Weekend Rewind -

Friday I took the girls to school in the morning, and then went back to bed.  Getting into bed after Reba at Midnight wore me out especially on a weekday), so I needed more sleep.  I woke up at about 10 am and started to get ready.  I had to work my first official rodeo shift as a Roughrider!

I met Brenda for lunch, and then we headed to rodeo to get started.  It was about 1pm, and it was really too early for our shift so we just hung out and relaxed for awhile.  At about 3 the fun kicked off.  I spent the next twleve hours using the 115 volunteers assigned to my team to cover all the movements at rodeo grounds.  We had a few hiccups but nothing major!

It was Usher night at the rodeo and crowds were massive.  Our biggest issues of the night were having two tractors on the bridge at the same time which was resolved quickly....and then at the end of the night in yellow lot there were a few fist fights and crazies...but since its not our area...it really wasn't our issue. 

I was very happy with how everything went and very tired when the night was done. 

Danny and I made it home from our first shift at about 3:30am.  We were both super tired!!!

I woke up Saturday morning at about 11 am and decided I would do laundry...lots of laundry!!

I literally spent my entire day changing loads every thirty minutes and folding in between.  I didn't get up and out of my beloved pj's of choice - Danny's t-shirt from the previous day (I love to smell him in my sleep! LOL) until about 5pm.  And honestly....that was just to go pick up some Culver's cause we were both hungry! Danny left to work and I got showered and went to Ceci's to get the girls. 

We all made a trip to Target and I bought dryer sheets, fabric softner, and Purex fragrance beads and tons of other crap! LOL It's Target - what do you expect!

We went home and brought Alec with us.  Ceci had gotten Issy an organizing box for her rainbow looms so we spent some time organizing her looms by color...by 1 am, I was dog tired so I quit! LOL

We forgot about the time change so when I woke up on Sunday morning it was already past 10am!!!  We had to get ready to go to the later service at church.  And right when it was time to go - I couldnt find my keys...so we were a little late to church - but not too much.

Church Notes:
We started  a new series this week called Killing Karma: Replacing a life of guilt with a life of grace

Mercy is defined as not receiving the punishment you deserve.
Grace is defined as receiving the blessings you don't deserve. 

How do we let go of the guilts of our transgressions and embrace the grace God so freely gives us?

1. Forget the Past  - know that living with guilt is unnecessary. 
 * if you drive focused on the rear view mirror instead of the path ahead of you - then you will most definately crash.
 * the key is receivng and giving forgiveness - don't get loaded down with guilt

2. Embrace the present - there are miracles in the mundane moments of life. 
* procrastination is one of the greatest barriers of God's grace.
 
3. Step into the Future - have trust in him and his promises for you. 
* God will provide fo us.
* Speak in faith - thank God for his grace for his forgiveness
* Walk in Faith - place your faith in his grace;

Know without a doubt that Christ killed Karma on the cross.  All sins are sins - there is no politics in his love for us.  If you confessed your sins to him - he would most likely say "And?"
He knows what you have done and he still loves you....let the guilt go and know that God is the way, the truth and the light!!!!!!

After service I took the kids for breakfast and then we headed to rodeo.  We walked around the center for awhile and I bought a couple things, we ate rodeo grub once again (that never gets old).  Then we headed into the stadium to watch the Selena Gomez concert.  it was great.  Seeing the girls sing along and sway to the music is the absolute best!

We had a good time.  After the show we headed back to Ceci's.  I watched Keeping up with the Kardashians, and we ate tacos...they were super yummy!  While we were at rodeo - Ray cleaned my car inside and out....AWESOME!!!! (Thanks Ray - you ROCK!)

Issy also had a fundraiser that she is selling for school and she asked momo to buy a butter braid,  Momo - did but then said "Issy - you will know my real name now"....Issy looked at the form and then up at Mom and said :Your name is Peter?" We all laughed at this.  Momo's name is Petra...but clearly Issy saw Peter!

The time change really kicked our butts - before we knew it, it was past 10 and I was still at Ceci and Ray's!!!

I had to work in the morning - I needed to get home!

We got home and Issy went to get in pj's, and then innocently returned to the living room and said "Mom - our house is a mess, you think Uncle Ray will come clean our house too casue he did a good job on your car?"

LOL - If only that was an option!

We said our prayers and went to bed. 

It was a good weekend.....I'm still a little tired...but it was good.  I am so thankful for all the little things in our life, for our health, our family, the joys we share and the memories we make.  I hope you have a great week!!

Rodeo - Reba

Oh my goodness.  I left work a little early today because we wanted to get to Reba early - but that didn't happen.  I got home and changed and we left, picked up Ceci and Alec (my boss ended up giving me two more tickets to our suite), and then we sat in traffic!

We didn't make it to the grounds until about 6:45!!!  We had enough time to eat in the Center and then head in. 

