Saturday, April 30, 2011

New Grass and Sweet Prayers

Recently, we decided to lay new St. Augustine in our back yard. What an undertaking that was! Since we moved in this house 5 years ago we have not been able to get the grass to grow very well in the back yard. We had lots of very poor grass along with weeds and dirt. Wes spent two days shoveling out our old sod/weeds. We rented a sod cutter from Home Depot, but it was still a huge chore! Blake came one day and was a huge help digging! Wes ended up taking 6 loads of old sod on a flat bed trailer to the dump. Thankfully, during the month of April you are allowed to bring us much debris as you need to for free. I was only able to help dig for a couple of hours because it was during the week, and I was tutoring. I did get to help lay some of the sod which is much easier than digging out the old. Some friends from church also helped us lay the new sod, which was made the task much easier. Thank you friends!

Hard working brothers!

The new sod.

8 1/2 pallets later. Yay for new grass!

Now we have been watering daily except for the days we had the storms, which we were very thankful for, even though they gave us quite a scare at times. During one particular storm there was a tornado warning, so we rushed across the street to our neighbor's house who has a cellar under her garage. We watched the weather on the news and thankfully we did not even have to go in her cellar. While we were there the girls had to use the bathroom. When they got back Avery told me they said a prayer together for God to keep us safe. That sure made this mommy proud! Later, when we headed back across the street, I ran behind the house to our garage where the key-less entry is. I told the girls to stay by the front door, and I would let them in so that they would not have to get wet from the rain. They told me they said another prayer then, because the lightening, wind, and thunder was still scary, despite the fact that the tornado warning had lifted. It sure warmed my heart!

Later that night after the storm passed we thought the worst was over. Little did we know there was more excitement to come. The wind picked up, and all of the sudden I kept hearing loud popping sounds from our backyard. When I looked out the window I say sparks flying as if someone was setting off fireworks in our backyard. We knew it had something to do with our electrical lines and decided it would be best to call 911. They came out and basically told us they could not do anything. It was caused by two electrical lines hitting a tree at the same time. They told us not to worry about anything catching on fire because everything was too wet. Well, about two minutes later one of my friends called to tell me that her tree caught on fire from the same thing a few minutes earlier. As we were talking she realized her tree had caught on fire a second time and the fire appeared to be getting bigger. She quickly called 911. Thankfully, it finally went out. Sadly, her whole street's electricity was out for about a day! Needless to say, I was a little worried about what could happen at our house. I have since put a call into our electric company.

Miscellaneous Musings

My girls crack me up! The other day Abby said, "My favorite substitute would be Nikki." I replied, "Nikki is not a teacher." She answered, "With a little bit of magic she could be!"

Later Avery said, "I tasted air today, and it tasted TERRIBLE!" Abby asked her why she tasted it, to which Avery replied, "Someone dared me to at school, and I figured it was an easy dare. The air tasted really bitter!"

This past week was the TAKS test. I helped give the test for 3 days in a row at Layne Elementary. I was impressed that the principal wrote notes to each of the students and made her rounds with a basket of peppermints each day. My friend told me that at another school the principal prayed with her daughter who was nervous about the test. I love our school district!! We have so many wonderful, Godly teachers and administrators.

Easter Happenings

Our Easter weekend started off with soccer games. Only two of the five players showed up for Abby's game. Three players play at a time. We were a little worried, thinking they were probably going to get creamed. Believe it or not, the score was 4-4. Abby and Reagan played the whole time and were still able to tie with their opponents. It was amazing! Avery played her last game of the season and won. They did not loose a game all season long! I am impressed!

After the girl's games, we went straight to the Easter Egg Hunt at church. We had several visitors from the community, which is always great. Besides the egg hunts, there were crafts, finger foods, and a bounce house.


The next day, I went in the kitchen to make breakfast and there was a card for us on the kitchen table. Avery had woken up early and made us a sweet Easter card. How thoughtful! We all went to church and then we had Dad and Gina over for Easter lunch. A few hours later we drove to Blake and Katy's house. Avery, Abby, and Tripp had a good time hunting for more eggs.

Rough Rider's Game

This was the first year to do the Titus Project, and I think that everyone involved would say it was a success. Our youth made us so proud. Hopefully, they have learned several ways they can serve in our church and in our community. To celebrate our Titus Project at church we ended with a lock-in. We started the evening with a trip to watch the Frisco Rough Riders. The weather was great and we all had lawn seats. The tickets came with an all you can eat pass and Rough Rider hats. I can't say I watched most of the game. It was a lot of fun just watching the kids play and hanging out with everyone. What a blessing these people are in my life!
Go Rough Riders!

Some of the gang!


Our family.
Can you see Abby trying to get in the picture behind us?


Nikki and sweet Ansley.
Too cute!

Fun Chandler!

Aren't we cool?

Thursday, April 28, 2011

Ladies Retreat

Earlier this month we had our annual ladies retreat with about 65 ladies at Pine Cove. I love, love this time with these ladies from church. It is always such a great time to get away from our busy lives. It helps me to refocus and remember what is truly important. This year we had lots of time to go off by our self in the beautiful surroundings, to just be alone with God. I thoroughly needed this time. The worship times were touching, and Jeanene Reese did a wonderful job as our speaker. I truly feel blessed to be a part of such a loving, caring church.

I love you, friends!


Getting ready for our zip lining adventure.

Let's do this, Amy!