Officially Fall!

Ok so it may not officially be fall outside, but inside it's sure getting there!!  I found this fun idea to make pumpkins from old dryer vents on pintrest and decided to give it a whirl.  Tres even jumped right in to help me (he held while I spray painted). 



One tube made three pumpkins.  I used sticks from my front yard for the stems and some green raffia for the vine!  I think they turned out pretty cute.

The mantle isn't quite finished but I here it is with the pumpkins. 

Happy Fall!!



As Promised...

Here are some pictures from Ryker's birthday party.  These were pictures my mom took for me, and there must have been a smudge on the lens.  Some of the pictures have a slight haze in the middle... Just ignore that! 

Here's a couple of pictures of the table.  There were Cannonballs (melon balls), Arrrgachoke and Spinach dip, Pirate's Booty Popcorn, and Pirate Ship Planks (graham crackers dipped in chocolate and peanut butter).  And a special shout out to my Grandma Drue for making the table cloth.

The pirate ship was inflated until my dad and Tres got it out in the heat and it popped!!  So sad.  The rest of the balloons survived!!

He didn't understand the candle, but he was interested in it.  The Dickerson girls were so sweet.  They waited so patiently while Ryker opened up other gifts even though they brought their's over to him.  They had colored on sheets of paper "pirate maps" and put thme with his gift!  SO CUTE!!!  I wish I had taken a picture of that!

 This is the Brownie my mom and I made to celebrate Tres' birthday on Sunday.  His actual birthday isn't until the end of the month but since family was here we went ahead and celebrated it.

 My mom made him a big basket of OU stuff!!  He LOVED it.  Everything was red.  Our whole lunch consisted of red things.

 Micaiah gave him a Thor tshirt.  He always tells Tres he has to be Thor when they play.

 Thank you Toy Story 3 for teaching Micaiah how to use a screw driver to undo Buzz's back...  He was constantly saying he needed a screw driver to fix Buzz.

 One of our gifts to Ryker was a water table that looks like a Pirate ship!  We set it up in the back yard for the kids to play with during the party too.

 M was my big helper while I was making the cake.

It was such a fun weekend!!  Thank you to everyone who helped make it so much fun! 
I'm not sure what happened to the first few pictures, but I can't seem to fix them without redoing the entire post... Oh well!  Enjoy!!

Birthday Video

Here's is the video I made for Ryker's 1st Birthday.  Enjoy!!

Mandi Lou

Home Again!

Well we are back!!!  Ryker and I had so much fun spending a couple of weeks back home.  He loved getting to play with his cousins and hang out with his Lolly and Pop.  He even got to meet his Great Grandparents (my mom's parents) for the first time!  So much fun!!  As much fun as we had and as hard as it was to leave everyone again we are ready to be back home and get back into our routine. This past week we had Ryker's first birthday and a party on Saturday to celebrate!!  Unfortunately my camera is dead and I can not find my charger.  I only have a few pictures I took with my phone.  As soon as I get the pictures my mom took I'll post those.  So here are just a few until then.

Here's his pirate ship cake.

 Even Dooley, my sister-in-law's dog, came dressed for the party.

 This was a firend of my mom's creation.  Such a cute addition to the party.  My mom did a great job of putting the whole tree together.

 My mom found this pirate monkey on clearence at Hobby Lobby.  I painted him and hot glued him to a bowl I found for a dollar.  This was the Pirate Treasure that the kids who came to the party got to take home in a little loot bag!

We had such a great time and were so blessed by everyone who joined us in celebrating!

Mandi Lou

Party Time!!

Around 2 o'clock everyday I hear the mail slot clank and the mail plop to the ground.  When I went in to pick it up today a fun surprise had come in.  Ryker recieved his first piece of mail!! 

He wouldn't sit still long enough for a good picture.  That's the best I could get.

 Here's the envelope after he had played with it.  So fun to see it addressed to him and from his cousin!

Inside was an invitation to his cousin's birthday party.  He's having a super hero party.   

 On the back of the invite both his 3year old cousin and 1 year old cousin had written him notes!

We are getting super excited for our first trip back to Oklahoma since we moved.  It'll be so much fun getting to see everyone including my grandparents from Indiana! 

Mandi Lou

Summer Time!!

Well it's been nothing short of hot and dry here. We've been busy with different activites to aquaint us with everyone down here.  It's been nice and has kept us cool.  During the day is a different story.  Ryker and I have spent a lot of time setting up his little pool.  It took awhile but he has really taken to it.  I think he likes the water hose the best.

Even the dog wanted to get in on it.  What are you doing to stay cool??

Mandi Lou

Home Sweet Home

As promised... Our House!  (and a few extra things...)


I start with the first... Here are some photos from Tres' graduation party before we left.

So excited for Tres to graduate.  Amy (his oldest sister) was thrilled to be able to hood him!

 Big thanks to our friend Brandon who helped me with all the labels for the party!

Check out the brain cubes we were popping weeks in advance.

 The stethoscope on the top was a gift from me and my entire family for his graduation.  His mom gave him a beautiful leather doctor's bad that I don't have a picture of him with.

 This is the first time he had seen the cake.  The doctor's bag first aid kit was from Ryker... very fitting I thought.

 My mom found this shirt at Penny's and thought it would be perfect for the occasion.

Alright.  Now for the House.

The bar's a little messy but here's the back living room.  The view out the window is the backyard.

 One side of the fire place.

 Notice my cute cookie jar... it actually has cookies in it! 

My family left us messages before they left for Oklahoma.

 On the other side of the kitchen. 

 View from the other end of the room.

 You can partially see the other side of the fireplace. 

 I guess you would call this our "formal" living room.  I wouldn't really say anything is too formal in our house though.

 Here's my Aunt Claudia's favorite piece of furniture in our house. 

 Guest/Ryker's bathroom. 

 Ryker's room!

 The only thing lacking in his room are curtains, which I am in the process of trying to figure out.

Any suggestions?

I left off our bedroom and bathroom because it is far from finished.  It's extremely plain right now.  I will post about it after I get working on it.

Well there's lots of pictures.  Hope you enjoy!!

What's going on with you??

Mandi Lou