March

March was full and fun! Here are the highlights:

• A visit to the C.R. Smith (American Airlines) Museum

• Mom's Night Out mug exchange

• Lots of track meets with improved times almost every time

• Weston and Max started an online coding class that they really love.

• Weston attended a couple of 4H meetings to see if that is something he is interested in participating in for the coming school year. 
• We discovered Local Pint and kind of made it "our place" since it's within walking distance of our house and since it's a pretty fun place to hang out.

• We saw A Wrinkle in Time, which was pretty disappointing as a movie but still made for a fun outing.

• Paralympics

• Weston went on a Boy Scout campout. He also worked super hard on merit badges throughout the month.
• We celebrated Pi Day in a big way, with pie for every meal.

• Jeff went to yoga with me.
• I participated in the next wave of a longitudinal health study I've been a part of since I was in high school.
• We decided on the spur of the moment to take a long weekend in Sallisaw, OK for Spring Break. We had fun hanging out at our KOA, hiking through the Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge, and hiking at Devil's Den State Park in AK. 

• We started making our plans for the next school year.
• We finalized all our plans for our upcoming summer trip to South America.
• We spent a night in Allen, TX, where the kids were delighted to find a putting green and swimming pool at the hotel, in addition to the awesome breakfast buffet. 

• Ruth took a practice PSAT test and did very well.
• The bluebonnets started blooming!

• Weston and Clay participated in the district PSIA meet, and Weston brought home ribbons for Math (6th) and Number Sense (3rd).

• We hiked the Katy Trail, which runs for three miles through downtown Dallas but feels somewhat removed from the city. 

• We discovered Bishop Cider Co. aka Cidercade, where we had fun trying some hard ciders and playing vintage arcade games.

• We had a Wind in the Willows picnic, which we all agreed was the most epic picnic ever.

• Ruth took her first CAP orientation flight. She actually had control of the plane for about 15 minutes in the air, and she had a blast. I think she's truly hooked now!

• We finally got around to visiting the Shannon Brewing Co. in Keller, which we've been meaning to do pretty much since we moved here. The kids enjoyed the yard and table games, and Jeff and I enjoyed sitting on the patio sipping on stouts. I'm sure we'll visit again.

• Clay lost his first tooth with absolutely no fanfare. In fact, the baby tooth just sort of disappeared (seriously, we have no idea when it fell out or where it went!), and his permanent tooth is already filling up the gap. 

• Jeff and I took a cheese making class at Dallas Mozzarella Company.

Easter Weekend

Another fun stay at the MCM Elegante in Abilene.

So blessed to spend the weekend with some of our very favorite people!

We enjoyed the beautiful weather and plenty of outside time.

We had two different egg hunts:
a fairly easy one for the little boys and a more challenging one for the big boys.
(The little boys may have had to help the big boys out when they got stuck!)

The bluebonnets and other wildflowers are absolutely spectacular this year!
We couldn't resist taking our obligatory bluebonnet pics
at the front entrance of our neighborhood when we got home.

(If you want to see a bigger version of the collages, you can click on any of them to open a photo viewer that makes the individual pictures easier to see.)

Best Day

Well, I don't normally do two posts in one day, but this day just requires it, because it was quite possibly the best day ever. It was the first day of spring, and our little part of the world celebrated by acting truly spring-like. I wore flip-flops today for the first time in months (even though I am badly in need of a pedicure). Our bluebonnets have come out of their shells and are starting to show off. Great progress is being made on our landscaping project. And, our palapas for our man-made, non-quite-finished, private "beach" arrived today, and that just pushed us over the edge of happiness. We popped the tops of some chilled Mojitos, turned on the ocean sounds app, pulled the grill around and had our first official patio party. I'm pretty sure this is what Heaven is like.

front retaining wall and back decorative stone wall

view from the bottom patio looking at the back of the house

back of the house, with the palapas peeking around the corner

The "Beach" in the back

retaining wall along kid's side of house

First lovelies of the season

Palapas!

enjoying our own little piece of paradise

That time of year

First Day of Spring

Happy Spring!

~from our family to yours~

Dream House Complete

We bought our land in July. In Texas. In the middle of a long drought. And, we thought it was just about the most beautiful property we had ever seen! A year and a half later, our house is finished, and we are settled nicely into it. I love everything about this house! But the land. Oh! The land! In March. After some glorious seasons of rain. The land has made this truly my dream house. These ten little acres are peppered with wildflowers and foliage in every shade: purple and yellow and pink and green. And, my personal favorite, blue! There is a beautiful blanket of bluebonnets lining my driveway, and leading visitors right up to my front door. I love it so much!! It's just what I've always wanted! And, I get to share it with the people who mean the most to me. Can life possibly get any better than this?!

Home, Sweet Home

A Texas Welcome

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

BLUEBONNET TIME!!

The cutest bluebonnet posers of all time!

Look out, ladies!

Beautiful Ruth

It's Bluebonnet Time