Attempted Easter Pics

Unfortunately Stephen only had 1 day off for his weekend, they're under staffed so he's on 6 day work weeks. So after Stephen left for work today I decided to take the kids to our spot from last year to take some bluebonnet photos so I have some to send with Easter cards. Well we drove to the Kyle Cemetery where we found that beautiful field last year, and to our surprise there weren't many wildflowers that bloomed (I think last year we went at the end of April so maybe we're too early?) and there was a funeral going on. So we left. I see the wildflowers all over the sides of the roads and freeways, but I haven't found another spot that has good photo opts. Bummer. O'well. I did make the kids pose in front of our house when we got back home though - especially since the got a toy at the Dollar Tree and an Icee from Target, they owed me a pic. :)

The other week I bought Madeline and our friend's daughter, Elizabeth, some cute girly sunglasses from Kohl's. But they didn't have any for boys. So on Friday when we were at Walmart James spotted these cool Batman shades. It's hard to tell from the photo, but there are blue bats on the lenses. He likes them a lot.

And who says cool kids don't nap?

While at Target today I remembered a project I wanted to do. I wanted to hang a hook under our kitchen bar counter for a spot Madeline could hang her school backpack. And I also wanted to put a hook near our kitchen sink for hanging dish cloths. Picked up this nice set of satin nickel finish hooks for $3. Got the drill out, and bam! 2 house projects complete. :)

New Trees

“Plant kindness and gather love”

"The true meaning of life is to plant trees, under whose shade you do not expect to sit." Isn't that a beautiful quote? This past weekend we bought 3 trees to plant in the backyard of our home - but we actually did plant them in hopes that in future years they will grow tall enough to give us shade. I've been noticing these pretty, colorful trees since we moved here to central Texas. You see them every where! I notice them in neighborhood entrances, in the parking lot at our grocery store, they are even out front of my work. My parents noticed them when they came out a few weeks ago. They liked them so much it prompted them to buy 2 trees when they returned home to California. They are called Crape Myrtles - crape myrtles are chiefly famous for their colorful and long-lasting flowers, have fluted stems and branches. Flowers are born in summer and autumn in panicles of crinkled flowers with a crepe-like texture. Colors vary from deep purple to red to white, with almost every shade in between. They do well in mild climates that are not overly humid such as inland California and Texas. In some parts of Texas, the Crape myrtle is also known as a Cuddle Tree

We just finished planting the trees and making tree wells for them late last night. I will have to share some pictures in my next post but we planted a Country Red (dark pink flowers), Tuscarora (light pink flowers), and a Natchez (white flowers). Our trees are only approx. 3-4' now (they look more like flowery bushes) but hopefully in time they will grow to be as tall and beautiful as these!

Loosing weight, haircuts and kids...

Hi everyone! Just thought I'd talk about what's been happening...

Well we finally drug out our Torso Track from underneath our bed. Stephen's been doing great with his dieting. He's already lost 20lbs.! He started using a belt for his pants he hasn't used in years, was only able to put it on the first hole, but now it's on the 3rd hole. Even at work the other night (when I started to worry because he wasn't answering his cell!) one of his older belts broke, and his pants kept slipping down so he couldn't keep his walkie talkie and his cell in his pockets because they weighed his pants down! He's now back to eating regular meals with the kids and I (no more cabbage soup), so now it's really time for us to get a good exercise routine going.

I'm even surprising myself with the weight I'm at now. I weigh about 10lbs. less than I did when I first got pregnant with James, and would like to loose another 15lbs. to get down to the weight I was in high school. I am so happy the pregnancy weight just melted off this time around, I guess I owe it to burning calories breastfeeding for a year...and chasing after TWO kids now! It's hard to tell in the above photo, but Stephen and I both got haircuts. Doesn't my hubby look handsome? I got 2 inches cut off. Am happy with this short style. And Stephen really likes it too!

Madeline is really into making funny faces now when I take photos. She doesn't get it from me. This girl is showing more and more traits like her Daddy.

Madeline took this photo, don't mind my messed up hair, or the obvious need that I desperately need my eyebrows waxed. Thanks to our sweet neighbors and friends next door, I have a gift certificate to a spa in South Austin and will be making my way there very soon! Whoa doesn't James' foot look big!?

Stephen bathed the kids tonight. Had to include this funny shot of James looking at me over the shower glass doors. What a ham.

Since we've been here for a year, a lease renewal is up on our house. Stephen and I are really anxious to buy a home and for sure wanted to make it happen this year. But we've been talking about a lot of things lately, praying too - and decided we really need to stop pressuring ourselves on this matter. It's such a HUGE purchase. We don't really want to give into settling for a house we can just barely afford. Without having the luxury of choosing maybe some upgraded options, etc. So we decided this years focus for us, shouldn't be the pressure of buying a house, but really to pay off some debts (including selling our Yukon and getting rid of that loan), increasing our savings account, establishing consistent hours for my job at home with West, and really just focusing on what we have now and how thankful we need to be. So we renewed our lease for our house. Actually we look forward to living here awhile longer, we love and adore our neighbors. Just more fun times ahead with them.

We will continue to pray the housing market stays in our favor, and are hopeful that it will take a long time before prices start shooting up. Besides, housing here in TX is way affordable, and you get a lot of "house" for your money. We'll continue to keep looking at model homes, I love walking through them and checking out the interiors. We've started Spring cleaning. Stephen actually spent several hours organizing the garage, hanging the tool holders on the walls he bought months ago, installing our bike hooks in the ceiling...and he cleaned up our front planter area and went on a "killing" mission to get rid of all those nasty crab grass weeds that grow in the lawn. I'm excited for Spring time! And with our tax refunds would like to get a big trampoline for the kids to put into our gi-normous backyard!