Spring break to now

We had a pretty fun spring break!

B Boy had play dates on Monday and Tuesday so we got to spend some one-on-one time with our girlie!

B Boy got to visit a farm!

We decided to take advantage of the great weather and camp in the back yard!

We roasted hot dogs and marshmallows!

We had to come in at 3:30 am because we saw some lightening. Boo.

We took the kids to see Cinderella - We loved it!!! (I loved it a ton!)

 B Boy finished up the entire Harry Potter series. I loved when he would laugh while reading and he always had to talk about what was happening in the books!

 C Girl got to have a play date too with a sweet friend!

We took advantage of the beautiful weather!!!

 We went to visit my family one day and had a wonderful time!

I love getting to see these two little guys!

 B Boy has been having a blast playing baseball - his first game is this weekend!

What a beautiful sunrise I witnessed!

 I have been busy changing the kid's clothes over for the new season. It is always very time consuming!

 I ate lunch with friends yesterday to celebrate our friend, Laurie's birthday! I'm so thankful for her friendship and for her and her husband to be our Sunday school teachers!

 I bought these beautiful flowers today at Walmart - I just wanted a little happy in the kitchen!

B Boy FINALLY had his first soccer practice tonight!!!! Except it is actually a game because we are so far into the season. Tim just texted and said the B Boy just scored!!! Woo Hoo!

I'm sad to be missing, but I had to do some things tonight with C Girl.

Happy March!

Happy March!

Well, I sure have missed being here lately. I only posted 4 times last month! That is one of the smallest number of posts in a month since back in 2009 when I started blogging and thought you should only post when something monumental happened, lol. 

These last 2 weeks have been terrible. I'm just now getting to where I feel human again. I still do not feel great, but I know I'm getting there. 

I'm not going to lie, though. This has been very hard on me. I always seem to have a very rough time during the late winter months. When you mix sickness with snow days on end, it's just tough. I have felt like a terrible wife and mother. I haven't felt well, so I haven't cooked, cleaned, or wanted to do anything fun with the kids. I know that I can't help that, but it doesn't stop me from feeling guilty. I can't remember a time when I was ever down for this long. I have had periods of health issues, but I always seem to still be able to function through most of it. This time, I have been just completely worthless. It's amazing that your ear can cause so much havoc.

I just feel like I have been home-bound for too long! I'm longing for sunshine and warmth in a way that I can't even explain!

 I think we all are dreaming of spring time!

 I'm so thankful that we can watch our church services on LiveStream when we have to miss.

 This was leftover snow from February that had not melted last week. So dreary!

Last Tuesday, I saved up my energy to be able to go to my hair appointment. A girl needs her hair done even when she feels bad! I think it was the first time I put on makeup in over a week at that point.

Last Wednesday, we got another winter storm. It started with this layer of sleet.

 And then, huge puffs of snow began falling.

 At one point, it looked like a blizzard outside!

Alas, this caused us to be out of school on Wednesday and Thursday last week.

 C Girl and I did some coloring though! I find it so relaxing!

We did get out of the house on Thursday afternoon to take me to a follow up appointment about my ear. The doctor said that in all, this infection will be a 3 week ordeal. I am at a little over 2 weeks now, so hopefully this week will be a huge improvement. I went to see him on Monday last week as well. At that appointment, he had to drain my ear. If you are not sure what that means, he had to basically cut a hole in my eardrum that had ruptured. It had healed and fluid was bulging behind it. It was extremely painful until he was able to drain it. It is still draining now, thankfully. I will be so ready when all of this is behind me!

 On Friday, I went to lunch with some friends at the Wooden Spoon in Gentry. We mainly go for the dessert. That my friends, is a yummy bread pudding swimming in a bath of butter sauce. Oh, it was so good! It was so nice to get out of the house and visit with friends, but it exhausted me. I spent the rest of the day/evening laying on the couch. I cannot believe how tired my body gets!

 Saturday morning, we headed to Cracker Barrel for breakfast. It has been a long time since we have went out for breakfast. We love us some CB pancakes!

 B Boy had his first baseball practice that afternoon! He was actually supposed to have soccer practice as well, but it was cancelled. It was the 3rd soccer practice that has been cancelled due to the weather. We haven't had 1 practice yet! Hopefully, we will on Thursday evening. It is going to be a busy spring with both of these sports going on!

The baseball fields were still wet, so they had practice at a batting cage. Tim said that B Boy did pretty well!

The Razorbacks played LSU at Bud Walton Saturday afternoon. The Hogs are No. 18 in the country and are going to be in the NCAA tournament this year. I cannot wait! Sadly, we lost at the buzzer for this game. They have played so many games down to the wire this year. It's exciting, but very stressful!

This boy is COMPLETELY obsessed with the Harry Potter series. He just finished the 4th book this morning. He is constantly telling me about what he is reading and pretending to be Harry Potter. It's so fun! I remember reading these books and how much I loved them!

So, it's Monday. 

C Girl has the PARCC test this week. They only test until 10 am everyday, but I know that it's not fun to have to go to school and take a standardized test.

This girl of ours is something else.

I'm always so proud of her. She is super independent, smart, and tries new things, which is something I used to think would never happen.

On the flip side, she is super independent and wants everything to be done/go her way. 

It can be very tough dealing with that. I know she is on her way to becoming a "tween," and to be honest, I'm not real excited about that. 

