Happy Easter!!!!

Well, Spring Break is coming to a close for the kids. I love it when they are off school. Life just doesn't seem quite so busy. It has been so fun, to just spend time together! Today was a great day! I love Easter and the reminders that come with it. This morning the kids woke up and searched for their Easter Baskets....next year the Easter Bunny needs to hide them better....they found them way too fast! We hurried with breakfast and got ready for church. After church we headed over to mom and dad's house. We had dad's famous "Sunday Dinner" followed by an awesome egg hunt mom made. She made it like a scavenger hunt. Starting with the first egg, and inside was a message about where to find the next egg. The amazing part about it was that mom connected it to the "Easter" lesson. So each message/clue taught about Christ and his journey. She included scriptures and stories, which at times turned into discussions and questions from the kids. It was Awesome!!! Mom your amazing....thanks for taking the time to do that! You are a wealth of knowledge. I am truely amazed at how much you know! The kids are so lucky to have you and dad to share your experiences with them! What a great way to end the day! Thank you!

Last night we had fun coloring easter eggs! We got a little creative and tried to decorate and color them before they were all broken!


I so much enjoy spending time with the kids!!! We had a good time this past week...I had a lot to blog, so keep going!!!!! There are a few entries

Locks of Love

Well, Paige did it, she had 10 inches cut off.....actually, we were only going to get her a trim and the shortest would be to her shoulders. When we got there, the lady said she only had a couple more inches and she could donate her hair to locks of love. (a place that will make her donated hair into a wig for a child cancer patient) Paige happily agreed and with a big smile on her face didn't even tremble when the lady cut her ponytail off...(however, I was behind her freaking out inside) As soon as we got home Paige printed off the form we needed to fill out and send with her hair. Now that her hair is short, I must say it is darling!!! It looks great on her. Paige you are going to make a little child very happy!

We decided to make the kids last night of their spring break a party...so since the weather was awesome we made ourselves a fire and roasted marshmellows for some smores!


The kids decided it wouldn't be complete without a sleepover outside on the trampoline. I volunteered Rick, since I had done it the last time. He and Cody slept inside the kids pop up tent (on the trampoline)and the other kiddos slept under the stars. It was actually a little cold, so they piled under the mexican blankets to keep warm.


The night went great! Paige gave in at about 5:00 in the morning and came in - she decided it was just too cold. Later that morning the others were totally under their blankets, face and all. And believe it or not Cody and Rick slept until almost 10:00 am!!!!!!!

Day at the Zoo

Our nephew Matt came from Texas Tech to spend a few days with us over Spring Break. We love it when he comes!!! (And we didn't even give him any big projects to help us with while he was here.) Matt thanks for taking time to visit us. We know your life is busy, but you will never know how much your visits mean to the kids and Rick and I. THANKS!!!
While Matt was here we decided to take a trip to the zoo...we had a great time and since we got a year pass, we can go back again and again. Cody has asked every day since...."Can we go to the zoo today???"





They have an exhibit right now where the kids can touch the sting rays....they thought that was pretty cool...all except Cody...he was having nothing to do with touching those things.

Stair Sledding

Matt can't come without doing his traditional sliding down the stairs! Last time he came and amazed the kids by running and leaping down the stairs sliding on his stomach. I don't think they have stopped talking about it since. This time he decided to try it with a piece of cardboard.

Thanks Matt! Now the kids will be trying it!

Playing the Wii!!! GAME ON!!

Okay, okay, so Matt is pretty good on the wii!!! Well, atleast when he is playing me! We played and played, but I couldn't quite beat him! Chase and Matt were so funny to watch when they were boxing....what's that I hear??? Chase knocked Matt out???

Paige's favorite game to play is bowling! Paige was having fun messing around, while Matt hit a high score!

Who has the bigger muscles???? It looks pretty close to me!

There wasn't any messing around with these two!! All out competition!

The Happiest Place On Earth!!!

Well, I finally have had time to let you all know how wonderful my Disneyland trip was!!!! I had a blast!! Eventhough my birthday was right around the corner, we actually went to celebrate Kelsey's 30th birthday!!! (a tradition we started when I turned 30) Mom and I flew to California for our big adventure. Kelsey didn't know mom was coming, so that was surprise number one. We flew in Wednesday night and went to pick up Kelsey Thursday morning. Before we grabbed Kelsey Thursday morning, Kristen, mom and I went to breakfast and had the best strawberry waffles you will ever taste. We had some extra time before heading off to the airport, so we got our toes done fast. After picking up Kelsey at the airport we decided to eat again and head home for an evening with our nephews and nieces. Friday we spent the day at Disneyland, Saturday we spent the day in Hollywood and gave Kelsey surprise #2....tickets to see WICKED!!!!! (totally awesome I might add) Sunday we went to church and I played baseball with my nephews....to my surprise....I still got it!!! Monday we hit the "apple country" and got ready to leave on Tuesday....Everyday was go, go, go....but we had an awesome time! Spending time with sisters is the best! I love you Kristen and Kelsey....mom thanks for coming and sharing the "bonding" experience.....when can we do it again????

If I wrote about all the details this post would be way too long....so here are a couple of quick highlights:
*Disneyland: $20.00 Disney tickets...thanks Steve!! no lines,
Kari taking one for the team on Splash Mountain, Goofy got spanked,
announcing Kelsey's b-day on Thunder Mountain, single rider anyone?
wedged into Mr. Toads wild ride, Can we please go on Peter Pan?
FAST PASSES RULE!
*Kelsey - do your boots have zippers?
*wii competition (are we that out of shape the wii wears us down?)
*cheer competition - thanks Shane for being the judge
*Kelsey's crazy backhandsprings....you still got it girl!!
*Dress Barn - fighting over clothes
*We are not handicapped, we just want a good parking spot
*changing clothes in the car
*holding Devins brand new baby
*Can't we find something to buy to validate our parking?
*NO SLEEP
*WICKED!!!!!!!! need i say more?
*toss, toss, no hands!
*Strawberry waffles

Thanks for an amazing weekend!!! And thanks to my sweet husband for holding down the fort for almost a week! Your the best!

