Snow!

We got a little snow last night!

We are still alive!

I haven't made any posts in a while but we have just had a really busy summer. Hopefully one of these days things will slow down but then we will probably complain we are bored. This past weekend my sisters three kids were here, Madison (8), Mason (6), Zoe (6 mo). They were fun but exhausting! I had some problems with my camera and finally got it to work right before they left so I only got a couple of pictures of Zoe and none of the other two. I really wanted some pictures of them all together. But regardless I will post the one of Zoe soon and try to get some of all three of them soon. Right now my project is sewing a dress from the 1950's. Where I work we are dressing up from the 50's for Halloween. I am making mine and so far it has been a lot harder than I thought it would be but hopefully I will finish it in time. Well, gotta run. I'll post more later!

Diamond's new friend!

Shannon got a donkey and she is Diamonds new friend. So far, they just sniff each other a lot. We will keep everyone updated as their friendship evovles!

Inks Lake!

This weekend Shannon, Nate (my little brother) and I went to Inks Lake State Park camping for Shannon's birthday. We had such a great time. I used to go camping a lot as a kid but Nate and Shannon haven't had much camping experience. Inks Lake is right outside of Burnet and about 45 minutes from our house. We headed over there on Friday after work. We got camp set-up pretty quick. There was a lot of moaning and groaning when setting up tent but once we got it set-up we went swimming and things just improved from there. We rented a canoe on Saturday and roamed around the lake some and then went swimming some more. There was a big rock that we jumped off of and hung around. We did some exploring too and really had a good time. When it got close to dark we cooked some burgers and played cards. Sunday we got up and ate breakfast and packed up. Then we decided to swim some more before heading home. So we swam for a couple of hours before heading back. We had such a great time!

Sunday Night Tradition!

We have a new tradition that Sunday night is Fajita Night! We cook on the grill and make all the fixings (including homemade salsa) and it is so great. It is our favorite time of the week. Here is a shot of all the good stuff we have! Mmmm!

My new niece!

Welcome to Zoe Danielle Rives! She took her time getting here at first but when she decided it was time to come she came fast. Rachael started having contractions around 8:30 this morning, headed for the hosptial around 10 when then got worse, arrived at the hospital around 10:30 and out came Zoe 15 minutes later. She didn't wait for her dad, her grandma or anybody else to get there. She didn't even wait for her doctor, a different doctor had to catch her when she came out. My sister was tiny with this pregnancy but Zoe came out weighing 8.2 which is pretty good sized I think. She is just the cutiest little thing! Congrats to my little sister!

Little by little!!

We are working away around the place here doing little things to make it nicer. Since the weather has been so nice, most of the work we have been doing lately has been out doors. Here we took the area around the flag pole and removed all the old weeds and stuff and planted a few small plants and put down some rock. It looks pretty nice I think, I just hope the plants do okay, the wind blows pretty hard through that area.

Uniques Babies!

Some of you already know that I have started a new venture. I am starting a small company that will be internet based selling baby stuff I make. I love making baby stuff and it doesn't take long or cost much. This is not going to be anything big and I am going pretty slow but maybe in a couple of years it could be something steady. Right now I am just trying to figure out what I can make and how much it will cost to make it and all that good stuff. Hopefully in the next six months I will have an idea of what all I want to offer, prices and can build a web page. I am just taking things slow right now. The picture above is the diaper cake I made for my sister and it came out better than I thought it would. I need to try shipping one and see how it holds up and then I can decide if that will be one of things I try and offer. I don't have a lot of free time but it is something I enjoy. Of course, lately all my free time has been outside because the weather has been so great here and I have all my plants going and stuff!

Gardening!!

I have several things that I have planted from seeds and they have been growing. Mainly veggies and some strawberries too. Shannon has some herbs he planted but they haven't sprouted just yet. We are really exited that they are doing so well!

Spring Time!

Well, it is finally feeling like spring here. Diamond has her summer clothes out already! (She really hates this outfit so I don't put it on her, but it is pretty funny!) It is warm and sunny and I am loving it. I have a bunch of seeds that I planted for a garden and they are all sprouting up and doing well (I will post a picture later). I was going to stick them in the ground but since this is my first garden I am going to try the container garden this year since it isn't so permanent and see how it goes and if all is well I might try something bigger or something in the ground next year. I love warm weather! We have been really busy lately. The weekend before last we went to Shannon's mom's for Easter and this past weekend I had to go to Liberty on Saturday and do a shower for my sister (Rachael), stop in Giddings on my way back for a B-day party for one of Shannon's cousin's kid, and on Sunday two of his Aunt and Uncles came over. This whole month is looking to be pretty full for us. Friday we are going to see Casting Crowns in concert with our class from church, Saturday after work he wants to go to some festival in Austin and the next weekend he is going to a mens conference with our church. Busy, busy, busy! I am not complaining though, we have lots of really great stuff going on and we are really blessed at what a great year we have had so far. If things could just keep going the way they are heading and maybe we could be pregnant before the end of the year this could turn out to be the best year ever for us! Well, I could probably just go on and on but I will stop for now! Later! ;-)

Six Years and Counting!

March 9th was our six year anniversery. We went to dinner at a place on Lake Travis and had a really good time!

Faircloth family update!

