First Communion

Our sweet Luke celebrated his first communion this weekend.  We were so blessed to have plenty of family and friends here to celebrate with us, including my mother, Chuck's parents, Chuck's brother and his family, my brother and his family, and our friends Tim and STephanie and their beautiful girls.  We had an absolutely lovely time. And I'm thrilled to say that Luke did not spit out the wine or even make an ugly face after taking a sip. *huge sigh of relief*

The grandmothers.

And Luke scored some beautiful gifts from his family.

I even showed off my status as a domestic goddess by serving up lasagna, salad, and garlic bread.

What have I been doing, you may wonder . . .

Guys!  So much has been going on and I find that I barely have time to keep up with anything, much less this blog.  So, the kids are great!  Honestly, they are great!  Now, that's not to say they don't drive me crazy or anything like that, but overall, they are doing well.  In fact, Luke is blowing us away with his improvement at school.  For example, his spelling tests were atrocious for a while and his handwriting practically illegible.  And for weeks at a time I would receive conduct grades of Satisfactory or Unsatisfactory with notes repeatedly saying, "Not paying attention!" or "Daydreaming!"  I was at my wits end.  But, we've got him on a dose of ADD medication and he is flourishing!  No lie!  Check these pictures out!


His handwriting is vastly improved.  He made a 100 on his spelling test! 



And his conduct grade has been Excellent week after week. 

The note from his teacher says, "He is the sweetest young man!  And, he is a joy to teach!  Thank you for being such great parents! :)"  Really?  Us!  Great parents?!  I'll take it!  I can't tell you how thrilled and relieved Chuck and I are.

I've also been able to get away for a girls trip with my Junior Woman's Club group.  It was ridiculously fun and relaxing.  We headed down to the JW Marriott in San Antonio and had a lovely time, including a few hours at the spa.  Perfect!


 
Please disregard the crazy zombie eyes we all have in this picture.

We also celebrated a very understated Easter this year.  The kids didn't have school on Good Friday, so we hit the park and had a picnic lunch, fed the ducks, and played on the playground.  It was pretty fun and a really beautiful day.

I just didn't have the energy to do much that weekend because we found out that my uncle Ed had passed away, but the kids loved finding eggs and eating candy.

Speaking of my Uncle Ed, the two youngest kids attended the funeral with me this weekend in Houston.  He was diagnosed with cholangiocarcinoma (cancer of the bile ducts) on February 11, 2012.  He passed away peacefully and surrounded by his lovely family on April 5, 2012.  It was quick.  Really quick.  But the best part of all this is how peaceful and accepting he was that this was God's plan for him.  It made the entire thing peaceful for all his family and friends.  Although we will miss him, it is so comforting to know that he was ready to go home.  And as a silver lining, my mother was able to see almost all of her siblings.  There are nine of them altogether.  Obviously they were all there to honor Ed, except one sister who was unable to fly.  The rest either live in town or flew in from Michigan (where we are from).  It was a wonderful time to see one another and experience that familial bond.

Here are the siblings:















Here are the cousins (9 out of 24).


And here are the cousins taking pictures of the siblings.

 

And here is my Uncle Ed with his wonderful family at his daughter's wedding.  How blessed they were to have one another.

On a happier note, Luke also celebrated his birthday party a couple weeks ago.  He invited his class and some friends to play laser tag at Main Event.  It was a hit and Luke raked in all the presents.  He had a blast and it was so fun to see him with his class.\




He also received a BB gun from his parents. (Not my idea).  He hasn't shot his eye out yet, but I'm not convinced it won't happen eventually.


 

And as for me, well, I'm doing well too.  My dear friends, Caroline and Carrie (with help from Chucky Love), nominated me to be honored as one of Fort Worth's 40 Under 40.  This is something underwritten by the Fort Worth Business Press and it honors  individuals who are "making their mark with professional success and community involvement."  I'm so honored that I was selected to be counted among this year's 40 individuals.  But I'm even more honored that my friends thought I was worth enough of the honor to nominate me. And to top it off, Chucky Love sent me 40 pink roses to celebrate.  Weren't they beautiful?



