life hasn't given me much time to blog these days. let me see if i can catch up.

i joined some friends from church to run in the St. James Missionary Baptist 5K a couple of weeks ago. it was the toughest 5K course i've ever done. bleh. i had a cold, too, but still managed to snag a silver medal for my age group.



Brian had to attend a Texas Flood Plane Management conference in Corpus Christi last week and took Hazel and me along. the hotel was nice and all, but there is just not much happening in Corpus these days. seems like all the business must be going to Port A and Rockport. sad to say, but i left with a pretty poor impression of the city. i did enjoy the time with Brian. one of the nights we went out to dinner and had drinks and listened to music late into the night. we kept Hazel up way later than is respectable. i'm afraid we're going to ruin that little girl.

Hazel telling Brian a secret at Landry's in Corpus last Wednesday night.

the beautiful wildflowers were so pretty on the drive home from the coast. here are a few of the pics we took.

we've been doing a lot of talking about selling our house, and we've pretty much decided that it's a must. there is a house that has caught our eye, a colonial style house built in the 40's. it isn't huge, but bigger than our place here, and has a large lot with a pool. the asking price is less than others we've been looking at. we'll see...

Redeemer had their Maundy Thursday dinner last week. the deacons helped serve, so Brian didn't get to sit with us, but we had a lovely visit with the Muirs. the church goes all out on this event every year. they served lamb, or chicken, for those who preferred, grilled mixed veggies, salad, bread, wild rice, cheesecake with blackberry sauce, and wine, lots of wine. we went to the Good Friday service as well. these days i don't get to sit through much of the services, but Hazel and i listened from the foyer along with a lot of other mommies and babies. even so, it is always good to gather with the saints.

Margaret and Samuel had a soccer game saturday morning, but William and John and i stayed home to get some stuff done. i finished Margaret and Hazel's Easter dresses and tried to catch up on some homeschool lesson plans. they'll be finishing up some of their textbooks soon, but there are others that they won't finish until way into the summer. i can foresee William repeating fourth grade. he has just turned his noggin off this year and is not making much progress, if any. John continues to struggle with grasping reading, but is making progress,  even if it is painfully slow. Margaret and Samuel are doing well. i think they will do great, if and when we put them back into school.

my grandfather's wife who i wrote about awhile back is still at Brook Army Medical Center. it seemed that she was getting better, but apparently she has had a massive stroke and will be taken off life support today. my mom and stepdad went down there with other family members this morning. it is really sad to think of what she did to herself over the years and how hard her life has been. i just hope that these last couple of weeks have brought some sort of redemption and peace.

after a beautiful Easter service at Redeemer yesterday morning, we came home and had brunch. the kids played outside awhile, then we went out to the Evans farmhouse in Hutto. we haven't spent much time with that side of the family in awhile, so there was a lot of catching up to do. it was late when we got home and this morning i have a pounding head from not enough water and too many adult beverages, but it's all good.