Tag: family

Avalon Faire

On By thefunkyfrugalistaIn Day DateLeave a comment

I feel like it always rains on Easter weekend. I know it did every single time when we lived in Baton Rouge. Saturday was a bit unnerving.

Even though the tornado sirens were going off for what seemed like forever, we luckily did not see one near us. The wind was crazy and the rain was blowing sideways.

Because Avalon Faire is always in April and only open on the weekends, Easter Sunday is the only time that Donny can go. I gave the kids their Easter basket along with Olivia and Gavin and Donny and I headed out. Because we did go early the crowds were not bad at all. Surprisingly it wasn’t even muddy.

We didn’t go last year and they had made quite a few changes for the better.

There are more bridges and wooden walkways. There seems to be more food options. Donny got a beef sandwich and then we both got sausages on a stick that were really good.

My favorite shop used to be the Marrakesh Market because they used to have a whole wall of pottery. It’s still there, but it’s more in line with costumes and baskets. I was a bit disappointed because I wanted to get a mug. We did see a tent where there were mugs, but there wasn’t really anything that I loved enough to pay the price they were asking.

We watched a skit that was funny.

We always get a bottle of Mead. This year we our choice was Apple Pieser that tasted just like apple pie. Donny Found a tumbler/koozie that this man makes out of leather. He had so many cool pieces to choose from. The lids are interchangeable so it will be pretty handy.

We had made our way around the faire twice and I really didn’t see anything that caught my eye until Donny saw this shop that had leather purses and pouches. The sweet older couple that makes everything were so incredibly nice. I found the perfect crossbody bag that I later found out is called a Viking Druid pouch. I love that it holds everything that my other purse did.

We saw part of the jousting, but I was more interested in just how close we could get the these birds that they use in another show.

Sometimes the pond isn’t as full as it was on Easter, but thanks to the rain it was to the brim.

The whole faire is just so pretty and the weather was amazing. We even wore long sleeves and didn’t sweat a drop.

When we got home the kids were flying their kites in the backyard.

What a glorious day it was.

This ‘n That

On By thefunkyfrugalistaIn Home lifeLeave a comment

First I want to start by saying we had a scare last night. Hannah and I went to workout and got home about midnight. I was checking on everything when I heard the neighborhood dogs barking like crazy. I looked up and there were two huge coyotes just walking down the middle of our street. If the dogs hadn’t alerted me I wouldn’t have even known they were there because they were ninja quiet. I start yelling at them to go away because our two male cats were outside. Donny heard me and came out to see what in the world was going on at that late hour. We hopped in the car and started chasing them around the neighborhood to get them to leave. They did not want to leave and kept circling back to our street. We had the windows down yelling at them and honking. They finally left but I’m sure they will be back. We have a feral cat colony across the street and it breaks my heart when there is a missing cat.

Fridays are like every normal person’s Sunday for us. It’s like the end of the weekend because Donny has Thursdays and Fridays off. Since we did all of our running around yesterday today was home day. While he was cleaning out and fortifying the chicken coop (we had a possum sneak in the other night in the wee hours) I was painting one of the old tires that we had in the backyard. Donny had used it for planning potatoes a few seasons ago and I wanted to spruce it up and use it for cucumbers.

My cucumbers are almost ready to be planted. I don’t know how well they will do in the front because it is just so dang shady. I’m going to plant some in the full sun and some in the shad and see how it goes.

That’s some of my tomato plants in the round containers next to the cucumbers.

I may have overdone it with the tomatoes, but who knows if they’ll all live.

I have 3 that I cheated and bought at home Depot. They are still living so that’s a plus.

My watermelon is finally sprouting. Those are my babies because I love watermelon and buy so many during the summer. I would just love to be able to pick them from my garden.

So far everything is going well. Fingers crossed it stays that way.

As soon as the compost is ready I’ll be spreading that all over. For some reason Making compost has always intimidated me. We made it all the time at our house in Bryan. I have no idea why I felt this way. I decided that if I don’t do it right, that’s okay, but so far it’s been really easy. I also found that using the weed weasel thing to mix it up is so much better than the hoe and stick I was using.

Sorry about all of the garden talk it’s just that I am trying to record everything so I’ll have the records for next time and it’s also what took up the majority of our day today.

