Weekend Rewind - Jan 10

We started off well.  This past week I took Izzy to guitar class and Tony and Sam came over for dinner and to pick up her car.  She took a quick trip to Mexico and made it back safely...thank God!

So she went to guitar with me and when I got home I made our chicken enchiladas, rice and salad.  Makaila went to her class and by 9 pm, they headed home and we did showers and bed!

Tuesday Danny started the potato soup while I was at work, so when I got home, he had already taken Izzy to class, I made some bacon and then we ate dinner.  he left to a funeral and the girls and I ate dinner, took Makaila to class, and got ready for our evening to end.  The soup was fantastic.  I had never made any before And I loved it!

Wednesday, after work I came home and relaxed a bit, then took the girls to church and dance class, came home, made the meatball subs, then picked up Makaila.  We ate dinner (I was not a fan - but Issy loved em), watched tv, then Issy went to bed.  Makaila and I stayed up talking about high school drama for a bit, and finally at 11:30 I went to bed!

Thursday I had a rodeo meeting after work, so I headed straight to Reliant.  I was way early and I opted to catch up on my bible reading instead of going shopping to kill time.  My friend at work told me about a site that had the audio readings broken down daily to help you "read" the bible every day in a year. So I sat in my car for an hour and heard the first 4 days, and then another 2 on the way home!  I am already caught up!  And this is some juicy stuff!

I made it home a little late, but I made tacos, we ate dinner, took showers, and called it a night.  I stayed p working on rodeo stuff for awhile, then called it quits too!

Friday I worked all day, and then came home to watch tv, start laundry, and relax.  I made pork chops, gravy, mashed potatoes, and corn for dinner! We ate, watched more tv, listened to the rain and then went to bed! LOL We lead very luxurious lives...and if you are jealous, I can give you some laundry and dishes to fix you up real quick!

Saturday Dan and I woke up early and got a head start.  We made it to Wal-Mart, washed my car, he changed my oil while I cleaned the kitchen.  I worked on putting up Valentine Decorations in the house and then took Isabella to Target to get a birthday gift for Ireland.

Danny made chili, and we watched the Texans game, but I lost interest real  quick and instead went to drop off some donations at Goodwill, and return some stuff at TJ Maxx.  Once the game ended we drove over to Cypress to take Issy to the birthday slumber party!  We hung out for awhile, and got to see her make her neon wardrobe and play before we headed home.  

We headed home and called it a night real quick.  Danny stayed up watching more football and I went to bed.

Sunday morning we all went to church and they started a new series called UNCHARTED: Fidning Divine Direction in Confusing Times
Notes are as follows:

1. Look to God for Direction 
            * The divine Map : The Bible 
            * The Divine Guide: The Holy Spirit
 ~Put God first and everything else falls into place!~
2. Chart your course with Divine Questions
             * The Question of Spiritual Growth 
             * The question of divine peace
Do I have peace about a decision? Ask your self when making any decision big or small - Will it bring me closer to God or take me further from him??
3. Surrender complete control to the captain. 

Isaiah 43:2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they will not overflow you.  When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched, nor will the flame burn you. 

After church we had lunch with the Ramirez family at La Villa then headed back to Cypress to pick up Isabella.  We made a pit stop at the Cypress Outlets then came home empty handed! LOL I was so proud of us!

Danny and Isabella stayed home while Makaila and I took next weeks Meal plan to the store and bought groceries.

Our meal plan for this week looks like this:

Sunday - Lasagna Rolls and salad
Monday - Pepperoni Chicken and salad
Tuesday - Stir Fry w steamed rice
Wednesday - Chicken Tortilla soup
Thursday - Cheese Steak with Oven fries
Friday - Spaghetti or left over chili
Saturday - sandwiches or left overs

I made dinner, we ate, and then I made chore cards for the girls to have a way to earn money.  I am not a fan of paying them to do chores, because they need to be doing those....these cards are to earn money for doing your chores without being hassled and reminded constantly,and for picking up extra chores.  They now have the opportunity to make about $15 - $20 in a week given they stay on top of it...which in turn will save me LOTS of time in the evenings and weekends from playing maid...they are loving the idea.....lets see how long it lasts!!

