Comupter Dead

Our computer's mother board died last week. So sad. Not that I post just a ton, but it is really crimping other parts of my technical life. Thankfully, it looks like the issue we have has been covered by an extended warranty because the problem is so wide-spread. It may be a while before I'm back in action...

A Much-Needed Retreat

I know I’m posting out of order, but that’s just the craziness of my life! This trip actually took place the first weekend of April.

I have two dear friends from college who decided during one of the most difficult times of my life to drop everything and come to my rescue. Chelsea was living in Colorado at the time, Kris was in the Dallas area, and I was living with my in-laws and pregnant with Jessie Claire. Jessie was just a few months from arriving, my mother had passed away a few months before, and we still didn’t have a house. To say the least, things were pretty stressful and, quite frankly, dark for me. Anyway, these two precious people did something for me I can never forget. Chels flew from Denver to Dallas and then she and Kris drove to Clinton to basically deliver a baby shower on my front doorstep. They came with gifts, lots of laughter,and, of course, Kris had baked goods! We played, ate, and shopped together, and thus began our “tradition.”

Two summers ago we hooked up again in Jefferson, TX, which proved to be pretty convenient for everyone. Chels, by this time had moved to east TX so it was a quick trip for her and only about four hours for me. We stayed at a bed and breakfast, shopped, ate and laughed until the wee hours of the morning.

Since we’re all in the same state again, we (actually Kris who always gets the ball rolling) decided it was time for another retreat. She threw out the suggestion that we each bring our oldest daughters along for the ride. I have to say that while we didn’t get as much personal visiting done as in the past, I have no regrets! Our daughters LOVED each other and had the best time playing together. I may be dreaming, but how great would it be if their friendship continues to develop through the years? Kris’ parents have a time share at Canyon Lake so we shopped in San Marcos and slept at the condo for free! Now that’s a retreat.

Somehow, we always forget to take pictures of ourselves on these little trips (which we are going to HAVE to get better at), but we did manage to get some of the girls.

Emma, Reagan (Kris), and Alex (Chels) during a morning swim

Lunch at Johnny Rockets

Walking between shops at the outlet mall.

A Weekend in the Woods

Well, I don’t have pictures from this big adventure yet – trying to get my non-tech friend to send me the ones she took, but I couldn’t wait anymore to post. We all survived, had a blast and got a little bit of sleep to boot!

Sleeping in our tent: we did have blow-up mattresses which came in mighty handy as the ground is really hard! (Feel free to laugh at me here.) The girls used their sleeping bags on top of the beds...keeps them from fighting over the covers. :-) Todd and I were sleeping in luxury with our cotton t-shirt sheets. We actually needed a fan for a while the first night, but when I woke up for the millionth time around 1 am, I turned it off...definitely a little chilly by then. I think the first night Emma had to go to the bathroom, Aubrie woke up cold and out of her bag, Jessie took Aubrie's pillow, and our friends' little girl had night terrors right next to us, and that kept E and I up for a while as we had just returned from the potty. Glad to say that the second night was VERY calm in comparison. We did have some younger campers next to us that second night who decided it was a good idea to wash dishes around 2 am. I'm sure I would have thought that at some point in my life LONG ago, too. :-)

We had s’mores over coals because we're still under a burn ban so it took a while but was so much fun! We also had an Easter egg hunt and just about lost Aubrie on the "mountain" behind our campsite. We were packing up and lost track of her so I go to a neighbor's site to look for her. I see her coming down the mountain, and let's just say that I've not allowed myself to think of what would have happened had she gone down the other side of the ridge... thank you, Lord, for your protection even when we're not asking for it! (For those of you who’ve read The Shack, I can’t let my mind go there either.)

The pictures I’m waiting for are of our crew up the mountain and on our hike that we took, and I'll be sure to share as soon as I get them. We have proof, I mean pics, of our pastor leading the kids in pushing down a pine tree which we're pretty sure is against the rules in our state park. He's a crazy man. We had seven families and about 14 kids along for the ride...it was wild to say the least.

