Impromptu Easter Egg Hunt

Some of our good friends invited K and I to join them at an Easter Egg Hunt that was scheduled for a M0Ps (m0thers of pr*schoolers) group here in town on Tuesday. We were quite pleasantly surprised to be asked because of the short notice and completely unprepared to go but we decided it was a beautiful day and why not carpe diem! We made a very quick trip to our favorite T@rget store and picked up a few candy filled eggs, a cheap Easter basket and headed to W@lker R@nch Park to join them. It was an excellent impromptu decision! K had the opportunity to spend some more time running and playing with a good friend while enjoying the outdoors on a gorgeous day and it gave me more adult time. That's a win-win situation for all of us. It really is a great blessing to have the opportunity to jump at a moments notice and go with the flow. I truly enjoy having a flexible schedule and friends that ask us to join them for an event.




I did not have my favorite camera because this was completely unplanned but thank goodness for my point & shoot. It met our needs for the event and day and my photography software helped me to clear up a few minor issues.

Smiles, Fun and Friendship

Its been dubbed the "Best Day Ever" by not just one but two very good lil girl friends. K, Lindsey, Melissa and I headed over to the Kiddi* Park here in town on Tuesday after an early release day from school. The schools here in N*ISD closed early the week after spring break for teacher in-service days and since the preschools follow the same schedule, we were out early too. Lindsey's mommy, Melissa and I had been trying to plan a playdate for a few weeks and before the break we agreed that if the weather was nice after the break we would get the girls together and head out for a picnic and some fun.




I discovered the park one of the few mornings I was home alone cleaning up some stuff. I had the tv on in the background and I saw on a local morning show a special on the renovation of this park and its long history. I mentioned it to Melissa and she being a local much longer than me knew about the park and was thrilled to hear they had renovated it. We took the morning show at its word and headed over there to check it out. It's a perfect place for a picnic lunch with some great friends and a great way to wear out the little ones. The four of us got to the park around 12:30 and for a very reasonable price we got unlimited tickets to the rides. The girls rode the rides until 5pm. Can you believe they had almost a full 5 hours of fun?



I would recommend this park for something different to do here in town. I wish they had a few more ride choices but it is still a cute fun place. I must admit, I am so spoiled here. Course, lets not forget so is my child! SA has so many wonderful attractions for the kiddos.



Look at this very brave little girl. K would NOT go for a bird or two on her!


This was hilarious and amazing. This guy put this bird on the rope and he and K swung the rope like a jump rope and the bird spun around and around and around. Then he slid up and down the rope to K then back to his owner. The kids got a kick out of it.

K did have a first at the park. She got her first taste or experience with cotton candy. So did Lindsey. Melissa and I laughed so hard. They were especially cute. K had cotton candy stuck to the bottom of her chin (like a goatee) and all around her lips with a small bit on her nose. It was too funny! I wish I had pictures of it but my cameras SD card decided to act up and I am missing about twenty pictures from the day. And, well, the cotton candy experience was part of the MIA ones. Maybe Melissa will have some of them?




Can you tell these two could not get enough of this ride. I think they went around three times on two separate occasions. Fun!


This place brought back many fun memories for me. We had a park in WF very similar to the one here in town but it was called Funl@nd. It really is too bad that WF did not keep up with that little park too. I think when I go back home some time I may need to ravage through some pictures and possibly scan in some memories of me, Kyle and my cousins in that park. K would get a kick out of them surely.

Taking a Break...

What a Spring Break!

My favorite part was not having ANYTHING to do. No schedules! Yippee!!!
I Love life that way. Go with the flow. Free as a bird.

I don't even think I need to ask my little one what her favorite part of the week was. I am almost positive she will say seeing Mimi and Papa, swimming in their (heated) pool and playing in the snow. Did I just say swimming in the pool and playing in the snow. YEP! I sure did. Nuts I say, nuts I say! Leave it to the Texas weather to throw us a curve.

