Easter

My family has never been a church-y family and has never done the whole Easter church thing. We used to go to Brunch at a nice hotel or lunch at my Mom's. When I was young my mom did the Easter basket thing for me and my sister, but of course as I got older she stopped, naturally. But now that we are all older and have done the brunch thing over and over again, we have spent the last couple of years just hanging out at home. With no kids or grandkids, Easter just isn't as fun or necessary. It sounds sad, but it is what it is...and we are good with that. It's not like we don't want to celebrate Jesus, but like I said, my family was never a go to church every Sunday (or really at all) kind of family. Sunday's were for sleeping in, chores, and watching various sports games (for my Dad). There is a tiny part of me that feels bad for not "participating" in the holiday. Ok...I'm over it now.

Frank's family is different. His Mom is very religious and made him to go to church as a kid and really forced religion down his throat. The older she gets the more religious she gets. The rest of his family is not like that. His Dad is not church-y either. He said yesterday that most Christians say that God brings a family together. But it tore his apart because his mom is so fanatical and overboard with it. I am not at all saying church is bad or God doesn't bring family together, but I think it is all person or family specific. When I was at my lowest, I did go to church regularly for a while. I did not go to "find Jesus", but to learn morals and values. I took the lessons that were being preached and applied them to my own life. I got out of it what I needed and moved on. I always say I hate discussing religion and politics, but given that it is Easter, why not? Happy Easter everybody. Bock Bock!

Am I Ready?

Puppies are hard yall. By NO means am I complaining, but lil' Tangie is consuming 95% of my time when I am at home. I can only imagine the kind of time a child would consume. I long for a family of my own but I often wonder if I am ready. It might sound cliché, but I really think this puppy is helping me prepare (by adjusting my sleep schedule and day shedule, etc). On a side note, Todd and Lucy are really warming up to her. They are playing and being civil. Lucy is instigating chases around the breakfast table and Todd isn't snapping at her anymore. Also amazingly, Tangie has not had an accident in the house yet. She is going outside like a pro. I know, babies can't go out in the yard and poop, and I do truely know that comparing a puppy to a baby is hog wash, but it's all I know so far.

Cool Christmas

This year's Christmas was a pretty good one. Everyone seemed happy and in a good mood and we all got some pretty cool stuff. It's hard not to list it all because it was all great, but below are some of the highlights this year.






Speaking of Christmas and materialism, I was watching the Today Show yesterday morning and they mentioned a way to keep the spirit of Christmas is to get each child only 3 presents because Jesus only got 3 presents from the Three Wise Men. I thought that was a great idea and when I have kids, I might actually go that route. I think it will also teach them to appreciate Christmas for what it truly is about.

Garage Sale

Garage Sale...nothing screams middle America more. My Mom will usually have one at least once a year. The turnout is always good with a lot of traffic. This year was different though. Hardly anyone showed up and we didn't sell much. I fared better than both my Mom and Aunt combined. I had a bunch of kitchen items and winter clothes, so I am sure that helped. Normally we have some things left over from previous sales along with new items and we just repeat the cycle for the next go around. We broke the cycle today and took EVERYTHING to Goodwill. Hopefully it will be another 2 to 3 years before we have to have one again because let's face it...sitting at a garage sale sucks. The only good thing is getting to spend time with my Mom and Aunt.

Houston Trip

I was an idiot and forgot my camera so this will be a rather boring trip report. Frank and I went to Houston this weekend to visit his sister and her family. His dad ended up being there to visit as well. It was a quick trip, but was nice to see everyone. Frank took the boys out on Saturday to buy toys and video games while his sister and I went to get pedicures and go shopping. We all went out to dinner Saturday night and left around lunchtime today to come home.

Our nephew Mikey, the ham of the family (next to Uncle Frank) picks up on everything he hears or sees and makes it his own. For example...Frank made the mistake of exposing the boys to "Business Time" by Flight of the Conchords (Click here if you have not see this yet) while showing his sister. So all weekend Mikey (8 years old mind you) walked around singing "it's business time, it's business time" and telling everyone "business hours are over baby" whenever they would leave a store or go to bed. Mikey also told us how his teacher makes him sign a red book when he gets in trouble, so Frank told him to tell his teacher next time she makes him sign the book, that "I wrote the red book"...and I am 200% sure he is going to actually do it. AND another piece of wisdom Frank passed on was for Mikey to write his teacher's name in the red book instead of his own. His poor mom. LOL!

Driving around Houston, you could still see a lot of damage from Hurricane Ike. There were piles of debris in front of almost every house awaiting pick up and several houses with blue tarps where there was roof damage. When Frank took the boys out on Saturday, they tried to go to Toys R' Us and they were still closed due to storm damage. We also tried a couple of different restaurants on Saturday night only to find they were also still closed. We ended up at Churrasco's. I had never heard of it before, and it was really good.

Family Time

Frank's Mom came by last night and brought his sister Sonya's kids with her. We have not seen them in at least a year and a few months. They only live in Cleburne, so there is really no excuse. Anyway, she brought Trevor, who is now 14; Katy, who is now 12; Melissa, who is now 3; and Matthew the 1 year old. We have not met Matthew yet until yesterday and he is super cute.