Happy Easter!

We had a really nice day today as a family. We had the morning together - just the 3 of us. Then we spent the afternoon with our parents. Good food, good conversation, and of course March Madness were all involved. The Jayhawks and the Longhorns have both been victorious thus far, so all the men in my life are happy.

I am relieved that Easter is over now. Ever since Halloween we've been bombarded with holidays, which means we've had candy pouring into the house for months now! We are saving a few of our favorites and taking all the excess to work tomorrow to get rid of it. I needed 2 shopping bags to pack it all. It needs to be out of the house! It is time to get serious at the gym in preparation for vacation.

We got a few nice pictures today.

The story behind Elise's Easter dress is really sweet, so I have to share. I was working on Friday (unfortunately), and Jamie had the day off. He had plans to pick Elise up from school early and take her over to visit with my dad. It was a special day for the guys to have Elise all to themselves. Before he picked her up, he went shopping. He picked out her dress and got a bunch of girly accessories to go with it - including a hat, gloves, and purse. She calls it her princess dress, and she wants to wear it non-stop. I think it's so sweet that he went shopping for girly stuff all by himself. That's why I love him!

Egg-celent!

Jamie, being the doll that he is, went out today and purchased and boiled a dozen eggs so we could dye them tonight. Just for fun, here are a few pictures of Elise dying eggs on our very first Easter together.







And here are some pictures from tonight. I bought a princess egg dying kit, and it came with a tiara and the whole nine yards!





And the finished product!

Baseball Update

I don't talk about baseball on my blog nearly as much as football, so I think an update is long overdue! The season is nearly half way over and we are into district play. Jamie's team is doing great with an overall record of 11-2 and a district record of 1-1. They have 2 first place tournament finishes! The varsity has 2 second place tournament finishes and a district record of 2-1.

Jamie has been able to attend quite a few varsity games so far this year, and I know he enjoys that. Elise and I have made it to a few games and were present at one of the tournament championship games. She loves going to baseball games - it's really cute. She asks me nearly every night when I pick her up if there is a ballgame that night.

As I mentioned previously, the 100-inning game fundraiser was quite a success! Here is a picture of Jamie from the 100-inning game.

He looks pretty hot in his uniform, but I don't have any pics from this year yet. Note to self: bring camera to next baseball game.

Our last district game is on April 25th, and hopefully the varsity team will head to the playoffs.

Congrats to Matt & Nicole!!!

Jamie and I had the privilege of attending the wedding of one of Jamie's oldest coaching buddies this evening. It was a beautiful ceremony. This is the first wedding that Jamie and I have attended together since our own wedding, and I think we both really enjoyed it. There is something about hearing those vows again that serves as a reminder of our own vows to one another. I always get a bit misty-eyed at weddings, even if I don't know the couple very well. Since meeting Jamie, I just really believe in marriage. It's such a special bond that I can't even put into words adequately. We are so very happy for Matt & Nicole. I was telling Jamie during the reception that I think I can get a feeling for a couple during their wedding ceremony. Just by seeing their faces as they look at one another and recite their vows, I can tell if a couple is for real or not. Matt & Nicole are 100% for real, and it just shined through. There were many happy tears shed during their ceremony, and it reminded me a great deal of ours.

So, here's to the newly married couple!!! May they share many, many happy years together.

Jamie and the groom:

And one shot of my love and I:

We had a wonderful time at the reception. I discovered that Jamie is an amazing dancer! We have never really gone out dancing before. I knew he was pretty good just from goofing around at the house and in the car when our favorite songs come on the radio, but he has me totally impressed now!!! Thanks to my several glasses of wine and champagne, I had a difficult time keeping up with him, but he really blew me away! Now I think we may have to go out dancing more often.

A Big Weekend

I thought that Elise could use some extra TLC this weekend, so rather than begin painting her room, I decided to do some more fun things with her instead. The painting can wait, because we won't have the new furniture for a few more months anyway.