Tuesday we drove to mom and dads. It was a C~R~A~Z~Y W~E~T R~A~I~N~Y D~R~I~V~E! I cannot stress that enough too. crazy wet rainy drive! I do not know how many road miles I have had in my life but I was sooo ready to pull my hair out trying to get to D@llas this time. It took us almost six and a half hours to get there. The issue - some semi-truck driver had a wreck in T*mple and that SHUT THE WHOLE INTERSTATE DOWN! ‹(•¿•)› I was stuck for an hour and a half on the road with my "baby girl" and my two little dogs all by myself (I can hear Wade mimicking me now). We sat on 35 with absolutely NO movement until I could not handle it anymore. I called my dad and then Wade and begged for them to get me out of the mess!!! Why I did not have our GPS unit, I don't know! I'll blame that one on Wade! hehe All I wanted to do was get out of the car once we hit T*mple but it was raining and who wants to deal with wet dogs, and a wet momma, and a wet child while traveling! BUT, .·:*¨¨*:·. Wade came to the rescue.·:*¨¨*:·. He found a road that headed west and then north and then east until I was back on 35 again (all back country roads). WHEW! Just thinking about it is making me tired. That little jog took some extra time but it was so much better than sitting in the traffic. I would probably still be sitting there Wednesday morning if I had not taken the road less traveled. I should have guessed it was a really bad accident when the interstate were shut down, the side access roads were bumper to bumper, gas stations were full and restaurants were busy in T*mple Tx. We lived though and I had one crazy child by the time we got to D@llas. She shot like a rocket firework out of the car as soon as she could open the door and it took her quite awhile to calm down for bedtime.

It rained all day Tuesday. Here in SA that is, not in the Big D. It was gorgeous when we pulled in the driveway at 7pm in DFW. Wednesday K played in the park next door to my parents house and she met some really nice kids. Then she asked her Papa the question I knew was coming. ~~~Can we get in the pool?~~~ Now please know my parents have not had the heater on in probably three or four years. Sure enough, dad worked on it some and by Thursday... K was swimming in March! Oh and I think I need swim lessons again! That kid stays under the water more than she is on top and it scares me to death! She even wanted to have dinner outside that night but when it was 60 something outside and the wind was blowing, I'm not sure its such a great idea kiddo.



Friday we spent the day visiting with family. My aunt Tina and my uncle Brian came into town Thursday. Brian had a follow up appointment at B@ylor and after their long day they decided to stay the night at moms. It was won der ful seeing them. Brian amazes me! He is truly a walking, talking miracle. We were so excited to see them and congratulate them because they had just received great news that afternoon. Brian's tests results were awesome! The doctors found no new tumors. Absolutely none. There was also no re-growth of the tumor in the affected area and a previously identified area of concern appeared to be translucent and possibly even disappearing. PRAISE THE LORD!!! The doctors gave him a prognosis characteriz​ed as being in a 'Stable Disease' state. The combination of the NovoCure device plus chemo appear to be working. We have been blessed. God has been wonderful to our family. I wish I had taken a few pictures of him but I was too busy jabbering the whole time to stop and think about taking any. Our family is one of those that gets together and laughs and teases non-stop. We reminiscence and giggle at all the dummy things we have done. Brian, thanks for being such a good sport and entertaining and listening to my non stop spirited child. She loved seeing you guys and so did I.


Love ya dad! These were such great pics that I had to post them. Thanks for being such a great sport!!!

Kyle and Heather also came in Friday evening. Of course, they were too good for us. They had tickets to see the Bl@ck Eyed Pe@s so they dropped off their VERY pregnant Yorkie and headed out for the evening. Family versus Bl@ck Eyed Pe@s...I mean come on! We are so much better than the Bl@ck Eyed Pe@s!!! So jealous they went to the concert by the way! But I did get to bond with one very prego and sweet puppy. Congrats to you two. They are proud parents of two baby Yorke's now. Lilli had them on Tuesday. I know you were so disappointed mom that you did not get to witness that event. Bahahaha

Saturday was busy shopping with my SIL. Heather and I did our usual. We do what I would call perfecting our shopping skills. We are great at checking out our favorite shops and picking up a few things here and there! It was a little more challenging this time though. We had a little four year old GLUED to Heather. I wonder who that was? K "loves" her aunt Heather, that is for sure!

