Clean Slate

Once again, I am slowing down blogging. Not intentionally. I have been helping at the hospital with home health patients, and still need to do my year-end taxes and get on the phone with an insurance company regarding one of my little guys so they will hopefully pay me! :) I had so much to accomplish over this break but sadly I haven't got much of it done. My hope is in next Monday and Tuesday. And here's my list:
-bill insurance company
-clean up Christmas decorations
-clean the house (so very desperately needs it)
-write two evals
-organize tax info...ummm, some of it hasn't been updated since June... :/
-finish painting my few non-Christmas orders (7 canvases, one pair of shoes, 2 canvas bins)

I need more than 24 hours in a day.

I had a great Christmas. Kyle surprised me with a Nikon D3000. I have absolutely no clue what I'm doing but I love it. I need any and all pointers. I didn't ask for it, as I didn't really ask for anything big. I thought this year we would kind of do the minimum since we have all the dr bills. But he said, "You surprise me with stuff all the time, so let me surprise you." And he did...I love it. I've always said I wanted a "big, nice camera" before we had kids, and he just remembered me saying that. Now, everyone is tired of getting their picture taken.

...and...we get to go to the Cotton Bowl! So excited. Spending the night after the game in Dallas, then Saturday with friends also going to the game. Saturday night with Mary Beth and Alex! Can't wait.

Please keep us in your prayers, as we both have appointments next week. I have the endometrial injury on the 4th. After that I will begin my medicine daily. Can't wait to get this started and see what is in store for us. Excited and nervous. Anxious and apprehensive. But hopeful and humble.

Sheree, if you are reading this...I got the Princess book for Christmas that you gave me the quote out of. Can't wait to get to reading. Thank you again for sharing with me. :)

Happy New Year!

Christmas Spirit

I love going to work around Christmas. I love my job anyway, but around Christmas is so fun. The kids adore the decorations and crafts and I love to hear what they want from Santa. The innocence of a child is so evident this time of year. Leaving our quiet room the other day, a first grader turns around and looks at everyone...grins...and belts out "AND A HAPPY NEW YEARRRRRR!!" Priceless.

I've been crunching it with Christmas orders. I've got most of them done and at this point I'm prioritizing...who needs their order by what date. And it's working so far. You may get your order on the last day you told me you needed it, but you got it! Last minute orders have come in too. I just can't say no to people I know. My paint room is...well, disastrous. Or maybe that is an understatement. It's kind of scary. But I will manage. Kyle may not, but I will.

We had a bible study at our house last night for our age people. I loved it. So fun to hear what the bible says with your friends, and talk about how it is applicable to our lives right now. We have decided to meet about every 2 weeks in our homes. I'm really excited about it.

The IVF nurse called, and mailed me a "calendar" of events. When she said, "Just follow your calendar and you'll do fine," I was kind of relieved. Although I seem type A with lists and calendar things, some parts of me (like my paint room) are so NOT type A. So if all I have to do is follow this calendar, we're golden. I can do a calendar! I got the paper and it states the dates and times I take each med. And a "possible ultrasound and lab" every once in awhile so I know I may have to miss work that day. I'm going to get with my family over the break and decide who goes with me when so that can all be worked out. My next appointment is January 4. I will be doing the endometrial injury to clear the lining to start fresh. I guess. I hope. He said just in case I do have endometriosis this would help, plus being on the birth control for longer than usual.

The IVF pharmacy called the next day just to confirm we are good to go. I said, "yes ma'am!" She says she will call me within a few days with a quote for our meds. :/ I am kind of nervous about the amount, but I'm putting a large number in my head so maybe it won't be quite as bad as I had thought.

I still have my cough, which is getting better; however, I seem to have pulled a muscle on the right side of my ribcage. Last night it felt like I was being stabbed in the side when I was trying to sleep. I ended up in the recliner and got a few hours of sleep. I'm hoping this will end soon as this is what I have consumed over the past month: 2 packages of cough drops, 2 bottles of cough medicine, a shot of Roceflin (not sure on the spelling), a Z-pack, and a small jar of Vicks. And Kyle's nerves are somewhere in that list. Bless his heart.

