Lake Weekend

We spent the weekend celebrating Memorial Day at the lake. What absolutely gorgeous weather we had. The last few years it has rained all weekend on Memorial Day, but this year it was beautiful. Sweet friends Drew and Whitney were able to come and enjoy some fun with us.

The water was still a little chilly, but it was manageable with this massive float I bought for the summer. It is a little crazy looking.. it's like a rocking chair or something. But it worked good. Everyone made fun of it, but they will probably want to borrow it.

Sister and me. Taking pictures in swimsuits is definitely not my favorite thing to do these days.. I mean, it never was.... but especially now that I am a two ton tessie. If only I could stay away from the dill pickle chips.

Sunday during the day I managed to take zero pictures. We had lots of company and lots of fellowship, but I was a little pooped out from the day before. I had to cash it in early after lunch and miss the afternoon fun. We did enjoy a little sunset dinner on the porch.

While Dad worked... that man (and my mom) are always working working to make the lake such a nice place for us all to enjoy.

We enjoyed this nice sunset before gearing up for a little campfire fun... I know, you are on the edge of your seat for this one.

Me and Pops in our matching Zeta shirts.. still gotta support that sorority that they gave so much money to years ago.

Here's the fun part...So dad built this fire pit (mental creation of mom), matt helped finish it off, and all the guys were dying to build a fire in it. Really?! It's like 90 degrees... but Steven and Matt made a special trip out that morning to get all the fixins for smores.

Sister and hubby. Now, if I am remembering correctly sister said she had never had a smore and didn't really know how to make one. This was the perfect opportunity for me to demonstrate to everyone how to make the perfect smore.

Can't forget the best part.. the chocolate. I knew they should have bought the economy box... we went through these bars fast.

All the fam enjoying the fire. Matt managed to ruin all the wire hangers in the house so we could have the perfect mellow roasters.

Sister decided she had had enough and decided to watch the rest from the porch. If only we had the guitar and could have sang some songs... there's always next time. Fun weekend with friends and family!!

Sweet Students

Last Thursday before school ended, my sweet students, with the help of my fabulous aide, had a baby shower for me. I have had the best group of students this year (not that I don't every year), but I seem to have become more attached to this group.

My aide made the cake (if the kids had, then we wouldn't have been able to eat it). It was delicious! They kept the shower a surprise and were so excited when it was time for the party.

I took pictures with my students, but sorry I had to crop their heads out... they gave me some sweet gifts.

And another one of my sweet lovelies. See that picture he's holding.. he drew that for "Baby Fulton" as he always calls him. When we found out it was a boy, he told me...lucky you, boys are the best... well, at least I think so because I am one. Sweet kids... I will miss them. Don't get me wrong, I am pumped for summer, but this was a special group!!

Happy Birthday Mom!!

Today is a special day.. it's momma senorita's birthday!! Tonight we celebrated with the fam and went to mom's choice.. mexican! You can never go wrong with a taco! I really ought to dye my hair blond so I look like I am related to these pretty ladies.

Sister got 4 fabulous cupcakes from Dream Cakes... all different flavors so we could try each of them. My vote for favorite goes to the strawberry. They were all delish!

Mom got some good stuff, clothes, picture frames, and of course the best came from pops... he got her a Nook (with the help from his assistant, as usual). Mom was excited and was ready to leave the restaurant and load that puppy up. She is pumped because all her friends at work have one and now she is cool like them. Kind of like going to daycare with your new Nike's on. Happy Birthday to mom!!

Sun And Football

What a fun (long) weekend we had!! Matt's team had a game in Fairhope this weekend, so the fam packed it up and headed south to catch a little beach time before the action. We all took off a little work to squeeze a little more fun in. Friday we spent the day at the beach and then sister and I hit the outlets and found some fabulously cute stuff for Little Fulton. Forget shopping for myself these days, it's way more fun to buy clothes for the little man.

Saturday we headed out to Fairhope and took some time walking around the town before the game.

Fairhope is the cutest town ever. They have beautiful shops and flowers and it just looks like the most picturesque town to live in.

Everyone sported their Hoover attire in support of the Bucs. Dad and Steven were troopers while the girls shopped.

And then we headed to the field... can't forget this was the reason we came in the first place. Look at my stud of a hubby! He is a rockstar!

It was extremely hot on Saturday... mom and sister sat with me under a tree in the end zone for the last half of the game. This body just can't seem to take the sun like it used to.

After the game Matt was able to come back to the condo with us and after a quick dip in the pool for the guys, it was time for some pictures on the beach before heading to dinner. Sister already has such a great tan!

Look at these 2 cuties!

Isn't my family beautiful... minus the big fat girl in red up front. Geeze louise!!

And one last guys shot before heading for seafood. It was such a fun weekend with family. I could take off every Friday and go to the beach... wouldn't that be nice? And by the way, the Bucs won, so yay for them!

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all the wonderful moms out there, mine included!! I have to admit, I was a terrible picture taker today. Our family opted for the easy way out and went out to lunch today instead of cooking...oh how nice it was! Mom chose her favorite, Dales. And it was delish! Sister got mom this cute shirt and some yummy smelling wallflowers for the house. She loves those things.

I got mom some cute workout wear because she (with sister) are all into Zumba now and they are like work-out-a-holics.

Dad (with the help of his assistant, otherwise known as Keri) got mom this Vera Bradley purse she has been wanting. She deserves it!

