Category: From The Heart

Fa La La La FALL!

 

October recap coming in strong!

I can’t believe this year has already almost passed us by.  It’s been quite a year as well!  I took these two to the pumpkin patch one afternoon thankfully before it got too busy.  Oh what a blessing these kiddos are in my life.  Connor is the best, goofiest, and sweetest big brother ever.  I can tell he’ll always watch over Heidi even when we cannot.  It’s the sweetest thing watching them grow and bond with each other despite the 9 year age gap.  Heidi has been the best surprise ever!

Here’s a little throwback to 2010 and Connor’s first pumpkin patch picture.  I think he was around 8 months here.

Oh no Heidi has sprouted EYEBALLS!  Connor loves messing with her too.  I can tell that is going to be a life long “thing” for these two. Ha ha!

Heidi got the cutest little pumpkin spice romper and it’s just the cutest thing EVER!

And I love my new fall t-shirt from Callie Danielle.  She’s going to be coming out with Christmas designs soon and I can’t wait to see those.

My friend Ellen and I went driving around last weekend and I love looking at fall “porchscapes”.  This one in particular was a favorite with the pink pumpkins and bats.  You can see all of the ones we saw on INSTAGRAM under the “Fall” highlights tab.

I also enjoyed my annual trip to Christmas in Cowtown.  I literally go just for the Toffarazzi booth.  If you have never tried their toffee….YOU MUST!  It’s amazing y’all!  (Pic at my cute friend Micah’s booth)

Earlier this month I had a wonderful girls night out with these three ladies.  The one on the far left some of you probably know as my silly friend Nicole, but it was sure nice to meet two new sweet faces.  I can’t tell you how refreshing it is to get out, especially after having a new baby and stuck in the house for months.

Sprinkles brought back their black velvet cupcakes for October and I went a little cray cray!  I looooove dark chocolate and these are EVERYTHING!  I wish they were a main menu item…so come on Sprinkles….make them come back right now so I can be as big as a house lol!

Halloween shopping around town.  I absolutely DO need these pumpkin glasses I can’t see out of ha!

Connor and his bestie Ben at The Creamistry.  Our favorite ice cream shop.

Can I get a helping hand here???  I need this many hands for sure these days to help out with Heidi.  Anyone want to change a diaper?

Connor started playing lacrosse and he really loves it so far.  Coach Brian is whipping him into shape because it’s a ton of running.  Now that it’s cooled down a bit outside it’s not as horrible to wear all that padding, but for awhile I could tell it was just miserable.  I’m so proud of this kiddo!

Connor and Heidi’s Halloween 2019.  Connor is a barista and Heidi is a cutieFrappuccino.  Some how Starbucks found our photo on social media and shared on their Facebook page with their fans…and let me just say that made this Mama’s ENTIRE LIFE!  My coffee addiction has been validated and stamped with approval.  Amen & Amen.  How cute are they?

This statement is basically…ME. 🙂  I hope y’all had a great October too & happy Halloween! I can’t wait to see everyone’s costumes.

xoxo Becky

Life is full of the greatest ups and down.  Remember to cherish every moment, take extra pictures, and never let a day go by without telling those you love how much they mean to you!

Why it’s Better to Adopt a Pet!

This post is sponsored by Nakturnal.  All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Happy Friday Y’all!

Most of you know we just adopted a dog this summer named Hemi.  He’s a four year old French Bull Dog.  I post lots of videos on Insta-stories and he’s been a great addition to our family.  Especially after losing the baby, he’s been a bright little guy in our lives and Connor just adores him.  He sleeps next to Connor every night and they are best buds.  I am so glad we were able to give him a loving new home and let me just tell you adopting a pet is SO much easier than getting a puppy!  We’ve been there done that!

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Celebrate Dad This Father’s Day with Little Bites + Enter to WIN!

This post is sponsored by Little Bites, all thoughts and opinions are my own.

Father’s Day is this weekend and it’s time to show the Dads, Daddys, Fathers, Grandfathers, Uncles, and all “Father figures” how much you care.  I grew up with the best Dad.  He literally has a heart of gold.  There is nobody that can ever replace my Daddy or the memories I have growing up.  He’s always been there for me and my sister through thick and thin.  He’s also one of the FUNNIEST people you’ll ever meet.  He has never met a stranger and can become instant friends with just about anyone.

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Connor’s 8th Birthday

My sweet boy turned 8 a couple of weeks ago.  I can’t believe it’s been 8 years since we brought him home from the hospital.  I can’t imagine life without you kiddo.  Connor, you are loving, kind, thoughtful, and curious.  This age is so much fun!  I thank God every day that He gave us you to raise & nurture on this Earth.  We are truly the luckiest parents ever…obviously we are to have a sweet boy like YOU!  The time goes by so quickly and before we know it you’ll be a teenager.  As much as I rush through the day to day I find myself reflecting more recently on the past.  Those days where I was glad I took extra pictures or a little video to capture a memory.  Those are my most treasured things now.

Connor wanted to have a bowling/laser tag party and Main Event was the perfect place to host it.  He’s really into Roblox, but I honestly don’t know much about that game, so we went heavy on the bowling theme and light on the Roblox.  LOL!  We invited 10 of his friends from 2nd grade (if you were not invited, please don’t kill me…but birthday parties are expensive…so we had to dwindle it down to a small list!) I promise if we could have invited 100 we would!