Thanks for all the prayers and love. Maybe when we have good news to share I can start doing more pictures. Our life is kinda boring and not many pictures (interesting, that is) are taken!!

Updates

I really wish it would have snowed here, and I believe it was cold enough! The temperature kept dropping as the day went on. My dad went with me to my appointment today, since Kyle didn't have to be there. The infection is slowly going away and he was able to do the ultrasound today. The cyst was almost gone, but it was not even big enough to be a concern. Good news #1.
He also did a trial transfer, which is where he goes in to see which catheter to use when we do the actual embryo transfer. He said everything looked good and was easily accessible (strangely put). Good news #2.
All of our labs from last Monday came back normal. Good news #3.

All of this to say that we are on track for IVF. We will begin stimulation medicines the beginning of January. Not sure what date yet, and it's bugging us because we kinda want to go to the Cotton Bowl! I asked the nurse to call me ASAP and let me know so we can get tickets if we can go. She just laughed. But seriously, I need to know!

Woo Pig Sooie!

We're All In This Together

Monday was the 28th and the big IVF class. Thank you to those who called or texted that day, even if you didn't know it was a scary and exciting day for us. The "class" consisted of me, Kyle, and the nurse. We went over what would happen to our embryos in case we got divorced...I mean, first thing! Kyle said, "Wait, does this cause divorces and you have this situation frequently?" She just laughed, but said that they are our "property" I guess and in the event something like that did happen, we would have joint custody of them and have to decide what to do. I just told her to move on because we get that concept and it's not going to happen! So, then we talked about the specifics of all of the procedures and how long I would be on medicine and act like Addison (I think that's her name...) on Private Practice! Thanks Mary Beth for the not so hopeful comparison :)

I had an infection which was causing pain and bronchitis-type symptoms which did not help. Minor setback I suppose. I'm still hacking like crazy and driving me, Kyle and everyone else around me crazy. I just can't stop coughing. And...can't take meds since I'm on a different medication. Anyways, hopefully we get that all worked out...

We both got our blood drawn. I get mine done around once a month there. This was Kyle's first time and he whined the entire time. He took off the bandage and you could see one little dot. Please...if he had to endure half the tests, procedures, picking, and prodding that I've had to during all of this I think he would quit!

So here goes our timeline:
1. Next Monday- Another visit for an ultrasound for me to make sure all is well (cyst gone), and a Trial Transfer. Doctor basically "pretends" he is placing the embryo to see dimensions and where he needs to put things. This is what I got out of the explanation anyway.
2. Sometime before the end of the month- Kyle goes back for a complete analysis of the swimmers. So far, they've been gold medal champs!
3. Beginning of January- start the meds, which include natural hormones, medicine to increase egg production, and one more...can't recall that one. We went through so much information but I do have it in my packet. :)
4. Mid-January- IVF

I'm so lucky to have the family that I do. Mom, dad, and Kelly are taking turns riding with me when Kyle doesn't have to be there so we can save his days for when he has to go. And I've had friends offer to go if needed. In the past, I just went by myself. But this time I wanted someone with me at all times. I think I need the security. And, I like the company. :)

Fly By

I actually have lots I want to write about. I just haven't had the time lately. I'm working only 3 days a week until Christmas so that I have an extra day to paint and make things. An extra day helps tremendously! Just gives me time to run errands if I need to and make deliveries. And occasionally I may sleep in a bit. Oops.

I'll just go at this post with numbers...no particular order.

1. If you haven't seen the movie Courageous, go see it. It is great. Some of the acting is a bit cheesy, but for the most part it's pretty good. Take a tissue because I didn't and had to use my coat...terrible idea. But it's better than sitting there sobbing and not being able to cover your quivering chin. It has good parts in it too, of course. It made you think of parenting, and how you treat others around you. Fantastic movie for guys and dads.

2. Pinterest. Oh, pinterest. How I loathe and love thee. I just can't get enough. Now I just need to learn how to upload my own pictures for others to pin if they wish. I have a great house picked out with great spatial organization and I'm sure Kyle will go right along with this great fairy tale of mine. It is amazing. And the recipes....ahhh. Nutella puppy chow, cheesecake in a jar, caramel apple cupcakes. It's just the best thing ever.

