A Perfect Day for Evan

Todd was busy with Chad's activities today, so Evan and I had an official "date night." The first thing that we did was go to the movies. We saw "Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian." He ate a whole cinnamon pretzel and washed it down with a Sprite. The movie kept him pretty entertained until the last 15 minutes or so, so that was nice.

After the movie, we headed off to the library. Evan decided that he wanted to join their summer reading program. He has to read ten books to receive a prize and then at 50 books, can receive prize number two. He is committed to the ten books but is not quite sure about reaching 50. We started with three books on underwater life; one of his favorite topics since he loves animals and nature.

Next stop was a visit to a nice area around the bayou/Intercostal Waterway. Evan gets so close to the water...it is like a magnet; he can't help himself. We saw a crab, fish, pigeons and some insects. The weather was so warm and pleasant, I think we could have stayed there for hours. The water made Evan want to fish so bad. He knows that he could catch a lot of fish if given the chance.

After the bayou we headed off to Wendy's for a burger and frosty. After that we went home for baths and t.v./video game time. A perfect day for Evan and Mom. I always enjoy our time together!

Movies are always fun.

"I'm going to read tons of books this summer."

Evan taking a picture of me enjoying the great weather.

Evan loves the water and can't wait to go fishing.

Barges pass as we admire the intercostal waterway.

Mini U Bead It's

One of the most popular items that we sell at Hackberry Creek are our U Bead It Pendants. They are so great because the tops screw off and on which makes it a snap to individualize them with your favorite beads to make fan pulls, key chains, zipper pulls, necklace pendants, etc. Even children can use them to create since all you have to do is slide the beads on (with adult supervision, of course).

We started out carrying them in a long 2 1/4 inch length. We received tons of requests for shorter ones, so then we worked with our manufacturer to get a 1 3/4" size. Still, the requests continued for even smaller ones and finally today, we got the mini size delivered. They are 1 1/4" long and have a 1/2" inch space for beads, the perfect size for that special lampwork bead. Here are they are in action. So cute!

Mini U Bead It's in action.

Chad's Bitter-Sweet Last Day of School

Chad had his last day of school today. His school is very unique and the teachers are the most loving and caring people that I have ever encountered.

This morning there were classes for the first couple of hours and then the parents arrived for a talent show. We watched his school mates sing, dance and even draw. After that, it was time to party. There was lots of food and Chad munched down on pizza and cookie cake. They also had games and bouncers for the for children. He has so many wonderful memories of today and this year.

Chad, we are so proud of you for all of your accomplishments and for what you have achieved this year!

Chad at his desk.

Chad getting ready to jump in one of the bouncers.

Chad and his awesome teacher, Mrs. Diane.

Summer Boring?

Evan started daycamp this week, but Chad has school through Thursday. Thus, Chad has been on his own after school and has had to find ways to keep himself busy for a couple of hours until Todd brings Evan home from daycamp. Yesterday I heard the words that all mothers dread, "Mom, I'm bored." I thought I gave a good response. Very calmly I said, "Gosh, Chad, it is only the beginning of summer. You could go ride your skateboard, play basketball, draw, read, go on the slip and slide, play a game, do some arts and crafts, or if you want to, help me with some beads." He didn't really like any of my ideas. What makes me think this is going to be a long summer?

I got to do one of my favorite things today, open new boxes of merchandise. These gorgeous window beads are decorated with bronze all around the edge and had me drooling as I took them out of the box.

More Bakugan

Here is a video of Evan explaining Bakugan to me. It is pretty cool the way that the plastic characters open when you place them on a metal card. It is amazing how much kids know. Can someone make these with an educational theme?

Baku What?

Late Saturday night Evan asked me to look on the internet and look up Bakugan because he wanted to buy a set. "Baku" what?" I asked. I thought that I was doing well because I am in the know about Pokemon, which involves characters on cards that he likes to collect and trade with his friends.

Well, it appears that some genius, who is soon to be a millionaire, has come up with another cast of characters and products that young boys can not live without. We made a trip to Target Sunday afternoon and Evan bought his first Bakugan set. Here are some photos of him enjoying his toy.

Evan is so happy to have his Bakugan set!

"Look mom, put these round things on the cards and they open up."

Slip and Slide Sunday

The weather was nice on Sunday afternoon, so the boys headed out to play with their slip and slide. We moved it to the backyard so that it wouldn't damage the lawn in the front yard. The ground isn't as even in the back, but the boys were able to make it work okay. While outside, we were amazed with a gorgeous rainbow.

Awesome rainbow over our neighbors barn.

Evan playing with the water hose.


Whee!


"I'm finally getting the hang of this."


Chad concentrating on his moves.

100% Boy

Evan loves being outside and nature in all of its forms. He had a friend visit today and they had fun catching a lizard. My main rule is that all creatures must remain outside.

I'm gonna get you little lizard.


Where did he go?

Got him!

Evan's Last Day of 2nd Grade

Evan had his official last day of 2nd grade today. This morning his school had an awards ceremony and handed out report cards and announced achievements. Each child is recognized for one of their unique gifts. The gift that Evan was recognized this year was "Forgiveness and Displaying Unselfishness." We are so very proud of Evan, who is now headed off to 3rd grade!

