Friday Favorites

My first favorite of the week, it is having this girl back from her trip. 

Before she came home, I had some time with my oldest and was able to shop & have lunch with just her. 

No pictures from this, but I did hear from one of my favorite ladies in South Africa.  I met this friend in Bogota and she is now back in South Africa.  She messaged me this week to see how I was doing and it just made my day!

I started recovering my dining room chairs this week and am trying to pull our dining room all together.  Hopefully, it will be finished soon. 

This was one original pattern of 2 of the chairs.

And the other 4 were this pattern.

And this was underneath as the pattern we used 19 years ago.

This is the new pattern, but I don't have them stapled down yet.

Avery hung pictures, so just some touch up paint, a rug, finishing the chairs and floors and this room will be finished!

We attended the Patriotic Pops free concert at Levitt Shell for the 2nd year in a row.

Brook's friend, Catherine, went with us.  Isabella was babysitting, so she wasn't with us.

Ashley & the kids met us up there too.

There were fireworks at the end of the show.

Happy Friday!!

What's Up Wednesday ~ June Edition

What We're Eating This Week..................

Sunday - French Onion Soup Chicken via the crock pot served with rice, Monday - pizza night, Tuesday - crab cakes, broccoli salad, mashed potatoes, Wednesday - church, Thursday - chicken tacos, Friday - I'm going out with friends :)

What I'm Reminiscing About...............

For the first time, I can't say that I'm really reminiscing about anything at the moment.

What I'm Loving..................

The small, every day moments with my girls because the time is short.  And also not to hot of weather so far this summer!

What We've Been Up To...................

Working on some remodeling projects before I host a baby shower at our house next month.

What I'm Dreading...............

Thankfully, Brook's oral surgery is behind us, so actually nothing at the moment!

What I'm Working On....................

Getting our dining room chairs recovered, which is part of our projects.

What I'm Excited About.............

Hosting the baby shower at our home and having some projects completed!

What I'm Watching/Reading................

Well, I just finished 9 seasons of The Office.  I am also reading the First 5 app on my phone each morning, which started a new study on Ruth this week.

What I'm Listening To................

quiet sounds around the house this morning, but in my car, I'm listening to Prime Country or the 80's channel mostly

What I'm Wearing............

Jeans and short sleeve shirts I can pair with a sweater when I go in a restaurant!

What I'm Doing This Weekend..........

Dinner with some friends, more house projects, neighborhood 4th of July fireworks

What I'm Looking Forward To Next Month......

baby shower for a friend and a visit from a friend

What Else Is New...................

I will be so glad to welcome Brook home today from her trip!  

Weekend Wrap Up

Last Monday of June.....school has been out 1 month.  And thankfully, we are having some cooler summer temperatures this past weekend due to recent rain.  It hasn't been too hot yet this summer.  I realize we haven't had August yet though!!

We started the weekend with Isabella finishing her week teaching VBS to latino kids.

Then Brook went to a conference early Saturday.....

Isabella and I went to our local farmer's market

Seeing all these peas had me telling Isabella how we would spend our time at my grandparents house helping them shell peas from the garden!  (while usually watching Hee Haw :))

If only we had one of these fancy machines which shells the peas for you!

These were our goodies which turned into dinner Saturday night.

Then we began some Saturday kitchen/house renovation project by laying new floor. Here is a before of our breakfast area.

Avery pulled up the boards to this step up we were removing to discover it was filled with sand!!  Y'all, we had an indoor sand pit! 

Shoveling sand on a Saturday, but I wasn't at the beach. 

Making progress

Currently

We did get flooring put down in our dining which makes a huge difference. It did have old carpet. 

After photo: 

Before:

And a strip was done in our den to get us started there with hopes of finishing that next week. 

I went to bed early Saturday night after a long day.  Oh, and it was my dad's birthday!!  The girls and I celebrated with he and my mom at lunch on Friday.

Sunday after church, Ashley and Pearce joined us for lunch.  While Avery, Ashley and I were talking on the back porch, I looked in the kitchen and found these 2 buddies sitting on the counter eating popsicles!   

Sunday afternoon, I was able to spend some time with a couple who leaves this week for a month training in Brussels and then moves to Bogota, just like we did 3 1/2 years ago.  It was good to have a brief visit with them before they leave.  

Here they are at our apartment in Bogota 2 years ago July 4th when they came for a visit! 

And, I finally finished all 9 seasons of The Office this weekend.  Hard work and determination :).  I cried the last 2 episodes.  There are some moments of the show that I didn't care for, but overall, it was such a funny show and you saw the good in everyone and they felt like your tv family.  Anyway, I am glad I watched it and think back to my time when I unexpectedly saw "Jim" in NYC last fall.

Whew, that was a full fun weekend for me!

Friday Favorites

Isabella has helped at a Spanish speaking VBS this week.  She has done a great job volunteering teaching these kids! 

She also had a milestone in her driving this week....going through a drive thru window, which of course was Chick-fil-A!! 

The girls and I went swimming this week on the warmest day and it was a great 1st day of swimming for us.  We hope to do it again as the temperatures rise.

I spent a few hours with Brook one morning this week doing some shopping.  We also went to eat lunch at Steak and Shake, a place she has always wanted to try. 

I was reminded again this week of my garage being one of my favorite things as I pulled up in the rain one morning.  So thankful for this. 

May you find favorite things to be thankful for this weekend!