Wedding #2 The Stagners

     Photo Credit: Photos by Jennifer

     Wedding #2 came soon after Tucker's birthday. We started celebrating with the family on Thursday night as Rita and Kim arrived. We enjoyed an evening of visiting with them and the Justin Pitcocks, in from DC. It was great to visit with everyone and feel the excitement of nuptials in the air. The cousins were pretty excited to get to play with each other too.

 On Tuesday Cooper and I went to Wichita Falls to pick up his tux.

It was a great little date night too; so special to have alone time with him.

When he saw the cow come out, he couldn't take his eyes off of him. 

He loved getting to give him a hug too.

 Of course we had to get an injured eye right before the wedding.

Thankfully it only blackened on the eyelid so it didn't interfere with his handsome looks.

Thursday afternoon Kallie came out and took our family pictures. 

She did a great job and the kids did pretty good too!

Photo credit: Kallie Francis Photography

Ring bearer gift! They got him a cup that said Cutest Ring Bearer Ever on one side and Ring Bearer Cooper on the other. What a sweet gift!

     At the rehearsal dinner with our little man. The other two stayed at home with a babysitter until GG and Papa arrived for the weekend. I was a nervous wreck about leaving them with the sitter because I know how those two love their mama. We left Ace screaming but Mom said that they were both happy when they arrived…yay! Baby steps. 

Setting up the tent. It was an amazing reception and so classy and fancy. I was stunned and excited to be there enjoying the festivities! 

     Saturday dawned cold and rainy. We hung out at the house, then Mom and I went to pre-shop at Jailhouse for their 50% off sale coming up. That afternoon I went to the Pitcock's and hung out a little and got my hair fixed for the wedding. A nice treat for me! Then I went home and we got the ring bearer and usher ready and sent them ahead to the wedding for pictures.

 Photo credit: Photos by Jennifer

    Soon after we headed to the church in the rain. I got to see the beautiful bride before and we anxiously awaited the big moment. It was a beautiful wedding. I had to do a reading but it went well. And Cooper was a great ring bearer, very professional. And most importantly, Jud and Merann became Mr. and Mrs. Stagner.  

     After the wedding we headed to the reception. First we dropped off Tucker, and Kallie dropped off Sophia. The wedding started at 7 so they were tired by the time the reception started. Then we headed to the party with the older boys. They were excited to be there and immediately went to the dance floor. 

Cooper, Ace and Karper, along with a couple other cousins, stayed out there until we pulled them away to eat. I tried to get a picture but they all turned out blurry. 

     Mom and Dad were excited to celebrate with the couple as well and it was nice having them there. We all sat together and visited and ate the delicious food and cake….the cake was amazing!

Cooper loved Alysa, the matron of honor. At the rehearsal dinner, when she got up to make a toast, he stopped fidgeting and said "She looks beautiful in that black dress!" and at the reception he danced with her for his first dance…I'm already being replaced!  

On the way to the reception. I must say I have two very handsome boys!! 

Loved them in their suits and Ace in his McFarlane tie. 

     It didn't take long for the boys to get tired. I was really surprised when they asked to go to the house with the babysitter. You know they are tired when they want to go to sleep! So I sent them up there. Then we really got to boogying on the dance floor and danced until I was exhausted. Finally we gathered our sleepy kids and headed home. 

     The next morning we headed to the Wildcatter for a send off brunch for the couple. Ace insisted on bringing his Bible and guitar (it was Sunday after all), and when he wouldn't leave it in the car we let him take it in, figuring he'd set it on the floor and forget about it. Not the case. He proceeded to open his Bible and sing to everyone in the room who would listen. It was really sweet! Cooper on the other hand, bounded around and around between the tables with Karper, visiting as he went. 

 My little traveling worship leader. 

     What a wonderful celebration of love and marriage! Congratulations to the happy couple. 

"Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not love God because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through Him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sines. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another." 1 John 4:7-11

Happy Birthday Tucker!!

   I can't believe Tucker is 1 already. The year has flown by and he's been a joy and treasure the entire time. A super happy baby, great eater, easygoing (although he's getting a temper these days) and loves his brothers. He's my sweet papaya and I love him so.

He liked the fire on the candle 

Cousins! 

    We were able to celebrate his birthday first with my side of the family. The Franks family and the Brian Moores all came over to Mom and Dad's to eat some pizza and sing to the little fella. It was a sweet time for me since they never get to participate in the boys' birthdays since they live so far away. Getting to be with them was nice.

 This is how you sample a cupcake.

    After pizza we gave him a cupcake but after licking the icing a few times he abandoned it and wanted to play.

 Ava made him a really neat card with a drawing that she did. What a talented artist!!

     The next day we headed to our house and I had his birthday and we had a little party for him with the Pitcocks. Again, a nice gathering to celebrate together. This time we gave him a piece of cake, but the same reaction….picked at it. Guess he's not going to be my sweets boy!

 

Popsey entertained the little ones for us.

 Everyone helped blow out the candle this time.

Happy family and happy birthday boy. This is the same shirt Cooper wore on his 1st birthday.

     Tucker's a special little boy and I can't wait to see how much he changes this year! He loves to play with his brothers, loves being outside and taking rides on the gator. He's a big fan of snacks, currently bananas and cheerios. He gives hugs, waves goodbye and  melts my heart!

We got him a cement mixer with balls that roll out. 

Enjoying his bottle in the personalized chair that Nana got him.

 We're trying to get him off of the bottle but he's not having it!

Picture with Mere Mere and Popsey before bed.