I planned a great, fun-filled weekend for her. We began by going shopping for new clothes, to Build-a-Bear, out to eat, and to the baseball game yesterday. We completed Elise's new spring/summer wardrobe. Nothing from last year fits, with the exception of just a few shirts. We bought all new shorts, capris, tanks, shirts, and shoes. Here she is wearing one of her new outfits.


After we finished shopping, we headed to Build-a-Bear. I told her that she could pick any new animal she wanted. They had a fun assortment that included a new elephant, a new pink sparkly bear, turtle, chickie, bunny rabbit, leopard, etc. In spite of the great selection, Elise wanted the simplest, smallest, and most inexpensive brown bear. I was really surprised! Here she is with her bear while she waited in line to have her new friend stuffed.


And here she is rubbing her bear's heart on her nose for good luck.


And giving her bear a bath...


Dressing her bear...


And the finished product!


Elise loves her Crocs, so I thought it was cute that she got a pair of Crocs for her bear.

Tonight Elise will have some quality time with her Pa Pa while Jamie and I go to a wedding.

We will finish off Elise's special weekend tomorrow by going to see Horton Hears a Who and coloring our Easter eggs! I hope she enjoys everything and feels extra special.

Happy Birthday, Garrett!

Jamie's cousin celebrated his first birthday and we were invited to the party. He's such a cutie!


Many Happy Birthday Wishes!!!

Our Funny Girl

Elise has been cracking us up lately. She comes up with something new everyday it seems.

She's been entertaining me with her after-bath routine for the past few weeks. She's definitely been observing me when I get out of the shower. Every night after her bath, I sit her on my counter and blow dry her hair. She *loves* any chance she gets to be up on my counter, because it gives her access to all kinds of fun things. She's a girly girl through and through. While I dry her hair, she gets into my make-up bag and helps herself to chap stick. Then she reaches for the lotion and puts it all over her body. Just this week she has started adding in deodorant to the routine, and this really makes me laugh. There is something odd (yet hilarious) about a 3 year old putting on deodorant. Last - but certainly not least - she puts on "perfume". This is really just a spray of my Victoria's Secret Angel Mist. She just thinks that is the greatest thing in the world!

It is just so funny to see her primping already at this age. I'm not sure if I was interested in all those things when I was 3. I will have to ask my mom.

In other Elise news - Jamie and I let her watch TV upstairs in our special room. We set up one room upstairs with Jamie's old, very comfy couches, a computer, and a TV. It is the place that Jamie goes to study, and we both use it as a place to just relax and have a few minutes to ourselves from time to time if we are having a rough day. Generally speaking Elise is not allowed to play in there, since that is our space and Jamie needs quiet in there when he is doing homework, lesson plans, or studying. It was a treat for her to get to lay on the couch and watch some TV before bed. She enjoyed it so much that she got extra comfortable and fell asleep. Over the years, those couches have put many folks to sleep!

I cannot believe...

that we are nearing the end of the first quarter of 2008. I feel like I'm in a time machine! The days are just passing at record speed, and it will be summer before I know it. Jamie and I were looking at the calendar this morning, and I realized that Easter is only 2 weeks away and Daylight Savings is tomorrow.

We are also rapidly approaching our Disney trip!!! I'm beginning to get really excited. Candace and I talked a few weeks ago and booked the things we wanted to do with the kids. We are taking the girls to have breakfast in Cinderella's Castle (this is a character breakfast with all the Disney princesses). Elise is beyond thrilled about this, and she asks me all the time when we are going to Cinderella's Castle. We also booked a lunch in the Crystal Palace, which is a restaurant in the Magic Kingdom that features all the Pooh characters. Finally, we have a dinner show booked called The Hoopty Doo Revue. It has rave reviews, so we are excited to check it out. I just can't wait to see the resort, lay by the pool, and take Elise to all the parks!

The next 2 weeks are really packed for us. We have a birthday party, a wedding, AND Easter. While Jamie coaches his team in a baseball tournament today, I am going to go out and do all the shopping. We need gifts for the birthday and wedding, and I am feeling anxious about getting Elise's Easter shopping accomplished. Jamie really wants to go with me, but I am nervous about waiting until next week. So, we are going to compromise - I will pick up some things today, and then we can go together to get some things later.

