Catching Up

I haven't blogged in a long time. It's probably the longest I've gone without a post. Life's been busy and at times difficult. But we've been blessed, too. Here's what we've been doing….

Family-filled Christmas.

   

 

Confirmed H is a leftie except she eats with both hands.

Casen's confidence was sky-high in 1st grade.

Casen wrote this note. 

He also practiced writing ransom letters by cutting out letters. 

I realized how much of a natural athlete L Child is. He had a mind for the game too being able to direct his teammates about what to do. As a very non-athlete, I am in awe of that kind of ability.

We got a few snow/ice storms much to our delight.

And I realized one night in March that my baby boy C isn't a baby anymore.

Baseball season started. Two kids on two different teams was kicking my butt. After my semester was over,  the late ballpark nights began to be a little more fun. 

               

 

And oh, how I love to watch my boys play some ball. Again, I'm amazed at how much they can do and understand. I Playing? Not so much. Liam told me recently, "Mama, throw the ball harder." I replied, "That's as hard as I can throw it. I'm not much of a ball player."

Spring Break happened. Much needed rest. Cousins and day trips.

                            

 

H started acting two. 

  

One particularly diva-lesque day recently was hard. Really hard. Like I-tried-to-hide-in-my-room-and-eat-chocolate hard. Then there are times that she's as sweet as sugar.

She likes to brush and fix my hair. 

We talked to the boys about Dad's early onset Alzheimer's. The boys have known a long time that Bunny has hard days. Some days he can't play. Some days he needs to sleep more. We finally reached the point that we sat the boys down and explained the disease.

                          

Discussions about suffering in this world and how there's no cure for this disease are not my favorite topics. Yet I'm reminded to...

 ...live one day at a time and soak up memories with Dad…

...appreciate the time we have right now with him…

…and not worry about what next week will bring for Dad and us.

I'll remember our Hope and keep trusting the LORD.

 Easter. 

I didn't get any good pictures of the kids hunting eggs. No worries though! I got this excellent picture of my chocolate-covered Peep and me. 

No judgement, people. Or should I say, Peeps.

I realized that Wild Man L Child has been training Haddie. She's not afraid of anything.

                                           

 

I trained for my first half marathon since having a third kid. In the year I trained, I've gotten faster and stronger. I've learned some things about myself.

At the start line. Running the OKC Memorial is such an experience!

                   

Had to get iced right after but I'm making plans for the next one. I'll blog about that soon.

H gave up the bottle. I know, I know. You might be thinking, Wait. Didn't she do that LAST summer? 

Um, no. And as much as I was dreading it, it hasn't been bad. 

She still asks for one though after two weeks. It's not whiny or freaking-out asking. I think she's just checking to see if there really is NO more bottles. After I say she doesn't have one anymore, she moves on to her next question. Which is usually, "Eat?"

Storm season started here. Three nights in a row of thunder, rain, and sirens equals evenings of distraction. Which means Mama said, "Sure, you guys can paint."

                                            

 

By the way, in case you were wondering, first grade is when kids learn to hold up the peace sign in pictures.

Bedlam baseball and Dodgers baseball starts up!

               

I ended the semester with dressing up in regalia and sitting through two graduations.

I still have a lot to do in preparation for my time at Oxford this summer. 

But Starbucks is pulling me through.

Oh, and the fact that time is a bit more flexible now that I'm done with the semester.

We've had L Child and Mama day:

                                     

There's a new baby elephant at the zoo!

And C and Mama day:

And Making-Slime Days.

Looking forward to the summer!