First solo road trip. Idaho bound.

It has been a while since I have seen my family that lives in the Nampa/ Boise area of Idaho, so I got brave and packed up the kiddos and took on a 7 hr drive by myself.  And when I say got brave, I really mean it, I have never done anything like this on my own before. My husband is usually our chauffeur for long trips. So It took me a long time to decide that I should, but mostly that I can do it. But I knew that I had to, especially with this new little 4 1/2 inch bun in the oven. There is no telling when I will be able to make the trip again.

 So here I am, taking a photo of myself while driving.  Ya I know, its not safe. I was careful I promise. I have precious cargo in the back seat. 

So long Washington and Oregon. There was maybe a total of 6 cars on the road the hole way it made it nice. Just me and the kiddos, princess music, audio books, movies- for them not me, oh and Kings of Leons new album, on the open road.

 When we got there we were greeted by Ace, my grandmas giant schnauzer . We fell in love with him immediately. He is quite possible the sweetest, most well mannered dog I have ever met. And we wanted to take him home with us.

Especially my girl. She fell in love with the beast. And couldn't believe that he hadn't even had his 2nd birthday. Frankly either could I. Biggest puppy I have ever seen.

We spent our 4 days days hanging out and visiting with the family, and at one point my grandma was so kind as to let me drive the kiddos around on her lawnmower.

Pretty fun stuff in our book.

 I got to see my cousin and friend that I haven't seen in over a year. I loved every minute.

And her son was just about the cutest little guy ever.

 My cousin and I took the kiddos to this warehouse full of big bouncy thingies. The kids loved it. My girl really loved it too, you just cant tell in this picture. She also really loved her second cousin in this picture. Which was surprising to me, because she has told me on many occasions that she doesn't like playing with boys. :)

My daughter really wanted to see some horses, so my dad, the kiddos and I drove out to his friends house to see some of our old horses. It was really neat to see them again.

My girl wasn't afraid of the ginormous creatures at all. She was in awe. And rightfully so. She has never been this close to a horse. That face says it all.

 My dad asked her if she wanted to ride one and she couldn't believe her ears. Look at that sweet face. This day will go down in history.

 Bubba boy wasn't so sure about them. Feeding them grass was just about all he could handle.

 We loved them.

And I loved the sound of this tractor humming near by.

Putt puff puttedy chuff. He reminded us of Otis the tractor.
Anyone else love Otis as much as we do?

We took an evening and went to my Aunt and Uncles house, they were so kind to feed us a yummy lasagna dinner and an evening of playing cars. Before we left my uncle let us play on his motorcycle. It was a beauty if I do say so myself, the picture doesn't do it justice.

 My grandma doesn't like her picture taken, but I was able to sneak this one of her and the kiddos enjoying a sweet moment together.

I loved watching this.

Melts my heart.

It was a sweet, sweet trip, we got to reconnect and hug family that I love and haven't seen in over a year. I'm so glad I made the trip and hopefully it wont be long till I get another brave bone in me and make the trip with 3 kiddos in the back seat this time. Yikes!

Because Shutterfly's cool like that

I'm all about saving a penny. So when I heard that Shutterfly was having a special promotion and giving away 50 FREE cards if all you do is link to them in your blog, I had to share the love.

Here are a few of my favorites this year:

This one is called With Love Ribbon. I think the snowflakes are cute, with the pretty red Merry Christmas in the corner.  Sweet all around. Now if I could just get my kids to smile that cute for a family picture (at the same time) we would be in buisness.

 I love the classic look of this one with the black and white photos. If you get a card from me that is almost identical to this one, except with a "P" in the middle, you know where I got the idea from. :) Its called Family Wall Red.

 I had to go with this one, I absolutely love the colors and the overall happy feeling of it. Its called Oh What Fun. I am torn on what one to choose now. This one might be arriving in your mailbox in a few short weeks. 

We have been using shutterfly for about 5 years now, not only for Christmas cards every year, but birth announcements, their awesome photo books, and calenders. They make it so easy and efficient, with just a few clicks, and you get your beautify crafted Christmas card sent to your mailbox, complete with envelopes and everything. Talk about a time saver!

So go on over and sign up for your 50 FREE cards. All you have to do is blog about it. :)


Merry so so early Christmas!

Missing Murfreesboro

We are seriously missing:

Tennessee clouds.


The sunshine.

Minus the humidity.

This sweet, sweet family.

 Chalk and bubble days out front.

Sneaking up to the neighborhood bunny.

 Watching caaraaaazy storm fronts come in.

Our neighborhood.

Watching the kiddos play with frogs at night when its 77 degrees out.
In the pool.
In their skivies.

Watching the boys golf out front.

Our favorite park.

Our evening firefly catching adventures...

I hope my daughter will remember catching them.

 The fireflies slept on her headboard, for goodness sakes.

I think she will. But that's just a hunch.

And last but definitely not least, our sweet friends and old neighbors with their southern accents and southern hospitality; the Simmons and Kopchaks. We miss yall so much! (I threw in the 'yall' just for you!)

And Baby makes 5!

 

I wrapped this package up with the help of my daughter when my husband was out golfing on Sept. 11th. When he got home I told him that the kids and I picked him up something at the store.

Little did he know...

That two (yes I took two, who doesn't!) of these bad boys would be wrapped up inside. He initially thought that I wanted to just take the test, but then he flipped them over and saw the two happy lines. He looked up at me (teary eyed of course) and smiled and said "really?!".  "Really." I responded back, happy tears really rolling by then. "Wow!" Then some kisses and hugs and all that happy gushy stuff. :)

We are so thrilled and feel so very blessed. We can't wait to see who this little person is cooking up to be. May 17th can't come soon enough!