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Thursday, April 26, 2012

Small Town

My husband and I both grew up in a small town.  My cousins also grew up in a small town in East Texas.  Last Saturday we went to a Crawfish Boil in rural East Texas.  It's an annual thing but this year all of the money raised went to help with Clay's medical expenses due to his brain tumor.  By the way, we didn't eat any crawfish.  We ate fried catfish instead.   

I was surprised at how many people were there. (I saw someone on facebook say close to 1,000, which is more than the population of the town!)

Will was so happy when he saw the bounce house. 

I love this candid photo of two of my cousins.  It's their brother, Clay, who had the brain tumor, and I didn't manage to get a photo of him.  He looked great considering all he'd been through--almost as if he'd never been sick. I hadn't seen any of them since the brain tumor and it was so good to see everyone.  It's been an unimaginable thing to go through. It was really nice to see them laughing and having a good time.

Ben had a blast playing in the sandbox with Sam. 


Coco
He belongs to my in-laws.  He's a good dog. 


Ben 

Will 

One of the small towns near us has a grocery store with kid-size shopping baskets.  My boys love them!  The only thing you have to watch out for is getting clipped in the ankles when they forget to stop. 

I didn't buy Blue Bell for myself, although I really wanted to.  It was for a friend who just had a baby.  I took her a meal and thought she'd enjoy some ice cream with the chocolate cobbler I made her. 

Dad's shoes are the best. 

Our small town grocery store is the epitome of small town life.  We're in there all the time picking up things I forgot to buy.  We know all of the cashiers by name, and they even let Will and Ben help scan the groceries.  You can't get service like that at Wal-Mart or Target.

"Power to the Push up" might be an appropriate caption for this.  I found these ice cream push ups at our small town grocery store.  They remind me of when I was a kid. 

Life in an Instant


life rearranged

I'm on instagram now.  You can find me @redbirdblue.


Saturday, April 21, 2012

Boys, Burgers, Bikes

My silly boys!
I've learned to embrace the silly faces my boys make.  Photos like this are about the only ones I've been getting lately of Will and Ben. 

This was not staged.  My living room looked like this last Saturday.  Will constructed a building and then a "tornado" blew it down.  By the way, this was before the tornado, in case you were wondering.  

Ben doesn't sit still very long but I found him looking at books one afternoon.   

Will decided that we needed to have a picnic this week. 

Ben's new use for the sandbox toys.  It's a pail.  It's a hat.

Last week we ate at a new place, Twisted Root Burger Co.
  Guy Fieri from Diners, Drive-ins & Dives has been to the Deep Ellum location in Dallas. 
The burger was as good as it looks :) 

The inside has lots of character.  

We made it just in time for happy hour.  Woo Hoo 1/2 price shakes!  The boys shared this delicious chocolate oreo creation!  This would probably be almost all of my points for the day on Weight Watchers so I didn't get one.

It looks like they are at a drive-in movie. 

Look around because you'll find all sorts of things written on the walls.  This one made me laugh. 
"Relationships would be easier if people came with a "clear history" button!"

On Friday, the boys participated in the St. Jude's Trike-A-Thon at their daycare.  I remember riding in the St. Jude's bike-a-thon when I was a kid.  Will was so excited about it.  At school this week they followed a really great curriculum and learned a lot about St. Jude's and bike safety. 

Will is proudly showing off his pass which got punched every time he rode a lap.


You can follow me on instagram
redbirdblue

Life in an Instant


life rearranged


Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Easy Pico De Gallo


Since starting Weight Watchers in February, I've been preparing more food with fresh ingredients.  We love Tex-Mex so this version of Pico de Gallo goes well with tacos, enchiladas, burritos or on top of black beans.  It's perfect with chips or it can even be eaten all by itself.

Super easy Pico de Gallo

Ingredients
4 tomatoes
1 onion
1 jalapeno (more if you like it hot)
Cilantro (I like a lot so I used almost the entire bunch!)
1 lime (for juice)
1-2 tsp garlic salt

Directions
Chop tomatoes, onion, cilantro and jalapeno and mix together.  Squeeze lime and pour juice on top of mixture.  Add garlic salt.  You can increase the amount of ingredients by adjusting as you make it.  For this batch I only used one onion, but if you prefer more it's an easy change.  I also removed all of the seeds from the jalapeno pepper so it wouldn't be too hot.




Friday, April 13, 2012

Ultimate Blog Party 2012

Ultimate Blog Party 2012

I had been blogging less than a year when I participated in my first Ultimate Blog Party in 2011.  It was such a cool experience that I definitely wanted to participate again this year.  My blog will be 2 years old in May.

If you are new here and made your way to my blog from the Ultimate Blog Party then let's get to know each other.  Here's a little info about me.

I'm Michele.


I've been married to Mark {my best friend and the love of my life} for almost 10 years.

We have been blessed with 2 awesome little boys, Will and Ben.

Will is 5 1/2 and Ben is almost 3.

I'm a junior high history teacher, and I'm thankful that I have a job I enjoy.

My faith is very important to me.  I am a Christian and our family is very involved in our church.

I had a hard time deciding where I should link up.  I definitely fall into the "mom blog" category but at the same time, I blog about my faith a lot.  I ended up going with the "mom blog" focus.

