The Cedars Social

On Monday, my brother-in-law, Tucker, began a new journey. He will be a history teacher in Abu Dhabi, which is the capital of the UAE. He is excited to begin this adventure. Last week, we had a little bon voyage dinner. Tucker chose the restaurant, and he picked a place called the cedars social. It is in Dallas, and it has a very 1960s retro vibe. They are well know for their crazy cocktail list that includes pre-prohibition, prohibition, and post-prohibition drinks. The food was very fresh, and a lot of it was grown locally.

Tucker and N are pretending not to pose for my picture.


Pork belly with collard greens. Yum!


N studying the menu, and enjoying a manhattan.


A fantastic Mai Tai in honor of the puppy!


Good bye Tucker and good luck! Can't wait to see you at Christmas!

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North Texas State Fair and Rodeo

On Friday night we capped off the first week of school with. A trip to the North Texas State fair and rodeo. Man, is that a classy place. Like I told N-it's home to excess. A little too big of hair, a little too tan, a little loud, a little too much bling, etc. Whew!!

N needed a little power nap and a monster in order to find the energy to face it.


We decided no trip to the fair would be complete without buying some tickets and taking a ride on the ferris wheel.


Friends from work. Ashley and N did go to see the tiny lady. She was really real and really tiny.


We made it through the first week!


We convinced Shayla, and then Ashley, to go on the ferris wheel. Shayla didn't warn us that she had never been on one before. She had a minor panic attack in the sky, although you can't tell in this picture. She's a good faker.


The sweetie and me up in the air. It was so very very sweaty!


By the end of the night I was beat, but so glad I went!
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Baby Showers-SUYL

Today I am linking up to Kelly's Korner show us your life series. This week's topic is baby showers.

I am currently in the season of life where there is always a baby shower going on for a friend or family member. I enjoy throwing parties, and showers are no exception! Here are a few pictures from some showers at my house.

For my sweet nephew, Rylan, we went with zebra print, turquoise, and a melon green. This is my first ever attempt at a diaper cake.


The cake and punch table.


Rylan's name hadn't been finalized yet at the shower.


The food table.


This spring I had the privilege to throw a shower for my best friend and her sweet little miracle who was born at 29 weeks weighing only 1lb 8 ozs! We decided to have her shower before she came home from the hospital, so her momma could get away.

Here's the cake table. We did shades of hot pink, lots of fresh flowers, springy greens, and black. I put out framed pictures of little K all over the house. Another friend created a slideshow of various pictures as well.


Coffee and water area. This is a baby scale I picked up at an antique store I've gotten great use out of it for showers, and I have loaned it to several friends for newborn pictures.


Food table, and yes that's another antique scale. I know I have a problem!


I found a seller on etsy who created the invitations and other items for the shower like these water bottle labels. I just printed them and taped them onto the bottles.


More pictures around the house. I planted wheatgrass about two weeks before the shower and used it to add springy touches. I have several vintage silver baby cups (including my own). These had flowers in them around the house.


These labels also coordinated with the invite.


This Moses basket was salvaged from the trash and spray painted before Rylan's shower. It makes a great (free) shower accessory!


There are a few other things we did to decorate that I don't have any good pictures of...
*decorating with onesies and bibs.I have a shelf with door knobs on it. We hung them on padded baby hangers with coordinating ribbon.
*I covered a "k" with moss to go with the touches of green
*another diaper cake
*chalk plates with baby info, name, etc.

I definitely went a little crazy for sweet K's shower, and I had help! Since she was such miracle I thought it was justified. Also, I had a sip and see at my house a couple of weeks later for my niece Ridglea, unfortunately I don't have any of the pictures from it handy. I was able to keep a lot of the decorations up, or recreate something similar.


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Week One in the Books

It was a great first week of school. It was filled with the controlled chaos that is pretty typical, and this week has flown by at a record pace. Below is the most atypical event of the week. Yes, that's a massive fire, on my way out of the neighborhood of school! No, it wasn't just a normal grass fire. Apparently, while we were spending an hour putting our kids into cars at the end of the day, a tanker carrying jet fuel had a collision and exploded. When it was time to head home at the end of the day the highway was closed in both directions, but luckily the direct path home was open. Thank goodness I didn't need to get out and run any errands, because I'm not sure if I would've been able to get out and back home. I definitely enjoyed being homebound for the evening, and by the time N headed home he was able to make it without a problem.





