Baby Bling

Last weekend was packed full of family time.  Loved it! We decided to head over to the outlet mall to do a little window shopping.  While we were there, we happened to walk by the Piercing Pagoda kiosk. At first, I thought we should see how much it was going to cost to get Kinley's ears pierced, but then before we knew it, we decided that we would go ahead and do it right then and there.  Her teeth were bothering her earlier in the evening and so she was already doped up on Tylenol and ready for her bling.  Perfect! She cried one loud "waaaa" for like 3 seconds and that was that.  We love her little sparkly earlobes!

 

On Saturday we decided to go check out the Dallas Farmers' Market and then went to the Galleria mall.  It is one of the biggest malls I've been in with a ton of stores that I would never buy anything from (or afford) and then a several normal stores, too.  Matt even got in a little Daddy/daughter shopping with Kinley for a bit while I was getting a pedicure.  FABULOUS!

We've also discovered that the trail that runs by our house has some cool sights.  We even saw a rabbit run across the trail in front of us.

Leaping Lizards!

My skin is crawling!  I'm sitting here trying to think of some yummy and delicious meals to make for this week and looking for some new recipes online, but I'm distracted by some "tapping" noises outside the windows on the back of the house.  At first I thought that maybe the wind was just blowing hard, but then the tapping noises started on the window by the front door.  Hmmm...okay, so honestly my next thought is that maybe a burglar is tiptoeing around the house? Upon further inspection, it turns out that the noise is coming from flying bugs hitting the windows. Prime hunting time for the lizards. I think they are gross. I don't like the idea of their pink bodies hiding (actually just hanging out in their natural habitats) around my house in bushes, rain gutters, or in any nook and cranny on the property during the day and then coming out at night....BUT I do appreciate their appetites for bugs.  I know that I don't have to look at them, but you know how it's hard to turn your head away from a sight so disgusting or unbelievable....besides, they hang out by our windows so I can see them walking on the glass or just looking in NOT minding their own reptilian business.

 There are actually 3 geckos in the picture above.

 See how it is looking in at me!  Seriously, it is so gross.

Happy Spring!

Well, I've decided to get back into the blogging world.  I admit that I stopped blogging because of the wonderful world of Facebook.  I know, I know.  It happens to the best of us.  It's so easy to just post a random status update here and there and not really get into a lot of details about our life.  Well, I am now facing the reality that many precious months have flown by without me recording some of the sweet moments of life for me to look back on.  And let's face it....you can't just post ANYTHING you want on FB because you don't want your whole world of "friends" knowing every minute detail about your life.  Those details should be left for special friends and of course FAMILY.

Now, that we have landed in the great state of Texas, we are very far away from close friends and family.  The blog is once again a necessary part of living and knowing the intimate (well, not too intimate) details of the Dukeman family.  Here are the requested pictures of our new home in Lewisville, TX. 

The office

 The Hallway Bathroom

 Kinley's Room

 The Living Room--looking towards the laundry room/garage

 Master Bathroom--Don't you just love the wallpaper?

 Living Room

 Kitchen

We are so happy we found such a nice home, in a great location (not a lonnnng commute for Matt) and minutes away from Super Target, Costco, WalMart, and even a mall.  So far we really like our new ward and have met several nice people who have volunteered to babysit Kinley if needed.  What a blessing this is for us!  We still have a lot of places to explore in the area.  We were grateful to have our first visitors in March.  First, we got to see Jeff Ottosen for a night while he was down here at training.  Next came Carrie Anderson & Kirsten/Tristan Loar passing through on their way to and from Arkansas for their spring break.  Then finally, Cassie/Mitch, Hallie & Lainey came for a few days.  We had a lot of fun together shopping at IKEA, going to the Ft. Worth Zoo (never did see the armadillos), "hunting" for lizards eating bugs on our back porch [I was totally disgusted and freaked out at the sight of finding numerous chameleons which seemed to be on every nook and cranny around my windows] and just hanging out.  It was the first time for their family to meet Kinley and it was cute watching the cousins play.  We should have taken more pictures, perhaps in June when we get to see each other again in Kennewick.