Sometimes You HAVE to Dance

Here's a very cute video that my neighbor sent to me (it had me smiling & giggling out loud). I just love the dance between the girl and the ostrich... very cute!!!

The Shack & a "matching song"

I recently read the book, The Shack, by William P Young. It was a remarkable story that so dearly impressed upon me a true picture of who God is. It firmly reiterated that God loves me as I am with fault and flaws. I particularly loved the way how a couple of characters in the book referred to God as "Papa". If you haven't read it, you need to take a little bit of time to read it... it's a short, easy read, but it may have a profound effect on you. While commenting on the book on Facebook today, I was listening to my iPod when the song, "Broken & Beautiful" by Mark Schultz came on. It should be the theme song to the book The Shack! Listen to it here:

Broken And Beautiful.mp3

Older Photos

I went to scrapbook Saturday night, and decided to get a few older photos onto pages. This first layout is of a ski trip we took over 5 years ago, when Dylan first learned to ski:

This second one-page layout is of my niece, Blaise, back when her hair first turned curly:
This third layout is of a business trip I took to San Antonio last July. My coworker & I did a tour of the Alamo:

DOE's Biggest Loser Contest

Well the Department of Education's Biggest Loser Contest is over. Out of 25 participants, I came in 5th place. I know that's great and all, but only 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place contestants won the cash! That's ok... I'm definitely a winner with a personal weight loss total of 32 pounds since January 5th. In celebration of the contest ending, we had a party. The biggest "loser" was one of my sweetest coworkers, Edeltress (see her below... she was contestant #8... we were all identified by a contestant number throughout the contest, so no one knew who actually was in the lead). A big shout out to Latikka (pictured with me below) for motivating the group while also being a participant. I guess if I couldn't win, it's good to know that someone as nice as Edeltress won... she deserved it anyway... I think she lost 40 pounds! Her weight loss method was to work out 2 to 2 & 1/2 hours each day. She ran track and climbed stadium stairs. I may have to include a little of that into my work out just to switch it up! Way to go Edeltress!!!

Scrapbook & Blogging

I saw a cute idea for a layout on my desk calendar last year. A girl did a scrapbooking page about her blog. I used the layout idea, changed the colors, photos, & embellishments, and made it mine! I just love this layout, and of course, I love my BLOG!

"Peep" Smores

Dylan & Erin stayed with their Aunt Brooklyn, Uncle Zach, & Cousin Caden Thursday & Friday night while WD and I took a quick parent getaway. Of course, Aunt Brooklyn had fun activities planned. In celebration of Easter they dyed eggs and made yummy smores. These weren't just any ordinary smore... they were "Peep Smores". You know those little sugary coated marshmallow candies shaped like little chicks? Well this is what they used for the marshmallow part of the smore. They had sticky, good time!

Easter 2009

We celebrated Easter with Erin & Dylan during the morning, then we headed over to the Boudreaux's for family fun. It poured down rain, so we all sat under the patio and had to have the eggs hidden various places around and under the patio area.

Gone are the days of precious Easter dresses, new spring shoes, and exciting Easter basket treats. Most times it's great having kids that are getting older and more independent, but during times like this I kind of miss them being smaller. I requested that Dylan put on a nice shirt before going to Granny's house, but he threw on an old T-shirt with his jeans. If he were a little kid, I would have dressed him how I wanted to and made sure he had a fresh haircut. Now, I have to allow his own style. Erin used to love hanging out with her cousins, but all day today she moped around asking when we were leaving so she could go see her friends. If she were younger, she would just be happy to play with any other little kids. Any other day of the year (except maybe Christmas) it's cool having older kids now, but today it was just a little sad. All this said, I am thankful this Easter for family, although they are getting older ;-)