We watched most of the rodeo and enjoyed that.  Reba was fantastic.  I love Reba!!!  She sang some great old hits and I loved every minute of it.  We were all happy with her show!!  I was only sad she didn't sing Greatest Man I Ever Knew....that is one of my favorites and it brings me to tears every time!!!!

We headed back home after the show to catch some zzzzz's!!

Rodeo - Brad Paisley

I met my sister for lunch on Monday because she had tickets to Brad Paisley that she wasn't going to use, so she gave them to me.  I love having a sister who thinks of me when she doesn't use tickets!  What a blessing!  Danny and I never turn down tickets to anything - so we took the girls to opening night of Rodeo.  I love Brad Paisley's music- but I'm not so much a fan of his shows.  Too many guitar solo's for my liking - but the seats were great....we all indulged in some great rodeo food, and the show was actually pretty good this year!!

We had a good time and made it home by about 11pm.  The girls were happy about it and so was I!

Next up - Reba on Thursday!!  I won 4 suite tickets at work for her show, and Danny is a die hard Reba fan - so we are most definitely looking forward to her show!!!!

New Belts once again!

After work today - we had our rank ceremony to determine if we had graduated to new belts and whether they would be recommended belts or decided! 

Makaila was nervous - cause we are getting up to the levels that are much harder and getting a reccommnded belt is more and more common (versus decided - which means you earned it fully - and not that you still need work in your current rank to earn that belt). 

After an hour long ceremony - the Limon girls all walked out of Henderson's ATA with new decided belts all around.  Isabella is now a Decided green belt, and Makaila and I are now decided purple belts!! 

I am so proud of us.  We work really hard in class and practice alot at home, and obviously it shows in class - cause not everyone got decided belts...but we worked hard and we got em!

So proud!!!!

Cook Off Weekened

Thursday when I got home from Florida, I was in a funk.  You ladies know that sometimes you get in those and while they are unexplainable - they are oh so real!

I was feeling tired and cranky and when I got home - I was fired up.  There was crap everywhere - you would have thought I had gone missing for about a year and the house underwent a massive tornado!
There was a sink full of dishes, clothes all over all the couches, shoes scattered in the livingroom, towels on the floor in the restrooms, clothes scattered all over the girls rooms, and the music room....just a hot mess.

So naturally - what do I do?  I go off and get into robo cop mode, and everyone in sight gets a little of my rath!  Lucky for Danny he took off to cook-off before I made it home, so he just got a piece of it when he so kindly called to share a joke , to which I bit his head off.  Even my friend Nina came over to see how the trip went and she didn't stay long cause it was obvious that I was in bitch mode and she didn't want any of that. 

The girls and I spent the next couple hours cleaning house! It was so much fun! LOL
Sadly - that didn't make me feel any better....I fell asleep on the couch waiting for Danny to get home.  When he got home later that night I was still feeling funky.  I went to bed feeling so frustrated.  I woke up the next morning - feeling no better.  Just bitchy and cranky and mad!  Sadly - I couldn't shake it. 

I got the girls off to school on Friday morning but not before getting some adorable pics of our little own Go Texan cowgirl. 

I came home and started to do laundry while I watched some episodes of Michael & Kelly and Ellen.  I started to think about what I would wear to cook-off that night and once again - my funk was emphasized.  I was pissy and cranky cuase I knew I had to go to rodeo and I didn't have anything to wear!  (Yes I have  a closet that is over filled with way too much clothes, and yes I do laundry way too often, but knowing this I still had nothing to wear.)

See here is the problem.  I am not a very large woman, and tall (yeah right).  The problem is that while I work out regularly and partake in karate regulary, I eat like crap!  I love food.  I love to eat, and not just eat, but EAT!  I have no portion control, no self-control, and a sad sad weakness for sweets! 

A result of that problem is that I am not skiny.  Not by any means.  I am a rather voluptious 4'11'' beauty! LOL
By that I mean that my I keep growing and my clothes is not following suit. I am not so much one of those people obsessed with tags or sizes (I am confident in knowing that no one is going to know if the tag inside my shirt reads XS or Large....so I could care less).  The problem is that while I have continued to grow since last rodeo, I have purchase many a pants that fit my current size well, none of those are "Rodeo ready - bootcut styled" jeans with ass bling - which is my rodeo attire of prefference.  To be honest - all the jeans I have been wearing comfortably are skinny jeans (cause I too want to look cool and fashionable or at least make an attempt at following the trends).  Problem is I am not a big fan of the pants tucked in the boots kinda look.  I like it just fine on those skinny young girls who look all cute and thin....but something about my thirty something large self who does not fall into the thin category or the tall category just doesn't pull that look together.   So my two days of pissyness turned out to be a result of not feeling comfortable wearing anything in my closet to rodeo!

