My Easter Flowers

My family knows how much I like tulips so look what Lauren showed up with at my door last night!  Aren't they beautiful?

Happy Easter From the Wilsons

Chad is 37 Today!

Happy 37th birthday to our baby.  You know you are getting old when your baby is 37!  He is off somewhere camping with his family today, hope they are having a great time!  Love you son and Happy Birthday!

"It Is Finished"

My Baby Has Grown UP!!!!

Hard to believe my baby will be 37-years-old in two days!  Hard to believe he is now dad to four kids!

Chad and Dustin 20-Years Ago

Another old picture of this week's birthday boy.  This one is of a teenage Uncle Chad spending time with his nephew Dustin.  This picture was taken in 1993, 20 years ago.  It doesn't seem like it could have been so long ago...it really is true, time flies when you're having fun!

Chad's 17th Birthday

 

From the birthday archives!  Chad with his new birthday shirt 20 years ago.  When Dustin saw this picture he said, "That shirt is so ugly."  Hey, it was the rage 20 years ago!  Have a good birthday week, Chad!

Chad's Birthday Celebration

Chad will be 37 next Saturday.  He and his family will be out of town then so I had them over for lunch today.  Here is a picture of the kids with him as he opened his present from them. I said something at church about his birthday being next Sunday.  He corrected me that he was born on March 30 not March 31.  At the house Isabell asked me how old he would be.  I told her he would be 36.  He explained to me in great detail that he was born in 1976 which meant he would be 37 this year.  He is beginning to think his mother doesn't know when he was born!!  Poor baby!

No More of This!

Thursday was Christy's last day at 5 Guys and Fries!  After 3 armed robberies and a car through the front glass windows of her latest store, as her mother I am glad she is out of there.  It was a good job for her and they were good to her there but a better opportunity arose and that is a good thing.  Good luck Christy on your new adventure!  5 Guys will miss their best metroplex manager!

This year Chad's birthday will be on Easter.  Hope he has a better day this year than he did 4 years ago on his birthday.  He spent that entire day sitting in the surgery waiting room at the hospital while I was in surgery.  My 1 1/2 hour surgery turned out to last all day.  I will never forget him saying, "Mom there are 365 days in a year.  You just had to do this on my birthday!"

 

I chose to post this picture today because I thought we could all use a reminder that it really is officially Spring!  And tulips are my favorite flowers!

 

Chad and Family

Chad, Mary, Samantha, Isabell, and Carlos at last night's Red Brick Pizza Fundraiser to benefit the Cornerstone Books and Gifts store at our church.

Chad is Our Next March Birthday

March is a busy birthday month for us and Chad is next and last on our March birthday list.  We are proud of him for his military service to our country and to our state.  Here he and his wife Mary are shown last year working security at a big race at the Texas Motor Speedway.  I believe that is NASCAR driver Denny Hamlin with them.  (As you can guess from my last sentence, I do not follow NASCAR but my family does.)  I can't believe that on March 30 my baby (his girls hate it when I call him that!) will be 37!

Steffinee & Samantha

So proud of Chad's girls.  This picture was taken at church yesterday when Steffinee was down for the weekend.  Steffinee is 14 and Samantha is 8.  You can tell they are sisters!  We think they are precious girls.

Steffinee and Grandma

Steffinee was down this weekend for a visit.  Hard to believe how grandma's grandbabies are growing up!  Steffinee you are a beautiful young lady.  Love you, Special Girl!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ISABELL

Happy 11th Birthday Isabell!  Today Isabell is celebrating with her immediate family and some school friends at ITZ' Pizza.  Here she is Thursday night admiring her braclet from Dustin.

Isabell's Birthday Celebration

Tomorrow will be Isabell's 11th birthday.  She will have a party with friends tomorrow so we had her celebration at our house last night.  Here she is with her cake and the baker.  Of course Samantha had to make her cake.  Isabell said it was the best cake she had tasted in years!

Dustin and His Baby

Dustin and Tucker last night.

I swear the dog thinks he is human!

The Hart's will be returning home today and Dustin will have to give his baby back!  I think they have both enjoyed being together this week.

Samantha's Hot Chocolate Cupcakes

Samantha is on Spring Break this week and that means baking.  Yesterday she made these hot chocolate cupcakes with marshmallow frosting.  Last night Papaw came in to get one for his late night snack and was disappointed to discover she took them home with her!  She had already shared one with him and that was his limit!

 

When she was getting ready to bake I reached up in the cabinet to get her a mixing bowl.  "No, no," she said.  "I'll use my own but thank you anyway."  She reached down and got one of her aluminum mixing bowls a friend gave her for Christmas.  She is such a little baker.  Baking seems to be her passion.

Sleepy Guys

Dustin is dog sitting Tucker while the Harts are on their cruise.  Caught them this morning while they were still a little sleepy.  They always bring Tucker's bed but he always sleeps with Dustin.  He has to have some of my clothes to nap on.  That is the only way he can get close to me!

