Samson

We have had Samson now for a little over the week and he is definatly becoming more at home each day. I have to say I truly forgot how much work puppies are. We are working on the potty training and he is doing really well. Katie is doing great with him and Bree has really suprised us by how much she has warmed up to him. She cracks me up because she tells me she likes him best when he is sleeping. So poor guy, when he is a sleep she trys to pick him up and put him in her lap. He is a good sport and just goes with it

I thought this was a sweet photo of Bree loving on Samson, when she likes him best...asleep. :)

Easter Weekend

We had an eventful and busy Easter Weekend, the weather was so beautiful all weekend and warm. I was a little worried because Friday morning lots of rain and thunderstorms, but by Friday afternoon they were gone and the sun was out for the rest of the weekend.

Saturday morning we started off our day with Katie's first soccer game. Sad to say but I have no pics or video to post today of her. Saturday was one of those days that test how far a parent can be pushed to their limit by a 3 year old. Bree was beyond mad that she could not play soccer with Katie. Bree is at that stage that she "thinks" she has to do everything her big sister is doing. Plus it didn't help matters that Chris is coaching Katie's team so that made her want to be out there even more. I tried to get some picture and video but in the video you would have just heard Bree screaming for Chris as we sat in the stands and watch. Man...that was the longest hour of my life. Katie wanted me to watch her so badly but I just wanted to get Bree the heck out of there to get her mind on something else. Katie did great for her first soccer game. She is the shortest player on the team so she doesn't run quite as fast as everyone else but I have to say the girl gave it her all and she was even caught in the middle of some kids trying to kick the ball and she was standing her ground. I was quite impressed my girls first game. Fingerscrossed this coming Saturday we can get some video.

After the soccer game we had one of Chris' friends from work over and his three girls. There was a community egg hunt that afternoon so they all came over to go. I use the term "egg hunt" very loosely has the eggs were just thrown into a field and let all the kids go after them, but they do this by age group which is nice and they have tons of eggs. The limit was 40 per kid, yes 40. We have so much candy now it is crazy. I did manage to get a few pics of the girls gathering their eggs.

Bree getting excited about the egg hunt. Basket in hand and ready to go.

Katie waiting patiently for them to say they can go get their eggs.

The field of eggs...this was just part of the field. You can see all of the eggs scattered about.


It took them probably 3 mintues if that for them to fill their basket. It is so much fun to watch them just run into this field and start throwing eggs into their baskets.

Bree showing me their baskets....FULL of eggs. I believe they each got their 40.

Sunday we went to church to celebrate Easter. The weather was great high of 84. The girls looked so beautiful in their Easter dresses. After church we went to a friends house for Easter lunch and let the kids get in one more easter egg hunt before the weekend was over.

Katie helping Bree put on her necklace. Sweet sister moment.

Sqqquuueeezzee....big hugs.

Such beautiful girls...so lucky to be their momma.

Our Newest Addition!

Meet Samson....are newest family member. After 8 months of Katie's nightly prayers asking God for a puppy...it was finally answered. She was so excited when we went to pick him up. She had no idea when we got to the house and when our friend Tyler brought him in she got the biggest smile on her face. It brought so much joy to my heart to see her so happy.

Samson and Katie on his ride home...she was so excited that we let her hold him on the way home. Bree was happy as long as he stayed on her side which he did.

You think she is happy with her new little friend?

He has the cutest little face.

Some Pretty Awesome Kids!

