The End of March Madness

I absolutely cannot believe that tomorrow is the last day of March. Even with all the cruddy winter weather, the first 3 months of 2014 have flown by so fast.


One thing that we all did a lot of this winter was READ. With no cable TV and staying inside more because of the bitter cold, we all tore through some books.  Silas has advanced tremendously with his reading.  He started the winter with easier chapter books, then (here in February) read some of the Nate books and all of the Wimpy Kid books.  In March he has completed books 1 and 2 of Harry Potter and just started book 3.

I'm amazed at how much he reads (and by how much he is like his father...see background of picture!).

One day a couple weeks ago, while the rest of us had overslept by almost an hour on a school morning, 
Silas had gotten himself up, dressed, ate breakfast, brushed his teeth, spiked his hair and packed his lunch. He was sitting at the table reading his Harry Potter book when we all scrambled downstairs. Besides the fact
that he put his clothes from the day before back on and made a Nutella sandwich for his lunch (and didn't bother to wake the rest of us up!), he did a pretty good job. 


Silas also took a-lovin' to playing goalie in Indoor soccer this past month.  He now constantly takes the soccer ball out front and kicks it (much to Justin's dismay) against the garage door and then tries to block it as it shoots back at him.  He's got great reflexes and I can't wait to have him do some goalie training to see what  he thinks after he's got some more practice at it and plays more in Outdoor this season.

Though 99% of the month was cold and yucko, we did have a nice Saturday in March (it got up to almost 60 and then the next day it snowed again...) and enjoyed the afternoon hanging outside playing soccer, riding on the scooter and rollerblading.

And these 2 were looking pretty awesome with their punked up hair and way-too-cool sunglasses.

Ella has been using my old Rebel to take some pictures - she is pretty good.  She's very anxious to get a laptop (Justin's old one) so that she can start doing some editing to the pictures.  

At the beginning of March, I started a new yoga class which is right over by the trail and sometimes I get to sneak a run in too before or after the class.  Which is particularly nice on days like this one! I've started doing some juicing too - which is interesting and worth a post sometime.

And now Spring Break is over, March is almost over and before we know it - school will be out - and it'll be Summer...right?!? Crazy weather!!

Good Ol' Rocky Top

You can't drive to Tennessee without that song bouncing around your head - especially once you start seeing the peaks in the horizon (and feel the waves of nausea clutch your gut), without singing this song!
Our great friends, the Sayres, asked if we were interested in an impromptu long weekend, Spring Break trip to Chattanooga.  I've been to TN quite a few times but never to Chattanooga.  What a great city!

I always have some high hopes for the kids' school breaks.  We'll do this, that, I'll take them here, there...
and I almost always fail...and they sit around bored or watching too much television during their breaks.
And then I feel guilty...I tend to be a bit of homebody (really, I am), so when Jennifer asked me if we'd be up for a short trip to visit her friends in Tennessee, my first though was "nah".  And then as my week slowly dragged along, I wasn't as concerned about taking a long weekend...I figured it was a great idea! (And it was!).

We made it there on Saturday evening just in time to catch an hour (who knew they closed at 10PM?!) in the swimming pool.  And then lots of settling in, so it was 1AM before we all got to bed. The kids were pretty wired!


The Tennessee Aquairum was great, especially for a rainy Sunday afternoon.The overly priced, me not smiling picture below, not as nice!

Here the kids were tossing pennies into the wishing pond - Silas told me: "I know what you wished for...30 bottles of wine".  Close...I was wishing for 30 bottles of wine PLUS a few minutes of complete silence.

I loved watching the jellyfish - I could have sat there for hours (with that wine that I wished for) and just vegged.  It's very relaxing to watch them.

Ella and Abby were ready to strike a pose pretty much anytime.  The boys were more difficult to get to stop for a picture.

I wish I  had caught more of Si's face here - he was reaching in to touch a hammerhead shark!

The friends that we visited had an awesome backyard.  They live on Signal Mountain, which was much different that I thought living on a mountain would be like.  They had a flat backyard with lots of room to run around and play ball.

I think that the kids could have spent the entire weekend in the pool and hot tub and been very content. (Ignore Ella's Addam's Family face above!)

There was a new baby in the house - baby Samuel let Ella hold him for awhile. He had quite the audience.

