August Pictures

Only in East Texas...

After spending the week at the lakehouse these are a few of my "ONLY IN EAST TEXAS...."

• do you tell your children to be extra careful because the nearest hospital is 25 minutes away and that the only fire department is a volunteer fire department
• you see a pick up truck with a dog standing on top of the covered bed with a leash hanging out of the middle window
• do you go to the local fresh farm stand and drive up and see a sign at the house that says "Honk for Service" and the very hard working lady tells us to come back in 5 or 6 weeks and we can get one of the beagle puppies in addition to fresh vegetables and flowers
• did we see the most incredible storm roll in over the lake- it looked like a strobe light-- then we realized that we had no tv service or cell phone service to keep an eye on the storm, I have to call my mom and tell her to call us if she sees any bad weather heading our way and if you know our family we are very cautious about storms
• we made fresh salsa with the fresh tomatos and jalepanos and made pizza with basil & tomatoes from the garden- we can't get much fresher than that
• we also picked our cantelope and carrots and lots of cucumbers from the garden- we have lots of great fresh veggies & herbs
• you are tempted to stop at the bakery everytime you go into town, just in case they have my favorite chocolate ganache cake
• do my kids dig for worms and wear their life jackets ALL day long
• my kids & husband are up by 6:00 every morning- the house has LOTS of windows- so they are up with the sunrise-- no sleeping in at the lake- that is what afternoon naps are for!

End of Summer

Emerson loves being the little mama

Patrick the Gorilla was by the window

Jenny the Elephant was doing tricks for us

Emerson was scared of the gorillas

Rhinestone Cowgirl

Here she is with her birthday candles--they were trick candles but I just thought they were sparklers. It took a few times to blow them out!

Sam on Zippity Do Da (the horse)

The birthday princess

And here is Caroline!

Getting Kisses from Grandpa Gary-- the kids have formed the "Grandpa Fan Club". He is thrilled (may have been his idea). I told him that I would drop them off for weekly meetings and my mom and I would have to leave by ourselves since we weren't members! Ha!

Birthday Girl!

3rd birthday!

Celebrating at the circus for her 2nd birthday

Her first birthday!

Our sweet girl is going to be three tomorrow. She is such a big girl now and she loves to keep up with her brother and "help" with her sister. She started talking over night at about 2 1/2--she has done a years worth of speech theraphy and it has really paid off. Emerson loves to play with her baby dolls and loves to dress up in her play clothes. She also LOVES to paint her nails everyday---yes every single day she wants to paint her nails "with polk a dots" too! She is very strong willed and would rather sit in her room or time out than to do what mommy asks until it becomes her idea to do it. She is so sweet and loves to play with her friends and Max and of course Grandma & Grandpa. I can only imagine how she will be as a teenager!

Carolines 1 year invitations

We took the kids to the arboretum this morning so I could take a picture for Carolines birthday invitation. After MANY MANY tries here are the final pictures.

An old picture of Sam & Blankey

My dad ran across this email that I sent him when Sam got rid of his blankey on his 4th birthday. It makes me laugh. He still will tell Emerson that he gave his blankey to a baby at my work. He still remembers and he wrote the letter below by himself--I typed it of course.

Dear Baby Emily,

Have a good time with my blankey. I am four years old & I don't need it anymore. When I get older I will need it back. I like to suck my thumb when I keep blankey. Please return it when you get older to Rowlett, Texas. Love, Sam

I am taking it to work with me tonight to give it to a "baby". Wish us luck. At the moment he is trying to wrap one of Emma's blankets up to send instead. It is all I can do not to laugh everytime I read the letter!