Emma’s TX Birthday

We celebrated Emma’s 7th birthday this last Saturday at one of our favorite places: The Sugar Shack. It was one of the first places we discovered in our new town, and we love it. It has handmade candies, ice cream, every packaged candy known to man, and a really cute gift shop. They have a deck out back, and other than the wind, it couldn’t have been more perfect.

Emma, who wore camouflage for her party invitation pic last year and wanted a safari theme, completely surprised me this year when she picked out Barbie’s The Twelve Dancing Princesses for her invite this year. We were all pink, purple and VERY sparkly for this little shindig – all girl and so much fun. We made tiaras and beaded necklaces, and I tried my hand at a carriage cake.

Last year’s invitation

This year’s very girly choice, minus a few teeth.

The really cute princesses.

The cake…just don’t look too closely! :-)

Emma striking a pose in her very sparkly pink dress. I love it!

For those who don’t know my dad, he was an elementary music teacher for a LONG time. We decided that he should hire himself out to do birthday parties to make some extra money. This is my sweet dad Bryan at his best! He was the hit of the party!

The best part was that the party was very low-key and low-maintenance. Both are very good in my opinion.

On a more sober note, I can’t believe that our first little one is seven years old. If my pictures weren’t in boxes under the stairs, I would scan one so you could see how curly her hair was and how dark it was when she was little. She is growing into such a precious young lady with way more self-control than I have sometimes.

I was talking to some friends in MS, and we found that we all seem to expect a great deal of our first-borns. I must say that Emma handles the expectations we place on her with so much grace and ease. She is a huge help around the house, and I find that I rely on her a great deal. Last week I really tried to just enjoy Emma and plan time with her doing things she likes. It was so much fun, and she just thrives on it. I tend to get wrapped up in my to-do lists, but I really want to plan more special time with this very special girl.

Good Times in MS

Just got in a little bit ago and had to follow up on our trip. This should be brief as I am really tired...

1. See Nan and Pops
2. Have a playdate with Amy and Jill (and anyone else that wants to join in!)
3. Go to Morrison Heights - visit my old SS class that I LOVE
4. Play Guitar Hero with Lori
5. Eat a chicken salad sandwich at Newk's!
6. Buy some t-shirts from the talented Lisa Gunn
7. Sleep in
8. Drink coffee on the front porch
9. Celebrate Emma's b-day
10. Order a Mocha Choca Ya-Ya from Bops!

1. Loved seeing Nan and Pops which also made #7 possible on several occasions...complete bliss.
2. Got to go to Brighton Park with friends on Wed. - beautiful day and fun watching everyone keep up with their little ones!
3. Got to go to a SS fellowship last Sat. night and accomplished #6 while there.
4. Sadly, this one didn't happen!! Lori was out of town unexpectedly when I was free, and the week took off from me in warp speed after that. Sorry, Lori...maybe next time??
5. Got to have a girls' night at Newk's which was followed by #10. No, I did NOT follow my P90X diet this week...
6. :-)
7. :-)
8. Almost didn't happen, but Nanny decided to have breakfast on the porch this morning so all is well.
9. Nan threw a wonderful party for Emma and gave us a chance to visit with some more wonderful families.
10. Tried to figure out a way to do this twice, but considering the cake from That Special Touch for E's party that I ate, it's probably best that I didn't.

We're celebrating Emma's birthday here this coming Sat, so I'll blog about her sweet life later this week when I've had a chance to stop feeling like I'm still moving in a car. What causes this?

Thanks again to all our friends and family who made this week so much fun!

