Painting Birthday Party

Have you heard of Painting with a Twist ?

It's a painting class, whereby, you and a friend or two (or 10)

meet, paint a canvas, as instructed by a local artist,

share a bottle of wine (or 6... um, yea... )

and paint.

We met there this past week for my mother-in-law's birthday.

She's the one pictured in the middle.

...Dora, Dee, Linda, the birthday girl, Debi, & Sophie...

...Brenda, Sandy, Connie, Carmen...



... and Me... here with my Mamacita.

 

And talked my ashphalt-kicking-sister, Connie, into coming with me.

(it wasn't that hard to do, lol)

 We all look so involved in our creations...

But, it could have been the wine, or champagne, or even the relish tray!

We had a GREAT EVENING!

We all left with a beautiful canvas to place in our homes

(or give away as white elephant gifts - beware!), but mostly

we got together and created a fun-filled memory of a birthday-evening

of laughter, food, wine & treasured friendships!

I'm looking forward to doing this again!

May in Pictures... Plus Hodgepodge

Here's what we did in May.

LQ played the Snail in Frog & Toad.

I went to College Station to visit F and her new kitten.

There were many Sonic happy hours for LQ & I.

Dad & LQ got to share one for themselves while I was in CS.

Had a beautiful Mother's Day.

Got an awesome waffle iron.


Made, and ATE, lots of waffles.

Started Marathon training.

Went to Reading Restaurant at LQ's school.

There was no power, therefore dark and very warm.

But, very rewarding.

Ate pizza.

Played Dance Central on Kinect.

Played disc golf.

Q had to dry his socks on the way to church one Sunday. 

Played disc golf again, and hunted for my disc for

at least 20 minutes before we spotted it in this tree.

We celebrated LQ's 7th birthday with family & classmates.

We had water fun, frozen t-shirts, colored bubbles, spongebob, & cake!

Went to a baby shower for F's BFF.

Our church purchased the Verizon Ampitheater property

and we held a celebration & ice cream party.

LQ finished tball.

We played more disc golf.

Spent $14 at a couple of garage sales.

And ate a 28" pizza.

Whew!  I'm tired & full!

************************

Linking up with Joyce's Wednesday Hodgepodge today!

Show some love & give her & everyone else a read :)

 

1. Have you ever been to the US capital-Washington DC? If so, what's your favorite site? If not, what would you most like to see on a visit to that city someday in the future? Is it even on your list of places to visit?
Went 5(?) years ago on a business trip.
I loved the Lincoln Memorial & Vietnam Memorial Wall.
Wish I had more time for more sight-seeing.
Hope to go again with the hubster.

2. When did you last attend a wedding? Are there any weddings on your summer calendar? Were you a summer bride? If you're single, is summer the season of your dream wedding?

Last wedding was in October.
The hubster's best friend is getting married this summer in July.
We - I - am so excited.
He's an awesome guy and has met a wonderful woman.

3. What is your favorite way to eat strawberries?

With my bare hands.
With a little sugar.
Or, on top of angel food cake with whipped cream.
With a fork ;)


4. What is one thing you are especially looking forward to this summer?

Eric's wedding.
Going to Vegas with the hubster.
Swimming pools.
(was I only supposed to list one?)


5. Do you use/like the self checker at the grocery store?

Only if I have less than 5 items.
Otherwise, I stand in line.
HEB rocks at getting people in and out quickly.


6. Share a favorite piece of common sense advice.

Help someone else whenever you can.
Lying, especially to yourself, is way too much work.

7. Barefoot, flip flops, tennis shoes, sassy sandals-your first choice for summertime?
Flip flops & tennis shoes.

8. Insert your own random thought here.
It's National Running Day!
Go out and run!
Even a little!
The hubster ran 3 feet this morning!

Schools out for Summer...

With school ending this week on Thursday, I spent last week getting LQ signed up for summer camps, VBS, and whatever else I could find that wouldn't cost a fortune.  I managed to fill up the entire month of June, the last week of July, and the first week of August.  As a family, we have an out of town trip planned for a wedding in July and then school starts back up Aug. 22.  We will have 2 weeks in July & 2 weeks in August of downtime.  WOW!  And just like that... summer will be over!

A couple of Fridays a month, I join a few of my dear sisters-in-christ to share our "journaling journeys," and food and cooking ideas and whatever we want to talk about.  It's time that I treasure and look forward to every time those days draw near.  In my journal, I write random thoughts of things that I want to blog about or short thoughts that I want to share when we get together. 

We met last Friday and the thought that hit me the hardest was the one I had after putting together LQ's summer "itinerary" and realizing that I had scheduled out almost the entire summer.  Our home is getting bigger.  F lives in College Station, goes to school & works and has been on her own for almost 2 years now.  By the end of this week, V will be graduating from HS and moving into her own apartment with her BFF. 

To say that I'm feeling "empty nest syndrome" is probably too severe as I still have a future 2nd grader in my midst, but I'm sure feeling the onset of emptiness when it comes to the "girl" dominance in this house.

For the first time, EVER, the men will be the majority around here! 

That means, lots of fart jokes, burping, food rolling off of dinner plates, splotches on the shirt sleeves because as long as you're wearing a shirt you can always wipe your face, and a lot of other things that involve body functions, dirt, jumping, wrestling, punching, and ... you get the picture.

A new chapter in my life and a whole new kind of journey!  As those of you ladies that have testosterone-ridden-lairs can attest too (and by all means, give me some pointers, high-fives, OMG-eye-rolls, or whatever else you thing I may need).

All of that said and I'll finish with... I am blessed!  For God to grant me stewardship to 3 unique souls - let me say - I am humbly amazed! 

Psa 127:3-5 Sons (and daughters) are a heritage from the Lord, children a reward from Him.  Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are sons born in one's youth.  Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them.  They will not be put to shame when they contend with their enemies in the gate.

Amen.

Wanna be crafty this weekend

The plan for this weekend (after LQ's t-ball game is to do our taxes.)   BUT I am really tempted to create something like this instead...

I saw it at Hobby Lobby ($30).  It's just wood, paint & modpodge.  Easy, right?  And super-uber cute!

I'm also tempted to try making one of these pretty wreaths I saw at Jenn's blog earlier this week.

Anyone else tempted to partake in some artsy stuff with me?