Catching up with some old pals...

This last Sunday evening, I got to go out for some real live girlie time! Girlie time with several of my old work pals, that I just don't get to see much anymore.

Recently my good friend Melissa (she and I started working in the NICU at Cook's on the same day) has been through some difficult times. She lost her mother in law to cancer in February and then just 2 weeks later, her dad was diagnosed with a very rare form of lymphoma that is at Stage 4. Needless to say she needs her friends right now at this trying time. So we arranged an evening out for dinner and fellowship. We all met at Pappasitos in Ft. Worth. We had a wonderful time and I think it was just the pick me up she needed.

I would appreciate any and all prayer for healing for her father, Mike.

These gals and I go way back. Back to when we were brand new graduate nurses, back to when we were singles, back to before we were mothers...it is so rewarding to have a history with your pals. I am thankful to have had the chance to catch up (thanks Mr. Mom...a.k.a Todd...for a night out with my friends). We sat and visited for almost 3.5 hours!


From L to R...Annette, NaCole, Toni (holding Olivia, NaCole's little girl), Melissa, Ally, me, Leslie and Brianne

My best buds...L to R, Amber, Melissa and me

Just for fun...we pulled the old "hey it is her birthday trick, when it wasn't really her birthday" just to see her dance and turn 10 shades of red. This is Toni, she is the nurse manager at Cook's that hired me back in 2001. She has been a great mentor to me and all of my pals!

Good friends are a real treasure!

Car Wash & Date Night....

Our sweet Maggie got to participate in her first car wash at home. We soooo enjoyed the warm and sunny weather we had a few days this past week. Summer can't get here quick enough for us. She was so cute playing in the bubbles, handling the water hose and scrubbing with the brush. She even gave the bubbles a little taste test---yuck-o! I can remember growing up and hanging out outside with my dad and brothers washing cars in the driveway. It was always quality time, doing something together. Times like that are important, no matter what the task, you know?

Below are some pics from her carwash...and surprisingly, she was actually a big help!



Checking out the bucket of bubbles...

Giving them a little taste test...non-toxic, of course!

Washing the cement...

Carrying the bucket around...

Scrubbing with the brush...

This was some serious business to her...I could not get her to smile for me! Still a cutie pie, though! My Dad has sold GMC/Chevy's for almost 30 years...wouldn't this be a cute advertisement picture...with the cutie toddler and the convenient GMC logo in the back ground?

Date Night...

Saturday night, Todd and I got to go out on a date! Yay! Love date nights....

We got to go to a unique and yummy new restaurant near the arts district around West 7th called Eddie V's. It was amazing! We had the best seafood, we have ever eaten! The place was romantic and had top notch service. Afterwards we went to see a show, Driving Miss Daisy, at Casa Manana with our friends the Lewis's. It was a really endearing and sweet show to see. The story made me so very thankful to be married to my best friend! I love you, Todd! Thanks for such a sweet night out!

Hope everyone has a wonderful and blessed week!

Love to all,

Leah

Let my inner Cajun be released...

Well, lets just say...our INNER cajun came on out! We were treated to a fun and yummy treat this weekend. Our first ever...Craw-Fish Boil (most of us at the dinner had never had craw fish). We thouroughly enjoyed both the feast and the company. Our friends the Brewer's, invited us and 2 other couples over for some sweet fellowship and cajun fixins!

It was quite the undertaking for Brent and Abbey. They were the host and hostess, with the mostess! There are many steps to the feast...including getting the crawfish ALIVE and prepping, seasoning and then boiling them. The feast included some southern Paula Dean style dirty rice, corn on the cobb, new potatoes and sausage. It really was an impressive meal and the perfect occasion to really enjoy preparing and devouring a meal. There is something so fun and primitive about eating with your hands.

Below are some pics from the evening. Hope you enjoy them, and maybe even get inspired to release your inner cajun, too!


The craw-fish aaaa boooiling.....



The men...contemplating the crawfish's sacrifice...

Brent prepping and rinsing the crawfish...almost 30 pounds of them!

The girls...Abbey, Holly, Sarah and Leah

The cajun FEAST...

Daddy and his girl...

Maggie did not partake...she was...to say the least a little afraid of the critters! Her feast was Gerber, goldfish and ICE of course!

Brent and Abbey (our host and hostess)

Todd, Leah and Maggie

Tim and Holly

Wade and Sarah

Thanks friends for a FUN night, can't wait to get together again!

Love to all,

Leah

Sweet & Sassy...

This last weekend, while Todd was out of town on a company retreat...I got to have some girlie time! Little girlie time...that is. My two neices Morgan and Faith came and spent the weekend with Maggie and I. Our time together was a late birthday get together for them. They both recently turned 9.

They are really fun to get together, because even they are not related (both are daughters of both Todd and I's oldest brothers...one a Flynt and one a Hunt) they have many, many things in common. In fact, while they were at our house they thougt of 63 things they had in common...both 9, both home schooled, both don't have a sister, both love and are excellent at art, both weigh the same and wear the same size, both love their Aunt Leah (giggle giggle)...etc, ha!

They are both precious little Godly young ladies and were a JOY to have for the weekend!

While they were here, we got to make a fun trip to the "Sweet and Sassy" little girl salon. Below are a few pics from our time there. Check out their brightly colored hair extensions...turquoise and lime green...too funny! Love you Morgan and Faith! Can't wait to do it again next year!

