Scary Movies and Sunrises

The boys are on a scary movie kick.  This was their latest......but they requested that we watch it during the day (Sunday) versus at night.  Funny boys!

Cooper's sticker ball is coming along.....

Ugh, I have started the dreaded task of going through each room at a time and clearing it out. What a beating.  I started in Cooper's room......his closet was so full that you couldn't even walk in.  His bookshelf is a wreck and there is stuff everywhere.  I made a good sized dent but will have my work cut out for me today as well.  Lots of garage sale, donation and trash piles.

Last night this hawk swooped in our yard, picked up a lizard, and then perched on our fence.  We watching him for several minutes before he flew away.

The sunrise this morning was absolutely amazing.

Life Lately

We got windows last week!

And they laid the boards so that the roof can start soon.

Last week, I had 2 girls over.  We sat at my kitchen table and I shared how Young Living has changed our family.  After they left, I thought about how lucky I am to not have a long commute to work each day, to wear comfortable leggings instead of work attire, drink hot tea and visit with sweet friends about a product I love.  Does it get any better than this?

#truth

Years ago.....when I taught preschool where the boys went, I got this huge stack of stickers.  They have been in Cooper's closet and on Thursday he got them down and had an idea on how to use them.

He wadded up a piece of notebook paper into a ball to get it started.......and then he started putting stickers all over it.  His goal is to make a HUGE ball made out of all stickers.

It's grown quite a bit in the last few days!

One thing I love about the boys school (and there are many) is that the 5th grade teachers use an app that I have on my phone.  Throughout the day, the teacher records the kids doing projects, presenting in front of the class and hanging out with their classmates.  She uploads that onto the app and then I can watch it.  I LOVE this because I often wonder what they do during the day.  I love getting to see my boy in action.

On Friday night, I hosted a party for a friend of mine.  They have really cute faith based items for the home.  I'm excited about these because I know I'll have so much more room to display things like this.

With my friend, Abbey. What is crazy is that I met Abbey back in Junior High.  I didn't know her all that well but we lost touch after I moved schools the middle of my 8th grade year.  We reconnected a few years ago via Facebook and its been neat to see what she's been up to.  She became a rep for this company and I decided to host a party to help her out.  Soooooo, she came to my house and we reunited after all those years.  She is just precious.  I love how God brings people back into your life.

Excited about my chalkboard tray.

I love my new tiered stand.  I have more goodies coming my way.  I'll be keeping them in the boxes until we move.  Pretty sure it will feel like Christmas!!

A little more progress.

I can say this building process has been extremely frustrating.  We have caught several major issues and mistakes so far.  I knew it would be a lot but I never predicted how much we would have to babysit this project.  I keep telling myself that it will all be worth it in the end.

This week, my Uncle Bill passed away.  My mom is the youngest of 8 and this was her last sibling. I have so many sweet memories of my uncle.  I feel so sad for my aunt and my cousins.....I know that life will never be the same for them.  

Shawn has been out of town the last few nights.....so last night, the boys and I watched the 2nd Indiana Jones movie.  They loved this one as well.

Yall, the first day of fall was Thursday.  I keep seeing friends post about "first day of fall" and cooler temps, Pumpkin Spice lattes and leaves falling.  That's great and all but this is Texas and our fall does NOT look like this.  I so wish!

House and Date Night

Definitely starting to look more like a house.  It's actually a little further along than this but I've forgotten to take pics the last time or two we were there.

View of the back of the house.

Friday after school, I met Jason's mom and she took the boys for the weekend.  They were so excited to see Mimi and Papa Jim.  That night, we met up with my sister and David.  We ate some yummy Mediterranean food......

.....and then went to see Heather McDonald's comedy show.

Waiting to get seated.

Lots of laughs.

Afterwards we went to the old 8.0 and watched a live band outside.

Such a fun night!

Bible Study and My Fit Meals

My Bible study group started back up a couple of weeks ago.  This semester, we are reading The Purpose Driven Life.  I read a few chapters long time ago when this book first came out. Hudson was a baby and I never made the time to finish it. I'm excited to dig in!

This officially starts today.  Shawn and I are on a mission to lose 30 pounds each.  I have gained a ton of weight the last year or two......my skin and gut issues this last year and a half has caused me to gain weight.  We are so busy with working our business and building a house that we have gotten into the bad habit of just grabbing stuff.  My Fit Foods is in Southlake so it should hopefully be pretty convenient.  We will go twice a week to pick up our meals.  They are portion controlled, gluten free, hormone and antibiotic free, etc..... so I feel good about that.  Anyone else ever tried a meal service like this?

It might seem hard to believe but my boys haven't seen any of the Indiana Jones movies yet.  So on Saturday.....our babysitter fell through and I stayed home with the boys while Shawn went to a birthday dinner with some friends.  We watched Raiders of the Lost Ark and they really liked it.  I couldn't help but smile knowing that Jason would love that we were watching it.  Can't wait to watch the next one with them.

If you've read this blog for a while then you saw our transition from candles/plug-ins/Scentsy burners to essential oils.  Three years ago, when Cooper's allergies were the worst they had ever been, we discovered he was highly allergic to synthetic fragrances.  I was not connecting the dots that by me using all these "pretty smelling" toxins he was dealing with breathing issues and horrible allergies.  I admit that I was sad at first to see my candles go because I felt they made my house feel like a home.  I love the smells that remind you of fall and Christmas and I wondered if I would ever get to enjoy that again.  Fast forward a little over 3 years and we are pretty much a 100% synthetic free home (cleaners, body products, etc....) and we have never looked back.  In fact, those synthetic fragrances mess with ME now that I'm used to not having them.  I love that I can mix and blend my oils together to create some pretty great scents. And the best part is that not only does it smell great.....it has medicinal benefits too.

Have you ever heard of Boxed?  I had a friend post about it on FB last week so I decided to give it a try.  I have a busy week coming up and I really needed to run to Costco for some snacks.  Boxed allowed me to order online and get free shipping.  I was surprised that they did have some organic/natural snacks to choose from.  My order is coming in the next day or so and I'm really excited about the convenience.  Check it out and you could get $15 off your first order by clicking here to order.  I'm all about fast and easy!

House and Wall-E legos

I love that we live close enough to our new house that we can go there daily and check it out.

Cooper got some jacks at school the other day and wanted to learn how to play them.  It's much harder than you think.

So neat to see all the changes each day.

Last week we took the framing crew 5 large pizzas and some cold Gatorades.  They were so sweet and appreciative.  Our foreman told us that they have never had a family bring them food......which makes me so sad because these guys work SOO hard and especially in this Texas heat.  This week we took them donuts and they were smiling from ear to ear.

My dad was in town last week and bought Cooper this Wall-E lego that he's been wanting.  None of the stores locally carried it so he had to order it from Target.  It came one day while Cooper was at school......

...so I brought it in the car and had it waiting for him when he got inside.

He was very excited!

He came home and got homework finished and his bath and then started working.

Yesterday we ran by the house and my sister-in-law joined us to look around. We were on the 2nd floor and saw the boys playing in the dirt and with things left around the house.

Hudson found this string that he tied up and made a large sling shot...... I am always so amazed at this kid.  I just love his imagination.

Without a doubt, my Hudson is going to be something so great one day.