New Happenings & More

 Hello, readers! I'm back with some more updates in my life (I'm super proud of myself for not disappearing for so long this time!).

Life has been pretty okay lately. I finally have some updates about the big things happening behind the scenes. At the time of my last post, I didn't want to reveal too much because things can change, and so they did. After putting in a little over two years of hard work and dedication, I received a promotion at work! Initially, the company I work for was acquiring a new store, and I was to become the manager. Things didn't quite fall into place like they were supposed to, however, I can't complain with how things did play out. I'm now a floating manager, and I work between two different stores. I'm loving it! Working between two locations not only changes the scenery a little, but I'm learning new skills along the way as well. I love the challenge of it all. 

One great perk to my new schedule is that I'm able to have more time with my family. We're all developing new routines, and it's working quite well for us.

My oldest daughter is now in 7th grade, and last year she joined band. She started in beginner's band, and this year has been promoted to "Gold" band, which is the highest you can go at her middle school. I'm super proud of her! 

Maddie has always done her own thing. She's got a fun-loving and spunky personality, and she loves to stand out from the crowd. So, it's only natural that she would choose the tuba as her band instrument! Yes, that is a blue tuba she's got. Blue and gold are her school's colors, and the band department recently received some new instruments. 

Thursday night was her first official band performance at the middle school football game, and I'm so happy that I was able to take off of work to be there! I stood by the fence the whole time (and she, equally, pretended that she didn't see me there....but that goes with her spunky personality).

All in all, I really can't complain about my life! I'm thankful for all of the blessings, and grateful to finally be getting more time with my family. I still have more goals I'm working on (my mind is always flowing with ideas), but I'm learning to go with the flow while enjoying all of the little moments in between.

Another Summer Update

It's been a few weeks since I've written a general update about life, and our family's adventures! We've had a strange combination of "busy" and "lazy" going on at our house (that's what I love so much about summer vacation).

The girls finished off their summer track season a few weeks ago!! They didn't place in their final meet, but did great at the previous one! Maddie got 5th place for her division in the softball throw, and Kay got 3rd place in her division for the same event. They were both super happy when they found out the results!!

While they may not have placed in all of their meets, they had fun during track season, and that's what really matters. I love that they were able to start learning some of the essential track skills for when they get older. I also love that the summer track season gave them the opportunity to build stronger bonds with their friends (even if they didn't like how hot it was outside....none of us did for that matter).

They're sad that the season is over, but they're ready for their next set of adventures (we are still deciding on what those will be). I love seeing them bloom with each new set of endeavors they take on! It's so amazing to be able to see them grow, and to see them each blossom into their personalities, who they are, what they like. The possibilities are endless with these two, and I'm truly blessed to be their mama!!

Life has been busy for me also. Back in April (I think), I made the decision to start my own home business, and signed up to become an Avon Representative.

I've been a fan of Avon since I was around 12, and I was tired of never being able to find a local rep, so I figured why not become one!? Not only do I get to offer people great quality products at an affordable price, but I get to splurge for myself also with the representative discount 😉

I could have chosen one of the numerous "popular" direct sales companies that I see plastered all over social media all the time, but Avon is what was in my heart to do. I see so many companies, and while I would love to try their products, the price tags aren't always suited for the working class who live paycheck to paycheck. Avon offers great products that don't break the bank, so that was a huge motivating factor for me. I am truly enjoying the journey so far (even though my house is drowning in Avon products these days)!!

So now you know a little of what our family's been up to in recent weeks! I'm hoping my next update will have more fun adventures packed into it! For now though? It's Avon order day, so I'm hopping off of here to get back to business. I hope you all are enjoying your summer so far! 😊

Lots of Things Happening..

I cannot believe that it's been over a month now since the last time I posted an update on the happenings of my life!! Things have been so hectic! My family has gone through a whirlwind of emotions with different events that have taken place.

Probably the most life changing event to take place since my last personal post is the passing of my grandmother. She and my grandfather took custody of me when I was only a year old, and they raised me. Therefore my grandparents are essentially my "parents".  It was late night on May 11th when I received the phone call that she'd lost her battle with lung cancer.

Do you know how incredibly hard it was for my entire family?  My grandmother left behind 4 children, 6 grandchildren, and 3 great-grandchildren. Non of us were much in the spirits for trying to celebrate Mother's Day that weekend. How could we be when many of us had just lost the primary mother figure in our lives!?

My husband I made the decision not to let our daughters know before school the next morning about my grandmother's passing. They're 6 and 8, and were SO happy that day about it being their school's field day, and we wanted them to be able to enjoy every moment of it without being sad!

There's my Kay right smack in the middle of the picture!! She truly had fun that day, and she was so happy to be wearing PINK!! As a side note, this picture proves why I love having an actual digital camera as opposed to the camera on my phone. I was standing VERY far away from her, and the zoom on this works beautifully!

Maddie (in the yellow, on the line) had fun too on field day, and she got first place in her sprint! The girls' school has a youth sports program that has just started offering track & field this summer, so I took them both to sign up the other day. They're both excited for it, and I can't wait to watch them excel at whichever events they're best at! I'm equally looking forward to the fact that they won't be bored this summer!


