I decided to play a bit...

"because I could" Thank you Sandra....The Madsnapper...

she has made playing cool...

This is my original photo...

 

 I always have to do black and white...

they just make me smile...

 

 PicMonkey has the neatest things to try....

I joined...so I could use all the cool stuff...

even if you don't join there are fun things to do....

 It's going to be a great weekend...

My daughters Dance Recitals are on Saturday...

this will be our Senior Elisa's last show...

before she heads off to college...

And the best of all Hotrod's 3rd birthday party....

Pawpaw is building him a club house....

Shhhh don't tell anyone....

 We've had a busy June so far...

lot's of celebrations...

I feel very fortunate to be a part of....

 

 

I have my first tomato that is almost ripe...

Can't wait to eat it...so refreshing...

We are already eating squash and cucumbers...

I have spaghetti squash almost ready...

Hotrod got to eat his first strawberry on Sunday....

I got to it before Ginger did...

 

 The mosquito's are terrible right now...

Hubby sprayed...then it rained the next day...

he is going to spray again this week...

hopefully it won't get washed away this time...

 

 The movie Grease came out 35 years ago this month...

I remember going to see it at the movies...

I went with my then boyfriends Mom, Sister, Aunt and Grandma...

it is one of my all time faves....

Last night Hubby and I were talking...

we didn't know what day of the week it was...

we had to stop and think to figure out if it was Tuesday or Wednesday... This time of year our days all seem to run

together...They start early and end late...

not complaining though...we are fortunate to have

our business stay busy...

Happy Hump Day everyone....

Black and white fun

 I decided to play with my settings on my Camera...

and take some black and white photos also...

this young man grew up with my niece...

the met in kindergarten....

 he has a twin sister...he gets along great with all the girls...

 

 the girl on the left with the flower in her hair

is his twin sister...these kids had a blast dancing...

I'm not sure they ever sat down...

 a different prospective on the view...

 

 wouldn't you just love a view like this...

I know I would....

I hope you are not too tired of the wedding photos yet...

cause you know I have a lot more....

we got quite a bit of rain yesterday....

today has been drizzling off and on...

my garden is sure enjoying it...

and the humidity...boy have we been humid this year...

Happy Tuesday everyone...

isn't it amazing how the simplest of things....

can be so inviting....

make you feel welcome...

 



I love the stand the cake is on...

very classy....

 

the groom is a Texas boy....

you may also notice the duck head in the middle of the Texas..

he is a big Duck Dynasty fan....

 

I thought this was the coolest idea...

they framed black and white wedding photos from the families...

put them on display with the names on them....

I'm going to share ours at the end of the post...

 

I think they did an awesome job decorating...

a very country feel...

Hubby and I enjoying the music....

my SIL grabbed my camera...

ignore the glasses...lol...

we were all soaking wet with sweat....

no a/c...but they had fans...which helped...

it didn't matter we all had a great time...

 



 30 years ago...

 Saturday we took a road trip....

to my nieces wedding...

I found plenty to keep me entertained on the 188 mile trip...

 

 

 

Isn't this the cutest idea....

My nieces wedding was beautiful...

of course I will be sharing tons of photos....

the reception was so much fun...

 

 the beautiful bride and the handsome groom...

you could just feel the love between the two of them...

 

 the Father of the Bride...

my brother in law...

kind of  the deer in the head lights look...

it was quite the emotional day for him...

...seeing his beautiful daughter...

marry a good man....

hoping everything would turn out the way the wanted it to...

and it did....everyone had a blast...

the place was filled with love....

Hubby asked him if his wallet was still smoking...

he said it might take a while to cool down....

 

 lot's of good music...lot's of dancing...

my other niece is next to the bride wearing the black dress...

so proud of my nieces...

beautiful inside and out...

 

for Father's Day we took the Daddy's to breakfast....

had to do our annual photo out in front of the restaurant...

Hotrod decided to block his face...

My guys....love these guys...

Happy Fathers Day....

 Happy Father's Day to my Dad....

I didn't grow up with my Dad....

I met him when I was grown...

I feel very lucky to have him in my life...

he is smart...funny....talented...

an all around great Guy....

Love you Dad...

 I know I've discussed the great women in my life...

I also had some great men influence my life...

My Pawpaw....he was a pushover....

he would drive me up and down the driveway...

burning rubber....or saying let's make this T-bird FLY...

when we went to the store...I always got to pick a toy....

he always had ice cream...(usually ice milk) in the freezer...

he would ride bicycles with us....

let us build what ever we wanted in the back yard...

no matter the eye sore it was...

My Uncle Tom was another influence...

he was the cool Uncle...with cool cars...

when I was in high school...his boss had an Excalibur...

he borrowed it...took my friends and I to the high school

football game...pulled right up to the front gate...

when it was time for me to get my first car...

guess who found it for me....at 1970 Maverick...

$200.00 just my budget...

he is my biggest blog fan...and fan of my photos...

if he doesn't get them in the mail every day...

he's calling my Mom to check on me...

Happy Father's Day Uncle Tom...

I love you!!!

 

Another influence was Mr. Jones....

he was our next door neighbor....he also had a son...

who was my first real boy friend...

