Ellie's horseback riding lessons

Ellie had been asking to go horseback riding for a while, so when I saw a groupon for 2 lessons I thought it would be a great way to see if she liked it.  She did...

 This is actually the horse from the 2nd day.  His name was Rocky and he was super sweet and super sleepy from a day spent with campers prior to our lesson. 

 I thought he was going to fall asleep when we were tacking up.

 He did manage to poop while we were walking to the arena.  We got to scoop that up later. 

 I just snapped this pic of the stable.  It is such a beautiful place.

 Ellie had her work cut out for her.  This guy kept trying to stop completely he was so sleepy.  Ellie had to kick him repeatedly to get him to move.

 This horse came up behind us to say hello while we were watching Ellie.

 This is from the first lesson.  First you have to tack up.

 This is Joe.  He was the sweetest pony.  Very calm.

 Isn't he cute?

 On our way back after the lesson.

That smile says it all!  I think I'm in trouble!

Ellie's new room

It was Ellie's turn this week.  We've slowly been buying new things for her room to change it from a little girls room to an almost "tween" room.  She decided a while ago that Black/white and hot pink were to be the colors for the room.  The wall colors were hotly debated.  Finally I got her down from black and hot pink walls to light pink with a hot pink accent walls.  At the last minute we added a small additional hot pink wall behind the door since I was running out of the light paint.  :-)

 Here it is!  I think it turned out really cute!  Yes, the hot pink wall is BRIGHT!!  Hopefully she'll be able to sleep at night.  Pretty much everything in there is black, white or pink or some combination. 

 The chandelier is from IKEA.  Isn't it cute?!

 We got some great decor for her room recently at Garden Ridge for 75% off!!  Love that!

 We're actually planning on getting her a new queen bed soon, so there will be no more bunk beds in there.  I'll miss the huge drawers underneath the bottom bunk though!

There are still a few things we're working on, but so far I think it's turning out pretty cool!  Can't believe my girl's getting so grown up!

Logan's New Room

After Nine years spent with Logan's animals, it was time to say goodbye.  He's wanted to paint his room for a few years now.  I decided this summer was a good time to do it, so with a little bit of a sad heart we repainted his walls and bid a fond farewell to his little-boyhood.

 I spent literally months painting this when Logan was 2.  It took a long time because as most of you know it's pretty impossible to do much with little kids around.  I remember going into his room while he napped and painting as much as I could. 

 Finally around the time he turned 3 I finished.  It was great and he loved it for a long time.  But my little boy's growing up.  Sniff, sniff...  And it was time for a change.

 Here he is putting on the first coat.  It took about 3 coats to fully cover the mural and light colored wall behind. 

 Ta-da!!  His new "tween" room.  It's not completely finished.  I still need to put some backing on his posters that don't quite fit the frames and we have a little more decorating to do, but I think it looks pretty good.  And totally different!!  What a difference paint makes, huh?

He starts middle school in the fall. I'm afraid the changes have just begun.  But at least he has a cool room to begin his new journey!

Birthday Weekend-Part One

This weekend we celebrated part 1 of the kids birthdays.  Their good friends and our neighbors are leaving today for a 3 week trip to Canada (where they're from), so we wanted the kids to be able to celebrate with them before they left.

Ellie had a sleepover on Friday night with her friend.  We went to Dollar Tree and picked out little goodies for their goody bags, got a red box, then went to PetCo. to pick out her guinea pig.  She's been asking for one for months.  I had always said, "maybe for your birthday?"  Now I had to pay up.  So she and her friend picked out Sweetie the guinea pig.

As far as guinea pigs go she's really nice.  Very calm and doesn't make much noise.  The other one we picked up in the pet store squeaked rather loudly and was very "freaked out" and trying to claw everyone.  Sweetie was much nicer and calmer.  So we brought her home.  I had already bought a nice starter cage set a few weeks ago when they were on sale so we were ready to go.

