July Flew By!!!

I can hardly believe that in 4 days July 2011 will be gone!! :( It truly did fly by! We have kept busy, and I guess that made it feel like it went by really fast! The only pictures I've taken this summer have been on my phone. The phone takes decent pictures, but I should really make more of an effort to take pictures on my good camera! I will for sure take it to the beach with us!!
This month we took several trips to the library! Like the day where Ella Cate dressed herself and picked out a Justin Bieber DVD.

We got a new roof!! The kids watched the roofers work one day before we headed to the pool with friends!

The roofers worked so hard, and despite the horrible heat, got it all done in 1 day!

We've watched lots of J.B. videos on YouTube, but Mommy's favorite is Katy Perry's "Last Friday Night" video! I love it!

Chels found a great pool in Grapevine for us to meet at. Abby napped on my lap in the shaded splash pool! I hope we get to go again before our summer is finished!

Carter and Ella

The girls had a start of the season cheer leading swim party. They were fitted for their uniforms and the practiced some cheers with Coach Kendall! They are so ready to start cheering again!!

I got a new car!!! We weren't planning on it, but my van failed inspection, and it was going to cost $1,700.00 to fix the emissions problem. We didn't want to put that kind of $ in my 6 year old van that had tons of miles, and other cosmetic issues, to say the least. So we said goodbye to the van that drove the girls home from the hospital (I had a few tears), and said hello to my new 2011 Nissan Armada!!!!! I love it! After driving around a 2005 Quest that had no bells and whistles, I now feel like I'm driving in luxury! :)
Sooooooo happy!!!!

We've gotten school supplies, backpacks, and lunchboxes taken care of! The girls didn't want their name monogrammed on their backpacks this year :(, so instead we opted for a Justice backpack with their first initial on it in glitter. They are so proud of it!

The girls had a photo-op with Justin Bieber in the Dillards fragrance department! Ha!!

The girls did an afternoon of cheer camp at the rec, and they loved it!!

I turned 33!!! I woke up to streamers and a happy birthday banner, and I couldn't stop smiling! Sam made my day! I spent the bulk of my 33rd birthday at the Arlington ISD professional development center in training, but my friends that I'm in training with did take me to lunch! :)After I got home from training I got homemade cards, and we headed to downtown Fort Worth to eat! Emma wore her birthday shirt in honor of Mommy's big day!!
It was HOT, but we walked around for a little while before heading into Mi Cocina to eat!


Ella and Mommy at Mi Cocina! After we ate we headed to get yogurt at Yummilicious! My favorite!!
We head to the beach very soon!!! I can't wait to do lots of beach posts!!

Casino Trip with MoJo

Yesterday we drove to Texarkana and picked up MoJo (my grandma), and then took her into Oklahoma to play the machines at The Choctaw Casino. I've decided after my first time gambling, that it's not my thing! :) I lost my $20 in less than 30 minutes, the smoke drove me crazy, it was freeeeeezing, and it stressed me out to watch people put their $ into those machines (I saw one lady go to the ATM 3 times). However, my MoJo is right at home at the casino, and this trip was all about her. While she played the machines we walked around and people watched for a few hours. My lucky Mo came out $100 richer!! We had lunch at the casino, and stopped off at a roadside snow cone stand. I loved driving through the tiny little towns and visiting in the car! Sooo happy I got to tag along on such a fun little day trip!

Beth's Dress Up B-day Party

The girls got to go to Beth's birthday last weekend, and they loved it! They cheered with Beth last fall, and they have reconnected with her, because Ms. Aimee is watching Beth this summer.
They got to pick our a fancy dress to dress up in, and then they got their hair and makeup done. After that, they had a real tea party! Very fancy!!


