the weekly recap {Feb. 23-28}

It has been an eventful week here!

On Tuesday, I started back to Tuesday morning Bible study. So, for the next month, I will be in two Bible study classes. My Sunday afternoon study should finish by the end of March. It was so nice to be back and get to see everyone again!

B Boy had a project for class where they researched a civil rights person. He chose Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. This Lego creation has several things that signify high points in the life of MLK. I thought that was so creative! There is a cross (his spirituality), a bus (for the bus boycott), the march on Washington, etc. He also tried to do a peace sign, but didn't have the right pieces. 

 Tuesday was my brothers' 32nd birthday! I'm so happy to have these two guys as my brothers and friends. I'm so proud of them. They are such good husbands and fathers. They both serve our country and work hard for their families. They love my kiddos so much!

Wednesday, I went to early vote in our primary elections.

I wrote the post below on social media.

I'll be the first to admit that it is hard not to be disinterested in politics. It seems so overwhelming and corrupt. But you know what I've figured out? Things in life don't get better until we get involved. Can you think of all of the examples of that? I see it in parental involvement at schools, church members involvement in the church, community members involvement in their community, etc. Greatness transpires for all of these with INVOLVEMENT. I believe the same can be said for our nation. Do your civic duty even if it feels hard or frustrating. Teach your kids to have pride in their country and do their part. Teach them their civic duties and responsibility. Make it a priority! It does matter and if enough of us get involved, it WILL matter!

I visited sweet Mr. Overstreet on Wednesday as well. He is 99 years old and still has his same routine everyday and goes to work! He is always so busy at the jewelry store. He is never sick and is always encouraging to me. I am lucky to get to know him!

I got to working on our taxes this week too.
But, I also had to fit in time for Downton Abbey. I'm so sad that this next week is the final show. I'm so not ready for it to be over!!!

Thursday was a national movement called the #enditmovement. This movement was created to shine a light on slavery.There are over 27 million people in slavery today and this movement pushes to spread awareness and end modern day slavery. By wearing a red x on your hand, you can strike up a conversation with those you come in contact with and tell them the meaning behind that x. This happened to me a few times on Thursday! It felt so good to do my part! I also took this photo and shared it on social media.

We love our little stray kitty!

I've been having pain and symptoms with my Crohn's again for the last couple of weeks. Crohn's is a chronic disease, so in all likelihood, I will be dealing with this the rest of my life. That's disheartening especially after times when treatment works and you have been feeling better.

I'm going to be having some images done and then we will see where we go from here.

I'm so grateful for my doctor and his nurse. They never make me feel bad for anytime that I email or call with questions. They always try to provide relief for the symptoms I'm having. Right now, I'm surviving on pain meds and steroids but we hope to have a better solution soon. I never share this to garner sympathy. We all have our trials, whether physical or not. I know that Crohn's is not widely understood and I have people ask me all the time about how I am doing. I hope updates like this can help because sometimes it's hard to share all of the details just in passing with someone. 

I still don't know all of the ins and outs of Crohn's. I learned on Thursday that the tissue that was inflamed before, could have healed but then turned to scar tissue. That surprised me so much. Scar tissue can cause problems and it is not treatable. If there was scar tissue causing my symptoms, it would require re-sectioning that portion of bowel. That is so scary to me!

I got to be on the other side of a procedure on Friday and it was so nice to not be the one having it done! Tim had to have a routine colonoscopy. I felt terrible for him being on a liquid diet on Thursday and then having to drink the prep. He now understands why I couldn't complete it the first time. He was up all night.

They also had a lot of trouble starting an IV on him. They had to do it 5 times before it was a go. At one point, one of them was put in wrong and causing him lots of pain. I know he was so glad to have that procedure over!

It was so nice to be the caregiver for once and we had an entire day to hang out together.

He is my favorite!

C Girl had a sleepover that night, so B Boy was excited to have some alone time.

He watched a movie that he wanted to watch and Tim and I watched The Intern.

It was such a cute movie. We loved it!

She had so much fun with her friends!

 B Boy creates the neatest things! He  built this eagle before bed on Friday night.

Our weather has been beautiful for February. It was almost 70 degrees on Saturday so we decided to get out and hike.

Our intention was to hike a trail at the Beaver Dam Site Park.

It ended up being closed. We did get to see the dam for the first time though!

We ended up stopping at Lost Bridge hiking trail. We have only walked on this trail one other time when the kids were smaller. It is right on the lake. It is 6 miles long so we only did a small portion!

I love being out in nature with my people!

The sky and lake were gorgeous!

We went home, had a yummy dinner and then all snuggled up to watch Monsters University.

It was a wonderful day!

Yesterday was Sunday. I'm so thankful for our church and the opportunity to be able to go. Our faith is the foundation of our lives and I'm eternally thankful for a husband that shares the same belief. As I go through struggles, I find myself constantly thinking of how I would deal with them without relying on God. I come up short every time. I don't have answers to many things, but I always come back to the belief that He is there with me and for me. I have peace and joy that I don't know the source of other than my God. 