I had to throw them away yesterday.  So sad.


What a great guy.  I certainly made the best choice of my life when I married him.

And that's the update, folks.  A lot going on, and a lot I didn't mention.  I promise I'll catch up someday soon!

Movie Quote 93

Because the last post was about divorce, let's do something a little more up beat.

Movie Quote 93:

Do not try the free pistachio ice cream! It done turn! 

Chuck said this today and I practically spit out my drink.

Divorce Sucks

I seem to be recommending divorce lawyers left and right.  Do me a favor, okay?  Don't get divorced. 

Well, I mean, unless s/he's completely intolerable.  Okay?

Thanks.

Happy Face

I looked down at my desk and this is what I saw.

I couldn't have arranged it better myself.

It's always nice to see a smiling face!

Happy Friday!

I'm Addicted!

So this band and their video were featured on MSN.com. I watched it and I'm addicted. I wish I knew these people. Enjoy!

Hall & Oates Cover



The Beatles Cover



Buddy Holly Cover


Madonna Cover



Whitney Houston Cover

Sorry guys.

It's no secret. I'm busy at work.

Stay tuned for more.

The best

Sometimes, I just think my kids are the best.

Because, seriously, how could they not be?

There are super moms and then there's me.

My virtual-friend Jenny (I've never met her in person; she's mom to Ryan and Zane) posted about an article on a website called The Power of Moms. The article is called "Your Children Want You!"

Guys, I'm in the middle of a very busy day at work, but I took a few minutes to read it and I was crying by the end. I feel this mom. I am this mom. (Well, not really, but I feel like I am this mom.) I hope all you super-moms out there will click here to read this and take it to heart. We moms need to lift each other up. We are all in this together -- building the future.

Love you all!

Birthday Boy!

On this day 8 years ago, Chuck and I (and my Mom) were anxiously awaiting the arrival of my sweet Luke. He waited until the evening to finally make an appearance, but I've been in love with him ever since.


We started his birthday with a sign, cinnamon rolls, and the unwrapping of one present.



He got an ant farm. He's thrilled! Plus, I'm pretty excited about it too. Now I just have to order the ants.

He's grown up so much and I'm so proud of him even though it has been a rough year trying to figure out his ADD. We finally have it under control with medication and it has been a blessing to all of us. I'm so happy that he no longer cries at the thought of having to go to school. We've come a long way since his last birthday.

Tonight we are going to Pappasito's for dinner and having chocolate cupcakes. And this weekend he is having a laser tag birthday party. We've done it up right for him!

Happy birthday, sweet boy. I love you so much!

Just a thought

I love when I see someone in a car near me singing the words to the song that is playing on the radio station I am listening to in my car.

Movie Quote 92

Time for another movie quote, so here you go:

Where'd all the rum go?

Hawking

Call me a nerd, but I love The Big Bang Theory (the sitcom, not the scientific theory). I recently watched the episode featuring Stephen Hawking, and afterward, I did a little Google search to read about him some more (not that I don't know who he is or what he does, etc.). I read this article by Ned Potter on abc.com which ended with the following:

In January, when [Hawking] turned 70, the magazine New Scientist asked him, “What do you think most about during the day?”

His answer: “Women. They are a complete mystery.”

I am now officially a huge fan of Stephen Hawking. Awesome!

Easter Ducks

The kids had a pretty good Easter, but I swear that the highlight was seeing two ducks waddling down our street. We live in the city. I have no idea where these ducks came from. They were still wandering the neighborhood this morning on our way to school. Very strange.

The days seem to be slipping by. *sigh*

First Words

George spelled his first word -- B-U-T-T.

He even knows what it spells.

A very special thanks to Evie and Luke for teaching this to him.

And here's the little stinker with his first slice of watermelon.

in his underwear
--
at someone else's house
--
because that's how he rolls

We're just going to dub today "Tornado Tuesday".

Sprinklers

It's the beginning of April and it is already too hot outside. But, the kids have learned to love the sprinklers since we haven't opened our pool yet.

They even decided to drink the water - disgusting.
They're probably going to come down with some sort of parasite.

They are begging to do it again!