A New Church Home?

After five years in Sugar Land, I believe we may have found a home in River Pointe Church. Never a fan of huge, contemporary styled churches, this community has really changed my mind. I feel like everyone who goes is there because they want to see their friends, hear some FANTASTIC music, and have a great conversation with the pastor. And the children's ministry is simply amazing. Julia can't wait to go back.

I can't wait to show you all the work that Michael has done in the front yard. He is putting together, piece by piece, gorgeous landscape stone around the flower beds. Those of you who know him will realize how particular he is about things, so you can imagine how long it's taking him. But it will totally be worth it.

Spring, Facebook and A New Cousin!

Spring has sprung folks. How do I know? Because my husband is as giddy as a kid with Christmas approaching about working in the yard. Last weekend when the weather was so ugly, he was downright grumpy. He stood looking outside, shoulders slumped, hands stuffed deep in his pockets, pouting that he couldn't go outside and work. Late Sunday evening, he could stand it no more. "Hey" he said, with a smile, "You mind if I go plant those variegated gingers?" Knock yourself out, my love.

So out in the misting cold rain he went, happy as he could be.

This weekend he missed his opportunity to buy the lava rock he's been eyeing because the place closes on Sunday. So he decided he will buy all of the mulch and topsoil. I will be a yard widow next weekend, folks.

He has grand plans! This morning, with that Masters determination, he announced, "I WILL win yard of the month DAMMIT!"

I am a Facebook Junkie! I kid you not, I had three different friends request that I join in one day. So I figured, what the heck. I had once tried MySpace and wasn't blown away. Unlike my blog, it seemed really cumbersome to update, and I never fully figured out how to navigate it. But WOW, Facebook is so much easier! And I've found a ton of friends. I'm really enjoying it.

Via Facebook, my cousin's fiancee announced that my other cousin, Dawnie, was in the early stages of labor! Cade Walker was born last night. We are planning to attend Dennis and Erin's wedding in June, so not only do I get to meet my new cousin by marriage, but also squeeze on my new cousin Cade!

Idol Watch

Here's my "duh" moment, but does Paula look especially weird tonight? There's something strange going on with her eyes (besides the glitter eye shadow).



Here's my assessment...

1. Lil Rounds - Eh........ Her blouse was cute! You know the singing was so so when all Paula can talk about is her outfit and make up.
2. Scott MacIntyre - Started out good. The piano playing was great, but as usual, IT WAS PITCHY, DOG!
3. Danny Gokey - GO DANNY! Yes, the dancing was dorky, but he made up for it. Loved it!
4. Michael Sarver - Ummm, divided. There were good moments, but he clanged it on some of the notes. Is it just me or has he lost a little weight?
5. Jasmine Murray - Solid beginning! Gosh she's cute! I think her nerves got the best of her in the second part of the song, though. The ending was better than the middle.
6. Kris Allen - There's something "Corey Haim-ish" about him - before he got strung out. I thought he did well, he took the song and put his own spin on it and looked like he was having fun.
7. Allison Iraheta - She seems so much older than she really is! And MAN does she have a set of lungs! Great control on a hard song to sing. And she got rid of those awful extentions! YAY!
8. Anoop Desai - "ANOOP DOOOOG!!!" I liked his take on "Beat It" and he looked very confident.
9. Jorge Nunez - Once he gets rolling he's good, but he started off kinda - eh....... Bummer because I liked him.
10. Megan Corkrey - I'm glad she finally took the mic off of the stand for a change. But, to borrow a phrase from Simon, it was very karaoke-ish....
11. Adam Lambert - Questionable song choice - he sounded kind of shrilly! He might have been a little too theatrical tonight. I'm not sure the judges heard what I heard....
12. Matt Giraud - I liked his performance, but wasn't crazy about the ending. You can tell he's really confident behind the piano.
13. Alexis Grace - I liked it but she kinda clanked it on some of the notes. She repeated some of the phrases too many times I think.

