summer's end

school starts soon.

the summer has flown.

i know i say that often,

but i feel blindsided by this summer.

it's been wonderful, and oh so quick.

we spent a day at the waterpark, 

after we'd had a crazy cold front,

and the temps were in the 70s.

it was heavenly.

and then we spent another day at the waterpark with good friends,

when the temps were in the 100s,

but it was still a really fun day.

we rode to dallas with our sweet friends,

and checked out klyde warren park.

i forget how crazy and busy dallas is.

it almost gives me whiplash.

thanks for driving, shelley.

this park is built on an overpass,

over maybe the busiest freeway in dallas.

it is a really cool place.

you'd never know there are cars zooming by,

underneath.
 

 we ate from the food trucks,

which is one of my favorite things to do.

i had my first banh mi sandwich, 

and now i'm dying for another one.

 and we had the cutest mini cupcakes.

the kids played the piano, played tag, got wet, dodged all of the pigeons, and had a really good time.

 we have had some good meals and visits with memaw,

and spent some time with my mom, lala, at her house.
boyd got to see his great grandma too, which always makes him happy.
when boyd rides in the golf cart with me and lala, he likes to punch the gas,
which makes us all scream.

and,

 i heard something on the radio the other day, that the pope just said, 

and i'm paraphrasing...

technology and social media are wonderful, 

and they are gifts from god.

but this short and precious life that we've been given, 

it's the biggest gift from god.

let's not waste it by being so tuned into social media, 

so plugged into technology all the time.

too much time on social media distracts from what is really important. 

and that's really got me to thinking.

you know when you hear something and it stays with you,

and it really strikes a chord...

i think that's when you sit up and listen.

so, i'm listening.

love,

nicolle

more summertime

this week we haven't stopped until about midnight every night.

but it's been full, and really good.

we reunited with the best of friends that we usually see only in the summer,

one of the reasons we look forward to summer so much.

lots of swimming.

substituting swimming for a bath here and there, a true sign of summer.

snow cones.
dinner with memaw.
boyd got to go to work with kevin one day, and he was in heaven.

lots of playing with neighbors.
evening walks.

vacation bible school for the kids,

which always means time for iced tea and talking with my sister friend.

trampoline park.
fresh salsa.
cupcake friday,
and a park date with sweet friends who are moving.
 

one of my favorite things about summer is hitting the bed at night, and feeling wiped out from the sun and the chlorine and the constant movement. something about that is so tiring, but it feels so good at the same time.

happy weekend.

 love,

nicolle

cupcake friday, and gifts of love

boyd and i shared this cupcake today.

i wasn't sure if i should be buying myself my own mom cupcake.

but i thought, what the heck. it's pretty. it's mother's day weekend. let's celebrate as much as we can.

 and so i bought it, and it made me happy.

when i wrote that blog post about the dogs, i then took it down for a while.

it's always tricky to know what to share and what not to share on here.

i felt like maybe it wasn't appropriate, or maybe this wasn't the place.

or maybe people only want to read about the best parts of life.

but you know what, sometimes there are sucky parts. it's true. 

it's not always wine in the driveway with friends, and cupcakes and cute quotes.

there are hard things. life is full of them.

some people chose not to share the hard things, and that is fine.

but i am who i am. i don't know any other way to be.

this trial for me is so small in comparison to others. i know this.

i woke up this morning to an email from a friend who is living through one of the worst school tragedies that i am sure we've ever known, and her words just assured me that everything i said, and am thinking, is ok.

and another friend emailed me and i keep repeating what she said, love is louder.

and, when my friend texted me the other day with a lit prayer candle {and an empty bottle of topo chico with flowers in it}, i couldn't help but smile.
the specific prayers at mass. thank you.

and i've already mentioned all of the love from so many others.
i have been blessed with the best people in my life.

this evening kevin came home with this beautiful quilt.

to karissa's mom, your gift to me was like a ray of peace and hope.

i think, how can someone who doesn't even know me in person care about me.

but i know the answer. i've always known the answer.

it's jesus and kindness and love.

it's what makes this world work.
it's what matters, and just maybe it's what matters the most.

we would be nowhere in life if we didn't care for others.

thank you from the bottom of my heart.  

i am touched more than i can express.

you have a heart of gold.

i will always cherish this quilt, but the thought behind it will be with me forever.

this morning i felt strong, and although i had my taser and pepper spray at the ready, 

i walked boyd to school.

it felt good.

{i will teach any dog who dares to mess with me again. 

i'm not afraid of scars, but i'd rather not create any more}.

 let's all do something nice for someone else this weekend, because love is louder.

happy mother's day.

love,

nicolle

a good week

hello.

i had to share this, even though it's still breaking my heart to think about.

boyd brought this home from school last week. 

it says, things i do not want to go away...nicolle, boyd, kevin.

when i asked him about it he started crying and said he'd miss us one day in heaven.

well, i cried the rest of that evening.
my friend suggested a good book, i tried to talk to him about it for a few minutes, then offered him a distraction. i still choke up thinking about it. heaven is going to be so wonderful, but i don't want boyd to be scared of it, and i know if it's a mystery for me, it's got to be a crazy huge mystery for a 6 year old.
my heart rejoices and breaks at the same time, when i think of this drawing.

t-ball is coming to a close, that's hard to believe, but as we all know, everything in life is like that.

you start something new, and it seems like a big thing or a long season, and it's gone in a flash.

boyd has played pitcher the last couple of games, and although it's a fake pitch in t-ball, he's loved it, 

and we've loved seeing him do it. 

he did so well that the coach promised him some stickers for his batting helmet and he delivered,
4 of them. 

boyd was so excited.

i bought a couple new pieces of talavera pottery this week.

