My Handy Manny (aka - Robert)

So after being with Robert for almost 15 years one thing I really took for granted was how good he is with all different things! I just figured all husbands automatically knew how to hang up a ceiling fan, change the oil in the car or even just build something. From our first house in which he built what was called his "Man Shack" (a big storage house) to our second house in which he fixed everything or atleast tried from the pool, to installing new tile counters to our last house in which he pretty much built it! No - he didn't actually build the metal part but he did along with the other men in our family frame out the whole house and did alot of the other things too.
Again I never really realized how lucky I was! Not until atleast I started getting emails several years ago from some friends that were asking for such things as a carpentar to build a shelf, contractor to hang a ceiling fan and yes even someone to pay to hang a large mirror in their living room! My first thought was of course - duh - your husband! But again I just assusmed all men knew how to do those things or at least (in Robert's case) if you didn't know how you taught yourself how.
Another bragging bit I will say is he has also gone from towing a rather large pontoon boat to our 25 foot travel trailer with out showing any fear or concern - I love that b/c believe me I really don't want to be the one driving those things!
My family introduced him to the lake and now he is like a pro when it comes to driving the boat, towing the boat and even fixing it which it always seems to need doing! We also are now campers with our travel trailer and despite him not having any experience with the whole RV thing he does it with the best of them - from towing the huge thing to dumping out all our gross water and all the bells and whistles that come along with it!
Now why do you ask am I so giving my husband a rather large head with this post - well he finaly built out our hall closet. You would think I had won a brand new car! I love it. We have lived in our house for 11 months and despite all the stuff that still needs doing this is a big accomplishment for me. All of my comfy winter blankets have been packed up and shoved into the closet along with everything else. That was definately not something I would show off to people when they came over to see our new place. Any longer and it would have been like that commercial where everying comes crashing down on whomever opens the door! So here are a few pics of the beautiful new closet -


Oh and another reason for all this gushing over him - maybe it will make him hurry and do our master closet now - I can only hope!!
I love you honey!

Tennessee Trip

For the first time ever I took a trip up to Tennessee to see Robert's parents without Robert! My mom came along with the kids and I and I was definately happy to have her especially after the long and stormy car ride up there. Apparently there were some tornadoes east of Memphis but luckily we were on the west side! We celebrated many birthdays while we were up there and just hung out and enjoyed everyones company. Several of Robert's cousins came with their kids and they all got along great. We will have to have another get together like that again soon - just maybe next time Robert can come!!

Summer Time!

Well after the Disney trip I would like to say things have been pretty calm but of course they haven't! Caleb's baseball season went all the way into July - very hot! This is his first year to do machine pitch and he was rough at first but of course the last two games of the season he started hitting - maybe by next year he will be a pro at the machine pitch!


My dad and I took the kids down to Austin for a day when Robert had to work down there. We visited the capital, went to Hut's Hamburgers (yummy!) and walked around UT. It was fun walking down memory lane with the kids - who knows maybe I have some future Longhorns in the family!!




We had Jessica and Brian's wedding at Lake Texoma over July 4th - hoping to get some good pics of the wedding soon but I did get a few pictures of the kids at the house we stayed at. Chloe loved the coffee table - it was a fish tank! Caleb and Kelsey had their own little room with a minifridge - they felt very special!!


Another weekend and another wedding - our good friends Eric and J'vette got married the next weekend and after that Caleb's birthday! Caleb got a 2nd Nintendo DSI from his Aunt Jessica, Uncle Brian and Memaw and Pepaw - what a lucky boy! Note to others - label everything because if you loose it and there is no name chances are you will never get it back!!



So here we are already half way over with summer and I feel like it has gone by so fast - probably because we have been so busy! Coming up next a short trip to Tennesse and camping at the ocean before the kids head back to school! Maybe then I will get to relax - maybe!!

Disney

We are back from Disney! I do have to admit despite my exhaustion I was a little sad to leave on Saturday from the "Happiest Place on Earth". We had a great time and celebrated 3 birthdays during our week long trip. Kelsey turned 4 on Tuesday, soon to be Uncle Brian turned 30 something (sorry I forgot!) on Tuesday and Robert turned 33 on Wednesday.

We went to all four parks (missed the water parks - not too sad about that!) in five days and did alot of eating and walking!! The grandparents and great grandma were real troopers letting me lead them along through each park with my handy notecards that mapped out our schedule!

Yes I said notecards - I was told before hand by many people to have some sort of plan before going as to which parks to go to on which days. Very good advice b/c of course some parks had extra magic hours (time when only Disney resort guests could go) and we had several reservations set for each day on our Disney Dining Plan. Loved the dining plan by the way b/c we didn't have to look at all the food prices and loose our lunch before we ate it on how expensive everything was!!

Caleb got to see Star Wars characters the last day and was very excited about that.

Kelsey got to see Cinderella on her birthday - couldn't ask for a better wish!

Chloe enjoyed "It's A Small World" Ride the most and had a nap every afternoon on Grandma Rose's lap. The wheelchair she brought came in handy for that!!


Again all of us came home exhausted - Chloe slept till 11am on that Sunday after our return - but definately very happy about our wonderful family vacation! Thanks again Memaw and Pepaw for a great trip - so where to next year??!!


We were prepared for the rain - didn't get us till the last day!!


The Heller men


Chef Mickey's Character Breakfast on Kelsey's Birthday!

We've Been Busy!

I have lots of pics that have been meaning to make an appearance on my blog but of course I wait until I have too many and can't decide which ones to choose! My decision - all of them. Just kidding - I did weed out alot but thought I would include as many as I can - with brief explanations of course! Here they go-






Robert and Kelsey mowing the lawn and getting stuck in the mud! Don't you just love Robert's beer holder - aka - Kelsey!




One of our beautiful Maypearl sunsets we see from our back porch! God does amazing things!




My girls! I am all about the matching outfits right now because I know it won't last!



Kelsey's Preschool Spring Program. She was a ladybug - hence the antennae!



Chloe not a big fan of the antennae!






Kelsey with her teacher Mrs. Wendy - she loved her! Aunt Jessica came to the program. Family picture at the program.



Maypearl brings us lots of new creatures we wouldn't normally see! Robert went out to the garage one evening and heard a whooshing noise right above his head - scared him to death! When he turned the lights on low and behold we had an owl that was making circles in our barn trying to get out. The garage door had been left open for awhile and I guess he made it in before we closed the door. We had to take a few pictures before we opened it back up but yes as soon as it opened he was out of sight!





Caleb's end of the year AR (Advanced Reading) party. We headed up to Arlington to go roller skating and the park for lunch. Caleb was like Bambi on ice when it came to skating but he was a good sport despite all the falls!









Of course the main pictures for this grouping didn't turn out so instead you get to see all of us looking at what we wanted to capture on film! Fireflies! At the very back of our property it is like sparkling Christmas lights everywhere - from the trees to the tall grass! It is the coolest thing to see. We went down a few nights and just sat and watched them go crazy. Now I have seen quite a few fireflies in my time but nothing compares to this. There are hundreds of them all together. I just hope they stay like that through the summer so we can show them off!






Kelsey's last day of school - Splash Day! She had a blast. I am so grateful for First Steps Preschool in Waxahachie. They do a wonderful job and we can't wait till next year!

That is it for now with the pictures but stay tuned because we have our Disney trip coming up in 3 days - hard to believe! Also Caleb's pictures from machine pitch baseball. That is quite interesting to watch!