This is my stellar photography through the car window!

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Weekend Wrap Up

One more day of teacher work before the kids come back. I am ready! I was able to stay in the same classroom for the first time in five years!!!! That has made for a very smooth, low stress transition. Also, it has made me more anxious for the kids to get there. This weekend we were able to balance a mix of work and play! On Saturday morning we slept in, did the normal laundry and dishes type of housework. Also, we deep cleaned and reorganized a couple of cabinets. I really should have taken before and after pics, because the transformation was remarkable. This little cup was a victim of the great cup clean out of 2011. I got it my freshman year at OSU, and it had most definitely seen better days.





You can't see the cracks from this angle :(.

I spent several hours at school, and then it was time for a date night. I specifically asked N to plan something fun so that I didn't wind up staying at school all night. We went to dinner in downtown g-vine at a cute little Italian place we had never been, then we went to see the movie The Help. I've read the book and loved it, so I was anxious to see the movie. It was so good. Nick and I both loved all of the "vintage" props in the movie.





Yummy Italian food.





Gelato to go!

We enjoyed a Sunday morning of worship, a quick lunch, and then back to school for more work. Today, we recruited more helpers. My mom, sister, and the three R's spent the afternoon, and helped with a few last minute jobs.






Last summer, brother went in a locker, this year it's the cart. This cart is actually called an "everything" cart. I guess that includes babies.





R2 checking out R3 in the cart. He tried it for a minute, but wasn't a fan.






These boys love each other, and I love them!

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Back to School

Who can hear those three words and not break into the little song from Billy Madison? Not me, that's for sure!

Just like Billy, it was time to head back today, at least for the teachers. We had a day of inservice in our campus today. It was great to see everyone and begin to get back in the swing of things. I am so excited about the great team I have an opportunity to work with this year. I was blessed this year to stay in the same classroom. It has made for a much easier start to school.

There was a bit of time to work in my classroom after school, and my best helper came by to do a few "boy jobs". I seriously don't know how I would do it without him. Being a teacher definitely a labor of love for me, and my family helps out in so many ways! N is very supportive and understanding of the long hours and craziness, he is willing to hang things from the ceiling, build anything, analyze seating arrangements, he has the ability to create what I visualize, and is the all-around best worker bee I've ever met!









Fixing my library canopy-definite boy job!








Library corner and large group area.









How many types of anti-bacterial can you spot in this picture? I might have hand-sanitizer specific OCD.









My sweet friends participating in the minute to win it challenges that were a part of our inservice. As we've heard it's all fun and games until there's a pencil in someone's eye, thus the need for safety goggles.

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Alter Ego

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Clark Kent and Superman. Bruce Wayne and Batman. Allow me to introduce you to my alter egos: Summer wife and Just-a-Teacher. Summer wife is well-rested, has a well-kept home, completes projects right and left, and is always up for fun. Just-a-Teacher has a whole lot more on her plate, and therefore tends to burn the candle at both ends. Well, tomorrow is the day that my personality shifts. If I were Bruce Wayne I would be making my way to the batcave in order to suit up as we speak. I am definitely looking forward to going back to school in many ways: I love the beginning of the year, new kids, and seeing my friends every day. However, saying goodbye to summer wife is always a little hard in our home. I spent the day getting all laundry and housework complete, working in my classroom, and making lists! Ready or not here Just-a-Teacher comes!



Working on lists during dinner.



I took some time for reflection of what I would like to accomplish this year. Most of my goals have to do with routines I would like to maintain at school and home.



We stocked up on creamer, so I would have something to look forward to on the early mornings to come!

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A First Time for Everything

For years, my husband has been asking me when I plan to start my own blog to share our family fun, home projects, creations, and other randomness that is our life. Well, add blogging to my list of last minute summer fun squeezed into our lives.

Other last minute summer fun has also included:



A trip to the flea market. I had to sit crisscross in that space for a forty-five minute ride!



The sweet niece stayed the night and sewed on the machine for the first time.



Proud owners of brand new library cards!



Church service for baptisms at the local water park-how fun!



A few "pinned" projects completed.

We are loving our "small town life" on the edge of the big city, which is the perfect mix for us! Our goal in life is to count it all joy, so we always to find the fun in the ordinary day-to-day.



I'll leave you with some photographic evidence of N finding the joy in errands at Costco! I also tried it out, but there is no photographic evidence of that.


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