3. New projects- I have a craft fair coming up this Saturday and I wanted to have new, different stuff for it. I bought some signs from hobby lobby with a Christmas theme. I'm taking my cricut and hopefully will just be working away! My mom and sisters have un-selfishly volunteered to help me which I am very grateful for. I ordered new bags (like for when people buy something I can put their purchase in), and got those in today. You would think it was Christmas. I was excited over a box full of bags...geez. Here is a picture I haven't posted to facebook yet because it is new to the craft show. And of course, the idea came from pinterest! I have several different backgrounds but just took a picture of one.

Mom helped me a bunch with these. I love them!

4. IVF class is scheduled for November 28th. At this class, we will go over the monstrous packet we got in the mail and pretty much sign our life away...not really but it is very serious. I will have another ultrasound to see if the cyst is gone. They won't do the IVF with a cyst so we pray that is gone. Hopefully we can do the cycle sometime in December, but don't want to rush anything. I want to just do it whenever is best with the best chances of it working. Thank you so much to those who sent me messages or notes recently. It makes my heart melt to know that that many people care and are praying. God is just revealing to me day by day to look at His face. Stop worrying about and trying to fix things. The only thing I need to be "fixing" is my eyes on Christ. Then all other will fall into place. This is a very hard concept for me. I struggle with it daily, several times a day. But I am trying.

That's all for now. Maybe it won't be so long before I post next time~

Keep Calm and Carry On

The answer is no, it didn't work. First round of IVF is in the process, as of today. We need lots of prayers and here is what we need specifically:

1. That it will work
2. That Kyle and I can understand each others feelings and talk about it without getting upset
3. That I will not stress out about it
4. That Kyle will be able to help me with the shots
5. That financially we will be ok with whatever we end up having to pay out-of-pocket, which I think should only be the medicine. But the medicine is about half the cost of the whole process. We have saved up, knowing we might have to do this; however, it's still a huge amount.
6. That we will be patient and encourage each other

My doctor called me just about 30 minutes ago (9:30 pm) from his house to make sure his nurse went over everything with me and asked me to call him tomorrow to go over my lab results. I was impressed. I, however, was not impressed earlier when it took them 5 times to draw blood. It's always a struggle but I'm pretty sure I'll look like I shoot up tomorrow at work. Finally got it out of my hand.

I've had a sad couple of days, but...I love this:

Keep Calm and Carry On

Two Week Wait

I've read some infertility blogs and learned some new lingo. Here goes:

TWW- two week wait from IUI or IVF until pregnancy test
BFN- Big fat negative (test)
BFP- Big fat positive
TTC- trying to conceive

...and that's all I remember. I try not to read too much of those because you can really get consumed with the whole thing. And it's pretty consuming without reading all of that. I'm still reading the book my mom got me and plan on sharing it with a friend beginning the infertility struggle. It has verses every few paragraphs that are so applicable to my daily life and thoughts. I'm still struggling but trying not to stress. There is nothing I can do about it. There's nothing I can do to make it better. We just have to wait and see if it "works." And just go from there. I'm trying not to look at things long-term, but just daily. And that has helped. Sweet Kinley left my house today and said, "Bye, I losh you." Precious, melts my heart. Maybe she will hold me over til we can have our own. :)

Just got done watching Parenthood. I LOVE that show. The most "real" life a sitcom I've ever seen. And I cry every week. And laugh. Go ahead, watch it next week if you haven't been. Tuesdays at 9 on nbc. You can take a peek here.

Update

Nothing serious at the ENT, thank goodness. He's concerned about the fever but wants me to do a saline spray daily and come back in 2 months. If I get this recurring thing again, he said we may look into a CT scan of my sinuses but hopefully won't have to do that. He saw nothing obstructive today. :)

I'm kind of odd in that I like to do things (some things) by myself. On the way to the appointment this morning I was thinking how I miss that part of the drive when we made it for fertility trips: the anticipation of finding out more, exciting news and maybe the chance of our IUI working that trip. I try not to bother you all with the negatives of all of this. But I am at a point right now where I don't know what else to do. I don't want to do the "next step." I just wanted it to happen with what we've tried. I don't know what else to pray anymore. If I pray about it constantly does that mean I'm worrying about it and don't have enough faith? If I pray about it only a few times, does that mean I don't care enough to pray about it all the time? I don't know. And honestly I'm tired of praying about it. I pray the same thing. And I know God has to be shaking his head and chuckling at how ignorant I am!