But, that’s not the only thing. Hannah and I went to Crunch to workout. I absolutely love this gym. No one cares what you wear. Everyone is so nice and helpful. We have started doing the circuit workout and then cardio. Tonight we found the holy grail of working out. It’s the sauna! We sat in that beautiful hot room and when we got out it felt like we had taken a sedative. That will definitely be our ending every time we go. I just can’t even explain how wonderful I feel after sitting on those cedar benches for 15 minutes.

Because Sprouts is in the same parking lot I had to run in and get some lotion. I am almost out of the patchouli buritti and decided to go with a new scent.

This is my favorite scent. It says floral in the description (I’m not a floral girly at all) but I’m not getting that from it. All of the scents that I have tried are really good, but the lotion itself is outstanding. Non greasy, soaks in and keeps my skin soft all day long. Highly recommend. Natural Grocers, Vitamins Plus and Drug Emporium also carry this brand.

Now I’m going to talk my cat Malley off the ledge because he is wanting to go outside. He can’t meow so it’s the grunting sound. Poor thing. He always settles down when he realizes he has lost the battle of wills.

Lazy Thanksgiving

On By thefunkyfrugalistaIn Home lifeLeave a comment

Since either Donny or myself have always had to work the day after Thanksgiving we’ve never really traveled on this holiday. None of us really like traditional Thanksgiving food so for many years we’ve just always gone to Cracker Barrel. This year we decided to do something different.

I waited in the car while Donny picked up our order. Best decision ever. The food was exactly what we ordered. Everyone got what they wanted and it was so good. We watched football and napped. I had picked up a pumpkin pie so there was zero cooking on my part, which was greatly appreciated by me.

Jackson hit me up to go to the mall for some sales he had seen at Entertainmart. So we will be fighting the crowds in the morning. Are there still even Black Friday crowds? I can remember when it used to be a big deal to pick up the Thanksgiving day newspaper so you could scour the ads and make a game plan on which stores to hit first. Now it seems as though Black Friday starts the first of November. I guess we’ll see.

We did do a little bit of Black Friday shopping earlier in the week. Well, I wouldn’t really call it that because it was just some Halloween things at 80% off. The kids and I had to run to Michaels to get new portfolios for them because the ones I got them at the beginning of school weren’t holding up with their easels in them. You can always spot art students because they lug these giant things around.

Jackson and I are always looking for the Spooky Town houses. We found these to add to our collection.

Hannah also picked up a few things Halloweeny for her room. She likes all things spooky.

Unlike most people I’ve seen online I have not put our Christmas tree up yet. I did however get all of the boxes out of the shed but so far that’s it. I just cannot do it before Thanksgiving. It just seems so wrong to me. I’m hoping to get it up by Saturday or Sunday. We are all also worried about our kitten because she climbs everything and I don’t know how we are going to keep her off the tree.

And just because I thought our house looked cool in the dark when we drove up.

I hope everyone had a really good Thanksgiving.

Random Saturday Goings On

On By thefunkyfrugalistaIn thriftingLeave a comment

Normally we have a relatively quiet Saturday. We keep errands to a minimum and just spend time at home. Today, however, that was not the case. I noticed that we were very low on coffee so that meant a trip to Walmart. I like the Great Value coffee. It taste just like Folgers and comes in a big cardboard canister that can be recycled. But before we went to Walmart we stopped off at Hope’s Closet. Hannah was with me and we had planned to go earlier in the week but never made it.

She found these cute boots that were brand new. They are so her style.

She also got these pants that will fit into her wardrobe perfectly.

I picked up this olive green sweater. Not shown is the Nautica sweater I picked up for Jackson that he actually liked.

Walmart was PACKED!!!! It felt like we were playing Frogger ,or as Hannah described it as Crossy Roads, when we were trying to get from one aisle to another. I have been having menopausal symptoms that were not fun so I did a little research and decided to try this. I will make a doctor’s appointment if I feel like this isn’t working.

Hannah needed some candles and while we were looking for those I picked up some incense cones to use in the holder I bought by mistake.

I’ve never bought the Mainstays brand, but at least they are made in India.

