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!

A busy couple of days

I finally got around to updating my "about" page. You can check that out at the top where it says, "about."

It has been a very busy couple of days!

I've also had a yucky cold sore that is finally starting to go away.

I hate those things, but always end up getting them twice a year. 

On Thursday, I went on a cooking spree. I made apple strudel muffins, lemon icebox pie and I made our dinner for the night since Thursday is our busy evening.

Thursday is busy because C Girl started piano lessons in the afternoon and B Boy has soccer practice in the evening!

B Boy has been loving soccer practice!!! 

He was supposed to have his first game today, but we were rained out.

This boy LOVES to read.

 Last night, I went to my friend, Jenn's "all done" party! She completed her last cancer treatment yesterday and she has kicked cancer's booty!

It was an awesome party! They had great food and they also hired a DJ! 

We had a lot of fun watching people dance!

 She also had a photo booth! We had so much fun in there! I love these friends!

I know that I'm super blessed to have such wonderful friends at church.

We visited War Eagle Mill four years ago, the first fall that we lived here. It was really neat.

It is on my to-do list for this fall. 

I'm also going to go to the War Eagle craft fair for the first time!

The mill has a restaurant and a store and I remember how great they were and can't wait to go back! It's just so beautiful there too!

We are watching the Razorbacks kill Nicholls State. 

I sure hope they can play like this the rest of the season!

Hellooooo Spring!!!

Spring is finally here!

We had this boy's parent/teacher conference yesterday afternoon. He is doing so, so well. He is one of the top students in the entire first grade at his school. We are incredibly proud of how much he loves to learn. 

I never want to sound like a bragger, but I'm also keeping a family journal here. I want to celebrate my kids without hurting someone else's feelings. I hate that that is such an issue these days. 

B Boy also had his ENT appointment. The doctor said his tonsils are significantly enlarged and will likely have to come out. We are going to do a trial of one more thing over the next couple of months before we make a final decision. And because he won't be able to do activity for two weeks, we will likely do it in the fall. The whole thing makes me nervous because it is going to be very hard on me to have him put under and then to see him in pain.

We have been trying to enjoy as much outside and sunshine as we can!

It's March Madness time! The games just started and we are excited about our bracket challenge! We have the kids participating for the first time this year. They love to compete! It will be interesting to see who wins!

I thought C Girl looked so cute today! She is looking so grown up lately.

And this picture illustrates how they will look the rest of their lives- B Boy will always tower over her! He measured 4 foot 4 inches yesterday! 

He is adorable in this picture too :-)

C Girl is really into this series right now. They seem very cute. I am going to read it when she finishes it :-) Do you read the books that your school age kiddos read?

Back to reading

I'm so excited that I have gotten the urge to read again!
Here's a list of what is on my nightstand---

• Nora Roberts- Bridal Quartet
• Beth Moore- So long insercurity
• Gary Chapman- The 5 love languages
• John Grisham- The Litagators
• Kelle Hampton- Bloom

What are you reading right now?