I can already see things in her attitude that she is picking up from other girls. I know it is completely normal, but it means that things are different now.

I'm trying to learn how to teach/discipline her without doing it constantly. I don't want her to feel like that is all I do. I know that she needs lots of my love and support right now. 

That is so easy to say, but way harder to implement when you are dealing with attitude.

Pray for us!

I am trying to catch up on things around here, but I can only do so much before I am tired. I know it will all get done eventually, but I hate not being able to do everything that I normally do. I also hate sounding like such a complainer!

So, happy March! it is the month of spring! Flowers, sun, and warmth!

Saturday, I'm so glad to see you!

  I haven't been so happy to see a Saturday morning in a long time!

  I don't talk about PTO too much on here.  I'm not sure the particular reason why.  It has been a lot of work, but I love being able to serve and give back to the school.
  This past week was National Teacher Appreciation Week.  Along with the big goal we want to do for the school every year, Teacher Appreciation Week is the big deal of the year.

  We have been planning this for months.  It was a HUGE success!  I was literally at the school all day everyday this week.  We fed the teachers lunch Monday and Tuesday, we did breakfast, goodie bags with school supplies, chair massages by a local spa, Mary Kay treatments by a Mary Kay rep. & a chocolate fountain all on Thursday, and another big lunch on Friday.   
  We would not have been able to do all of this without the help of all the awesome parents at our school. So many brought in food and supplies and others donated time and services.  It was simply amazing.

  Along with all of this, I also had a volunteer breakfast, Mother's Day program, Bible study, a game that ended up being rained out, Tim was gone 2 evenings, and our school's Leadership Day.  It has been a very, very full week.

  It was a fulfilling week though.  I have grown to love the teachers and staff at the kid's school. They are what makes the school so awesome.  What they are doing in empowering kids through the Leader in Me program is astounding.

Last night, we went out to Shogun to celebrate my birthday.  It's not actually until Sunday, but since that is also Mother's Day and my nephew's birthday, we celebrated last night.  It was really good and the kids LOVE it.

  We are headed to watch B Boy play tee ball and have his team picture made.  It is a gorgeous day and since we have had so much rain (7 inches on Thurs night!) and business lately, we are going to enjoy a hike afterwards!

  I hope everyone has beautiful weather and gets to enjoy this lovely weekend!  Happy Mother's Day to all the Mommas!!!!

These two kids and that man

They make my life joyful.

 B Boy had a ball game tonight and the weather was perfect and it's just so fun watching him play ball.

Today, I was out shopping for clothes for a photo session and I happened upon a nightgown set for C Girl.  It was not just any set.  It was a set that had a matching gown for her baby doll!  She was beside herself happy!

This day and this week is really busy with planning and tasks for events coming up.  Tonight, I'm so thankful for a husband who helps me keep up on household duties so that they don't pile up.  He's a rare jewel. 

Shifting Focus

I've been faced with a tough decision lately. It is one of those decisions that is extremely hard to make because it involves relationships. 

This past year has been VERY hard on our family (our nuclear family).  Not hard in the ways that life can sometimes be hard, but hard nonetheless.

Tim has a lot of responsibility and stress at work and often he has duties on weeknights. I have become über involved in volunteering at school and I participate in some church activities. Throw all that in with taking care of a home, taking care of two kids, homework, reading, baths, packing, moving, unpacking, family get togethers and whatever else, life can get overwhelming. 

Before the kids were in school, we had very leisurely days. Leisurely as in we didn't have a lot of plans and we didn't go many places. We also lived in a small town during most of that time. And it was so nice not *having* to do anything. 

I spent time with the kids, did house projects, read, cooked, and just did home related things. 

I've learned lately that I miss that so bad. I love being a wife and mother and a homemaker. 

I want to be more relaxed and focus all of my attention on my family. Not that I am not currently focusing on them, but I could be focusing all my attention and be a lot more relaxed while doing it!

In saying all of that, those are the reasons that have led me to make the decision I'm making in our life. I believe this decision will give me back more time that I have invested in other things this past year. 

Don't get me wrong, I have been doing good with what I've been doing, but that doesn't always mean that it is right for my family at this time. 

My family deserves the best me and that's what I'm working on giving them.

f/9  1/500  Iso 400

Another edition of Happy Things

***C Girlie, April, Ryan, Ryan's friend, and I attended my friend Jennifer's baby shower on Sunday.
I went to school with Jennifer and her husband. We graduated high school together and even went to the same college.
April is my cousin and we attended school the same schools, but not always at the same time! Both these girlies live right near me up here in Bentonville and Jennifer does my hair now!

I cannot wait to meet Ms. Lyla Grace!

***Kelly, a lovely lady that I go to church with blogs for our local TV station's morning show, KNWA Today.  Yesterday, she featured a couple of my recipes on the blog.  If you'd like to, head over and check that out :-).


***Yesterday, the kids and I headed down to Ft. Smith to visit with my SIL Veronica and two of my nephews.  We had SUCH a great visit!  I got to watch Noah for a couple of hours while Veronica went to a meeting.  She is starting her 1st year teaching this year!  I fed him some yogurt and played with him!  My other nephew is 10 and cooked all of us pancakes- ALL by himself!  He's really growing up!

Isn't he PRECIOUS?!

***We sang this song in church on Sunday, and it just touched me SO much.  I thought I would share it with you if you haven't already heard it.