Made-it Monday + a Giveaway!

I had a great time at the Gaylord Texas Resort down in Grapevine TX this weekend. Our marriage retreat covered the 8 Habits of Successful Marriages. The most interesting part for me was discovering our love languages - my husband and I are total opposites and it helped us to learn about those differences!

The hotel was gorgeous - here's the view from our balcony of the indoor courtyard:

Here are some of my favorite memories:
We were walking up the sidewalk to the hotel, and my two older boys were in front of us. They got to the crosswalk and my 8 year old started to cross. My 10 year old threw out his arm in front of his brother in that classic "mom" move - you know when you're in the car and have to put on your brakes hard and your arm naturally goes up in front of your passenger? - he had seen a car coming down the street and his first instinct was to make sure that his brother didn't step into the crosswalk! I just loved that example of brotherly love!

Speaking of brotherly love, my middle child is outweighed by his younger brother by at least 10lbs. Still, he's got that older brother mentality, so when it looked like my youngest was having difficulties while swimming, Tommy swam over and carried him to safety. Granted, my youngest wasn't really in danger (especially since I was right there) but Tommy wasn't taking any chances lol!

My husband and I also had a "date night" on Saturday since day care was provided. We headed over to the hotel's nightclub because they had an 80's band playing. We have not been to a club in 3 years, so it was interesting to see that scene again - definitely not something I'm missing lol! As I sat on the balcony, talking with a friend's wife while the guys made a drink run, a group of people stopped right in front of our couch. We watched in curiosity as one of the men got down on one knee and proposed! Their friends were taking pictures with their iphones and I just know that I am now in the background of all their engagement pics ;P  Since the girl and the guy both had to juggle their drinks while putting on the ring, and the girl didn't seem entirely sure what was going on, I'm not sure if they even remembered getting engaged the next day!

Anyways, I did miss being able to blog and stalk this weekend, so when we were leaving I picked up a few items in the gift store. I didn't have anyone at home to buy souvenirs for, so I thought why not have a giveaway?!

Texas coffee, Texas Chicken Seasoning, Texas mints and a candle made in Tyler, TX!

This morning I also made a Hobby Lobby run so I could create a Cowgirl clipboard! I'm linking it up to Monday Made-it over at 4th Grade Frolics:

I took a regular clipboard from Walmart and spray painted the back and sides with silver:

Then I used my handy dandy Mod Podge and a sponge brush to adhere some neat denim scrap paper to the front:

 I also gave the paper a mod podge coat (or two!)

 Once the Mod Podge dried, I flipped the clipboard over and used an exacto knife to trim the edges.

 I took the scraps and finished the top of the clipboard, again putting another layer of Mod Podge.

Next I picked some coordinating ribbon. I used 3 colors and I chose to do an ABBC pattern since the blue was sheer. I cut it into pieces about 3 inches long - about 16 pieces of pink and cream and double that for the blue. Then I just tied the ribbon onto the metal of the clipboard:

Next I took some fun cowgirl stickers and arranged them to my liking on the board before sticking them down and painting a final coat of Mod Podge over the entire thing:

 Didn't it come out cute?!

So now I'm going to have a Texas Giveaway! To win this little prize package, just follow the rafflecopter instructions. Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Oh! I was reminded today that my blog is up for a Fascination Award. Normally I wouldn't ask for votes, but it just so happens that the winner will be declared on July 2nd which is my birthday! So, if you've enjoyed my blog and would like to help me win a great birthday present, please click the image below and vote for me :)