Easter! He is Risen!

We had such a wonderful Easter weekend and I have so many pictures to share that I'm a little overwhelmed.  I'm just going to give you a preview of what we had going on.

 There were glitter eggs.  No Easter is complete without them!

 There was a cute little bunny.... One of the cutest I have ever seen. 

 School egg hunt with his bestie. 

 Really good food!

 Decorations.  Glitter eggs are important but the most important are the verses that remind us that this holiday is not about eggs- it is about Jesus. 

 More egg hunts- checking each egg to see what kind of candy is in store.

I love my precious family!

And there was silliness too.

How does your garden grow?

This year, I decided we needed a vegetable garden.  To grow our own vegetables.  So we can afford to eat.  Have you looked at the price of tomatoes lately? 

I told Mike about my plan for our new garden and he gave me a funny look.  Maybe because I don't garden.  I don't even like the outdoors- there are bugs out there.  Nevertheless, my mind was made up.

From the extremely small amount of research that I did, a raised garden is the best way to grow vegetables so that is what we did. 

 We decided to use a flower bed kit from Home Depot.  You can easily make your own but we weighed the cost of lumber and supplies and the kit and found the kit to be the most affordable option for us.  This is 3 kits and each square is 4'x4'.  I helped put them together (not shown).  Mike is disturbing the soil that will be under the garden.  It helps with drainage... or so I was told.  We put a weed barrier down after that (not shown). 

 Next we filled it with dirt.  By we I mean Mike.  I went to the store to pick up the dirt but that's where my involvement ended.  The dirt was the most expensive investment I think.  There are probably less expensive ways to get dirt- like digging a swimming pool- but for time we just purchased it at Lowes. 

 Next came the planting.  We used some seeds and some plants from Calloways.  I'll be covering the plants we used in a later post but 2 of the beds are vegetables and one is herbs. 

 My mom helped with the planting.  She will be taking some of the veggies so I thought she should be put to work.  The hardest worker was that little thing in the back. 

 Lots of water on those new plants. 

 Watering is serious business.  Look at that lip- pure concentration.  I would also like to point out what a trendsetter I have.  Some people wear sunglasses on their heads but that's overdone.  Wearing sunglasses on your stomach is the new thing to do. 

 Here it is all finished. 

The cute plant tags are from ikea and the little windmill things are supposed to keep the critters away.  And I think they look pretty.

I talk to the garden every morning.  It's totally healthy.  I also pray for my garden.  I pray for a bountiful harvest.  So many vegetables I have to give some away to friends.  I know it sounds silly but I had a friend who had a peach tree that had never produced fruit.  One winter, her husband prayed that the tree would fruit and that summer they had so many peaches she was bringing bags to the office.  I made all of Casons peach baby food with her peaches.  Times are tough right now and everyone would like to save money at the grocery store.  Maybe some of my vegetables will help with that. 

This morning I read this: 
For as the soil makes the sprout come up and a garden causes seeds to grow, so the Sovereign Lord will make righteousness and praise spring up before all nations.  Isaiah 61:11

Lakeway Resort and Spa

When we were on Lake Travis last year (see previous blog post) we took a few days away from our resort to go to another resort across the lake.  Since the first resort was practically free we thought it would be fun to stay somewhere really nice for two nights. 

I researched all the big resorts around the Austin area and decided on Lakeway Resort and Spa.  This resort looked incredibly nice but was the most affordable. 

It turned out to be a great choice.  Since we were there at the end of September there was no one there.  It was great.  They knew our name, they got us whatever we needed. 

 Here is our room.  You can't tell much because we have already trashed it but it's pretty big and it was nice.  We started with a parking lot view but the second night we switched to a lake view.  Much better.

 I just liked these chairs.  I think they would go great in my house and I wanted to steal them but I took a picture instead.  Any place that has chairs like this is alright in my book. 

 I didn't get the best pictures of the pools but there are about 4.  There are little conversation areas at the bottom of the picture.  You can see but this pool overflows into another pool below.  I believe this is the adult section of the pool.  There is also a swim up bar.  Since no one was at the resort we didn't really get to see how this all worked.

 This is part of the building with the conference center and spa.  The spa is on what looks like the bottom floor but it's actually not.  I did go to the spa and it was amazing.  The relaxation room had an indoor and outdoor part so you could sit over the water and relax.