I started blogging back in May of 2010 just before Ben turned one.  I read blogs for a long time before I started my own.  There are several reasons I started a blog.  I'd struggled with a health issue that year, and blogging helped me resolve my feelings about it.  Will and Ben were finally getting older so I had a little more "me time". I live in a small town in the middle of nowhere in Texas and I miss having girlfriends to chat with like in my college days.  I discovered that the blog world allows you connect with like-minded people.  I never knew I'd find so many kindred spirits out there.  To say that blogging has changed my life would be an understatement.  I'm constantly blessed and encouraged by my blog friends.

Although I love blogging, and it's a big part of my life, I still struggle with balance.  I want to be connected to my blog and blog friends, but I also want to always focus first and foremost on my family.  If blogging interferes with that, then it takes a back burner while I refocus.

If you hang around you'll most likely find that I write about...

my boys

faith and religion

random things that I find interesting (phone dump post like Life in an Instant and InstaFriday)

what I wore (silly posts about my clothes)

traveling and road trips

our dream home/forever home

milk glass (I'm a little obsessed with collecting it)


Thanks so much for choosing to stop by!



{Photos by Lauren}

SUYL--Moms of all Boys

I'm Will and Ben's mom.

These two little guys are my pride and joy.

Sometimes it's hard to imagine my life any differently.  I don't know if I'd be a good "girl mom".   I'm sure I'd figure it all out just like I did with these two.  

I never had a preference in regards to having a boy or a girl.  I realized once I was pregnant that the most important thing was a healthy baby.  I didn't even care when we had our second.  Lots of people said, "Oh, I hope it's a girl!" but it honestly didn't matter to me.  I was just as happy with another boy.  I thought it would be neat for Will to have a brother.  I could just imagine all the of fun they would have together.

Funny story from our sonogram with Ben.  When it was over and we had found out that the healthy baby was Ben and not Claire (our girl name), my husband did a fist pump and said "I don't have to pay for a wedding!"  I laughed so hard!  I love that he's always practical.

There's never a dull moment in my life with a house full of guys.

It's what you would typically think of when you think of a family of all boys.
Legos on the floor
Holes in the knees of jeans
Sand in my kitchen floor from the sandbox in the backyard
Bicycles in the garage
Basketballs, footballs, and soccer balls scattered about
ESPN on the TV (that's my husband's channel!)

Like I said, life is never dull, sometimes I feel like more of a referee than a parent.  As the boys get older, they play together really well, but they also have their moments of sibling rivalry.  I suppose it's normal.   Most of all though they are sweet and lovable.  I remember friends of little boys telling me how much boys love their mommy.  It's so true.  My boys love and adore their daddy but sometimes mommy is who comforts them the most.  It's a sweet bond.

I assume that all parents, regardless of raising a boy or girl, think about their child's future.  I'm constantly thinking about what Will and Ben will be when they grow up.  I pray for them and pray that they will grow up to be godly men who love the Lord.  I also pray for their future wives.  I realize that one day someone will replace me in their life, and I pray that whoever they marry is a faithful Christian.  A friend who has older sons who are single recently wrote them a note and told them that she prays they will be the Christian men they are supposed to be so that they will be able to find the person right for them.  I thought that was an incredibly sweet thing.  She got the typical response from her sons....nothing, ha!  I guess I threw that in to be lighthearted because that's a normal response from a twenty-something guy who is single.

Things I like about raising boys:
They are low maintenance.
It's easy to pick out their clothes.
Will and Ben are laid back.
They are mini-me versions of their dad (probably my favorite!)

Things that are a challenge:
Grass stains!
Trying to teach manners
Potty training


I'm blessed more than I could ever describe, and  I love these boys so much!

Here are more than enough photos of my handsome, silly, sweet, funny, smart boys!

Can you tell I'm one proud mommy!?!








Linking up to Kelly's Korner
Show Us Your Life--Moms of All Boys 

All professional photos taken by Lauren


Thursday, April 12, 2012

Storms, Easter Weekend and Life In General

On April 3 terrible storms passed through the Dallas-Fort Worth area.  It was very scary.  The tornadoes were just a little too close for comfort.  Will and Ben are afraid of the storms so it's a challenge to keep them calm when the weather gets bad.  I posted this photo on facebook after the storms had passed over our area.  I wrote this when I shared the photo "The storm has passed. Thankful for the calm."  I'm afraid we are in for more bad weather on Sunday.  I pray that the tornadoes stay away.

We made the most out of our long weekend.  On Thursday afternoon, we visited Mama Winnie at the nursing home.  Will colored her an Easter egg.  


Friday was a busy day.  We ran errands in the suburbs of Dallas. 

One of our favorite places is Watters Creek in Allen. 

"Those who are the happiest are those who do the most for others."
Booker T. Washington

"To ease another's heartache is to forget one's own."
Abraham Lincoln


No trip into the city without a stop for fro yo. 

And Whole Foods 

Saw this at Whole Foods 

Best Chocolate Milk.  Ever. 

Sunday evening we went to a Texas Rangers baseball game.  Opening Weekend was a blast!


Today we registered Will for kindergarten.  I didn't cry.  I almost did, but I didn't!

Ben has decided that he's going to kindergarten next year, too.  He's going to be awfully disappointed when Will goes to school without him, but we're not going to break the news to him just yet. 

My photos are a mix of hipstamatic and instagram but I finally joined everyone and set up my instagram acct you can follow me at redbirdblue

Life in an Instant


life rearranged

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