Star Wars B-Day Party

We had the pleasure of attending a costume party on Saturday for a very special young man who is a huge fan of Star Wars.  Greg went as Han Solo, I as Princess Leia, and Kylen as a Jedi.  Even after losing weight, I still felt like a big white whale and will not post a picture of myself.  But it was a great party, complete with elaborate decorations, a robot building activity, light saber duels, and videos with special effects, created by the birthday boy himself.

 

 

 

Spring Maple Leaves

I love the way our maple tree looks before the new leaves are fully developed.

Babies & Cupcakes

My brother called on Easter and said his wife made some cupcakes they would like to share.  They came over the following evening, and I was SO impressed!!  They looked like something straight out of a magazine!  I waited until the next day to take pics, and by that time, half of them were gone!

Even better, we got to meet my new little niece!  She really is cute!!!  Greg got to hold her first.

We took the opportunity to give them our gifts.

I enjoy watching their little family.  Takes me back to our early days of marriage when Kylen was a baby.  :)

Easter 2015

Our tradition has always been to have Greg's parents over on Easter, but it's gotten harder for them to make the drive.  So this year, we decided to try something new and invite a couple of friends to share our European-style feast.  (We still celebrated with my in-laws on another day.) We all had a wonderful time!  After the meal, the kids went outside, moms visited, and dads had a blast playing pool in the basement.  I tried making grandma's fruit salad, since I have such great memories of her serving that for Easter.  Unfortunately, the quantities seemed off, and the apples were way too tart.  (I'm still trying to decide if I want to give it another try with some major tweaking or just give up.)  But overall, the meal was great and the company perfect!

 

 

Jamm's Frozen Yogurt

After Texas Roadhouse, my uncle's family followed us over to Jamm's, a frozen yogurt shop nearby.  I like their comfy seating area and bright décor.  They have a long table with paper and markers and corkboards above for display.  My artistic little cousin kept busy creating drawings and messages to pin up.

Texas Roadhouse

We go to Texas Roadhouse once or twice a year, and it's usually with my uncle's family.  We met them there the day before Easter for a little catching up.  The food is about as unhealthy is as gets, but it's SOOOO good!

You get to snack on peanuts while waiting to be seated.  Then, they start you off with fresh-baked rolls and cinnamon honey butter (along with a pail of peanuts just in case you didn't get your fill yet).

I always order ribs, mashed potatoes with sour cream/butter/cheese, and buttered corn.  Greg usually gets steak and ribs.  Kylen prefers a burger almost anywhere we go.  Although their ribs and sides are to die for, Greg has had a couple steaks that were not up to par.  I stopped ordering them myself, because I got tired of sending them back.  I remember the first time we went there, my steak was practically raw.  When I notified the waitress, she told me about how expert the cooks are and how they know what they are doing and how medium well is a strip of pink through the middle.  Well, yeah, I know what medium-well is, Lady; that's why I order it that way.  Then, I tried to show her my medium-raw meat in a darkened restaurant.  I'm not sure she was convinced, but she took it back.  So when the same thing happened the next time we went, I switched to ribs.  They may have improved in this area, but I like the ribs so much, I've been content to stick with 'em.

This is my weirdo husband, and I'm so proud of him!!

A little side note about this place: they play country music and occasionally crank up the sound while the servers line-dance.  I know this might be objectionable for some, so I thought I'd mention it.  We've never gone for lunch, but I've heard that's a better time if this is a concern.



He is Seen!

"You can see God's signature everywhere around you

once you learn to recognize his handwriting."

 

~Carol Harrington Brock

HAPPY RESURRECTION DAY!!!!

We're busily preparing for company, but we're not too busy to miss how gorgeous a day the Lord has given us!!  It's supposed to be a high of 57, but with all this sunshine, I wonder if it will be even warmer?

I'd like to wish all a Happy Easter!  This is the day the Lord has made!  We will rejoice and be glad in it!  Jesus has risen!  JESUS HAS RISEN!!!!

March Update

Already a week into April!

As mentioned in my February update, we were on break from co-op most of March.  We had an unusually large number of social gatherings, especially Kylen.  He went to three birthday parties!  I love it when he has lots of opportunities for seeing friends.  He has begun going to a weekly church youth group that he seems to like a lot.  We hosted his friends a few times, met family and friends for dinner, and started back up attending a monthly Bible group.  Greg is no longer going to his men's group Friday mornings, but he and Kylen are still enjoying a youth group for boys and their dads.  So even though we didn't have co-op, it still felt like a pretty busy month!

Recently, I've been feeling a desire to begin reducing my responsibilities at our co-op.  Much of my free time over the last 10 years has gone into INCH, and it has been incredibly rewarding (and sometimes stressful).  Overall, I was happy to do it, but I am  getting the strong sense that it is time to begin winding down and putting my energy other directions.  I thought I would be sad, but I'm feeling mostly excitement, as I begin transitioning toward life after Kylen graduates.  I've made arrangements for handing off two big responsibilities for next year: planning our co-op's Christmas party and preparing the family bins each trimester.  The following year I would like to hand over all the picture taking for the yearbook.  Probably last will be sending out the weekly newsletter, but we shall see!

I'm hoping we can make progress on a few home projects in April related to decluttering and do a bit of work in the yard.

Spring is here!  :)