A Weekend in Paradise...

What a fun weekend for the Ward Family. We headed to Keller to visit family and to attend Brandon’s (Andy’s brother) wedding. It took place in Paradise Texas on a beautiful and hot Saturday night. On this trip we were invited to stay with Jan (Andy’s youngest brother) and his girlfriend Bea. They have the sweetest little downtown apartment. Very modern…very chic…very nice!!!

Jan and Bea were such gracious hosts…she had these sitting on the kitchen countertops…

And she made this for breakfast…

Homemade taquitos…YUM YUM…good!

Bea’s little boy Brody was a red headed sweetie!!! He and Jolea got along so well and it was so sweet to watch her “mother” over him and make sure he was okay and staying out of trouble. He is 14 months old…so Jolea was a little bit bigger than he was…but as you can see not by much!!!

She loved this little car…and it came in handy on the multiple trips to the pool we took!!!

Here she is on a quick trip to the supermarket for some bacon!!! She thought she was the coolest chick on the block…

Looking up to see mommy on the 3rd floor…

We did a lot of swimming while we were there and I have decided that my little Jolea Girl is going to be a Water Baby for sure! She loves the water and she has become quite the little DareDevil at times!!!

Jan, Brody, Andy and Jolea Girl...

Action Shot...

Monster Baby...

Bea, Jan and Brody Baby...

Goggle Girl...

My Stud Muffin Hubs...

We had the rehearsal dinner to go to on Friday night!!! It was catered by La Hacienda and it was DELISH!!! I would have to say they although the location of the wedding was very pretty, they should consider changing the town's name. Paradise Texas didnt seem too fitting to me especially since there wasn't even a gas station within 12 miles!!!

Aww...how cute we are matchy-matchy and I didnt even plan it that way ...

Jan...did you say something silly?

The wedding was an evening wedding (but I was still sweating) and it was a very nice service. I always love it when I get to see my husband looking his very very best...and he always looks so handsome in a suit.

Sweet Family Shot...

Husband and Wife...

Mommy...Daddy...Jolea...

Me and My Girl...

Thanks for the sweet dress Grandma...its so CUTE

Family by chance...Friends by Choice...

Sweet PawPaw and his Girls...

Brothers...

Jan and Me...Love this kid...

The Boys and their Mama...

Uncle Jan...chocolate cake is my favorite...

All "pooped" out in the car and on the way home...

 We got up early this morning...made a quick trip into McDonalds and hit the road!!! It was a fun trip and we are Thankful that we got to be a special part of Brandon and Tori's Big Day!!!

Loading up the car...

Saying our "Goodbye's" to Uncle Jan...

 

And posing for one last shot before we leave...

Thanks Again Jan and Bea for opening your home to us and showing us a great time.

Randomness...

So the last time I posted, I told you all about the garage sale that we were gearing up to have. WOWZA...we did GOOD. Grand total for the sale...$1725.00. Now of course most of that was my parents money but Andy and I did end up making $415.00 ourselves!!! Woo Hoo!!!

With that money I got to go here this afternoon...

and buy these...

Ugh I totally hate grocery shopping, but as you can tell by the way my basket looks...it was TIME.

Yesterday we were invited over to the Morrow's for sum summertime fun!!! Mojito Chicken on the grill, corn on the grill and rice!!! Sweet Jolea Dru spent the night with our new neighbor!!! Thats right folks, Grammy and Poppy are officially all moved in and Jolea is DIGGING it. So Thanks Gram for keeping her while we got a much appreciated visit with friends!!! Here are a few shots I took...

The Hubs and Me...

CJ and Andy...

Me and My Jo-Girl...

Now in this picture...notice the "puff" I have going on. I cannot tell you how long I have been working on this, trying to master it and make it look like I am not wearing a cone on my head! Finally...after about 30 minutes of messing with it, I think I got it!!! It was even and not too over-the-top in poofiness!!! Yippy for me!!! I need an easy style for the summer!!!