Isabella's helped me with dinner and we backed chocolate chip cookies from scratch, and then prepped all our meats for the week! The girls spent the next hour before bed cleaning and tallying up their money makers for the evening.  Isabella earned 2.25, and Makaila earned $6 on their first nights.....watch out!

Now...lets call it a night and get ready for what this week brings us.  Hope you have a blessing and love filled week...if it starts to go south..call me...I have cookies! LOL

2016 Kick Off Review

This year has started well.  I have a few resolutions for the year that I am really hope I can keep.  While I want to loose some weight and eat better...my resolutions are these:
1. Get closer to God (read the bible every day this year)
2. Meal plan (this will help us on our money spending and on how we eat)
3. Declutter our house/lives (plan on focusing on one room each month, and then move on to our closets, etc)
4.  Cut back on spending (a work in progress - but a goal none the less)
5. Pay off debt (Dave Ramsey)

We spent New Years Eve at the high school parking lot with Makaila driving.  It's crazy to think that this year she will be getting her license and the growing just does not stop.  But either way we spent an hour driving, talking, parking, reversing, etc.  We both had our fill then headed home to relax.

 Later that night  we headed to Ernie's house to ring in the New Year with the Limon family.  We celebrated, took lots of pictures, danced, laughed and hung out, and then all hugged and kissed to ring in the New Year.  Isabella danced her tushy off, and finally @ 4 we headed home and went to bed!

In case you ever need some new moves..this kid has moves for days!!

We spent New Years Day in bed until after noon...we needed to recover!  Once we got up and going, Danny had to work so the girls and I spent our evening going to Target, and Dillard's and then we stopped and picked up Inside out from the Redbox, and called it a night.  We watched the movie and did laundry and went to bed at a bout midnight! 

That Saturday, we woke up with a plan, and were out of the house by 10 am.  We headed to Willowbrook Mall so that Issy could finish off her gift card money...it was driving her crazy to have it! LOL She is most definitely not a saver! We went through the mall for awhile, headed to Hobby Lobby, then to the movies to see Daddy's Home....they only had front row seats, so we bought tickets for the next show and then headed to lunch at Olive Garden! We killed time at another Hobby Lobby where I found tons of Christmas stuff for next year (I know....I need to stop...that was it...maybe)

We made it to our movie, and it was super cute! We came home and watched tv, and put away all our Christmas decor.  I actually ended up spending 3 hours reorganizing all our Christmas totes, and cleaning out our attic.  It's nice and clean now and all out totes are organized and labeled! BY 11:30 my back was killing me and I was at an end.  Totes and attic organized and pretty...now bedtime!! 

Sunday we headed to church and kicked the year off fantastically with Dr. Lowery!  I love that guy.  The girls and I left church and headed over to Ceci and Ray's to watch the game.  We picked up hot dogs and chips on the way and ate while we watched the game (truth be told I finished reading my Nicholas Sparks book) LOL 

After that we came home and I planned out our meals for the week, and then headed to the groceries to buy what we needed.  We watched tv for a bit, ate dinner and called it a night. 

Our meal plans for this coming week are as follows: 

Monday - Chicken Enchiladas w rice and salad 

Tuesday - Potato Soup 

Wednesday - Meatball Subs 

Thursday - Beef tacos 

Friday - Pork Chops w/ Mashed potatoes, and corn 

Saturday - Chili 

Sunday - Lasagna Rolls with salad and garlic bread

I'm crossing my fingers that we can stick to it! 

Anyway - we called it a night and went to bed.  I was in and out of sleep and then woke up with a panic.  I couldn't put my finger on it but I knew something was wrong!  I got up and walked into the living room and it reaked of gas!!! I panicked.  I woke up Makaila and told her to get dressed and got ready to get out of the house...I called Danny and he turned off our alarm, and then I found the source...one of the igniters on the stove was slightly turned on!!! I ended up having to air the house out for the next hour!  I was so sleepy this morning!! 

