This is what you get.....

when your 12 year old takes pictures.  455 pictures to be exact - over the summer.  She's much better at remembering to take pics than I am so here's a glimpse of the world from Syd's point of view.

Yes the self portrait, a must for every pre-teen....she apparently took LOTS of these before we moved out of the old house.

 What fun is going to dinner without a camera?

I realize this is really blurry and not a good pic but it was hilarious how many times we tried to get this using the timer on her camera....we obviously didn't!

Cute boy who lived next door in our old house...hmm wonder why she took this? :)

Gotta love friends!!

                                                                                                          
She wanted pink hair sooo bad!

Fun times in Kansas City with the grandparents

School always comes too soon!!!

Colby's bringin' the Thunder!!

For those of you who do not know, Oklahoma City has a pro basketball team called the OKC Thunder.  I've never lived in a city with a pro anything so this has all been very exciting.  This year when they were in the playoffs it was crazy around our house.  My son Colby got really into the team this year and so it was very fitting to decorate his room with the Thunder.  Now this kid is a sports nut so it took me a while to decide if I should do a team or just generic sports theme.  When my brother told me he wanted to live vicariously through Colby's room and therefore wanted to buy him a Kevin Durant fathead, well who am I to say no? :)  The Thunder room was born.  Now that my parents have moved to Kansas City (sniff)  I will be showing them lots of things through my blog.  I've heard rumors my sister reads from time to time too!  (love you sis)  So hope you all like his room!

Here is the scoreboard I painted on one of his walls, although don't look too close I'm definitely not a professional!

Here is the fathead of Kevin Durant, it really is ginormous!  Of course so is he so it makes sense.

I needed something to display all of his sports memorabilia.  After looking long and hard I found this at Home Depot and it worked out perfectly.

The upper section in the Ford Center is called Loud City, which also happens to be very fitting for Colby's room.

Well there you have it!  Colby is ecstatic by the way, he wants to be in his room all the time now.  And mom, I know you would enjoy this, when we brought him in to show him Paul had the Thunder theme song playing on his ipod!

A Shout Out to my sis!!

Sharing a room with someone for 18 years you get to know them pretty well.  Of course, at the time I wanted nothing more than to have my own space with my own closet and my own radio.  Looking back, I wouldn't change a thing.  We have so many wonderful memories together, and yes, some not-so-wonderful ones.  For some reason God chose to bless me with the most generous, compassionate, kind-hearted, funny, smart and beautiful woman I know to be my sister.  I thank him for that daily.  Sara has a deep love for the Lord but also for fashion!!

When Sara graduated college she did something I could have never done.  She up and moved to Dallas with no job or home to see if she could do something in the fashion industry.  And do something she did.  She has made amazing contacts, shown her tenacity and skill to an unbelievable level.  I marvel at how she does what she does.  Sara makes everyone she meets feel like you've been friends forever.  The road has not always been easy but she has stuck it out and I could not be more proud of her.  Every once in a while I drive down to the Big D and take a peek into her professional life.  She has let me sit in on line presentations and corporate parties.  She is so good at what she does, plus it makes this stay-at-home mom feel glamorous for a minute!  ;)

Sara recently started a blog and it will be one more way for her to use her talents.  I'm excited to see where it goes, I know it will be amazing!  So go to my House of Zion link and check it out!!

Bedroom Surprise!!

My daughter went to church camp last week and while she was away I wanted to decorate her room for her.  She had a great room in our other house, pink and white walls, picket fence, adorable comforter, etc.  But her new favorite color is lime green and since she will be in JR. HIGH next year she wanted an "older" room.  Decorating is something I really enjoy, so I planned and sketched and sanded and painted, measured and draped and exhausted myself but I got it done!!  It was a great surprise -  she had no idea what I was doing.  Here are a couple before shots (I'm not very good at them):

And here are the afters....much more fun :)

The green is a little brighter than it looks in the pics but you get the idea.  I never thought painting furniture black could make such a difference!!  It was alot of hard work but totally worth it.  Now onto my son's room!!

Prepared for Anything!