 

  Our last activity before hitting the road was going back up Signal Mountain to Signal Point. It was beautiful!

Herbie was Samuel's big brother, and boy is he adorable.  And very chatty!

The girls started walking on the Cumberland Trail and I started to follow, worrying that they'd get lost.

Herbie then started following me and before long, the 6 of us were doing some impromptu hiking.

It wasn't far but it sure was steep!

Jen and the kids!

After this, we loaded back up for the long drive home.  It was so fun spending time with friends, and spending some uninterrupted time with my own kids.  (Thanks Jen for the invite!).

Always playing the Catch-up Game!

Lot's of catching up to do on the blog!  The last few weeks have been very busy!

Mason got his license!!!!  I have to say it wasn't a smooth process but he eventually got it done.  He went for his (3rd) test on St. Patty's day and I think he had a bit of the luck of the Irish on his side!

(maybe wearing grandpa J's duck sweatshirt

helped!)

We had our spring break...Ella was the only one of us that got to go anyplace.  She went to the beach with the Mascos and had a blast. 

Though she did get homesick...we did a LOT of texting and Facetiming!

She was happy to be home again! :)

While Ella was at the beach, I took a weekend trip to Chicago with Beth to go help Andrea out and meet Baby Jack. It was a super quick trip but fun to snuggle with him (and to let Andrea try to get some extra sleep!).

Running season is here again...I participated in a 10k training run with the neighbor friends.  This coming weekend is the 15k and then on May 5th, my 2nd Half Marathon!  Yippee!

The Easter Bunny came for a visit and left some movies and chocolate goodies for the kiddos.

Silas was ECSTATIC when he got a Pokemon card holder in his basket.

The whole family got together for our Easter dinner at the church.  I took about 10 pictures and someone has their eyes closed in every one!!

The kids had worked hard on an Easter play - The Bunnies that Saved Easter, was the name I believe.
Guess who the bunny was?? :)
It was cute - they did a really good job and Justin was a natural!

Things have just been busy, busy, busy...Mason is back in track, Ella and Silas have started soccer and Justin is coaching both teams again.  Work is kicking my butt, Justin is trying to finish up a kitchen remodel and move on to a few bathroom remodels (here in the neighborhood which will be great for the gas budget!).  We continue to work on clearing out some clutter, keeping up with things like laundry, grocery shopping, and having some fun (we've got to a few more concerts in the past month).
Summer will be here before we know it and we've got some family vacations and fun stuff planned!

I'm (over)due for a YOSP update too...soon, soon...

I Blinked...

and Spring Break was gone :(  Wow, that went fast. No fun vacation for us this year like our New York and  beach trip from last March.

Instead...
 - Justin went to New York to get some of the family items that we've had in storage from Grandpa J. While he was gone, the kids had sleep overs with some friends, Ella and I snuggled in bed and watched a lot of HGTV (we really like House Hunters and House Hunters International).  Ella is really good at picking out the houses that they will select.  She takes a lot of interest in the design of the houses and which houses would be the best fit for the families.

- I had movie night with the the Girls - we decided to liven up our winter by having a monthly movie night and we have done quite well with the movie and drink picks for each one.  We've watched Going the Distance, Life As We Know It and The Switch. All have been very good and perfect for a girls' evening.

- Ella, Silas and I spent an evening with the Sayre's since their daddy was out of town too. Ella and Abby are in the same grade and Carson and Silas go to the same preschool. They have a great time playing together but it is usually a meltdown when it's time to come home. I'll just blame it on the SuperMoon that night.

 - I went to the visitation for a dear friend's mom who past away after battling Alzheimer's for several years. Over those years, if there was a night that she or one of her sisters weren't at the nursing home, it's only because her dad was also having health issues too. God Bless them as they settle into this new normal.

- I worked A LOT over Spring Break.  I've taken on quite a lot of new responsibilities with work...and quite a few added hours.  It's great and exciting and I'm happy about it but possibly bad timing as it coincided with Spring Break!

- But Margie and Aunt Amanda came to the rescue and got the kids out of the house for me. Margie ran them around one day for me, and then we got a great surprise visit from Aunt Amanda (after begging her to come visit us for a few weeks!!).  Amanda and Margie took the kids to the Humane Society to see the cute puppies and kittens, to get ice cream, to the bank several times (...long story!), to COSI, where they had a ball. In general - they got them out of the house and my hair so that I could work.

