Mother's Day, Our New Garden and

There's been some bad storms coming through Shreveport but we've been doing fine with them. Sydney and Jonas are excited that with the summer coming, that means their cousin Liam will be hanging out with us each day! We've been looking online, on Craigslist, in the newspaper for a car Brian can use strictly to get to work and back but it's tough going right now. Hoping to find something soon.

New Van
We did purchase a 2005 Honda Odyssey in the middle of my jury duty trial. We are really loving it! I was worried it would be a lot different than driving a car but I am adjusting to it fine and the kids LOVE the DVD system. A movie is ALWAYS playing when we get in. Here's  some shots of that:

Mother's Day
Here are just some fun pictures we took together on Mother's Day this year.

Sydney and I painted our finger nails.

Love my kids! They can drive me crazy some days but overall they are very sweet and caring and so loving. Sweet and precious gifts from God. I truly understand the love God has for us more fully as I interact with my children.

Jonas with his backpack
 Just a cute random photo. Jonas loves this Spider-Man backpack he got for Christmas from his cousin Ross and I thought this was just so adorable, him staring at this piece of paper intently as if he was reading it! He's going to have a hard time when Sydney starts Pre-K.

Paint Your Heart Out and Dinner
For 3 years now, Brian and I have participated in a community service project they do in our city called Paint Your Heart Out. Groups from the city are assigned homes where elderly, or disabled citizens need a home repainted and the city buys the paint and provides the material and the community provides the man power! Brian has painted the houses each time and the first year, I helped watch kids at the church for those painting, the second year I think I just stayed home with the kids but this year I wanted to paint! We're thankful our friends the Terry's were willing to watch the kids all morning for us. I got paint in my hair (probably from painting straight above myself, lol) and it was hard work but it was fun and I was so glad we were able to help this woman out who had had a stroke! Now she will come home to a newly painted house. Later that day, they had an appreciation dinner for all the volunteers including a crawfish boil!

New Flower Bed
And as if painting a house wasn't enough for a day, we went home and MADE this flower bed around our tree in the front yard. We had to try to level out the dirt around the roots because they are HUGE! Brian's co-worker gave us some irises to plant and then a few days later we went and got some other flowers too.

Even Miss Priss herself helped us with the garden.

We're just grouping the irises all together for now, they are supposed to expand out really well and Brian's co-worker is bringing us more too so hopefully we'll have another ring of flowers around the bed soon. Overall, I love the way it came out and the color it adds to our front yard!

WaterPark
We will be going to the water park  A LOT this summer. We decided to go last Friday and it was packed! but the kids had a great time!

Jonas might be outgrowing naps. For now I don't push trying to get him down for a nap but if he falls asleep I let him sleep. He's off and on for naps each day and I'm ok with that. It's more important he sleeps well at night than during the day for me.

Hope everyone is doing well and we look forward to a fun summer!

Happy Mother's Day and what we've been up to!

First of all, Happy Mother's Day! To all the amazing women who have shaped my life (and my family's) through their examples of love, faith, devotion and sacrifice. Selfless and Sacrifice are the first words that come to my mind when I think of my mom and what motherhood means. I think of all the times she sacrificed for my sisters and I so that we could have things and feel safe and loved in our home. I know that she and many other women instilled in me the sense of service and love that is symbolic of faithful women of God and I hope to emulate you all! My children have become a lot of who I am today and I wouldn't change that for the world :)


I am very appreciative today too of my Mother-in-law who took time off from work to come and take care of the kids while I spent a 10 days serving jury duty. She took the kids all over to parks and fun places, did laundry, and prepared dinner and it was such a huge blessing that I didn't feel overwhelmed while I served and wouldn't get home until between 7 and 8 at night. It was a good experience for me and I am grateful to her for making that possible! Here's a photo journal of some of their times together!

Grandma Tuck got here on the 28th of April

Of course Jonas gives the customary greeting of stroking the jugular. lol

I think they went to Kid City several days but here's some photos of when they went on the 29th. Kid City is a daycare facility but they have this climbing gym open to the public. Sydney LOVES this place.

Then, one of our friends had a birthday part on May 4th! Theresa was a big help and picked out the birthday presents and helped Brian manage the kids at the party.

And the other party guests are the boys Sydney and Jonas play with on our playdates weekly :) Well, we see Johnny too if it 's a day their mom is watching him! So these guys hang out a lot and in church, very close!

And it looks like Jonas wanted to help out with the candles!

Then that night, we took Grandma Tuck to Ralph & Kacoo's as a thank you for all her help this week and to celebrate her anniversary of being married to Grandpa Tuck for 36 years! We felt bad separating them for their anniversary but we were so thankful she came!!

Also, another great activity for this Mother's Day, we went to the Dallas, TX temple. I am so glad we finally were able to make the trip again and it was super fun in our new van where the kids could watch movie after movie on the drop-down screen in the van! They loved that! While Brian was in doing a session, I got some shots of the kids around the temple grounds.

It always makes for a long day when we go to the temple but I know it's so worth it and especially to show the kids that the temple is important. We talk so often about how they are sealed together with us for a forever family and it make motherhood that much more sweeter to know my kids are mine for always.

Sending love and kisses to every woman of God today. Hugs to everyone!