Why after all these years?

Why after 32...no 33 years am I just now picking it up? Do I just want to be like the crowd? Have I caved into peer pressure? My momma taught me better than that!

Truly, I think it was out of necessity! I have drank coffee every morning for the last 11 mornings. Do I like coffee? NO, I still don't. However, with a spoonful of sugar (so Mary Poppins) and some Hazelnut creamer...LOTS of creamer, it's pretty darn good. It certainly helps me get moving when I was otherwise struggling. I find myself thinking, "This stuff would be a lot better minus the coffee." But everyday it's growing on me.

So thanks to all those of you who have pressures me to join the club. I'm in! And thanks to my mom who always assured me that I would "grow up one day and start drinking coffee."

I guess she was right!

We had a wonderful trip down to Houston a few weeks ago to celebrate Eli's 4th birthday! Man time flies!!!!



Happy birthday to you Mr. midget pirate!



B is whacking to heck out of this pinata! I was a nervous wreck!! None of this gentle hitting so that everyone else could get a turn and the birthday boy finally being the one to bust it open. NO! He was giving it all he had!






The birthday booger. He hates to be called booger!



Cait is such a girl!!! I don't know if she ever made contact with that pinata!



This little pirate is a buddy of Eli's, but he's so stinkin cute that I couldn't resist posting his sweet face up here!



The whole gang of kiddos


Here I was making fun of my hubby because of his pouting that my phone has GPS and his does not (thank you baby for my new phone!!!). So, I made him one with his very own GPS. I added a compass to his phone!!! hee hee!






Fun times and fun memories!

New belts and snaggle-tooths

Benjamin tested this Friday night for his new level of belt in karate. He moved from a camo belt to a green belt. He was very excited, of course!



Here he is in his sparring gear saying "Do good sir," to his opponent. I hate this part of karate...seeing other kids kick and punch my son, and worse, seeing him hit and kick back!!!



It's all very controlled and done with respect. He very respectfully kicks booty, I must say! Whenever he knocks someone off their feet he always helps them up! AHHH!





Oh so proud!!!



Here is Cait this morning. This was her face when she saw that it was pouring down rain outside and we were about to get out in it!



But she gets over it pretty quickly. She's mostly smiling because the tooth fairy visited her last night for the FIRST time!!!



Paul pulled her itty bitty baby tooth and she put it under her pillow. She left $2.25, a pack of gum, some fairy dust all around the bed and table and she also dipped her wing in the water we left so we know that she is yellow. Isn't that amazing?



I hate this growing up stuff! Seriously, it's hard when it's your baby going through these milestones!!! Bluh!



At least we have none of those ginormous teeth yet! She still looks so little!

Red Envelopes

Can you do something?
You can.
I know, it feels a little helpless sometimes with our world changing, new leadership, new ideas, new rules to play by.
It may seem a little discouraging.
I know I've had those thoughts, "Lord, just come quickly or bring me home soon."
We all long for heaven as Christians, but we're here in this season for a reason.
God has a purpose for us here.
Those purposes are many, but this one thing you can do now.
You can do it today.
Would you?
Would you take 10 minutes and make a statement about what you believe is right?

I encourage you to send a letter.
Have you heard of the Red Envelope Campaign?
If not, here's the gist:

Send an envelope to the president.
A red envelope.
An empty red envelope.

Address it to:

President Barack Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW
Washington, DC 20500

On the back write this message:


Mail your letter along with thousands of others on Tuesday, March 31.
I so wish I could see the mailbags arrive at the White House on Thursday or Friday of this week. I've wondered what thoughts the President would have seeing such a peaceful, meek, yet firm statement about what we believe so passionately.

Would you participate with me?

Perfect weeknight recipe

I know, I'm not the best candidate to be sharing recipes. Those of you who know me well, know that I have stolen some great recipes through the years and make them often...but I"m not a natural cook. I really enjoy it when I have time, but consider it a form of torture on a weeknight after working all day!!!! Thank you Lord, for giving me a husband that loves to cook and is good at it!!! This is a bonus on the weekends, but weeknights are all me.

So, when I found this recipe and every member of my family loved it, I knew I had to share it with the rest of you, who maybe, just maybe, might have a night where you aren't feeling like cooking. Anyone?

So here it is. Three ingredients and 10 minutes. Fabulous!

Potato Chowder

1 can cream of potato soup
3 cups of milk
3 cups of frozen hashbrowns

Stir together in a large pot on high heat. Heat to boiling. Turn heat down and simmer for 10 minutes. Stir frequently. Serve with grated cheese, chives and crumbled bacon if you like these things. I served with grilled cheese on day and bread and salad another night.

Every drop of it was gone, so you may want to double if your kids are older or you have more of them than I do. Yummy!!!

Spring Break fun

Besides just hanging around the house and sleeping kind of late, we did a few fun things!

We visited the Log Cabin Village in Fort Worth. This was a lot of fun for all of us!
Here are the kids pumping water from the well.



Now tendin' to the crops!






The Parker cabin where Mr. Parker lived. Very interesting...Parker county was named after him and he was the uncle of Cynthia Ann Parker. This is where they brought her after she was kidnapped away from the Comanches. She died of a broken heart after that. The chair in the corner was one that Sam Houston claimed each and every time he visited the Parker cabin. He was a good friend and he and Mr. Parker fought in the War for Texas independence together.



Dress up time!



B took this picture of his mom and dad. Pretty good!







Later int he week we had planned to go camping. Unfortunately, there was a burn ban in all of Texas. No campfire, no open fame burgers, no SMORES for crying out loud!!!!
So, we decided to go camping at the lake house. Still a burn ban, but we had a better chance of getting by with a little old fire!!

Here are Paul and B getting sticks ready for the fire.



Smore time!!!! Paul got caught eating the ingredients!

















Cait with her marshmallowless smore. She just wanted the cracker and the chocolate!



Exploring with headlamps!!! Such a boy!



We made it! We slept out in nature and lived! Here's my honey the next morning.



Cait was the only bear we saw while camping. She is a bear only in the morning though. Otherwise, she's as sweet as they come!



We had a lot of fun and are already looking forward to the next trip!

Sweet little feet

See these sweet little feet? They seem so big these days. She's grown to a far older age than I am willing accept. I see her growing up in little ways and it is such a bitter sweet road. Parenting...what a life-changing, sanctifying journey.

Enough of that. BALLET! Our sweet girl got to show off what she has been learning in a parent share class. They are getting ready for their production of Sleeping Beauty. Every little girl's dream!!!












And now for some tap!
We were really impressed with how Cait's coordination has improved. Yay Cait!