Sunday, April 12, 2009

Easter




While preparing for church this morning, the kids are still snoozing. It's quiet and the house is still which, as I've posted before, is a rare occasion. My hope for today is while we worship at church, spend time with family, and enjoy the children enjoying treats and prizes from Mr. Easter Bunny, the words from this primary song will be in our hearts and our minds. Happy Easter to all!




"He Sent His Son"

How could the Father tell the world of love and tenderness?
He sent his Son, a newborn babe, with peace and holiness.

How could the Father show the world the pathway we should go?
He sent his Son to walk with men on earth that we may know.

How could the Father tell the world of sacrifice, of death?
He sent his Son to die for us and rise with living breath.

What does the Father ask of us?
What do the scriptures say?
Have faith, have hope, live like his Son,
Help others on their way.

What does he ask?
Live like his Son.

Friday, April 10, 2009

Just Dying To

Dying eggs is a tradition that has not been missed in all the years I've had children. Nothing fancy has to take place although we've gotten creative a time or two.



Usually, I have purchased egg dying kits, but this year that didn't happen. My mom suggested I just use food coloring. Of course I was off to google a recipe for that.



The recipe says, "Take a toddler (which I used three children as a substitution), about 5 drops of food coloring (which Ella translated to 1/2 the bottle), some water and several tablespoons of vinegar."



Ella and I put the eggs on to boil while Brennan and Anna were down at the ditch looking for "Tommy the Turtle". Once the eggs were finished boiling and had cooled a bit, Ella hollered at the other two to come home to dye the eggs.



Thankfully I had my camera ready because before I knew it, the eggs were dyed and placed back in the cartons to dry. Is it just mine or do all kids dye eggs at the speed of light? Nana picked up some Easter sticker per Ella's request. Later we'll put those on the eggs.



Now it's time for Screamfest as I lay Brennan & Ella down for a nap. Really, they don't need one...and if you believe that...

More From The Hogg Plantation

So many pictures...so long to upload them...here are a few more favorites...


Anna, Brennan & Ella
On The Fence


Sweet & Lovely Miss Ella


Miss Anna, as beautiful as ever


My kids with my oldest nieces, Cheyenne & Ciara

Brennan...the charming one


All My Greenies


Not always a "Momma's Boy"
(Photographed by Ella)

Thursday, April 9, 2009

Bad Grass



My sister came down and mowed my grass a couple of days ago. It looked so much better that now I feel motivated to try to make it look even better. Seems like everyone in my neighborhood has this lush green grass and mine is just bad. My mom picked up some weed-n-feed and a hand spreader. Tonight was the night. The kids helped me spread the weed-n-feed and then put up some sprinklers. Brennan was having too much fun with the water hose. My pictures came out to bright. It's still a fairly new camera and don't know exactly what I'm doing with it yet.

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Never A Dull Moment


Recently I commented on a friend's blog that there is "never a dull moment" with children running around your house. Day before yesterday was no exception. Remember the post I wrote with Brennan playing dress up? Well he and Ella had been playing dress up because I was nursing Anna's hurt foot. Brennan knocked a landscaping brick on to Anna's foot. He said he was trying to hit a tree, but I'm not sure I believe that one. The picture doesn't do the injury justice. Although it could have been worse, Anna did have quite a bit of pain for a couple of days. Today though, she's back to her old self.

Right On, Sista!

I'm so glad Mom drug you over to my place yesterday...TYVM!

Monday, April 6, 2009

Modern Day Miracles

No parting of the Red Sea or anything like that, but in the Greene family, we have experienced some miracles recently.

Miracle #1:

Registration for kindergarten entails pulling out lots of documentation proving that your child was in fact born, has a social security card, has been given proper vaccinations, etc., etc. We keep all these precious items in a fire safe box. The last time I had gotten into this nifty little contraption was during the great evacuation of Hurricane Ike. Where's the key? I have no clue. My mom and I looked just about everywhere we could think of but still no key. Anna came in from playing. Just for grins I asked if she had seen two little keys on a small ring. She said, "Let me check." Off she ran and came back with a set of keys exactly as I had described. Did they fit? No, that would have been too easy. Off she ran again and came back with another set of keys on a tiny ring. By this time I'm wondering, where is she getting all these keys (she just smiled and giggled), how many of these sets do we have and what are they all for!!?? I have no clue except to say that they are not for the fire safe box. Off she ran one final time but no luck. Refusing to believe that I am going to have to call a locksmith the get this little box open, I keep trying the keys that obviously don't fit when something miraculous happens...the box opens up! Strangely, I was able to put one of the keys in just enough to turn the latch and open the fire safe box.

Miracle #2:

Anna has piano lessons on Monday. With it being the first week of the month I sent her to lessons with a check for April's tuition. Anna's piano teacher picks her up from school on the day of her lesson. Since I teach at the same school Anna attends, I just happen to be on circle drive duty when she was picked up. I saw Anna load into the van and off they drove. A couple of minutes later I see the big van pull through the circle drive again. Out jumps Anna. She runs over the curb and yells, "Here it is! I got it!" Because she is my daughter (and by that I mean she would lose her head if it weren't attached to her neck) she had rolled up the check and was just holding it and had dropped it. On a normal April day in Texas this wouldn't have been a problem, but today was an unusually windy day. I mean the type of day that it is difficult to keep your feet on the ground. Miraculously, the check had not blown away and was just laying there on the curb.

Miracle #3:

Internet connection problems prompted me to call AT&T. After quite a bit of trouble shooting with Dwight, the friendly tech support dude, he told me we needed to restart my modem. This would be great if I knew Jon's password which you need for this endeavor. I explained to Dwight that Jon had passed away quite suddenly and I didn't know most of his passwords. He said, "Well, we can still reset the modem if you know the answer to the security question." Okay, well for those of you who know Jon, this is an extremely hard thing to predict on whether or not I could answer the question. Jon's sense of humor could be seen even in things like user names and passwords. Just for an example, his user name could be something like yodeling pope, dead santa, or scruffy goat boy, just to name a few of his favorites. In my mind I'm thinking there's no way. Okay Dwight...what's the security question? The question was, "What is your favorite singer?" It couldn't have been something easy like your mother's maiden name or the name of your favorite pet or the name of the town you were born, all of which I could have answered easily. But who is your favorite singer? Again, anyone who knew Jon, knows that he was a music fanatic and how do you decide your favorite singer when you have 12,000 + songs on your ipod!!?? I told Dwight, "You're kidding me. I don't know. It could be anyone!! Hmmmm...let's see...it could be Pierce Pettis..." Without hesitating Dwight said he'd try it. All the while I'm thinking ain't no way. "Yep, that's it!" said Dwight. Guessing it on the first attempt...can you say M-I-R-A-C-L-E?