Mr. and Mrs. Duck

We had a wet and rainy Wednesday night here last night. We enjoyed part of the evening out on the front porch watching and listening to the rain. As we were enjoying the thunderstorm, here walking down the street came these two ducks enjoying a stroll through the rain. We went inside and got some of our bread to feed them. They were a little hesitant to walk right up to us to get some bread, but they did enjoy eating a few bites that we threw over to them. They must have hung out in front of our house for about 30 minutes. They would start walking away but then a minute or two later turn around and come back for another bite of bread.
Barrett with his duck bait.

Mr. and Mrs. Duck

Popcorn and Hot Chocolate

Sunday nights always seem to have been an evening for a light dinner at our house. We like to think of it as popcorn night. This Sunday night we spent it on Mom and Dads balcony. We enjoyed a delicious dinner of popcorn and hot chocolate with some of the family. It was a beautiful evening - very windy though. The popcorn was flying all over the place.

Here we are at the "picnic"

Dad enjoying his Sunday night on his balcony. If you close your eyes, you can really picture that you are at the beach. It is so relaxing.

Chandler - on his second cup of hot chocolate.

Camryn enjoying every sip.Mom and Dad

Dog Park

On Saturday we (Barrett, Tanya, AND Java) went on an outing. Our Sunday school class was having a get together at a dog park in Plano, so everyone brought their dogs, along with some food, and we had a picnic and played with all the dogs. We used it as an outreach in a way...giving out hot dogs and bottled water to other people (and dogs) at the park :-)
This was Java's first dog park experience. She really enjoyed being off her leash and getting to run around and play with other dogs.

We gave her a hot dog after she had finished playing. She was so worn out that she really didn't care anything about the hot dog.

Our ride home - Java basically sitting in our laps. She didn't want to be alone in the backseat of the Jeep. Most of the ride she was trying to bury her face by our legs. She didn't like having all that wind blowing in her face. What an odd dog...doesn't care for hot dogs or to have her face blowing in the wind. :-)

Side note - this is what we found Saturday morning when we woke up. After lots of squeaking, cuddling, and playing, Java's beloved "Tiger" stuffed animal is no longer with us. This was a first for us. It is hard to believe but Java really has never torn anything up before. I'm just thankful it was her own toy that she got a hold of.

Pre K - K Choir Concert

This afternoon in the chapel at Prestonwood was the Pre-K and Kindergarten Spring Choir Concert. We had 2 of our nieces and 1 nephew performing in the concert. It really is a neat thing that even at such young ages all of these kids are learning how to sing praises to Jesus. For months these kiddos have been practicing and practicing their songs and hand motions - not just at children's choir practice each Wednesday night, but everyday while at home and in the car. The last song they sang was John 3:16. What an awesome promise for all three of these precious little ones to have hidden in their hearts for years to come.

Chandler (in kindergarten) and Camryn (starting Kindergarten in the fall) enjoying their cookies after the performance.
Mackenzie (starting Kindergarten in the fall) also enjoying a cookie.

They all did a fantastic job singing their songs to the Lord and doing all of the hand motions to go along.

What a choir!!!

Medieval Times

We were treated by Carter Bloodcare to a fun evening at Medieval Times on Tuesday Night. Every year to show appreciation for all the donors that have given over 10 gallons, they have a banquet in their honor. For years Barrett has been donating platelets for Carter Bloodcare and as of right now he has given over 25 gallons of blood. Years ago Barrett made it a routine to go every other Saturday morning for about 1 1/2 hours each time to donate his platelets. Eventually, after lots of convincing, he got me into the routine with him. We went very consistently together for quite some time. After moving, we got out of the routine of going. Hopefully sometime soon we will get out and do it again. It is very neat though to be in a place with so many people that have given so much for other people. Congratulations, Barrett on 25 gallons! You are a life saver!!! We cheered for the Red and Yellow Team all evening.