There is something strange at work in my brain that tells me if I am not completely prepared for any possible scenario that might come up when I am away from home, somehow I am not doing my job.  I know it's ridiculous and silly but it is what it is.  If someone needs a tissue or a nail file - I want to say "Got it!"  Is that strange?  Wait, don't answer that.  Needless to say, I am always intrigued by what other people carry in their cars and/or purses for such occasions.  So, here is my car basket o' goodies!

This is everything that goes in the basket.  It doesn't look like much but it gets pretty full.  I have a notebook with all of our restaurant and store coupons for easy access.  A first aid kit, a bag with some card games, paper and markers, a sewing kit, a roll of toilet paper (don't laugh, it has come in handy many times), kleenex packets, some target sacks for trash, a hair pick with hair bands, wipes (a mom's best friend), a towel in case of spills, and the cup has hand sanitizer, bug spray, a file, tire pressure gauge (don't really know how to use it but whatever), pens, lots of lip gloss and chapstick, hand lotion, and those wisps things.  Of course can't forget the snacks and water bottles since my kids seem to think if we are out for longer than 30 minutes it's a road trip.  I also have a little flashlight.  Oddly enough I do use most of this stuff and replenish when needed.  I also have a blanket, jackets, and phonebook in the cool compartment in the back of my Trailblazer. Here is all of it crammed into my cute little tote that they now have at Target ♥ in adorable colors in the summer section!!

This is the little bag I carry in my purse as well:

It has a mini deodarant, body spray, hand lotion, mirror, ibuprofen, a smaller sewing kit (which I never use but feel like it should be in there, lol) floss, tape measure (not for my body, for house decorating) nail clippers, eye drops ( I wear contacts) and lots more lip gloss and lipstick, and those sheets to wipe shine off your face.  So there you have it, my emergency save the world kits!  Do you have one?  I would love to see it!!

Meeting the big guy

My son is obsessed with all things sports.  He talks about sports all day long.  He asks me on a daily basis what team I want to win what game, depending on the time of year.  He plays sports himself, on video games, and board games.  His room is decorated in a sports theme.  He and his dad are playing in the NBA finals right now on NBA 2010 and you would think it was really happening.  I get updates about their progress and how he thinks the next few games will go.  It is a hilarious and endearing trait.  That being said, the fact that OKC now has its very own NBA basketball team - well that is just icing on the cake.  He has been able to go to a few games thanks to some wonderful friends of ours and he loves all the players (play off time was CRAZY in this house) but his favorite is Russell Westbrook.  So naturally when I saw that he would be signing basketballs at a local Dillard's last Saturday I had to check it out.

Now for those of you who know me, I am not one to go spend money on what I think are frivolous things.  In order to meet Westbrook and get a signed basketball you had to buy $50 worth of Perry Ellis merchandise.  Say what?  My husband doesn't even wear Perry Ellis.  My first thought was - not gonna happen.  Then I thought about my little brother growing up.  He was obsessed with Larry Bird of the Boston Celtics.  He wanted so badly for him to come to his birthday party one year.  Of course that wouldn't happen but I remember him being convinced that if we would just invite him, Larry would come.  So when my son actually has the oppurtunity to meet his favorite player, I need to suck it up and lay down the $50.  Which is what I did and it was worth it.  Colby said it was one of the best days ever and now he has an awesome piece of memorabilia for his sports room!

Teacher Gifts Pt. 2

Well because I posted the first one as part 1, I felt I had to make a part 2 even though I wasn't super excited with what I did this year.  I just plain ran out of time, energy, and creativity.  The end of the year caught up with me and having to plan four major events for my daughter's 6th grade class just took precedence.  I will post about that soon.  ANYWAY, I made these yummy peanut butter chocolate bars...you can find the recipe here.  I put them on these adorable little plates I found at, where else, Target, and wrapped them up all cute with some ribbon.  I also added a Target gift card in their card so they could pick out what they like.

Naturally I had to taste test these babies and they were delish!  So give them a try.  You could even wrap them up all cute and give them to yourself as a gift - just be sure and hide them from the rest of the fam! ;)