We we got home from Walmart I got a text telling me that my Michael’s voucher expired today. I checked at it was a $10 one. The kids are always needing art supplies and I knew Jackson needed ink for one of his classes so off to Michael’s we all went. I think that everyone in Longview was also wanting to go to the same place. It doesn’t help that TJ Maxx is right next door. The line of cars turning in when we were leaving was crazy.

The one thing that I HAD to do today was grocery shopping at Aldi. I did not want to go. When we drove by it didn’t look very crowded so I took a deep breath and headed out. I was so wrong because there were SO many people shopping. I did however find some fake Poppi that I can’t wait to try.

And I had never seen these before. They are so good and gluten free.

I have to be so much more careful and read ingredients. This morning I woke up bloated with all my joints hurting. I could not figure out what in the world was causing this until I realized what mistake I had made. The past two evenings I had eaten lobster bisque soup for dinner. I actually know how bisque is made and it’s made with a flour base. I just wasn’t paying attention. Tomorrow I’m going to make a big detox salad and lentil and carrot soup to see if I can get rid of all the gunk.

After I settled in at home I started searching for shoes that I have been wanting to get for Fall. I had the exact shoes I was looking for in my head but couldn’t find them anywhere. I wanted a medium brown corduroy footbed clog. I found some that were the right color from Birkenstock but they were suede and if I was going to pay that kind of money I wanted what I wanted. I finally found them.

screenshot_20251115-175557~22796391037036247477.

These are exactly what I had pictured in my head. I ordered them immediately and cannot wait until they arrive. I ordered them 1/2 size bigger than I normally would so I could wear them with socks when it gets cold. Do not judge me! LOL

And I will leave this post with the bad little kitten that climbs everything.

Just look at that face. She knows.

Train Trip

On By thefunkyfrugalistaIn Road tripLeave a comment

After being with my daughter and her family for almost a week, I decided that Friday would be a good day to say good-bye. They needed space to establish a schedule and start finding their new normal with a newborn and a toddler. Because I didn’t want Donny to have to make the drive again, I had decided to take the train back home. If you know me, you know how much I love trains.

My plan was to sleep and read on the almost 9 hour trip. Because the train was sold out everyone had to sit with someone. I lucked out and sat by a 70 year old Air Force veteran named Mike. He was heading to St. Louis to see his granddaughter for her 16th birthday. We had such good conversations because we had lived and/or visited the same places.

If you have never taken a train here are some observations that I have made. The seats are big and there is so much leg room. They also lay back like a recliner. It’s a whole different dynamic than flying. People are so friendly and you end up making so many friends and having a good time. People will offer you snacks, shots (the alcohol type) and just good conversation. You will meet people from all over.

After I had lunch from the food car I decided to go sit in the observation car for a little while.

I love that you face the windows and the ceiling is clear so you can see so much more than you can from you seat. There are also tables where people were playing cards and other games.

I love going through the small towns because it’s like you see the opposite side of what you would see in a car. It’s like looking at someone’s backyard when all you are used to seeing is the front. You get fresh air breaks at certain stations where you can get out and walk around.

Our Dallas break.

All in all I highly recommend taking a train trip at least once in your life. I hope to do many more in the future.

I’m sure going to miss these humans though

Halloween 2025

On By thefunkyfrugalistaIn Home lifeLeave a comment

I am so late posting this, but things have been a bit crazy around here. Hannah decided that we were going to have a Halloween party because in our town there is little for late teen to 21 year olds to do on this holiday. She and Jackson were just going to invite a few of their friends to keep it small. We decorated the backyard so they could hang out around the fire pit, play corn hole and roast hotdogs and make s’mores.

I found this vintage door cover at an estate sale.

Hannah and I carved pumpkins the night before.

Since the party started at 5:30 there was plenty of light to play Cornhole.

They loved the fire pit so much that we had to go get more wood.

They decided to load up in the back of Gavin’s pickup and go trick or treating around the neighborhood. I know some people think they may be too old, but I had seen a post on All Things Longview that was asking if any adults could go trick or treating. The yes response was overwhelming. This is mainly because most kids go to the really big neighborhoods where they block off the streets and are known for their trick or treating. Our little neighborhood has homes that decorate but no one comes.

Hannah was Gumball and her Olivia was Darwin (a fish. she had a fin but you can’t see it from the front) from the Adventures of Gumball.