By Saturday the weather was frigid and around 10pm it was lightly snowing! Not sticking but snowing. That was the fourth time this year that Dallas has had snow. A snowfall record year. I knew Sunday morning I would have one very excited girl one my hands when I let the dogs out for their last call Saturday night and the table, chairs and trees were covered with snow. So, on Sunday. We were suppose to travel back home but between the cold weather, the lack of warm clothing and the snow and major winds, I was not about to drive home by myself with two little dogs and a spirited child. I was Not taking my chances this time. We decided to stay one more day and let the traffic clear up and let the animal run in the snow. Oh yeah! I mean my child run in the snow. Just for the record, I cannot recall a spring break E V E R that it snowed. Almost 20 plus years of living around that area and the only time I was around snow on spring break was while skiing in Color@do.



Thank goodness I was inside shooting pics in the window because this girl was on a mission. Oh! and look. Do you see Wade in this lil girl?

Throwing snowballs into the pool.


Best way to clean off the furniture...bring out the four year old.

Building what was called a Table Snowman.

What a memorable trip. Hope you all had a great break too!

Just a memory

Wade made a picture for me using K's window markers. I thought it was sweet and I would like to remember it and not have the picture lost in the sea of shots I take and store.

Love you dear!
XOXOXOX

Moose and Muffins

Wade, K and I went to see the If you give a M**se a Muffin play based on the book by Laura Numer*ff at the M@gik Theatre Friday night. I have not laughed that much and that hard in a looooooonnnng time! I especially loved the dance scene!!! I just wish I could remember all the cool songs they jammed to. This show was Too cute and I give the three actors 5 stars for a great performance.

For reference the book reads something like this... If a big, hungry moose comes to visit you... Would you give him a muffin? Would you make him feel at home? If you do give him a muffin, he'll probably want some jam to go with it! YIKES!!! And then you'll realize you are out of muffins so you'll have to go to the store but... the moose will say he is cold and wants a sweater and that sweater will remind him of sock puppets and WOW things get more wacky with each passing moment.

Wade says he would give the actors 5 muffins. Not 6 because he thinks the most you can give is 5 not any more or any less. He is obviously not the baker in the family! We all know when baking you either have half a dozen (6 dear) or a dozen (12 dear). He was extremely impressed with the moose's artistic ability. He was quite surprised to see the moose making sock puppets and putting on a sock puppet show which was entertaining.

K loved the play too. It was so sweet looking over at her seeing her smiling face or hearing her full belly laugh. The girl does not hold it back. She did get a little scared when all of the furniture started breaking because the moose was trying to find a place to sit. It was quite loud and it made me jump once because I was not expecting it. She says her favorite scene was when the moose would try to go in or out of the house and his antlers would get stuck on the doorway. Again, I get another full belly laugh while she is trying to explain in detail that part.

Heston, Noah and K

We realized shortly after sitting down that our friends the Taylor's from church were not but four seats from us so after the show we all chatted and headed for Ice Cream and a good stroll around the riverwalk. It was a beautiful evening with lots of great family time, good company, some laughing and we can't forget the ice cream. I am sure you guessed there were picture worthy moments with the Ice Cream...

