EASTER PAGEANT, 1968 STYLE...

I saw this picture of my husband for the first time this weekend!  SO CUTE...he is on the left and it's from a school program.  His memories of it?  "The teacher put lipstick on me!"  And of the course the adorable Easter Bunny boy grew up to be the scariest cowboy dude ever...think Duck Dynasty beard + long leather coat...whoa....was thinking out loud...

So thankful for the resurrection, springtime, and new life! 

 JESUS DIED FOR ALL!  

ANOTHER ONE FOR THE DECORATING FILE...

Whew!  It's been a week!  A busy week!  I don't even have little ones either - thinking about a few years ago when this week I would be scrambling around getting Easter basket goodies for each one.  Looking for their favorite candies and non-candyish things to put in their baskets that they would actually use. Then getting the cute springy outfit all together and sometimes even coordinating siblings.  Well, the pressure is off now and all I really have to worry about is....well, nothing!  (the boys have plenty of everything but probably we'll get some new shoes soon)  Kinda sad, but I'm getting used to it.  :) This week I was involved in two big womens' activities so I had plenty to keep me busy.

We had our final Bible lesson for the school year in CWBS!  It's always a fun time, wrapping up the year and getting to hear from everyone in the group about what they learned from the study or how it impacted their life.  In my group we had great grandmas, middle agers, new mothers, and even one young hopeful to be engaged soon!  Everyone's perspective is different and thought provoking.

We also had a luncheon, with all the groups together.  Every group decorates their own table and I love to see how they all turn out - this year I think we were all thinking SPRING!  Check it out:

 Bunnies and pastels

 My lime and hot pink theme - not sure what happened to the flowers in the middle but it still worked - made the sign with my friend's cricut machine.

Got the idea with the pear from Pinterest, of course!

 This table had lots of little birds on it with lessons learned from Acts on them.

More bunnies and flowers and I loved the orange-y plates!

Pinks and purples and lillies

Vegetable theme - love these paper placemats too!

Burlap with lime - one of my favorites!  Pretty placemats with succulents on each place.

Yellow and teal with crosses

Easter Explosion!  :)

YOU'RE "WANTED"...

Last night we had another RefresHER program, a quarterly event that I work with at church.  We had a "WANTED" theme with western decor and I encourage the different groups within the church that host to not go "over the top" on spending but to use what we have, and WE MUST HAVE A LOT OF COWGIRLS HERE!  

It was great and all the details fell into place - a great compliment to the women who took care of them! Our speaker Chris told us about her childhood and life and she told us some great stories - one I'll share with you:

GOD WANTED HER to become a child advocate at an early age.  She lost her Dad to an accident but vividly remembered a conversation with him about having 6 children.  Then, as a young girl she remembered a friend being bullied by older brothers and taking up for her.  When her friend had a baby sister, the parents allowed the girl to name the baby, and she named her "Chrissy" after her friend who had defended her against her bullying brothers.  Chris said at that young age she felt like a Child Advocate.  When she married and had difficulty having biological children, her husband was ready to adopt and guess what?  They ended up adopting 5 children!  Then later in her life she worked as a Children's Minister without any formal training, but it was something she was gifted to do.  She had a wonderful story to tell and praised God for intervening in her life.  

It was a great evening with blessings for all!  

 Fun table decor!

Our hostess Karen, and speaker Chris (one of Chris's daughters in the middle)

 Table time!

Love the way the generations mix!

CATCHIN' UP WITH FAMILY ON SPRING BREAK...

  Since our youngest went on a ski trip for Spring Break, we decided to head to Dallas for a couple of days!  We had planned to see my husband's sister and brother and their spouses but had a pretty open schedule - a rarity for us, but it was fun!  I already posted the Dallas Arboretum pics, but we did some other things:

 Visited downtown Denton - they have a beautiful county courthouse and the square surrounding it is great!  Lots of neat antique shops, coffee shops and an old fashioned ice cream parlor.  We were just killing some time, but I'd go back there!