Gavin and Hannah

The kids ended up with a lot of candy. One house had hotdogs and hot chocolate. After the trick or treating they decided to play some board games.

The festivities ended around midnight and everyone had a great time. I think we’ll have to do this again. I hope everyone else had a happy Halloween.

Day #84 – TSITP

On By thefunkyfrugalistaIn 100 DaysLeave a comment

I really messed up yesterday. On the way home from Kilgore yesterday afternoon Donny suggested that we stop off at Sonic and get a drink. Well, the kids had been at school most of the day so Hannah was hungry, Jackson said he could eat a snack so we all kind of decided to eat a snacky late lunch early dinner and then just graze when we got home. Here’s the problem with Sonic, they have nothing food wise that I can eat. Did that stop me? Uh, nope. So I had a chocolate banana milkshake and 4 cheddar peppers. I knew. I really did, but I was caught up in the moment of having fun with the fam. That fun led to me not feeling well at all today. BUT, there was a silver lining.

If you have ever read an Elin Hildebrand book and you loved it, you need to watch The Summer I Turned Pretty. I am very late to the trend, but my oldest daughter told me to watch it and now I’m hooked. It’s only 3 seasons and the reason we were discussing it is because the cast was on the today show after the series finale aired. It’s one of those shows where you really want to find out how it turns out but know that when it’s over you will miss the characters so much.

Donny and I have been debating what to plant on our fence line in the back. We had toyed with the idea of a bamboo fence, but there are so many plants that we want to keep that are growing right up against the fence that a bamboo one would be almost impossible to attach. We saw that cana lilies are good because they are so prolific and are the right height that we need. I looked into buying them online and they were $10-$15 a bulb. Donny went to Super 1 today and sent me a picture asking if this is what we were looking for and sure enough it was

These were about 10 bucks a piece, but there are so many shoots in one pot. We’ll hopefully get to plant them tomorrow.

And just because O’malley and Baby Ruth looked so cute together.

Day #4 – Gitter Done

On By thefunkyfrugalistaIn 100 DaysLeave a comment

There are days when I want to put off errands and scheduling anything. Today was not that day. Hannah had an early doctor’s appointment. So we were up and out the door by 8. We both love her doctor because he actually listens and talks to us. She had mentioned that she her face was breaking out and that it concerned her. He said, “hold on a second” and left the exam room. He came back with this cream that he wants her to try.

Since we were already downtown I had bagged up some books I had already read so we could drop them at the free library at the train station. It’s my favorite place to bring books because there never seems to be that many, compared to the other free libraries around town, and I know I would like to grab a book to read while on the train. Unfortunately, the station was locked up tight even though it was supposed to be open.

We decided to drive over to the Green, our favorite park, to drop them at the free library there. This park is so beautiful. It doesn’t have the usual slides, swings, etc because it’s more of a Montessori park.

When we opened the library box all of the books were wet. We have gotten a lot of rain lately, but with the leaky roof, I wasn’t going to add my books.

Instead of just leaving and going home we decided to walk the trail around the park. We played some music to sooth our souls.

Hannah was in workout gear and I was in a skirt and sandals. I would normally just say that I wasn’t really dressed for walking around a park so we should just leave, but since I love that park and I’m doing at least 1% effort to better my days, we walked.

There are several fun things for the kiddos to climb on, like this turtle.

We have always loved the mossy pond. But the best thing about just taking a walk for no reason is that we got to have a really good, deep conversation about her feelings, the future, just a little bit of everything. I loved that none of this was planned, it was just a spur of the moment adventure, that to me are the best kind.

When we got home I help Jackson find the right website to make an appointment with the DMV. Hannah got online and finished her college application. She realized that she needed her high school transcript so I called the school and they said they would have it ready for us. Jackson decided to come with us so off we went to their old high school for probably the last time.

It’s so strange to see all of the lights off and no voices in the hallways. The end of one era and the beginning of another.

We decided to try the train station one more time. It was finally unlocked and we ran in to drop off the books.

It might not seem like I got a lot done today, but I really did. Things we had been putting off doing and just being with my kids made it such a successful day. I can’t ask for more than that.