Aside from Field Day and the passing of my grandmother, the girls and I have been busy with all of that "End of the school year" fun and activities. We recently attended the school's Science Night/Book Fair and the girls had a blast! Maddie and Kay of course wanted to stop at the book fair before anything else. They LOVE books and reading, so I can't tell them no when they ask for new books!

I love this picture that I was able to get of the girls that night! They're both HAPPY in it, and it's so hard these days to get a truly good picture of them together!

The girls were mesmerized by all the animals! I loved seeing their faces as they explored alligators, parrots, chickens, lizards, snakes, and more!







Their happiness in this picture says it all!











There have been some hard curve balls thrown in our family's direction, but we're keeping faith, and keeping positive attitudes! We've got a few more days of school left after Memorial Day before we sail into summer vacation!!

Life Back On the Grid??

It feels GREAT to have internet access again!!! My husband and I were finally able to purchase a new computer, so I'll be able to blog more. This makes me HAPPY!!!

Being without a computer since August, it's almost like our little family has been living off the grid. Checking social media, emails, etc. isn't very tempting when you've got only your cell phone to work with (in my own experience, anyways).

So much has happened since my last post!

My oldest daughter was diagnosed with ADHD several months ago. The result has been that we've completely changed how we work with her on her school work, etc. Since starting her with treatment, she has absolutely excelled in school! She's ahead of her grade level on reading now, and was recently awarded the Star Student award. Words can't describe how proud I am of her for how far she's come this school year!!!

Our Father's Day Adventures (Mostly in Pictures)

I said I would post about our Father's Day adventures.....so here goes! Our day yesterday was very relaxing! We decided to do something that we haven't done in a WHILE now. We went fishing!! It's seriously been a few years now since the last time we actually went. It was also the girls' first time to truly enjoy the experience!

What I love the most about yesterday is that it gave "daddy" the chance to really spend time with the girls. He works a LOT, and rarely gets time off of work, so it's not often that he gets to have real bonding time with them!

A Very Very WET Week of Adventures!!

I'm typing this one out earlier in the day (MUCH earlier) than what I usually do, for the simple fact that it's Father's Day! There MAY be a post later this evening about how our family's Father's day plays out....it just all depends on how the day goes!

Our past week didn't hold TOO many adventures, as we were trapped inside for a good part of the week, thanks to good old tropical storm Bill.

Blessings and BIRTHDAYS!

Some people say that double rainbows are a sign of blessings to come, and I believe that is most definitely true! I took a picture of this double rainbow Friday evening. The sad part is, I may not have even noticed it if it weren't for my oldest daughter exclaiming :Mom, look! A Rainbow!!" I moved to get a better view, and sure enough, there was this beautiful double rainbow, WAITING to be seen! Curiosity prompted me to get on Google to see if there was symbolic meaning for it.

After how this past weekend has played out, I'm a VERY firm believer of it standing for blessings! Friday, in itself, was a blessing because it was my sweet middle daughter's fifth birthday!

The day was spent making memories, too! She was SO happy to finally be celebrating HER birthday, since we'd celebrated her older sister's just 10 days prior. I totally made BOTH of their day that day by taking them to get DONUTS for breakfast!

~~~ HELLO SUMMER VACATION!! ~~~

It's officially summer vacation at our house, YAY!!! I cannot tell you how excited this makes me!! I'm happy to finally be able to spend good quality time with my girls!! It was a long week to get here though!!

Tuesday, Gail had her appointment with the cardiologist after it had been rescheduled due to flooding the previous week. It went GREAT!! Sort of. My sweet, sweet, child who is always the best baby you could ever imagine while getting an echo done? She was NOT so sweet this go-round. In fact? She screamed bloody murder the entire time that the tech was trying to get the needed images. At one point, they actually had to call in a SECOND tech, and the two worked together to keep her distracted and still long enough to get the pics that they needed.

Memorial Week's Adventures

What a week it has been!! I'm truly not even sure where to start!

Monday was, of course, Memorial Day. Our family didn't really do much. We'd done BBQ on Saturday, and I'd whipped up a large crock pot full of tortilla soup on Sunday, so Monday was a lazy & quiet day of relaxing, and munching on leftovers.

Tuesday? Well.....Tuesday, Gail and I were SUPPOSE to have gone to Texas Children's for her cardiology checkup. As a result of torrential downpours, and historic flooding, that did NOT happen! I wen't to bed Monday night with my nerves in a wreck at the thought of driving out to Houston in the thunderstorms (I have high levels of anxiety, and driving in storms is a quick way to set off panic attacks for me). My husband had stayed awake the majority of the night, watching the rain and hail come down. He came to bed around midnight, and I got up shortly before 1:00 a.m., when my alarm went off. Gail's echo-cardiogram was suppose to be sedated, which meant she wasn't allowed to eat after 1:20 a.m., so I'd woken her to get her one last bottle before the cutoff time. It was as she was eating that I logged onto the computer to check the radar, as it was heavily downpouring at the time. That was also the same time I started looking, and seeing all the pictures of the floods!