Lindsay's Official Team Finish in Denver

GREAT EFFORT and FINISH TEAM!!
Tejas 14 National finished Colorado Crossroads in 5th place out of 120 teams after beginning in 75th place in the 14 American Division. WOW! I am so very impressed by your efforts. I know that it can be very difficult to press on when you are tired and believe, if even for a second, that you are done but 14 National plays with heart and even in those seconds where other teams might believe they are done, somehow, somewhere each of you prove differently and this is why I find you’re amazing. Yes, as a team we still need to find base defense and cover, and yes we still need to transition, but you have that heart and camaraderie that few teams seldom find and this is one reason I luv this team.

As a reminder, we do not have a tournament this next weekend. As a team we elected to pull our tournament on March 16-17th, and take a short rest, before gearing back up. And, in addition, we will take a moment of pause to rest and enjoy our families. Along these same lines, there will not be practice on Tuesday or Friday of Spring Break week. For those of you extending your Spring Break vacations away, I wish you an enjoyable time, and for everyone in travel, I wish you each safe passages home!! Regular practices will resume on Tuesday, March 19th.
Thank you for allowing me to be a part of your weekend. Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns.

Respectfully,
Angelia Stewart

Latest Update on the Denver VB Tournament

This is the report I got back this morning when I asked how Lindsay's team is doing in the Denver Volleyball Tournament:  Tournament is good. Fighting to stay in gold bracket today. Playing on one of the four featured courts this morning. There are 100 ish courts. 

So proud of you Lindsay!

Way to Go Linz!

It may be cold and snowy in Denver but Lindsay is hot!  She just served the first 12 points of the game!  YAY!

Snow in Denver

Just talked with Cindy.  They are expecting 8 to 12-inches of snow in Denver.  Lindsay will probably enjoy seeing so much snow, Cindy not so much.  They will spend the weekend there then fly from Denver to Miami for a cruise on Monday.  They will be much more in their element when they cruise than they will be in the snow!

Lindsay in winter gear last year for her band competition in Chicago.  She may be from the Southwest but her activities do allow her to experience the cold and snow from time to time!

Good Luck Lindsay!

Lindsay and Cindy will being flying to Denver this afternoon for a volleyball tournament.  Good luck to Lindsay and her Tejas team!  This girl is one good volleyball player and is fortunate to be able to play in various major cities.  Proud of you Lindsay.

Grandma's Birthday

 

Today would have been my Grandma Hawkins' birthday.  I was priviledged to grow up next door to this precious woman and it shaped my life.  Not only did she teach me practical life lessons, she took me on walks to throw rocks in the creek which helped me somewhat overcome my extreme fear of water.  She took me on long walks by the railroad tracks where I enjoyed listening to her stories about the past, which I believe formed my love of history.  But most importantly she taught me about faith.  My grandmother trusted everything to God.  I saw skin cancer fall off her face because of prayer.  I watched her broken arm heal without pain medication or a trip to the doctor.  I often woke to her praying and went to sleep hearing her prayers.  I will always be thankful God allowed her to be my grandmother. She lived to be in her 90s so all my children were able to enjoy her, too.  I still miss her very much.

In the picture above, Grandma is holding her baby Morris Eugene.  She lost him to diptheria on his 4th birthday and talked about him and how precious he was for the rest of her life.  I sat in a seat next to her many times in the little church across the road.

Library Celebration

Grapevine Library just turned 90.  A big celebration and open house was held at the library this past Sunday.  Samantha is a big time supporter of our library.  She likes it much better than hers in Euless.  She is an avid reader and recently read about 30 books from there in a week.  Needless to say, she just had to go to the open house.  She listened patiently as the mayor talked about the library's history and read his proclamation.  She ate a plate of cookies, fruit, and cheese, had some punch and then she was off to have some fun!

Look what's under the trees in my yard!

Thank you, Dustin!  How ugly is this?  My grandson just had to rescue a pink flamingo from the trash at the church!  Isn't it lovely?  NOT!!

Lone Star State of Mind

Tonight we will be in a Lone Star State of Mind as we enjoy some good ole Texas music.  Samantha enjoyed the Grapevine Opry so much last Saturday night that she sent Cathy an email last night asking if she had tickets so we could go again this week!  The kid loves music but grandma told her we cannot afford $40 a weekend to entertain her!  (You know she thinks grandma's money grows on trees!)  Being the self-assured little lady that she is, she just knew Cathy would want us to be there!  So once again Cathy graciously gave grandma and grandpa her comp tickets and grandma will spring for Samantha a ticket.  Looking forward to some rip-roaring, foot-stomping, boot-scooting down-home Texas music.  Tonight's show is entitled Lone Star State of Mind and will feature all Texas artists music.  No doubt we will be hearing "I'm Walking the Floor Over You" and "On The Road Again."

Love this hometown old theatre that is used continually for live music venues.