We had a little scare the next day though.  Ellie was having some kind of allergic reaction to something that was making her skin red and itchy.  It was happening after she touched Sweetie.  Uh oh... I was worried she was allergic to her.  What a nightmare that would have been.  We started thinking what else it could be and came up with the idea that maybe it was the Timothy Hay we bought to feed her.  I googled Timothy hay allergies and found that lots of people are allergic to it.  So we cleaned it out of her cage and bought some Orchard grass instead.  So far so good!

I forgot to take a pic before it was partially eaten...

Saturday morning I made the kids cinnamon roll pancakes which I had found on pinterest.  They were awesome!!  A little sweet, I might put a little less filling in each one next time, but they were really good!!  We hadn't done an official "cake" for Ellie, so we put the candles in the pancakes!

Saturday afternoon was Logan's turn.  He invited 2 friends over.  Stuart took them to Austin's Park and Pizza for the evening then they came back home for a sleepover.  This time I did get a  cookie cake from Sams.  I didn't order it in advance though and they only had 2 available.  They were both decorated with pink icing.  Ooops!  So I had them write on it in blue then came home and scraped off the pink and added purple.  Logan likes purple and I had some on hand so it all worked out.

Here he is blowing out his 11 candles!

The next morning (after they had stayed up until 2am) Logan had requested a big Texas donut from Round Rock Donuts.  It's huge, but can I say that the 3 boys and Ellie ate the whole thing.  Good thing I had also bought some kolaches!

Logan with the donut for scale.  On a side note can I just say that 11-year olds get really crazy late at night when they are over tired!
The next day when we went to get the new grass for Sweetie I noticed a sign saying that it was day 2 of PetCo's Reptile Rally.  They had all their reptiles 1/2 off and by chance had this awesome bearded dragon starter kit that normally sells for $179 for $99.  I knew I had to act quickly.  My PetCo was out of stock of both, so they called and found a tank and a beardie at another store.  Logan wasn't with me, just Ellie, so I quickly decided to surprise him and go get them.

When I got home with the surprises Logan was ecstatic!

Meet Spike!  He' so tiny and cute!

Ellie and Spike.

Logan and Spike.

A Spike close-up.

Finally we ended the weekend at Stuart's sister Becky's house for dinner and a swim in their pool.  Here's Ellie posing in the complete outfit Becky got her for her birthday.  Shoes, hat, purse and dress.  Totally adorable!

The Wedding

I know it's been forever, but life is crazy busy. I just had to post these pics from Stu's sister Becky's wedding yesterday. Ellie was the flower girl and Logan a ring bearer. It was lovely.

The rehearsal. Doesn't Ellie look adorable?
Logan.
Stu, his Mom and brother, Garrick. He played guitar while everyone walked down the aisle. It sounded great!

Logan opening his present from Aunt Becky and Uncle Jake.

Ellie getting a beautiful garnet necklace from Aunt Becky and Uncle Jake.

The kids with Grandma Cindy.

Logan and Logan. Jake's nephew was also named Logan. They were ring bearers together.

Look at them!! Sooo cute!!

Isn't Ellie beautiful? Maybe I'm a little biased?

Naaahh, they're gorgeous!

More pics of the kids.

The ring bearers. Logan and Logan.My Logan was so sweet to little Logan. I was very proud!

I almost missed her walking down the aisle! I could have kicked myself!

The beautiful bride!! Isn't she lovely?

I know I was supposed to be praying too, but she looked so cute!

The vows.

The rings.

The kiss.

Mr. and Mrs. Jake and Becky Hubbell.

Becky and the kids.

The wedding party.

Father/daughter dance.

Ellie had a little admirer named Collin. He's Stu's cousin's son. I think he has pretty good taste in girls!

Ellie and Grandma dancing!

I didn't get the best pic, but Becky got Logan the cuteset guitar cufflinks!

The kids came out of their shells after a couple of hours and were the hit of the party.

Becky and Ellie dancing.

Logan was one of the "spotlight dancers". He went out and everyone started cheering. Then they made a big circle around him and he danced for everyone. I wish I'd taken video!!

The cake. I didn't get a very good pic, but it was delicious!

Jake's groom cake. Isn't it neat?

It was a great wedding. We all had a lot of fun seeing everyone and having a good time.

Congratulations Becky and Jake! We love you both!!!