Faith and Morgan in front of the salon...

Faith...a "before" picture...

Morgan...a "before" picture...

A view from the back...this was called the princess hairstyle up-do...with a little flair!

Getting their nails done....

After...with green and blue nails of course!


BFF's for sure! Cutie pies!

A few little Diva's on the Sweet and Sassy cat-walk!

Seriously falling down on the job...

Seriously, I really fell down on my mom job this last Easter weekend! You are looking at the ONE and ONLY picture I took to document my sweet girls 2nd Easter! At least it is a cute one of my two Easter loves! They are pretty snazzy looking in their Easter outfits, don't you think?

We got this ONE picture right before rushing out the door to church. As far as getting a picture after church...all of you moms out there understand why that is not possible, right! The outfit all wrinkled, the curls gone, the bow ditched...several graham cracker stains (from the good ole church nursery) and a very tired, spent toddler, ready for her nap...a picture---NO CHANCE! So this one and only picture will have to do...unless we could arrange a re-do photo shoot. Don't think Todd would go for that! Oh well, life goes on!

We had a very low key Easter. We went to church, then to Cheesecake factory for brunch with Todd"s bro and his family...Craig, Mandy, Davis and Faith, as well as Todd's Aunt Marsha and Uncle Lee and their son Zach. They were passing through town headed back home to Austin. It had been at least 3 years since we had seen them last. But once again, I fell down on my job, and did not have my camera with me to document their visit. It was great to see them, though.

Most of my family had other plans, were out of town or working...so we didn't get to celebrate together this year. We celebrated with the rest of Todd's family the weekend before...see 2 posts-ago below. The weather was dreary, cold and wet. So we spent the Easter afternoon back in our jammies, relaxing at home together. It was nice.


Also, below is my ONE and ONLY picture of my girl with the bluebonnets this year. ONE and ONLY because for some reason, my otherwise fearless girl decided to become deathly afraid of the bluebonnets and was literally stuck to me like glue. I mean it, she would not let me set her down on the ground or get near them, by herself. Who knew, bluebonnets could be so terrifying?

This is especially odd, since flowers are usually one of Mag's favorite! She says flower (well actually she says flow-Fer, it is so cute the ways she adds the extra F), points out every flower we pass by and will sniff anything that remotely resembles a flower. It is one mystery I just can't figure out. Oh, well...once again life goes on!

The last picture may seem random. It was a hilarious moment this a.m. for me. Maggie went and found a bag of cotton balls while I was on the phone with my mom. She played with them for at least 10 minutes. The really hilarious part, was that she had stuffed about 15 of them down her shirt! What? What was she doing or thinking? Who knows! You can't see it to well in the pic, but they are there. She is looking at me once again, like, "What are you laughing at Mom?"

Daddy and his girl...Easter 2009

Mommy and her girl...in the bluebonnets!

Who knew cotton balls could be so much fun?

Take me out to the ballpark....

Today was Opening Day at the Ballpark for the Texas Rangers. This is a fun tradition for our local team. They actually did great today and beat the Cleveland Indians 9-1, yippee! Hope this is a good sign for the season to come.

We go every year to Opening Day, with our friends the Lewis's. They are crazy about baseball and have been season ticket holders since the park opened in 1994. They rent out a suite over in Casey's Corner in the ballpark. We get to visit, eat yummy food and watch the game indoors or out...which was great today...we watched it indoors, since it was a very brezzy and cool 50 degrees most of the game!

This marked a milestone for Maggie...her first Major league baseball game...well first baseball game at all actually. What a way to introduce her, don't ya think!

Below are some pics from our day at the ballpark!

Love to all,
Leah






































A view from the suite...what a beautiful ball field!

The Texas Ranger's newest #1 fan!

Daddy and his girl...

What a sweet silouette...watching the game.

Isn't this a cool picture of my girl and her reflection!

A family picture...

Our weekend with family...

This past weekend we were blessed to spend time with Todd's side of the family. His parents and baby sister came to town for a visit from Lubbock. We had a full and busy weekend...we had dinner at P.F Changs (yummo) downtown on Friday night...Todd played golf on Saturday with some of his brothers and dad...then Saturday we had a egg hunt and dinner at our house with the rest of the brothers , wives and cousins...whew! It was a jam packed weekend.

Maggie had a blast with her cousins (she has 9 cousins total that she adores...5 on the Flynt side and 4 on the Hunt side). She was worn out from the weekend and slept until 10:30 on Sunday morning. Crazy, huh!

We are thankful to have a large family, both on my side and Todd's. It is sweet to take time out of all of our busy lives and schedules and just make time for one another. Thank you Lord for designing the family! What a blessing it is to us!

Hope everyone had a nice weekend!




















Maggie and her Aunt Hannah (Todd's baby sister)

Grandma (Todd's mom), Maggie and Aunt Hannah

Papaw (Todd's dad) and Maggie...and

all of the cousins ready to hunt eggs...Davis, Faith, Lincoln, Lucy and Maggie

Four sister in laws...Jenny, Hannah, Mandy and Leah (none of us have sisters and we are all the only daughters in our original families and all the baby of our original family...fun coincidences, right?)

All of the grown women in Todd's family have 1 daughter each...so we decided it would be sweet to take a Mother/daughter picture...How precious it is to have a daughter!