Carli

Carli.

In less that two months she'll be 7!

Oh this gal!

She is somethin' else!

She's smart, sweet, AND sassy!

She recently got TONS of things for her bedroom from her God sister Emily.

Emily is redoing her room. A teenage room.

So she gave all of her little girl things to Carli.

Well, Carli was in heaven! She kept saying that she has a big girl room and wants a sign that says "Diva!"

Spring Break she spent hanging out with her girls.

She's discovered chapter books.

 

We had a mommy/daughter day at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo.

She had a blast! It was right up her alley!

We were there six hours and she still didn't want to leave!

 

 

Tyler

The life of a teen boy.

Almost 15, in less than two months.

Tyler stays busy.

Shortly after his musical was over, we went across town to the other high school here, to see their musical. One of his long time friends was in it.

Choir.

I stay surprised at how busy the director keeps them.

Not sure how these kids keep up with all of these songs, functions, competitions, and their school work.

Tyler got a 1 rating (the BEST) at his solo competition!

Right now, he's rehearsing with a mix choir and a men's choir for UIL competition.

Two days a week for two hours.

On top of that, his high school production of South Pacific was nominated for TEN awards from Tommy Tunes. You can click on this link:http://www.tuts.com/Education/TommyTuneAwards/tabid/94/Default.aspx

to read all about it!

Basically, it's the Tony Awards of High School Musical Productions!

Theatre Under The Stars Tommy Tune Awards recognize and reward excellence in the production of musical theatre by high school students and their teachers in the greater Houston metropolitan area. TUTS invites over 150 high schools to participate each year. The first 45 schools that apply are invited to participate in the program. These local high schools compete in 15 categories including both on-stage and creative roles. In addition to the statue awards presented during the Tony® Awards-style program, eight scholarships are awarded. Developed by TUTS in 2002, the Tommy Tune Awards feature performances from nominees in the Best Musical category, a musical medley with the years Best Leading Actor and Best Leading Actress nominees, and a grand finale including two students from each participating school. The Theatre Under The Stars Tommy Tune Awards are named for Houston native and Lamar High School alumnus, Tommy Tune. A performer, director, and choreographer, Tune has received nine Tony® Awards. Each year, the Tommy Tune Awards ceremony is open to the general public and attended by over 2000 students and their supporters.

It's a gigantic deal! 

 It will be broad casted LIVE on ABC 13, Houston!

The numbers being performed are with the sailors and the nurses (Nothing But A Dame, Gonna Wash That Man Right Out of My Hair).

 Tyler was not in those scenes since he was the little boy. 

His choir director and the cast wanted Tyler to perform with them though, SO he will be a SAILOR!
It's crazy and exciting!

This week he starts rehearsing for that!

It's in a couple of weeks.
Over Spring Break, Tyler went back to Camp Eagle with the youth group from FUMC-Bryan.
This time though, they went as missionaries.
They worked as the kitchen clean up crew.
 Washing dishes, cleaning the kitchen for over two hundred camp staffers and some campers, three times a day, also they cleaned cabins for six days!
They also got the perks of the camp just like last year,
 even getting to stay in the brand new cabins!

 

We are just so pleased with Tyler and his accomplishments!

Austin

Austin.

In less than three months, he'll be 19.

He's been doing really well.

Some medicine changes have occurred, so we're monitoring seizure activity.

More on that later.

He's been practicing singing a song from the movie Hairspray. "Ladies Choice".

He uses his guitar with it too.

I'll post a video soon.

He's been staying low key lately. Not too much on his plate.

That's a good thing for him.

Routine and his comfort zone are best for him.

Anthony

For three months, Anthony was without a job.

You can imagine, it was hard.

It was a storm that we learned a lot from and that God got us through.

One afternoon, Carli was playing/sitting in the grass, when she found this:

YES! A REAL FOUR LEAF CLOVER!

We were shocked!
A four leaf clover = good luck!
Was this a sign of things to come?

Right before she picked it, Anthony applied for a job and a friend of ours sent his resume to that particular job because she knew the president.

LOTS of prayers from us and others, applications filled out for other jobs, resumes sent everywhere, and TEN DAYS later, Anthony got a call for an interview for that particular job! AND  TEN days after that, Anthony started his new job with them!

(Actually, the day he was suppose to start, his mother passed away the night before, so it was postponed for a week later).

He is LOVING his new job!

Thank you everyone for your prayers.

Thank you everyone who took his resume and sent it to people you knew in banking.



Where to begin?

Well, I've been a total blog slacker!

I love my blog and so it makes me sad that I've neglected it.

BUT, I do have good reason...

(I had to quote Sweet Brown! We quote her daily.)

So, yes, my lap top crashed!

I've been sharing Anthony's computer with him and the kids.

No fun!

I'm just not use to his.

My cell phone auto uploads pictures from it to my computer, so right now there almost 300 pictures waiting to do so, and can't!

I hate to upload all of my pictures and stuff onto his lap top, but I'm beyond ready to update my blog.

The pictures from my previous post came from our cousin's face book page, so those are now saved on Ant's computer.

As we speak, I'm uploading ALL of my pictures and videos to Anthony's computer!

That means new posts coming! LOTS of posts!

Get ready!

This is what it's all about-LOVE!

This past week was a long, overwhelming one.

I still cannot believe that I will never see my mother in law, Mary, again here on Earth.

I cannot believe that my children have lost their grandmother.

They have no grandparents. They have no great grandfathers.

They do however have TWO GREAT GRANDMOTHERS and

LOTS of extended family members!

In fact, those family members AND friends

came to show their support and love for us,

as well as their love and memory of Mary.

After the funeral, we all came together.

(Little fact: same place that Anthony and I got married, 19 years ago AND I had my baby shower when I was pregnant with Austin, 18 years ago.)

Everyone brought food! OH THE FOOD! TONS of food! It was delicious!

We even brought plenty home with us.

We all had such a great time!

Eating, visiting, catching up, hugging, crying, and laughing!

Kids, lots of kids running around, playing.

It really was like a family reunion.

Mary would've loved this! Seeing everyone there!

 

Here are an insane amount of pictures of pretty much everyone who was there.

This is not even ALL of our family!

Amazing, yes?

This wasn't even all of the food! There was more at the outside patio, even pizzas.

I feel like I cannot say "THANK YOU!" enough!

I'm so happy that I have all of these pictures (thank you Julia) on my blog, so that my children can look back and see how much love was shown for us and their Grandma!

 

THANK YOU to all of our friends and family for the out pouring of love and condolences from face book, texts, calls, cards, and food.

 

This is what it's all about-LOVE!

 

Stay tuned, I have way more pictures and posts coming soon!