"You clothed me with skin and flesh, and knit me together with bones and sinews. You have granted me life and steadfast love, and your care has preserved my spirit." Job 10:11-12

The Great Garage Sale of 2014

     You'd think we'd take a week off after Garrett's wedding to relax and recover but instead the boys and I headed to Mom and Dad's to tackle a big garage sale. We'd been talking about this for a while and with Christmas and a Vegas trip coming up I was desperate for some spending moolah.
    Now you have to understand that I love garage sales….having them. I'm not a big garage sale visitor but I like selling stuff that I already have for money, even if it's 25 cents. And Mom and I had been collecting things for quite some time now. So it was our last chance before Mom chunked it all.
    Monday we started going through things in Mom's house and collected a lot of books and clothes. Then we started packing it up and moving it to the porch. Tuesday we hauled a lot of stuff to the old Teague Supply building and I started going through it, wiping off dust and setting up. That was another reason this was the prime time to garage sale. We had a great location in Teague. I was going to take advantage of that!

This is not related to the garage sale but Cooper drove the lawnmower at Mom and Dad's.

He did a great job and even backed it into the barn for Dad!

    I stayed up there until 8pm and then headed home to relieve Mom, who'd been watching my boys all afternoon. We regrouped and decided to all go up there tomorrow and work. So Wednesday we all headed up there about 10 and stayed until the boys were crashing. Then I took them home to nap and Mom stayed to hang up more clothes.

Midway through setting up. Can you spot two thirsty boys?

    That evening we met Brian, Amanda, Ava and Hank at a restaurant in FF to celebrate Hank's birthday. After supper we all drove back to Teague Supply to finish setting up before the big debut in the morning. I slept in my clothes that night, ready to burst out of bed when the time came. The next morning I excitedly gathered my moneybox, purse and hot chocolate and hitched a ride with Dad to FF to meet Amanda. Mom and Dad laughed at me and my exuberance about a garage sale. Where I see $$$, they see lots of man hours, not a lot of money and a mess to clean up afterwards. Then again, this is my only chance to earn my own money, so I'm taking it!

    Amanda, the kids and I headed to the Great Garage Sale of 2014. (She was less excited about it than I was.) We had a steady flow of customers on Thursday and stayed pretty late. We spent the 1st half of the day pricing things we hadn't previously priced. I sold some big items, which is always nice, and we had several people that said they'd come back tomorrow. At the end of the day, even though we'd done pretty good, it didn't look like a dent had been made…a testament to just how much stuff we had there. My only foible for the day was selling a $50+ gas heater of Garrett's for $15! Yikes I felt so bad, but it was left in a storage area and I considered anything there sellable. I'm serious about my garage sales. Thankfully it was to a lady that was super nice. So nice in fact that she brought it back the next day and exchanged it for items of equal value (and bought more stuff too!). She said that she brought it back because it wouldn't meet her needs in the area she needed it, but I kinda think she was just being nice.

Garage sales are great playgrounds and there's always room for a band.

   The next morning we went again and had another steady day. No big runs, but it was still fun. Mom brought the boys up there and they had a big time. During a lull I got the M&M costume out and danced in the parking lot, then talked everyone but Amanda into doing it too. You should have seen everyone! Of course Cooper the ham didn't mind shaking it, Ace bounced up and down and looked like a real M&M because you couldn't see his legs, Ava did a great classic sales dance - complete with the double hand wave urging cars to come in. And Hank busted some moves on the pavement, including a partial cartwheel. Finally I shamed Mom into doing it and she walked out, put her hands in the air and immediately walked back. So funny!

Bring in the sales!!!! Go Mom Go.  

Our mannequins 

   I told the kids that I'd give anyone who brought a car in $1. Unfortunately no cars came then, but it was still fun. The next day they were at it again and a couple cars came in, so I gave them each $1 -- even though they were dancing in the window and their influence was debatable.
    It was nice being back in the old Teague Supply. I miss the fun part of owning a store, and even though it's long hours and work it still has some appeal.

 

My turn as an M&M

    Saturday dawned and we prepared for the final day with lots of prices slashed and ready to give stuff away!! One item that consistently lowered in price was my futon, and I was surprised that it didn't sell at all. Another piece was an old entertainment center….well the remnants of one. I had it priced at $5 and no one even looked at it. Amanda and I joked that every time we looked over there another piece had fallen off of it. We also laughed about a repeat customer of the male persuasion that liked to hang around and chat with me. Amanda wanted me to keep talking so he'd buy more but I declined, ha.

     I mentioned we slashed prices, well I learned early on that I cave on my prices really easily, even on the first day of the garage sale. Amanda would give the set price, then not budge unless they really pushed her…and it usually paid off. Me on the other hand. They'd ask the price, I'd say "It's $3, but I'll let you  have it for $2" and sometimes took $1! I think the thought that kept rolling around in my mind was that I would have to pack up and throw away whatever didn't sell and every 25cents helped!

   Saturday was fun because we made deals and saw a lot leave the store, even though we still didn't have as many customers as we'd hoped. I had to leave for my cousin's baby shower at noon, and I left the store in Amanda's hands. She stayed another hour and then shut it down.

    When I tallied up the money for the weekend I was very pleasantly surprised and I think Mom and Dad were shocked at how much we made. We split off our portions and I left with Vegas money in hand. When we got home I promptly hid it so we didn't use for boring stuff like groceries, gas, etc. ; )
     Overall I was very pleased with our efforts and had a lot of fun doing it. On the other hand, I'll be happy to wait several years before doing another garage sale!

The Great Garage Sale of 2014 was a success!

"Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you never will I forsake you.” So we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?” Hebrews 13:5-6