Easter in Houston - Longest Recap Ever.

A few weeks ago my sister invited us down to Houston to celebrate Easter. A lot of different things had to be sorted out in order for us to go. A week before Easter we weren't sure whether a drive down to Houston was in the cards. I told that to my sister who relayed the information to my parents who were coming in town for Easter as well. A couple days later the last few pieces fell into place and Aaron and I were more than ready for a vacation, however brief it might be. We decided to keep our visit a secret since everyone (my sister aside-someone had to know we were coming) thought we weren't able to make it.

Our bags were packed, the apartment was clean, and after Aaron got home from a half-day at work we piled into the car and made the drive. We arrived around 8pm and my sister snuck outside to greet us. She grabbed Grace and headed back inside with Aaron and I trailing behind her. It was a lot of fun to surprise everyone. Stacey must be a pretty good secret-keeper because no one had any idea. We chatted, caught up, and eventually crashed in bed.

The next morning the boys headed out for a round of golf, and the girls and kids headed off to an Easter egg hunt and brunch at our friend Lauren's house.

There was some crafting while we waited for everyone to arrive.

Then of course there was some brunching

Lauren approached me all stealth like she was running a covert operation and said "I have one cold Diet Coke left, do you want it?" Lauren knows me so well. I love her.

Then we commenced with the egg hunt. Grace barely containing her excitement...

Our lovely Hostess and Host, who spent hours filling hundreds of plastic filled eggs with candy and toys for the little ones to find. I think that qualifies them for sainthood, don't you?

Grace, Taylor, and Carly showing off their loot.

It is a really interesting story of how we all know Lauren. My brother Matt was friends with Lauren's twin brothers in college (they then became roommates after their missions). I met Lauren's younger sister at lacrosse camp the summer before my senior year of high school. My roommate in college married one of Lauren's twin brothers. Lauren and Jon lived in D.C. and know members of my extended family, then Lauren and Jon moved to Houston. My sister moved down to Houston recently and ended up in Lauren's ward. It is a crazy little web of who knows whom, but I think we were all destined to be friends.

While the men headed home from golfing the kiddos dyed Easter eggs. It was a somewhat traumatic experience since some of the eggs were cracked and since Grace felt it necessary to dye eggs completely "clothing-free."

But cracks (no pun intended) or no cracks Carly was up to the challenge of dying some pretty stellar eggs.

And we drank cold beverages and watched the proceedings.

Grace spent the rest of the afternoon soaking up every moment of play time with her cousins. She has missed them terribly. On the days leading up to our trip she told me repeatedly where Carly, Taylor, and Stacey were going to sit in our car and which toys she was going to let them play with.

My Mom's birthday was the following Tuesday, so we took the opportunity to celebrate her with as many of us together as we could manage. I will have you know that my parents are posing like this to make fun of some of the ridiculous engagement picture poses that Aaron and I had to do way back when. Dinner out at Lupe's.

The kids played outside after dinner, stopping in briefly to point out where Meah's eyebrows were.

It was bright, can you tell? Sorry Dad.

Presents, singing, and then an ice cream cake made purely from Bluebell ice cream (read: heaven).

Being the awesome children that we are, we left my parents to babysit while Cade, Stacey, Aaron, and I headed out to watch The Hunger Games.

On Easter morning we headed downstairs to see if the Easter bunny had come.

A quick check of the basket and a few jelly beans later we were off to church.

Happy Easter from the Barnards!

We inhaled an amazing smoked brisket lunch, the kiddos had another egg hunt, Aaron and I packed our things, took a group shot,

Said a few last goodbyes,

And hit the open road.

It was a short trip, but definitely a good one. Just what the doctor ordered.

I have to give mad props to Grace who was a stellar traveling companion. She hasn't been on many road trips, but she deserved a gold star for this one.

Hello Dallas.

It was a wonderful way to spend the holiday. Thank you to our lovely hosts who made the trip so doable.

Conference Weekend

As a kid I looked forward to General Conference because the idea of staying in my jammies all day on Sunday and not having to go to church but being able to watch it on TV, was thrilling.

