jack carter.

our summer list is WELL under way!

it's only the middle of june and we've checked SEVEN things off our list. 

plus we have plans to mark two more things off by the end of this week. woo-hoo!!!

{the list is SO much better than last year. but i fear i've created a monster. every morning b. wakes up and asks "what is on the list today?" hahaha...}

one of the FIRST things we put on the list this year {and last year} is JACK. CARTER. POOL. 

if you live anywhere near plano, you must go.

it's awesome.

we've already been twice. but the first time i didn't get pictures.

this time i had to FORCE my camera out of the bag when we were leaving to document.

it's not easy being at a concrete pool with two kids. 

{actually, i really don't worry too much about brady here since it's so shallow and - did i mention - fenced in! but charlotte wants to sit up and then decides to roll over. she's getting really good at the transition so she doesn't 'fall' down... but i don't trust her on concrete yet!}

oh - and don't worry that i ended up at the pool with everything BUT lil' miss's bathing suit. so we sat in the water in just her swim diaper. ni-ice. 

jeff would have died.

oh - and it NEVER fails. when we get back in the car {no matter how many times i've asked} b. always says he has to go tee tee. by the time i turn around - he's going in the grass. yay! 

what a high-class family i'm raising! {only kidding!}

project life. and other random thoughts.

first.

excuse these pictures. they're taken with my phone. only because i was too lazy to load from my actual camera. so they're blurry. but you get the idea.

and, for the life of me, i can't get this one to rotate.

but, i've been so excited about project life in the past few days that i just HAD to post today.

for those of you who have emailed me and said "do you think it would work for me? even though i'm not really 'crafty'? even though i don't scrapbook?" i'd like to scream from the top of the rooftops... YES!!!! it will work for you.

and just in case you don't think it can...

read this.

doesn't it just make you HAPPY all over?!

you have to get started. you just have to!!!!

just start where you are. don't even try to go backward yet.

i started in april and i'm now caught up from march until wedding week! and that's just because i don't have the pictures yet!

it really is fun. you don't have to be a scrapbooker. you just have to take pictures and cut up snipits from your life. receipts. take out bags. expiration dates. etc. etc. etc.

needing inspiration?

check this out!

you can do it! just order your pages & your pictures and start.

it IS that simple. promise.

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have you seen the craft weekend that meg's putting on?

yeah. i have too.

and when lindsay brought it to my attention when it was first posted, i thought, no. way.

and especially when they announced that it would cost $400+.

not that i don't think it's worth it. i think it's WAY worth it.

i bet you get WAY more than your money's worth.

but asking my money-saving hubby to spend around $1,000 {travel, etc.} for me to go to a craft weekend with women i do. not. know. would be ridiculous.

i knew that.

but on sunday night, when we were talking about our budget, i jokingly brought it up.

his first reaction?

not "are you kidding!?".

not "no. way."

not "who is meg?"

but "how much is it and when is it?"

shocked, i answered his questions.

he said he knew how much i liked her.

he then told me that i could do it.

BUT it would be my christmas present. one & only.

which would be a GREAT christmas present.

but there would be no gifts to open under the tree... and i like opening presents.

so... after much debate... i didn't do it. {even if i wanted to, i have no idea if i could have gotten the ticket so quickly!!}

but it would be fun. i would love to meet her. and i would love to have a craft weekend.

maybe i should just have my own..... hmmmmmm...........

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next.

do any of you follow kelly from fabulous k?

yeah, that's exactly what i thought.

everyone follows her.

i've long since admired her graphic design skills & love of color & style.

well.

she started a new blog.

if you haven't seen it, you should.

her journey to skinny jeans.

and i love it.

i want to journey to skinny jeans too.

{although i don't know if i would EVER wear them with my lovely pear shape.....}

she is super motivating.... and has inspired me to get healthy.

i have several more baby pounds to lose before i go to the beach in august.

i know that i could diet and lose it.

but i'm a mon.ster when i'm on a diet. seriously. so that's a no-go for me.

so, i'm doing the non-diet diet.

i have three goals this week:

1. 30 minutes of cardio everyday. this may be walking with the double stroller. or by myself. or a workout video. or a swim. whatever.... it's just something to keep my heartrate up.

2. drink water. and clear liquids, i.e. crystal light, tea, maybe juice....

3. go to sleep at a decent hour. like, be in bed by 10, asleep by 10:30. 

truthfully, i could go on and on about things i want to implement in my life. but, when i do that, i start off with a bang & then i lose steam. quickly. 

so, i'm going to do three new-ish things a week. and go from there. and see where it gets me. 

{i'm also, in general, trying to eat healthier. whole grains, fruits & vegetables, etc.}

but 'dieting' in the traditional sense is not realistic for me right now. 

just being honest.

so, any other suggestions are VERY welcome!!!

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whew, that was a LOT of randomness.

but, happy tuesday.

