1st Violin Recital

After being dragged to 12 recitals since he was born, Jace finally got to perform in his first recital! The whole reason he wanted to start violin was to learn the Spiderman song. I thought it was a bit too hard for a beginner but he practiced and practiced. It was a proud mommy/teacher moment. He did a fantastic job!

Announcing himself-"My name is Jace and my favorite song is Spiderman and I'm going to play it and sing it".

Love the boy stance

About to take his first bow

Highlight of the night was that his cousin Ava- his "girlfriend and wife" as he calls it got to come from Tennessee to watch him!

The recital theme was "My Favorite Song" so all the kids got to pick their favorite song to perform and dress up accordingly. It was a blast!

Special memory we finally get to share ;) Proud of you Jace!

His is part of his performance...Im going to try and track down a full video.

Pregnancy #3

Status- 6 months along

Action- consistent kicks while I teach, no hiccups yet

Craving- Capri Suns, every kind of shredded wheat cereal, potatoes

Complaints- wearing a swimsuit and shaving, crazy 3 year old

Siblings- have never missed a prayer without blessing the baby

Blessing- having a great 5 year old who is a huge help, will be so sad to lose him to school soon

Looking forward- getting the room ready, just got Brenna out into her own room and bed, writing the name Natasha cause I love that name ;) remembering what its like to have a newborn asleep on your chest, seeing how Jace and Brenna react now that they are older, seeing Chad handle 2 girls!!

Sorry no pregnant pics for me. You aint cute pregnant when you're 5 feet tall carrying a watermelon.

Hurry Natasha! I can't wait to meet you!!

A new generation of musicians

(Disclaimer: Im going to be more video friendly from now on. I regret not putting more on the last few years, so Im going to make up for it.)

So it is very surreal to be teaching Jace after 12 years of teaching everyone else's kids and playing them myself. I never planned on doing violin with him but he begged me to play this year. I am pleasantly surprised on how easy and fun it has been to practice with him everyday. Knock on wood. He loves doing "practice strips", playing along with keyboard, performing on the ottoman, and having mom in the room when he practices. He has to know exactly how many times and exactly how long. Hilarious to hear Brenna now yell out things like "Low 2" or "slow bow Jace" when he is practicing. So I guess I say that a bit too much?

Lightly Row- February 2011

I love hearing Brenna yell out "low 2" or "slower bow Jace!" while he is practicing. So I guess I say that way too much ;)

Allegro- May 2011

Next video is our recital song taking place this Saturday! It is a musical masterpiece. Stay tuned...

and some practices go like this...

Brenna's musical talents (so we love Britney in this family. She is a musical genius.)

lollipop song

Still waiting to see your musical talent, Chad.... and musical armpits don't count.

Articles of Faith

The beginning of year, the primary challenged all the kids to learn their Articles of Faith to earn a prize. Jace came home that day and said he wanted to learn and pass one off every week. Basically 13 weeks later, he did it without missing a week! This kid LOVES to memorize. Its crazy! Most the time we would learn it the day before and he would get it after a few times. And you yell out a number today and he can say it perfectly. Wish my memory worked like that. Here are a couple samples:

Mother's day AOF

#13!

Proud of you Jacey boy! I know that every article of faith is true and hope you will use them to share your testimony!

Neighborhood fun

Now that the weather is getting warm, we are out enjoying the neighborhood everyday. This place is great- like its own little town with 6 parks, shops, pool etc. We really lucked out getting in here. I have to say I somewhat miss the cops showing up next door every other day at our last place. We don't see that much excitement now.

the pool opened!! Jace is my little fish and only wants to swim on the grownup side. He loves the slide and playing football with dad. Brenna is in her own little world floating on her belly in the kids section singing songs.

Biscuit tanning herself on the back deck

Our fav- the frog park

Adventure Race

Chad and his buddies, Mitch and Dave decided it would be "fun" to take part in an adventure race. Basically, you are given a map with 31 total check points that you had to map out and get to through swamps, rivers, mountains, and lakes. Remember the massive storm system that came through NC which brought 30 tornados. Yep this was the same storm they went through during the race.

One of the checkpoints was on that island, so Chad had to swim across in freezing water to get to it. In his underwear.

Snakes anyone?

One of the checkpoints they had to climb up this ladder. Thats when I would have just gone home. Actually I would have gone home as soon as I saw it was raining.

After braving the weather, the guys (Chad, Dave Collier, Mitch Pulley) placed 2nd at the Adventure Race at Lake Norman. The race was a combo of biking, running, kayaking, swimming. They gave the gave the guys 30 points to plot on a map then the goal was to get as many of the checkpoints and get back to base in 4 hours. I think it was about 10 miles of biking and 7-10 miles of running. So proud of you Chad!!

Celebration did not last long as they had to drive home as fast to get home to us wives and kids who were back home huddled in our closets bracing for tornados.

Happy Easter in Texas

We always get so spoiled when visiting grandma and grandpa. The kids(and mom) loved sleeping in, playing on the playground outside, watching a real Texas thunderstorm, staying up until midnight with Shanny, making cupcakes, playing ponies with poppa, scratching Ruby's belly, reading books with grandma, watching the Mavs with Brett and Dee and many many more things. Mom got spoiled with new maternity clothes and Les Madeline tomato soup. Dad got spoiled with the Club, porshe/motorcyle joy riding, and BBQ. Now why don't we live in Dallas you ask?? good question.

LEGO LAND!!

Beautiful Aunt Dee with Brenna

Beautiful and crazy Aunt Shanny

Coppell Easter Egg Hunt- Successful for one, not so much for the other...

Brenna gets really scared of loud noises

Easter Bunny comes!!

Regular night at the Titensor home

Brenna's not so happy easter egg hunt

What's new...

A new van (ugh...those who knew me and my relationship with the "shaggin waggin" know why I am a bit weary about getting a van again). Bonus- Chad got an amazing deal, the kids can still touch but takes a lot more effort, I contributed to the record number of vans in Bedford.

Yeah finally painted downstairs! You can see how yellow the walls were above the fireplace. Now to get my couch to match it..

Our official first season of t-ball. Jace can really smack the ball. Remembering to run to the base after smacking the ball is a different story. So stinkin cute though!

So Im sure many of you heard about the crazy tornados that hit Raleigh a few weeks back. Here is a neighborhood Jace and Chad helped clean up only 1/2 a mile from our house. Chad was out of town while the kids and I huddled in our closet under the stairs. Jace, who is my weather boy, got the excitement of a lifetime. Seriously, the last 3 movies he watched were Twister, 2012, and The Day after Tomorrow. We have the weather channel on every morning.

Dad bought a 4 wheeler for himself, I mean Jace! You can see Chad, I mean Jace roaming the streets almost everyday. It is Chads, I mean Jace's favorite thing to do these days.

and for the best news-- It's a girl! Natasha Rae Barnes

I finally get to use my fav name I have loved since I was little. Coming the beginning of September. Look for the beached whale at the pool all summer long...

Jace and Brenna are super excited for the baby ;)