The older I get, the more my excitement about Conference weekend changes. It's not about jammies, TV, and a plethora of snacks and brunches anymore. I get excited to hear the talks, hear what the leaders of the church are focusing their topics on and feeling the spirit. I went into this General Conference with a few specific questions or things that I had been thinking about, and was curious to know if my thoughts would be addressed.

Conference with a toddler is tricky. A certain amount of containment and parental ignoring has to take place and sometimes those things weren't in the cards. On Saturday we spent time as a family and caught up on sessions while Grace slept. We watched Sunday morning together as a family, and made sure to take the coveted "between sessions nap."

On Sunday evening we baked and listened in.

And if you're curious, my topic was addressed. I had been thinking a lot about wanting to be a better parent, looking for specific guidance that would help me. I have a pretty short fuse and I find myself getting frustrated and angry too often. This talk by Elder Wilson was my absolute favorite talk of conference. I felt like it was directed specifically toward me. As a parent this is what I would love to be. He quoted D&C 121, and said "[As parents] we must act "only by persuasion, long-suffering, by gentleness and meekness, and love unfeigned."" I have thought about that statement many times, the "long-suffering" part sticking out the most. I thought about it today as Grace and I walked down the stairs. This process takes a lot of time. In the past the delay was purely physical, Grace was learning how to walk down the stairs, concentrating, stumbling, and holding my hand. Now her stops are more exploratory. She wants to look at the bugs, make comments about them, stop for sticks, stop when she hears a dog bark, tell me about the gum stuck to the ground. More often than not I find myself at the bottom of the stairs with Grace at the top saying "Hurry Grace, we have to go." while she shouts back "Mom, look at the lady bug, it's sleeping."

Normally I would get frustrated, knowing we were running late, and trudge up the stairs, pick Grace up, and haul her down the stairs. Saying to her, in an annoyed voice, "We have to go." while she asks repeatedly to walk all by herself. But I thought about that quote and wondered what good it would do me or Grace to get annoyed. Getting annoyed and frustrated wouldn't make her walk faster, but would just put us at odds with each other. Perhaps this is what Elder Wilson meant about long suffering. Just waiting and letting Grace explore her surroundings while encouraging her more positively. I don't want Grace to learn frustration and annoyance from me but rather a love for her surroundings. Mind you, this is one single incident, but I strive for the day that I can put my frustrations aside and parent with "love unfeigned." It's definitely not going to happen over-night, but through a lot of hard work I hope I can make it happen.

All in all it was a fabulous conference weekend. I can't wait to re-read all the talks.

The "Easser" Bunny and an Egg Hunt

We live just down the street from a mall. We find ourselves there a few times a week to play at the play-area or just to go for walks before the stores open. It's a novelty I've quite enjoyed. During the Easter season we went there a few times to walk and on multiple occasions walked past the Easter Bunny only stopping to wave and say "Hi". Being the cheap-o that I am, I never stopped to sit on the Easter Bunny's lap because 15 dollars for a picture is about 14 dollars too much out of my price range.

One morning my friend, her son, Grace and I stopped by to wave at the "Easser" Bunny, as Grace would call him. There was no line and the attendant said "Do they want to sit with the Easter bunny? We won't charge you." Free? Yes, please. They even threw in a few Bunny ears.

I was fully expecting Grace to freak out, since, to this day, she still talks about being scared of Santa Claus, but after seeing her friend Kayson sit on the Easter Bunny's lap and not bat an eye, Grace felt up to the challenge. She looks thrilled, doesn't she? I was pretty proud of her new found confidence.

The bunny ears were definitely her favorite part and she wore them around everywhere she could.

Later in the week our playgroup had a potluck egg hunt. Delicious lunch and then a mad dash for candy filled eggs.

Thankfully we had a lot of adults on hand to contain the excitement that multi colored eggs bring out in kids. The kids were beside themselves having to wait and eat lunch before they could fill their baskets.

But the time finally came, and the kiddos took their places.

Braced themselves,

And then they were off.

I wasn't sure what to expect with Grace, but she kept to the side and casually picked up eggs and then screamed with excitement.

She walked past a lot of eggs and I had to point out a few to her.

