{Five on Friday // New Hair // Gearing up for the Rodeo}

Happy Friday!!!

Linking up with Darci @ The Good Life for Five on Friday

{ O N E }

I got new hairs this week! I found a picture on Pinterest and wanted it!! I usually keep my hair close to it's natural color in the Fall and add the blonde in during the Summer. I went blonde a little earlier this year. I love it. Hubby Loves it. Mason loves it. Winna winna chicken dinna. :))

  { T W O }

While Mason and I were at my hair apt Nathan was home alone. And he was so bored out of his mind that he did nothing but eat junk food. This makes me laugh because it's so not like him. He had 2 bowls of ramen noodles, a bowl of cereal (with two cups of sugar), chips, a package of zebra cakes and who knows what else. He fell asleep in 10 seconds flat that night. I told him it was from the junk food coma! ha. 

{ T H R E E }

Texas weather is so bi-polar. We were in the seventies over the weekend and now we're back into the 30s-40s this week. This morning on may to take Mason to school it was 17. S E V E N T E E N. Too cold for this Texan. I'm ready for Spring and patio weather! My boys and I need to get out and play!!

{ F O U R }

So, I got a new blog design this week!! And? I'm in love with it. Aimee at Dear Harper is the skills behind the new design. Y'all, if you're looking for a new blog design she's your gal! Seriously! She was so sweet, quick and easy to work with. Everything I asked for? She nailed!

 

{ F I V E }

Tomorrow we are heading to the Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo. This is a tradition for the Hall family. This will be Nathan's 32nd time, my 18th, and Mason's 4th. I am so excited! I love it, I really do. And this year we have the best seats that we've ever had. Right above the chutes. It should be a good time!  I love dressing Mason up for the Rodeo! Below is a picture of the last three years.

 

{Thankful Thursday - a messy house but a warm heart}

Sometimes I get frustrated when there are toys on every square inch of our house...but I keep reminding myself how incredibly blessed I am to have a little boy that fills this home with much more than just toys all over the house. He fills our home with love and laughter and so much happiness.

{It's the Little Things - Week 1 - A heart shaped Leaf}

So excited to be linking up with the sweet Ashley from Words about Waverly and Jess from Sadie Sky Boutique for It's the Little Things. I just think this is the best idea for a linkup. Us Mommies always want to remember those little things, right? I know I do. 

The other day Mason and Nathan were playing outside while I was inside cleaning and such. Mason came in with a leaf that was shaped like a heart.

 

He said that he picked out for me and his Daddy because he loves us so much!!

And a video...

What has your little{s} done lately that you want to always remember?

{Texas Tuesday - The Rustic}

Hey y'all!! Happy Texas Tuesday!!

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What is Texas Tuesday? A chance for you to show off the awesomeness that is TEXAS!! You can blog about anything; restaurants, vacation spots, venues, concerts, your hometown, shops, fashion, sports, etc. The linkup is not limited to Texans, we just ask that the post is about Texas. 

We don't make following any of the hosts a requirement, but we do ask that you include our button and at least post about a Texas related topic. Any links that are not related to the link up will be deleted. (button code is in grab box below the image above)
 
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 Nathan and I had been wanting to visit The Rustic for a while now. It's a restaurant/bar owned by Pat Green. We decided to go for an early birthday dinner for me. 

We got there at 5:45 and the place was insanely packed! We were in the parking lot and out of the 50 or so people we saw there were NO children. {this should have been our first warning} We of course had Mason with us, so I started to worry. Nate went and asked one of the workers and they said yes, children are allowed.  We knew it was a restaurant, with a bar and a lawn section for live music. But, we checked the calendar and thought we were getting there before the music and bar crowd. ha!

We all walked in to the hostess booth to put our name down - just a 2.5 hour wait. And the backyard was first come first serve...so we ventured out there. Still NO kids in sight! I am sure Mason was the only child in that whole place! The backyard was like a circus. So.many.people.

Nathan and I both agreed that we should leave and find somewhere else to go! We felt out of place. One, because we were married, two because we were over the age of 25, and three because we had a child with us! 

We do want to go back sometime. Maybe for a date night! And maybe a little earlier than 5:45. We've heard the skirt steak and the desserts are out of this world!

Have you ever been to The Rustic? What did you think?

{Welcome home, Trent}

Happy Monday, friends!!

What a weekend we had!! I couldn't say anything until now {for obvious safety reasons}, but one of our best friends came home from a 197 day deployment!!!! Nathan and Trent have been friends since they were like four. And his wife is one of my best friends. Anyhow, he arrived this past Sunday morning and Krista surprised him by having her parents, his mom & sister and her fiance and us there to welcome him home. 

This is our 2nd time to be there for a return from deployment. You can read about our first time, here. Due to some complications at the gate check in, we missed them landing the first time. This time we were there for the whole thing. To sum it up into one word - amazing!!!

Their flight was scheduled for 2:20 in the morning. So we slept a couple hours, woke up and hung out at the Air Force Base a few hours, and then back to sleep for a few hours. It was crazy, but worth every single second.