Seriously, Paula's eyes are freaking me out.....

Don't Ask!

I have a request for all friends and family. Please don't ask if Hayden is behaving at school anymore!

I'll explain!!!!!!!

I know you guys ask because you love him - and us - and you just want to hear us say that he's doing awesome. But, each and every time he begins to behave, get good marks in conduct, I don't get an email titled "Hayden" daily at 4:15.... someone will ask... "So, is Hayden doing better with his behavior at school?"

I always cringe a little and look around for a piece of wood to knock on before I say, "Yes, he's doing great!"

Up to last Wednesday, he was doing fantastic. He was getting all stamps in his folder, and he even got to be a special helper for his teacher, which he was very proud of. But Wednesday, my mother asked the question and I answered her.

And sure enough.

I won't go into details, but please, PLEASE don't ask anymore!!!!!!

I Can Blog About American Idol????

My cousin Dawn has pretty much introduced me to the world of blogging. I'm sad to say that when she visited this past July, it was the first time I had to guts to ask the question "What is a blog" out loud. She explained it to me and warned me that it can be addicting.

For the most part, this is true. It IS addicting, but for those of you (you know who you are, and I LOVE YOU) who actually read my blog and comment to me about how long it's been since my last post, I feel I've let you down. By the time I get home from work, rounded up kids, figured out something of sustenance for dinner (Mike does a lot of that - Bless him!) complete and check homework, and bust up the sibling rivalry that is rampant at my house, I hit the hay as soon as Boo is in bed. So I'm sorry. I'll try to do better.

But back to Dawn. Reading her last post about The Bachelor (which, by the way.... why???? I mean, I know I don't have much room to talk because I really love The Surreal Life, but that show seems to be so devoid of morals! AND there was a CHILD involved this time!!!!!!) it dawned (get it) on me that HEY! I can blog about American Idol!!!!!

I'm relatively new to that format as well, with last season being the first season I ever watched the whole way through. Usually, we always watched the open auditions and cracked up non stop at the people who thought they could sing. But that was it. After that, we'd lost interest. So last year, I just kept watching, and WHAMMO. I'm totally hooked. I didn't really have a favorite, I just loved to see who was going to bomb and who was going to shine. But based on the fact that I just downloaded David Cook's CD to my iPod, it's safe to say that America did pretty good. He sounds very "Daughtry-ish". (Yep, have Daughtry too, and nope, didn't watch his season. Dang it.) I love Carrie and Kelly, too.

SO! THIS YEAR!!!! I'm predicting this guy is gonna run away with it.

One gripe I have though is the producers of AI are driving me nuts with bringing up his back story. Yes, I feel for Danny Gokey losing his wife. Gosh, he's so young. BUT. Don't they think it might be a tad painful to keep hearing about it in the press and on the show? PLUS, I don't want anyone to say he won the competition because of his back story. This guy has an amazing voice. Kinda rough, very soulful. He's cute too, so he could pull off the rock star thing. (I mean, if Clay Aiken is a star.... come on!)

I also like Anoop Dog, Kris Allen (Oh, he's cute), Matt Giraud and Adam Lambert. None of the girls are really rocking my world.

I'm only going to appease Tatiana Del Toro with these five words. Oh My GOD GOOD RIDDANCE!

And let me bring up one more thing here about the producers and back stories. I've already given my opinion on Danny's, and here's my opinion on Scott MacIntyre. Scott should not NOT win because of his blindness (I didn't type "not" twice accidentally, read it again if you're confused), but he shouldn't win BECAUSE of it either. Yes, he is a good singer, but he was not as good as some of the guys who didn't make it. (I'm not talking about Nathaniel either!) I am really going to be ticked off if one of my guys doesn't make it because Scott is still in it. In order for me to cheer for him, he's gonna have to be MUCH better than he is right now. He's got some really stiff competition IMO.....

MAN! That was FUN!!!!!!!! Now I'm REALLY hooked!!!!!