Spice of Life

One reliable truth on parenting: each day holds variety and unpredictability.

Photo of the day

Ben and his udders

Coming Into the Closet

I’m coming out of the closet. Well, technically I’m letting you into my closet. About 60-75% of my clothes from the last 2 years have come from resale shops. Shocking, right? Or not so shocking, depending on how you think I dress! I’ve been doing quite a bit of my shopping at Plato’s Closet in Frisco. They’re an upscale resale shop that buys and sells current styles, current being in the last two years. I’ve been able to find brands like Express, Banana Republic, Abercrombie, Hollister, Black Dress/ White Market, many with the tags still on them. I found Banana Republic black and white pinstripe trousers and matching black wool cardigan for about $16 last year…both with the tags still on for $69.50 and $49.50, respectively. In August I found a nice pair of classic Old Navy khaki capri’s with the tag still on for $4.00. The best bargain I’ve found yet happened this past weekend. I went in looking for and needing another pair of jeans. A favorite pair was recently washed with a mad red towel and turned everything pink…including my jeans. Argh. Plato’s Closet, here I come! I was looking for Miss Me jeans or Seven for all Mankind, but also tried on Hollister, Express and Gap, along with a pair called Sacred Blue. The Sacred Blue ended up being the best fit and I liked them enough to get them for $20. I wore them over the weekend and loved them so much that I went online to see where I could buy more. I discovered that the brand is exclusively sold and each pair is hand made. They retail for $198 and are purchased by the likes of celebrities. $198 for a pair of blue jeans?!? And then you don’t even keep them for a lifetime, you resell them?!? CRAZY! I’m not going to complain about the habits of the rich and famous, but I will definitely take advantage of them.

Curry Recipe

Coconut Curry with Fennel

½ bulb fennel, shredded
1 green bell pepper
Sautee in olive oil for a few minutes then add 1 ½ tb of red curry paste, 1 can coconut milk, 1 tb curry powder, ¼ c. chopped almonds, 2 squirts of honey, chicken of choice, dash of pepper

We have curry about once a week. I usually change it up, adapting and adding things. Last night I used fennel instead of onion and it really added to the sweetness of the dish. I was worried that the licorice flavor of the fennel would interfere, but I think the sautéing it with the bell pepper took away a lot of that flavor while enhancing the sweet factor. This is a great family friendly recipe although, I would like to try a spicier version of Curry for adults…just not sure what kind of chilies to add.

Art work

Walker was asked by a church to do some art work for a series on Nehemiah. They originally wanted a full comic book, which Walker was really excited about putting together. I think when they realized how much work it was going to involve and how much time they decided on some other options. The church printed out movie sized posters and are using his art work on their website www.prestontrail.org . Go check it out!

Doing Life Together

I miss life groups! One thing about living this far out is that the programs and opportunities for involvement are more limited and not as varied as being closer to the metroplex would be. Walker and I have talked to a few of other couples about developing a “life group” type group in Wolfe City. We have noticed that we have to do a lot of explaining about what it is, why it meets in a home, etc. These are very valid questions and when I was first introduced to the concept, I definitely wondered about all of the logistics. Over the next few days I’ll be breaking down what a life group is and painting a picture about how to go about implementing a life group.

Walker and I have been privileged to be a part of a couple of different life groups. While attending a church in Frisco, the church had three or four service times to choose from and had in attendance 500-750 people per service, sometimes more. In place of Sunday school they offered life groups. I have seen this offered in other churches and love the way it works out. When we expressed interest in joining a life group, we were paired with a group that had similar life circumstances, were approximately in the same stage of life, and whose location was in close proximity to our neighborhood. The first group we were paired with was when we were expecting Remy. The host house was within walking distance of our own home, and there were three other couples that agreed upon a meeting time, agreed upon food & drink, and agreed upon a mode. I’ll break all of these down into more detail in just a moment.

The second group we were paired with was a few weeks after Remy was born. Two of the other couples had newborns or were pregnant. This group ended up being an ideal fit for us and we stuck with this group for about a year, before we moved. This was a group of church leadership and constantly used the phrase “doing life together” as a way to describe our group, what we were doing when we met, etc. We are doing life together.

There is something that is truly apostolic about believers gathering with their families in a home to break bread and do life. We started a group in our home that met for the first time a couple of nights ago. It’s just a couple of families who have agreed to gather every other week. It is not associated with a church. I’ve been asking myself a lot of questions regarding the group.

