April Update

Not sure where our pretty, sunny weather has gone off to, but it is cold and rainy here today so it is a perfect day to catch up on blogging. I have not brought my camera out much lately. I have mostly just been using my iPhone to take pictures of stuff I want to remember, so today I am just going to highlight what's been going on and include some of my mobile uploads!

Here is a little of what has been going on around here lately...

Flowers, bushes, and trees are blooming everywhere and it is so pretty!! Here are some azaleas from my next door neighbor's yard...


And Steve cut these roses from our yard!



Unfortunately, THIS is the pollen that I swept up on our porch. I was sweeping the porch while I was talking on the phone to Laura and I HAD to send her a text showing her what I was sweeping up so she would believe me!


Can you believe that? I guess the down side of all those pretty flowers is massive amounts of pollen. And this is about the fifth time I've swept and mopped. It is like fighting a losing battle.

We've been taking David to the park for the past few weekends. He is all boy and loves running around and climbing on things...


and throwing rocks in the lake!


Every time he would throw a rock in the lake and it would splash, he would laugh. It was adorable!

Steve was gone to Portland, Oregon all week last week so I had a pretty low-key week to myself with no cooking, lots of TV, dinner with friends, and going to bed early! I was so glad to have him back home on Friday. Mark and Laura both came home for the weekend, too, so that was fun. Lindy was at her boyfriend, Sean's formal this weekend. I thought she looked so pretty all dressed up! :) (I know I'm just a little bit partial!)


Friday night, Laura and I went to see one of our favorite bands called Drew Holcomb and The Neighbors.


You've probably never heard of them, right? They have kind of a folk sound with some rock and country thrown in, too. You should look them up on YouTube and listen to some of their music. I bet you would like it! We went out dinner at an Italian restaurant we like and then to this quaint little venue downtown. It was a lot of fun having some girl time together!


All my kids are winding up their school years. Mark is graduating from college in about 3 weeks! What??? And, did I tell you that Laura and Lindy both got internships in Boston for the summer?? I am so happy for them. They will be living in the land of the Red Sox and patriotism and Ivy Leaguers. I know they are going to love it!

Meanwhile, I have a few things I am looking forward to, also!

*Next weekend-BEACH for my birthday!

*Good friends and a Jimmy Buffett concert right after school is out.

*Y'all aren't going to believe this but we just booked a flight to Europe with Steve's mom and all his brothers and sisters and their spouses. Oh my goodness...that will be an adventure! He had been planning a trip to Israel with his dad right before he passed away. He was really sad that he never got to do that, so he has been wanting to take his mom somewhere fun and special and not let the time slip by without being intentional about making memories. And it turned out all his brothers and sisters could go, too. So it will be a good time. Something to look forward to this summer! :)

Late

It's pretty pitiful when you are just posting your Easter pictures a whole week after it happened! Oh well...that's life. Right?

We had an absolutely wonderful Easter. The Saturday before Easter, we just hung out at home with our kids and dyed eggs and played on our porch and grilled out. It was so nice.


Saturday morning, my next door neighbor, Michael, showed up at our door wearing this gigantic bunny head. It was kind of creepy seeing that huge bunny face looking through the glass window of my front door! But it made me laugh. Haha!



Sunday, we went to church and had our traditional Easter lunch and Easter egg hunt over at Steve's mom's house. It was fun this year because David was old enough to walk around and hunt for eggs and do all the fun Easter stuff. I bet our Easter was alot like yours, so I am just going to let our pictures speak for themselves.

This little sweetie pie was so precious in his Easter clothes. I could hardly stand it.


Mark...doing the sorority squat. Hahaha! Goofball!


The real Easter family shot...





























This week it was back to school to see all my kiddos. It was a good first week back, and now the countdown to summer is on!! Have a great weekend!

It's A Bright, Bright Sunshiny Day

Yep, I feel like I should burst out singing that song. Haha! Seriously, it has been absolutely gorgeous today and every day so far on my Spring Break 2012. I heard a big change is coming tomorrow though, so I am just enjoying it while I can.

Yesterday I spent lots of time just reading and cleaning and spending time outside. When I am at home, Rocky follows me everywhere and is my little buddy all day long. I always say that our theme song is Stuck Like Glue by Sugarland! Haha!


