A Pink and Green Weekend

On Friday afternoon Sophie and I headed to Fort Worth for the weekend. We got there just in time to eat Mimi's yummy homemade stew with Lindsey, Aunt Edie, and Aunt Kay. Then the 2 of us went to Lindsey's house for the night. We made cookies and watched Haley Mills movies.

Then next morning we were all up bright and early to head downtown for The Race for the Cure.

We were running for my Mimi who survived breast cancer this year.

Sophie did the 1 mile with my Aunt Edie

Then Lindsey and I ran the 5K.

Our reward after the runs was pedicures!

That afternoon we all went to my Uncle Roger's house. Roger lives right down the street from a nature preserve with a beautiful field of flowers and a nature trail. Once a year they have Prairie Fest with music, dancing, booths, and wildflower walks.

Edie and Dessa

Sophie examining the _____ flower (I already forgot what it was).

Smelling the Sage ( I think)

Then we walked back to Roger's house and had a wonderful meal outside.

Quite possibly the best burger I've ever had. My uncle is quite the cook.

All of us look a lot alike even when we don't have on matching shirts.

After the meal we had to go back down to Prairie Fest because we COULDN'T miss watching the Brazen Bellies dance

What a wonderful family filled weekend!

Need Suggestions

Okay, friends I need some help. I received some Amazon gift cards for my birthday and I'm so excited to spend them. I got on Amazon today and got overwhelmed. I need some suggestions. What are some good books you have read lately or have been wanting to read? I really read all kinds of books - classics, historical fiction, mystery, chic lit, nonfiction, even some young adult. I'm itching to spend some money, so send some suggestion my way!

Scary

I forgot to post this last week. When Mom was here last weekend she went to check on JC after we put him to bed. Needless to say he really scared her when she walked in. He was sound asleep. It's a little creepy.

My Upside Down Garden

I once had a beautiful garden. See my pretty tomatoes coming in?

We loved my garden. I loved cooking dinner and turning to Taylor and saying, "Go pick out what vegetable you want."

We planted lots of different kinds of tomatoes, squash, zucchini, lettuce, carrots, okra, and peppers. It was easy....if you stuck it in the ground in Marlin it would grow

We loved the feel of the dirt between our toes and fingers.

It was a family garden.

And then we moved and we now have exactly this much grass in our backyard. Really we love it that way. Most people buy homes with big yards so their kids can run. Not us. We figure that is what they build parks for. It's all about minimizing the work. Taylor can mow the backyard in under 5 minutes. It's great. Obviously, though there is no room for a garden.

Also underneath that thin layer of topsoil our ground looks like this. It's like we live on the moon. I'm not sure I could get anything to grow in that even if I tried. All of this is to say that I am no longer able or willing to have a garden. Usually this doesn't bother me too much. However, around this time every year I really miss my garden. That is why this was such a good birthday present.

Yes...a Topsy Turvy. I love this gift. I love it because I can grow my very own tomatoes on my back porch. I love it because I got my hands dirty in the soil while I was planting it. But I really love it because my dear friend Leia gave it to me. It takes a REAL friend to give another friend a Topsy Turvy. It means that she really knows me and she knows I would love it. I love having friends who really know me and know what I want before I even know it. That is the kind of friend Leia is.

It's been a while since my hands have been good and dirty.

So there it is. What do you think? I'm thinking of expanding if this goes well. They have ones that grow strawberries and I can plant lots of different veggies in the ones I have. I could just line the back porch with them. Another friend told me they look a little like Chinese lanterns so it shouldn't look too tacky with 10 or 15 out there.

Wildflowers for my Birthday

Or at least the chance to enjoy them with out going into allergy induced misery. That would have been birthday present enough for me. But I got so much more for my birthday this year. My mom came on Thursday night to watch the kids. Taylor and I left on Friday morning for Waco. The kids were so excited to have Grammy all to themselves. She got to go up to Sophie's school that day and read to her class and eat lunch with her. Sophie loved every minute of it.

