three 10 year olds, one 8 year old, and one 7 year old over Saturday night.

I plead temporary insanity.

Things started out innocently enough.

 Let me tell you, 5 boys can devour three pizzas with a quickness.

Everybody got an individual cake. I know it looks like a donut, but it's not. I used small bunt cake pans and made nine individual cakes. And I know it looks girly, but Josh wanted sprinkles and these were the only ones I had.

I made them go outside so they could burn off the energy from pizza, cake, ice cream, and sodas.
They quickly formed teams and started a Nerf gun war.

After they came back inside, there was a, well let's just say, spirited BeyBlade battle.

It was at this point Katrina decided to bug out and headed over to a friends house for the evening. I can't say I blame her. It was very loud and chaotic in my house.

I tried to settle them down with a movie. However, as soon as the movie was over, they were up and at it again.

I finally got them to go to bed at about 10pm.
Notice I said bed and not sleep.
That took a little longer.


Remind me next time I think this is a good idea to make Jerry stay home with all the rowdy boys.

Scavenger Hunt

It's that time again.
Time to join Ashley for Scavenger Hunt Sunday.





Here are my interpretations this week.


Whimsy

 I took this picture while on my retreat weekend in the mountains. I found this flower covered with ice crystals and immediately fell in love. This is one of my favorite pictures of all time.


Create

 God's magnificent creative hand.


Dust

 This is my van window after the massive dust storm last Sunday here in El Paso. Yep, I still need to clean it.


Seed or Sprout

 This tree stands in my front yard. The seeds are falling everywhere right now. Makes it awfully pretty when the wind blows.


Swing or Drop

 This is also from my retreat weekend. I found this lone icicle hanging outside our cabin door.



Next week's list.

1. Clouds
2. Sun flare
3. Seven
4. High Angle
5. Low Angle

Looks a little challenging, but I'm sure I can find something.

You Capture

I have been really trying to improve my photography lately. I have been searching website and blogs for tips and tricks.
One blog I found is



Beth does a weekly photography challenge called You Capture.





She gives you a theme for the week and you find something to photograph that fits the parameters.

This week is "Black & White"

I love the lines in this pictures. They are so clean and crisp.



Come join me for You Capture.

Next week the theme is
Fun

So head on over to Beth's blog and find out the requirements for the link up.

Snowy Retreat

Last weekend was my PWOC retreat at Ft Lone Tree, New Mexico.

If you ever get a chance to go there, GO!
It is so beautiful and restful. The workers there are amazing. They treated us like royalty and we had a ton of fun.

It's pretty high up in the mountains, so it is green, unlike a certain place I know. (Cough, cough)
There was a light dusting of snow on everything when we got there.

Over the next couple of days, it snowed like crazy. We thought we might get snowed in.
Well, we were hoping anyway.

Our group got lost on the way there so we didn't arrive until later than almost everyone else. But, we made it and got settled into our cabin. These were my roomies.

 

They were so addicted to their technology. I snapped this picture because it was so typical of the weekend.

 My diet totally went out the window.  I had this chocolate cake when we arrived at 10pm at night.
Yep, I sure did. It was delicious, too.
Don't judge me.

I swear there was chocolate everywhere. These were on the table everyday. But I resisted.
Mostly.

I figured all that eating was alright because we had a lot of activities planned for Saturday.
First up, my group went line jumping.
This is the view from the top of our "hill"

Needless to say, I was a little nervous.

But I was determined to jump.
With only that little bitty rope to hold me.
Just kidding! They had a lot of safety measures and they assured me that they had never had anyone fall before.
But still. When you are standing on top of a 30 foot platform ready to leap off you rethink your sanity.

I am glad I did it. It was exhilarating. So I did it again just to make sure. Yep, it was awesome.


Next up, we went to the "swing." I use this term loosely because on this "swing," they hook you up to a pickup truck and pull you way up into the air and then just let you drop. We dropped about 60 feet. Ummm, yeah. Scary! But, I did that twice, too.
I don't learn very quickly apparently.

