Baby Ainsley

Luke Pine has a new baby sister! I met Ainsley Susan Pine on Sunday. Here she is in her 6th day of life.


She's a sweetie. Another surprise sex baby - I love it that some of these friends can wait to find out what they are having.


Gotta get this family some pink!

Zoos, Fundraisers, and Birthdays

The Houston Zoo had a new arrival a few months back. A baby giraffe. This week Justin and I are in Tyler, and he was most disappointed that the Tyler zoo had no baby giraffe. When we went on this day to the Houston Zoo, the giraffe was 30 days old and was 6'7'', as tall as Justin's daddy.



We got to bring Audrey to the zoo with us until her mommy was able to join us. Justin had a ball singing songs with her the entire way to the zoo. She now goes to Justin's school as well, so it's fun for the kids to get to see each other more.


Speaking of Justin's school, they had a Fundraiser night a few weeks ago. Here is one of Justin's classmates' older brother, Ethan. He participated in this teenager's magic show. This kid had real doves and rabbits - let's just say that the parents were most impressed.


Audrey clapping during the show.


Justin, complete with a set of purple Mardi Gras beads, watching the show. The fundraiser's theme was Mardi Gras related. not sure what to think that he has on my favorite color of beads on. Should I be happy or concerned that he likes purple?


The next week my Small Group Biblestudy leader, Ashley, had her birthday. This is the only photo I took from the night. Here she is smiling with her cake from the Dessert Gallery. Ashley has four kids and is such a wonderful encourager to our entire biblestudy. She's has been a wonderful mentor in my life.


That's all for now. Only 10 more posts to catch up to current times. I never seem to keep up on anything current, especially with my Lent Curfew....

Logos Women's Dinner

I hosted our monthly women's dinner for my Sunday School class, the Logos class, at the end of February. Someone makes the meal and everyone provides $5 to compensate for the grocery bill. It's a great way to share the load of hosting as well as letting everyone have a chance to have everyone over. I ended up hosting 26 women that night. Every time I noticed a few more RSVPs on the evite, I would add another dish to the menu. I tried 4 new recipes on this group! Usually a no-no when making food for such a large group of people. But I wanted to try these recipes and they all turned out to be a success.

I had made lasagna rolls before, and Derek never liked the frozen spinach in them. So the lady at the monogram shop that I use told me about a new recipe. I usually would roll up the lasagna noodle and place it seam down in the dish. She told me to put them on their side to resemble a flower. I love nice little touches like that. I poured a marinara mixture over these bad boys before serving. They were delish!


Another new recipe - a Havarti cheese appetizer. No one could get enough of it either. I made this again for an event with my Morby family members - I left it on a hot plate and the cheese overcooked. Oh well, life lessons.


Derek and I eat this tomato and mozzarella mixture quite a bit. Throw some olive oil and balsamic vinegar and you're good to go.


Cornball saying - I had to run with the alliteration.


I took pictures of everyone present. Audra, Holly, & Amy.


Devon & Jen


Jenny & Amy


Ashley & Lillie


Amy & Lindy


Mariana, Dinah, & Kelly


Elizabeth, Erica, & Rachel


Jenny, Katherine, Sarah, Allison, & Erin


A group photo of some of the later crew of the night.


I feel like I say this everytime I talk about my Sunday School class, but Derek and I have felt so blessed by this group of people. I feel like I've known these women for years. Such wonderful accountability partners!

Bunny Ears & Oreos

What to do when the weather is bad. We had bad weather for about a week in Houston - cold and rainy and just plain yuck. So one afternoon I pulled out the Easter bunny ears. Our first photos attempt was with the "cheese" smile. Must get rid of this!

I got Justin to laugh the second time around.

Then we had some mini Oreos dipped in milk. We came back to watch Little Einsteins when I noticed the 'stach. He looks like a Frenchman.

What can get for, sir?

Just some goofy photos from a long week of staying inside.

Lila's Impromptu shoot

I got the privilege of keeping this little cutie a couple times in the last few weeks. She woke up from her 3 hour nap, drank her milk, and was ready to smile. I, of course, quickly changed her clothes, put on her adorable Swankie Blankie diaper cover (I will definitely be getting one of these if I have a girl), and took photos for about 10 minutes.