If you haven't ever been to Medieval Times it is an interesting experience. There are no utensils to eat with...unless of course you consider your hands a utensil. They served us a delicious meal of soup, bread, falcon (chicken), dragon toe (ribs), and dragon egg (potato). It was tasty, but got a bit messy using our wonderful fingers. It was fun though.

Happy Easter

We had a great Easter this year. We got to church at 7:30am and sang in the choir for all 3 services. Afterwards we met for lunch with a lot of the family at the good old Golden Corral (wow... that brought back some old memories of my childhood). Easter afternoon we went to Tara & Jacob's house to join in the gathering with all the nephews and nieces for an indoor egg hunt - since it had been a little rainy outside.

Chandler & Camryn all ready for the egg hunt!

Here is the line (like always, shortest to tallest) waiting to get the go ahead to run up the stairs for the Easter egg hunt. Oh, the anticipation!Korbin and Dylan just knew there must be some eggs hidden in the bottom of this pile of stuffed animals in the play room. What a challenge!

Madison loved all of her eggs (and everyone elses).

Worn out from all the action, Oliver chilled out in his room to play for a while.

We thought this was so funny. Calahan, lassoing his scooter. He must of "caught" his scooter about 100 times. What talent!

Mom-Mom and Pepa chilling out in the rocking chairs on Easter afternoon.

Coloring Easter Eggs

Today, the day before Easter, we colored our Easter Eggs.

We used vinager in the water to make the colors more vibrant. It worked well and the eggs became very bright in color, it just didn't smell very good in the process.

I had a couple of bad experiences this past week in my classroom when we were dying Easter eggs (egg dye spilling all over clothes, shoes, desks, carpet, tile, counter top...I guess I have become a little too confident with what my little 1st graders are capable of handling), so we were very cautious - covering our table at home with newspaper. Sure enough Barrett still got a few speckles of green color on his shirt...not too bad though.
The kit Barrett bought for our eggs had colored sand with it, so we were able to get extra creative in decorating our Easter eggs. This was a fun and relaxing project for the two of us! Barrett better get started eating these hard boiled eggs. I don't like to eat them, I just like to color them!
The 2 proud Easter Egg Decorators!!!

Happy Easter!!!

A Fun Weekend

On Thursday, Barrett's Mom and Dad came up from Houston to spend the week here with the family and to celebrate their grandson Preston's 3rd birthday. We absolutely love having them here!!! The week is going by fast but we are enjoying every moment.

Here is Pa-Pa playing tug of war with his grand dog Java. They have had a couple of good play times together.
Preston had his birthday party at a park on Saturday. The guys worked hard to get the grill started up in such windy weather. Here is a proud Mom with the cooks - her two little boys. The burgers and hot dogs turned out great and were delicious!

Aunt Tanya with the birthday boy!!! Happy 3rd birthday, Preston!!!

Mackenzie is a wonderful 5 year old big sister to Preston. She is a joy to everyone around her. We love her long brown curly hair, kind heart, and sweet personality.

Melissa (our sister-in-law) has had the tradition of making birthday cakes for the kids each year. She really has an amazing talent for this. This years cake was a monster truck. It was incredible and really an amazing work of art! Preston is all boy and has a great love for cars, trucks, really any form of transportation - so you can imagine how much he loved this cake.

We spent the afternoon at Brantley and Melissa's house. Mackenzie loves to do arts and crafts. We had so much fun painting together. She is going to make a fantastic kindergarten student this next fall.

Preston with some of his new hot wheels playing out in the dirt in the backyard. So cute!

Barrett and I both sang in the choir for the Palm Sunday church service. There was one special song where Jesus came riding in on a donkey. After church we all went outside to meet and pet the donkey.

Sunday afternoon the group came over to our house for some food and play time. Java enjoyed having company. Barrett and the kids enjoyed riding Java.

Melissa & Brantley on the porch. Mackenzie was on the swing and saw her parents standing right here. Mackenzie said, "I have got to take a picture of that!" Mackenzie, you are a great photographer.

GramPam with her two grand babies.