:)

kampens.

well.

it's a sad day for the dfw area.

our dear friends, the kampens, moved to austin yesterday.

boo.

although, i was telling jeff last night that it still hasn't hit me that they actually left. they've been talking about it for over a year. literally. and for some reason, i feel like we'll see them a lot. we'll make trips there and they'll make trips here.

so even though it's 'good bye' - i think everyone feels really good about it.

maybe we're in denial.

last sunday night, we had a goodbye party for them at the mccords house.

it was super dirty fun. joanna & justin were sweet enough to set up their backyard like a tiny tot water park. and combine the water with the dirt & the bare feet... and we got a mess. a fun, hot, mess.

the kiddos LOVED every second of it. EVERY. SECOND.

oh - except for charlotte. she's still on and off on a "1/2 nap" in the late afternoon and this afternoon, she wanted one. so she took a little cat nap in stella's bed while we ate pizza & caprisun.

we love the kampens.

i met lindsay through a mutual friend at a play date when b. was 4 or 5 months old. i was in a bad place. she wasn't. and she ended up being a great friend to me.

and not to mention, jeremy {the other half of the kampen family}, ended up being a great friend of the hubby's too.

so - with all of this goodbye stuff that i am SO not good at {i didn't even officially say goodbye to them... it was always "we'll see you again before you leave..."} i thought it only appropriate to list a few things that i learned from my dear friend lindsay.

1. honor GOD in all things you do and the choices you make.

2. speak your mind.

3. laugh at the tough things. {especially the tough things that have kiddos involved}.

4. love your husband first. {and she definitely taught me what it looks like to submit with a good attitude}.

5. don't be afraid to be vulnerable. it's how we learn from each other.

lindsay is one of my sweet friends that asks the hard questions when i complain about a circumstance in my life. oh, she will listen. intently. and sweetly. and then she'll just as intently & sweetly ask "so... what are you going to do about it?" {maybe not in so many words, but you get my drift, right?}

she never lets you just complain. never. that's one of the things i loved the very most about her. she is a GREAT friend. 

lindsay. i love you dearly. i am blessed beyond measure that the lord chose to bring you into my life when HE did. you are going to be such a treasure to those WEIRD people in austin. {we love austin - i am not being mean... promise! just making a joke!} we are praying for you & jeremy {as well as the kids} as you make this transition. may GOD continue to bless you & your sweet family as you settle in & search for a church home. you can do it! we. love. you. 

happy friday, all. but especially to the kampens.

happy.

soooo......

yesterday, my darling mother-in-law took me the nursery.

to get my birthday present. {even though my birthday was a LOONG time ago.}

my birthday happened in and among a lot of life stuff this year. {as did jeff's.} it was the year for that, i guess.

and then.... we got a sprinkler system!!!!

a joy & a nightmare all at the same time.

jeff keeps telling me the grass will fill back in. i know it will. but in the mean time, it's muddy. and combine that with a dog that's low to the ground & a 3 year old little boy and that means mess. all. the. time. {not that i'm not the messiest one of all or anything...}

but please don't get me wrong.

i'm grateful.

i am.

so... now all of this goodness is in my flower beds in the front.

it looks even better off the cart than on. promise.

i was told that i can't kill these. unless i don't water. i will water!

and here's a bonus.

when i took the flower pic, i saw this picture of the bug. trying on his tux.

love.

oh. AND i found this video of lil' miss. making her sweet sweet noises.

she gets so excited. and when b. hears her noises... he starts making them too. just wait.

mrs. cockerham. part two.

so. here it is.

the wedding day!!

i spent the night in a hotel room with bride on friday night. i took TWO tylenol pm at midnight, thinking we were going to be sleeping in in the morning.

nope.

the bride-to-be woke up bright & early {despite the wine & tyelnol} and i was SO out of it.

6:30 a.m. to be exact.

i was still in my tylenol p.m. haze when she started moving around, but i immediately shot up "are you ok? is everything alright? what's going on?"

of course... it was nothing. she just was excited.

as it should be. as i was on my wedding day.

so. we played on our phones. got starbucks. she took me and a few girls to see their new house. {SO cute, by the way.}

then. it was finally time to get started.

we got dressed and carpooled over to only the BEST mexican food restaurant known to man for brunch.

joe t. garcia's.

dixie had a few games for us to play, of course.

love. her.

it helped pass the time.

the bridesmaids made katie a book of the engagement, our friendships, etc. we gave it to her at brunch. {pictures to come later}. it was pretty much a copy of this. {sorry, girls. i wasn't too original!!}

then we went to aveda to get our hair did.

greatness.

we still had an hour or so before we needed to be at the church.

the day was NOT going fast!!! i thought we'd be in a rush to get everywhere. but we never were!!!

in fact, we played hang man at the church while we waited.

katie had the BEST wedding photographers. they were a married couple. cute & young. i want to be friends with them. and i cannot WAIT for the pictures to come out! they're going to be awesome.

katie looked beautiful. i've never seen her happier.

my dad cried. it was sweet. {although, i don't remember him crying at MY wedding?! ha. i guess it wasn't as sad to give ME away?!}

jeff & i drove the newlweds to the reception.

at the petroleum club. newly renovated, i might add.

do you notice the shininess of our faces?

really? it's because the a/c was broken.

uh-huh.

my mom said she got a refund check from them today. without even asking.

it was H.O.T. in there.

{and i'm not talking about the good kind!}

 i gave a speech. i can't remember AT ALL what i said.

but b. kept wanting to come out there with me and dance. :) even though there was no music on.

 

my mom danced. and danced. and danced. i think i almost wet my pants i was laughing so hard. i was shocked!

and then we did wham bam.

i told jeff that it may have been the highlight of my night.

no. joke.

jeff & i took the newleds back to their house for the night. before they flew to napa for their honeymoon on sunday. we wished them luck. {i think katie was extremely red, but it was too dark to see!}

we couldn't be happier for them.

aunt katie & uncle trent - we love you & can't wait for you to start making those babies!!!!!!