I haven't been on here in a week or two, so just a quick update. We stay busy all the time but things are going good. We get up around 4:30 or 5 six days a week. We get home around 6 M-F which doesn't leave a lot of free time. I come home, fix supper, do some bills or filing or sew or something and next thing I know it is about 8:30 and time for bed. Yes, I said 8:30! We are rarely up later than that. Shannon is usually asleep before 8 on the couch and I wake him up when I head to bed to go with me. The weekends sometimes Shannon has to work on Saturdays and sometimes not. I always work half a day. I think he would rather work on Saturdays then not because (besides more money) he usually gets stuck helping me clean house and do laundry and fun stuff like that. When I get off I usually hit the grocery store and then clean the house good and do laundry. I try to fit in everything I NEED to do on Saturday so on Sunday I can do what I WANT to do. Lately in my free time I am sewing, that is my new thing right now that I have been hitting pretty hard. I have always enjoyed sewing and now that I have the space to work on it I have really been doing a lot of it. There is a place near here that is a home for teenage girls who are pregnant. They go there to have their babies, finish school and I think they can stay like until they are 18 if they want to so that they can really get control of their lives and prepare to be a parent on their own. I think it is a really great place to have for girls who don't have supportive families and have made some bad decisions so that their kids don't have to pay the price and so they can get their lives on the right track. Anyways, I have been thinking some time about going and teaching some of the girls who are interested how to sew. They have a lot of skills that volunteers can come in and try to teach if they want. I think teaching them how to make blankets for their babies, that they are probably not prepared, for could help them connect with their babies and give them a new skill that they could use in life if they choose to. My thing I am unsure about now is what to show them how to do. I was just thinking originally that I could teach them how to make a basic baby blanket but they are not going to have access to sewing machines, most likely, so I need to come up with stuff they can do by hand and not use a lot of money and materials. Anybody that has any ideas, it would be appreciated! Talk to you later!

Super Bowl Party!

We had a Super Bowl Party at our house yesterday. It was the first thing we have really had at our house so it was kind of fun. We had 7 couples show up and a handful of kids. Everbody seemed to have a really good time. The couples who came were from our Life Group at church (which is like a Sunday School class). The guys watched the superbowl and most of the girls played Mexican Train Dominos. We had Chili and snack foods and the kids played and Diamond hid from the kids it it went really well. Poor Diamond was so exhausted, Madison made her kind of scared of kids because she always tries to carry her and she doesn't like being held. It is really nice to get to know a lot of other married couples that we go to church with outside of church. Everybody in the group is close to the same ages as us. Of the folks that came yesterday I was the youngest and Shannon was the oldest I think (other than the guy who leads the class, who isn't much older than him). So we fit right in. Anyhow, gotta go but it was fun! Later! ;-)

Just a couple more days!!

Just a few more days until we have the internet at home. Then I can posts more stuff on here and do so many other things. Right now it is hard to find the time and means to get on the internet. Quick update....Shannon is liking his new job so far. The only thing is it has been raining some here and when it rains he can't work but hopefully we will have some dry days soon so he can work full work weeks on a regular basis. I have been using a new website I found called My Fitness Pal. If anybody is trying to loose weight or get in shape you should try this site. It helps you track calorie intake and calories burned and you can visit with other people that are on the same path as you to give each other support or ask questions. I really like it! It is a lot of work counting calories though, I should get credit for burned calories just having to count them. I usually make it in and out of the grocery store in 30 min but this weekend I was there for 1hour and 15 min because I had to read the calories on everything. But it will be worth it when I get to where I want to be. Some people say that counting calories isn't good to do because you don't want to get stuck doing that forever but I think it will work because once you have done it for 6 months or maybe even a year then you learn what works and what doesn't and how much is too much and you should be able to do it without writing it down and adding all day. I could be wrong but I am going to keep trying and see! I'll let you know! ;-)

We are still here!

Sorry I haven't posted anything in a week or two but I have just been real busy. In another week and a half we will FINALLY have high-speed Internet at the house which will make it much easier to get on her. Everybody keeps asking about new pictures of the house since we did the work and I have them. I just have to get them off my computer and upload them. So, I will try and have them posted before the end of the week. Anyways........we are doing good. Shannon started a new job last week and so far it is going real well. It is going to have a more regular paycheck than the last place which is much better. The last place he was getting paid by the load which left so many different factors that would come into play when deciding how much his check would be. This place is by the hour and he works pretty close to the same hours every week which makes budgeting easier. Plus, my favorite part is he has to be there the same time everyday. I am a person who likes routines and schedules so that works better for me. I literally have a daily schedule posted on the fridge showing what time I get in the shower, what time I eat breakfast, everything. I think that is the easiest way to make sure you don't miss doing anything important. Also, I am not a morning person, so I need something to help me not to have to think for a while when I first get up. Maybe it sounds silly but it works for me!

Happy New Year!

Well, another new year. I love this time of the year when I can re-evaluate what things I want to do different for this year. So far the major thing I am doing that is hard is I gave up bread, pasta, and tortillas. For those of you who know me, you know that is all I eat. So far, the hard part is finding things to eat. I have tons of other New Years Resolutions besides that but that is the one that I think is going to be the biggest change at first. We have been so busy lately with holidays, moving, remodeling, and everything else. I am ready to just get back to normal, everyday life again!