Back to my roots...

This past week I stepped back in time...I was craving country music! I know that sounds wierd, but I was raised on country music. Yet, as I got older, I started stepping away from my 1st love (although the music today is not always what I consider country music).

Steve came to my resuce though! He got us tickets to a benefit concert in Hopkinsville. I really wasn't for sure what was in store for me when I went though. He had gotten us VIP tickets, so we were able to go to a little reception before the concert and got to meet the performers. I actually thought it was going to be some local person. But I was pleasantly surprised when I got there.

The performers were Michael Peterson, Ty Herndon, and Joel Brown. You might not recognize Michael Peterson. I think he's more famous for his song writing, although I did recognize his face and none of his songs. Joel Brown is actually a teacher at the school the concert was for. And if you have been a country fan for a few years, you should recognize Ty Herndon's name.

The concert actually went to benefit the Fort Campbell High School Football team. You see, they have won the State Championship in Kentucky for 3 years in a row. And apparently, this is HUGE because no other team has ever done that in the state of Kentucky. And they don't have the budget to buy the championship rings for the team. Actually, when I heard how much it was going to cost them, I about passed out - $23,000 for rings!!! Who would have ever thought it would cost that much!!!

Anywho, back to the story.

The concert was AWESOME! The teacher from Fort Campbell actually stole the show. Someone needs to give him a record deal, and pronto!

Emily and I decided to kill the time before the concert started by taking some fun pictures of ourselves.

Then Steve and I got in on the action.

Then the concert started. It was neat because it was just the guys and some guitars. They told stories about the songs and made us laugh pretty much the whole time.

Michael Peterson sang the last song and there was not a dry eye in the room. The name was "Heard a Pin Drop" and it was all about being in the military and the life the folks live. There was a video to go along with it and it was so moving! Before he sang the song, he reminded me exactly why we were there that night. These kids sacrifice SO much! Most of the kids have had a parent, possibly both parents, deployed overseas at some point. Some of them may have had parents who didn't return from overseas. Could you imagine being 16 or 17 and your mom or dad not make it home from the war? I couldn't imagine it now and I'm, well I don't want to admit how old I am, but I'm definitely older than them.

The great news is at the end of the night they had already raised over half of the money! God is definitely GOOD!

A Girl and her Dog...

These are from a while back, but I wanted to share them anyways. It's been a while since I've updated and there's been a lot of fun things happening around here at Casa de Barrios, but unfortunately, I can't seem to find my camera cord. So, I'm stuck with some older photos for tonight.

These pictures crack me up though. Elaina is mesmorized with the dogs and they are so good to her. This just proofs how much she loves them!

I know a few of these are a little blurry - it is really hard to get a shot of these two! Stay tuned for lots of fun stuff! I have lots of projects in my head and we're planning a fun baby shower for a sweet friend.

Birthday Traditions...

We have several birthday traditions around casa de barrios, like celebrating for a week if you're name is Steve or Emily. But one of my FAVORITE traditions is having a cupcake for breakfast on your birthday. I think I'm a little selfish in starting this tradition - my favorite thing in the world is some birthday cake, so any reason to add more of it in my life the better!

We started this tradition with Emily's 1st birthday and we have carried it through to Elaina's 1st birthday! It's so funny looking at the pictures and realizing just how much they look alike!

We woke her up early on Saturday so Steve could see her eat her very first cupcake. She didn't know what to think, but she definitely got the hang of it by the end!

Enjoy the pics!

At least she's willing to share, right!?!

Snow Days...

if you live anywhere in the US, you know just how crazy this winter has been. I've lived in Tennessee all my live and honestly, I don't remember ever having this much snow!!! Emily hasn't been to school a full week since Christmas thanks to the snow...it's really getting a little old! And I don't think I've worked a full week (which is definitely not a good thing). In fact, the other night, Emily said she wanted to move to a place where it's warm all the time.