Aunt Janice

Here is a picture that was taken at my Aunt Janice's funeral today. I can't remember the last time all of my mom's family was together. We had such a great time visiting with my cousins and uncles and aunts. The kids are going to miss them when they go home tomorrow. In fact, Emerson insisted on sleeping in the pack-n-play last night just in case my uncle wanted to come stay at our house. She is going to be very sad when we take him to the airport in the morning. The memorial service was beautiful. It is such a reminder that our relationships are where we get joy and that that is how we show God's love for us by loving on one another. My Aunt shared such an amazing glimpse of heaven with us the last few days as she would close her eyes and tell us how beautiful Heaven is and that she was just waiting on my Grandpa and Uncle and she described the beautiful sounds. I think God gives us this in the end of our lives to show us what we have to look forward to in eternity. She was an amazing woman who was always so happy and loved the children. When I went to see her last Wednsday night she wanted to make sure that Caroline had gotten the stuffed animal that she bought her with her Bingo money. She said now she has gotten all of the kids something. I told her that it stays in the hallway at our house because Emerson insists that it is hers. She said "I thought that would happen". I pray that all of us would have such a peace about death as she did in this last week. We were all so shocked by her sudden illness but we all know that she is dancing on streets of gold and enjoying the music and mansions in Heaven.

14,000 foot mountains!

Here is a picture of Uncompahgre peak from the alpine loop near American Basin. They hiked up from a valley just to the right of the peak. You can't see the valley in the picture. It took 4 hours to get to the peak. It was a seven and half mile round trip.

My mom & dad went to Colorado. Here are a few amazing pictures from the top of a 14,000 ft mountain. I can't believe my mom & dad climbed it! Here is the proof!

Uncompahgre Peak is the 6th highest mountain in Colorado

Family Fun

Kirt & I had everyone over for dinner to give them a break from staying at the hospital. We had so much fun with our cousins. The kids set up a tent in the backyard and played for a long time- until we noticed they had sprinkled glitter all over each other & the dog.

My uncle came in from North Carolina. It took a long time for Caroline to warm up to anyone to let them hold her. But it lasted about 5 minutes.

My cousins Betty & Tonya. We had not seen each other in about 2 years.

Founders Plaza

We have had a busy weekend. My aunt is very sick and has been in the hospital since Wednsday. So we decided the kids needed to do something fun so we took them out to Founders Plaza and had a picnic at the airport. They had a great time.

Sam couldn't see much looking thru the wrong end!

Can't believe my baby girl is going to be 11 months!

They had a great time looking at the airplanes and listening to the control tower.

Swim date

Lucy Kate & Emerson

Sam, Becca, Lucy, Emerson, Caroline, Sarah

Emerson, Sam, Brooke, Brandon, Ethan, & Max

Painting & Chalkboards

So the Ruby's have been busy painting and party planning. We have 3 parties at our house in the next month. So I wanted to get my kitchen textured & painted. Here are the pictures- I still have some finishing to do but I thought I would post them anyway.

I worked hard on the chalkboard frame for the kitchen. I still need to put some ribbon & a bow at the top but Hobby Lobby is a little crazy with three kids. So I will have to go tonight. I still have to get the drapes hung and this finished before Emerson's birthday.

We did the chair rail in the dining room- and YES I know that the shades on the light are crooked and I still have to go to Hobby Lobby to get the rest. I have been to 3 stores and still can't find all ten of them.

My friend came and helped me to do the cabinets. She did a fabulous job of using things I already had in my house.

Rhinestone Cowgirl

I am trying to do Emerson's birthday invitations! We are doing a cowgirl theme. I have an idea of what I want to do but it is just a matter of finding the time to do it! Having two birthdays in August is going to be a busy time!

Salt Dough Fun!

Supplies:

• ½ cup salt
• 1 cup flour
• ½ cup water
• Acrylic paint
• Small cookie cutters
• Acrylic sealer spray

Directions: 1. Mix together the salt, flour, and water. If dough is sticky, add additional tablespoons of flour one at a time until the mixture is smooth a pliable. Be careful not to add too much or your projects will crack.

2. Roll out or press dough with your hand and use cookie cutters to cut out shapes.

3. Place shapes on cookie sheet and heat oven to 250 degrees F.

4. Place cookie sheet in oven and bake for 1 ½ to 2 ½ hours, or until items are dry. Remove from oven and let cool.

5. Paint all the shapes.

6. Let them all dry and have an adult spray them with acrylic sealer