Easter Dress

Every year, Tay gets a new Easter dress from her Aunt Shelley. She gets to pick what color it will be and then anxiously awaits its arrival. This year's dress did not disappoint, Aunt Shelley came thru again. How she became such a great seamstress is beyond me. We both took 4-H and had our mom to help us. I hate to sew, but Shelley spends hours making Easter dresses and Halloween costumes for Tay, my brother's two daughters, and two neices on her husband's side of the family (the bottom picture is of all of this year's dresses). She is amazing! Tay loved her dress! We were out of town for Easter, so it made it's debut at church this week--and was the reason she spent half of the morning dancing around. Thanks Shell!

March Book Club

I must say, I was not too excited about reading this book. It was Stephanie's choice and I put off reading it until last weekend. I knew that it was about a young girl who was murdered. That is not the type of book that I would ever choose to read. But, I gave it a try. Although the beginning was not pleasant, I loved the rest of the book. I guess that is one of the great advantages of being in a book club, you read books you normally wouldn't.

Our book club began five years ago, but I took last year off. I just didn't have enough time to read for pleasure when I had so many textbooks that I needed to read. I started again because I missed my friends and I missed reading for fun--and I am hoping to finish my Master's this year (which would mean no guilt about not reading textbooks!)

EasTeR weEkeNd

Four wheeling fun! We spent Easter weekend out west with many members of our family. It was freezing, but the kids had a great time. Tay and her cousin Shelby had a blast taking the four wheeler off the jumps. It was fun to see them have so much fun, but I have to admit it made me nervous. Tay's four wheeler is in need of repairs, so we didn't end up taking it with us. Shelby was a great cousin and friend, she was great about sharing.

I spent most of the weekend in the trailer READING! It was glorious, and I finished my book for book club on Wednesday!

The 17 Year Old

I still can't believe she is 17! Well, seventeen and a month. Time goes by soooo fast, it seems like JC was just 7. She is such a great girl, we love her tons. She is one of the hardest workers that I have ever met. In addition to going to school, she works 5 days a week at the front desk of a local hotel. The only problem is that she doesn't have a lot of time to spend with her dad, Tay and I. Even though it is exciting for her to be able to drive, work and be a teenager--we liked the good old days when we could just hang out together. The things that I love about her are too many to list, but a few are: she loves to play hard and work hard, she is not afraid to get dirty, when she is walking out the door she never forgets to say "I love you" and give you a kiss on the cheek, and she is very thoughtful of others and their feelings.
This past Christmas Eve, JC showed what a great heart she has. A lady frequently stays at her hotel because she doesn't have a home of her own or a family who consistently cares for her. JC has gotten to know this lady and wanted to do something nice for her for Christmas. JC paid for the lady's room that night and gave her a basket of food that we had put together. I cannot tell you how great that feeling was, to know that she would do something so kind for someone else. It was awesome! And we think that she is too!

Competition

Tay had her first competition of the year today. Her dance company did so well! They received first place for their jazz and lyrical dances and won overall high point for their jazz performance. Way to go! As far as competitions go, today was okay. We competed close to home, which meant we didn't have to get up too early. The best part? We were only there four hours instead of a whole day!

The First Grader

I love this picture of T, it was taken just before she started first grade. She is growing up so fast. She loves school, and this week the subject of conversation at our house has revolved around the upcoming Dr. Suess celebration. All of the first graders will perform for the rest of the school during the day and for the parents in the evening. She is convinced that she will need to wear new pajamas for the event, although she has a drawer full of perfectly fine ones.

Today, she was thrilled to play with my friend Jackie's baby. She rocked him until he fell asleep and thought that he was so cute. We didn't mind her keeping him occupied--Jane, Jackie and I were able to have a great visit.