 The pool that we liked had the beach entry and the little fountains.  It kept C plenty entertained and was really safe. 

 Here's another view of that pool looking back at the buildings.

 Cason loves the water!

This is what got me.  My favorite brand of tea in our rooms.  I'm a fan of any place that has good quality tea in the rooms. 

I highly recommend this place if you are looking for a lakeside resort but don't want to spend what some of the name brand places charge.  I liked that it wasn't very crowded but if you are into groups apparently it's really hoppin in the summertime.  I believe they have concerts by the pool on the weekends and stuff. 


I couldn't resist adding some pictures from the web site since they are so much better than mine. 

 This is the relaxation room at the spa... see, I told you it was nice!

 Here's a view of all the pools.  The waterslide wasn't open when we were there but it looked fun!

 Here's a better view of the room.  This is one with a lake view- we thought the lake view was worth the upgrade.

Here's a beautiful night view.  There are more pictures on the web site.

I'm already trying to find a time we can go back!

Summer Vacation... Last Year

I was organizing pictures and realized I never posted about our summer vacation (which actually happened in late September because Mike doesn't actually get vacation time in the summer). 

My aunt offered us some time share points and we selected a condo on Lake Travis.  We stayed for a whole week and had a blast.  I love vacations!

 First things first- a bubble bath in the big tub.  I always underestimate how many bubbles to put in a whirlpool tub. 

Here's our condo.  It was really cute and 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom so plenty roomy. 

 Every morning we fed the deer.

 There was swimming...

 And laying out...

And Shuffleboard.

 About 1/2 way through the week Weslee and Zach and Shiloh joined us.  The kids had fun at the park.

The kids look like they have aged 3 years since these pictures- not 9 months!

 There was more shuffleboard.  There were approximately 2 other families at this group of condos when we were there and none that were our age so we had a very quiet vacation.  I think that's one of the best kinds.

 Like all good redneck parents we stripped our kids down to their underwear and stuck them into a lake.  They loved it!

Do you see the bump?

I don't really. It's there but it doesn't bother me. Maybe cause I can't see my profile in the mirror. I'm thankful for that in so many ways. It still aches on some days but it's getting a lot better!

I went to the ENT and she said I should have no problem with my nose in the future and I didn't have to fix it. When she was looking in my nose she said one of my nasal passages looked swollen or something. She asked if I had allergies and I said no because of course I don't. I told her I just get consistent colds at certain times during the year. To that she replied "uh, don't you think that might be allergies?". Nope. I don't have time or money for allergies so I'll go with cold thank you. She prescribed flonase or some kind of nasal spray and although it wasn't what I went in for, I was very grateful for her find.

On Sunday I went to a park. Soon after I got there I started sneezing and itching and eyes watering and nose running. I pretty much feel awful today. So clearly, it's not allergies. That sounds nothing like the symptoms from all those allergy commercials for medicine I can't afford. I'm going to go use my nose spray and hope I feel better in the morning!

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Setting the table

They say setting the table nicely makes you feel more excited about always eating at home. I'm trying it out tonight to see if anyone notices. I feel more excited about pizza already. Homemade pizza that is.

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Tales of a Broken Nose

Though I will attempt to blame this on Cason, the truth is it was probably all my fault.  It's all fun and games until someone breaks a nose.

We were just playing on the floor.  I was laying on the ground on my back and Cason was climbing on me.  We were laughing and playing and he was perched on top of my knees until he lost his balance and fell backwards.  The back of his extremely hard skull his my nose... and only my nose.  It felt like a bowling ball had fallen from 3' and smashed into my face. 

I rolled over and grabbed my nose expecting it to be missing or flattened into my skull.  I remember saying "I think I broke my nose" and feeling terrible pain.  Cason was crying but mostly because he was startled by the fall.  I'm not sure how my nose didn't leave a divot in his skull.

That was late Wednesday night a week ago.  I took some advil, added some ice for a few minutes but it hurt too bad to have ice sitting on my nose.  I had to keep looking in the mirror to make sure my nose was still there.  oh, the pain.

The next day I decided to document my possible broken nose journey.  I realized that I don't look at my nose that much because I couldn't really tell if it was swollen or not.  Maybe a little puffy.

 This is Friday morning.  One black eye.  The side I sleep on. 