So, I did a little retail therapy this afternoon. Not much, mostly just browsing but I love to do that by myself. So I got in a full day.

5K in the morning, Hogs game tomorrow afternoon. Busy weekend, but I like it.

ENT time

Well folks, tomorrow I'll be making the same drive as my fertility clinic; only this time I'll stop a mile or so before the clinic to see an ENT physician. I have had about a 24 hour infection every 4-6 weeks for about 6 months now. Each time I go to our local clinic, I get a different answer as to what it is. I've had (according to them): ear infection, sinus infection, possible tick fever, and respiratory infection. It all feels the same to me each month. Starts out with a lump in the back of my sinuses. Trying to get it out, I make my throat very sore. Then comes the fever, body aches, etc. I take sinus meds and alternate tylenol with ibuprofen and sleep for about 15 hours...and it's gone in about 24 hours. It's weird (and gross...I apologize) but as soon as I get that "lump" out, I feel fine. Is this weird or is it just me? I cannot go the rest of my life getting this every few weeks. It is not fun. So please pray that all goes well and it is not anything major.

It's starting to feel like fall out there...and I like the coolness but NOT the cold. Maybe it will just stay "cool" for awhile.

I leave you with this fine specimen. Found him in Wal-Mart :) He thinks he looks like Jay Gregory on the wild outdoors...

Have a fabulous Friday!

kick to the box and WPS!

I've done this in college, but this class is a lot more intense than a free college class. Charity and I have been doing kickboxing 4 nights a week with a ripped instructor. I like this because as I'm working out I sure am hoping I look like her someday. I mean really, killer legs. We jog after class and one day Lisa went with me instead of Charity. We did sprints, and I found out quickly I cannot do them. I sure do try to run fast but she smoked me. I don't do them anymore. It's for the birds.

I'll be glad when the hogs play a close game. Don't get me wrong I love to watch them (last week's game didn't come on tv, so we decided to eat at Hooter's and watch the game for free!). And, Hooter's is so not all it's cracked up to be. They wear 80's workout gear. Eww. Anyway, tonight we went to some friends house to watch the blowout game. Had some fine halftime entertainment by two lovely 4 year old's and a 2 year old. Love all those babies. They pretended like they were Selena Gomez and put on a fantastic show :)

Baby News:
None. Please continue to pray. Still taking a break. It's hard because I enjoy the time not worrying about days of ovulation and driving back and forth for appointments but at the same time really want a family. Pray God blesses our "break." :)

House News:
We decided to wait. Not knowing what we may be getting into with the fertility thing scares me. And we are content and blessed with what we have now.

toms

What started as a hobby has quickly turned into a small business. I've opened a separate checking account for my things I make so I can keep up with it better, and also to make sure I don't need to be paying in taxes on it. I don't figure I will but I sure do not want to get in trouble! And anything to do with taxes or IRS scares the heck outta me. So, here's my new logo. Switched to 323 Designs (Colossians 3:23). Like that much better.

If you know me, you know I HATE birds. But these mod birds and owls and cute little things I do like. Just not real ones. Least favorite thing when we go to the zoo, or Chicago for that matter. Those birds are everywhere and don't care if you are walking and they get in your way....enough of the birds. Just liked this picture. And hopefully it will be me, Kyle and baby Klober someday soon...hahaha!

Here is my massive to do pile, and that is just shoes. I have a canvas, picture frame and bin to paint also. So I'm going to take advantage of this long weekend. Priorities first; I'm checking facebook and blogging!!

