My brother Michael and his lovely wife Olivia hosted our extended family at their new home for a barbecue on Saturday.  Olivia is an AMAZING decorator and I love walking around looking at all of her neat ideas and the little touches she puts on everything.  We had yummy fajitas and the boys enjoyed some fishing at a…

Donna and I had WAY too much fun designing and delivering our Gourmet Club invites for next month.  We're hosting a Hawaiian Luau (gourmet style!) in my side yard (weather permitting).  Yesterday we drove all around town hand delivering our invitations on people's doorsteps.  The invitation was carefully rolled up and placed in a bottle…

We've had some pretty fun birthday parties around here, but the one we had for Jacob on Friday night ranks up there at the top.  We took 4 friends, plus our three, and headed to Erwin Park in McKinney for a camping party.  We found a beautiful spot tucked back in to some trees with…

Poor Derek was in an accident last night coming home from work.  Thankfully, he is OK.  His neck is a little sore, but other than that he is fine.  But the Acura didn't fare as well.  He got hit from behind by a white Honda Accord driven by a 16-year old girl.  And then as…

For a while I tried to ignore all of the news about the ongoing financial crisis.  I didn't want to jump on the roller coaster.  But over the last few days I've tried harder to wrap my brain around the details and try to understand the implications.  "Ay, Caramba!" is about all I can think…

What a week.  I've had all of the normal stuff, plus lots of other projects that for some reason all need to be finished THIS week (or next).  Remember that clean desk I showed a few weeks ago, it's back to it's "buried" state.  I'm trying to get Gourmet Club invitations out (and they are…

My Big J. turned nine today.  It's half-way to eighteen, but I don't like to think about that. I see a difference in him lately.  He's maturing.  He wants to communicate with adults more and have meaningful conversations.  He plays video games or board games, but toys are definitely out.  He loves his skate board,…

My dad drove up from Austin yesterday just to see his grandsons and celebrate Jacob's b'day.  We were so happy to have him here!  My two brothers and sister-in-law also came.  It was a fun, relaxing afternoon/evening.  And it was fun to celebrate Jacob! Uncle Mark & Jacob Jacob, Papa C & Caleb    …

It's not a race…and ride sounds too casual…so I'm calling it a "tour"! Jacob rode in his first "tour" this Saturday – the Cotton Patch Classic in Greenville, TX.  He rode with Derek and Pops (Steve) for 21 miles.  He was SO excited and proud.  And we were too.  Me, Caleb and Samuel got up…

We were, miraculously, able to plan a fun date night with two of our favorite couples last Friday night.  For an upcoming scrapbook retreat (i.e. Girls Get-Away) we needed pictures of us as couples…something that we don't have nearly enough of.  So we decided to get some photos of each other and then go to…