We all hung out and waited in one of the hangars there on base. There were so many little kids and my heart was so full knowing they would all soon be reunited with their loved ones. They had the Cars movie playing for the kids and they had a huge table setup with drinks, granola/breakfast bars, fruit and pop tarts.


And the anticipation of seeing Trent and seeing him re-united with his family was most overwhelming {in the best way}. Could you imagine? After 197 days of not seeing or touching? Skype and Facetime are great, but it's just not the same.

I think he finally walked in around 2:30ish...and...well...just look at the pictures!!!

So sweet. So perfect. So Awesome.

Pure happiness!

Trent, thank you for all that you do!

{Weekend Wrap Up/My Birthday}

Happy Monday, friends!!

We had a great weekend. It almost continues through today. Almost. My boys are off, but I have to work. But hey, if I have to work at least it's at home!!! {So so thankful for this opportunity}

Friday my boys took me to Ulta and let me go in by myself for however long I wanted!! I am pretty sure I heard angels singing!!! It was greatness. I went to get my full free size Calvin Klein mascara....butletsbehonest....I knew I'd find a few other things I just needed! ha! And I did. I got quite the haul. Oh, I almost forgot...this was after I got to go to Target all by myself earlier that day! I got makeup there too. I found some great contouring tutorials on Pinterest and needed the makeup to try it out.

That evening we ate dinner at Taco Bell. It's what Mason wanted, so we obliged. And I have to tell a funny story. An embarrassing one, actually.

...we were sitting in a booth and I went to get out to get something and busted my butt! I fell flat on my butt. In my defense, I thought the booth was longer and I was sliding out to get from behind the table...but yeah, it wasn't.

Mason held in his laugh as long as he could and Mason said, "Mama, you shouldn't do that" and "You should tell them you spilled your food all over the floor, but it was an accident". And then Nate made fun of me for being "old" since it was just a day before my birthday!

That evening we visited my parents for a bit and then came home to relax and hang out.

Saturday morning we saw a picture on Instagram that someone posted of a Chick Fil A breakfast and we hopped straight out of bed to head to ours! It looked delicious and we were hungry! Mason and I went in our pajamas! We came back home and ate and then hung out for the rest of the afternoon. I organized all of my makeup {new and old} and my boys played outside.

Early that evening my inlaws took us to Babes for supper. It was delicious and of course the company was awesome. At one point the Hokey Pokey came on and Mason hopped out of his chair. Our waitress could tell that he wanted to dance so she invited him to dance with her. He was so excited! And he got up there and did the Hokey Pokey in front of the whole restaurant. It was awesome!! And this Mama was so proud of him. Me makes my heart soar!

That evening we visited my parents again and then back home. It was a good birthday.

Sunday. Oh Sunday. This was my favorite day. We went to lunch at El Fenix and then to Tractor Supply. Then we headed home to play outside. And that we did! We took the Trail Wagon over to the pasture and we were outside for most of the day. The weather was absolutely perfect! Just me and my boys out in the big wide open. LOVE!

We found a neat little area....circled in trees with green grass {almost everywhere is brown and dead}. It's the coolest! The boys want to put some kind of {adult sized} clubhouse out there. I wouldn't mind it either.

How was your weekend? What did you do?

{Five on Friday // Motorcycles, Tractors and Cement Trucks}

It's Friday! Whoop Whoop!!!

Linking up for Five on Friday.

- O N E -

My sweet boy had the flu this week. He did have the flu shot this year {and every year before}, but still got the bug somehow. Breaks my heart! I think the fever was the worst part of it, though. Fever just makes you feel crummy. He did have some congestion and a sporadic cough, but that was it. His fever started Sunday morning and they count that as the first day of the flu. By Tuesday at lunchtime his fever went way and hasn't came back. Thank you Jesus!

- T W O -

I haven't left the house since Monday {to take Mason to the Dr}. We've lived in pajamas this week. We shower and then put on a fresh set of pajamas. I've been too mentally exhausted to even care! I just hate when my baby is sick. I feel so helpless and it stresses me out. 

- T H R E E -

I've made mostly crock-pot meals this week. I wasn't sure how this week was going to go with a sick baby, so I planned easy. All of the recipes we tried were from the Crockin Girls website. Monday I made the Apple Pork Loin. YUM! We will definitely be making this again. Tuesday I made the Orange Chicken. It was okay. Not a favorite. Wednesday was the only day we didn't make a crockpot meal. Thursday we made Creamy Chicken and Rice. 

- F O U R -

My birthday is tomorrow and we don't have a single thing planned. I wasn't sure how Mason would be feeling by then, so we haven't made plans. Also, seems like everyone else we know is sick. My inlaws, my nephews, etc.  That's okay by me though. I'm fine with not making a fuss about it! :)) Although, feeling quite blessed to be sharing my 18th birthday with Nate and my 4th to have my sweet Mason to celebrate with me. God surely did bless me with those two!

- F I V E -

My inlaws are having a new/extended driveway put in this week....which means tractors and cement trucks....and a certain little boys dream come true!! I took him over Thursday afternoon to see the guys at work. And he got to put his handprint in Nana and Papa's concrete. He was pretty excited!

Happy Friday friends! Any plays for the weekend?