No pictures today

Sorry, I have no pictures to share with you today, unless you want to see my homemade PECS pictures. (Picture communication for one of my kids) And I know you don't :)

I love my new job. Love the people I work for, work with, and the kids. Cute, sweet, and funny. I have to tell one story...A sweet boy (who was no so sweet the first day) started singing (I thought he was yelling) so I said, "Alright, ok, let's use our inside voices!" Then realized he was singing, "I love you, you love me, we're a happy family...." And he had a big smile at the end. Melts my heart. We sang it again together :)

Baby news:
Still on a break. Working on getting my body back into shape and ridding it of all the medicine. Taking kickboxing 4 nights a week and at times it kicks my butt. But I love going. I do feel a lot better and don't feel like I'm as crazy as I was. Kyle may beg to differ. I don't know! I really really want a family but I really really am not looking forward to the IVF process. So I don't mind the break right now.

House news:
No news here, we loved the house in a few posts back but would have to transform the formal dining room to a bedroom which would leave little kitchen space. And so we just kind of quit looking for a while. Theres another house that has plenty of room but it is $100/sq ft. and I think that's too much.

Happy Monday :)

Back to life, back to reality

Minnesota was awesome!! To be honest, I was wondering if we would have enough to do. But there are plenty of things to do! I could have spent a lot more time in the Mall of America, but I hated to drag Kyle in every store. So I tried to just hit the stores we don't have at home. And yes, we did walk around the entire mall, all 4 stories. Our feet were burning and our backs were starting to hurt. We found a store that had huge beanbag chairs and hung out there for awhile until we were ready to go again. I think that was on the second floor. We also went to the zoo, went downtown Minneapolis to eat dinner, got a massage, and went to a Twins game. There was a huge waterpark in our hotel, which we didn't go in but we have decided when we have kids old enough to enjoy this, we are definitely coming back! We have the whole transportation figured out if anyone is interested in going someday! :)

Here are some pics of our fun trip!! 

P.S. Weather was in the 80's the entire time. Awesome.

Finally...A Break!

My goal was to sleep in this morning. I don't feel like I could go back to sleep but I got a text from Kyle at 7:30 that says, "If you are a 50-63 day old chicken you probably didn't wake up this morning." ...what?! Took me a minute but then realized he was referring to work, and this terrible heat of 110 today with a heat index of 120! I just wrote back and said, "Good thing I'm not!" My husband should have been a meteorologist, or I could have been for that matter. I am informed of the temperature on several occasions throughout the day.

We fly out tomorrow for St. Paul! Yay!! I'm so excited and I'm not even for sure what all we are doing! We'll figure it out.

Sunday mom and I went to the movies with my best friends from high school and their moms (plus Charity and Audrey). It was so much fun- I think we will do it again! We got frozen yogurt from Pile High, and saw Crazy, Stupid, Love. It was pretty good! Here is a pic of all the gals/moms:

Vaca

A summer is not a summer without a vacation. In my opinion anyway. I've dropped subtle and gigantic hints to Kyle that I'm ready to take a trip, none of which have worked. I had to take matters into my own hands. Now, this is his idea of a trip: "We could drive up to Springfield to see if any celebrities from the outdoor channel are there." Ummm, no thanks. I'll pass. Here's my idea of a trip: Lying on the beach for 4 entire days not doing a thing. He said, ummm, no thanks. So we compromised. I really don't care where we go as long as it's somewhere fun (and new). We talked about the Twin Cities and San Francisco. The latter of the two will have to wait. For a spur of the moment trip I'm not willing to shell out $850 for a plane ticket. We can do that later. So we talked about New York. And I really, really want to go but I think I'm going to wait and go with girls to New York for obvious reasons (shopping, shows, walking, the Today show, you know). So St. Paul it is. We will be off to the Mall of America in no time (next Thursday to be exact).