We met up with my husband's sister and her husband who moved to Texas in January.  Many of you may know she is also in the middle of cancer treatment.  We were glad to see that she's still smiling and enjoyed our dinner with them.  Keep praying for her!

Love a good bargain!  (My kids taught me to smile like this) Found this shirt on clearance at Anthropologie and surprisingly it's not too low cut or weird!  I think that's a first for me - I usually like their home stuff but the fashions are just not for me.  Got some cheapo earrings at Sam Moon too! I'm easily pleased... 

 We spent another night at my husband's brother's house and had a good time - went to church with them on Wednesday night and heard him preach, then a little late night Starbucks and card playing!

Last day while the hubs was golfing, I spent some more time shopping and also went to "In N Out" for the first time.  I was surprised to see this scripture on the burger wrap!  Very cool - I'm sure lots of people get curious and have to look it up...pretty sneaky way to get people into the Word but I love it!

The more I think about it, little get-a-ways are probably not so much about what you do, or where you go, but just taking a break from the norm, getting out of your routine, getting away from your responsibilities for a little while.  Thank goodness we haven't gotten so "driven" in this country that we've gotten rid of vacations.  THANK GOD FOR SPRING BREAK!

SPRING HAS SPRUNG...

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.  II Cor. 5:17

Don't you just love it?  Spring flowers and new creations - always a welcome sight - and I live in the midwest - can't imagine how those folks up north feel!  It was a bright sunny Wednesday in Dallas this past week, and one of our relatives told us about "Dallas Blooms" at the Dallas Arboretum.  It was the perfect day to go walk through the beautiful gardens and see the wonder of God's nature!  

Have you ever seen a Weeping Redbud?  I don't think I had...

You can't really tell from my pictures, but there were lots of people there.  It made me wonder about how many of them have been made into new creations themselves...how many know Christ?  And it reminds me that my job is to be Christ to them...and make the gospel attractive.  

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.  II Cor. 5:17

Ducks!

WHAT MY GIRL'S BEEN UP TO...

Exploring Costa Rica with friends!  They're friends from college and one was an exchange student who gave her an invitation to visit last year.  So she got the real Costa Rica experience with a native! They all stayed in her home and shopped and ate meals with her family, besides having their own private tour - am I jealous? You bet... 

 My favorite!!!

Coffee tour

Gorgeous!

The foursome

Metal church

Fun with her friends!

AN AMAZING FRIEND...

I have an amazing friend who is getting ready to climb Mt. Everest!  Yes, MT. EVEREST.  She's been climbing for about 10 years and is really passionate about it.  She has been training for a while now.  Training for her involves working out while trying to gain weight.  (I know, we are all thinking TAKE SOME OF MINE! )  She needs the weight because of the fact that being in that environment for 8 weeks is so taxing on the body.  She is hardworking, upbeat, and even working on a nursing degree.  She took off this semester to focus on training, though.  Another thing I admire about her is the fact that despite trying to work in training, resting, eating right to gain, and keeping up with her husband and adult daughters, she joined in on Thursday morning Bible study with me this semester!  In our study of Acts, we were learning about Paul.  Several times she has told me how much the study has blessed her as she sees what a passionate person Paul was.  She can relate right now to a passion like that.

This is one of the workouts she does.  My husband and I have been joining her with her husband and sister on Saturday  mornings.  22 Flights of stairs multiple times.  She carries a heavy weighted backpack.  I just carry myself!  

A great reward after climbing stairs!  Classen Grill breakfast!

We are pretty close because of some injuries that happened to my husband years ago.  She was there before I was and was his advocate.  We have a special bond and I couldn't let her go off to Mt. Everest without a send off!  We invited them over for dinner and unbeknownst to her, another friend was holding people outside in the driveway.  When a large group had arrived, they all came in and surprised her!  We all prayed for her, ate dessert together, and just had a fun evening visiting.

Trying to help her fatten up...

 Stair climbing crew!

Her husband brought this for everyone to sign - she plans on taking it with her!

 My co-conspirator!  

Please say a prayer for this amazing woman this week as she embarks on this adventure!