Sunday, April 17, 2011

::A Purple Easter!::

Today was the 14th annual TCU Easter Egg Hunt!

The kids had SO much fun, they look forward to all TCU events (i promise, they are not brain washed, they have the freedom to go to any school they would like ;)) Austin & I had tons of fun watching the kids and had the opportunity to catch up with a few of our old college friends as well.

We had special visits from the Easter Bunny & Super Frog - luckily Cooper has overcome her fear of giant characters and no longer screams and cries when they come within a 50 mile radius. Our last TCU Easter hunt didn't fair too well when it came to the big guys.

Frog Fingers UP

THE YEAR BEFORE LAST...less hair, MORE tears

Miss Coopie and her matching baby doll she also named CooperReese 

 Handsome Man awaiting the big hunt

...priceless...

Awesome Frog Vespa    and    Mr. Easter Bunny       

 Banks is quite a competitor, let me tell you.

Sweet babies enjoying their candy!

Back at home...they rode around forever with their loot in the back of the John Deere,
a ploy to eat all their candy...but they were busted! 




Hoppy Easter to you & yours... 

Saturday, April 16, 2011

::Great Friends::

A quick post before we head off to T-ball and finish staining our fence...

We had the opportunity to spend some time yesterday with a few of my oldest and dearest friends. I'll re-state from Tanna's blog...she did the math and we've known each other for ~18 years!! Lauren and I met in elementary school, and I met Tanna in middle school, we remain in each other's circle of friend from there on. Through all of life's adventures, we remained in contact and had the opportunity to get together yesterday with all of our kids. Between the three of us we had SEVEN little ones! It was so much fun to watch them interact & catch up with my girls.

God is great! It's so comforting to have real discussions with old friends and to discuss how the Lord has moved in each of our lives shaping the people and families that we have today. I love that.

These girls and their families are so special! Much love to you girls!! XOXO


::Michelle-Banks-Tanna-Baby Cerly-Briley(back)-Ava(front)-Cooper-Owen-Lauren-Ella::

Sunday, April 10, 2011

::Tom's::


Not TOMs the shoes, which are cool too, but Tom’s of Maine, the naturally sourced, good environmental steward company that manufacturers toothpaste, mouthwash, soap, deodorant & floss. [This is not a paid advertisement blog post, I promise, but if Tom’s wants to throw me some free product, I would not be opposed!] So, you may know one of my best friends in the whole universe, Stacey [The Mohr the Merrier], she is a crazy new found all natural goddess. I can only aspire to have the time and know-how to make my own hummus & freeze dinners for the next 3 months. And for as much grief as we (her other 3 BFFs and I) give her, we are really giving her HUGE prop’s for what we (or at least I) only wished I was disciplined enough to do.

Convenience, our society loves convenience. Pretty much the reason that every stop light is surrounded by 18 different fast food options and the grocery store is all about instant gratification. No need to cook, just NUK and VOILA! Dinner for 4. I’ll admit, I am a consumer of convenience, more so than I’d like, but hey, sometimes it seems like the only option when what I’ve really done is lacked in the planning department, or just because I really, really need my fix of McDonald’s French fries! I am a product of the Happy Meal generation. When they served them in a box with golden arches handles, not a bag.

So back to my Tom’s rant – I’ll have to blog more about food later [watch Fast Food Nation or the one about the meat factory, both remind me of Upton Sinclair’s, The Jungle, a novel written in 1906 that ended up being the basis for why the FDA was founded] The last time Stacey was in town she pointed out to me that my favorite deodorant, Secret w/oil of Olay moisturizers in a lovely fragrance, was full of ALUMINUM and other weird ingredience. She also pointed out that my Colgate with whitening squares toothpaste was full of red dye no. 40’s amongst other things I couldn’t pronounce, much less know what they were….Stacey provided food for thought, but I can’t risk having sweaty pits at work and I sure don’t want to brush with nothing more than baking powder and water made into a paste!

Fast forward about a week & it’s time for my bi-weekly grocery shopping trip to Super Tar-jay, (many of you know I am NOT a WALLY WORLD fan, I think it’s the Evil Empire, however occasionally I find myself in the store and always leave with the echoing of registers beeping in my head). After the lingering thoughts of rubbing aluminum in my armpits and thinking of maybe a correlation to breast cancer? And who knows what other side effects, I make the decision to splurge and pay the $6 for a stick of Tom’s LONG LASTING Lavender fragrance deodorant…and as I round the corner to the toothpaste isle, I decide that I’ll try the WICKED FRESH! Long lasting fresh breath toothpaste and put this product to the test. [I still had some reserve of my regular stock – just in case!]

Results: I’m SOLD. P&G lost a customer; Tom’s gained a customer! Seriously, the deodorant is great because: it’s all natural and I like supporting the ‘little guy’ and a company that is concerned about the environment & best of all – I’m going to get real - when you shave your armpits, you don’t have to shave off a layer of deodorant FIRST & clog up your razor. I’m thinking the $6 investment is actually going to save me money in the long haul because I’m not going to buy $30 mach3 razor replacements as often! And the toothpaste, this one was going out on a limb for me, breath is nothing to jeopardize! But, it’s super minty and refreshing and doesn’t feel like a pasty mixture of just baking soda and water [my biggest concern]. The final exam will be to see if I can convert my husband…for now, he says he’s sticking with Axe & Colgate.

So, I’m feeling good about my good steward trade-offs and I’m sure this will open the door to try other grass-roots, all natural products, organic products that I don’t have to worry whether or not the chemical laden ingredience will give me some sort of weird side effect.