(that is a story of it's own)

Mr. Jones let me hang out in the garage...

while they worked on motorcycles....took me to the races with them...when I'm sure he would have rather his son

focused more on racing than on me...

he was kind...patient...treated me like a girl as well

as like one of the guys....Mr. Jones has cancer...

he is not doing well....he showed me how real men act...

how they treat ladies...Thank you Mr. Jones...

Mr. Cook....he was neighbor when I was young...

he taught me to ride a bicycle...taught me about gardening...

he was a hunter...with bird dogs...

he treated his dogs like kids...they were the best hunting dogs...

no matter what people would tell him...

you can't treat them like family and make them hunt...

he proved them all wrong...

He treated his wife like a Queen...

a great influence in my life...

Mr. Walker...he had 3 daughters...my best friends Dad...

he welcomed me into their family...

treated me just like his daughters...

He fished...hunted...watched baseball...

but always had time for all his girls...

he took us on family trips...

looked at our cars if we had problems...

listened to our endless stories...

warned us about boys...

He loved my Hubby first time he met him...

I knew then I picked a good one....

Happy Fathers Day to my Hubby...

you have always been there for our kids...

no matter the long hours you worked...

you made it to their games...performances...school events..

You showed our son how to be a Man...

you showed our daughter how a lady should be treated...

I think all the men in my life...helped influence...

the man I picked...

I see a piece of all these men in my Hubby...



 A busy week....

I finally went dress shopping...

I needed to get a dress for my nieces wedding...

I do not like to shop....

I went to Ross...the first dress I saw...

was my size....I tried it on....it fit...

thank you dress God's....

even got two pairs of sandals...

one with a wedge hill...the other flats....

 

 CRAFTY IDEAS click on the link....

Hotrod and I tried another idea I found on facebook...

I'm trying to keep his summer fun...

he is really into Science right now....

 

 It has been quite a week...

Tuesday was my daughter's boyfriends birthday....

she called him on his way to work to wish him a Happy Birthday...

he had forgot it was his Birthday....

later that day he got the call his Grandmother in California...

passed away...him, his brother and Dad...

packed up...headed to California...

My daughter has been covering for the owner of the dance studio...also taking care of the owners dog and house...plus teaching her own classes...

working for me....taking care of her boyfriends dog... and 3 cats...

covering for her friends (which is also her boy friends sister) dance classes...this weekend she will be cover for her friends classes...

so she can go to the funeral...so my daughter will miss the wedding...my son will miss the wedding because he has

to stay back and take care of our business...

I'm proud of my kids...they are responsible people...

It's good to know that other's feel comfortable...

leaving them in charge...

 

now it is back to work for me....



This is how feel this week....

running like a race horse...

but I'm not seeing the finish line....

Crafty Ideas click on the link to see what

Hotrod and I've been up to...

trying to put some summer fun in our hectic schedule....

 



 our squash is thriving...

I love squash...

 Sunday I needed to get out of the house...

being holed up all week....

so Hubby and I went to the horse track....

 

 I love seeing our Texas flag....right next to the USA flag...

 

 I love gray horses....there aren't that many that race...

so they really stand out...

Hubby likes the simulcast racing...I like the live racing...

so he goes inside to do his betting...on tracks from all over...

I spend my time watching the live horses...enjoying their beauty...

people watching...and listening...

I saw a lot of Dad's with their kiddos...

I noticed the Dad's asking the kiddos which horse to bet on...

The boys were all about the numbers....the fastest looking horse...

The girls were all about if the horse was pretty....or the colors...

or the name of the horse...

This seems to be the same in Men and Women also....

Hubby looks at the numbers....the percentages...

where I tend to look at the horse..how it moves...

it's name...the color....

and you know what...

I think the odds are about the same either way...

the whole male female thinking starts at the beginning I think...

 



 it was a beautiful weekend...

we had sunny skies...

then over night Saturday we had rain....

boy did we have rain.....

 something we sure could use....

the plants and animals are truly enjoying it...

us people too....

 strawberry almost ready to pick....

Hotrod is excited....

 my to do list is busting at the seams....

My niece is getting married this weekend...

of course I've got to find something to wear...

for the Hubby also....

if it was a jeans and boots affair we would be ready...

or a swimsuit and cutoff affair....

 

 I have a couple of photo shoots to do...

a senior shoot....was suppose to do it last week...

but that didn't work out....her party isn't till the end of June...

so that gives me a little lead way...

and I have Hotrods 3rd birthday shoot...

we have a tradition of taking his photo at a park in our

downtown area....

can't wait to see what he has in store for me this year...

Father's Day is on Sunday....

Hotrod and I have projects to get done....

I'm starting to over whelm myself...

every year I do a photo book for Hotrods birthday...

with photos from his last birthday up to before his this birthday...

kind of a year in review...

well...picking the photos is hard...

cause I take soooooo many...

then I have to try to remember which ones I've used

on other projects.... I don't want to duplicate....

speaking of this project I need to get back to it...

Oh and one of the photos I sent to my Mom's reunion...

a 5x7 photo of the Texas flag....

sold for $25 to one of my cousins....

woo hoo...all of them sold....