We also had the joy of driving a Toyota Avalon Hybrid for the week!  I love reviewing cars, and I honestly think Connor loves it more than I do.  He thinks it’s so exciting when we get to test out new wheels for the week.  The Toyota Avalon was BLUE, Connor’s favorite color too!  I had an Avalon for 11 years and I absolutely LOVED that car.  I never had a single problem with it and to this very day it’s my favorite car I’ve ever owned.  It was nice to see how the Avalon has changed since I had mine…and boy has it changed.  It was super quiet and much more sporty than the Avalon I remember.  I drove it for the entire week and I didn’t even use half a tank of gas doing all the things I would normally do during the week.

Smooth steering and control A must have for any (and my next) car….I don’t know how I’ve lived so long without a back-up camera! The Avalon was FANCY- Look at that wood grain finish and the mix of tan leathers.
Another cool feature was the cup holders.  At night they lit up so you could see where to place your drink!  It’s the little things people 🙂 It’s already 80 degrees in Texas, so I really enjoyed the air conditioned seating.

All packed up and ready to PARTY! I loved how smooth and easy the Avalon was.  It rained the entire week and this car handled rainy weather like a piece of cake…or cupcakes…like the ones seen here???

These bowling cookies turned out so cute!   Connor and his Dad Connor and me 🙂 The kiddos all had a great time bowling and doing laser tag.  Our party host at Main Event was named Connor too and had curly hair!  He was so good with all the kids and I highly recommend them for a party…they did not pay me to say that either!  We had a great experience and just wanted to say THANK YOU!

I bought a sparkler candle and oh my goodness…I didn’t realize how much that thing was going to SPARKLE!  All the kids starting screaming and yelling.  It was super cute and Connor loved it.

Thank you Toyota for a fun week in this fabulous BLUE Avalon!  Thank you everyone for coming to the party and celebrating Connor with us we are truly blessed by all of you.

xo- The Branch Family

Christmas, Camrys, & the Ultimate Catch Up…Oh My!

Shame…shame…you know your name.  That would be MEEEEEE!!!

I have seriously been slacking on the bloggity blog so let’s catch up again shall we?  I have so much to recap and write about before 2019!  Ha!

Starting with Christmas 2017.  We had a lovely visit back home to Arkansas and to the farm.  We stayed with my twin sister Bonnie and her family.  I finally got to meet my new niece Ella, who seriously is the sweetest, most calm baby in the entire world.  She’s absolutely precious!  My sister and I always have a good time catching up and of course the boys (Connor & Jarrett) are pretty much inseparable.  They are exactly like their Mamas, they love hard…but they fight hard too. Lol!

My poor Mom at the flu.  We finally got to see her on the last day we were in town.  Thanks goodness for technology, we were able to face time during Christmas so she could see the kids open presents.  Still, it wasn’t the same at the farm without her there.  The flu has just run rampant this season and so far we’ve been lucky not to catch it.  Everyone I know that has had it has said it’s THE WORST EVER!

So, if you’ve been following my on Instagram you may have seen some of these pictures, but I like how I can go into more detail here on the blog.

We were super excited to drive a brand NEW 2018 Camry to Arkansas for the holiday and it was sooooooo nice!  It was a hybrid model, so we got great gas mileage and it was so smooth up and down the hill country of Arkansas.

 

The 2018 Camry was super sporty looking and we really enjoyed the drive.

I’m just a little excited to drive this baby!  I had an Avalon for 11 years and I loved that car so much…I still miss it to this very day.  Terence works for Toyota Headquarters and he sent me pictures of the new Avalon design and OH.MY.WORD.  It looks on the sporty side too and just as luxurious as I remember.

I absolutely love the “command center” which included a backup camera, audio, USB ports, and heated seats for the win!

It was a little different driving a hybrid, but overall I really like the gas mileage aspect of it.  Also, you couldn’t even tell the engine was running when the car was turned on.  Talk about STEALTH mode 🙂

I also really liked the clean and metallic looking details of the interior.

It was a comfortable ride indeed.  We were all three able to “plug in” with our phones, iPad, and my Kindle.  

The middle console displays the battery and engine charge.

 

Once we got into Arkansas we headed to my sister’s house and Larry’s Pizza buffet…we officially made it HOME! LOL!

Me and my sweet Ella girl 🙂

The boys were reunited and had a great time at Dave & Busters! They love gaming together and talking about the most RANDOM things…

Bonnie and I had a great time drinking Starbies, watching Hallmark movies, and shopping a bit.

Then we headed up to Nannie’s house on the farm and had so much good food to eat and opened presents.  The boys each got a Nintendo Switch, something they both have been wanting for quite some time!  The farm is beautiful during Christmas, and for some reason we all just take the best naps up there.  It’s like you don’t have a care in the world when you step into Nannie’s house…I guess that’s part of what makes it so special, well, besides Nannie herself that is!

On the road again! We just loved the blue Camry so much! It was the best Christmas sleigh ever!

After Nannie’s house we all headed back to Bonnie & Vinny’s and my Mom was feeling well enough we got to see her and my Daddy for breakfast the morning we left. I love me some Cracker Barrel…


OH! And I got together with my besties from highschool for the best meal EVER at Ya Ya’s! If you saw my Instastories then you saw how they made this dish- in a huge hollowed out bowl of parmesan cheese. They light it on fire so the cheese melts and then add the pasta and some herbs. BEST. EVER. I’m still dreaming about this pasta!

We made it back home to Texas and now I’m homesick to go back again! We had the best Christmas…until next year…it’s been real 2017!

Some of my FAVORITE CHRISTMAS GIFTS!!!