These next few shots are just my little darling...being a stinker!!! I dont know what happened to this kid this afternoon, but LOOK OUT...cause she was all-kinds of wild!!! Just look at those baby blues in these pictures!!!

Well, thats about all for now!!! Andy and I are both doing a little odds-n-ends this summer to earn extra money for all the fun we plan on having this summer. I am off to clean 201 Orange Blossom for the last time tomorrow morning!!! It's my parents house that they just sold...and although I am happy that it sold, it was a GREAT home and Im gonna miss it. The next one will be even more wonderful, and it gives all of us something to look forward too and it reminds us of how truly blessed we are!!!

Trash or Treasure? Huge Garage Sale!

Extra…Extra…Read All About It…We are having a Garage Sale…Let Me Tell You All About It!!!

My parents sold their house that was well over 2000 square feet and they are moving into a place that is…well…not even close to 2000 square feet. That means GARAGE SALE!!! We have TONS of stuff we need to get rid of. If you are in the market for ANYTHING baby…then please come…we have every kind of major baby toy, tool or accessory you could need (baby bouncy seats, saucer toys, swings, mat toys etc) we also have a huge gender neutral baby system complete with the pack-n-play, swing, bassinet, car seat/stroller combo, highchair and a diaper bag. I also have a TON of little girl’s clothes sizes 18 months to 2T.

 I’m also selling my boutique Banana Fish baby bedding. It’s the Bubblegum line, complete with 2 sheets, bumper, quilt, ruffle and 4 matching window valances. It’s such a precious set and I really hope it makes it into a special home for some other special little girl. Here is a picture of the set...

My parents are selling home décor, tools, patio furniture, golfing equipment, and TONS of clothing, shoes and purses!!! So remember…One Man’s Trash Is Another Man’s Treasure. The sale starts Saturday June 5th at 8AM…see the Abilene Reporter News for address and details.

Happy Meal Picnic....

Me and My Little Darlin' had a McDonalds Happy Meal Picnic this afternoon...just the two of us...and it was great fun. After a short errand to the bank she told me "Mommy, my tummy hurts for a hamburger!" I about died laughing...and after that I couldn’t deny her a hamburger happy meal from her favorite place. While we she was eating, I managed to trick her into a short little photo shoot. What can I say…I never tire of taking pictures of this little girl of mine!

Say Cheeze...

Big Bite...

Jolea LOVES drinking from her own Big Girl Cup...

What kinda face is that kid...

Where's the toy...and the cookies?

Silly Girl...

Striking a pose...

Mommy and Jolea...I do love her to pieces :-)

Thanks for our sweet date Jolea Dru Ward...your Mama sure does LOVE you!!!

Bluebonnet Baby....

Since I have been an admittedly bad blogger lately…I feel the need to catch up on posting some of the MOST adorable pictures of my little munchkin. Just like all the other people in town, I got my little angel all dolled up and drove her over to the bluebonnet filed off of FM707 near Highway 83/84 South. I managed to get some pretty sweet shots of my little darling…

God''s Beauty...

Precious Baby Of Mine...

This is Neat Mom...

I hope you can really see this picture. It was the neatest picture I have ever taken. Jolea had petals in her hand that she let go of above her head. I was snapping away with the camera and managed to get a shot of the purple petals just floating in the air. This picture is worth a million dollars to me :-)

Another favorite...

And another...

Thank You God for gracing this earth we live on with such beauty.

Sesame Street Live....

Today is the day that my Jolea Dru has been waiting on all week long. Today is the day that we went to see this…

And her favorite character of all…

Grammy went with us today and it was a sweet time shared just between the girls.