I don't read much but when I do, I'm all out. It's what I do every night before bed. My wonderful mother bought me a book on her recent trip to Hot Springs with her friends. She said, "I don't know what you are going through. I don't know what to say to you, and I don't know how you feel. I want you to know that I love you and here is my way of helping you." She got me the book, Dear God, Why Can't I Have a Baby. Don't worry- it has good stories, too. It has, so far, touched on EVERY thought, emotion, worry and prayer that I have gone through. I mean, right down to the very words that come out of my mouth, or the very thoughts that I think sometimes. It talks about how people say things that ordinarily wouldn't be a "big deal" but now it's a HUGE deal and my feelings are hurt. And how I know it will all work out in the end and it's on God's timing, but when? People say all the time, "honey, it will all work out. God's timing is not our timing." YES I KNOW THIS, but it still hurts, so stop saying that. And I wonder, what have I done wrong, what are we doing wrong, is there something we need to bring before God and remove from our lives, do I pray for the wrong thing, am I running too much, am I eating the wrong things, are we completely missing "the day." So many questions. I love the book because it gives pretty much a verse per page on prayer, emotions, thoughts, comforts, guidance. You name it, it's in the book. So if you know of anyone going through this horrible journey, please pass the book title along. It is such a place of solace for me.

And I have to say how much of a help my mom has been. She doesn't ask, doesn't prod, doesn't do anything except for when I am ready to talk about it. Then she knows I'm ready. And I kinda unload I'm sure. If you know me well, you know that I won't talk about things unless I'm ready. She has gone to doctor appointments with me, cried with me and I know she prays for me. I love you, Mom, and don't know what I would do without you.

New Things

After this week, I only have one more week left at my current job. I will be at a different school next year working for a different company. Good news is, along with a long list of other good things why I took the job, I will be at ONE school. That's right, one! Not 5! I'm ecstatic. I am ready for a change. I'm ready for less stress. I'm just ready for something different, and better, I hope. I think so anyway.

We are also house hunting! I love our house now. There is not a thing wrong with it. I would just love a place with another bedroom, and closer to my new job. Kyle doesn't mind driving and he has a company truck. So it doesn't really matter where he lives. We found a house that we like, and it will need a tiny bit of work to make the 4th bedroom but not much. And it's pretty much brand new. Keep your fingers crossed...we go back to look at it this Friday and we are taking our parents for their wise opinions. I love it. It's on the way to a mountain nearby and I love the area too.

Changing directions

I have so much to blog about but I'm going to try to stay somewhat on task so that I don't bore you all. Look at this precious little Maelea at her first birthday party:

She is such a doll. Audrey and I went up for her birthday party, then stayed the night in Branson to shop the next day. Found this at The Landing....

No one probably thinks this is cool. BUT...the guy was drawing it with chalk and it was about 20 ft. long. You can't tell what it is until you get right in front of it. Then, it looks 3D through a camera! I was impressed...

In baby news:

As most of you know, we have tried three IUI's at our fertility clinic. Three unsuccessful IUI's. And, as I've stated before that this is very much an emotional roller coaster for me. Our doctor told us that the next step will be IVF (in-vitro fertilization). This last doctor's visit I had a cyst on my ovary which was very frustrating, but I believe that God has a plan in all of this. A plan for a break, or refresher...

A few days after that doctor's visit I remembered talking to a man at the Christmas Kick-Off last year (booths and things just before Christmas). He sells all-natural juices and supplements and had said, in passing, it helps with cleansing the body, regulates blood pressure, gives you energy, and they have had infertile women become pregnant. (This is also the juice that Kyle's grandpa drinks. Last March he was placed on hospice, now he's bailing hay and pulling calves.) Now...when we were talking about this I had my mind made up to go to the fertility clinic already and I didn't really pay that much attention. I don't consider this stuff magic because that was just one or two cases. I thought of this the other day, I'm guessing because I'm scared to do the IVF. I don't want to take shots four times a day, I don't want to be on several different medicines, I don't want to have to be put under for egg retrieval...and most of all I'm just scared I'll go through all of that and it won't work. I told Kyle about it and he said he is game for anything that I want to try. He is for the IVF but says that if I don't want to do it he completely understands because he really wouldn't want to do it if he was the girl in the situation (go figure!).

So, I called the man first thing Monday morning. He was very nice and explained the benefits of each thing I would need to take. He said, "I'm not guaranteeing a pregnancy, but I will guarantee that you will feel better and it is ridding your body of any impurities." Which is nice, since I've been on about ten different medicines since last November. I just hope that I can feel better. I feel like I run myself ragged going to all of the appointments, pharmacies, friend's house for shots, and working full time on top of that. And here lately I've been running a low grade fever and have just felt "bad." If this stuff makes me feel better and in six months we still have no baby, then we will look into IVF or adoption. But for now, I'm switching gears into getting my body back to normal without all the hormones. and stimulators. and shots...you get the picture.