Peace.
(excuse the satellite remote)

Sunday, March 13, 2011

::friendship park::

We made the best out of a previous, sunny, but VERY windy day by taking a trip with our great friends to Friendship Park in Flower Mound (for the record, i LOVE flower mound and if you live close and want to visit an awesome park - look up Friendship!).

Parks are great, endless entertainment & typically our kids play so hard that it's always an early night for bed...awesome since naps are usuallyMIA at the Buck house
on weekends due to our busy schedules.

We're excited Spring is on it's way, being outside is so refreshing (minus the allergens) Banks already wants to fast forward to summer, he asked me yesterday, "How much longer until summer?" I think he's anxious to swim. ;) I hope  you & yours were able to get out and enjoy some of the sunshine as well.
  

::Sweet Pumpkin Kids::
::GO CooperReese::
:: Banks LOVES to run!::

::practicing back hand springs::

::cloud gazing::
::best friends::
::WHOA daddy...the kids LOVED Austin to act like he was going to throw them in the pond::
::slide surfing::

::slide races::

::HA! This sums up our CRaAY Family!::
::SQUIRMY WORMS!::

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

~Great BIG Helpers!~

The Bucks like projects. Yes, we are 'do it ourselfers.' Home Depot & Lowe's Target Customers. I'll admit we've hired help a time or two, but only to do the unthinkable jobs that we would probably end up making a total mess of. My husband likes to construct things with his own hands and sit back and marvel at his masterpiece when he's done. ;) I'd have to agree, you do feel a great sense of accomplishment, but if the decision was left to me, I usually prefer to leave it to the paid pro's.

Our spring project is landscaping the West & North sides of our home, the first step in the process was to shovel out what seemed like a MILLION rocks from the beautiful rock garden the previous owner planted. 8 wheel barrow's later and one big ol' blister on my thumb, we cleared the rocks and prepped the West wall for some beautiful knock out roses! I'll wait to post before & after pictures once we get it all done, but for now I'll leave you with photo's of our tinest, non-paid, helpers.


Monday, March 7, 2011

~Fun Girls Day~

Miss Coopie & I had a fabulous Saturday afternoon at her friend, Suri's, birthday party! The best part for Coop was that Suri shared her gift with her...a brand new PINK Barbie Car! The girls took turns driving it and who ever was in the passenger seat got to hold the baby puppy - what else could a 3 year old ask for?
Life is good.

~Cooper & Mommy getting ready to leave~


~There was a Hello Kitty Pinata & Cooper had her first experience with Pixie Sticks~
~Riding in the Barbie Car!~
~Too much fun!~
~LOVE her license plate ;) ~

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

~Fall School Photo's~

~Loving Siblings~

~Wow, he is so handsome!~

~This face is PRICELESS!~
I'm still playing catch up on my blogging...I wasn't so great in February...I vow to be better in March!

Here are the kids Fall school photo's taken in November of 2010 - I love that the school coordinates a photographer to come and set up every Fall & Spring. The photos' remind me of Olan Mills, but they are sooo cute and I think they make fun memories. Last Spring I forgot it was picture day so the kids have on some seriously ratty play clothes, but their faces were priceless and I still had to buy them!!

Both of the kids are growing up so fast, they are quickly beginning to look like little kids, not toddlers anymore. :( They are growing tall and loosing their baby fat. They sure are sweet though, I love them SO much.

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

~C3 Conference 2011~


"Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundant above all that we ask or imagine"
-Ephesians 3:20

C3 conference 2011 was above and beyond anything I could have ever imagined! It was the first time I volunteered and attended the day sessions. Not only where there some of the best speakers I'd ever heard, but it was evident that the Lord was ever present in the house! I made a couple of new awesome friends and had a few old ones attend the C3 night sessions with me. Banks and Cooper spent hours at church Wed, Thur & Friday night and my heart melted Thursday morning when Banks asked if he could go back to church instead of school?! That is what it's all about :) My heart overflows seeing my children develop such a love for the Lord & the church. Banks also told me his bible teacher was his 'best friend.' Her name is Chelsea & she's a local high school student ... oh dear! He is such a charmer.

Joyce Meyer, Judah Smith, Brian Houston, Bishop TD Jakes, Shannon O'Dell...just a few that moved me. Can't wait for what is in store for C3 2012!

Monday, February 21, 2011

~Goodbye Basketball, Hello T-Ball!~

Banks starts t-ball practice thisThursday and his first game is scheduled for Saturday, March 26th! Cooper is already practing her 'GO TIGERS!' cheer. We are playing in a very encouraging league, that basically exists to teach young kids fundamentals. I'm excited for him because this is the first sport he asked us to play. My sister gave him a glove for Christmas and he and Austin have been practing in the front yard for months. He can actually smack a pitch from Austin about 25 yards from the front of the porch to the middle of our street :) GO BANKS!

I'm sure we'll get some great photo's soon...until then, here's a few pictures from Banks last basketball fundamentals class at the YMCA. They were really short kids, so Miss Cooper was able to join in the fun!

[cooper update] Coop is scheduled for her year end dance recital in May at the Ed Landreth Hall at TCU! She is tu-tu excited, she's a little HAM BONE, I'm sure she'll be Front Row Joe. When I check in on her in class she is always standing next to the teacher FACING the other kids! Ha! We have our hands full, no doubt.*

~Stretching~

~That Kinsler shirt may already be too small!~

~still stretching~

~Practicing dribbling skills~

~Chest Pass~
~And...a little Simon Says~

~Gold Metal Winners!~