King Queso

On By thefunkyfrugalistaIn Home lifeLeave a comment

I HATE writing this post. Saturday night Queso and Monkey did not want to come in the house. It’s not unusual for them to be outside. Queso was my daughter’s cat that we took in when she moved to the Hill Country. Donny and I both fell asleep in the living room watching a movie. I got up about 1 am and since he looked so comfortable I let him sleep. He later told me that at about 3 am he heard a cat ruckus outside. This isn’t unusual because we have a very cat friendly street and there are a lot of strays that we feed. He went outside to look around to find Queso and Monkey to bring them in. He couldn’t find them.

Sunday morning Milo woke me up to go outside at 6:10. I always start the coffee and then go outside to make sure the cats have food and fresh water. When I walked out onto the patio I saw Queso laying under the big table. I called him but he didn’t respond. I got closer to him and realized that he wasn’t breathing. My heart broke. I went inside and woke Donny up. We picked up Queso’s body to see if we could see anything that would explain what happened to him. Nothing. Not a scratch that we could see. He had looked like he was just sleeping. We wrapped him in his blanket and buried him in the backyard.

This was the last picture I took of him. He was the coolest cat. He weighed 15 pounds and would not take no for an answer. He loved HARD. His favorite place to sleep was on my pillow with his arms wrapped around my neck. He loved to give kisses. He wanted all the other cats to be his friend. He would stand guard on our cars or the trash cans. His favorite place to nap outside was the plant shelf.

Taken during a thunderstorm.

His favorite napping spot.

Always wanting to help.

Late night snuggles.

Loving any basket, bag or box.

He and Milo were best friends. They always wanted to be near each other. Milo is having a hard time with Queso not being here. He wants to be in the same room as I’m in and if he’s not he will loudly meow. We are all going to miss Queso so much. He was definitely one of a kind and it felt like he was always more human than cat.

P.S.

We found some coyote tracks in the ditch mud so now we believe that he tried to fight off a coyote and when he howled he scared it off. There must have been damage that we couldn’t see.

Whataweekend

On By thefunkyfrugalistaIn Frugal LifeLeave a comment

On Friday Jackson graduated from high school. I cannot believe how fast time flies by. I know that he will cherish his time at East Texas Charter School and that him going there was the best decision ever. Small class size, teachers that truly care and an amazing superintendent that kept the school in tip top shape made for an amazing 4 years.

The students get to pick their first and second choices of who to stand up and speak about their time at ETCS. Jackson picked his favorite teacher Mr. Damoude.

It’s so interesting to hear about each graduating senior. I’ve never been to another school that does this. There are no valedictorians. Each student has a chance, if they choose, to speak after the teacher gives their speech. Jackson did not want to.

There were a whopping 29 graduates this year.

Group shot before the hat toss.

A proud dad who unfortunately had to go back to work right after this was taken.

Proud mom and sister.

Jackson’s best friends. Two of them will be also heading off to Kilgore College in the Fall.

We have a tradition that when it’s your birthday or another special event, you get to pick whichever restaurant you want to have dinner. Jackson’ picked Rotolo’s. I loved it because they have cauliflower crust pizza. That was the last meal I have eaten because I got sick.

Right before we were about to leave I started having floaters in my eyes. The headache came right after we got home so I went to bed early. Saturday morning I woke up and felt like I couldn’t get out of bed. My body felt like it was made of lead. I still had a horrible headache. I ended up sleeping all day.

Sunday I was feeling a little better so I made a quick Aldi run. When I got home my stomach and back were cramping so badly. I was also coming down with a UTI. The fatigue was also back in full force. I asked Donny to pick up so AZO and cranberry juice. He knew that I was not eating sugar so he picked me up the only zero sugar he could find. I highly recommend NEVER getting this juice. My whole body puckered and seized up. I tried diluting it with water and stirring in some honey. Nope, that didn’t work at all. Hannah didn’t know that it was awful and had the same reaction.

I went to bed early on Sunday night and by Monday I still wasn’t feeling well. Now let’t throw in a sore throat and my TMJ acting up. It’s like my body’s check engine light came on. I slept most of the day, again. Today I feel like I’m at 75% which I’ll take over the previous days.

To make matters worse a skunk sprayed a possum right outside our patio door on Sunday night. If I hadn’t known better I would have sworn it had sprayed in our kitchen. It made Donny so sick to his stomach and gave me another headache. So that’s how the weekend ended.

I am ready for some good days ahead that’s for sure.