Celebrating a Life

Some may know this about me and others may not. I think I am predominately an emotional person. I cry at commercials, movies, special moments, weddings, funerals, etc. I am "moved" by many situations including music. yep! I would be classified by some as sensitive. In Oct 2008 I was moved by the life and love of a family I have only known for four years now. One of K's best friends from Parkhi!ls lost his oldest brother to a tragic skateboarding accident. From the moment I found out about the incident I was shaken to my core. I think I could not stop crying for two days. I also had the hardest time sleeping at night because I was worrying about this child fighting for his life, what his parents must be feeling as well as his other four younger siblings. I can even remember praying without ceasing for him and his family during his two weeks in the hospital and many weeks after he left our world. The oddest thing about this experience is that I had not met this boy but I was moved and devastated by the event. I know God always has a plan so I believe this was probably not by accident that I was so shocked. Today I can honestly say that I have witnessed in the last year and a half a family that is stronger than I could be and more giving than I could ever imagine as well as abundantly full of life. I am so happy God allowed our paths to cross.

Lindsey and K

Because this is our family blog I wanted to insert some info about the boy and his family. My goal is to continue to remember him and his family as often as possible. I even have two photo cards of Ian on our refrigerator so I can see his beautiful face and be reminded of what a special family he came from. As you will read below we attended the soccer game that was named after him. We went not only to support the scholarship cause but also the family as well as to give K a chance to see a real soccer game. Aren't you proud of us Kyle? !!! We sat beside some good friends of ours and one of K's BFFs. We really enjoyed ourselves and Wade and I agreed that we look forward to the days where we can go and support our daughters school. Soccer may be in our future, who knows?!!!


Ian C. F!ncke passed away at the age of 16 from injuries sustained in a tragic skateboarding accident on October 5th 2008. Ian loved to play soccer and prior to transferring to J*hnson High School, he played soccer for Re@gan High School. In a wonderful tribute to Ian, the varsity soccer game between J*hnson High School and
Re@gan High School was played in his honor on Tuesday March 9th @ 7:00PM at Bl*ssom Athletic Center. The game was dubbed “The F!ncke Cup” and a beautiful trophy was awarded to the winning team. A college scholarship was also given to a graduating senior from the winning team in Ian's name, as voted on by the seniors from the losing team based on team spirit and sportsmanship. This was the first of what many hope to be an annual event with the trophy to be passed back and forth between the two schools for years to come. Friends and family can still contribute by charitable donations to the scholarship fund or by purchasing an event t‐shirt by contacting the F!ncke family directly at slfincke@gmail.com. Contributions to the scholarship fund can be made directly at any Wells F@rgo branch location under the name “Ian F!ncke Scholarship Fund”. Also after Ian's death his cousin started a jewelry line and a portion of the proceeds from the jewelry purchased “ianscharm.com” will also be donated to the scholarship fund.


I would also like to post a note that Stephanie (Ian's mom) sent to us the day after the event and she attached this info... "A special thanks to all of you for your love and support!. The F!ncke Cup took place last night and Re@gan High School
won the award with a final score of 5-1. The scholarship award was presented to Bern@rdo De Alb@, one of Ian's close friends who was also wearing Ian's old jersey number. The scholarship will be awarded at the soccer banquet in April. We will continue to collect donations to the scholarship fund at all Wells F@rgo Branch locations under "The Ian F!ncke Scholarship Fund". We will also continue to sell t-shirts. If anyone is interested please contact me. It was a very special and memorable night. If you are interested in seeing highlights from the game it made the front page of the San Antonio Express News
http://www.mysanantonio.com/slideshows/Rattlers_win_Fincke_Cup.html?c=n#1
I'd like to share something that was passed on to us from a dear friend that truly gave us goose bumps last night. During the game there was a power outage near our home which caused a complete blackout in our neighborhood as well as the nearby shopping center. The only thing that was lit up was a large cross that was glowing purple at Concordia Church across the street from where we live. I truly love those little signs that Ian is still with us! :) "
Blessings-
Stephanie, Chris and Family

The glowing purple cross... is really wild to me mostly because Ian's favorite color was purple, the cross was glowing purple at their church and the neighborhood, church and shopping center that was without power for awhile is a huge area. Our shirts are purple and the wristbands that his friends and family still wear are purple. I think it's amazing and I definitely believe in signs. Thank you God for this sign.