Yesterday Ashley and I also decided to take David to Monkey Joe's to play for a little while. Ummm...he was NOT a fan. He started crying the minute they put the ID bracelet on his little ankle. And it was pretty much down hill from there. I think it was just too much for him. He felt insecure in those bouncy things and he was scared of the giant blow-up Incredibles dad that was there. Ashley even tried to get in with him, but he was clinging to her like a little monkey. Ashley was having a hard time standing up with him clinging to her like that so she started laughing hysterically. That made it even worse...David was crying and Ashley was laughing so hard she couldn't stand up. Oh my gosh...needless to say we just decided to leave and go get some lunch.

He liked that much better! He loved playing with the straw and trying to stick it back in the hole in the lid. He was so focused on doing that.


Here he is saying he's "all done"!


He is a mess!

Last night Steve and I were planning to go to PF Changs to use a gift card we got for Christmas. Then it turned out my parents had the exact same plan, so we ended up going out with them for a double date! It was fun. We always have alot to talk about when we are with them. We just took this picture with my iphone, so it is a little blurry.



After dinner we came home and I watched Dancing With The Stars. We kept one eye on the Baylor women's game. I am so not into women's basketball, but I am proud of them for winning 40 straight games! That is quite an accomplishment.

Today I did a little shopping for some Easter stuff and Ashley and David came over to play on the porch for a while. And Mark got home this afternoon for his Easter break. We ate dinner outside and went on a walk together. I tried another one of the Pinterest recipes I had. It was Ginger-Cilantro Tilapia.


It was just okay. None of us loved it. It was too salty! If you try it, use less soy sauce. I think that would really help.

Tomorrow Laura gets home and then Lindy will be here Friday. So all my little chicks are flying back into our nest. I am looking forward to doing lots of Easter stuff over the next few days. I love this time of year!

Spring Break-Day 1

So...day one of Spring Break has been perfect. It started out very dark and rainy so that was perfect for sleeping in. But as the day went on it got so pretty and sunny and even hot! I loved it.

One thing I did today was spend time on my porch reading. By the way, right now I am just reading a book someone gave me by one of my favorite authors, Elizabeth Berg. It is called Once Upon A Time There Was You. I love her books and it is an easy read.


But I have literally had three different people come up to me this week and tell me I need to read The Hunger Games. I am not into sci-fi at all, so I can't decide if I would like it. If you have read it and you're not a sci-fi person, tell me what you think!

Anyway...I also played alot of Words With Friends and Draw Something (so fun!), had some devotional time, went on a walk with Steve, took a nap, got to see David, and even did a little household project or two! I put a roast in the crockpot this morning so dinner was easy and tonight we are watching the NCAA championship game. Really, I am so glad that I am just staying home this week and not going anywhere. It is what I needed. Just lots of down time and nowhere to be.


One of the things I wanted to do over Spring Break was have time to try some of the recipes I've pinned on Pinterest. I pin so many yummy looking things on there but when school is so busy, I never get to actually try them! So today when I made my menu for the week, I included several recipes that looked good.

One thing you need to know about me is that I am not a sweets person. I would much rather eat vegetables and salty snacks. So when I went to Pinterest to pick out some things to try, those were the first things that attracted my attention.

For lunch today I made this Tomato Basil Parmesan soup.


I did the stove top method since I didn't have all day. I made a few changes. I used non-fat half and half (how do you even make non-fat half and half??) and I added some sherry right at the end. This recipe is a good lunch recipe to go with a salad or sandwich or something and it makes alot. I would probably give it a B grade.

For dinner tonight I told you I made a roast in the crockpot. I made baked potatoes and green beans too. But I have been wanting to try this recipe for roasted garlic-parmesan cauliflower.


I love roasted vegetables so I thought I would like it. Okay...it was A-MAZING! I totally give this one an A+! And Steve loved it too. If he asks me to make it again, I know he liked it.

I have a few more things I want to try this week if I have time. One is Pioneer Woman's Perfect Iced Coffee.


I saw her make it on her show last weekend and it looked so good. Anything with coffee and condensed milk in it has to be delish! I will let you know how it turns out.