But, in general, she caught on to the concept.

And did a pretty stellar job filling up her basket....and then eating the candy inside as fast as humanly possibly.

My face is somewhere behind those sunglasses...

Through the heat and the festivities, Grace and I both napped hard in the afternoon. Waking up later to polish off of the rest of the Easter Candy.

It was a great way to jump start the Easter season.

What the Hail?

To say that I'm behind on my blogging would be the understatement of the century, and, considering we are only 12 years into this century, that is a pretty bold statement.

There are pictures, words, ideas, and thoughts all swirling around in my head but I honestly haven't had the time to put them down into anything coherent.

But, you have to start somewhere, right? I figured I would start with the most recent of events since it is still fresh in my mind.

The Dallas Tornadoes

It was a morning much like any other morning in Dallas. On this particular day it was overcast and humid. But Grace and I got out for a walk, one with a brief stop at the park.

I had to drop something off at a friends house. I also had to go to the bathroom like you wouldn't believe. Not badly enough, however, to prevent me from snapping this picture. The Geico gecko on a serious "basking in the warmth" break.

Grace and I stayed for lunch and an impromptu playdate, and then headed home. As I got in my car Aaron texted me. "There are tornado warnings for the Dallas area. Stay inside, and stay safe." I quickly drove home and as I got out of my car I noticed the eerie way that things definitely seemed off. The sky was now thick with dark grey clouds and the wind blew aimlessly with no direction. In fact, despite brief gusts from random places the air was dead calm. I ushered Grace up the stairs quickly. I got a call from my sister "Are you alright?" Me: "Yeah, why wouldn't I be." Sister: "I heard there were crazy tornadoes touching down in Dallas." Me: "We're safe, everything is fine, I don't think they are near our area." I got Grace in her jammies for nap-time and laid in the other bed in her room. I was tired and definitely wanting a nap. My eyelids felt heavy and I started drifting when suddenly the tornado sirens started going off. The sound doesn't come and go like the siren on an ambulance, the noise just comes on and stays on. It was at this point that I started to get a little worried. I raced through my dusty knowledge of what you do when there is a tornado. Bathrooms, right? And anxiously texted Aaron, "Why do these things always happen when you're are work?!" I wanted my man home, taking charge and protecting us from any tornadoes that dared to cross his path.

Although Aaron only works about 20 minutes away, his area wasn't having any rain, nor were their sirens going off. I braved our balcony to get a picture of the pouring rain that seemed to only be hanging around us. As I snapped a couple pictures I saw something fall from the sky. One hit a puddle and made a huge splash. I knew it was hail, and by golly, it was ginormous, like snowballs falling from the sky.

The sound was so loud as the hail pounded our roof. I knew that there was no way my car could make it through unscathed. Between the blows of hail the sirens were still going off. I took it as my cue to grab Grace out of her crib and head to the innermost part of our apartment furthest from the windows: our bathroom.

Grace was having a fabulous time, completely unaware that there was anything out of the ordinary happening. She loved being in the bathtub with books, toys, and Mom. Although, she did ask me many times, "What is that noise?"Since the hail sounded like thousands of baseball bats whacking our ceiling.

After awhile the noise started to taper off and then it stopped. The rain poured for awhile and eased up just enough for me to run downstairs and snap a few pictures.

The next day I went down and assessed the damage on my car. I couldn't get a good picture but these little "dimples" were everywhere.

It wasn't until I took a second look at my car that I noticed the two circular cracks in my front windshield.

I thought my car had it bad until I heard about what happened to friends cars just a mile down the road. As I drove around today I saw the serious damage that other people were having to deal with, making my two circular cracks seem like nothing.

 Lots of cars were covered in tarps or garbage bags because their windows were completely blown out.

The window repair people have probably never had so much business.

As far as storms that I have been a part of, I think this was one of the first where I was legitimately scared. The hail was so intense and the tornadoes were so close that I honestly wasn't sure what was going to happen. Thankfully we made it through unscathed, and our friends and neighbors remained safe (not much can be said for their cars though). I have had a crash course in tornado safety and vow to respect the power of Mother Nature from here on out.