What is a life group? Is a life group always associated with a church? What are the functions and expectations within the group? Does it take the place of Sunday school? Is it in addition to Sunday school or Wednesday activities? Is it a Bible study? Is it a devotional? Is it prayer or worship or encouragement or support?

Something More: Defining a Life Group

Things I am seeking: friendships, accountability, family time, sharing our home, swapping recipes, gleaning from others’ life experience, having meaningful adult conversations involving Christian life, praying for the needs of others in our community.

Several years back I went with a group to Germany to teach English to German students. The big draw for the Germans was coming to learn English from Americans. Built in to every evening was a time of worship, prayer and a message. In German it was called “Etwas Mehr” , “Something More” in English.

I’m not sure if the group that is emerging in our home is a life group, and I still have many unanswered questions. However, I do know that it is the “Something More” that I’ve been seeking.

WCMS Drum Corps

I’d like to brag on my husband a little…okay, a lot. He asked permission at the end of last year to start a drum line in the middle school. It took some negotiating but our superintendent and principal agreed to the start up and Walker has been diligently and fervently working on putting this together to offer our 7th and 8th graders as an alternative to athletics. They will be playing at 4 home games this season. The drums came in last night from the repair shop! (last week - I wrote this but forgot to post it) The students have 1 week. ONE WEEK. Before the first game. About half of the nights over the last 2 weeks I haven’t seen Mr. P until 10 pm after he gets in from working on drumline stuff. He is very dedicated and excited about this new endeavor and the town is geared up to hear what he can do with these young musicians. This is the only music program our district offers. When the Elementary school heard what he is doing they started a music appreciation class for K-5.

I would love to be able to post pictures and video of the drumline but without the permission of all of the parents and students involved that could be a real hassle. I certainly would think twice about my own children’s teacher posting stuff on the internet about them….and for good reason. I would like to invite you all to come out and watch a game or two, if you can. This is not for our high school team, it is for the middle school. Their games are on Thursday afternoons at 5:30. This year Walker decided to focus on rifts for touchdowns and cheers with the cheerleaders. Next year there may be a halftime show, but getting it started this year he decided to focus on basics. There is usually a concession stand with food and drink. Our school colors are blue, black and white. There are 8 instruments (drums, percussion) and 10 students in the class, some alternates.

The first performance was tonight, and I know the students were ready and able to show off their groovin'.

If you make the trip out I will even throw in a bonus tour of our parsonage!

Letter published in local paper

Written by our new Superintendent.

Congratulations are in order. All campuses of the Wolfe City Independent School District were awarded the highest accreditation rating given by the Texas Education Agency. The High School, Middle School, and Elementary School all received Exemplary ratings.

This achievement is a direct result of the hard work of the students, professionalism of the teaching staff, leadership of the administrators, the efforts of all the support staff and the support of the parents and the community as a whole.

My goal when I came here, and still remains, was to help continue the excellent achievement record of Wolfe City ISD. To this end I have inherited a very special and gifted facility and staff. Everyone who provides the transportation, food service, maintenance and custodial services, secretarial support, classroom teachers and administrative guidance are of one mind, to provide the best education for your children.

I must also recognize the time and effort that is donated to the District by your elected Board Members. It is under their guidance that policies and procedures are put into place and your tax dollars are put to best use.

Most of all it is you, the parents and students who make WCISD what it is. I want to thank you parents for trusting us with your child’s education and a big congratulation to the students for their many academic achievements.

I would also like to take this opportunity to say Thank You to all of you who have made my return home a happy one. Your kind words of welcome and encouragement have meant a lot to me and my family.

Sincerely,

James E. Scott

Superintendent of Schools

Favorite Moments

We have been exceedingly busy round our place, but here are a few of my favorite moments from the past couple of weeks. Use your imagination to make the captions for the photos.

Internet

Readers....bear with me for the next few weeks or months. When we recently moved to Wolfe City we came to the startling reality that we can't get DSL at our house. We have cables running through our house, a fiber optic line running through our yard, but the companies tell us that all of the broadband for our area is allocated to others. They would not consider upgrading the box because there are only 1500 people here...and let's face it, they need to make money. We checked into satellite Internet, but the fastest the company offers is about the speed of dialup and three times the price!! After considering a life without Internet we purchased iPhones and all is right with the world. Having written all that, all I wanted to say is that all blogging is being accomplished on my phone--my fingers aren't quite adept to this new challenge. I'm looking to purchase a keyboard dock for the phone, but until then you'll be reading short, sometimes misspelled posts. Just know there was a lot of concentrated effort and finger typing taking place!!

