Easter 2011

I absolutely love Easter! Out of all the holidays, Easter is my favorite by far.  There is nothing sweeter than celebrating the resurrection of our Lord.  This year, the girls and I had the incredible opportunity to participate in the Resurrection dance with our church.  Over 2,000 members of Second Baptist gathered together at Discovery Green Park...smack dab in the middle of downtown Houston where we danced for Jesus that Sunday morning. To our disbelief the video was put on YouTube and instantly went viral!  Spreading the word all over the world!  I even had a friend tell me that she was in Okanawa, Japan visiting her son when it came on the TV news program they were watching. What an awesome blessing to be a part of!

After all of that fun, we celebrated tradition in the Higgins house.  Beginning with the Hoenerhoff "Easter Water" where I sprinkle water on each of the kids to wake them up on Easter morn. Every year it's excitedly anticipated the night before...kind of like the Easter Bunny.  The kids know it's coming, they just don't know when.  James sat straight up after being sprinkled and asked for his Bob the Builder umbrella because it was "raining in my room." So cute!

After the kids are awake the next tradition is to dig into the Easter baskets to see what the Easter bunny brought, shortly followed by the first hunt of the day.  The Easter bunny always hides the dyed eggs we created the night before throughout the house just for Ashlee, Sydney, and James to find. 

 After church, lunch and a much needed nap, we invited the neighbor kids over for another egg hunt.  These plastic eggs each containing lot's of candy, but the ultimate prize... CONFETTI EGGS!!!

James' First Fish!

We always have a blast at the Baughman Bayhouse and this day was no exception.  Everybody, friends and family, gathered together the Saturday before Easter to celebrate Travis' birthday which happened to fall on Easter this year. While the girls and I dyed Easter eggs upstairs, the boys decided to do a little fishing.

Darrell made sure he explained all the ends and outs of a fisherman.  Beginning with the appropriate bait for the environment...

 

Then Dad made sure James understood the importance of patience and concentration, never letting your guard down...

It didn't take long before James was able to yank up not one, not two, but three fish! ... all by himself! 

National Junior Honor Society

 

On April 14, 2011 we attended the National Junior Honor Society Induction Ceremony where our beautiful Ashlee became a member at her middle school.  This is a high honor for any 7th grader and we are so proud of her.

 Certain requirements had to be met and an application had to be turned in for her to even be looked at by the Officers. Ashlee was accepted on the basis of her achievements as well as her participation and service within her community.  Ashlee is expected to keep all A's in her honors classes and remain on the Leadership Committee of her youth group at church.  She will also be expected to do service hours within her community next school year.

Several of her friends from church were inducted this evening also. So we got them together for a group shot. From left to right; Madelaine, Ashlee, Marissa, Manzi, and Koen.

The Chocolate Bar to Celebrate!

This year I thought it would be fun to celebrate my birthday at The Chocolate Bar! I heard about this place from a friend but had never been.  I knew the kids would especially enjoy Mom's birthday if they were surrounded by chocolate! So after church Monica, Roger, the kids, me and Darrell drove to Rice Village for a chocolate treat.

We had all kinds of chocolate!  Chocolate covered bananas, strawberries, and apples were my favorite.  The kids loved the chocolate Oreos, cereal, peanut butter chocolate, and even chocolate pizza.  You could make your own chocolate bar with whatever fixings inside it, but we were so full of chocolate already so we didn't try it. 

Then Roger saw the Pop Rocks!!!  Oh boy, were they fun!  James' first experience with the candy I grew up with.  He took a whole hand full and crammed them in his mouth.  At first he wasn't sure about the popping sensation, but soon wanted everyone to play with his new found fun!

And to top off the evening, Darrell surprised Moe and me with the best... yep, you guessed it! Chocolate Coffee!  Truly one of the best bdays in a long time!  I was sick for days...

A couple days later my Higgins family took me out to Barcena's, our favorite Mexican restaurant.  It's always a ton of fun getting together.  The kids are so close in age and are always excited to see each other. I am blessed to have such wonderful in-laws.  I just wish we could hang out more often!

Best Zoo Trip Yet!

Every year I purchase a family membership at the Houston Zoo.  It pays for itself after two trips, so it's worth it for our fam.  This year our Spring trip to the zoo turned out to be the best one yet.  The new African Safari area was finally open and the giraffes were a huge hit!  Sydney, James and I were very impressed!

The first thing we saw was a baby giraffe sitting in the middle that was absolutely adorable.  We could see people on top of a fenced in area that looked like they were petting the giraffes so we decided to get a little closer.

We saw a line leading up to the petting place (so I thought) but after asking the zoo keeper what everyone was doing she said that they were FEEDING the giraffes!!!  Well we HAD to try that out.  So $5 later we were standing in the line waiting our turn.

Finally, Sydney turn... She held out her piece of lettuce like a pro!  The giraffes walking right up to get a bite. How exciting to see such a beautiful animal God had made so close up! 

Then James' turn... The giraffe was ready and waiting.  James stood back half reaching out with the piece of lettuce not sure about the long, dark purple tongue sticking out (eye level) of this creatures mouth.  It took a little coaxing from big sister Sydney before he stretched his arm far enough for the giraffe to get a hold of it.

I absolutely love hanging out with my kids at the zoo... especially when the weather is nice.  I praise God that we have such a beautiful place to explore and hang out with all the interesting animals that He created...  including MY little monkeys!!!

Happy 13th Birthday... My Favorite Teenager, Ashlee!

This past February 24th we experienced our first teenager birth in the Higgins household.  Ashlee turned 13!!! 

Celebrating with her closest friends, she decided to have a slumber party that went into a day of swimming at the indoor pool in Angleton. We ordered pizza, ate strawberry cake and opened presents. The biggest box was from her bestie Tori. After much effort she opened it to find a huge teddy bear dressed up in summer swimming gear! 

Ashlee's favorite flavor is strawberry so I made her a strawberry birthday cake and threw in a cup of mini chocolate chips. It was a hit!  Make a wish!

Being born in February, Ashlee has never been able to have a pool party.  The weather is always too cold, but not this time.  It didn't matter how cold it was outside because the Angleton Rec Center has the best indoor pool, with a lazy river, hot tub, and a curly slide. It even has a play area for toddlers complete with a beach, toys and a baby slide.

Ashlee and I have been through a lot in the past 13 years and I am so proud of who she has become.  She is a smart, sensitive, compassionate, Christian young lady... full of life.  I love being her Mom!

My Sweet Valentine!

Love is knowing all about someone, and still wanting to be with them more than any other person. Love is trusting them enough to tell them everything about yourself, including the things you might be ashamed of.  Love is feeling comfortable and safe with someone, but still getting weak knees when they walk into a room and smile at you.  Happy Valentine's Day to the man of my dreams.  I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with you!

We celebrated the special occasion together with our friends at our church dinner and play.  Johnny Carino's catered our delicious meal while we watched a hilarious musical highlighting "Love Through the Ages"  I could not stop laughing at the cavemen, Renaissance people, Flapper's, and even ELVIS!  Even Darrell tapped his foot through most of it.  All the actors/actresses were volunteers from Second Baptist.  Impressive! 

 

Dear Love of my life,

You are more beautiful than a hill full of spring time bluebonnets in central Texas.

You're personality is sweeter than a favorite jelly bean.

You have given your heart to God and you lean on Him for He can give you things that I can't.

But still I am more blessed than many men.

Our beautiful and wonderful family is worth more than anything we could ever pursue in this life.

Let's go stronger as we pursue God and all that comes with His masterful plan.

I Love You my wonderful jewel.

Darrell