AUDRA turns 30!

It's hard to believe that Audra is now 30; she certainly doesn't look it. Although her birthday was Monday, we celebrated on Saturday night with lots of food and, of course, cake and ice cream. Lyndon wanted me to buy trick candles, but I couldn't find any. Since then, naturally, I've located some. Altogether there were ten of us including Mimi and Pawpaw, Leah, Audra, Cody, and Lyndon. Brian was down visiting and frog hunting so he and his friend, Keith, joined us. We still had LEFTOVERS!

Texas Ranch Roundup

We went to the Ranch Roundup with Mimi and Pawpaw last night. The clydesdales were there, and they are so fabulous. I could watch them all night. I forgot my camera, but thankfully, the woman behind us emailed photos to me. If you've never seen them in person, it's a must. I hope the kids can come next year; they would really love it.

The Four Carls

I wish that they had been smiling!

Black & White

These are two of my favorite photos. One is of Dad with a deer that he shot; he's petting one of his collies. The other is of Mom with us three kids on Easter morning on the church steps. I made enlargements and put them into frames that I already had.

Black & White

This photo is my favorite photo of Audra and Leah. She is sucking her fingers and twirling her hair; he is sucking his thumb. They are listening to a Mother Goose "record" and reading along with it.

This is our wedding picture that's hanging in our bedroom.

Four 1st Communion girls. My grandmother is upper left, I am upper right, Mom is lower left, and Audra is lower right.

My Memere.

I've always loved black and white photos so I recently decided that it would be a theme throughout my house. I took photos that I already had displayed and copied them to black and white on my printer. I then put them into black or metallic frams with white mats. I thinks it makes a dramatic impact. I love looking at them. Here is a sample.

Black & White

When Mom was here in March, I took many beautiful photos of her with each of the kids. I love them in color, but I wanted them in black and white for framing. After copying them into black and white using my printer, I bought inexpensive black frames (complete with mats $5.00 each!), and hung them in the nursery.

The Decorating Project That Never Ends

The hallway is finished! Yea, just 2800 square feet to go. HaHa.

Here are the BEFORE and AFTER shots. The before is the stain; the white is the after.

Remember I'm painting all of the woodwork in the house a creamy white.

What $5.00 will buy

Recently I took all three kids (Lyndon, Carl, and Aubrey) to Wichita Falls for an excursion. Leah gave them each $5.00 to spend on a toy. Enroute to Wichita, the boys were talking about binoculars and asking me how much they cost. I told them at least $20. We went to Target to shop for their toys. Of course we had to go up and down each aisle; as we went, the boys would say "how much is this?". I'd repeatedly reply "$35, $49, $28". It went on like this until they spied the binoculars. I couldn't believe it; they looked kid tough and they were on clearance for $4.89! The boys both wanted to get them. We then began the search for Aubrey's special toy. It didn't take long, because as soon as she saw them, the hunt was over. What every Sleeping Beauty princess wants was right there on the shelf for $4.99 -pink high heels with sparkle stones in them!

I was amazed that they each bought the perfect toy for less than $5.00. Who says a dollar doesn't go far anymore!!

Mom's 75th Birthday

I flew to Tucson at the end of July for Mom's 75th birthday. Lyn and Bobby and I took her to Hacienda del Sol for a day and night. It was really beautiful and relaxing. Lyn packed food for us to eat, and we also ordered room service for dinner. It was great to just be together visiting and relaxing. That night we watched a movie that we saw on the channel guide; it was "The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas". Bob said he saw it years ago, but we women hadn't seen it at all. It was pretty funny, and we were surprised that we liked it. Kind of a funny movie to watch with your mother on her birthday!

Yea Red Sox!

Yesterday at 1:00 pm, Lyndon and I headed to the Ballpark at Arlington to see the Boston Red Sox play the Texas Rangers. We arrived very early, waiting in the blistering sun for an autograph (no luck), ate the usual ballpark junk food, had TERRIFIC seats in the 3rd row, and to top it all off, our team won. It was Great! We returned to Seymour at 1:00 am; Lyndon talked all the way home. I was quite surprised; I thought that he'd surely go to sleep.

Our Sleeping Beauty and her Admirers

Aubrey has loved Sleeping Beauty for two years; she absolutely adores the music and lyrics. She sings it and dances to it much of the time. Here are some photos of our Beauty and her two admirers, Lyndon and Carl.

Versatile and Wrights in the Rodeo Parade

In July, Seymour held it's rodeo and parade. The Tractor Shop decided to have our 400 HP Versatile in the parade. Cody, Audra, and Lyndon rode in it and threw out candy to the viewers. Cody was nervous, because of all the kids on four wheelers following. I would have been too!

Our creative boys

The boys were in the nursery and being unusually quiet. When I checked to see what was up, I discovered this. They, for some unknown reason, got the idea to make Aubrey a dress out of paper. They also made her horse a dress. They cut it out, taped it, and covered it with stickers. Although she did allow them to put it on her for the photo, they were disappointed that she wasn't more enthused with it. She refused to have anything to do with it afterwards.

I can't imagine why not; wouldn't any fashion loving girl appreciate a paper, sticker covered dress?

Credenza refurbish

The "before" shot of this wall in the study is on the left, the "after" is on the right.









I have a credenza in the study that is made of very cheap wood; I really disliked the wood finish as well as the hardware, so I decided to change it. I painted it satin black, and changed the pulls and knobs to stainless. It looks so different, and now I enjoy it like it's brand new. The cost was minimal.

I used to have a grouping of nine photos above the credenza. These are all photos that I've taken at various places, and I love them all. I decided that I'd like to highlight fewer photos, but have them more dramatically framed. I selected four, bought very inexpensive frames and mats at Hobby Lobby, and voila. I love the look. The mats and frames together were less than $20.

Miss Priss

If I'm anywhere near the bathroom when Aubrey comes over, she has a routine she follows. She walks into the bathroom and says "I need my mirror and my lipstick". She then proceeds to get out the stand up mirror and her chapstick that I keep just for her. She pulls out the vanity stool and primps.

Making some progress

The hallway is now finished as far as molding goes. Now I'm waiting for my cabinet doors to be put on. Rather than proceed with the other rooms off the hall, I'm heading to the living room. I'm dreading it the most, because of course, we're in the living room more.

The Decorating Project That Never Ends

I'm in the process of painting all of the moldings and doors in the house; I'm changing from their fruitwood stain to a creamy white. A HUGE project! One night I stayed up until 10 pm applying painters' tape to the hallway only to wake up in the morning ready to paint and seeing all of the tape hanging down. What a bummer. I decided not to waste any more time putting up tape; I just painted as carefully as I could. So far I've completed the study and the hallway.