Sunday, November 8

Happy BRYNday!

Bryn Audrey Ratcliff

November 5, 2007


November 5, 2008


November 4, 2009








November 5, 2009




Paw-paw and Maw-maw came to play : )




She fell down


and got dirty : (


It's party~time!







































What a beautiful girl! We've had a wonderful 2 years!

Happy Birthday Bryn.

Tuesday, November 3

Why checking your kids candy is important:

you might find something like this...

Photobucket

Sunday, November 1

Happy Halloween!

After seeing a spider costume on the Pottery Barn Kids website,
I was inspired to make the kids homemade spider costumes!

{I know it's after Halloween, 
but if you want to know how to make one,
go here.}

Last week, we took the kids to the Lufkin Zoo Boo. The girls were all spiders, and Travis
wanted to be a mummy. We wrapped him in cheesecloth, but it kinda fell apart.



For the second go around, Travis wanted to join the crowd.

I whipped out his costume in about 30 minutes Saturday afternoon. We loaded up
and went to the church where they were serving "Hot Dogs for Hemphill" ;)


The kids ate and played some games. Sister Cantrell {the Primary Prez} had great games and incredible
prizes! Travis won the VHS movie, The Rookie; Katherine won $1.50; Ella and Bryn won
toy cars and Olivia won a stuffed dog. Then we walked to the Hemphill Square for more
fun. They had booths with games and Trunk-or-Treat. Some friends of ours from the Methodist Church
were giving out popcorn and cotton candy! Some of our kids had never had it. Ella was a little afraid
to try it. It looked a lot like cotton balls in the dark ;) I opted out too because I knew I'd regret it.
For some reason, sugar from chocolate isn't as sickening as straight cotton candy.



To celebrate, we made festive Halloween tea cakes,


and spooky punch...

{don't you love the over exposed look- totally adds to the creepiness,  huh?!}

Wednesday, October 21

30 Flirty and Fabulous!

Who me? No! Stop! I'm blushing!

LOL

Okay, so I am 30. Sometimes I'm flirty, but mostly just fabulous! haha

I've actually been looking forward to this birthday.

You know the milestone birthdays... and all the reasons why they're milestones. I've thought back to them {and some that aren't so milestone}.

When I turned 7, my birthday was on a Friday! {Milestone.} I was so excited because I was
going to have a slumber party! I remember inviting Leeza Anders {BFF} and my cousin Amberly. {Not sure if anyone else was invited.} That morning, when I woke up, I was burning up with fever. I slept most of the day on the couch. I was in and out of sleep when my siblings left for school The next time I remember waking up, they were home from school and I, sleepily asked my mom to make sure and call Leeza and Amberly
so they'd know they couldn't come cause I was sick. :(  Later, I think Leeza even called me because she was sad too. {Do you remember that Leeza?}  So disappointing :(






Eight years old = baptism. On my birthday because it was a Saturday :)  I remember being nervous about going under the water and not wanting my dress to come up and worrying about who would be there. {? I had a little social anxiety at an early age.}
Of course, it turned out perfectly. My Primary teacher, Sister Wendy Wright, gave me a packet of LifeSavers candies :)

Turning 12 was a big deal. Twelve meant




and mascara! My very first mascara was


Maybelline Great Lash.


Turning 13 was exciting because I became a "teenager."

Fourteen was huge ~ I was wearing full-fledged make-up! Stake Dances {if you don't know- it's a dance for the Youth of my church- and their friends- ages 14-18, held monthly. And I lived for it!}

{Why did my mom let me? Because I am the 6th child. She learned to fight her battles and that wasn't on the list ;)}


When I turned 15, I counted down the days until I turned



16! I couldn't wait to double date! I thought my life depended so much on having a "sweetheart". LOL
Ugh- the time I wasted!

Just before turning 17, my littlest sister, Rachel was born. :)  My life was brighter :)  That's when I got my driver's license = I drove my brother and sisters to school. I drove to the grocery store, to work and even to church on occasion. Super fun!