Lila is such a good smiler.


And I was holding her feet under the blanket while taking photos with the other hand. I managed to get a good shot.


This is my favorite one.


Can't wait to spend more time with this adorable little girl. I need to do it before the Warrens move to Waco in July!

Sneller Playdate

We got to hang out with the Snellers a few weeks ago. Sweet Drew was a trooper and just hung out the whole time. We took the kids in the strollers over to the park. It was off and on drizzling the entire time, and the kids had a blast getting dirty and muddy.



So we had a wardrobe change before lunch. Megan & Justin were playing on the Baby Einstein play mat. Brought back memories listening to the music form the star playing over and over.


The big cheesers. The thing I need to wean Justin from now is always saying cheese. Produces quite the spread smile.


Sweet friends and fun times. Hope to play with Megan again soon!

Katie's Baby Shower

Katie Tuley is pregnant with baby #3. I'm telling you, these Houston women just keep popping out the babies! She is the 3rd in our biblestudy to have her 3rd or 4th child (Tracy continues the trend come June). She had told Wendi awhile ago that she did not want all the pomp and circumstance with another baby shower in three years. So we decided to have a low key "Sweet Baby" time during the next biblestudy.

We all brought diapers for the new baby (still don't know if a girl or boy).


Can't go wrong with a chocolate fountain


Tracy did a great job with the candy theme.


Delicious skewers for the fountain


Flowers for the expectant mommy.


Cookies from Memorial Bakery.


The spread


We fixed the sign on Katie's belly, who did not want her picture taken since she did not know we were going to do this little surprise shower.


We spent a special time all praying over Katie and this new baby coming any day now (due date tomorrow). The Lord has truly blessed this group with the ease of having children. Praying that this delivery is no exception!

Neighborhood Progressive Dinner

Somehow my neighbors nominated me to be the Social Chair of my neighborhood. And it was during a season where I was trying to start saying no. After discussing how disappointed I was in how few activities took place last year, I somehow wound up as our Social Chair. So I decided to immediately plan our annual CBB Progressive Dinner 3 weeks later.



We had about 70 people show up, which was an outstanding amount considering how last minute everything was planned.


Some even said it was their favorite dinner ever.


And what's a party planned by Shannon without any photos?


I truly love the neighborhood that we live in.


Such a mix of people.


And quite a few that have moved in the neighborhood in the last year.


I made everyone wear name tags. Can you imagine a 30 year old bossing all these people around, most of whom could be her parents? And when it was time to rotate houses, I somehow delegated everyone to walk out with the extra food and drinks in a timely fashion. I know my cousins can see all this happening, as they have memories of holidays of me getting all of them to help Grandma clean in the kitchen.


All and all it was a fun time. I got to know so many of my neighbors. Which was ironic, because I told Jody, who was pressing me to take on this roll, that I didn't know anyone in our neighborhood. She told me, "Well this is how you get to know them!" Now I'm off to plan our CBB Easter Egg Hunt in 3 weeks.....

CHI for cheap!

Check out this deal from Bargain hunting Moms, all you ladies that want straight hair!

Grab a Chi for $40!

I've had my eye on a Farouk CHI 1 Inch Ceramic Flat Hairstyling Iron for a LONG time! I've never seen a price like this though. It's just $40.50 and shipping is $6! I paid almost that much for an off-brand that broke rather quickly. My stylist uses a CHI and recommended the brand to me. If you're in the market for a flat iron, this is the one. (Make sure that your buying from the seller named Salon Products. You can choose on the right.)

Posted at 12:22 PM in Health and Beauty | Permalink

Easter...in February....

So we started playing with the Easter eggs a few weeks ago. Justin wants me to hide them, and he has to either be sitting outside watching me or walking with me telling me where to hide them. Don't think he gets it yet. But I love it every time he finds one in a funny place he always says, "Silly mommy" as he picks up the egg from the random place I found. There are a few standard places where their always has to be an egg. Nothing like getting bossed around by a two year old.



We have treats in some of the eggs. It rained all day yesterday, and I saw two eggs with Cheerios caught in the storm. Can't wait to see how those treats held up. Anyways, if you're looking for an activity for your children while you're trying to cook dinner, this is your ticket!