Haircuts

We all took a family trip into Rockwall today to get the kids hair cut and hit Half Price Books. Rémy just had a trim but Bens hair was getting so long, thick and too hot on his head for these Texas summers. It wasn't until after the haircut that I realized he looked more like a little boy and less like a baby. I'm thinking that haircut took off 5 pounds and made him grow 3 inches! After all the hairs had been cut, balloons received and suckers opened we proceeded to HPB to add a few new childrens movies to our arsenal.

Feeding ducks at TAMU Commerce

We go to Commerce to go grocery shopping and the college is right across the street. We've made it a habit to go and feed the ducks while we are there and the kids have a great time feeding them. Many will eat right out of our hands.

San Antonio

Walker had a math conference this week so we all got to go to San Antonio.

Natural Bridge Wildlife Ranch

Me: Look! There's a camel and an antelope!



Rémy: Oh! A cantaloupe!



Ben: Tractor. Tractor. Tractor.

Ode to My First Year of Teaching

Forward to Ode

The Lord never promised us a rose gardens or bon-bons. In fact, the only time He ever used the word ‘easy’ was when He referred to a yoke. Every journey is accomplished one step at a time. These were our steps of the journey that took us to live in Wolfe City, TX. “Be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord.” 1 Corinthians 15:58

Side note: this is quite debatably an Ode....

Ode to My First Year of Teaching

The joys of the first year are best expressed as growing pains.
Pain comes in many ways.
By setting the alarm for 4:45 am to leave the house at 6:00 am.
With two dressed kids in tow.
Completely ready to go, sans makeup.
Walker drove to work, I drove home.

Our school was renovated and updated over the summer.
The project was not completed before school started.
They updated to central A/C and heat from a furnace and fans.
The days of our Staff Development were spent moving furniture back into the building.
I think I forgot to speak on the first day of school.
We had no computers, internet or role sheets for the first 2 weeks of school.
There were no bells, no technology, no blinds, no communication system with the office.
We are on our feet all day long but,
I was on my feet more at Half Price Books.

The first 5 months, while commuting, we used $100/ wk in gas.
BUT we did carpool!
We listened to NPR every morning.
We sang Raffi songs every day.
We watched Baby Einstein every day.
We watched Sing Along Songs every day.
Sang the ‘Ben’ song every day.
We see deer, chickens, wolves, cows, horses, alpaca, snakes, wild hogs, roadrunners, goats, sheep, vultures and hawks very frequently.
We were stared down by a bull blocking the road.
We became very familiar with Chickfila and Starbucks.
Our daughter can identify both from great distances.

Replaced 3 car tires in the first semester
And patched two since then.
One had a large piece of rebar in it that caused us to be late to a Staff Development meeting.
A wolf watched from a distance
As Walker changed the tire on a rock road.
In his dress slacks.
A/C compressor went out on the car--
The same week we closed on the house.
My father in law came to the rescue.

Between our 2 children there were 10 ear infections
At least. I lost count.
Remy, Ben and I all had pink eye
At three different times.
I lost my voice for a week and a half due to allergies.
As in totally gone.
I had student interpreters those days!
Remy learned the ABC song, Ring around the Rosy, Jesus Loves Me, and she can count to 19—sometimes 20.
She can cut with scissors, glue, identify most colors and shapes.
She learned about friends and friendships.
She is almost 2 ½.
Ben loves Mrs. Sharon and Mrs. Sharon LOVES Ben.
He is her favorite.
We love her because she looks like Sue Lehmann.
Ben’s favorite words are truck and tractor.
He is 15 months.
The center has a Bible based curriculum and 5 wonderful caretakers.
Remy has 11 friends, Ben has 8 friends.

