Easter!!

We are part of a 20s/30s bible study at our church.  We enjoy the fellowship but also the spiritual growth we are able to make.  I grew up Catholic, very Catholic, but I know very little about the Bible.  I don't know if I just didn't make the connection at a young age or if I really was never taught it, but I have learned a great deal in the last year!

As a group, we agreed to go through a Lenten study.  We ultimately decided upon Adam Hamilton's, 24 Hours That Changed the World.   Oh, my! is about all that I can say.

I believed I always knew Jesus's story, but I never fully knew Jesus's story until the completion of this study.  It was powerful, horrifying, and simply deplorable on so many levels.  I just have no understanding of how someone can treat another human being with such cruelty. I had nightmares, and I really had no desire to go to our study on at least one Sunday, but I did.  All I had to do was hear his story, but it was Jesus that had to endure the story.  There are just no words.

So, Easter had a whole new perspective for me this year.  The kids still dressed up, hunted Easter eggs, and went to Sunday school.  Alex and I went to church, and it was joyous after our study.  The music was beautiful, and I was reminded of how very blessed I am to be a child of God.

We colored eggs!

Sassy's Easter basket~

Rowan's Easter basket~

Rowan going through the goods~

We hunted eggs outside~

Isla was all over finding eggs for her basket~

The silly Easter Bunny even left one in the swing;-)

We were dashing to find one!

I just love this little girl~

Big smiles before church~

  We hosted Alex's parents over later that afternoon for Easter dinner and soccer playing outside.  It was peaceful, quiet, and a true celebration of our Savior!

Spring Break Continued...

Life is getting back to normal here for the last "Hurrah!" before school gets out.   We are bopping along getting excited for this season of spring and then summer!

 I refuse to worry about life events I can't control or change, and our miscarriage is such an event.  Thankfully, we have two children to keep me occupied, and I am just determined to continue with a positive outlook on my many blessings God has given me! So we are moving on from here;-)

Spring break was terrible weather, but we resolved to have some indoor fun none the less!  Even though we didn't go anywhere, I asked Alex to take a day off to play with us, and he did!  We had a blast in Kansas City at the aquarium and the "train" restaurant as Rowan refers to it as! It was nice to break the normal routine and just go be together as a family.

The kids loved looking at all of the sea animals at the aquarium!

They were so excited to receive their food from the train!

 Dad took us to the Discovery Center on Saturday!  Rowan hung close to Alex, and I managed Isla.  It was fantastic, and I'm fairly certain they both had fun!

Rowan freestyled his woodworking!

Isla dug and turned and gathered these little pellets for a LONG time!

Alex has been crazy busy at work lately, and I am crazy busy with my spring schedule at school.  Between track meets, meetings, my Washburn class, and Alex's overtime, it has been a miracle that our house is still in one piece:-)

I went out and ran for the first time in a long time tonight with 2 friends.  I made it the better part of a mile which was a greater distance than I anticipated, and I actually had a short amount of time where I felt a peace come over me.  I need to resolve to better manage my time to not work every waking hour! Life is just too precious to work your whole way through, so I must resolve to just "be."    This is my goal for this next week, at least until I look at the calendar;-)

Happy Day Turned Sad Day~

Today was going to be a happy day.  We were pregnant, excited, and going to the doctor to hear our baby's heartbeat this morning.  My happy day ended up not as happy as I thought.

Alex has been at a conference in Wichita for the last two days, and when I scheduled my doctor's appointment, I didn't have this conference in my calendar.  I didn't think much of him not being here for the doctor's appointment, as I've been there done that a couple of times;-) He called late last night to tell me he had too much work to be gone another day, so he was going to leave Wichita to meet me at my doctor's appointment and then go to work.  I thought it was silly, but obliged to have company.
Little did I know God was at work.

We met at the appointment and all was fine.  We listened intently, and then got to the point of listening for a heartbeat.  Bless our nurse practicioner's heart, she hunted and hunted for a quick little blip.  She even went to get the doctor's doppler to have a more accurate count, but alas, there was nothing.  She encouraged us that sometimes they just can't find them and sent us to have a quick sonogram to check.

We didn't have an appointment for the sono, so they said they would just work us in.  An hour and a half later, they took us back and quickly pulled up the little bean on the sonogram machine.  It was about 5 seconds before I could tell, there was no heartbeat.  The sonographer was kind and apologized for our loss, and I could tell that was honestly the worst part of her job.  I was saddened but had prepared myself in my hour and half wait that this was a possible outcome for this day. 

