Must haves from Mansfield....

This past weekend we went to visit my BFF and college roomie Jennie and her family. I hadn't seen her in way too long and as always it was like picking up where we left off(adding some kids here and there though!)

Jennie has always had a knack for decorating. Even in college when my side of the apartment looked like well crap all of the time all of her stuff matched, went together, was kept in great shape, etc. She also has a knack for decorating when it comes to special events, ie birthdays, wedding, etc. One of my all time favorite things she has had was a cupcake stand that her hubby Cody built for their wedding reception. Well with the encouragement of Jennie and many others who have wanted to use their stand Cody has started building, painting and selling a variety of these stands. His latest turqouise stand caught my eye and I am so excited that I am the new owner of it!!! They are offering them on a new Etsy sight that I have included.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/DesignsByDurham?ref=seller_info

The stand is three-tiered but separate and stores ever so easy!

You can add ribbon to the stand, only use some of the tiers, wrap them, etc. If you visit the site you can see pics of when they used them. He is also wanting to start making college colored one so tailgating get ready! I plan on using this Sunday when we celebrate Case's bday with the family. I will be sure to post pictures.

Now of course Jennie uses her amazing talents in their home and I am always so envious of her work and her eye for everything. Inspired by Pinterest and her own ideas, Jennie has put Cody and her brother to work building some awesome custom additions to their house. It is not on their Etsy sight yet but pretty sure the following will be added.....

Chandelier in the kitchen...yes they built, painted, wired, yada yada AWESOME!!!

Custom TV frame on the mantel.

The best part of the weekend however was getting to spend time together just hanging out.

R, M, G, M and C!!

Beautiful momma and her precious honey bees. G & R

G is so cute here, poor buddy was not feeling good but was such a trooper.

I tried to get them all jumping together :)

HI-YA

Yummy dinner for the kids but amazing food for the adults....very gracious hosts

Who doesn't love smores?

Girls loving on Browning

Thank you again Jennie and fam for a wonderful weekend. Can't wait for the next visit. Love you xoxo

Extreme Home Makeover- M&Ms Bedroom Edition!

Over the Christmas holidays we decided to redo the girl's bedroom. We got new bedding from pbk, had the room painted and ordered a new dresser and chest. The girl's share a room and it had become quite claustrophobic with all of their clothes and other stuff!

Here are the before photos

Mallory strikes a pose!!

The brown dresser was once Lonnie's and I have painted it twice now(used to be black) we moved this in Case's room and now I have to redo the knobs.

We chose the color Wisteria and it came out beautiful!! Here the room had just been painted.

Voila: Mallory's side

Target has the cutest owl line that had decor that went with our pbk stuff!

We got the dressers at Rooms To Go

Love it!!

The room came out even better than I expected. I love how uncluttered it now is and how pretty. The girl's love it too. We are just waiting on one more picture that was out of stock and we need to add a ceiling fan.

Funny Little Man

Case continues to do and say things that make us laugh. Here is picture of him "planking" and a video where he talks about his favorite breakfast treat!

Old time Rock & Roll

I could not resist posting this pic of Case!!! Could he be any cuter? My little risky business...

Madison Family Movie Night

On Friday night one of the girls favorite shows, Wizards of Waverly Place, premiered a movie that they have been looking forward to for weeks.

The show was the great wizard competition to decide who the family wizard would be. I decided to turn the event into a fun night claiming it:

I got the kids spots on the couch all situated. Mallory likes to sit here(so does her pillow pet, Joy the owl and Maggie the dog)

Morgan likes this corner(as does her pillow pet and Penny the owl).

Case is all set and ready to go in his spot...where are my sisters?

Of course we had to make a place for Meredith and Julie

I went to the store and got stuff for popcorn and ice cream sundaes

Voila...

Here comes the goods(Morgan wanted to take a pic)

Our movie night was a great success. Looking forward to the next one!

Happy New Year- Ags Win!

On New Year's Eve we watched the Aggies BTHO Nortwestern at Reliant Stadium. It was great to see the Ags win especially since their last bowl win was in 2001(when Lonnie and the gang still played!)

Our seats were great with the exception of the annoying, had too much tailgating fun before the game, people behind us....




The Ladies: Paige, Me and Jenn

After the game we headed to our hotel in the Galleria. The girls went shopping as I took a much needed nap. It was a tough decision to skip out on the shopping as we were at the Galleria but I was exhausted!

Once we had napped, showered, shopped, etc we got ready for New Year's Eve!

Lonnie, Christian, Evan and Seth

Me, April and Jenn

Leslie and Lonnie

For dinner we went to El Tiempo(quite possibly the best mexican food ever!) and after a great meal we headed to Midtown for the night.

The Realtor Pose....

Billy met up with us after the game to bring in the New Year's

Me and Paige

New Year's was a great night with great friends. If the evening was a foreshadow of the year to come then we are in for a lot of laughs and good times! I am so thankful for the relationships we share with our friends and look forward to the many memories to come.

Christmas Day

After we woke up Christmas morning and played with our presents we headed over to mamaw and papaws for more presents and more yummy food and my parents joined us to eat as well. My mom in law is such a great cook that it is always a treat to go eat there!

Here was our attempt at a family picture. Madison- Party of 5(6 if you include Meredith, Mallory's doll)

We tried to get one of just the two of us.....peek a boo Mallory

Silly face!! I think Case is getting a few new molars

Mamaw and Papaw and the kids

Case....look over here

We love the silly face pose

The girls got doll outfits and a doll camping set

Evidence that Mamaw's food is yum, yum, give me some!! Case literally licking the banana pudding :)

Christmas is such a fun time when you have kids. To see their faces when they open gifts or wait in anticipation for Santa is priceless. We are extremely blessed to be close to both set of grandparents who can share in those memories as well. I am hoping one day we will get to create those kind of memories will all my sibilings and their families.

Merry Christmas 2011!