I'm also on a mission to find a photographer to do some family photos for us. Our latest photo is over a year old now. I've decided that I don't want studio photos this time, so I am looking into someone who can meet us somewhere and do a shoot on location. I want some more spontaneous looking, unposed photos. I need to really get busy on that before all the good photographers are booked for the spring.

Everyone remember to "spring forward" tomorrow. I know we will all miss that extra hour of sleep.

Our First Caucusing Experience

Due to the tightness of this election as well as the importance to us, Jamie and I decided not only to vote but also to caucus! What an experience that was. Jamie and I are both meticulously organized people, so the utter chaos that was our caucus nearly drove us insane. There were a few big problems.

1. The facility was too small to accomodate the crowd, so the precincts were bleeding into one another.
2. It was smoking hot in there.
3. There were not enough sign-in sheets for our precinct.
4. There were NO tables and nothing to write on.
5. There really was no direction for the process for us first-time caucus'ers.
6. There was nowhere to sit.

We talked to one guy in our precinct who told us that at the last election he was the only member of our precinct to show up to caucus. This year we had 59 people just in our precinct! The energy in the room was just awesome, and I'm really glad we participated. The set-up really got to Jamie, and I think he regrets going.

For those who have never participated in a caucus in TX, this is how it goes:

You arrive and join the other members of your precinct (in our case, we located our precinct by finding the election official standing on a chair holding up a piece of paper with our precinct number handwritten). Once everyone has arrived and the primary voting has officially ended, they begin to pass around the sign-in sheets. You put your name, address, and candidate you support on the sheet. Email address and phone number were optional. I noticed most people left that blank, and I did as well. I don't need more junk mail or phone calls! Then it also had you fill in some demographic info (optional) for the purposes of compiling voting statistics. I indicated my gender, age, and race.

Once everyone has signed in, then the votes are tallied. Hillary won our precinct by a vote of 36-23. Based on the votes, the number of delegates is pro-rated. For example, let's pretend our precinct had 100 voters and 10 delegates to nominate. Then suppose Hillary won by a vote of 60-40. That would mean that we would be sending 6 delegates to vote for Hillary and 4 delegates to vote for Obama. So once the vote is tallied it is just a matter of nominating the delegates. Jamie and I did not stay to nominate the delegates, since it didn't matter to us which ones were chosen. We just wanted to be sure our votes counted towards the overall delegate count for Obama. Plus, we had Elise with us, and it was not the most fun experience for her!

Overall, I am really glad we did it. It was a neat experience. Now I know I've done all I can.

It's that time of year again...

Jamie and I spent half of today outside working in the yard. I pulled weeds and trimmed bushes while he worked on the sand pile. Yes, we still had the sand pile! That project took way longer than we anticipated, mainly due to rain and schedule conflicts. I am happy to say that it has all been spread now! We raised 2 portions of the back yard and the entire back porch. There was some left over, so Jamie also raised a low part of the front yard. It is going to be nice once we are able to sod over the blank areas. It should help some with our water issues, although we will never be entirely dry unless we did some major work. It's just not going to happen since we don't plan on staying here any longer than a total of 5 years. There is a limit to how much we are willing to put into this house. We will get the sod within the next month, and I also plan to have another load of mulch delivered to replenish the flower beds. Maybe we will be finished by Easter if the weather cooperates.

We had the whole house, driveway, and sidewalks pressure washed on Friday. Between that and the yard work, our place is looking pretty decent. Next I am about to embark on a big project inside - remodeling Elise's room to give it more of a "big girl" look. I plan to start in 2 weeks (when I have my next Friday off). We have all new furniture, new bedding, and I am going to paint and get some new things hung on the wall. I think I'm going to do a light pink on the walls. The furniture is coming from my parents, so it will be a few more months until we have that. Their new house is not ready yet, so they want to keep the furniture while they are showing their old house. We are happy to wait, because they are also giving us a few new pieces for our living room! I can't wait to get it!

Once I have her room all fixed, I am contemplating painting the kitchen. Jamie just recently painted it white, but I think I might like a taupe in there. It seems like the work never ends. Such is life!