I was evaluated 5 times in the first semester, all positive with constructive feedback.
Learned what a Title I school is and that 62.5% of the students in our school district are on free or reduced lunches.
Their households make less than $25,000.
Became a TELPAS (Texas English Language Proficiency Assessment Standards) holistic rater
Became TALA(Texas Adolescent Literacy Academy) trained and received a $500 stipend.
I logged 50+ hours of Professional Development.
Had an offer on our house to which we placed a counter offer, to which they counter offered for a little more than our asking price.
As long as we paid the buyer’s closing costs.
We replaced the roof for them, THANKFULLY, insurance covered the cost.
We sold Walker’s Ford Ranger, used savings and borrowed money to scrape together enough to pay the closing costs.
We sold our home in 6 weeks only to have the closing put off 4 times by the buyers.
Lost our rental house in Wolfe City due to closing put off.
The day we were set to move out of our home in Frisco, the first one of us got Swine flu.
Remy had it worst and we didn’t find out until 3 days later what it was.
It was a domino effect after that--Mama, Daddy and Ben.
Ben got the good stuff (tamiflu) and his was not nearly as severe as Remy’s.
Daycare required that they stay out for 10 days after having H1N1 or RSV.
Ben got sick 7 days after Remy.
This was almost 3 weeks that they were out of daycare.

Sometimes you have to call in the reserves.
My in-laws cared for us and let us stay with them.
Mom and Aunt Elizabeth and Tony and Annie moved us out.
Completely.
Teachers are allowed 7 sick/ personal days.
By October we had each used 5.
By January we had used them all.

We spent all of our free time working on school stuff.
WE HAD A 2 WEEK VACATION IN DECEMBER!!
Which we used to MOVE, again!

Did I mention we were homeless for 7 weeks?
I shouldn’t say homeless, but nomads.
We lived out of the car and our families let us invade their space
And lives
And refrigerators
And washing machines
And hospitality

We could not have survived without those 7 weeks of nurturing, love, support, caring, helping and giving from those surrounding us.

You sustained us.

Coffee certainly played a role.

Our school had a delayed opening for cold weather and a couple of icy puddles.
Get to wear jeans every Friday.
Other days we pay $5 to wear jeans (all donations are given to the local Clothe a Child)
I sponsored Ready Writing for UIL, three students’ placed.
I judged Impromptu speaking and Spelling.
Walker sponsored Impromptu speaking and Calculator., two students placed.
Took 14 Drama students to compete in Campbell, TX for 2 days.
We performed A Midsummer Night’s Dream.(December)
We did not place, but received much constructive feedback.
Took those same 14 Drama students to the Dallas Music Hall to see Phantom of the Opera and out to eat. (February)
Previous to this, only one of them had been to a live musical or play.
Our school district received a grant for Promethean boards and Active slates.
They are awesome and I am in love.
I want one at home.
Attended a football game that was rained out in the first quarter.
More than half of our football games were cancelled for one reason or another.
The team played 4 games.
Took our children to watch a basketball game and a track meet.
Had detention duty for a week.
In the last 16 years Walker cannot remember vomiting, but he did so twice this year.
Took 52 8th graders to Celebration Station in Mesquite.
We were chaperones at Spring Fling.
Walker painted graffiti art as the backdrop/ decorations for the 80’s grunge/ ‘Rave’ theme.
I danced more than ever before in my whole life.

In the second semester, after our sick days were spent
Ben had RSV with double ear infections. (February)
Another 10 days out of child care.
Another call to the reserves for aide.
Remy had croup with an ear infection.(February)
Remy threw up for 5 days straight not even keeping liquids down.(May)
Another call to the reserves.
Walker and I had a lovely date night to Children’s Hospital.
It really was lovely. Sometimes the biggest comfort
Comes in our most trying times.

I administered every TAKS test the school gave.
Waited 3 ½ months for my class’ scores.
We have an exemplary school district.
My principal said she doesn’t remember the last time there was such a high number of commended writers. Not to brag, but I have the most percentage of commended students in the whole school.
Mr. Plagge had 95% of his math students pass.
Our principal doesn’t even remember the math percentage being any more than 90%.
She’s been here 10 years.

Mr. Plagge was voted Favorite Teacher this year by the student body.
Show off.
As I’m writing this he is paiting a mural in the entryway to the school.
He makes me a very proud wife.
I made the school newspaper ‘Most Memorable Moments’ for when a student punched me in the mouth, a favorite student.

Walker also made the church bulletin a few times, notably as the new co-youth minister in town!

We are FIRST YEAR TEACHERS!!

These are our steps of the journey that brought us to Wolfe City, TX.

