Memorial Day celebration

On Memorial Day, we had the opportunity to take part in a great celebration right here in McKinney. For over 20 years, the Pecan Grove Cemetery has hosted a Memorial Day event. The cemetery dates back to the 1800's, and there are veterans from every conflict (as far back as the Texas Revolution!) buried there. Boy Scout Troop 303, has been involved since the beginning. They get together on Saturday and put flags on each veteran's grave - some American flags, some Confederate, even Texas flags. The cemetery provides food for Monday as well. The boys volunteer to cook beans, cobblers, and briskets and bring it early on Monday morning. They also provide parking assistance, a color guard, and then clean up the place afterwards.



Nick, Drew, and Brad were all involved every step of the way. Nick provided beans and carried the American flag in the color guard, Drew cooked apple cobbler and played in the all-city middle school band, and Brad made blackberry cobbler and was part of the scout detail. I don't know how many people actually were there this year, but last year there were well over 700!!

This is such a wonderful opportunity for these young men to see that Memorial Day is so much more than a day off and a barbeque. They understand that it is a day to honor the soldiers who have lost their lives in the service of this country, defending our rights, and helping to make our country what it is today.
The local chapters of the Knights of Columbus, Knights Templar, Civil War re-enactors, Firemans' Bagpipers, McKinney mounted police, Congressmen Sam Johnson and Ralph Hall, Mayor Bill Whitfield, and countless other local dignitaries were in attendance.


A WWII Stearman open cockpit bi-plane did a great flyover as part of the ceremony!



This is a very moving video that I found, done by Terry Kelly, reminding us all to take a few minutes to remember our fallen soldiers.

Would you believe...

...that Drew & Nick have performed on the stage of the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony center? Yes, the same stage that the Dallas Symphony, as well as countless world-famous performers, have been on? The acoustics are magnificent in this hall, and the Faubion Wind Ensemble sounded fabulous. The band was invited to participate in a High School level competition last Friday. I'm so fortunate to have been able to attend this event (thanks, mom!) and share it with the kids.

8th Grade Graduates!

My two oldest babies are going to high school! OK, they're not really babies anymore - they're 2 inches taller than me - and they're growing up. This is Nick (left) our friend Austin (middle) and Drew (right).

Faubion did a ceremony for all the 8th graders - they dressed up and then had a dance afterwards. Drew & Nick swore that they didn't actually dance with any girls, but they did participate in the line dances. Would you believe that they did "The Time Warp?" Momma's proud!

I'm FINISHED!!!

Yes, I finally finished! What? you ask... Well, I'm officially a college graduate! I took my last final last week, and I have earned my Bachelor of Arts in Spanish. It's been a long road - sort of the 20 year plan! I've been at the University of North Texas for the last 3 years and I've had some very interesting classes, and met some equally interesting people. Some people were frighteningly intelligent, others not so much. But, all in all, it was a great experience, and highly recommended to anyone at any age.

At first, it was sort of scary going back to school with people who were born around the time I graduated high school. Kids are very accepting, though. I dress like a 12-year old boy most of the time, so I fit right in with everyone else in that respect. I even ended up with class-friends in every class I took. You know, the ones you can call for assignments, or who tell you about how drunk they got the night before. Somewhat different this time around was my interaction with my professors. I was in the same general age group as most of the profs that I had, so I found that I automatically had considerably more credibility than the typical 20-year old student.

I'm not sure yet what I'm going to do with my new degree - I assume that at some point I will be gainfully employed. I don't know what I'll be doing though. I've thought I might teach, then I think maybe I should pursue something corporate. At this point, though, I think that I might just sit back and enjoy being a mom again, and have a great summer with my kids. Drew & Nick are going to high school next year, all 3 boys have Boy Scout summer camps, and Sammi and I have girl time we need to take care of. I think I might even read a book for pleasure...

Look down my rain barrel, slide down my cellar door...

I got 2 rain barrels this week! I've been thinking about doing it for nearly a year, and finally decided to go for it. I can collect rain water from my gutters, and use it for gardening, washing cars, watering dogs, etc. In other words, we use this instead of the hose connected to the house. The water is free and I can still water outside when McKinney sets water restrictions again this summer (it always does!)

These barrels are only 60 gallons each, but did you realize that for every inch of rain that falls on an area of 1,000 square feet, you can collect around 600 gallons of rainwater? WOW!

I hooked this one up this morning, and with the 1/2 inch or so of rain we got today, it filled easily. The kids helped me set up the other one this afternoon, and with the rain coming tomorrow, it should fill up pretty quick. BTW, the kids think it's great, and it really helps them understand about the need to NOT waste water.