Something Wicked

Friday night's episode of Dateline was entitled "Something Wicked." The show told the stories of 6 women who had all tried to hire hit men. We happened to turn on the TV just as the show was beginning and heard a familiar name and town being talked about.

We lived in Bridgeport, Texas (just north of Fort Worth) for three years, and Hannah was born while we were there.

After moving to Bridgeport I began working full time at a law office in town. I liked my job and the people I worked with. The attorney who hired me was Mike Simpson, his brother Ross, also an attorney, worked in the Bridgeport office of their firm as well. These are very wealthy men who chose to live in the Bridgeport because they liked small town life there. You would have never known by the look and size of our office on Main Street how high profile some of the cases handled there were.

Working with Mike and Ross was fun. They were kind and treated their employees well. I met their wives and children and saw them many times during the 2 years that I worked there.

Several years after moving away from Bridgeport we ran into Becky Simpson (Ross's wife) at a beach resort in south Texas. We chatted with her a couple of times during the week while we were there.

Imagine our surprise when a few years after seeing Becky at the beach we heard that she had tried to hire someone to kill a woman! The story got crazier as we learned that a former student in our youth ministry at FBC, Bridgeport was the one Becky had first approached about helping her get revenge on the woman. This student went to the authorities and helped set Becky up, but he is still a shady character in all of this.

After seeing the story on Dateline, I went online and read the whole story and details of the trial. Crazy!

Concert

Rachel joined the school chorus and began playing the violin this year. Last night she sang and played in her first concert. She was great!

Music

Hannah has been taking voice lessons for about 2 years now. Last night she sang in her third recital. She was terrific. And, so were the other students. These lessons and recitals have been a great experience for her. Here are a couple of photos from the evening.

And, here's Hannah playing in her middle school spring concert. She's wearing the white headband.

4 Days of Parties

My weekend began with party #1, Hannah's slumber party, on Friday night. Her birthday is in April, a very busy month, so we waited until May to let her have a few friends over to celebrate. She and three of her best school friends enjoyed pizza, cookie cake, some late night swimming at the YMCA, and watching Enchanted.

I did some shopping with my girls Saturday afternoon, then we came home and planted some flowers in our front yard. I cleaned up and headed to church while Lance and the girls went to party #2 at our across the street neighbor's house. I checked kids in, played, sang, served snack, changed diapers, cleaned up, took out the trash, locked up the nursery and drove home to join my family. The party was still going when I arrived, and there was plenty of great food. We enjoyed the beautiful view and amazing sunset from the deck.

The girls had a friend come home with them from church Sunday, and she went with us to party #3. This one was a birthday party at our friends' house down the street for their 2 year old son. Again, lots of great food, beautiful weather, and great views from their deck. The girls' friend left later that night, we put Chloe to bed and the rest of us watched National Treasure 2. It was good, but I fell asleep during parts of it.

Monday morning I woke up and went for a nice long walk in my neighborhood. Later that morning Lance mowed the yard and power washed our house. I made some baked beans, then we loaded the car and took off to party #4. This one was at the Fullen's house. It was a fun evening outside with incredible food and friends, and of course, some cornhole. I found my camera in my purse and took a few pictures while we were there.

This weekend really has me ready for summer. Maybe it was all those great meals on the grill.

Only 8 more full days and 2 half days of school!

You're It

I was tagged by my good friend Kristen in this question game, so here it goes:

1. The rules of the game get posted at the beginning.
2. Each player answers the questions about themselves.
3. At the end of the post, the player then tags five people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they've been tagged and asking them to read the player's blog.
4. Let the person who tagged you know when you've posted your answer.

What were you doing 5 years ago?

1. Getting used to life with 3 kids (7 years, 5 years, and 1 month old)
2. Finishing up some remodeling in our house
3. Attending Rachel's preschool graduation
4. Beginning my last summer of living in Lufkin, TX
5. Nursing Chloe on demand

What are 5 things on your to-do list today (not in any particular order)?

1. Finish painting upstairs - hallway and girls' bathroom (of course, this won't happen today)
2. Sew rod pockets in giant stage curtains for a wedding
3. Buy colored card stock and brads so Hannah can finish a school project
4. Fold and put away the laundry that is in the dryer
5. Buy flowers to put in a planter and a front flower bed

What are 5 snacks you enjoy?

1. Pop Tarts and milk
2. Chips and hot sauce
3. Pepper Jack cheese with Keebler Club multigrain crackers
4. White cheddar Cheese Nips
5. Cherry Vanilla Diet Dr. Pepper

What 5 things would you do if you were a billionaire?

1. Go on amazing yearly vacations with my family and extended family
2. Visit my family in Texas, Louisiana, and Florida more often, and fly them up here often
3. Give millions to LifePoint, other ministries, and my friends and family
4. Work at LifePoint (or in some other ministry) for no pay
5. Drive both a brand new Honda Odyssey and a Honda Pilot

What are 5 of your bad habits?

1. Leaving my ironing board out in my bedroom and using it as a shelf
2. Checking my email too many times each day
3. Procrastinating
4. Over eating
5. Under exercising

What are 5 jobs you have had?

1. Regonal Diagnostic Imaging Center - Radiology Clinic
2. Admissions Office at ETBU
3. Substitute teacher
4. Legal Assistant
5. Nursery Director

What are 5 places you have lived?

1. New Orleans, LA
2. Bossier City, LA
3. Bridgeport, TX
4. Lufkin, TX
5. Westminster, MD

What 5 people do you want to tag?

1. Jodie
2. Kelsey
3. Jen
4. Julie
5. Kathi

Haircut

Chloe got a haircut yesterday, and now she has bangs! She loves her new look, but was worried that her bangs were gone last night when they were brushed over to the side. She also woke up this morning and asked if her bangs were still there.

Rachel thinks that Chloe looks just like Hannah with her new look. Here are photos of Chloe with her new do and Hannah (at age 3 or 4) with a similar haircut.

My 5 Year Old

I had the following conversation with Chloe over lunch.

Chloe - "I can't wait until I'm 15."
Me - "Really. Why?"
Chloe - "I want to have a baby."
Me - "You're going to be a great mom . . . someday."

I'm glad that Lance was home to hear that one.

Mom's Salary

This is for all of you hard working moms. No surprise that so much is overtime pay. What do you think?

Boomshine

This is a favorite time waster at my house. Pretty colors, relaxing music. It's addictive. Enjoy!