My Productive Weekend

With my people up in Amarillo, I took full advantage! I got a pizza, Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (which made me call Mark at 11:30 pm boo-hooing), and got to work on Lexie's baby bedding. I created her bumper pads. I thought it would take a day - HA!!! Try all weekend! Here is a pic of the 2 short bumpers; the long bumpers will have 3 decorative buttons on them...(still attaching those)! Doesn't the green look sooo soft! I've rubbed my face on it a few times while imagining what Lexie will look like!

Daddy's date weekend

Mark met Matt in Amarillo for a weekend getaway with the kids. I opted to give my swelling legs a break and stay home for some much needed R & R. The girls LOVED playing with their cousins and having a special date weekend with the daddies!!!

Ode to Ice Cream

Blue Bell has done me in - meet my new infatuation...Candy Jar flavored ice cream.

Could this be why I failed my glucose tolerance test??? Nah....

BRENHAM - Just when you thought that all possible ice cream flavors had already been created, Blue Bell Creameries has come up with another new idea, in time for National Ice Cream Month. Candy Jar is reminiscent of the jars full of candy that old-timey general stores used to display on the counter near the cash register, to entice children and grownups alike to make one more small purchase as they were checking out.
Candy Jar Ice Cream is a rich caramel ice cream containing pieces of all of your favorite candies—peanut butter cups, chocolate chunks, peanut brittle, chunks of caramel and chocolate crisp pieces. Whatever your favorite, it’s probably there!

Mi Vida Loca

After some of the silly things I've seen this week, I wanted to write about my crazy life!

I'll start with Small Fry, Grace. Her sense of style and clever mind never cease to amaze me. She walked into the kitchen the other day with her "Kenna Kate" dog carrier on her head and said, "Look, Mom. I'm an astronaut!" She cracked me up - clever, little thing!

When it was time to get dressed for the day, Grace came down in her custom digs. Her shirt and shorts matched just fine - but the best part was the hot pink boots! She said, "Mom, don't I look beautiful?" I replied that she looked like a cowgirl but was quickly corrected. "I'm like Hannah Montanna!" Go with it, fashion queen! (You know you're in Texas when your daughter wears cowgirl boots with shorts)!


Oh, and the best was Sunday morning. The girls
"played" quietly until 8:30 while we slept- talk about wonderful! We didn't know about art class ...








Now, moving onto Miss Chloe. She LOVES to play dress up. Her imagination is so fun!

We've had Christmas in July...

a wedding (to Garrett, of course)...

and many dog days of summer!

New Family Picutres

While we were on vacation, Liz took some wonderful family pictures for us. She has a photography business in Vail, Colorado... http://www.lizpykephotography.com/

Mark's New Love

After many years of sacrifice, my man has returned to his true love...truck driving (yummy)! No, he has not switched careers, we have FINALLY traded in the Altima for a Toyota Tundra!!! We went on an extended date night after a friend's wedding to the dealership (rather than a movie - which would've been much less expensive)! Although, I must admit, going to the dealership while the girls were with Miss Bonnie was a much more productive use of our time. This was a purchase we've put off for a VERY long time. Thankfully, we still got a fair amount of trade-in for the Altima. It was a little bittersweet driving away without her, though. She was the first car we purchased after we were married. She served us faithfully - we got 150,000 miles out of her. Seeing my sweet Mark behind the wheel of his true love, a truck, made it all worth it! He deserves it after trading in his first Tundra for our family van and driving the Altima for 4 years (talk about a rite of passage...neither of us EVER thought we'd drive a van). He is the picture of selflessness!

Our Summer Travels

We got all of our traveling in early this summer - doctor's orders! As of July 4th, my travel was limited to the metroplex. Having to stick close to home after all of our exciting adventures and fiascos on the return trips home was a welcomed restriction!






Pismo Beach - June 2008
We were able to attend Mark's youngest cousin's wedding in California while getting in a long-anticipated beach vacation. The wedding was absolutely beautiful - outside in the mountains. It made me want to get married all over again - to Mark, of course - for beautiful, new pictures! The girls, especially Chloe (our little Island Girl), fell in love with the beach. Chloe tells us at least once a day that she is going to live in California by the beach. Grace promptly proclaims that she will live with Chloe and that we can come visit them. I suppose by that time, Grace will love the ocean as much as Chloe - despite being frightened by a wave that knocked her over. We enjoyed visiting Mark's family while we were there. We missed the Mouffes, but we had a ball with Pierces, the Pykes, the Tafoyas, Mema, and all of Mark's aunts, uncles, and cousins. Getting together with the extended Pierce clan is always a good time. Oh, and the clam chowder - WOW! Splash serves up an unrivaled, amazing bowl - ordered with extra seafood - enlightening!

Albuquerque - June & July 2008
We took our annual road trip to Albuquerque to visit our folks out there. The girls got to spend some sweet time with Nana, Papa, Mema, and G.G. Nana had a new and exciting toy box that kept the girls busy. She and Papa hosted a delicious BBQ where we ate out on her back patio. Aunt Sara played games with the girls and pushed them on the tree swing out back. Chloe couldn't get enough of that, but Grace was content to push the swing herself with nobody on it! Nana also taught the girls a wonderfully naughty trick - spraying whipped cream into their mouths from the can! Silly Nana! Mema's backyard was converted to Splash Mountain Country. Uncle Matt brought over his water slide - aka "Splash Mountain", and the Pierce boys and girls slid come rain (with quivering blue lips) or shine (as a welcomed relief to the heat). Mema also hosted a couple delicious BBQs on her back patio. It was so nice to enjoy the cool Albuquerque air without dying of heat (like we would at home). We stayed with G.G. after Mark returned home for work. Chloe, our Early Bird, enjoyed waking at the crack of dawn and actually finding G.G. awake! They had many early morning chats over coffee and apple juice. Grace, our little Snoozer, crawled in bed with me for some extra zzzz's. Our cuddle time was priceless! I enjoyed having NOTHING planned while we were there. It was very relaxing, which is just what this little pregnant lady needed! We had a ball visiting and laughing with everyone while we were there. Our Albuquerque memories are among our favorites.

Vail - July 2008
We caravanned from Albuquerque to Vail with Matt and Tamara's family to visit the Pykes. We had a ball! Being back in the mountains of Vail has really tugged on our heartstrings - it's made us want to move to Colorado. Of course, we would want to be in the Vail area. However, I don't know how much we'd enjoy the outdoors after working 10 jobs each to support ourselves! On the bright side, it would satisfy my goal of becoming a ski instructor when I grow up! One of the schools there advertises that the kids and teachers go skiing on Fridays - wouldn't mind teaching there! (I can't say what my other 8 jobs would be). Liz and Jim were gracious hosts - we had excellent food and many fun adventures including a gondola ride up the mountain for a picnic in front of Holy Cross Mountain after the 4th of July parade in Vail Village. Did I mention the snow drift we found? A great snowball fight ensued! The 6 kids had a blast playing. Chloe and Grace now talk about living at the beach with their cousins - Mark and I have been down-graded to staying in a hotel near their house! Liz took fantastic family and pregnant pictures for us. I am dying to print and frame them! It was hard to leave the beauty of Colorado. I actually think Colorado wanted us to stay, too - it took FOUR AND A HALF HOURS to get from Vail to Denver (a 97 mile drive-argh)!!!! It was all worth it!