it's my favorite.

then there's the fort worth zoo kindergarten field trip, yesterday.

oh boy. i kind of regretted signing up to go, truth be told. 

but boyd wanted me to go and i am so glad that i did.

when i think about how many buses were there though, i kind of hyperventilate a little.

it was wild and crazy. 

when we got there, boyd said,  

mom, the black rhino is the only thing that i have an interest in for the day. 

we found the rhinos, and he was happy. 

one jumbo neopolitan cupcake to share today.

happy weekend.

love,

nicolle

cupcake friday, twice

hello. 

happy friday.
 

i have said this a few times over the last year or so, but i'm not sure that my heart is into keeping up with this space anymore. my fears of leaving it are missing some of the precious friends that i have made along the way, and forgetting so many things that we do on those good/bad/fun/stressful beautiful and ordinary days. 

so i might not be here often, but i will just kind of wait and see what feels right. 

last friday boyd and i had easter cupcakes.

on saturday, kevin hooked boyd up with some sunflower seeds before his game.

boyd had a hard time cracking the shell, and decided that all he wanted to do was suck the salt off the shell, then spit the entire thing out. i guess that will work. he thought he was really cool when he took his bag of seeds into the dugout with him. 

the kids played their hearts out, and won in a california tie breaker.

the most exciting game yet.

we've also lost a couple more. 

but they are learning so much, and it's amazing to see their growth in what is a first season for many of them.

and, thank you lala and papa for coming to watch last night.

we had a pretty quiet easter sunday, and that was just fine with us. 

i think we ate too many jelly beans, and we had chips and dip. 

nothing too traditional around here.

but it was a good, lazy day, for the most part.

i was telling boyd about easter and how it's much more than just eggs and the easter bunny. 

i don't always know how much he will understand, but i was telling him about jesus and the grave and how he rose. he did it for us so that we can go to heaven one day. i stopped after a minute or so, and boyd said, mom tell me more.

and i was happy to tell him more.

my childhood friend shelley and i have been meeting once a month, and although i had to put it off a week this time, we finally met up this week. i sat outside the restaurant for a few minutes, and had my favorite decaf americano. the weather was perfect, i was people watching, i was in heaven.

shelley and i decided that these are our monthly business meetings, since we are in the same line of work, although we work in different locations....

SAHM, grocery getter, housekeeper, errand runner, cook, play time supervisor, school helper, 

and so much more. 

there are no sick days, and we don't have the option to quit.
{although i have used the words running away a few times}.

it's a pretty good job, but it's far from perfect.  

life is far from perfect. but it's good. we are lucky.

cupcakes to share with friends today.

i hope it's a good day for you.

love,

nicolle

this week, and cupcake friday

i've been meeting up with my childhood friend shelley once a month, since the first of the year, and it's been so nice. we had lunch this week, i had the most delicious gyro salad, and i felt happy and lifted up after that meal and lunch date. i love friendships that are true and deep, and sometimes you get together and bare your soul, and sometimes you laugh the entire time. 

the older i get the more i treasure the friendships that are true and have purpose and just feel really good. 

i find precious gifts in so many of my friends. 

i've learned that friendships can be hard at times, and heartbreaking.
they don't always go as we dream or plan or hope for.
and i've not always been the best kind of friend.

still, god is good to give us friends.

we also went to texas motor speedway this week, with friends. 

it was a late night that we don't often do during the week, but it was worth it. 

we drove inside the track, 

and they had the unveiling of the world's largest hd video screen. 

it's called big hoss, which might be the most redneck thing ever, but it is what it is.

apparently it's as big as 9 alamos, which is hard to comprehend, but that's what they said. 

it's true, everything is bigger in texas.

this morning i drove across town to whole foods. 

i haven't been there in years.

i grabbed a decaf coffee and walked around.

i used to apologize for my excess photos of coffee, 

but, i love coffee and photos, i'm 40, and i can do what i want. right?

my frugal self had a hard time buying anything, but i picked up a few things.

a few goodies that are my go to items.

i came home and ate the salad, and some of the lemon hummus, and then i had to put the hummus away, because i was inhaling it. even though it's healthy, i had to put it down, and i put in a new workout video that i bought. i've popped that sucker in the player for 5 days in a row now, and that makes me HAPPY.

i might cuss jillian michaels out while i'm working out, but i feel so good afterwards.

for cupcake friday i picked up these cute spring-y cupcakes.

we have t-ball and a small birthday party this weekend.

our baby boy turns 6 next week.
there is no way around it, they DO grow up.
time is sneaky like that.

i'm holding onto 5 for a few more days.

love,

nicolle

spring break

spring break was a good one.
and wildly busy.
we packed and unpacked 4 different times for camping, and overnights.

spring break included...

grandparents

chuck e cheese's

friends

 sidewalk chalk

candy and popsicles

water gun fights

{a meltdown or five over the water gun fights}

staying up late
good food
cupcakes

beautiful weather

boyd was busy writing notes.
all
day
long.
he wrote notes to so many people.
he made grocery lists and wrote love notes and made lists for himself.
he wrote his teacher a note and a couple of notes for classmates.
my favorite is the grocery list he made for me, and how he spelled strawberry.

we ended the week with camping.
we spent saturday morning packing, we bought food, 
we drove about an hour to a lake to meet up with our neighbors...
only to set up camp, get flooded out, and drive home about 2 am.
we still had fun. we decided to make the most of it.
we sat around the campfire, grilled burgers and hot dogs, played bean bag toss.
the kids had smores and played with flashlights and sticks and got seriously muddy.
we drank horrible wine and good wine, talked and laughed and wrapped up in blankets.
it's all good.

love,
nicolle