TAKSing or Taxing!!!!

Today was the second day of TAKS at SMS! The past few days have been pretty smooth I have to say! I feel like the entire semester has been full of TESTING, benchmarks or TAKS! Only two more days and I will be HOME FREE! We did have a bird in the school today during lunches which caused a little craziness, but all is okay! This year has flown by to say the least. How can it already by May!? I love my school because the kids are just so well-behaved! I love my school because of the wonderful people I work with, I love it because of the high standards and expectations for our students and staff. I love it because I never have to be mean to kids! That is not my strength...discipline that is. I like being the "good guy!" I get to be that all the time! I love my school because of the office staff that I laugh with, can be my transparent self with, and especially act stupid and silly with! I love to hear Nurse Penny say, "I will cut you!" Yes, we got that from Bon Qui Qui! I love to watch Tish doing breathing exercises with me so I can breathe when stress overtakes me! Hilarious! There is a little hand motion that goes along with it! I don't love my days that are non-stop, but every place has it's negatives, right!!! It's tough, but it's good and of course it is TAXING on TAKS DAYS!

Foster...tinkle in the potty

I love this pic of Fos which was taken by Sarah Jones...a fabulous photographer and sweet friend!

Yippie....Foster went tee-tee in the potty today for the very first time! Letha called me at work and let Fos tell me that he went potty and got a jelly bean! Yay Foster!!!

An Exciting Day in Big D!

POST-MARATHNON PIC...AMANDA DID AWESOME! I AM SO PROUD OF HER! SHE FINISHED THE 13 MILES IN 2 HOURS 18 MINUTES!

PRE-MARATHON PIC

The four blondies!
FRIENDSHIP

Today was an exciting day as I had the honor to cheer my special friend on in her 1/2 marathon! Wow...what an adrenaline rush for me and I can only imagine what she felt! Amanda did awesome and I am so proud of her! We met her at several points along the way holding posters, yelling, taking pics, and I even jumped in and ran with her for a bit at several points! It was such a special and exciting day! Maybe one day I will run it with her!

This morning was also a big day in Dallas as Texas Stadium was demolished! I have many memories at that stadium cheering in my high school days for playoff games and dancing to "ice ice baby" in the stands as a freshman back in 1990! Such fun times!!

Easter Morning...

This was the best we could do this morning! As you can tell, we all have "sleepy" eyes after a restless night! Kate was overtired and if you're a mommy, you know what that means....a bit of tossing and turning to say the least! I think I got up four times before 1:00 a.m. to quiet a little girl who was waking the whole house up! Needless to say, she was taking a nap today!

Grandparents....aren't they GRAND! I feel like I am leaving Nani and Poppy out, but haven't had a recent pic of them with the kids. That is on my "to do" list for sure!


I tried to get Foster to pose so I could get a pic of that beautiful purple Iris planted many many many years ago by my great-grandmother, Grandmommy Smith! There are many,but this one was the only one blooming so far and must have decided to bloom early this morning which was great for Easter Sunday! Thank you Lord for beauty and for life!

Simply Fun...

A History lesson for sure beginning in 1872!

The green peas that Kate and Foster helped Pops plant three weeks ago are now growing!

Daddy put a new Texas Flag up for Pops and Foster helped too! He was in need of a new Flag!

Daddy and kids

Mommy and kids

Picnic in the River

This trip, we helped Pops plant green peppers and tomatoes!

There's just nothing like playing in the Blanco River!

We saw 16 deer and one of those was an Axis Deer which Kate loves to eat!

Part of the new entrance and "work in progress" in Blanco. Dad carved this in the rock and will add "Established in 1872"

Helping Pops plant green peas!

Shamu....Kate and Foster's first time to Sea World

An early Easter present for the grandkids when they visit Blanco. "Bullet" is the name for the mustang!

We've had a fun and busy March...it came and went! Spring Break mixed in there could have helped it go by a little faster! We spent most of that spring break week in Blanco visiting grandparents as well as visiting Sea World. It was Kate and Foster's first time to see Shamu and baby Shamu! When we arrived in Blanco that week, Pops and Keekee had surprised them with an early Easter present. They had to follow the eggs to the little red mustang named "bullet." The kids had tons of fun driving that car around everywhere.

This past weekend we went to Blanco once again and had so much fun just hanging out enjoying the beautiful weather....simple and fun to say the least! Daddy got to go with us and we did everything from having a picnic in the river, trampoline wrestling, helping Pops plant peppers and tomatoes, riding around looking for deer, sitting in the dinosaur tracks, watching Pops paint the "Smith Ranch" rock which as Matthew said is a history lesson for the kids and finally putting up a new Texas Flag for Pops! Of course the Easter Bunny delivered a basket of goodies during the night, but we talked about what the real meaning of Easter is all about! We are grateful today that Jesus Christ has risen and lives inside of our hearts! My prayer is that we will always have hearts that are a reflection of him!