I Love You Katie!

I couldn't let today go by without recognizing my little sis Katie! March 15th is a day my family will always remember. Today is the 9th anniversary of her death. It is so hard to believe she left us 9 years ago...it seems like yesterday. If you knew Katie you know she was an amazing girl. She passed away from a head injury in a skiing accident, but rather than it being some "freak" accident, we truely feel the only explanation is that it was her time to go. At only 19, Katie had accomplished all she needed to in this life and we are certain there is much for her to do in heaven.

Katie I love you with all my heart and still think of you daily....my little Jordan is like you in so many ways! Right down the the "bubble" bottom you both share! I often think of our reunion in heaven...how sweet it will be! Thank you for your example for me and my children. Thank you for the memories and for just being you! I love you, Katie!

Katie Merlene Bills

September 17, 1979 - March 15, 1999

"I loved you too much to just be your friend - so God let me be your sister!"

Let It Snow!!!

Yes it is Texas, and yes it is March in Texas, and YES we have SNOW!!!! Crazy I know....well the forecast this morning said there was a chance for snow. While we were all excited, we had a little doubt....but sure enough it started snowing this evening. The kids were so excited....as they looked outside at about 9:00 pm they figured it was go time! SNOWBALL fight!! Eventhough they were in their jammies, that didn't stop them. They put their shoes on and before Rick and I knew what was going on, they took off outside. Once they were freezing, they came in and of course we had to have hot chocolate. And of course they couldn't go to bed without one more snowball fight! They would have stayed out there all night! Sadly, I don't think we will get a snow day out of it, but we can hope right???

Ready, set, snowball!!!
Who's cold???
After the little kids went to bed and Jordan finally finished her homework, we peeked out one more time and the street was covered in snow. Yes it was about 10:30, but we couldn't resist....out we went! Look at those snowflakes!!! What do you think??? School or no school???

(sadly, I think school)

Deorderant Poll!!!

Okay, so Aprille and I decided that we were both big under the arm sweat-balls!!! Thank goodness I was the one with the camera!!! We decided we wanted to take a poll and see who has found the best deoderant. Anyone happy with their deorderant??? What kind is it?? We need help! (thanks Aprille for being the model for our desperate search! Your the best!)

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun!!!!!

This past weekend was our annual "girls weekend." This is our second time doing this and we had a BLAST! Friday we piled in each others cars and met at our meeting point. We had about 4 cars drive to the Embassy Suites in Dallas. This place is awesome! Pool, hot tub, awesome huge rooms, and a free yummy breakfast. Once we got to the hotel we prettied up and got ready for dinner.

This is the "gang"

We had a shuttle take us to and from the restaurant. That was awesome! Nobody had to worry about driving, we could all go together, and nobody gets lost! Dinner was yummy and for some dessert was even better! (I won't mention any names.....Aprille and Tiare!)
After dinner we enjoyed the hot tub, played games, ate candy, roamed the hotel for a late night ice run, talked, laughed, and yes even cried a bit. We had such a great time just "hanging" out. As we were roaming the hotel, I kept thinking this is definately something I would tell my kids NOT to do if we were in a hotel and it was 2:30 in the morning! Some called it a night at 2:30, but some of us felt like the party had to keep going. The bed was so huge we could all fit!!!
Come 3:30 am we decided to whip out the old pyramids! Do we look tired yet??? We were so funny! Wendy would set the timer on her camera and we would all rush to get our pyramid up and looking pretty! Yes, we enjoyed being goofy teenagers for the night!
As it got earlier and earlier we were fading, but we were having so much fun we didn't want to go to sleep. I had to take a picture of the clock as proof that we were really awake! At about 4:45 we were debating if it would be worse to go to sleep or just stay up. Well, we were fading, so we decided a couple hours of sleep was better than none! I have to admit....I haven't done that for who knows how long....I am feeling the effects even today! It will probably take me a week to catch up on my sleep. I learned over the weekend that I was the oldest one of the group.....WHAT! I am way to young to be the oldest! Yes at 33 (okay, almost 33....I will be 33 next week on March 12, it's Wednesday, and yes I will be home if you want to bring presents...hint hint!!!!) But seriously, I can tell I'm getting old! Everyone else got up and headed to Canton! So sad I couldn't go....just too much going on at home! Since I didn't go this year does that mean I can spend more next year???
Weekends like that remind me how great it is to have friends!!!!!!! I love you guys! Thanks for the great time! Thanks for keeping me young! Thanks for sharing stories! And thanks for being my friend! Until next year!!!!!

So much to Blog, so little time!

The end of last week was full of fun activities. I put my pictures in backwards so we will start with Thursday. Paige had her third grade musical performance. We Haz Jazz! It was so cute and Paige did a great job singing. She was front and center. (That could have something to do with the fact that she is little and short) :-) But she was adorable and was fun to watch!

Wednesday night was our New Beginnings for the Young Womens activity at church. The girls did the cutest skit. It went along the lines of the Wizard of Oz with our own special twist. The leaders were lucky and dressed up as the Princesses!!!! What do you think of our dresses??? Most of us made a trip to goodwill for our dresses. As for me I pulled out an old bridesmaid dress that I wore when I was pregnant with Chase. WOW! That was along time ago.
Jordan was a little munchkin and of course we had to have the good witch- Glenda. Recognize the dress Kristen???? This was her prom dress!