We have definitely had fun in the snow though. The first snow was a BIG snow. I think we had about 7 inches of snow outside our house. It was crazy!!! It started on Friday and I don't think it stopped coming down for a couple of days. Friday night we had Holly, Sam, Lindsay, and John come over to play in the snow. Holly & Sam packed up Bailey, the wonder dog, and just spent the night with us.

We had a BLAST!!!! Friday night we had the adult sledding time and to be honest I thought we were the biggest red necks ever!!! We took a knee board and tied a rope to the back of John's Jeep. It got even more red neck when we started blaring 70's rock music! I've never laughed so much!

Here's Steve! I was so nervous at first, but then as we went around, I realized how fun it was.

Here's Holly looking sexy! We wore the mask to try to keep the snow from pelting us in our faces - it was like a blizzard out there!

We made snow cream, drank coffee, and played Friends Scene It. It was a great snow night!!

The next day the girls got out into the snow and played. It was Elaina's first snow and she loved it! She just sat in the snow and laughed at it. It was so cold and I didn't have a hat that sat over her ears very good, so we didn't stay out too long. Emily did though, she even got to drive a 4 wheeler. She had a blast! They both slept from about 5:00 that night until the next morning because they were so pooped!

We thought this would be it for snow this year, but this was a few weeks ago and there is still snow on the ground. It's definitely an odd winter this year!

Elaina's 1st Birthday!!!!

I can't believe it has been a year already! So much has happened this past year and the time has passed away so quickly! We are truly blessed with 2 amazing daughters and Elaina has definitely been an absolute joy this past year!!!! It's so wonderful to start seeing her personality coming out now that she's getting older.

This past weekend we just HAD to celebrate the apple of our eye! And we did just that with an Apple of Our Eye Party. (Okay, so this is going to be a picture heavy post - so this is your official warning if you don't want to look at pictures leave now).

As most of you know, I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE planning parties!!! And honestly, I think that's on the top of the list called "What I love about being a Mom". I know, it's sad, but at least I'm being honest.

The whole apple theme came to me after looking at some party planning blogs. (do you see a recurring theme? I think Steve is going to hide my laptop so I will stop getting all these ideas off of other blogs!)

So, once I saw the theme, I was hooked. I loved it because it was a little different than what I had seen before. And to top it off, the color scheme matched the colors of my house. So, I was sold!

The search was on for the perfect invite - but after several days of searching I couldn't find the right one! UGH!!! SO ANNOYING!!! Do you ever have those moments when you have a certain idea in your head, but can't find ANYTHING to match that idea? I despise those moments!

Then Holly reminded me about Regina. She's the best photographer in the world and she also does graphic design. YAY!!! My problem was solved! She made me the most awesome invite!

And of course, now that I'm trying to find the picture of it, I can't seem to find it!! I will have to update later with it because it's too awesome to not share!

Okay, I know I'm boring you, so I'll get to the pictures.

This is a copy of one of the pictures our awesome photographer, Regina, took. See, I told you she was the best photographer in the world!

A close up of the mantel. A little later, I'll show you my Goodwill finds that I transformed for the party!

This is the party favor table. This was taken before I sat the candied apples & cake balls out.

This was after the candied apples & cake balls. The cake balls were incredible!!!!! My friend Kenya made them and the birthday cake! I have to say, I have some of the MOST talented friends!!!!

The drink station. We had water, apple juice boxes for the kids (although almost all of them were drank by adults), Paula Dean's lime sherbert punch, and hot apple cider.

The food table! Look at that cake!!! She is so creative!!!

And here's the birthday girl eating her cake!

She loves Kenya's cakes just as much as her mommy does! I always smile when I'm eating them too!

And last but not least, the birthday girl in her birthday outfit!

Another sweet, talented friend made this for her. And then she made Emily a pair of pants that match.

Over all, I think it was a very successful party. Maybe tomorrow I will post some pics of everyone enjoying the party. Now I'm off to go spend some time with my wonderful family! Hope you have a great night!