Easter

We dyed eggs on Saturday aftternoon and the Easter bunny visited us later that evening because he knew it was going to be too cold to hunt eggs the next day! Easter Sunday, we found our baskets and went to church. It was, indeed, very cold! We were blessed to have our friends, the Chances, over for Easter lunch...lasagna!

Will showing us the egg dipper

Dying the eggs

Claire, "hunting" her eggs

Will and Dad opening the eggs after the hunt

Cute kids

Easter baskets

Will on Sunday morning

Claire on Sunday morning (her bow is sliding down her forehead!)

The kids together

The whole family (thanks, Shannon, for taking the picture!)

A Few Cute Pics

A rarity lately...getting Will to actually smile for pictures!
Mowing the lawn :)
sleepy girl
Look at my super-sweet shoes!
kick that leg up!

Smiley :)

A few tidbits:

Scott's comprehensive exam papers are due next Thursday! Yea! That means no more overnight stays in Abilene.

Claire is really army crawling well and has another new tooth coming in. She loves our dog Frank. Everytime he comes near her she cracks up. It is quite funny. She is such a sweetie and still loves to snuggle.

Will is just as funny as ever. I caught him in the backyard a couple of days ago sitting in his Cozy Coupe car leaning out the window, "ordering" food in a pretend drive-thru. Scott said, "Does that make you feel bad about how much we eat out?" I said, "Nah."

I am doing well...finally. I got sick again last week with another (or a continuation of my previous) sinus infection. I think I am actually getting well this time; we tried a different anti-biotic. I have actually been at work every day so far this week. However, tomorrow I will be missing the morning portion because my dear son has to stay home from school as it is Good Friday. But I am excited that I get to be home with my kids tomorrow morning when none of us is sick! Maybe we can just have a good relaxing time :)

Not a lot is going on. I am just ready for Scott's semester to be over. In one month, we will be going to Katy to visit my parents. That weekend is also the 30th anniversary reunion for my high school drill team (Katy Bengal Brigade--woo hoo!), so I will be able to attend that while I am down there. Then, about one month after that, we'll hit the beach! I am so looking forward to going to Destin, Florida, in May. My parents are going with us, and Scott's mom and dad live about an hour from there, so it'll be perfect. You can visit my mom's blog to see pictures of all the clothes she got for my kids' first beach excursion!

Oh, and Larissa, if you're reading, I want you to know that you inspired me. I bought some red heels. And I LOVE them :)

Will's Easter Party

Will's school didn't have spring break, but they do have Good Friday off, so today was their Easter egg hunt and party. Here are a few pics from the afternoon.

Yummy "egg" cookie!The "caboodle"



Asking Dad to open his Skittles!

Easter Chic

Marching On

Wow! It's March! Where did January and February go? Why do I STILL have a blasted Christmas tree in my front room???

I just wanted to give a little explanation as to why I have written so rarely lately. One reason is that Claire and I have been sick and it has taken a while to get over it. Secondly, I have been working more often--every day. It has been a little stressful, but I'm managing. The main reason, however is that my husband is a grad student. Yes, I know, he's been a grad student for 6 years. But this semester has been the toughest yet. I would venture to say that it would be tough even if we didn't have two young children, but that just further complicates things.

As most everyone knows, Scott is working on his masters of divinity. This degree requires a big "comprehensive exam," or "comps." They only offer the comps course once a year, in the spring semester; so even though Scott won't graduate til December, he still has his comps this semester. As if that wasn't enough, he is also taking one of the hardest graduate Bible courses, History of Christianity, from one of the hardest professors (or the hardest) at ACU. Because he has to write three major papers (his comps is actually two papers written about two "cases" that he has to defend) this semester (all due within the month, I believe), he's been spending a lot more time in the library. Remember, we live 100 miles from Abilene and that library is in Abilene. He has been leaving on Monday afternoons to go the library, spends the night with our friends, then attends class Tuesday morning and spends the rest of the day in the library. He's been getting home on Tuesdays at around 11:00pm. Aside from the extra library work (which may not even be enough!), he has to spend a lot of his time at home actually writing, reading and researching. Plus, he has a full-time youth ministry job. Hopefully all this hard work will pay off!

Now, I'm not typing all of this to get sympathy! I just wanted to let everyone know what is going on in our world, in case you are wondering why I have been somewhat absent. I have been spending most of my days working, caring for my children, and by the time I have time to actually sit down at my computer, I am just too tired. I try to keep up with you all, but that's been hard, too. So, I apologize if my comments on your blogs are non-existent or if I just seem to not know what's been going on. I probably don't! I need sleep!

After saying all of that, let me give you a quick update on my kids:

Claire: She is growing so fast...growing more beautiful every day. She has her first little tooth barely poking through now. I think more are going to come very soon. She is so close to crawling. She is definitely "scooting" and even trying to pull up some. Her hair is getting longer, too, but she's still pretty bald. What hair she does have is quite blonde!

Will: A mess, as always! (I say that in the MOST loving way possible!) He is just doing really well. He's still thisclose to being fully potty-trained, but we just can't seem to get over that one little hump. He is growing, too; I can tell by how his clothes are fitting. I look at the two-year-old pictures we had done almost a year ago and I think, "wow, he looks so small!" This kid is so smart...almost too smart for his own good. I think that's why we have trouble with him sometimes. Everything is a negotiation. I mean, everything. It can be quite comical sometimes. I just love him to pieces!

Thanks for reading this novelette. Love you all and I'll try to catch up with you, too!