I've been jaded by church in the past, but I've also grown and seen true authenticity in people and learned about the amazing grace we are covered by. With all of our imperfections and humanness, He still loves us and uses us. 

I'm doing a study and reading a book right now that are growing me so much. It's amazing what you learn at different parts of your life and how much you need that knowledge during those times. I have gone through a really hard time lately, but God has filled me with such joy through it. It's not resolved, things are all wrong, and yet He is with me and He makes all things right. 

 Look at these two cuties. All the heart eyes!

I watched the Oscars last night and thought Chris Rock did an outstanding job. I've always liked him!

I have a full plate of things to do today. I hope you all have a great week! Happy Leap Day!!!

a trip to Little Rock and the rest of the week

A little note about my Crohn's flare up- apparently, even while on treatment, you can still have a flare up of the disease. This was not something I was expecting and I'm not sure what, if anything, triggered it. I had to get a different prescription than I was initially given and I'm still today experiencing pain after I eat. I have an appointment with my GI this week so hopefully we can get this kicked. I've had to dip into my pain medicine to get through the days and still be able to have fun.

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Last week, the kids were on February intercession. Tim had a work trip to Little Rock, so we got to tag along!

We stopped in Russellville to eat at one of our favorite places--- Taco Villa!

We stayed at the Doubletree and the kids were thrilled to eat the cookies they put in the rooms!

Kids having "device" time. Lol.

On Wednesday, Tim had to attend his conference, so the kids and I walked down to the River Market.

I thought these banners were cute and funny :-)

We have a Flying Fish in Bentonville and I knew the kids would like it. It was fun visiting the original one!

Our main purpose of the day was to visit the Museum of Discovery! We had never been before!

It was a very cool place!

The kids got to pretend to be weather anchors. It was so funny! I took some video because it was so neat!

They loved pretending to forecast the weather. They even had a prompter to read from!

Daddy got finished early and came to join us!

They had such cool exhibits and it was perfect for the kids' ages.

The human body exhibit was so neat!

This mind game was so fun!

One really cool thing was the bed of nails. We laid down on the bed nails and the nails lifted us up with no pain!

I was a little nervous!

The kids loved it!

I love that B Boy loves to journal :-)

We traipsed into the River Market a bit!

 The kids wanted to be on this stage!

 We found this little telephone library! So cute!

 We hopped in the Statehouse Convention Center and the kids HAD to go up and down the escalator!

 Our final stop was the Old Statehouse Museum.

 The 1836 House of Representatives was neat to see!

 State of Arkansas dinner china!

 The kids wanted a souvenir so badly. They found this penny press that pressed the emblem of the museum on them. I spent $1.02 to press two pennies. The kids were thrilled and I was happy to spend so little on something they could keep and see that it came from somewhere we visited!

 a view of downtown Little Rock

We got home from our trip Thursday night.

Friday, I watched my friend, Laurie's girls in the afternoon so she could go out of town.

Tim and B Boy went to a men's event at church to hear former KC Chiefs QB, Brodie Croyle speak. B Boy is into sports with every fiber of his being, so he was super pumped to go.

They had a great time and it was a wonderful event!

On Saturday, it was 73 degrees! I still wasn't feeling that great, but I knew that I needed to get outside.

We took a short hike on the Crystal Bridges trail.

The museum is this magnificent structure nestled in the middle of the woods!

 After our hike, Tim took B Boy to baseball tryouts. The season is starting soon!

 After they got home, we decided to go see Kung Fu Panda 3! I have such a soft spot for these movies - it was the first movie we took C Girl to see. I still remember watching the wonder in her face. Experiencing life with your kids is the BEST.

It was such a great movie! Usually by the third movie, a franchise can lose some greatness but Kung Fu Panda delivers!

 We finished the night with Steak and Shake!

We went to church on Sunday, ate lunch at Flying Fish and then had our Sunday evening activities. 
Sundays are pretty busy right now. B Boy has a neighborhood basketball clinic for a couple of hours, C Girl has choir practice and has to be there early for her special part in the musical, I have Bible Study, and then Tim brings B for RA's, C has GA's and Tim and I go to the evening service. It's a lot, but it's all good stuff!

The theme of today was ALL THE ERRANDS! I had an early dentist appointment, a trip to the library, paid a bill, picked up prescriptions for Tim and a few other things at Walmart, washed the van, got my blood drawn, and came home to clean the inside of the van and do some other things in the garage. I also had some emails to send out for Sunday school. Tonight has been laid back watching TV with the family- something we rarely do! Tonight, I get to start on our taxes. So exciting! Not!

I hope your week is great! This is a busy week for me, but I so enjoy running a household and taking care of my family. I love feeling well enough to check a bunch of stuff off of my to do list!