As summer approaches I am reminded to “Come to Me, all you who labor and are…over burdened, and I will cause you to rest- I will ease and relieve and refresh your souls.” Matthew 11:28

“Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts.” Colossians 3:15

Easter 2009

Easter 2009
Originally uploaded by dollye_plagge

One year ago.

Sigh.

Easter Sunday & City of Greenville Egg Hunt

 What a fun and meaningful weekend.

We joined with a few hundred other people on Saturday evening for a city wide Easter Egg hunt.  

 

I'm pretty sure they grossly underestimated how many 0-4 year olds would show up.  Our category was finished in less than 2 minutes, most kids had 1-3 eggs in their baskets.  In the other categories kids came out with full baskets (4-8 yrs, 8-12 yrs).  

 

Remy and Ben still had fun trying to collect the eggs.  Remy collected 2 and Ben ended up finding 1/2 of a shell.  He was pretty amused with himself.  It's a good thing they don't realize what was supposed to happen or they might not have had such a good time.

 

Ben is walking around on all fours lately.  He is capable of walking, he just doesn't want to commit yet.  I can tell he doesn't like crawling because it hurts his knees, so he's settled on the spider walk. 

 

Remy thinks it's a funny game to walk behind him and step on his heels and push his bobo down.  He laughs about it, but I know he's plotting a scheme to get back at her.  He told me just before nap time.

We also attended the Easter service at 11:00.  

At this time I would like to enlist the help of any parents that would willingly offer advice.  The church we are currently attending, and have been attending for about 6 weeks, has one option for service time.  Eleven o'clock.  If you are a parent, you know that this is right around nap time.  Not only is it difficult, nay, impossible to get my children into the arms of the nursery caretaker without tear streaked cheeks, runny noses and wails of agony, the enhanced tiredness of the said children only adds to the melodrama that ensues.  This makes me want to stay home in my pj's with my cup of coffee and watch a televangelist.  I'm pretty sure the sight of our family walking into the nursery causes tension and knots on many a neck and shoulders.

We have avoided any conflict in this area in the past by attending a Saturday evening service at Preston Trail Community Church.  It started at 5:00 pm and we could be home by dinner and have the kids in bed by their normal time.  We have done this since the kids were born.  If there was ever a scheduling conflict on a Saturday night we could just move to the 9:30 service on Sunday and still make it home for nap time.  When we moved we had to hunt around.  The first thing we checked for was beliefs, but a close second was service time. 

Now, I'll be the first to admit that we did not choose this church.  A series of events led us here, events that will be best described in another post.  In order for us to retain our sanity, reputation (like we had one) and to fellowship with a community of believers we really need some help in this matter. 

I'll tell you what we've tried:  bringing snacks, drinks.  Bringing familiar toys from home.  Talking about it on the way there. (BIG no.)  Saying we're going to visit friends.  Going to play with friends.  Going to play.  Going in to the nursery to play for a minute and let them get settled.  Dropping them at the door.  Allowing the main culprit, *ahem...it's a she*...sit with us during the service. (BIG BIG no.)

Also, helpful information....the nap time can't change.  The child care they attend during the school week has them on a schedule of taking naps around 11 or 12 every day.  I'm sure other parents have had this problem.  I'm just running out of ideas for a solution.....

Cousins!

Over Spring Break we got to get many of the cousins together.  Here are a few pictures of them playing and having fun.  Above and below Whitman and Remy are admiring the flamingos.  Whitman loves super heroes and legos and he knows not to let his little cousins have small toys.

Remy loved watching him and started mimicking his behavior.  They stayed up late one night and had a somersault contest!

 Amelie, Ben and Remy are watching Barney WAY past their bedtime!  Amelie brought Remy and Ben little stuffed, fuzzy sheep and new spring outfits!  They had fun playing with magnetic letters.

 Kiellye was very hungry that night.  She watched and eyed all the other cousins.

 Braedon visited bearing TRAINS!  He even shared his trains with Remy and Ben.  Remy and Braedon sat on opposite ends of the hall and rolled (or flung) the train back and forth!

 He even thought up a game for Remy that involved hiding an object under the stacking blocks and had her find it.  She really liked playing that game.  Every morning since then the first words out of her mouth, even before her feet hit the ground, are "Choo-choo trains all gone, Mama."  Either the train really left an impression or she has been having dreams about trains every night.  I'm so glad the kids have cousins to play with.  It's so fun to watch.