Evan, Mee Maw and Chad after the ceremony at SMES.

Evan's Camera Fun

I got a new camera recently, so I have been letting Evan use my old one. He loves taking photos. Here are some of his shots.

Evan's Ripstik

A nice photo of his brother, Chad.

It is always fun to take a picture of yourself.

I'm a Grand(rice)mother!

Evan brought an assignment home from school yesterday that seemed unusual. He had to bring in a baby photo and give all the vital statistics from when he was born. This afternoon I was so surprised when I picked him and he wasn't alone...he got in the car with his new "rice baby."

In class, the students took stockings and filled them with rice to "babies." The body of the baby weighs 6 lbs. and the head weighs 2 lbs. so the baby is very close to his own birth weight (8 lbs 2 oz). He commented how heavy it was.

He is very proud of his baby. It doesn't have a name yet. He said that he does know that it is a boy because it doesn't "have any hair."

Evan is a proud daddy holding his "rice baby."

Me holding my grand(rice)baby.

Fun Storage Tubes

I just got in a lot of new bead storage containers. These cute little tubes are one of my favorites. They are so girly with the bright pink lids.

Outside Fun

The weather has been so nice here in south Louisiana. Yesterday was a great day to be outside and play. After all of their homework was done, the boys went outside to enjoy the afternoon. They rode their scooters up and down the driveway and jumped on the trampoline.

Todd wanted to mow the lawn when he got home, so the boys helped him pick up the yard...not so fun, but they got through it.

Evan rides so fast, I almost missed him.

Chad trucking on his scooter.

Dear hubby working hard on our anniversary.

The boys enjoying some sunflower seeds.

"Watch me jump super high!"

This is a blast!

I Love Bead Eye Candy

One of my favorite things about my business is getting new inventory in and packaging it up. Here is a photo of some cute charms that we recently added to our inventory. There is nothing like new stuff to get the creative juices flowing.

Happy Anniversary

Can you believe that we have been married for 16 years? You are such a hard working and dedicated husband, father and friend. I am so blessed to have this wonderful life with you. Happy anniversary!

Banzai Challenge - Day 2

The boys skipped lunch and headed strait for the Banzai this afternoon. They must have gone on it at least 100 times. They both have the bruises to prove it, but they had a great time. They also improved a lot in their skimming skills. Here is some video proof and you can see more photos here.

Deciding On a Name for a Blog

One of the first challenges that I had when starting this blog was coming up with a name and URL. Todd is very good at coming up with names, slogans, etc. Me…not so much. When we lived in Irving and Todd worked at a Spinner's Pizza store, they were looking for a name for a new product that they were launching that included two pizzas. Todd came up with the name "Twin Spin." The owners liked the name and it appeared on all of their advertising including their TV commercial. The jingle on the commercial had a rap beat. I remember some of it to this day:

Twin spin, twin spin, that's the word,
Spinner's is the best, or haven't you heard?

A couple of years ago I had to come up with a name for a small business that I was starting. I like names to mean something, so I reached into my memory bank to see what I could come up with. When I was growing up, my great grandparents had a home in a small community in south Texas known as Hackberry. We would have family reunions there every few years and it was always fun for me as a child to go there. Interestingly, we never had a reunion "in Hackberry," it was always "at Hackberry;" kind of like having an event "at the White House" or "at Buckingham Palace."

Considering all of the fond memories that I had of Hackberry, I decided to use that as part of my business name. I added the work "creek" to it because I liked the idea of flow that I associate with running water. Thus, Hackberry Creek was born. My whole family, including my boys, help out with the venture. We sell beads and jewlery making supplies and sell through our site on eBay and through our website.

Since so much of my life and the life of my family revolves around my business, I decided that I would like to use the name "hackberry" in the title of my blog. I used the url name finder at NameBoy, which is a pretty nifty tool. You can put one or two words in and the generator comes up with a list of available url's. These were some of my favorites:

Thehackberry.com
Hackberrytime.com
Hackberryzine.com
Hackberryzone.com
Hackberrywire.com
Hackberryworld.com

I finally decided on thehackberrylife.com. Hackberry for me has come to symbolize some of the things that I value most in life such as simplicity, fun, working together and family.

Welcome and Fun With the Banzai

I am so glad that you are here, reading my first blog entry. Welcome!

I must give credit to fellow blogger, Blair, whose blog I have been reading for the past few months. I look forward to reading her posts about her girls' adventures. She makes it look so easy which has inspired me to give it a try.

I am originally from a mid-sized town in Texas, but moved to the swamps of Louisiana about ten years ago with my Cajun husband, Todd. He would say that we don't technically live in a swamp since we don't have to take a boat to get to the nearest road. I like to stay high and dry, so to me, there is a lot of water around us.
We have two sons. Chad is 12 and Evan is 7. They both have birthdays in the summer, so are on the verge of being 13 and 8. We can't believe that we will soon have a teenager in the house.

My boys were very excited today as we just got a new toy called the Banzai Skimboard Surfer. Here is picture of the box.

Looks fun, right? Here are some videos of their first attempts. I think they will get better with some practice. Thanks for reading my first blog!