Tuesday, March 8, 2016

YEE-HAW! Beaumont Ranch

I didn't totally forget in my last post that my hubby's birthday was in February.  It just warranted it's very own post. We kicked off Jeremie's birthday weekend with his traditional cookie cake FROM THE PLACE IN THE MALL. Listen. I've tried cheaper other options. I've tried laboring with love and making my own cookie cake for him. But my hubby has the gift of honesty and has told me that neither will work. So here we are. They even spelled his name right this year. And I never put candles on his cake because quite honestly, I can never remember how old Jeremie is. I have to do some math every year. 


The past two years we've gone to Broken Bow, Oklahoma and stayed in the darling cabins there.  This year, we decided to save a few $$ and try something different. And I'm so glad we did! This year's trip was a blast! I lucked up and randomly found an amazing deal (like almost cheaper than a nice dinner date) on Beaumont Ranch, which is about an hour outside of Dallas. I thought it was super coincidental since J grew up in a little town called.....Beaumont! 

On our way to the ranch, we stopped in a town we've never been to called Waxahachie. (Just take a stab at it, we don't know how to pronounce it either.) It's known as the "Gingerbread City" because of the prevalence of these style homes...... 


Ummm...yes please!!!!  I'm ready to move it!!!!  It had a DARLING downtown; we are total suckers for charming town squares. They had so many cute antique stores and I completely wanted to join the locals who were scrapbooking in the craft store. 


We even found Greyson one of these little toddler "leashes" at a children's consignment shop. 


Judge away people, judge away. But you chase him around like a wild cat for 6 hours and then tell me what you think. I even had a lady stop me and tell me "good job" because she also raised a "spirited son".  He actually had more freedom because otherwise, he'd be in the stroller or having to be carried. I might even put Manny's retractable leash on it to give him a few extra feet.....hehe, just kidding. 

We were hungry after our shopping and a local recommended the Catfish Plantation restaurant. And ya'll, it was slap yo mama, finger lickin' good. Like, I needed to unbutton my pants afterwards. Well, that is after I finished my blackberry cobbler to-go in the car. (I've got a whole 'nother compartment for dessert.) 

The restaurant was in a beautiful house that is believed to be haunted.  The only thing I'm haunted with is when we're gonna have time to go back for some more cobbler.


Greyson LOVED the little "house" they had in front of the restaurant. Now Daddy is going to build him one....spoiled much?


Can we pause and enjoy how darling my little guy is?


We finally headed out of Waxahachie, through Maypearl (yes, Maypearl, TX) and onto Beaumont Ranch. I realize I'm really killing all the "cute, darlin, precious" adjectives in this post, but ya'll.....it was CUTE. PRECIOUS. DARLIN.  It is a huge working cattle ranch with a western village in the middle of the property. Like you could shoot a movie there. We LOVED it! 





This was the cabin we stayed in, The Paisley. And yes, it was precious. Claw foot tub and all. The only complaint I had is the toilet was a little "old school" with a long chain handle you pulled to flush it. And it made the loudest....well, belching sound when you pulled it. Just ponder this conundrum when we had a sleeping baby right next to the bathroom.


Doesn't this sunset just make you take a deep sigh???


After putting G down, I ran "to town" to get us some dinner. Grandview is a little one horse town and the only food option was the R&K Cafe. And it was clearly the place to be on a Saturday night! I took our food back to the ranch and we enjoyed it on the patio overlooking the longhorns. ; ) 

I also stopped at the Dollar General in Grandview to pick up some milk for G the next morning. The associate checking me out was telling me about a big problem she was having with her barn cats eating field canaries (not kidding) and bringing the dead fowls into the house. She was super sweet, but I'm not gonna lie, that sounded a little crazy to me. I told Jeremie I didn't realize canaries were native to Texas. And sure enough the next morning, guess what I see? A lovely yellow canary sitting on the barb wire fence. And just guess who was our breakfast waitress the next morning at the ranch? Yep, the canary lady from Dollar General. Oh I love a small town.

Part of Jeremie's birthday gift was a skeet shooting session on the ranch, so he went on Sunday morning. And ya'll, he was just beaming afterwards. It filled his love tank like a two hour Marshall's shopping spree would fill mine. 

Meanwhile, me and G played on the ranch, chasing his new friend, a black cat. And the cat loved him right back. Or maybe it was the leftover chicken strips we left for her on the porch the night before. You know how that goes....never feed a stray animal. I was truly afraid we were about to bring a new pet home.

Just look at my little cowboy.........


On the way out of town, we stopped at the R&K Cafe one more time and I got a chicken fried steak with 3 sides and a desert for $6.49; praise the Lord.

The weekend definitely wore G out because he slept all the way to our front door. And well-trained parents know to never waste a good nap. So Jeremie got out of the car as I carefully crawled over into the driver's seat (so we'd only have to quietly close ONE door) and I rode around the block until G woke up. Lord have mercy, who have we become.

Anyway, we had a absolute blast; it was a much needed getaway! And luckily we didn't come back with any cats. Or canaries. 

Happy Trails, folks!

Wednesday, March 2, 2016

January/February

Say WHAT?! It's March?! I didn't blog separately about January and February, because honestly, there was no need. The latter half of January and first half of February can be summed up in one word: SNOT. I'm sorry if that offends you, but chances are if you have a child, you're hurting for me right now. You're having your own flashbacks about the blue suction bulb, the Nose Frieda, or torture device of  your choice. Listen, between cutting molars and a terrible cold, we were drowning in the stuff.  

About the time things started looking up, Greyson shared the love and Jeremie and I both ended up with sinus infections and bronchitis. The good news is we purchased stock in Kleenex and can now retire. 

Even though these months were challenging, we squeezed in some fun! Our Nona and Papa (J's parents visited, we went to the zoo with friends, did a Gymboree class, and celebrated Dr. Seuss Day at school. Sadly, even the best pics from these activities were blurry. It's like chasin' the wind, people. 

We babysat for Greyson's little buddy, Brayden, one day and it was super fun. I really was thinking it was going to be SHEER chaos but the two actually entertained each other instead of me being a complete show monkey for Lil G all day. So it wasn't as exhausting as I was expecting. But no, it did NOT give me the itch for #2, so Mom, you can put away the booties you just knitted.


Greyson shared his TOYS very well.....not so sure about his dad......


When I say "Greyson is just in to everything!.......I mean...IN to everything.....


Let's just say we've introduced the word "NO" the past couple months. And here's how that usually turns out....


On Valentine's Day, my hubby let me off duty for a few hours. Again, please don't judge. We exchanged cards and kisses earlier, but every mom out there knows the most romantic gift when you have a toddler is alone time! (For those of you who wonder what in the world I did with my free time, I went to Breadwinners and drank hot cocoa while eating strawberry cake and reading a book without cardboard pages or animal sounds!

So when I came home.....I found Ft. Greyson in my very own living room. My first thought was.....that's our only clean set of sheets with the dirty chalkboard tablecloth...but I can't help but overflow with happiness at the fun these two have together. And the shenanigans they can come up with while I'm gone.


Greyson's been working hard to decide on his future career...

Carpenter......


Fireman.....


Landscaper....


Negotiator....


Sports Analyst...


Race car driver......


He talked to Lambert about it.......


All this indecision calls for a nap.......


For now, he seems content to just be a little boy......


And oh how I love that little boy. The days just get more and more fun as his personality develops. I feel so incredibly blessed to be his mom!  

On to March, spring, warmer weather and lots more fun!