Now some of you might think - its rodeo, who cares, or its cook- off no big deal.  But it is a big deal.  I am the captain of a rodeo committee, and I am required to wear boots, jeans and a button up shirt to each one of my shifts.  And Danny and I really really enjoy rodeo.  We go to SEVERAL concerts each rodeo season, and to be honest, we have been known to rodeo (even if its just for dinner), almost daily durring rodeo season.  What can I say - we are die hards.  we live for the Houston Rodeo! It is a passion and a tradition for us. 

Anyway - back to my point - I was feeling funky and pissy and now I knew why.  I needed something to wear.  Now while I love to shop, I have been on a sort of hiatus lately.  Trying to avoid stores or unnecessary spending if I can.  So I was not really wanting to go to the stores and shop and spend money I didn't have to spend.  I decided that I couldn't go to the thrift store (becuase I have no self control in that place and I knew I would want to spend the $50 max to be able to get 50% off on Sunday - and well I just couldn't bring myself to do it.  Instead I headed to Dillard's with the intention of buying a shirt I could wear loose and flowy like with leggings and be cute and comfortable. I tried a couple things on and sent pics to Danny to see what he thought.  I didn't hear back from him, so I called instead.  I told him where I was and that they had an extra 40% off to which he replies - "Pic didn't come through but I want to go, so come back and pick me up and I'll go to Dillard's with you."  (I swear sometimes I just fall in love with this guy all over again)

We went to lunch first, and then headed to Dillard's.  We both got a few things that were totally unncessary, but made us happy, and met Brenda at Boot Barn for more browsing, adn then Cavender;s, and then we headed home and got rodeo ready.  The girls went to Ceci's for the evening, and we haedaed to cook- off.  We had a great time.  We hung out with old friends and laughed and drank, and had a blast.  So much fun, that I don't remember getting home! Sad but true - I had a tad too much to drink and I'm not a big drinker, so I was passed out the whole ride home and then some! LOL

Saturday Morning was a whirlwind.  I woke up early, and the girls and I got ready.  We were testing for new karate belts that morning!  Luckily, our testing was at 11:30, so we didn't have to wake up early.  Also - God loves me cause I woke up feeling just fine (I should have felt like crap - but I was prefectly ok). 

The girls and I tested for our belts and while we were still in testing Danny met his sisters and mom at the movies to watch Son of God.  The girls and I were running late, but he saved us seats and we made it about 15 minutes into the movie.  It was a great movie! I loved it.  I loved watching it as a family.  I loved that Danny invited his family to join us.  I love that we have come so far in our faith and family that we were spending a Saturday afternoon at the movies watching a movie about the story of Jesus.   I mean - if you would have told me this would happen last year, I would probably have laughed in your face and said you were delirious...but here we are!  I couldn't be more happy about this!!!!

After the movie, we walked in the mall for a few minutes then headed home.  Ceci took the girls with her again, so they could go to Sergio's to celebrate the twins birthday.  Danny and I got ready and headed to cook-off once again. 

We got to cook-off at about 6, and we ate and started to drink.  I learned my lesson and since in all honesty I don't really need to drink to have fun or dance...I decided I would be the Designated driver and had only one drink, then opted for water the rest of the night.  We spent the evening with friends and family dancing, and lauging and cutting up having a good time. 

We danced so much and had so much fun.  After cook-off we ran into some old friends Chris and Christy and headed out to have a late dinner with them at Dots diner! LOL We are full of class folks! Nothing like some good ole diner food after a night full of sweaty dancing!

We made it home at about 1am, and went to bed.  No surprise that we didn't wake up in time for church on Sunday morning! While I got ready for my rodeo walk-thru's Danny watched Pastor Kerry on tv (which is so freakin cute to me...I love his enthusiasm for this church and his thirst for it.....I swear nothing makes that man sexier to me than watching him with his kids be an amazing daddy or seeing his faith shine through).

I got ready thinking I was on my own cuase I had to be there at noon, but Danny didn't have his walk-thru until 4pm.  But to my surprise, he said he would go with me and hang out! (Man I love this guy)

We were at Reliant all day! I helped with walk-thru's all morning and Danny drove around shopping and doing I don't know what.  At 3 he came back to the lot and helped me with sign in and passing things out.  We did our walk thru and the cold front came in right towards the end of it.  We wrapped things up and then headed out to get our girls.  Makaila was at Sergio's and Issy was at Ceci's.  Opposite ends of Houston! LOL.  We made the rounds getting our girls nad then had dinner at Iguana Joe's.  I was so tired! We made it home and got straight into bed!

It was an action packed weekend for us and the start of Rodeo Season which in our house is a tad hectic..but it was fun and I would do it all over again in a heartbeat.  I am so happy to be in this part of my life...the ages of ours kids is pretty easy, the support and love of our family is uncomparable, our faith is strong, our relationship is growing and developing in ways I couldn't have predicted....I am truly and utterly a blessed woman!

I hope you have a great week - and go to the Rodeo!!!!