And look what sister got me... this precious gown for little Fulton. I LOVE it!! Matt doesn't understand these gown things... he keeps saying, where are the leg holes. I told him we will love these puppies when it's diaper changing time in the middle of the night. Speaking of diaper changes... let me brag on the hubs. He is such a diaper champ. We had nursery duty today at church and had all boys in our class and 2 of them must have eaten beans for breakfast because they dropped a bomb on us --right before shift change, of course. Matt handled them both, as he always does, while I gagged and sprayed Lysol. I have got to get better at this!!! Happy Mother's Day to a wonderful mom--I love her!!

Harley's Birthday

Today is Cinco de Mayo, but it's also the Harley man's birthday!! The little guy is getting on up there in years... he is 11!!! This year he decided he wanted a luau themed party. I know he looks unhappy in this picture, but I promise you he begged me to put that lei on him. You may remember last year he got a birthday card from his girlfriend Esperanza, not this year... they broke up. He's back on the market for all those senior citizen lady dogs out there. Happy Birthday to our 4 legged child!!

It's A....

Well, we had the big appointment yesterday to find out what this little booger is. Let me warn you, this is a bit long... but to get the full effect, I will give you the play by play. After all, I do want you to feel like you were right there too.
So at the ultrasound, we got the nurse to text my dear friend Hope so she could make a cake with the correct color icing inside. We wanted to get all the family together (the ones that could come) and all find out at the same time. Hope made this fabulous cake... isn't it cute?! I love it!

We took our time through dinner (more me than anyone else) and it was time for the reason the fam had come. Here is the part where things got a little crazy. You see, I was totally FREAKING out about cutting this cake. I really wanted to know, but sort of didn't want to know. It's like that present that sits under the tree and you are dying to know what it is and when you finally open it, the surprise is over. Well, really not the same, but you get my drift. Sister was the photographer and managed to get the play by play in photos of what was happening.

Everytime we would go to cut it, I would scream and jerk our hands back... Matt was about to just stick his fist through that cake he was so ready to know... and I kept delaying it.

And then the knife finally goes in, but I wouldn't pull it out.. I was about to pee in my pants.

And... IT'S A BOY!!! that was some blue icing Hope put in there. I was worried it was going to be purple or something and then I would have really been worried. See, Matt wore his blue shirt and I wore pink, so we could represent both sides.

After we knew we finally pulled out the ultrasound pictures and I kept saying, are they sure it wasn't a girl?? But, nope there was the woowoo front and center. Sister is still being a great photographer at this point.

And no party would be complete without some gifts from the grandmother and aunt keri. They both bought these things in pink and blue just in case.

After the excitement calmed down a bit, I went back to the table to actually eat the cake this time. This is a sad picture... I guess no one wanted to sit with me.

We must start thinking of a good name for the grandparents... I guess we all thought girl, because we all had some sort of pink shade on. The first thing out out of my dad's mouth was, we will have that little booger on the 4-wheeler next summer

Sister snapped this one and I guess this is where it began to sink in that I am now going to be outnumbered. We are so excited... boy or girl, we really didn't care. We are just so blessed to have this gift from the Lord. Matt is already thinking of this little football player and what position he will play, but I said no contact sports, chess team and safety patrol only!! Oh and by the way, his name is Fulton Maddox Howard. Don't tell me if you don't like it, I might cry.

He's Alive

What an amazing service we had Sunday for Easter! Our message was all about the reason for our hope. When I think about the difficulties of life, the big things and even the small things, I can't imagine going through a day without the hope of Jesus Christ. Nothing in this world can satisfy the anxiousness, worry, stress, and struggles like the hope of Christ. I can totally relate to this verse: "For Christ died for since once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God." 1 Peter 3:18 What a day to celebrate our risen King! After church we went to mom and dad's for a good time of fellowship with family. Mom had the table set all Eastery. As usual, it looked great!

After a delicious meal, where I ate entirely too much and would have unbuttoned my pants, but too bad they were already unbuttoned, we had some fun Easter baskets to dig into. Lots of goodies this year. Steven's parents joined us for lunch as well, so it was a full table.

And we had to take a quick family photo while we had a photographer there. Dad always gets antsy with these and always reminds us that we did a picture last year and that we only need one a year.

The girls... where did I get brown hair? I think I was adopted.

No Easter egg hunt this year (we will save that for the little bambino next year), but the Harley man did enjoy some time in the front yard. Hope you had a great Easter celebrating, and remembering the reason we celebrate!

Productivity

This weekend was not what you would call exciting on the fun scale, but very productive. I reeled my dad (and later my mom) and matt in for some fun, held them captive for the day and starting checking things off the list. First up on the list was a ceiling fan installed in our bathroom. I have wanted one for some time now, it just gets so hot in there in the summer. It will be so nice... they did a good job. It does freak me out a bit when dad and matt start cutting holes in the walls and ceilings, but the end product is always great.

Then there was the guest bathroom. The ole toilet needed a little TLC and they felt it was necessary to pull the whole thing outside the house. Nothing like your potty in the backyard. Thankfully our neighbors didn't see.

And then the office... first they went into the attic and ran another cable line into our guest bedroom so we could move our computer over. This was the beginning of the madness of cleaning out this room. We figured little Howard needed a place to sleep one day, so we better get on it.

At the end... accomplished!! Everything was out of the room and had a new home. Yay! In the midst of all this, I even scored 2 awesome pieces of furniture off Craigs List for the future nursery. What a day!

Matt must have eaten his wheaties this weekend, because Sunday afternoon he started staining our porch. He was a man on a mission. I just watched, and told him which places he missed. These 2 guys can do anything I ask them... good to have them around. I really did appreciate all the help... I wasn't much help, but I did go get lunch. That is important!