A tisket, a tasket...

Katie's Easter basket

Ryan's

Brett's

Lately it seems like the Easter Bunny brings DVDs to the kids. Katie got Bedtime Stories, and Ryan got some classic Scooby.

Technically this was Brett's Easter bunny, but I LOVE it! This little guy sings "Tutti Frutti," punctuating the "WOOOOO's" with raised ears.

Katie got a special penguin egg to add to her collection,
and Ryan got a shark egg for his!

After our early basket time, I headed off to HCC for booth duty. Man, was it rainy!
On the way, I had to stop my car because ducks were waddling ever-so-slowly across one street.

In spite of the rain, we could already tell it was going to be a great day!

Bunny buddies.

When digging out our Easter decorations, I found this little bunny. It's special because my Granny made it! I just love the hand-stitching.

ChaCha likes her new little friend, too!

Back blogging again...

Scroll on past the chicken for highlights from Coliseum Week!

March 31: Elementary choir festival

April 3: Spring Fling

'Twas the night before Easter...

Just as we've done since the kids were babies, we dyed our Easter eggs on Easter Eve.

We started by helping Memaw fill her plastic eggs with candy. That was a LOT of chocolate!

Then we got to dye the hard-boiled eggs.

Brett was out of town, so Ryan and Katie took over his traditional multi-colored egg-dyeing technique.

Aunt Kelly came over, too, to add her artistic touch.






(I just love the colors left behind on the paper towels.)

Katie also took over the cake-decorating duties this year.

Didn't she do a good job?

We missed Brett, but we had an egg-citing time while we awaited his return!

The "check it, chicken" look.

Lately Ryan's been giving me this look when I've caught him eating chicken strips at a restaurant.
I call it his "check it, I'm eating chicken strips again" look.
Doesn't matter what else is on the menu. The boy loves his greasy, fat-encrusted poultry.
But as he reminded me today, this look is not new! In fact, he traced its origin back to Sept. 11, 2007, when he first made this face at Dos Gringos in Fort Worth:

That's my boy!

Connecting people...

One of our church mottos has been "Connecting people to God, to one another and to purpose."
All of those connections were addressed at the HCC women's retreat. Well-planned and organized by a dedicated group of women, the weekend was a real blessing to me. It was wonderful to get to know some of my sisters better.
And the location of the retreat, Texoma Youth Camp, provided some amazing scenery! It was really windy and a tad chilly, but it was nice to walk along the lakeshore and breathe in that fresh air.





On Sunday morning, I was drawn back toward the lakeshore to see the rising sun:



This retreat was just what my weary soul needed. I'm so thankful for the hard work Tami and the rest of the planning committee put in. I came home refreshed, renewed and connected.

Spring has sprung—and been flung!

Brett, Ryan and Katie were back at the coliseum on Thursday night for Spring Fling rehearsal. Then on Friday, we were all there for the Spring Fling itself. (For those keeping score at home, that's three coliseum trips in four days.) This event raises money for the school district's PE programs and highlights physical fitness.

Katie and two other FVE students sang the national anthem.
I was so nervous for them as they waited! The gym was packed!

Katie and Co. did a wonderful job!

Our school's sponsors are ready for our students' turn.

Our group followed up their '60s, '70s and '80s shows from past years with a salute to—you guessed it—the '90s.

Hammer Time!

Vogue-ing: Strike a pose

The trademark FVE

Finale: Massive parachute routine

We can't believe this was our last Spring Fling! I'm still struggling to accept that this is Katie's last year in elementary school, so this final fling is just one more sign that she's growing up.

BONUS: Courtesy of some kid's dad, here's video from their performance!