Tyler Zoo Pics

This bird "house" was a huge hit for us. They would perch on your finger!

Katharine giving the birdie kisses...

this is a stray dog that adopted Jakob and followed him all day..even waited outside the house on the step till the next morning.. so sweet..

Bluebonnet pictures

A bluebonnet field on the side of 290

running through the field

A small patch of Indian Paintbrushes

Smelling the Bluebonnets

I just love Jakobs face and his pose!

A field in Brenham down a windy road..it was gorgeous!

Times they are a busy..

Between Cypress Calling, Spring Break and Spring cleaning the Schoen household has been a house full of busy bees.
Lets start with Cypress Calling. We had the most amazing meeting with the head of our Churchs Women's Ministry. She is incredible and welcomed us and sang our praises the whole meeting. Then she invited us to a Leadership retreat of all the women leaders at The Met, THAT WEEKEND. So Jenn and I packed our bags and headed to the Piney woods.
We felt like Celebrities! Everyone knew who we were and what we were there for. We(everyone not just Jenn and I) were treated to 3 meals a day and when I say meals I mean.. hearty, yummy meals. It was so nice to be cooked for and not have to cook for two impatient Preschoolers.
We got to talk about CCM and tell everyone our future plans. We met many leaders in the church who gave us great ideas.
I am so excited about the amazing things God has planned for our Ministry.
Moving on to Spring Break. I knew that having Jakob home from school and not having something to do was going to be difficult so we took a little vacation to GGs(great Grandmas) Lake house. I packed up the kids, and hit the pavement for 4 hours. We arrived in Yantis, Population 300, Just after 3. The only issue I have when on vacation is that the kids are so off their schedules and they start acting crazy. So we had that hurdle to get over but aside from that we had a super fun weekend with GG and Papa Richard.
We got to ride in the boat, Jakob even got to drive!! We went to the Caldwell Zoo in Tyler. That was the highlight of the trip and then headed home Friday.
Saturday we went Bluebonnet hunting. We got up early, got everyone looking pretty and headed towards Brenham. We found a small little patch near a fence at first and then decided to do some mild trespassing into a large field. There wasn't a fence so we didn't see the harm. We got some great pics of the kids. Unfortunately we didn't get any good pictures of the whole family but that's ok.. I was having a bad hair day.
After we got home from our bluebonnet trip we started working in the yard.
Now let me tell you that I don't have a green thumb and don't find much pleasure in digging in dirt and pulling up weeds, but I really enjoyed it. I went to Lowes by myself, which was refreshing, and really got to look at the plants and decide which one would be right and that I wouldn't kill ;)
So I ended up with two purple Azalea bushes. We planted them in front of the side pillar and then Dustin went to get 2 more because we loved them so much.
I am also going to plant some begonias and bluebonnets around the tree. I also have some big plans for the backyard but that will have to wait for a couple of weeks.
The weather was so beautiful this weekend I hope everyone was able to get out and enjoy themselves.
We ended the weekend by taking a bike ride(our neighbor gave us a bike) Dustin on his bike, the kids in the bike trailer and me on my new FREE bike!! It was a great weekend with the family.
I ll post pictures in the next post. I hope you enjoy!

Pics!!

Daddy Love

Cousin Adam

Pretty Tree

Jordan vs. Cake icing..

Katharine with her best Joker impersonation

Baby Evyn..

Making music.

My handsome man and me with my new 'do

Katharine showing me her sad face

Jakob

Gizmo, worlds fatest cat!

Sylvester

Odds and Ends

We had a very busy weekend. Friday we went to the Cook off at the Houston Rodeo. It was an interesting experience. I am not to sure I would do it again but atleast I can say I have been to the Cook off.
Saturday daddy was off of work and we went to Conroe to celebrate February family birthdays. We had a blast! It is always interesting to watch the dynamics between the youngest baby who is 8 months old and the oldest who is 86 and everyone in between. It was loud and crazy and totally exhausting but it is always worth it!
On a personal note, I have been busy with Cypress Calling which is a good thing. That means we are helping people and spreading Gods love.
I had such an awesome opportunity and experience today that I cant wait to share with you.. Look for it in the next couple days on CCMs blog.
Stay tuned for pictures of this weekend!!

What can I say..

I know its been AGES since I posted last. I wish I had a better excuse than "life" but truly we have just been busy with the normal day to day things. Occasionally there has been a fun family weekend or a Cypress Calling Ministries event but pretty much its the same thing every week.
I cant remember what exciting things happened in January so I ll start with February.
The first weekend in February we had our first ever Cypress Calling Ministries leadership retreat. It was a great success. God was all over us ladies that weekend and put so many great ideas in our head. I am so proud of our little ministry!! To learn more visit Cypress callings blog here.
The following week was a blur. We had well child checkups on Tuesday I am happy to report both children are healthy and right on track!! Both are also in the 75 % for height. (Like we didnt know that would happen ;))
Wednesday we had Muffins with Mom at Jakobs preschool. Its always fun to stop in and see what the kids are up too. Though I will never know how he acts in school when I am not around. When I am around he doesnt want to participate, he seems embarrassed?
That weekend was Valentines Day weekend and Dustin surprised me by not going to the Farm(he was going to take Jakob and it was going to be a girls weekend at home) Instead we had a wonderful Family weekend, filled with window shopping, Dinner at Cypress Station grill and installation of a storm door.
That leads me up to this past week. Which nothing real exciting happened. I did injure my back and neck. I wish I could say that I was doing something exciting or strenuous. But I was merely stretching... I know boring right.
It was excruciating. I couldnt move my neck and shoulders and I had a bolt of electricity running up my spine and my right arm was tingly and numb. So I decided that was good enough to see a Dr. Diagnosis: Pinched nerve.
I got a prescription for a muscle relaxer and an anti inflammatory. They also did some blood work and my sugars were a little high. But I had just ate a Cheeseburger and Tots two hours prior.
So here I am 4 days post injury and still in pain. Its a more localized pain but pain none the less. If it continues for 2 weeks I have been told to come back in to have a nerve something or other test done.. JOY!
Today we have plans to attend a 3rd birthday party for Jakobs friend Eric.
Tomorrow is church and family day. I love Sundays they are my favorite time of the week. Nothing like waking up, going to church, Praising the Lord and then spending time with my precious family!!
I hope you all have a fabulous weekend.
I ll post some pictures in another thread as soon as I figure how to get them from Dustins computer to mind with the least amount of work possible!!
Love you guys!!

New Years, The Farm and a Birthday

New years eve...

at the farm..

Cousins...

Me and Staci

My new fave pic... D and Kate

And in a very big nutshell..that was our holiday. We had a busy busy time and lots of fun. I am glad its over but looking forward to doing it all over again this year! To see more pictures visit Stacis blog and go to family pictures on her side bar.