I'm looking forward to tomorrow. Ashley and I are taking David somewhere fun and tomorrow night is date night with the gift cards we got for Christmas. PF Changs and a movie! Yay for Spring Break!

Spring Fever

Well, I made it to Spring Break! Hallelujah! I love this time of year and I am so glad I have a whole week to enjoy all the spring beauty and fun and relaxation this week.

I'm convinced that Charlotte is one of the prettiest places on earth during the spring. Everything is blooming and so beautiful. Azaleas, dogwoods, Bradford pears, redbuds, tulips...it's all so gorgeous.


The down side of that is all the POLLEN! We have been swimming in it for the past few weeks and I think we must have swept and mopped our porch about 5 times now and it continues to stay as thick as ever.

School had been super busy with all the spring activities we do. We had a Boosterthon Fun Run this week and Friday we went to the zoo in Columbia, SC. We chartered a bus and took over 65 kids for the day. It was a perfect sunny day and we had a great time.


To get ready for Easter, I have been telling my kids the whole crucifixtion/resurrection story. I have been using these Resurrection Eggs to help me.


If you have children, these are a great way to explain everything. Each egg contains some kind of symbol to help tell the Easter story. I think it is a good way to make everything understandable to them.

Teaching can be exhausting sometimes, but it is rewarding too. When I got back from recess this week, I found this on my desk...


It was so sweet. Things like this make teaching worth it!

Yesterday David came over for a while so Ashley could do some shopping. It was such a pretty day, we stayed outside almost the whole time. I put him in front of some azaleas to take his picture. He looks just like his Daddy in this one!


He loves his Grandaddy! Steve always takes him on walks and puts him on his shoulders and runs around in the yard. Here they are just hanging out together on the front porch...


I brought some water out on the porch and let him play in that for a while. He loved it!




Last night Steve and I went to dinner and then watched the Kentucky v. Louisville game. Now that all my NC teams are out, I have to go with my friend Heather's team, Kentucky.


She is the biggest KY fan on the planet I think, so I am pulling for them in honor of her! :) Her enthusiasm is contageous!

Now, I'm off to start enjoying my Spring Break. Hmmmm....what to do first? Read, take a nap?? The possibilities are endless!

Family Time

This weekend Lindy asked me, "Why is it that time around here moves at warp speed?" It made me laugh because that is such an accurate description of our life. They go off to college and I'm sure they have so much more time to relax. Time must move alot slower. But when you get back to our house, you are back on warp speed time where life is super busy and we are constantly on the move!

This weekend was a big weekend at our house because it was Mark's birthday yesterday and it was also my dad's retirement party. Mark brought his girlfriend, Kate, home for the weekend and Laura and Lindy both came home so it was a fun weekend. I made tacos and guacamole on Friday night and we stayed up till 1:30 in the morning watching Carolina and State play basketball. Carolina won, but sadly, State lost. I also watched a little bit of the Baylor game and they won!

On Saturday everybody but me went to see The Hunger Games. I have totally missed out on that. I know it is a huge hit right now, but I am so not a sci-fi person so I don't think I would like it too much.

We had Mark's birthday party on Saturday since Sunday was going to be so busy. I had our whole family plus Steve's mom and my parents over. We grilled out a pork tenderloin and I made Mark's favorite, mashed potatoes and some other veggies. And he isn't a huge fan of cake so I made him a fruit pizza.




Saturday was a beautiful day so we were able get outside a little bit and eat on our porch. I can't believe Mark is 22 and about to graduate from college. Yep...we are living on warp speed!
















Sunday the whole family went to hear my dad preach at a church where he is the interim pastor. We took up about two rows! Then after church, we went to lunch at a yummy restaurant called Hilltop. (I took all these pictures with my phone, so they aren't the best ever.)


Oh my goodness...they had so much good, southern cooking! We pretty much ate like pigs.












That afternoon was my dad's retirement party at church. So many people came to support him and let him know how much his ministry meant to them. It was very sweet.








It was a wonderful weekend full of lots of family time. So, now it is Monday again and time to start another week. Only one more week until Spring Break! Woo hoo! I can't wait. I'm looking forward to not having anything to do except whatever I want to! :)