I love this picture of us. Neither of us knew we were both making faces! :)



My 17th Birthday. My cake was a dirt cake- soo good!
My 18th birthday was also on a Friday!! {But no slumber party.} It was my school's homecoming. I was the Secretary in Student Council and had the privilege to give the homecoming court the roses during halftime. :)  My little sister Cari, had planned a surprise for me the next night, which was a Stake Dance. By then, I felt a little weird going to the dances, because I had matured so much. ;) But I went, because Cari and David wanted to go.  Early on in the evening, I turned around to see a good friend of mine {and my older brother's}. He had come to take me on my first single date! This was the surprise Cari planned for me :) I was so surprised and excited because I had a humongous crush on him! lol That was a great birthday!

When I turned 19, I was at BYU. It was a Saturday and all of my roommates went out of town for the weekend. So I was home alone. :(  My sweet roommates, Kristin and Janene left me a plate of blueberry muffins for my breakfast :)  So yummy! I ate them and sat around for a while. I watched Sleepless in Seattle {on VHS}, because the alternative was football.  Then my sister called and said she'd come get me. I don't remember what we did. But later, my BFF Katherine {who is also my sister's sister-in-law- and the girl my Katherine is named after} took me out to eat at a great Mexican restaurant.


When she dropped me off at my apartment that night, the lights were on. I knew I didn't leave them on... It was my sister and her husband! It was my surprise party! And I was surprised! She had a cake for me and one for another friend of our's whose birthday was a couple of days after mine.





19 was also great because that's the year I met Johnny ♥



My 20s were the most exciting for sure.
Those were the years I had my babies and really felt like an adult :)
During these years, I became more social and felt good in my own skin. I learned a lot about myself.  I learned what I'm capable of and learned to try new things.
In fact, days before turning 30, I ground wheat into flour for the first time!





Then I used a KitchenAid Mixer for the 1st time. Ever. & made bread, for the first time, ever.
{Hey, it took me awhile to get up enough nerve. Go ahead, laugh it up!}








Turning 30 was a big deal for a lot of reasons...

Just about everyone that I admire and want to be like, is at least 30.
Now I look old enough to be married.
And almost old enough to have 5 kids ;)

Johnny and the kids made my birthday extra special. We drove to a State Park called Boykin Springs. It was beautiful! The weather was so nice and cool. We took tons of pictures and explored the beautiful waterfalls and hiking trails.





Later that night, Johnny's parents came and we had Chicken Salad sandwiches {I know, girl food. But it was my birthday, so I got to pick.} and roasted s'mores outside :)
{You gotta try Toasted Coconut Marshmallows and Strawberry Marshmallows next time you do s'mores! The best!}










A delicious Coconut Supreme frosted with Chocolate Buttercream!



Cleverly spelled out in coconut :)



I blew them all out in 1 breath! {After making a wish of course.}





I think I'm going to like being 30 :)

Wednesday, October 14

Ssssss!

I like to think that I keep my house pretty clean and organized.
In fact, for the most part, I know what toys my kids have and exactly where they go.

I keep my mops/brooms/etc together in the pantry/laundry room, next to the 5 gallon buckets of beans.
In front of the dryer, is a 5 gallon bucket of homemade laundry detergent {not really in the way}.

Yesterday, Bryn was pointing up high for something to eat. I squatted down to her level to see what she
was pointing at. And as I did, I looked down behind the laundry detergent bucket and saw something

sticking out from under the dryer.  It looked like a plastic bag.  I reached down and grabbed it, and it kept coming and coming. Long and skinny and thin, like paper. Once I pulled it all the way out, I realized what it was, dropped it and SCREAMED, as I ran and jumped up onto the chest freezer.

I yelled: "A snake shed it's skin in our pantry!! That means he was in there for a long time! Eewww!!!"

Johnny ran in and picked it up and took it outside.
I still shutter just thinking about it.



Look how long it is! Scary.


{It must have come in to warm itself by the dryer on one of those cold nights. 
Johnny thinks it was a rat snake, which provided some comfort, because they eat mice. Ew.}


But I had to take pictures.








I thought it would be funny to hang with the other Halloween decorations.












Eventually, the wind took it the way of all the earth...


We're happy it's gone!