Meanwhile, Taylor and I were driving through bluebonnet covered back roads to Waco for an interview at Truett. Taylor is starting his Doctorate of Ministry (D.Min., not demon) and was required to have a sit down interview with some of the professors. I must admit I have not been jumping up and down with excitement for him to take this new step. It will require him to be away from family and church for 2 weeks at a time, several different times during next year. However, as we walked through the halls of Truett I could sense his excitement. He loves that place, the academic atmosphere and the exchange of thoughts and ideas. He loves those professors and he loves to learn. I couldn't help but feel a little bit of excitement for him. The interview went great. It felt more like a meeting of old friends than it did an interview.

That night we had a wonderful dinner out at Diamondbacks to celebrate my birthday. Then we rented a movie, bought some dessert and spent the rest of the evening relaxing in our hotel room. I slept late, got up and ran on the treadmill, had a late breakfast, and soaked in the jacuzzi tub until time to check out. Then we made our way slowly back to San Angelo. I have never seen anything like the wildflowers this year. Last week I would have had to just groan and shut my eyes, but thanks to my 3 new wonderful prescriptions I was able to get out and enjoy the beauty.

Pioneer Woman always takes pictures like this. It made me feel cool like her.

We got home to Mom and Sophie relaxing on the back porch swing while John Curtis slept. The garage and the back porch had been swept, my sink had been bleached (this is a thing my mom likes to do), the kids' laundry had been down, the dishwasher was empty, the house was all picked up, and my freezer was full of food from Sam's. Did I forget anything, Mom? I really want my Mom to move in with us.

Today was my actual birthday. This morning Taylor stayed home long enough to make me breakfast and let me open presents. After church he invited my Sunday school friends out to Double Dave's. It was such fun chaos with kids running everywhere and a thousand conversations going on at once. I loved it! I took a wonderful afternoon nap in front of the Master's and then cut into this yummy cake Taylor made.

John Curtis dug in with both hands.

How blessed I am!

Easter 2010

This free scrapbook design customized with Smilebox

What a Week!

Wow! As I write this I am very glad that this is a four day school week and we get tomorrow off. This was one of those weeks that simply wears you out. I am a person who likes to keep control. I make plans for my week and surprisingly things normally go along as I plan them. I knew this would be a busy week going in - Holy Week is always Taylor's busiest week of the year. Why then would I decide I could paint my house during this week? Because I can handle it, I can keep things together, I can get everything done....until I can't. Then I have to choose to let go and be okay with the messy house, the half painted trim, and the fact that the kids' Easter baskets might be empty. While I got a good jump on the painting on Monday and Tuesday, with only one small incident of a shirt being ruined, the paint all sits where I left it on Tuesday afternoon, the painters tape beginning to flap in the wind. On that day Sophie came home in tears after falling off some playground equipment while at the park with friends. She landed on her wrist and scraped up her face. I thought she would be fine since her wrist wasn't swelling and she could move it. She wasn't using it though. It is a good thing God gave her 2 parents because Taylor decided she needed to go to the dr. Sure enough, it was broken. She's been a little trooper, but she is pretty uncomfortable in the heavy, itchy, cast. She has had some down moments when she can't do fun things other kids are doing or some of the things she is used to doing for herself (Mommy is having a hard time with that, too). She is surviving, but it has been emotional for her. Throw into the mix some discussions we've had with her about switching schools next year, and her little world has been rocked. I don't always handle all this any better than she does. I like routine and predictability and have passed that on to her. But this week has not been predictable. My mom always says, "You're only as happy as your saddest child." I'm finally understanding what she means by that.

We have been blessed this week, though and are thankful as we look toward Easter and our Maundy Thursday service tonight.

Last night the kids had an Easter egg hunt at church. I was able to literally run down to snap some pictures while my 1st and 2nd graders were off on a scavenger hunt.







May you have a blessed and restful Easter!