Ben's Haircut/ Red Chair

12 Mos In Red Chair
Originally uploaded by dollye_plagge

Here's my silly Ben showing off his 'do'.

Spring Break (so far)

Have I raved about the teacher work schedule yet? Not so much the work schedule as the TIME OFF schedule?! We're half way through enjoying our spring break together. We started off the week amazed that this much of the school year has flown by and again amazed that we didn't really feel like we needed a break. But hey, if we're given a week off with pay I'm certainly not one to argue about that.

We had no idea what we were going to do on our Spring Break. We knew we didn't want to sit around the house staring at the walls and twiddling our thumbs while eating burnt toast. We also knew we wanted to have fun family times. We got right to celebrating our Spring Break and woke up early Saturday morning to hit the Northeast Texas Children's Museum in Commerce, TX.  Below the kids and I were talking to mission control about to launch a space shuttle.

This is only about 20 minutes from where we live and it was recommended to us from a fellow teacher who has small ones. We were there when it opened and spent several hours playing and learning.

They had approximately 30-40 different 'stations' or exhibits. Below is the 'Daddy's Boot Camp'.

Ben fell in love with the instruments, more specifically the drums. He cried when we left them. I think he wanted to take them home with us.

Remy especially liked the put yourself in a bubble exhibit.

We headed home at ten til noon and within 5 minutes both kids were asleep in the back seat.

Sunday we got up and visited a church for the third time. Our kids do not take to their nursery so we decided Remy could come and sit with us during the service. I'll just say that this was a bad idea and leave it at that. This church is considering Walker for a youth minister position. He is one of three candidates and will have an interview soon.

After church we came home and I went to do laundry at the laundry mat. Have I mentioned how much I love doing laundry at the laundry mat? I'm not joking. It's fabulous. You get it all done at once, have it all folded and ready to put in drawers. I'm thinking this might be the solution to our chronic laundry issue.

Then we decided to go camping in Clarksville for a night so we loaded up the car and took the 2 hour road trip to camp.   Ben is sleeping in the bundle below and Walker is enjoying some reading.

 There are fish in there, Mama.

The next day Daddy made us a campfire breakfast and we relaxed a bit outside before loading up and heading to Idabel, Oklahoma.

The purpose of this was to make Ben an out-of-state traveler. We intended to hunt down a burger joint and eat there but apparently they don't eat. Walker suggested they must still hunt buffalo for dinner. We searched for an hour with no luck(no buffalo or burgers).

Tuesday I met Annie for lunch at Manny's Uptown and then all of us went to the Plagge farm for Kendra's birthday. Kendra and Whit came in town for spring break and brought along some friends. We stayed the night and the group of us went to the Fort Worth Zoo on Wednesday.

The Fort Worth Zoo had half price Wednesday during Spring Break.  The news reported a record 25,000 plus people visited the zoo that day.  Kendra is below taking pictures and her friend Hannah and her three girls are there too.

Above Whitman and Remy are watching the Flamingos up close.  I learned that the Fort Worth Zoo is the only place in the world that actively breeds flamingos.

Today we scheduled the kids' first haircuts at a place called Groovy Cuts for Kids in Rockwall. I would HIGHLY, HIGHLY recommend this place.

My daughter let someone unfamiliar touch her hair and did not whine. Enough said. They had an airplane for Ben to sit on and Remy sat in a purple jeep. They got to choose what DVD they wanted to watch (Elmo and Thomas respectively). They could color. There were balloons. And free mani/ pedi with a girl's haircut. There were bracelets. And best of all there were Certificates of first haircut with a lock of hair attached in a small bag. They are mailing us pictures. That package deal was $24.95.  Isn't that the best?   The mani/ pedi's come free with any haircut.  Wish I could get that combo deal for myself for $25.

I took a picture of Remy afterward. Instead of looking like she was attacked by a wild weed whacker it seems to have been tamed by the simple addition of layers. Ben opted for the 'skater boy haircut', as the stylist put it. Walker made sure she was not to cut his side burns!! He was sleeping during the 'after' pictures but I'll be sure to get one of him tomorrow.

Still on the agenda:  JP and Tracy came in town today with Amelie and Kiellye and we're hoping to get everyone together tomorrow for a visit/ playtime and we'll all be attending a birthday party ho down on Saturday complete with bbq and hay ride.

Here's to an adventure filled rest of the week regardless of whether or not you get a 'spring break'.