We are heartbroken, but we realize we are not alone on this life hiccup.  One in four pregnancies end in miscarriage, and I am no different.  We thought we were 12 weeks, but in fact, I had lost the baby somewhere between 7 and 8 weeks.  Alex is my rock, and we will stumble our way through this trial together.  I firmly believe God sent me Alex to be with me through this.  It took the better part of 4 hours before I left that office with an answer I was fully not prepared to receive.  I can't imagine if I would have done that alone, and I am so fortunate to have the husband I have. 

So, send some prayers our way if you have some.  We are grieving and reestablishing our family path at the moment, but we know we are not alone. 

I hugged my two beautiful children a little extra today when I picked them up, and I am thankful for the blessings God has given me thus far.  I guess he needed this baby a little more than I. 

Spring Break!

Spring break is upon us, and I am just now getting into the groove of it on Wednesday;-)

Life has been a bit chaotic around here the last month or so.  I haven't felt good at all, and Alex has been crazy busy at work bringing home work several nights a week.  It makes for a tired Mom and Dad, although we are continuously reminded of the blessings of too much work;-)  I'm still teaching my night class which has also proven to be much more time consuming than I anticipated.  This is where I really hate being a Type A personality!  I really want to do it right, which means I invest a lot of time into getting it done perfectly;-)  So, needless to say, this week is kind of a get our feet back under us kind of week.  There wasn't a to-do list.  That is just stressful, and I really don't need more stress.  If it gets done, it gets done, and I'm just really not going to fret it too much.  We are only in this season of life for a short while, so I'm giving myself grace this week!

We have managed some fun time along with the usual house cleaning and decluttering.  Here's the week's progress so far:

1. Cleaned the microwave-EWWW!
2. Cleaned the refrigerator.
3. Done more loads of laundry than I can even count-almost all caught up!
4. Vacuumed
5. Dusted
6. Made Rice Krispy Treats and Homeade Granola Bars
7. Started reading a book for pleasure.
8. All caught up on grading for both school and night class-Woot! Woot!
9. Napped every day but 1!
10. Took kids to the zoo in the SNOW~
11. Took Rowan painting at Paint Therapy Uncorked

We colored!  Well, I should say, Rowan colored.  Isla sat on the table and arranged the crayons!

So detailed!

So not coloring!

This girl has personality!  Can you tell?

We've done some of this!  Really, we never get to watch cartoons in bed.  Isn't that what spring break is for?

We painted.  Rowan painted a rocket ship!

Rowan's BFF-Gage!

So proud;-)

Funny faces~

Me and my 2 sons;-) 

I'm okay with these accomplishments, and I still have 4 more days to add stuff to accomplished list;-)

A Snowy Day~

It's been a while since a post, but honestly, my heart has been a little busy and a lot sad.

Last week we had parent teacher conferences.  This was late nights and a sad mom heart.  It also became apparent that we needed to make a change in our daycare situation for our children.  This was heartbreaking, as we had been with the same provider since Rowan was 6 weeks old.  I loved that she loved my children and took care of them in my absence, but it was obvious a change had to be made.

We gathered all of our paperwork, and I took Monday off to get the children situated in district daycare.  Change is hard for me, and there were LOTS of tears shed.  I felt guilty for working and heartbroken that my choices had put them in harm's way.  I've come to terms with some of this during the week, but it was a downright ugly week for me.

The upside is the kids seem adjusted to the new program, and the two moms who have so religiously taken Rowan to preschool for me, agreed to continue transporting him.  They are such a blessing to us, and my heart was eased knowing Rowan would continue at the school he already knew. 

Other than that, Alex and I celebrated Valentine's Day at the Row House last Saturday with good friends in the midst of our angst.  It was a blessing, and we so enjoyed the company and amazing food.  (No pictures-I was just working on surviving at this point).  

I"m still bopping along at the University with my undergrads.  I really like teaching them, and I'm enjoying the challenge of it!  They make me think:-)

The kids and I were home Thursday and Friday after we were left in the wake of the "Blizzard of Oz" and 9 inches of snow.  We played, baked, napped, watched movies, and just enjoyed the quiet.  I didn't put on makeup for two days, and I just let myself catch up.

Check out this bed head!!

Sassy sporting her boots!

Alex took Rowan to the circus on Saturday morning.  They had a great time, and Rowan was already chirping about going back today;-)

Genuine smile:-)

Today the kids and Alex made a snowman outside as it was in the 40s.  Sassy isn't a huge fan of the cold, but she loves her Daddy, so she stayed with him until the bitter end.

Our family mascot, Dixie!

