Garrett's 12th Birthday Celebration!

During our last week of school, we celebrated our youngest son's 12th birthday!

We were super busy that week and not exactly sure how to make this a 

special day for him.

He wasn't asking for much, but we did want to include

his school friends who had spent everyday of the school year with.

It was decided that we would make our "End-of-the-School Year Party"

a surprise birthday party for him as well.

I brought cupcakes and that turned our pizza party into

a great birthday party!!!

His grandma visiting from Ohio was happy to join us,

so it was a great day for all of us!!

Happy Birthday, Garrett!!

A Visit to Magnolia

During our last week of school, my mom was here from Ohio

in advance of our second homeschool graduation!

We decided to take a day to visit the touristy trap that has become

Waco, Texas, specifically the spot known as "The Magnolia Experience."

If you're a fan of the show Fixer Upper,
you'll know this is the place Chip and Joanna Gaines have made famous

with their market place, bakery, and family atmosphere.

We arrived just after opening time and found this great parking spot.

As we were walking in the direction of the silos, a very nice man

in a fancy golf cart rode up and asked if we wanted a free ride.

I asked him, "Where are you taking us?"

He said, "Wherever you want to go!!"

So we climbed on and he dropped us off at the corner of 

the "Magnolia Experience"

where we we chatted with a tour company and

got better acquainted with what this "experience" was offering.

None of us had ever been here before, and only my Mom

has watched the show, so we really had no idea what to see or do.
But we quickly figured it out.

After seeing all there was to see at "The Silos"

 (which was extraordinarily overpriced in our humble opinions),

 we hopped the free trolley at the entrance

for the tour of downtown Waco.

We jumped off at a huge warehouse turned boutique shopping mall called

Spice Village.
It had no spices, nor was it a village, but it was super fun to peruse all the 

trinkets, and clothes, and girlie trinkets offered here.

We grabbed lunch on the first floor of the warehouse at

The Olive Branch Bakery & Cafe.
Lunch here was delicious and reasonably priced,

and we decided to share an amazing cupcake here rather than

wait in line for the Magnolia cupcakes.

After our large lunch, we decided to walk back to the Silo area and

hit one last fun warehouse shop called, The Findery.
It's a one-block walk down the street from the Silos,
and had some pretty things to see.
Once again, really pricey, but fun nevertheless.

This was a really fun day trip for us because we enjoyed our time together.

My overall experience?

Meh.

I have no real desire to go back unless we are seeing more things

as a family in Waco such as:

The Dr. Pepper Museum

The Cameron Park Zoo
Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum

Last Days of School

Several weeks ago, my children began finishing up their schoolwork for the year.

Garrett and Ashlyn completed all their work on the same day,

Aryn a few days later, and finally Abby.

Grant still has some work to do over the summer,

but had a profitable year and is taking a couple weeks break 

before getting back to it!

To celebrate the accomplishments of our little school co-op,

we went to our favorite beach-front lake.

It was a scorching hot day in May, but they had a blast

playing in the water, eating pizza, and sharing parting gifts with 

their classroom supervisor!

We praise the Lord for another great year of provision

and learning for our children,

and look forward to another great school year this fall!!

Royal Wedding Watch Party 2018

It feels like I've spent my entire life being captivated by British Royalty.

It all started way back in 1981 when Prince Charles married Lady Diana Spencer.

I was 11, and I remember getting up really early to watch

this breath-taking event happen live!

At that moment, I was hooked!

I will never forget the moment I heard Princess Diana was killed.

My very first baby was a 7-day old newborn and I was in the throes

of exhaustion and delirium.

I remember my husband waking me up at a weird hour of the night

to tell me that she had been killed in a car accident.

I tried telling him he was confused with Princess Grace of Monaco.

There was no way that such a tragedy could happen like that.

But it was true.

So when her first son, Prince William, married Kate in 2011,

you better believe I wasn't missing that one either!!

I will never, ever forget the second when the 

Westminster Boy Choir started singing John Rutter's piece,

This is the Day,

which was specifically composed for their wedding!!!
It was so breathtaking that it brought tears to my eyes.
You can watch it here and be mesmerized too!!

For this royal wedding, I tried to get my children to watch with me!
But the 5 am wake-up call wasn't interesting to them!
I tried making scones and clotted cream to go with the English tea

and jam I had purchased for breakfast during the watch party,

but both recipes were huge fails!!

I need to hone my British baking skills!!!
But undeterred by disappointment, I was once again

thrilled with the pomp and pageantry that only

the British can do with excellence!!
Someday I hope to be invited to a wedding 

wear I am required to wear a hat!!!

Mother's Day 2018

"Maybe… Mother’s Day is less about being deeply loved and appreciated—

and more about appreciating that we just get to deeply love these people.

Maybe every year needs one day to live wide-awake 

to celebrate that we get to call these people ours,

 that we get to be the one who gets seconds and minutes

 and hours and days and maybe even years — to witness the wonder of them."

~Ann Voskamp