I wanted to take a few moments to post on here a news article link about some pretty awesome kids. Not talking about Katie and Bree this time, I am actually talking about the youth at our church. Normally during spring break the youth take a ski trip to Colorado, but for the past two years they have decided to not go skiing but to go to Galevston TX and help those who have been devasted by Hurrican Katrina. We went last year to help a community just outside Galveston and they wanted to go back again this year seeing that there is still so many that need help in repairs. This year they were actually in Galevston. The article link below is a recap of their week, but I was told that they did have a typo in the artical. They stated the kids worked on 3 projects all week, but it was more like 7. That is what makes me so proud of these kids, they work so hard while they are there. They had 62 youth and 10 adults go on this trip. These kids could have easily stayed home and slept in all week for their spring break, but they didn't. They decided to go and serve others and to show God's love. Chris and I went last year with the kids and I can say that this is the hardest I have worked in a long time. It is an early to rise and late to bed, work muscle you didn't even know you had type of week. It is truly exhausting but so rewarding. To see the gratitude people have for the help we give is worth all of it. We hated that we couldn't go this year, but I am so looking foward to hearing all the stories Wednesday night.

Here is the link: http://crystalbeachlocalnews.com/

Update on the Girls

I have no pictures to post cause the girls are still with Nana and Papaw, but they have been having a blast. We talk on the phone each night and we have skyped with them also. It is so much fun to listen to them tell me about their day.

Katie is a talker and she will tell you everything. She has been so silly on the phone with us. She keeps calling us "sweetheart" in this funny accent. When she gets on the phone she says "Well, hello mommy sweetheart" if I ask her a questions she reply "oh, of course mommy sweetheart" She makes me laugh. I have no idea where all the sweetheart stuff came from but she is one of kind. She goes on to tell us all about going shopping, helping Papaw feed the dogs and taking them for walks. She even told me how one of the dogs Max was licking her in the face and she said she was laughing. This floored me because Katie is normally terrified of animals, but made me excited because Chris and I have pretty much decided that we are going to let them get a dog in the summer once we get back from Disney. She also tells us about how she gets to ride with Papaw each day to go and pick Matthew up from school. I think this is her favorite part of the day, not only to see Matthew but Papaw usually takes them to get a snack or icee. Once Katie has finished the recap of the days events we talk to Bree. Bree is the complete opposite of Katie, she gets on the phone and says what she has to say and then she is done, kind of like her daddy. I have really been surprised on how much she has talked on the phone to us and she will tells about her day, but it more about the movie she watched, what toy she played with or what snack she is eating but none the less it is so cute to hear her little voice on the phone. She actually picked up Katie's think of calling us sweetheart, which I think is cute. Bree is always following her big sister.

Needless to say Chris and I do miss our girls and are ready to see them on Saturday and have them back home, but I know they have truly enjoyed the their time with my parents and I am so thankful they can go and spend time with them. The break is nice for us as well, but I just don't remember what to do when you don't have kids. You become very much aware of how much they fill up your day when they are not around.

New Blog!!!

I have decided to start another blog. I will still be blogging here about the family, but I wanted a different blog to write about other things. If you want to check it out here is the new blog link.



http://reneaulovingchrist.blogspot.com/



Hope you enjoy it.

What's Been Going On???

Last Friday night our church had their free child care night, so our community group decided to have a group date night. We all went to a place called Ghengis Grill, it is a Mongolian BBQ grill. We had a big group for this outing we had about 24 couples, which was great. Most of the time we when have group socials about half of our group is able to be there but this time almost everyone was there. It was great to get to talk with everyone and catch up on life. It is so nice to have the free child care also.

The next day we loaded up our car and had a road trip to Memphis. The girls are going to my parents for the next two weeks. They love their visits with Nana and Papaw and were so looking forward to going. Even though Chris and I miss the heck out of them when they are gone. We do enjoy our time. On our trip back on Sunday I started coming down with a cold so for the past three days I haven't felt so good, but it has been nice to be able to rest and take care of myself knowing the girls are well loved. It is so hard to rest when you are sick and a momma, because you just feel so guilty not taking care of the kids. So it has been nice to be guilt free of just laying around and resting. Chris and I have plans over the next week or so to have a few date nights, spend some good quality time together, take care of some things around the house and Chris has plenty of time to work on his school work. I know the girls will come back home with lots of stories from their time with Nana and Papaw.