 Very thankful for my friend Bobbi Brown this morning.  I don't know that I have ever used these three products together.  They are intended to be used together but I typically use each one separately.  Today, I needed all three- base, color corrector, concealer, and powder (not shown). 

After makeup.  Not bad.  I mean, it just looks like I missed a spot with my concealer- or I let my eye shadow flake under my eyes.

 And that brings us to Saturday morning.  Two black eyes.  Very nice.  My eye lids are black too.  Or purple rather. 

 After makeup.  Better.  Not great but better.  I thought this would be the worst day.  Isn't day 3 always the worst??  Ha.

And here's day 4.  Sunday.  There are so many things wrong with this picture.  There are reasons why people don't take pictures before they put on makeup- much less with black eyes.  Ew.  It hurts me to look at it.  This is about blogging though.  This is about the people.  I did this for you.  It's humiliating but it had to be done.  Do you see that my eyes are some kind of disgusting green yellow?  Lovely.  

 After makeup.  Here I am at church.  I asked the 2 year olds to please refrain from throwing toys at my face.  Just for today.  Hmmm, still looks green to me.  gross.

 Hi sweet pea.  Thanks for breaking my nose.  I still love you.

And that's where my pictures stop.  I couldn't bear it anymore.  They eyes have gotten worse every day since.  "That's not possible" you say.  Well I can tell you that it is.

I went to the doctor yesterday and it turns out, it is broken.  Not in the way where it is totally offset to one side but in the broken and only slightly offset with a bump.... like Owen Wilson. 

Okay, not like Owen, I don't even know that I can see it.  My helpful doctor said that she could see it.  I'm going to an ENT dr. next week mainly to make sure that it won't cause problems in the future.  It still aches, especially at the end of the day.  That's weird since you don't really use your nose.  It's not like it hurts cause it's been working hard all day.  Maybe smelling is harder than I thought.

Spring break with the Harveys

During spring break mike turned 32 and Cason turned 2.




Not to be out-done, I got a broken nose. And two black eyes.


More details and pictures later.

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Dirk

I needed a fish.  A beta fish to be exact.  I wanted this fist to swim in a bowl which I already owned and be a centerpiece of a table decoration at C's birthday party this weekend.  Something fun.  Something to talk about.  I figured C might like to watch the fish swim too.

The family was out and about and I asked to go by the pet store and pick up my beta fish.  (I had already gone to Wal Mart against my better judgement because they used to sell fish but not anymore). 

At Pets Mart we were greeted with a wide variety of fish.  Mike decided that a goldfish was a better choice for us and I picked out the very special goldfish that would live in the bowl which I already owned.

When the Pets Mart lady came to retrieve said goldfish she mentioned that goldfish would only live 2-3 years in a bowl and approx. 12 years in a tank.  She did not recommend a bowl.  I refrained from mentioning that I was just hoping this goldfish would last through the weekend and I was not planning on having him as a part of our family for the next 2-3 years much less 12 years. 

So what's the perfect fish for a bowl?  A Beta.  That's what I thought.  Back to the Beta section to pick out the perfect Beta.

While I'm looking at the fish trying to decide which color Beta would look work best with my party color scheme, Mike has found the cute Beta "tanks"... and the rocks.... and the plants....  In his opinion the bowl we have at home was not going to work for our new pet.  We needed this small glass box designed for beta fish. 

The helpful Pets Mart lady said that our fish would be "less stressed" if we had an ugly fake plant in the box. 

The last thing I want is a stressed out Beta.

So, we leave Pets Mart with a Beta, a Beta box, marbles, an ugly fake plant, Beta Food, and Beta Water purifier.  If we had stayed any longer we would have left with a giant tank that cleaned itself.



Does that look like a stressed out Beta? 

I didn't think so.




I wanted you to notice that this tank is no ordinary glass box, no.  This box came with it's own light.  A light that the Pets Mart lady said the fish did not need but it does reflect nicely off the blue marbles I picked for the bottom (they match the color scheme of the party). 

Our fish is a boy (of course) and since I did not get much of a say in his environment I figured I should get to name him- and I was going to pretend like he was a girl- the only girl in my household. 

Mike said since he was blue we should call him Dirk.  Cason said "Hi Dirk".  And that's how I lost that battle.

Cason does love Dirk.  He talked to Dirk more than he talked to me.  It's really quite cute.

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Vitimins

These vitamins taste so good I want to eat more than the recommended 2.

Yes, they are mine.

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