On Thursday afternoon Aaron called me to let me know that we were having dinner that night with Uncle Charles and Aunt Angie and their crew. What a pleasant surprise! They were passing through Roanoke on their way to Maryland for Angie's sister's house. We met over in the Valley View Mall area to eat at Smokey Bones. They are an encouraging family.

Uncle Charles, Caitlin (12), Angie, Abby (8), and Caleb (almost 16)

They called us again this afternoon (Sunday) to have dinner with them again tonight on their way back to Greensboro. It was a treat. Uncle Charles (you may remember that he married us) had great insight for us on diversity within a church.

Last week was Spring Break for me and I didn't have to work. I ended up working, though, at the house- from morning to night every day. I wanted to redo the upstairs guest room. It was the last room in the house for us to do. It was a nightmare! Here's what happened:

Nothing against lighthouses, we just had something else less thematical in mind.
That wallpaper border had to go! I started on Sunday night, and by Tuesday morning I was in tears. There was no way I could get it off myself.So I called in some help! This woman came in at last minute's notice and used all kinds of special machines to get it off. Even she said it was really stuck on there. She was a great encouragement to me. As soon as they left on Tuesday afternoon, I got down to business. I painted all the trim, including two doors (from light brown to white). By Wednesday morning I was ready to paint.But, another problem! I hated the colors! I thought I could pick out two shades side-by-side on the swatch, but it turned out way too bright. Needless to say, I was disheartened by Wednesday night.

You can see on the bottom I put wallpaper up (Tuesday night). It's the kind you can paint (Thanks for the idea, Kristen!). I only did one wall because it was taking so long- we just call it an accent wall and move on.

On Saturday we relaxed in Spring Hope and then drove to South Point in Durham to meet Jonathan and Joy for dinner.

I took my 2nd and 3rd grade Hispanic students to a bilingual play in downtown Roanoke this past week. It was Ferdinand the Bull...they loved it! It was nerve-wracking for me since it was my first time taking students outside of school grounds, but we didn't have any trouble. We've been in the middle of testing, so it was a good breather.

It's looking good! You can tell it's a beginner's quilt, but only if you look hard enough. At our last class this past Tuesday, we had finished the entire top and pinned it to the other two layers to begin the actual quilting. We only have two weeks to quilt the whole thing!

Last weekend Aaron and I went on a date to Texas Steakhouse (we love gift cards!), cleaned the house, watched a war movie, quilted, and watched the last of March Madness. On Sunday we separated...Aaron went to a NASCAR race in Martinsville with some friends, and I hung out here to prepare for hosting a makeup party. Here are pictures for both of those events:

Tim Bass, Jonathan, and I don't know...

Sorry it has been a while since we've posted. It has been really busy around here!
One noteworthy happening is that last week I made fried chicken for dinner. This was a terrifying attempt...wasn't sure how it would turn out, but Aaron loved it! Thanks, Granny, for walking me through it!
MmMmM....look at the grease! That's what makes it good. I learned to get smaller chicken pieces next time, and that salt is the key to good fried chicken!

First cut of the season. Aaron loves this home owner responsibility. I love that it's getting warmer!

This weekend we went to NC so that Aaron could hang out with guys for Joseph Bobbit's bachelor party. They had plans to play basketball in the afternoon and then go to a movie, but they ended up playing bball the entire time...9-10 hours! I wish he had taken my camera so that he could get a picture of the sweaty guys, but I took my camera to Raleigh to take this picture of me and Kristen:We went to Cameron Village for dinner and to CookOut for mint milkshakes. It was a fun catch-up time and conversations about how to serve our husbands. She is so encouraging to me. Their home is beautiful!
We were thankful to stay with Mike, Peggy, and Brooke over the weekend. They are perfect hosts...it is always so relaxing when we visit them.
Now back to work in Salem! Our Monday was busy, busy, but the weather is so nice that we don't mind running around. Hope you've had a great start to the week!
~Congratulations to Michael and Rebecca McNeal...going to have a baby BOY in August!

Yes, this display is in our neighborhood. If you look closely you can see that he is even on a leash. At night there is a spotlight on him. We haven't met these neighbors yet, but we've met their dead dog!

Yesterday was Granddaddy's birthday, but we celebrated it on Sunday with him in Greensboro. What a treat! We met there for lunch at Carrabba's. It was great to catch up with them and hear about the day he was born, which he so vividly remembers :). It was a big birthday- 3/4 of a century for him- and he's done a lot of worthy things during that time! We had cake and presents.
Hope you've had a great birthday, Granddaddy!Wonder who picked out that bag? Aaron was really tempted to keep the present we gave him- Vol.1 of ESPN's College Basketball's Greastest Moments. We hope he liked it as much!

This afternoon Kari and I threw a shower for our friend Katie. She is due to have a baby boy, Spencer, in 4 weeks! She got some very practical items, and we had a great time eating cake! After the shower, Katie invited us into her home to see their nursery. It's perfect! Aaron was able to go out to watch March Madness with the husbands of these girls while we were showering Katie.These are the girls from Glenvar...minus a few who couldn't make it.

It's been warmer here this week, and we have our first bloom in the yard! It's small, but it made me excited about the coming spring season. We are very curious about what flowering plants we will see in our yard.And here are two dozen blooms that surprised me today at school! What a great husband and a great day.

Family Flies Flags at Half-Staff to Remember Soldier

Posted: Mar. 8, 2007
Ayden — Two flags fly at half-staff in front of Cathy Moore’s Ayden home in honor of her son who sacrificed everything.

We've had a great weekend. Grandma came up for a surprise visit and fixed fried chicken for all of us yesterday afternoon. It was great to see her. When Aaron found out that she was coming, her meal was all that he could talk about until we could actually get there.After that dinner, we met up with the Sunday School class for a game of bowling. I had the highest score of anyone on the first round (yes, even Aaron!), but Aaron came back to redeem himself the second game. It was fun!We worshipped together this morning, and then ate lunch at Erin and Nathan's house (sadly, we caught the 2nd half of the ACC championship...the Wolfpack just couldn't pull through). After we got home we turned right around and left for Vinton to eat an authentic Italian dinner with the Montouri family that I mentioned a few posts ago. It's been a busy day! Hope you've had fun, too.