Hush Angels

Renee's Girl Scout Troop volunteered at The American Cancer Society Relay For Life. They were "hush angels" and their job was to walk around and try to quiet the crowd so the stories and instructions could be heard.

Thursday at the Park

Emma and I attended the SAIL Spring Party on Thursday while Renee was at an Odyssey of the Mind meeting. Emma enjoyed the water balloon fight more than the candy filled eggs. It was an absolutely gorgeous day!

Camera Trouble

My good camera broke on Easter morning and now my little Canon point and shoot won't work. I am so frustrated and sad my camera troubles have brought this project to a temporary (I hope) halt!

Fierce Aphid Killer

Thank you for helping us with our vegetable garden little ladybug!

Tegu

This morning, the girls and I attended an entertaining presentation about snakes and other reptiles. This Argentine Black and White Tegu was our favorite reptile. It is to his advantage that he has legs.

The Man

This evening I attended Cameron's induction into Psi Beta, an Honor Society for Psychology. The keynote speaker was excellent! Not only did she give an intelligent, inspirational speech, she also made a few positive references to my son. He really is an amazing guy! He is involved in several different activities such as Leadership Academy, Mock Trial, Student Representative for the Disciplinary Appeals Task Force (DATF), Student Activity Fee Allocation Committee (SAFAC), and Student Government (president). He has also received many accolades. He is in two different Honor Societies, was chosen as an Emerging Scholar, and received several awards and a scholarship (which will cover the remainder of the cost for this school) for his participation in Mock Trial. He did all of this while maintaining an 4.0 in mostly Honors courses!

*Other things I forgot to include in the original post:

• He is working part time at Geek Squad, has paid for all of his own school and personal expenses and has the goal of finishing school debt free!
  
• He got the “Top Paper” Award at The Undergraduate Interdisciplinary Student Research Conference

Easter Morning

Such a sweet moment. I just barely caught it. There were some other photos that have better composition and lighting than this one, but this one had to be it.

We had a great Easter! The Easter bunny came to visit as usual (as he has for the last 20 years and for perhaps a few years more). The girls hunted for eggs hidden around the house (it rained last night, so the Easter bunny kindly kept them out of the mud). Afterward the five of us went to Bryan and Susan's house for an Easter get-together with about 50 people. Once we got home Matt and I played games with the girls and had a lovely time together. Happy Easter!

Non-holiday Gift

When I came home from a busy day out of the house last Thursday, I found these flowers waiting for me. Matt game them to me (along with a very sweet note) just to let me know how much he loves me. I loved it!

Easter Crafts

This is a picture I took on Friday, with the intention of posting it on the same day it was taken. It is finally being posted early Sunday morning. The girls and I had a very jovial time together while they dyed Easter Eggs. We all laughed SO much! It was fantastic!

Miss Kathy

I would like to introduce you to the infamous Miss Kathy. All three of my children absolutely adore her! If my kids could, they would hang out with her, follow her around.....worship her......as often as possible. This was taken after Philosophy/Druidawn.

Bellydance

Emma is practicing a shimmy while posing as a genie.

Green Beans

I'm glad to see the green bean plants are making themselves at home.

The Only Picture I Took Today

This evening, Renee spent the night at Darby's house. Matt and I took Cam and Emma out to Chipotle for dinner (where this photo was taken), then for ice cream. It was a lovely evening out with our kids, though it would have been even better if Renee was with us too.

Peace, Love, Happiness

Renee made this book. She carefully measured and hand tore the edges of each page. Without fancy bookbinding tools, she meticulously pierced the top of the individual pages for threading the binding. In this photo, I think I like her sweet hand holding the book even more than her message.

The Speakeasy

It was a fun night out with friends! Tonight I went with Sam and Ricki (Karen and Nate showed up later) to Waxahatchie to watch a burlesque show in which they were performing (bellydance). The venue is called Bonnie and Clyde's Speakeasy, located in a historic old hotel built in 1913. This hotel not only has a cool, old elevator, which looks like it belongs in the Twilight Zone, it is also supposedly haunted. We had a great time!

Choir

Today was the final day of Spring co-op for 2011. During the last hour we were treated to a cute play by the little kids in the group as well as a beautiful choir performance by some of the older kids. This semester, Miss Andrea taught only Beatles songs. The kids loved it! Today they sang "Let it Be" and "Hey Jude". Emma LOVES choir!

Plasma Car

"Please, please, please may I have a plasma car?"

Tree Climbing

Emma and her friend Auburn did some tree climbing today while waiting for their handbells class to begin.

Daisies

When I was a little girl I considered daisies to be the most romantic flower with their "he loves me, he loves me not" petals. At our wedding, almost 21 years ago, I carried a bouquet of daisies. I've planted daisies in our first two homes. This house already had daisies in the front flower bed when we bought it...tons of them! Sadly, Matt tired of caring for the daisies because there were too many weeds; so he pulled out both the weeds and the flowers. For years that flower bed had nothing. I bought seeds but they never grew. I tried for many years to replace the daisies and finally gave up the effort. This past Sunday, Matt planted various kinds of daisies in several different places, more than just that original flower bed. He knows what those daisies mean to me; it was definitely a romantic, loving gesture. I hope they make it!!

A Car Ride

Buddy absolutely loves to ride in the car!

Mom's Night Out

Every Sunday night my friends get together and hang out. I almost always learn something new. Tonight, thanks to Andrea's iPad, we even had before and after images.

Renee

This is from yesterday, just before we left for the teen dance. Today she and I attended our first Bar Mitzvah for her friend. It was a lovely service and he did a fantastic job. Afterward, at the luncheon, one of her friends told her he knew where to get her some Thermite if she could get him $30. She is such a geek! Last week she wanted heels; this week she wants explosives!

Teen Dance

Renee went to her first boy/girl dance this evening. This was taken with several of her friends who were also in attendance.

Cameron!

The SAIL Robotics team had a fundraiser at Mooyah Burgers. Cameron actually took time out of his extremely busy life to spend some time with his family and friends! We all miss seeing him so it was a very nice to have him around again, even if it was only for a few hours.

Handbells

Every Wednesday the girls have handbell practice at St. Peter's Episcopal church. The bells have such a lovely sound.

Jack Sparrow

This afternoon, the girls and I were listening to Bob Marley while taking care of a few chores around the house. At one point, Emma paused to look at the picture of Bob and then said, "You know, he kinda looks like Jack Sparrow." I'm not sure why I thought that was so funny at the time. She right, he does!

Abstract

Emma loves abstract art and was inspired to paint this last night. She is very proud of her work so I thought I would share.

Marketing Meeting

This isn't the best photo, but it does show something I absolutely LOVE! During the Robotics Marketing meeting Emma took notes! She does not like to write and tries to get out of it as much as she possibly can. Today she wrote the whole time, voluntarily, without prompting from anyone. (She is the one wearing the hat.)

Roller Skating

Roller skating on a Saturday night just isn't what it used to be. Renee, Darby, Madeleine, Sarah and Rebecca all hung out together this evening and Emma skated with Callie. I tried to visit with Heather, but the music made it challenging to have a long conversation. The girls all said they had a good time!

Dinner and a Play

Renee and I went out with friends Friday evening. We had dinner at Cafe Malaga (Spanish tapas...yum!) and afterward went to see the play The Crucible at the McKinney Performing Arts center. It was a lovely evening! (This is the photo for Friday.)