Happy Valentine's Day

 

Happy Valentine's Day!  I hope you know how much you are loved.

Operation Christmas Child Box Ideas

 

Every year the kids enjoy picking out items for our Operation Christmas Child Boxes, we have done it for many years.  It's a fun activity the kids enjoy coming up with new gift ideas and ways to bless others during the holiday season.  This year we filled up 4 boxes, 2 for girls and 2 for boys.

D chose a girl age 10-14 and above you can see what we put in her box - a few journals, markers, toothbrush, washcloths, bandages, tissues, socks, several sets of bracelets, key chain, compact mirror, comb, calculator, mini flashlight with batteries, hair ties, scrunchies and clips, sunglasses and a fun balancing bird.

 E also chose a girl age 10-14 and above you can see what we put in her box (very similar to D's box) - a large pink journal, markers, toothbrush, washcloths, bandages, tissues, watermelon socks, bracelets, necklace, key chain, compact mirror, comb, calculator, mini flashlight with batteries, hair ties and clips, sunglasses and a fun balancing bird.

 

F and G both chose a boy age 5-9 and above you can see what we put in their boxes (basically the same things) - coloring book, notepad, stickers, crayons, dominoes, toothbrush, bandages, tissues, washcloths, toy car, spinner, mini flashlight with batteries, sunglasses and a fun balancing bird.

The boys with their boxes

If you are looking for ideas for filling your own boxes, I hope this gives you some new ideas.

D's Gymnastics Holiday Fundraiser

 

D at the end of her last meet season!

It's that time of year for D and her gymnastics team and their holiday fundraiser. I will say that these wreaths truly are beautiful and you do get what you pay for! Just head over here and check out all the products you can get (and don't forget you are supporting a very hard-working gymnastics team). The Fundraising Code is TEAMACTX001 and Member Name is D Cummins. Thank you so much and let me know if you have any questions!

Christmas 2022

I cannot believe 2022 is almost a wrap!  We had such a wonderful Christmas.  David and I decided to create a train this year for presents and it was a lot of fun.  Each kid had their own train car full of goodies from us and David and I had one for each of us at the caboose (my Mom had the engine and yes, she likes gnomes).  Hope you had a great Christmas, here's to 2023!

Happy 4th!

 

Stevie Dawg loved the holiday!

We had a great 4th!  We went to a local parade and like last year, the floats and candy haul did not disappoint.  We even took Stevie Dawg with us this time.  Afterwards we enjoyed fireworks with some good friends.

 

The turtle float!

The elephant float

 

And my favorite, the T-Rex!

 

Fireworks

 

Hope you had a great holiday!

Happy Thanksgiving

 

G with his turkey hat!

Happy Thanksgiving!  We celebrated some of my favorite things - family, food & lots of fun!

 

A made these adorable turkey cookies.

 

B made pumpkin cookies that are absolutely delicious!

 

A and D made pilgrim hat cookies.

 

 And the star of our day was Dur Turkey!  We named our turkey this year in honor of Dur Pig in the book Christmas Pig, which we are currently reading.

 

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy 4th of July

 

Lady Liberty

 

I hope you had a great holiday weekend celebrating the 4th!  We saw a parade, spent time with family & friends, and wrapped up the evening with fireworks.  I'm so thankful to live in The United States of America!

 

G with Uncle Sam

 

We loved all the inflatable balloons!

 

Blue Angels balloon

 

 

Getting ready for shark week  🦈

Here comes the sun (do do do)

One of my favorites, the T-Rex 🦖

 

My glow girl!

Merry Christmas 2020

 

Our Christmas Tree!

I took a lot of time of social media to enjoy this holiday season with my family!  We had a fabulous Christmas and I'm so thankful for the time we had and have together.  There are several family traditions that we have that we were able to do once again this year.  On Christmas Eve, the kids got a new set of pajamas.  Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture of them wearing their new pj's.  We went to look at Christmas lights on Christmas Eve and their were so many to see!

 

This pink house was amazing.

We baked a cake for Jesus' birthday.  F and G were in charge of decorating it this year and they did a great job.

The boys kept it simple and there had to be sprinkles!

If you know us then you know we use real socks for stockings.  It has to be a sock that you have worn sometime during the year.

Our family's socks on Christmas Eve

And on Christmas!  It's amazing what a sock can hold 😉

While many things have looked different this year, it was nice to be able to continue on with so many of our Christmas traditions as usual.  I hope you had a very Merry Christmas!

Happy 4th Everyone

Everyone is wearing red except A.

Hope you had a happy 4th of July weekend.  We were able to go to a local area nearby and watch fireworks which was awesome because we weren't sure we were going to see them this year.  I brought lots of glow sticks, which is one of our family traditions and the girls made patriotic brownies for everyone to enjoy while we were waiting for the fireworks to begin.

 

Patriotic Brownies - yum!

 

 Waiting in the truck for the fireworks to begin.

 The kids with all their glow gear.

 We had a great view of the show!

 Fireworks

More Fireworks

D having fun with a sparkler.

Hope you are staying safe!

Happy 4th

D made a cake and C made banana bread

Hope you had a great 4th of July.  We went to a local festival.  The kids rode a few rides, played a few games and we enjoyed listening to the Austin Symphonic Band play and watching the firework display.  And as usual, we had a lot of fun with glow gear.

 B, D and E enjoyed the Berry Go Round

 Inside their strawberry

Happy 1/2 birthday to F!

Happy Holidays 2018

The kids in their new PJs Christmas Eve!

I hope you have had a wonderful Christmas break.  Our family is looking forward to staying up late tonight playing games and possibly watching a few movies!  I am really looking forward to 2019 and a better year!  All in all 2018 was a pretty rough year for me personally but I am grateful to be here and excited that 2019 is fast approaching.  Cheers to you and be safe tonight!  Enjoy a few pictures from our recent break.

Meet Twilight - the newest addition

B got a hamster for Christmas.  David and I wrapped up a cage, water bottle, bowl, and a few fun toys for her to open.  She went the next day to pick her out.  She picked out a female, black bear hamster and named her Twilight.  She is super sweet and likes to be around people and noise - yay!

F in his new penguin costume.

Jesus' Birthday Cake this year!

B and D's Holiday Birthday Party

Photo Booth Fun

B and D had their "Holiday" themed birthday party yesterday and it was so much fun.  We had an amazing turnout and I'm so thankful to everyone who was able to celebrate the girls near and far.  We had lots of games set up around the house for all the kids to enjoy and we set up the volleyball net in the backyard for anyone who wanted to play.  We put up Christmas paper on a wall in our home and set up a photo booth with props and holiday themed headbands.  Enjoy the photos.

D with her balloon

 B with her balloons

D wanted a strawberry ice cream cake.  There are 9 strawberries!

D with her cake.

Inside the cake...

And B wanted a cookies and cream ice cream cake.  There are 13 Oreos!

 B with her cake.

More Photo Booth Fun

 Fun with Friends

We set up B's Instax camera and film at the photo booth so kids could take their own photos and take them home so I don't have a ton of photos on my camera from the booth but I think everyone enjoyed it.