Once the show started, Jolea never took her eyes of the stage. She had this serious expression on her face the whole time…

It really was a cute little production and we had PERFECT seats. Very close to all the action. The show featured all of Sesame Street’s most recognized characters. The theme was “What do you want to be when you grow up?” The gang was preparing for a pageant on Sesame Street. When Elmo and his Sesame Street friends thought about growing up, it was a musical show-and-tell! Bert dreamed of becoming a forest ranger, Telly longed to be a cowboy and their newest friend, Abby Cadabby, wanted to be a Fairy Godmother just like her mommy. Elmo thinks about becoming a 'weather monster,' but has a hard time predicting his own forecast-he wants to be anything and everything all at once! It was a sweet story performed very nicely and well worth the money paid to see it. Here are a few pictures I snapped while we were there…

Bert and Ernie...

Elmo and his Cowboy friends...(ooops about all the heads in the pic, I thought I cropped it)

Cookie Monster wanted to be a fireman when he grew up...

Jolea's FAVORITE...Elmo's World

The Whole Gang perfoming the Sesame Street Pageant at the end of the show...

The End...notice all the paper streamers? There was a loud POP that came out of nowhere when those shot out from the cieling...SCARED the HOOEY...outta us girls :-)

Jolea snagged a "little piece of the show" when a streamer fell across her face!!!

Fun Times Spent With Fun Girls...Does It Get Any Better Than This?

Catching Up....

My goodness...I have really proven myself to be a very unfaithful blogger these past few weeks haven’t I? I guess you could say we have been a little bit busy. I finally finished up my student teaching at Hawley and I was a proud to be a graduate of the class of 2010 from McMurry University.

Ever since then…I have been hitting the pavement running looking for a J.O.B

I have faithfully been going garage saling looking for all the goodies I can possibly find for my classroom. It’s hard to buy things when I don’t know what grade level I will be teaching. I feel like I have contacted EVERY single Elementary principal in Abilene and I have had a really good interview at Jackson Elementary. Although I haven’t been called back yet, I am still holding out hope that I am going to be the person for the job. If any of you have any pointers or could possibly put in a good word for me…that would be VERY appreciated.

Jolea finished up Mothers Day Out for the year and we have been enjoying some time at home together. Although sometimes we tend to butt-head’s, she has really been a sweet girl the last couple of weeks. I have enrolled her in the drop-in-day at her current MDO so she stays in touch with all of her friends and becomes familiar with her new teacher Mrs. Cindy for next year. It’s only on Thursdays from 10 to 2. She seems to really like going to school and the teachers just think she hung the moon. On top of all that…it gives mama a little break during the week!!! Here she was on her first day of school...my-o-my how she has grown.

Andy is ready to finish up school too. His last day is June 3rd…WooHoo and then it’s OFF to another busy and fun filled summer.

We have one of these to go to…

Andy’s brother Brandon will be getting married in Paradise Texas on June 12th

Then in late June we are headed here…

The Guadalupe River…To do a little bit of this…

Tubing and camping…

With these GREAT friends of ours…

And we can’t wait.

In other “Breaking News,” my parents have SOLD this…

And will be moving in RIGHT NEXT DOOR to Andy and me. Is this a good thing or a bad thing? Hmmm…that is the question to ponder. I know that one little bitty person that lives in our house is going to think this is the COOLEST thing ever. Jolea will be beside herself that she can go to Grammy and Poppy’s house anytime she wants too. Mommy and Daddy a.k.a Andy and Terah think this is also a wonderful free babysitting arrangement!!! It will also be very convenient next year if and when I get a job…I won’t have far to go to get Jolea to the sitter’s house!!! I think overall it’s going to be a GREAT arrangement and I couldn’t be happier that they SOLD their house and that we get to have them as neighbors for a little while. They will start building in October and should probably be moved into their new home by February or March depending on how smoothly things go.

Well, that’s about all for now. It’s a holiday weekend…and we don’t have a single plan in the works!!! I could use some sunshine and a cool pool of water somewhere…but I doubt that will happen. I hope everyone is doing well and is ready for another beautiful Texas summer. I promise to do a better job on the blog too.