Sunday Funday ~~ SIMC

We had a super fun weekend.  

We went to my Mother-in-Law's house,
and went to church with her on Sunday,
and my Mama came over for a visit on Saturday.
It was a very productive weekend;
we got a lot done BUT had a lot of fun too.

I had my first fire in my new fire pit.  Loved it!

It is so relaxing to me to sit by a fire.

My MIL has flowers blooming all over her yard,
in pots and planted in the ground.
It's so pretty.

And these, of course, just pop up wherever they want.

Watch out for Gators!

Elayna has always been scared to go down the slide.
In this picture, she was contemplating the situation.....

And in this one....she finally did it!

This is Elayna with her friend, who spent the night with us Saturday night.
This is the only pic I took of them together.
Lovely shot, no?

I also didn't get any pics of the other kids, who were all there today.
Woops.

And this is our Bo.
I think he's awake but ignoring me.
We washed all of the dogs this weekend,
 so they're all fresh and sassy now.

Hope you enjoyed your weekend!

Change.

I've never been a big fan of change.  I'm sure I've mentioned that here before.
I don't rearrange my furniture.  I get in ruts.  I usually keep the same hair color and style.  I'm  little outdated.

But sometimes in life we find ourselves in the middle of a whole lotta change, and we just have to roll with the punches.  Let me tell you what has changed in my life, just in the past six months: 

My marital status, twice: (divorce and then remarriage)

My last name:  (technically twice also. I had my maiden name restored when John and I divorced but didn't officially change anything since I knew I was marrying Byron.)

My job:  I started a new job in October.  Even though it's still in the health care field which I've worked in for almost 7 years now, it's totally different from what I've done before.  For the most part, I love it.  Just last week I had a sweet little old lady hold my hand and tell me there is a special place for me in Heaven.  But, it's definitely challenging as well.

My home:  I moved out to the woods with my love in December.  My husband welcomed me into his beautiful home and I could not love it more.

   



My car:  I kept the car when John and I split, but gave it back to him a few months ago  It needed more work than I wanted to pay for. It wouldn't survive the trips down the long dirt road to our home, anyway.  Now we just use Byron's big red 4x4 truck, which I LOVE.

Pets:  Byron came with a cat and dog, Mama Kitty and Patchy, whom he loves.  Since we got together, we acquired a little ankle-biter dog for me, Mackenzie, and then ended up with Byron's son's dog, Bo.  I adore all of these animals, but Patchy most of all.  He is an American Bulldog, about 11 years old, and just a wonderful animal.

Byron & Mama Kitty

Sweet Patchy

A-dork-able Bo

Crazy Mackenzie

 

Family: I have gained a Mother-in-Law, a stepson, and a brother-in-law.  Also, my stepson has a girlfriend whom we consider another one of our kids.  And a whole, wonderful, loving extended family.

Lifestyle: I now live in a world of hunting and country life.  My husband has outfitted me in head-to-toe camo.  I have learned so much from him.  Our yard attracts turkeys, raccoons, opossums, deer, hogs, coyotes, and who knows what else. I learned how to cook wild hog in the crockpot.
 Yes, these are MY boots on MY feet.

His & Hers Phone Cases

Home.....

        

For a girl who is resistant to change, that is a WHOLE LOTTA CHANGE in a short period of time.
It's no wonder I get a little overwhelmed sometimes.

But there is a contentment in this life that I have never before known.  A security and a feeling of protection and safety.

I guess sometimes.....change really is good.


Linking up with:

   

Mosaic Monday

Cuteness in my City

I decided to give myself more time to edit the prom pics, and post some pics from this weekend today.
I'm making you wait for the prom pics.  Because I am evil like that.

But it's okay, because for today, I offer you CUTENESS OVERLOAD.

My Mother-in-Law just got her second toy Australian shepherd puppy.
Her good friend Sue did the same.  They now have four different toy Aussies of different ages and sizes, between the two of them.

It's like a Puppy Chow commercial when her friend is visiting.
TOO DARNED CUTE!!

Meet Tucker, my MIL's new pup.
He is 3.5 months old.

Tucker is sweet, cuddly, and kind of a fraidy-dog.
I wuv him.

This is Tanner, 8 weeks old.
He is feisty and probably thinks he's a rottweiler.
GRR!

"I am Tanner; I am FEROCIOUS!"

"I am also a big fan of belly rubs."

Tucker, Toby, and Tanner.
MIL's friend Sue's oldest dog, Buddy, would not pose for me.

And here's what I did today:
relaxed by MIL's pool.

Life is good! =) =)

Visit Unknown Mami for more SIMC posts.....

Sundays in my City - Coco

This weekend we leash -walked a bunny.

We wanted the bunny to have some outside time but of course, couldn't just let her roam free.  I bought her a collar, but still was a little nervous; she's so little, what if the collar slid off?
We have a fenced area which we call a kennel.  The dogs go in there occasionally.  Elayna and I decided to bring her out there to walk around, just in case the collar was too loose and slipped off.

The collar fit fine and it all went well.  Coco hopped around all over the place; she obviously LOVED being outside!

It's funny how much personality
a quiet little bunny can have.
And she's only bitten me twice.

Random pic of mushrooms,
which I like to call Smurf Houses.

One more Bonus shot - I looked out the window the other day to see the hill just behind our house,
COVERED with cardinals.  Some females but mostly gorgeous, bright red males.
They were SO pretty! I scared a few away but managed to get a pic of several of them.

Visit Unknown Mami for more Sundays in my City - 

it's like a trip around the world, without ever leaving your living room!

Speaking of UM - last week on SIMC I posted the photo below.  Claudya (Unknown Mami) loved it so much and she suggested I print it out and display it in my home.  I've never displayed my own photos before (except for people pics) but she made me feel SO good - so I did it!   I have an 8x10 in the process of printing right now.

What do you think? Display-worthy?

Eventful Sunday in my City

As I mentioned before, we celebrate birthdays around here for at least a month week.

So this is really more of a "Weekend in my City" post.

• For our family birthday celebration on Saturday, we went to my parents' house. 

 I made Three Cheese Chicken Parmesan, with spinach and dinner rolls.  

For dessert, Shelbie and her BFF Ashlee made rainbow cupcakes, 

and Elayna chose Blue Bunny White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Ice Cream.  

It was ALL absolutely delicious!

• Hayleigh is walking now and we had a BLAST playing with her.

That's Tim on the couch.  Hayleigh is pretty much his shadow!
They are so cute together.

Hayleigh and Elayna

• This weekend we also got a new addition to our family.

Elayna & Bo

A little backstory here: 

Shelbie and Hunter's son, Tyler, have known each other and gone to school together for years.  

They are not close friends but they run in the same circles.  

Tyler has dated several of Shelbie's friends.

Anyway, one of their mutual friends found this gorgeous puppy a couple of months ago.  Her parents wouldn't let her keep him, so Tyler ended up with him.  He originally planned to give the pup to his girlfriend, but her parents vetoed that idea.  So Tyler tried to keep him himself, but between school and baseball and of course having a girlfriend, he just doesn't spend enough time with the pup.
In fact, we puppy-sat him for a weekend a while back, I blogged about it here.

So Tyler called Dear Old Dad.

Meet Bo, the newest resident at the Casa de Dysfunction!

He is beautiful, a truly gorgeous dog.  He is ALL puppy.  

Sweet, affectionate, playful, HIGH - ENERGY.

I get tired just watching him.

If you're counting, that brings the pet total to 3 dogs, one cat, and one rabbit.

And one tired Mama.

Zzzzzz.......

Visit not-so Unknown Mami for more Sundays in my City posts!