Church Girls

Anna Kate has gotten to be good friends with several of the girls at church. After children's church last Sunday, her little group all lined up behind the handrails at the entrance to the church. I thought they were just precious lined up!

Camille, Sarah, Anna Kate, Allie & Lauren

Houston Rodeo

Back in March, we made our annual trek to Rodeo Houston. This year was extra special because our friend, Justin Browning, was competing in Saddle Bronc Riding. We got to visit several friends, eat yummy food, meet precious baby Chloe Loving, do a little shopping, and ice skate at the Galleria. Fun times!

Railroad Festival

A tradition for as long as I can remember is the Louisiana Railroad Days Festival. It's held the 2nd weekend in April in my hometown (DeQuincy). It was a huge deal growing up b/c we got out of school 1/2 day on Friday to watch the parade & we would ride rides until we puked, eat "pentecostal" hamburgers, funnel cakes, snow cones, boiled crawfish, watch the pageant (Yes, I was 2nd runner-up one year), listen to the entertainment. Basically all of the fun things you do at a small town Louisiana festival. So now that I'm a little older, I've tried to make it a tradition to bring my kids back & meet up with high school classmates to continue on the tradition. This year, Anna Kate really liked the rides (except for the one that went kind of high). She had a lot of fun with Karsyn, Allie & Scotti. Will on the other hand loved looking at the trains & playing on the regular park equipment, but didn't want ANYTHING to do with the rides. This one picture was when I thought he might ride a rid, but it ended with me carrying him off screaming before the ride began!

New Hobby

This year one of my New Year's Resolutions was to try something I had never done before. Well I decided to take a painting class. I was invited by a friend of mine to "Lushes with Brushes." For $45, you get all your supplies, canvas, etc. and a fun 3 hour painting class. I've gone 3 times as well as once to "Painting with a Twist"- a new franchise painting shop that just opened. Below are my "masterpieces." I am far from Picasso. However, I was quite pleased considering my lack of talent & zero experience.

Anna Kate is almost 4!!!!

This week I had Anna Kate's 4 year old pictures made!!! I can not believe my baby girl is already this old! She wants to have a Tea Party birthday party at the Tea House. My talented friend, Katie Maddox, helped make my idea come to life (as she is great at doing!). Here is a link to her blog post with a sneak peak of some of her tea party pictures.

http://doubletakephotography.blogspot.com/2010/04/anna-kate-bears-tea-party.html

Easter

Easter was fun for the kids this year. We had an Easter Egg Hunt at church (pictures are still on my camera), an Easter Egg Hunt at School (my camera had no batteries), Easter Brunch at the Country Club (picture below w/ the Easter Bunny) & an Easter Egg Hunt at our friends', the Bowers (pictures taken from my cell phone). So obviously, I have been terrible about charging my camera & actually taking pictures lately, but you can visualize what took place. Anna Kate is now a true "Hankins" & has to be the competitive egg hunter. She had 2 baskets full at the church hunt, got 30 eggs at her school hunt when there were 10 allocated for each child & WON the hunt at the Bowers with 73 eggs. I'm trying to teach JD that EVERY aspect of life does NOT have to be a competition!!

Kingdom Kids

JD & I along with two other great couples, James & Lollie Hendrickson & Jason & Christine Poynter began a new ministry at our church at the beginning of 2010. It's a children's church format where we take 3 year olds through 3rd graders into the youth room during the sermon & have a fun/interactive worship experience. Our first unit was "The Fruits of the Spirit". At the end of the unit, we "performed" for the entire church some of what they learned. It melted my heart to hear EVERY child (about 25 of them) memorize the Fruits of the Spirit. We have a video of Anna Kate saying her that I would love to post. Once I get a copy of it, I will try to put it on here. This ministry has been as much a blessing for the volunteers as for the children. I have truly learned what Jesus said about how we need to become like little children...their pure hearts, thoughts, prayers, love, joy, peace...We have now started a unit on Prayer, specifically teaching The Lord's Prayer. I look forward to what God has in store for this ministry as it continues to grow.

New Orleans/Mardi Gras

JD & his parents/siblings weren't able to get together on Christmas Day this year due to schedules & illnesses, so in January we all went to New Orleans to celebrate Mrs. Kathy's 60th birthday. We had a lot of fun watching old home videos (including JD rocking his head gear at Disney World!!), a day at the Audubon Zoo, beignets at Cafe Du Monde, birthday dinner at Drago's and evening on the Decoteau's balcony in the quarter. Anna Kate has a fabulous time practicing "Mardi Gras" & pegging people with beads!!



At the end of January our Mardi Gras Krewe, Krewe of Chaos, had its annual ball. This year's theme was "I Love the 80's" Our group went all out (including the guys on stage w/ their inflatable guitars jamming to Journey) & had a blast!!!



Anna Kate's school had their own Mardi Gras parade. They usually block off the street in front of the school. However, due to the cold, rainy weather the "parade" was moved to the gym.





We had planned on taking the kids to the Children's Parade. However, Will had another flare up with his asthma/pneumonia, so we spent that day (Valentine's Day) in the pediatrician's office. HOwever, my parents graciously watched him so that we could bring Anna Kate to the "big parade" (Krewe of Krewes) on Mardi Gras day. We met up with the Browns & Brownings. Anna Kate woke up the next morning with pnuemonia, so of course I felt like Mom of the Year for bringing her out in the cold. And Yes, that is my disgusting husband eating a Twinkie that he caught in the parade...EWWWWW!!!!

Catching UP!

So I have totally neglected the blog for several months. Well tonight JD is having a "guy's weekend" with all of his uncles, cousins, dad, brother, etc. so I decided to stay up & catch up on all those things I've been putting off.

Well here goes.

December 2009:
We had my friend, Katie Maddox, take family pictures for our Christmas card pictures & I was so pleased with how they turned out. She is so creative & always does an amazing job.






December was a very busy & enjoyable month. The month consisted of a visit to the Christmas tree farm, Birthday parties, JD's family Christmas in Marlin, a very busy month at work with several big closings, both kids with pneumonia, Will being officially diagnosed with Asthma, Will getting a 2nd set of ear tubes, serving as bridesmaid/groomsmen in our dear friends' wedding, Anna Kate not being able to serve as a flower girl in the wedding because she had pneumonia & 102 fever :(, lots of family time with dinners at my parents, JD's parents, Christmas brunch at our house, Christmas afternoon at my Grandma's. Whew..that's just a glimpse at what our December held. Then to top it off JD & I made a spur of the moment trip to Breckenridge to Ring in the New Year! Here are a few pictures from those festivities.