But luckily we were all safe and we found it when we did before the situation got worse! 

Have a great week!!! Oh....another resolution is to actually stay on top of the weekly blogging....wish me luck! 

2015 In Review

This was one hectic year with tons of highs and lows and I for one and ready for a fresh start and new goals, and a stronger relationship in 2016!!

Looking back I chose moments in each month that were my favorites and their favorites to just kinda take in what 2015 brought our family!

In January we celebrated, did Rodeo kick off, took prep pictures for Makaila's 15, and took a weekend road trip trough hill country with Danny.  This picture was taken at St. Arnold Brewery were we went to celebrate Brenda's birthday...and that day we bought Makaila's 15 dress.  

February - On a random weeknight we got remarried in our living room to give Isabella the once in a life time opportunity of being the flower/ candy girl at our wedding.  It was determined that it was a life long dream of hers, and since we are loving and supportive parents we made her dreams come true by getting dressed, filling a bowl with candy in lieu of flowers and letting Makaila marry us in our living room so Isabella could throw candy and be happy! 

March for our family means Rodeo.  We love us some HLSR!!

April for us was spent with a lot of family time, picture taking (Prepping for the 15) and clearly some silly string! 

May was filled with more 15 prepping, shopping, and a few kicks in between.  Danny started a new job, and some changes started taking place in our house!!

June was huge!  Our baby turned 15 we hosted the best biggest most awesome Quinceanera known to man.  Everything was perfect and it was fantastic.  

but to be honest the memory I think took place in June that I think was even more important was this one...7 people I love took a step of faith and were baptized in the name of Jesus!!!!  This still makes me cry tears of joy!  It fills my heart to see this picture and remember this pivotal moment for these people.  I couldn't be more proud or happy for a single one of them.  And knowing that Danny and Makaila took that step together and he lead her as a man of God to do this...be still me heart!!

If June felt crazy...July took it into overdrive...Makaila went on her very first Missions trip and we are so proud and happy for her. 

 Isabella too took her first 3 day trip alone on the IMPACT youth church camp!!  She loved it!!

Makaila and I joined my sisters family on a trip to New York!!

August brought with it the end of summer which we went out on a bang.  This month included multiple trips, 

 multiple concerts

 some dancing

 some beach time

 an 8 year old Nerd party

 and two back to school beauties!!

 In September, we kept the party train going and spent all our time with family and friends making memories, sharing laughter and love and taking in our blessings!!

October stared with great joy and new life with the birth of my great nephew TJ

 followed by some Astros cheering and some last minute family outings and celebrations!! 

 Sadly it was also the month my Grandpa Matt was called to heaven.  

 I'm so grateful that we as a family were all gathered with him and there for every moment with him and my dad.  

We also lost Momo in October who we loved so very much!

 Danny was also bale to celebrate some birthdays with his parents and siblings, and we ended the month together as a family at church...

In November I took a sisters trip to San Franscisco!

 We took Izzy to her first Christian Concert to see Third Day!

 We took Makaila to Sulfur Springs to a tournaments in which she took 1st place in every category!!

 We made a pit stop in Paris Texas!

 And we had Thanksgiving as a family of 4 grateful and blessed!

 December was filled with kisses 

 lights

 Santa

 more lights

 JESUS

 LOVE

 FAMILY

 gifts

 FAMILY

 and MORE FAMILY!!

Overall 2015 was good to us.  We had some definite life changing moments, some fantastic memories, but most importantly we made it through another 365 days of blessings.  We will start 2016 as a healthy happy family of 4 ready to take on the world.  I pray that we live a life that is pleasing to God.  I pray that my children feel loved, safe, and blessed.  I pray that we excel financially, mentally and romantically in our household.  I pray for growth and excellence in my marriage.  That I become the wife and mother God has called me to be.  I pray that I learn more control over my mouth and that I and my husband will be living example of Godly people for our children! 2016...BRING IT ON!