William and Kate Forever!

Chris and I had a slumber party last night! We pushed the sofas together and camped out in the living room so I could easily wake up to watch the Royal Wedding. Chris slept through the entire thing, but I stayed awake to watch it all.

I love weddings. There's something about the youth, love and hope that warms my little heart. And although it was slightly less grand, I couldn't help but think of my wedding day at 4:30am this morning.

It was a joyous occasion:

And similarly to William and Kate, we shared a kiss for the public:

It wasn't a carriage, but we did enjoy our ride:

And like all weddings, it was filled with youth:

Love:

And hope:

And as I watched him last night sleeping on the sofa in the living room with me so I could have my "Royal Wedding Slumber Party", it was confirmed again (as it is daily) that I married a true Prince.

Easter Buddies

At the Seder dinner I hosted a few weeks ago, I made little party favors for the ladies. Which included little fluffy chicks attached to a hair clip. What a better time to wear that than at Easter?

Jojo made a good model:

Tootie joined Laura and the rest of us when we visited the neighbors:

Look at that little puppy smile!

Even more crawfish was served and it was tasty!

Once the big announcement was made, the ladies gathered around and talked "baby" for the rest of the day!

Easter is such a special holiday as it celebrates the very basics of our faith-- that Jesus was crucified, died, then rose again. His sacrifice is what has saved us! What a fun way to celebrate-- with special family time and the announcement of new life!

More Easter Excitement

Of course Johanna and Jeremy's big announcement was the source of most of most of our Easter discussions. But there were many other fun adventures.

Like at Plaucheville. Where a pirot...

turned into a beverage container:

Plaucheville, Louisiana is as big of a metropolis as it sounds. In fact, the directions included instructions like, "turn Left at the silver tractor shed". Um... what the heck is a tractor shed!?

We made it without getting lost, though, and the weather could not have been more perfect:

Jeremy took charge of the crawfish boil:

They were tasty!

When night came, the Couvillion clan treated us to a Patridge family style concert:

I didn't even know Jeremy knew how to play the guitar!

There was even a fiddle:

There's no doubt-- we were in the country!

PD wanted to join in the fun:

And fit right in!

It was a fun night in the country and a great opportunity to get to know our extended family even better.

Big Surprise

When we gathered this weekend for Easter, we knew it would be a fun, family-centered weekend. The perfect kind of weekend to share good news!

It started on Good Friday when Chris and I drove to Plaucheville to spend time with Jeremy's family. (Jeremy is Johanna's husband. Johanna is Chris' sister). They gathered everyone together for a large family photo.

Jeremy yelled out, "everybody say cheese!"

We decided to take a second photo. Jeremy then yelled out, "everybody say, Johanna's pregnant!"

What?!

(Click on the photos to make them larger and you can see everyone's reaction. Half are happy, half are stunned. Chris was thinking, "did I hear that right?")

After we all realized what just happened, there was a lot of squealing, clapping, hugging and tears of joy:

Here I am trying to decode J&J's behavior the past three months:

They had stayed with us for a weekend and I swear I thought Jojo was drinking! Turns out, Jeremy was ordering Sprite and Tonics for her. And this explains why she didn't want to eat the eggs Benedict I made for breakfast! Hollaindaise sauce has raw egg in it. They sure pulled one over on us!

Here is the happy couple with the happy grandparents:

On Easter Sunday, we visited friends across the street and made the announcement there. Again, lots of squeals, hugs and tears of joy:

You can tell Jojo was happy to have the secret out.

(See proud papa in the background?)

Chris, Justin, Laura and I cannot WAIT to meet our little niece or nephew and Papa PD is ecstatic to meet his first grand-baby! It'll be a fun filled Thanksgiving and Christmas this year!!

Easter Peeps and Treats

Chris and I had a fun filled Easter weekend in Louisiana. It started in Plaucheville (also known as Jeremy-land)(Jeremy is Jojo's husband) and ended in Baton Rouge. I'm not one to arrive as a guest empty handed, so I made sure to whip up some treats for the weekend.

Which is why I have a (not so great) photo of these:

Peep Pops! I also made some without sprinkles and some that were pink... but for some reason I only stopped to snap a photo of these.

They were a hit!

I mean, who doesn't love sprinkles?

I had visions of making the "dirt" that's made from Oreo crumbles or the Easter "grass" that's made from green coconut flakes. But instead I just stuck them on a cookie sheet.

I also made a whole-lotta these:

Which, individually, look like this:

 They aren't as cute as the Peep Pops... but they sure are addictive!

It was a really fun, family-filled Easter weekend... keep checking back for updates this week... we might have some really fun news to share!

Easter Memories

Easter is a great time to dress your kids up in uncomfortable clothing:

Here is Chris with his brother, sister and mom:

Love his red outfit!

Meanwhile in Texas, here's my brother with my mom:

Chris dyed Easter eggs as a child:

And I hunted Easter Eggs with my grandmother:

Here's Chris with his snazzy red outfit again:

Look at how cute little blond Johanna is!

Here's another cute blondie... me!

Happy Easter everybody!

Houston Museum of Natural Science

About once a week you'll find me at Houston's Museum of Natural Science. As a part of my Junior League duties, I am a docent at the HMNS. On my scheduled days I give museum tours to 4th graders. I wasn't great at science in school. But, with this volunteer duty, I don't have to know everything about science... I just have to know more than a 4th grader! And I usually do.

I've been seeing this poster outside of the elevator every time I go up there to volunteer:

I love the tag at the top, "Find out why you're so dang proud."

This is advertizing a special exhibit that is only being shown for a limited time. Because this exhibit costs more than regular admission, I am not able to take the 4th graders through it. But, I'm a proud Texan, dag-nabit, so I spent some time exploring the exhibit after my duties last Friday.

This is a replica of a ship:

I don't remember which ship, though. (Oops.)

I saw a replica of my favorite Texas flag:

Then, I turned and saw what I thought was a replica of a cannon:

But then I read the little plaque that informed me it's the real deal. Amazing!

I only had about 45 minutes, so I didn't get to explore every corner of the exhibit, but I felt it was very well done and hope to go back and learn more about my Texan heritage!

Lindsay's House!

My bestie, Lindsay, is getting married in 30 days. This weekend, she took her bridal portraits.

Unfortunately, I can't post the photos of her all dolled up and looking beautiful in her dress... but I CAN post photos of her fun apartment!

Lindsay lives with... well, I've lost count... but a TON of others. Others, like Elliot:

And these two characters:

Of course Winnie the Pooh is a roommate:

And Daisy, the Goldendoodle:

(There's just one of the real Daisy... but isn't this neat artwork?)

There's a pig that lights up and dances:

And another pig who has a donkey as a friend:

And of course, a foam ten-gallon cowboy hat.

I'm not sure how she gets anything done with all these characters hanging around... but I sure do enjoy visiting them!

An Easter Bunny Visit

The Easter Bunny visited the Hill house a little early this year!

He hopped in, ate some leaves:

And hopped away:

I ran outside and searched all over... but didn't find any Easter Eggs! What gives?? Maybe he was just practicing for the big day...