- I took Mason to get his temps on Friday - we barely made it in time to get tested.  I thought the mean looking lady behind the desk was going to tell us "too bad" (we were 5 minutes past testing time). I think she saw the look on Mason's face and decided to let him take the test. He passed and we got the learner's permit!!  Watch out!!

- We watched the Buckeyes lose an agonizing game to the Kentucky Wildcats on Friday night.  Beth and I were depressed enough that we needed to go out on Saturday night. She, Amanda and I went to see Hat Trick and had a blast.  They are such a fun, fun band!

- Justin, Amanda and I took the kids to see Diary of a Whimpy Kid 2 (or Diarrhea of a Whimpy Kid, as Silas was calling it) on Sunday. Cute movie and the kids loved it.  Silas is singing THIS non-stop now and doing the "dance".


- And I ended the week with my lovely book group pals. More delicious food, lively conversation and very little discussion about books :)

Spring Break 2010 = Youngers Gone Wild!

I know I have other updates to post (birthday, new car, etc) but right now - it's SPRING BREAK!!  

We started the trip by driving up to the Finger Lakes (NY) to visit Grandpa J.  We rented a little cabin in Lodi for about the same price as a decent hotel in the area but with more room and a wonderful porch. Much more comfortable!  We've gotten to know the owners of the cabins. They actually purchased the land for the cabins from Jim when he sold the old farm house and land.  They have donated weekends for the CF Wine Opener and Donna, I and some girlfriends have stayed at the cabins during a girls' weekend.

On Sunday we drove around the Ithaca area to see waterfalls.  They were beautiful!  Grandpa J was our guide. He didn't walk the trails much but still hung in there with us all day.  It was the first time that we've spent a weekend in the Finger Lakes and did NOT visit any vineyards!

Grandpa J has had 3 rounds of chemo and it's sapped his energy, he's lost his hair and a lot of weight. The kids (Ella and Si, especially Si) had questions about where his hair went. It didn't take long though for them to adjust and it was business as usual.

One of our first stops was Taughannock Falls - one of the highest falls east of the Mississippi at 215 feet. 

It's never easy to catch all of us with a smile and open eyes!

It was a lot of fun to walk right down beside the falls. A little nerve wracking with Silas running off and all around!

After Taughannock Falls, we went to Treman State park. www.nyfalls.com has a lot of great pictures and information of all the waterfalls in the area.
 

 Ella got misted as we walked the trails closer to the falls.

I can't remember the name of this one but it was one of my better pictures that I took.

The rug rats posing for a picture.

It was a great and tiring day.  The kids slept like the dead that night and on Monday we made the drive to Nags Head. They were zombies most of the 12 hour trip!

The week so far at the beach has been wonderful. A MUCH needed break away. More updates and pictures from Nags Head to come sometime soon!

Odds & Ends and Stomach bugs...

What a bummer...I spent Spring Break Friday in bed all day with a stomach virus. It hit me about 4 a.m. and I'm just now starting to feel somewhat better - better enough to move to the couch. It's a rare day that I get to hang in my PJs all day long and nap, etc. but this isn't how I like to do it! I was supposed to go to a jewelry party tonight but can't manage to be more than a few feet from a bathroom...

We had a good week - though didn't get to do as much fun stuff as I'd have liked. It was nice out a few days so we got to get out and play, go to the library, the Y to work out and swim and just hung out a lot at home. Si lounged in bed and read his new Ducky book
I overheard Ella telling Zoe - "I'm sorry but you can't have babies...you got fixed" - I vaguely remember having a conversation with Ella about a year ago about how Zoe won't be able to have puppies.

Silas has been chasing Zoe around and hand feeding her - then laughs hysterically when she eats out of his hand
Silas also has an odd fascination/fetish with belly buttons - he's always asking "I touch belly button?" to pretty much anyone. He also spends a lot of time looking at his "fuzzy toes" - that is looking for fuzz between his toes...he's more than a little obsessive about it.



Also, prayers to the B-Team - Doug's latest scans show that the cancer has spread, though the size of the 2 original tumors have shrunk. He is going to be getting into some clinical trials so we pray for the docs to find some good ones!
And our friend Alison had surgery this week - prayers that she is feeling better soon!