Post Script

Well, it seems that we won't be signing a contract tonight on the house in the Lost Pines. At least not for now. The sellers had some timing issues (things that they wanted taken care of next week), and we've had a Spring Break trip to MS planned for quite some time that we didn't feel we could cancel. They've decided to go ahead and list the house so the search continues. The good part is that we've gotten the lender search completed and are pre-approved so we are ready when we do find something that works out.

We are so excited about our trip to Clinton - we've really missed Nan and Pops not to mention all our friends and church family. We're planning to leave after Emma's game on Sat. if she has one at all. Last week we had temps near 90, and today we pulled the winter coats back out because it was raining with highs in the 40s. Crazy Texas weather! Personally, I'm kinda hoping the game is rained out because we could get on the road earlier and be rested for church the next morning.

Things I can't wait to do in Clinton:

1. See Nan and Pops
2. Have a playdate with Amy and Jill (and anyone else that wants to join in!)
3. Go to Morrison Heights - visit my old SS class that I LOVE
4. Play Guitar Hero with Lori
5. Eat a chicken salad sandwich at Newk's!
6. Buy some t-shirts from the talented Lisa Gunn
7. Sleep in
8. Drink coffee on the front porch
9. Celebrate Emma's b-day
10. Order a Mocha Choca Ya-Ya from Bops!

(Notice the exclamation marks next to the food items.)

A Lot Going On, and a New Era

I have way too much to catch up on to be too creative so I'm just throwing it all out there. We have found a house and are planning to sign a contract tomorrow. Please pray all goes well, and we're able to amicably work out all the details. We found the house through our small group - just one more reason to love that group of people! We'll both save money because the couple hadn't listed the house yet so no realtor fees! Yippee!!

So, we've been busy with getting our affairs in order, finding a lender, and all the other gross stuff that comes with buying a house. And, we've just finished our taxes as well. Oh, the fun we've been having!! (I've had a root canal, and it was MUCH more fun than getting ready for a mortgage and/or the taxes.) We're excited about the house, but there was a little grieving involved because it finalizes the "death" of the hobby farm dream. The back yard is small. Very small. BUT, we are so thankful for the house because the space is great with wonderful closets, and we have lots of friends nearby. If you want to do some reading on the LostPines area of Bastrop, it's pretty interesting, and our neighborhood is smack dab in the middle of them.

In the mean time, life has slid by at a rapid pace, and we've been having a lot of fun!

Going back quite a ways, I made Todd's favorite cake for his Valentine's present: Lane Cake. I had never heard of such until I married into this fun southern family, and it is quite the southern cake. Judy (Todd's mom) gave me the treasured family recipe years ago, and we all agreed that this year's cake was my best performance. A random side note - I had never read To Kill A Mockingbird until a few years ago, and the cake is mentioned in the book. It also mentions one of the key ingredients, but I won't tell you what it is here! You'll have to look it up! :-)

Jessie and Aubrie studied life in Egypt at preschool this last unit and know all about the Nile River, pyramids, and Egyptian musical instruments. I LOVE their preschool. They also studied pottery and made their own bowls. They are eating their snack from their bowls below:

We made another trip to San Antonio to see that cute nephew of mine, and so I have to share pics. We realized that Colleen had somehow not gotten her picture with Judah at the hospital so we remedied that right away.

Emma and I are still having fun with her history lessons, and we recently studied about Joseph and of his seemingly disastrous adventures which God used for good. She got to make a cookie coat of many colors. I think she enjoyed eating it much more than making it. :-)

Now, for the new era. I am officially a soccer mom. Emma's first game was this last weekend, and she had a really good time. She started out a little uncertain but warmed up as the game went on. She's the only one on her team who hasn't played before, but we haven't told her that! She is so enamoured with all that's going on around her that she still has a little trouble focusing on just her field, but I think that will pass pretty quickly. Her legs are sufficiently bruised despite the shin guards, and she cares not a bit.

Have to go because Todd and I are doing P90X. Yes, we are slightly crazy, but it has proved to be the solution to my fitness dilemma. I'll post more about that later.