Balloon Arch, Take 3 and Room Renovations!

So much time has passed..but I've been informed that no one young-ish is reading anymore!  So I can write again, hooray!! : ) haha!

Our latest adventures..

We got ready for a surprise party to say goodbye to our seniors from youth group at church!  I chalked the hallway across from the entrance!  I got super tired and my hand was hurting by the bottom scripture area..so it wasn't too great, haha!

Our baby dog, Gatsby, is super big now!  He's at 32 pounds..and maybe counting?!  This is Mary Claire's room that I redid this spring..I repainted Carter's old room upstairs (her old room), and got her a new matching monogram made by a super talented friend of hers!  Carter is back downstairs, and she's up..moving completed!

This is a room I worked on for a sweet friend, it's the kids' playroom!  We still need to hang a couple of personal items..maybe their last home's door key or some special toys.

I really have been busy as I look back over pictures!  ..I helped Clay's friend, Georgia, to build a balloon arch that we could reuse (so we don't have to keep using expensive helium balloons!).  She went to Lowe's and Wal-Mart to request money and supplies to make an arch for Springdale Youth Activity Council.  Their walk was to gather food for a local food pantry.  We started with two 2'x2' pieces of plywood, and attached flanges in the center to hold 1/2" pipe (24" long) in place.  Then we got three pieces of 8'x3/4" white plumbing pipe with two fittings that would fit over the metal pipe.  I left it assembled in my garage with weights on the wood since the white needed some time to conform to the bent shape!

metal flanges attached with 1/2" screws

Sitting with weights..waiting on balloons!

We got some volunteers to help us!  And Phat Tire Bike Shop next door let us use their air compressor to blow up our balloons!! : )  We made the arch in an unused business space owned by the bank nearby..and there was very little lighting.  But we were thankful to have a big space to use!

Finished product, moved outside the day of the walk, hooray!!

Carter posing with a cutout of C3PO at Wal-Mart before Solo came out!  He looks SO BiG. :O

Easter, after church..everyone is a little crazy by now!  And our dog had recently been trimmed..he looks funny!

A really sweet picture of my parents.  They very rarely let me take pictures..when they are 80, they'll wish they took more, haha!

Baby Carter (not a baby..) lost his first tooth before school one morning!  He was nervous he'd lose it at school or during lunch..so we helped alleviate his fears, haha!

The bulletin board I did for our youth group seniors!  I went outside the box with a turquoise floral..but you can barely see it anyway!  This is a big group of really sweet kids.  We'll miss them!!

Carter graduated from Kindergarten!!  Wow, he's a big kid now.  He had a wonderful year with Mrs. Mueller!

And an even bigger shock-Ethan graduated from elementary school!  He'll be in sixth grade this fall across town.  Mrs. Cain has blessed us by teaching three of our kids..I hope Carter gets her eventually too!!

Gatsby turned ONE!!  His birthday is June 3rd, so he's officially not a pup anymore!  We adore him!!

Tiffany and I rode from the Fayetteville Square to the Bentonville Square, 31.5 miles!  What a fun day, and we needed each other..it got tiring!  (Especially since we hadn't ridden very much this spring!!) 

Wreath for a friend's big front porch!

This spring, I also had another fun project, an office!  It just needed cleaning out, organizing, and rearranging.  We only purchased five new frames, an end table, and a lamp.  It's not always expensive to freshen up and feel organized..just takes some hard work! ; )

It's a large room with lots of beautiful windows, and I already loved the color!

At the tv/fireplace end, using some beautiful art they already had!

The desk suite was just begging to be put back together..and it looks great with books and frames!  We only have a couple boxes for him to go through to identify recycle/keep/trash!

This is one of the only pictures I got of Clay running track this spring!  He doesn't like pictures..and he's always so far away too.  I didn't even get him in his uniform. : O  But lately, he's running every day from 7am to about 8:30am.  He's up to about 7 miles a day training for cross country.  Good grief, those boys are dedicated!!

I'm still not caught up..but I love to have the history for when I lose my pictures. : O  It happens!  

Hope your life is busy with fun, family, and friends!  Happiest of Father's Days to my DAD! to Ches! and to your dads and ALL the people who have guided you in life!  Hugs!!

En Route

December 26, 2017

It’s been a sweet few months.  Our babies are all growing up so fast!

We went to Universal Studios a couple days before the ride in Amelia Island, FL! 

Our family rode in the 2017 JDRF Ride to Cure in Amelia Island, Florida in October.  We trained this year (I started in February on a new Trek Emonda bike!), and we rode most every day with long trips with the kids on the weekends. : )

Team Arkansas that rode in the 2017 JDRF Ride to Cure!  (I had no idea this would end up being our only team photo..and we didn't have our practice jerseys on yet!)

My two very best cheerleaders!!

We rode to Chick-Fil-A in Rogers and Fayetteville, and Ches and I rode to the CFA in South Fayetteville.  Ches and I also rode in the Square2Square ride from the Bentonville Square to the Fayetteville Square! (31 miles)  I actually got lots of time to ride with friends, Springdale Bike Club, Mary Claire, and my pro rider husband! : )

Starting Square 2 Square with Ches!

And finishing in 100 degree heat! : )

We also had to fundraise like crazy for four of us to get to ride!  There is a $2000 minimum per person to ride, and the deposit was due in July ($750 each).  So we were nervous about the commitment to both ride and fundraise! 

Mary Claire's Jersey..she pinned on her own number..big girl.

We had a swimming Mother’s Day Out/babysitting day, we washed and cleaned cars, auctioned donated items online, and I decorated.  We also had really sweet friends give with nothing in return.  I have to say $8000 was a huge goal, but we did it!  We are so thankful, and the kids had a blast.  Mary Claire got off at the end and said she wants to do it again..and go farther!  I totally agreed. 

About 7:15am, ready to ride!

We aren’t sure what we’ll do next year.  The ride locations have been released, but it was SUPER hard for the kids to miss school.  There is one before school starts in early August in Lacrosse, Wisconsin, but they don’t want to go to that one!  I’d love to do the one in Saratoga Springs, NY, but they aren’t game.  If we do one..I think it’ll be in Santa Fe, New Mexico, November 1-4^th.  We could drive, and maybe only miss a couple days of school : )

He did an amazing job, 55 miles with no problem!  He's ready to go again!

Today we are still en route to Alexandria, Virginia/Washington D.C.  We left Nashville, Tennessee this morning!  I’ve been shocked to see so many wrecks along the way. : O  And traffic just all slams to a halt.  We even had a gigantic (full) trash bag fly at us!

Animal Kingdom before the ride!

I think I’m going to try to write more in 2018.  It was a good journal for me, and it helped tremendously when I lost a lot of pictures a couple years ago.  Some photos on here are all I have left after my computer crashed!  I’m sure it helps my memory..and it’s therapeutic too : )

Us meeting Ches at the finish line!  We'd already finished, swam, ate lunch, and then we went to meet him-105 miles!!

I found out a little bit ago that some sweet friends didn’t do anything for Christmas day.  I’m going to do better next year-planning for Christmas, and checking in with everyone to see what they are doing.  They could hang out with us in our chaos! ; ) It should be more people, fewer things and tasks.  I did better not stressing as much this year!  I did less decorating, and I got help from people after I cut my fingers/stitches (oh yeah!  Blessing in disguise?  Maybe!)!  But I didn’t reach out as much..I kinda felt helpless with a left hand out of commission.

Me and a tomato can had a small altercation..

Praying you had a good Christmas and a enjoy a blessed 2018.  Hugs!