If you follow me on instagram, then you may know that we are not in California and are enjoying the Texas heat. Well, kind of enjoying. I think it takes a bit of time to get used to this heat and humidity, though we do like that the sun is pretty much out until well after 9pm over here. 

The trip here is kind of special because it marks the 10 year anniversary of Ben bringing me home to Texas. It was 10 years ago he first brought me and we had just officially become boyfriend and girlfriend. We made the long trek, with his little cousin in tow, so I could get to know his family and attend his annual family reunion. During that visit, and after seeing him interact with his family, I knew that I loved this man. Maybe that part should be left for the continuation of our love story, so I won’t go into too much details. 

Here we are 10 years later, back in San Antonio to spend time with his family and to attend his annual family reunion. This year it will be on his cousin’s ranch, so the girls are especially excited for the hay rides and horses. Actually, I am too. We haven’t been to the reunion since that first time I came to Texas and things have changed a lot now that we are married and have four kids in tow. 

There are so many memories attached to this city and different phases of our relationship that it is always good to come back. I love seeing all the trees here (I don’t understand why California doesn’t have very many), love the Tex-Mex food (oh man, we never find really good Mexican food in California like they have here), and love spending time with family. Every time we are here, we call it “laughter-noon” because we are always laughing and having a good time. San Antonio definitely equals good times. 

Any of you from or live in San Antonio, Texas? 

When I look up at the sky, I am reminded of how small I actually am, how great God is, and how the world is so much bigger than me and my wants and needs. If I had the ability to pan out, I would see that I was barely a dot compared to the grandness of the entire universe. Barely a dot, imagine that. When I need a reality check of life, I look up. 

Learned and links…

I really am bad at praying. Ugh! It’s such a cycle. 

Soul has been using the potty these past couple days! Thanks to my MIL getting started on the potty training. 

True and Brave are growing in their responsibility. 

Family and friends are so important. I am thankful for all those God has brought into our lives.

I really like Tex-Mex food. Oh boy yummy!!!

Mosquitos like me too much. Though I sure don’t like them! 

We are excited about this weekend as we have Ben’s annual family reunion! It’s on a ranch, so there will be hay rides and horses and I just know the girls will be superly duperly excited about that. Happy weekending friends!!! 

Oh how my girls love dressing up. You should see their room! There are clothes strewn all over the floor. It is horrendous. They change a gazillion times a day. One minute it is for a birthday party, another for a wedding, next minute because they are princesses. At times, okay, most times, their messes are maddening, but at the same time I am glad they are having fun playing together and using their imagination. I remember having lots of fun doing these silly things as a kid too. I also remember my mom getting mad at me for not cleaning my room.  Though I have to say, their dressing up and crazy room with clothes everywhere is kind of making me nervous for when they hit teenage years… oh boy!

This particular outfit is their princess outfit. I think it’s kind of cute how True stole my shirt and layered it and it became a dress of sorts. And Brave is always wearing that dress. Always. I am sure you will see it about twenty more times in this space. I have hid it a number of times and somehow she always finds it and ends up wearing it. Oye!

These cute little babouches, gifted from Maison Marrakech, are our house slippers. They were the first things we gave the girls once the wood floors came in. When I was little I remember I always had to wear slippers around the house because my mom said if I didn’t, I was going to grow a lot of veins on my feet. I really think that was one of her myths and legends kind of thing, and while I don’t think that is necessarily true, I do like it better when my girls wear some slippers on the hard wood floors. Plus, I got my own, mine are the white ones, and they really are so comfy to wear around. It’s an extra bonus that they are so pretty and funky!

We usually do the no shoes in the house rule, but now that we have (whitewashed) wood floors, we especially try to keep to that. The girls know they have house slippers and outside shoes. Though my question is, how do you relay to visitors that we are a “no-shoes-inside” home? Any of you do the same rule? If so, I would love to hear how you handle visitors coming over.

Running around the house playing games and making messes are what summer has been about so far. It’s a good life for these girls. And for some reason I tolerate the messes a bit better on the wood floor. Strange, I know. It looks better on wood than carpet. Watching these girls definitely make me wish I was a kid again. One of my favorite makes about these messes is the paper drawn chess set they made using their my little ponies as pawns. So cute! Love the creativity and resourcefulness that kids come up!

What have your summer days been filled with?

Our neighbor’s have all sorts of fruit trees in their yard, so when they share their harvest with us, we get superly duperly excited about it, especially when they involve donut peaches. We all plowed through these little babies at the dinner table one night and its deliciousness left us wanting more. We secretly hope our neighbor will ring the doorbell again to give us another bag. 

It is so sweet to just indulge in the simple things nature gives us. What fruits have you been indulging in lately?