By this time, it was about 20 degrees out and we were absolutely freezing! The girls wanted to go back inside and skip the next event.
It was the event that I had been looking forward to all weekend.

The rifle range.

I had never shot a gun at all before that and I really wanted to do it. I wasn't about to let a little cold stop me from participating. I headed up to the Lodge for a quick warm up and a hot cup of coffee and ventured back out into the blizzard.

The rifle range was a total blast. Since we were the last group to shoot and several of the girls went inside to get warm, the range leader let us shoot as much as we wanted.

I found out I am a pretty good shot. I made about 80% of the shots I took.

I guess Jerry's gonna have to take me out to the range and I will show him up.



This was the fort when we woke up Sunday morning.

Just glorious.


I was all over the place taking pictures of everything.
Here are just a few.

Just a little snow surfing to end the weekend.

If you get a chance to go on a ladies only retreat, do it. There's nothing like spending quality time with a bunch of godly women. Not only did I have a blast, God really reached my heart with some issues that needed healing.
I am so appreciative for the opportunity to go on this retreat.
I think I will try again next year.

Spring Break

After a much needed PWOC retreat last weekend (more on that later), I took the boys to South Texas to visit my best friend and help with her massive yard sale.

I was so busy working and having fun I didn't take very many pictures.

I know, right?
I meant to, I was going to blog about all of it, but we were just so busy all the time.

I had a wonderful time,  got the break I desperately needed from the stress of everyday life, and finally had time with an awesome friend.

Life is good.

Now, I am just trying to decompress and adjust to being in the desert again.
Because I went from seeing this all week.

To this when I got home.

And to top it off, when I got home, we were in the middle of a huge dust storm where you couldn't see 100 yards in any direction.  Just brown and more brown everywhere.

Ugh, I hate the desert.
I am so ready for greener pastures again.

Come on, Uncle Sam, send us east again.
Please.

Weekend Away and Inspiration

This weekend I will be getting away to a PWOC (Protestant Women of the Chapel) retreat.
No kids, no cleaning, no responsibilities....

I cannot wait!

This is the first time since my kids were born that I have had the chance to go to one of these retreats. Really it's the first time I have had the opportunity to get away from all three for more than a day at a time.
Usually Jerry is in the field or working late or something, so I have always had to take them with me.
But not this weekend.
I am looking forward to the bliss.

I will have pictures for you next week.


But to entertain you while I am gone head on over to Tracey's site at:




I have spent a lot of time on her site. So many gorgeous pictures and ideas for decorating.
I have decided my next decorating project will be my bedroom.
Since it is supposed to be a calming place, a "retreat" if you will, I am going to make it perfect for me.

Vintage French retreat.
Since Jerry won't take me to France, I will bring it here. In our bedroom. So he has to see it everyday.
Maybe it will inspire him and I'll finally get the trip of my dreams.


Here are some of the pictures I found over at Tracey's site for my inspiration.

So pretty and airy. And relaxing. I believe I would just stay there all day.



Be careful at the site. It is addicting.
Don't say I didn't warn you.

Kitchen

For the longest time, I have decorated my kitchen with a fruit theme.
You know, like the "Fruit of the Spirit"
 I have had that kitchen since I got married 14 years ago.

Now I am ready for a change.
Thanks, Pinterest!

My new kitchen will be done in turquoise and yellow.
Bright, sunshiny yellow.

Here are a few things I have been working on for it.

This is a picture I made to put up on the wall.
It expresses what we are trying to represent in our household.

I finally finished sewing my new apron. And I absolutely love it.
It is so cheery.

We made potholders in my sewing class and I bet you can guess what colors I used.
They are so pretty, just ignore the crooked lines. I am still learning.

I found this wonderful fabric at a local thrift store.

Total score!

I adore the pattern. So retro.

Gonna make these curtains with it.

From this site:

http://sew4home.com/projects/curtains-a-panels/585-retro-fun-cafe-curtains-with-gingham-bows

Just have to find the yellow to trim it.