Smiles...from hoof to gill!

Our M...LOVES horses.

I think every 6 year old girl does.

We had a great day with great friends...who have a horse... live on a lake...AND have a boat.

Our C... LOVES fishing.

It was a match made in heaven.

This was our day.

This is Grady.

He has Man O War blood...that's some good genes!

This is J.D.

He also has amazing heritage...I can't remember who though...

Both are amazingly sweet horses.

True gentle giants.

We all feel in love.

We learned what it means to be responsible for horses.

The kids got to brush and comb and bath the horses.

On tippy toes loving every minute of it!

So much that goes into owning and caring for these amazing creatures! The good...

...and the ugly.

The kids got a great understanding of what it means to care for something other than yourself.

I reminded them of the 100's of times I changed their diapers...even though it was stinky!

When you love...you do what ya gotta do!

There is nothin better than 2 happy kiddos... a barn dog named Ranger...

and...a mini horse named....can you guess?....yup.... Seven.

God makes no mistakes...this time he named this animal Himself!

M was in LOVE...she tried very, very hard to get us to try and buy this sweet thing!

Our cowboy! See the dust...this horse was galloping...what fun!

M talked to them as if they had been life long friends.

She had NO fear and was in her element!

She learned how to hold the reigns..I LOVE this picture btw.

She was so proud to wear her boots!

Smiles tell a thousand words.

I caught her petting J.D. and telling him he was "such a good boy"....soooo sweet.

Fearless...galloping all on her own.

Clicking her tongue and kicking her heals to tell this giant to go faster!!!

She was in heaven...I was praying!!!

I really think she looks so natural up there...that scares me for several reasons...

1. Don't people fall of of horses?

2. Ahhh....can we say expensive?

3. COWBOYS!

We ended our horse part of our day like this...

Trying to get this horse to move!

The horse did not want to run with my man on his back!

When ever my husband is a pain in the.......I am going to e-mail him this picture...just to let him know.

I took this...

then I told Grady and J.D. that they were not cooperating with me...

and needed them to keep their eyes open.

They listen better than my kiddos!

I need THEM for the Christmas picture!!!

Then we went to the lake house.

Caught minnows.

C in his element.

Smiles tell a momma...a lot!

It was the perfect day!

We were hosted by the most amazing people.

Who love Jesus and love to share their fun!

So...I guess M is now going to take horse lessons...

C...is saving his pennies for "the same exact boat".

Lots to live and dream for!

Love and Phew...mommas tired,

Tracey

X Marks the Spot!

Remember that map?

Well here it is!

We stained a thin piece of moulding...cut it and literally nailed it to the wall.

I love it!

I choose this map for a very special reason.

I am one of those girls where everything in my house has a sentimental meaning.

The numbers, letters and decor in my house have purpose.

There is a story behind each thing.

It brings me life.

One of our favorite family spots is Anna Maria Island.

We love having this sweet reminder with us all the time.

This is just a close up of my PB pillows that I "invested" in a year ago.

I am an ocean girl...how could I walk out of the store without them!

A map is a great way to bring special family memories into your home.

Maybe one in your kiddos room of the city where they were born...

or of the place you honey mooned...

or got married...

or your first house...

or the city where you live now...

you get the idea...

Put your place on the MAP!

Love and X marks the spot,

Tracey

Blue Whimsy!

Blue makes me Happy!

I love when rooms look like they just happened and they were not planned.

My house is very planned...I need to add some whimsy!

Looking into whimsy this weekend...

What are your whimsy ideas?

How do you add the unexpected?

Do your rooms look like they just happened to come together...or there was a plan behind it?

I am thinking that mixing of pattern adds whimsy...do you think I am on the right track?

How about a splash of random color?

Seriously let me know?

Have a great day!

Love and Whimsy,

Tracey

Paint...and Fishy Questions.

Remember when I bought that pine armoire from that estate sale?

Remember I could not decide if I should keep it...or flip it?

I finally decided...

a. to keep it!

b. to paint it!

I really struggled as to what to paint on it.

I had idea OVERLOAD so I waited until I could not shake one of the ideas.

I could not shake the FISH market idea.

It was kind of like when you are in T.J. Maxx and you put something in your cart and walk around with it,

you get to the check out and you KNOW...yup-can't live without it.

It was that kinda process.

I walked around with all of the ideas...and at "checkout" I settled with this design.

Not only are we totally beach people...we are fish fanatics.

We LOVE fish.

My children when asked what they would choose pizza or fish without fail... choose fish.

I know crazy right?

Tilapia

Salmon

Haddock

Cod...

if it swims!

We are also all fishermen.

I never thought I would ever like the sport.

However there is nothing like feeling that tug on the other end of your fishing line.

Then the anticipation of pulling out that fish and seeing what is on the hook...

in Florida we have pulled some amazingly beautiful fish!

It has become a common love for all of us.

Remember I was also trying to figure out that light fixture.