The 4th

Happy 4th of July!!

This four day weekend has been great! Friday I slept in, got some paperwork and painting done, went to the lake with my cousins to ski and wakeboard (yes, I wakeboarded and got OVER the wake!).

 Audrey

 Audrey

 Kortnie

That's meeee!

Saturday went to Lake Ouachita with Kyle's mom and dad for snorkeling. It was fun but nothing compared to snorkeling in Mexico! Kind of set ourselves up there. But we did see some little fish in one area. After the snorkeling we went out on a pontoon boat to watch the fireworks show. Beautiful night on the lake.

Waiting on the boat

Poor Randy was tired

Sunday we had a community service at church (which Kyle and I totally forgot about until it was time to be there, but we made it). I went on to the lake with mom and dad, and Kyle came back home to clean up and watch deer hunting. I'm very lucky to have a husband that does laundry and sweeps and likes to keep things tidy. :) It comes in handy a lot.

Today we spent the morning at Belleville Park. The community always has a parade followed by a day at the park with games, food, ice cream and door prizes. It's always fun to go but gets a little hot. This afternoon we went to the Danville pool for a few hours with Kyle's family. Here are the little beauties of the night.

And here is what I finished this afternoon for a soon-to-be mom. I loved it.

None

I purposefully titled this "none" because there is no real topic today. Sorry.

I have a new-found obsession with Riffraff. I blogged about it earlier but I find myself checking their facebook sight multiple times a day. I've held off pretty good the last few weeks on buying things but I broke today. They were having a sale and I just said "run, and ship!" Meaning, run my credit card and ship to me please...oohhh, dear. I hope I can contain myself when the stuff is even more on sale. You can find their site here.

We have been to the lake a couple of nights this week. The first night it was like 97 degrees at 10 pm. We were both sweating by the time we got home. Last night, it was a breezy 75. Much better. Snapped this cute picture of Kelsie, Kyle, and Darren.

I've been back to the drawing board, painting board, whatever you want to call it. I've started painting a local store's canvas shoes. And I've consistently got 1-2 orders per week. Mind you, I just started a couple of weeks ago but still...I think it will keep me busy. Also to add to that, I have about 15 orders for canvases, picture frames, etc. I try to at least do 1 a day. Today, I started on 5 so tomorrow I can hopefully finish them all. Or some, whatever. I'll post some pics soon. Here is one I did for a PT friend that just had her baby boy. His room is in chocolate brown, brick red, and turquoise.

...and this is what my art room looks like! Yikes!

Goodnight.

Big D

What an awesome weekend. I loved:
1. Getting away
2. Spending time with Alex, Mary Beth and Maelea
3. Not having a schedule to follow
4. Shopping
5. Time with the hubby

We left for Dallas Thursday night. We followed Kyle's family down there until our exit in Terrell. Kyle's family stayed with his uncle in Dallas, we stayed with MB and family. Friday was sleep-in time (for me) and Kyle went to tour Cowboys Stadium. I think his favorite part was the cheerleader's locker room, I'm not entirely sure though.

Friday night we all went to the Rangers vs. Mets game.

After the game, all the cousins and friends were a little tired, so they crashed...

Saturday was also filled with sleeping in. Kyle and Alex went to hang out with his cousins and I think they had a pretty interesting and eventful afternoon! MB, Maelea and I went shopping at Northpark. Love the Gap sales...I spent $30 and got a pair of jeans and 2 shirts. This is Maelea when we had to get out for the mall...sleepy girl!

We met Kyle and all his family at the Cheesecake Factory for dinner. YUMMY! But slow service. Kyle keeping Maelea entertained...

MB and I at dinner. I had the Jamaican shrimp and it was delish! And also a piece of turtle cheesecake. Mmmmm

After dinner, we went to the Mesquite Rodeo. Girls riding bulls? Let's never do that again...

Kyle and Maelea before we had to leave this morning.

I loved the weekend, and I loved the company. Maelea will be one on July 3rd!