Emmy getting her hair done

Rhianna's Loud Tour 2011

Friday 7/8 Sam and I went to see Rhianna at The AAC. I found out that the tickets were $20.11 each (cause The Mavs were 2011 NBA champions), and I couldn't pass them up! Plus I love Rhianna!! My Pandora station is always set to her when I run, cause I love her music! We had a bit of trouble finding someone to keep the kids, but Uncle John and Aunt Madonna saved the day and watched them for us. We ate at the Hard Rock Cafe before the concert, and then headed to The AAC. We thought Cee Lo Green was opening for Rhianna, but apparently he dropped off the tour about 10 days before our concert, due to another commitment. J. Cole??? opened for her...1st disappointment...Rhianna was great!!! However, sadly, only about an hour after the concert a spotlight caught fire on stage, and we had to evacuate. Boo!! I was having so much fun watching her! Apparently we aren't getting a refund, and I don't think she's coming back (even though she tweeted that she would). Oh well...we had fun, and we weren't out alot of $$ for the tickets! I'll take a night out any day, even if it ends with having to evacuate the AAC..ha!
My favorite drink in the world...pickled tink at The Hard Rock...soooo yummy!!

Rhianna and I...ha!!

Strolling Sophie

The girls have had a ton of fun this summer pushing Sophie around in their strollers. Sweet Sophie is such a trooper! She just lays down and seems to enjoy the ride!

4th of July 2011

We started our 4th of July late on July 3. We decided to go to 6 Flags the night before the 4th. The show that they do at park closing time has fireworks. While the fireworks were minimal, they were still fireworks! The show also had The Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders in it, and my cheer leading loving girls thought that was the best thing ever!
With a late night at 6 Flags, getting up for Arlington's annual 4th of July Parade was a bit of a task!! So...needless to say we had a frantic morning trying to get to downtown Arlington by 9:00 am!! We couldn't miss it though! We've gone every 4th, except 1, since Carson was a baby...plus we had friends saving us a spot!!
By the time we got to the parade area, traffic was a nightmare!! We had to park far away, and I'm pretty sure we walked at least a mile and a half!! Carson's face (in the pic below) shows just how much he liked the hike!

Finally we were ready to watch!! Thankfully the Williford fam found a spot next to another teacher at our school who had put up a canopy...the shade was wonderful!!

This one remained a major grouch for the rest of the day!! He doesn't do late nights and early mornings well at all!!

Our friends who saved us a perfect spot!!

The front of the parade

The clown who spotlighted Brian for some laughs!!

Ellie was the only one up for a group pic!! My gang was grouchy with a capital G!!!

a little bribery to take pictures, as we were walking back!! Cade still wasn't up for it!

After the parade we headed to Chik fil A for lunch and to cool down!

Ellie was all smiles with her cookies and cream milkshake!


and this is why my firstborn was in no pictures!! He hates when I pull the camera (or in this case-phone) out!!
After lunch we came home, rested, and later went to the splash park. I caught the NYC fireworks on TV, and we were in bed by 9:30 pm! I heard the fireworks going off just miles from our house, but I was too tired to venture out!!

My 18 days are Over!!

After 18 days of teaching summer school, I am all finished!! We did some celebrating when I was almost done, and then once again when I was all the way done! I was so ready for my summer! Getting June, July, and half of August off is a major perk for my job. This year and last year I gave my June up to make some extra cash. Thankfully I worked with very nice people, and I had a sweet class, but I am soaking up the rest of my summer for sure!!
During the final week of summer school we took the boys to the track one evening. Carson rode and rode around and around, and Cade did some running. The girls were with Ms. Aimee that night, so the boys had Mommy and Daddy all to themselves! You can tell just how hard Carson was working (and how hot it was) in the picture above.

I did some celebrating with friends at Blue Mesa too!! I hadn't seen Julie all summer, so it was fun to catch up!!

My delicious swirl! Yummy!!

The Thursday that I finished we had a yummy dessert at Braum's!

And then finally last Saturday we had a kid free night!! That hasn't happened for a loooonnngg time! We had fun! Mall massages, The Hangover 2, Saltgrass, Yummylicious, and the gym Sunday morning before we picked up the gang!! Thoroughly enjoyed!! :)

Besties

Here are a few pictures of my very own live in besties. These 2 are together every waking (and sleeping) hour of every day, but summer always gives me a chance to observe their sweet little relationship more than usual. Don't get me wrong...they have their MOMENTS, but for the most part, they are true besties.
In the picture above Ella Cate was showing off her newly lost tooth, and Emma was sooooo proud for her! A very happy sissy moment!

Here are the sisters watching their big bro practice his swimming with Ms. Stacey.

And one of my favorite summer memories (so far)...the girls let me watch them as they danced to Hannah Montana! So much fun!!


They were really getting down! :):)