I choose this.

I added this rope around the black wire.

I love it!

Sorry about the dust..out of sight out of mind...right?

It's Monday...the day we talk about marriage.

Here is the deal about marriage today.

The marriages that we see that are thriving have a few things in common.

One of the #1 things we see is this...

you support your spouse in what they love...in who they are.

We do that for our kids ALL the time.

We go to their games, drive them to practice...

ask a billion questions about the who, what, where, why and when in their lives.

Who are you today?

What do you need today?

Where is your heart today?

Why is your heart there?

When can we connect again like this again?

So we  have challenged couples who were struggling...and couples in a good season to ask these questions.

It is easy to remember cause...

we all learned how to write essay papers using some version of these questions.

So if you find yourself struggling to communicate try to get the who, what, where, why and when.

You don't literally have ask..."so...where is your heart today", although you could...

the purpose is to get to the answer on the other side of that question.

HOW you get there does not matter...THAT you get there does.

So what does that have to do with a fish armoire?

Nothing.

It's just I could not wait to show you the armoire...I was toooo excited about it.

But...I promised marriage Mondays!

I pray you have a great day...

and that the who, what, where, when, and why of your life is full of joy!

Love and Fishy Questions,

Tracey

Projects and Lemonade.

It is prrrroject day over here today!

We are...

wrapping rope around our new light fixture...

finishing painting a piece of furniture...

building a new headboard...

heading to T.J.Maxx looking for new pillows...

O.K. hopefully we will get all of that done...

The expanded list.

 painting the kitchen...

doing our 2 plank walls...

painting 2 boards for my sons room...

the master bathroom...

maybe painting our piano...(what do you think about that?)

hanging light fixtures in 3 places...

and oh so much more...

does your list ever stop?

I always keep lemonade handy for days like these!

I keep frozen strawberries in syrup to add...my kiddos love it!

Love and Lemonade!

Tracey

Dream reflections...

It really is a dream come true.

The new DREAM ship lives into it's name in a whole new Disney kind of way.

Start saving your pennies...seriously.

The cousins (minus baby cousin who is chasing Mini)

My parents and my BFF from jr. high and high school...yes a total GODincidence that she and her family were on the same cruise. We both had booked the same one and and found out 3 month ago.

She is the best kind of friend a girl could have...I am forever grateful for her!

She deserves her own post...to come soon.

Never a dull moment...putt putt...while sailing!

Our server staff and new friends...(Ludo and Mario) were always making dinner fun for our family.

Oh if I could have only heard every secret that happened during dinner between these 2.

I have never heard 2 girls giggle for 5 day straight! Memories forever!

We found Mini by the pool...

Disney does not allow you to take pictures during their AMAZING shows...

But this is a photo of our kiddos who were choose to go on stage and be the 7 dwarfs...they got to go back stage, get costumes...and act and dance on stage during the actual performance.

Team Cousins! It was awesome!

This girl was made for cruising...just like her momma!

On Disney's Castaway Cay...unbelievable!

Did you ever do this when you were 6?....no me either!

Cousins in the hammock (minus baby who is still chasing Mini...seriously).

A princess and her ship.

A sweet lady from our church made M this dress before we left.

She had fittings and everything...she felt like a true princess.

There was LOTS of eating...yummy and beautiful dishes.

This one made me make lots of yummm noises.

My sweet server and new BFF poured the cream sauce for me...Disney makes everyone feel like a princess young and not so young anymore!

Oh...what to order?

One of my favorite things was watching my kiddos order.

The servers LOVED our son who ordered EVERY fish dish.

This is escargot..yes snails...now he has asked me to make them...ugh.

They were in awe of his palette...he is an amazingly brave kind of kid!

Ludo and Mario

These 2 guys LOVE their job and in turn made us LOVE them.

Our son C even asked to go to guest services (all on his own)...so I walked him over there.

He then proceeded to tell the boss behind the desk that he was, "so impressed with his servers that he would like them to get a raise."....It was so endearing and so sweet...and I was sooooo proud of our son for being so confident and so sure of how he felt...that he had to pass on the joy! Great memories!

On our last night at about 10:30 just the 4 of us walked to the very top of the ship and to the very front.

We were the only ones there and felt like we were on top of the water and could touch the sky.

The moon came through and it felt like we could jump on it.

It was one of those family moments my husband and I will NEVER forget.

We laughed and talked about our trip and ....our next trip...and we thanked each other for such a fun time.

We lounged on a big 4 person lounge chair and took this photo by stretching out an arm.

I think it is my favorite...it holds such a beautiful memory.

We finished our trip with this.

True Disney style.

I have sooooo many pictures...I just tried to give you a taste.

I purposefully did not share many pictures of the Ship...for one reason.

I think YOU need to go...and I do not want to ruin it for you.

If you have any questions about cruising Disney ask me.

farrell4t@yahoo.com

I would love to encourage your dream come true!

Love and Dreams,

Tracey