We are slated to get 8-10 more inches of snow tomorrow.  I'm fully anticipating another snow day on Tuesday, and I'm giving myself some grace to just enjoy the day off and my kids.

This has been a bum week, but life isn't always easy, I guess.  We are finding a new normal, and my heart is a little less sad everyday:-)  Change is a fact of life, but it isn't always fun in the process.  That, I know for sure.  

Valentine's Crafts~

I've been crazy busy the last month!  Crazy busy!  While I love looking back at the blog, I just didn't have the energy to muster up a post.

I was hired at the local university the Thursday before classes started to teach an undergrad class.  I love it, but it has certainly taken up some of my time in the evenings.  We are working with the strategic planning committee at church which has also taken quite a lot of time, and I am on a technology committee at school which takes yet more time.  I can't say I don't enjoy any of these commitments, but it has definitely added a great deal of stress to my life.  I'm currently working on not taking life so seriously;-)  When faced with a new project, I jump in full body all at once.  I think about it, dream about, contemplate it in the shower, etc.  So, we are working on balance at our house right now;-)  Must find balance...

With that said, I did manage to complete a craft afternoon with a couple of girls 2 weeks ago.  We picked crafts, bought supplies, and then crafted up a storm.  It was fun, and stressfree;-)

Craft 1: Yarn Wreath
Styrofoam Wreath: $4.99
Grey Yarn: $4.25
Felt for Flowers: $2.00
Ribbon: I borrowed some from a girl who already had this, so FREE!
 Total: $11.24

 I wrapped my wreath beforehand which took about an hour and a half.  Then it took about 1 hour to make my flowers, and I literally hotglued them on.  I love the wreath, and it looks great against my white front door.

Craft 2: Felt Pennant
Felt: $4.24
Ribbon:$1.99
Total:  $6.23

I cut out the pennants and then the letters.  I hotglued the letters to the pennant, and then hotglued the tab on the back down over the pink rope.  It worked like a charm!  I really like it against my yellow chevron too:-)

Craft 3: Canvas Art
Felt: $.24
Canvas: $7.99 for pack of 2
Buttons: $4.99
Black Paint: On hand!
Total:  $13.22

This project was my favorite.  Alex painted the chevron pattern for me to match my kitchen curtains.  Then I cut a large red felt heart and hotglued it down to the canvas.  Then you just hotglue the red buttons to cover the heart.  It took the better part of an hour to do the buttons, but I think it turned out great!  I hung this in my kitchen, and I know I'll have a hard time taking it down after Valentine's Day:-)

So, there you have it.  Life's busy, I was a little crafty, and we are trying to find balance at our house so we still like each other and ourselves;-) 

Rowan turned 5-Batman Style~

 Rowan turned 5 on January 9 at 4:05 p.m.;-)  It was a school day, so we were up and at 'em early!   We did presents before school.  That night Rowan and Alex had church, so that was the extent of our celebrating!

Happy Birthday!

We celebrated with Alex's parents and sister on Saturday!  Alex had the camera, so we have no documentation of said relatives;-)  They helped us enjoy a Taco Bell dinner (Rowan's choice) and some Orange Leaf for dessert (also Rowan's choice)!  It was fun, and he got a really cool gun and Batman figure;-)

Then we were ready for the friend party on Sunday!  We had our neighbor boys and another friend over for Batman Training Camp!  I made each child a personalized cape and mask, so we were ready for training!

Ready to be superheroes!

The neighborhood gang (minus Hayden-he ran late) plus Isla!  I could tell our house was safe the moment they all came in;-)

The prettiest superhero!

We played games then in our costumes!  The first one up was "Vaporize the Villain!"  That is code for shoot the bad guys with silly string.  This was MESSY, but the kids had fun!

How many bad guys did you hit?

 Then we started to retrieve the anti-venom from the Bat Cave to help our friends.  Alex made an obstacle course that led into a tent.  We turned off all of the lights, and they were retrieving glow sticks.  It was fun, and this kept them entertained for a long time!

 Then we were on to Bat Planes.  The kids made paper airplanes, and we launched them to see whose Bat Plane could fly the farthest!  Colin's was hands down the best.  That thing flew!

They were so eager!

 Last on the list was cake! We sang, and then the kids dug in.  Rowan had requested  an ice cream cake, so we went with it!  It was delicious and stress free;-)

A great big wish made!

Eating our cake and drinking our Power Punch!

The party was fun, and I'm confident they had a good time!  Rowan was in bed at 6:20 tonight, so I know I wore him out;-)  We had a great time celebrating the blessing of our now 5 year old!