Life in a nut shell {lately}

I feel like we're running a hundred mph

Is running errands considered exercise? I sure hope so!

We're crossing the end of the school year things off of our list quite quickly

Science Fair was a success

{I still need to write a post on this}

Talent Show tryouts happened 

{BARELY- I'll explain more in a post about the talent show in May}

The kids rocked it and we found out on Monday that - THEY MADE IT


Spencer scored a 1 rating at Solo and Ensemble last Saturday

I think he has just about out grown his tie

We had our Secret Sister reveal at church on Sunday
When I presented my final gift to my SS, she started jumping up and down and said "I knew it was you!"
Am I that predictable?

Here are just a few of the gifts she received over the last year



I LOVE the chick egg holder and almost kept it for myself



Spencer is a great model

A canvas I made to put on top of her box of sunshine

Lisa's box of sunshine

I will be making more of these this fall 

I enjoyed having a SS and I'm sad they're not going to continue it but on the bright side,
maybe I'll have time to get some of my own crafting projects done

I've been busy working on teacher appreciation gifts
46 staff members didn't seem like a lot until I burnt my fingers with  hot glue

We had our first night of ball practice for Spencer Tuesday night

Spencer got his bottom braces on yesterday morning and has been pretty sore
I ended up making him pancakes at 7:30 last night because he needed something soft to eat
Poor kiddo!
I should take a picture, his braces look like they were put on in a chevron pattern
His top teeth are already looking beautiful after 4 short month

I can't wait to see the end results

Spencer has an appointment with his neurologist next week

The deck is coming along {slowly} but we're getting closer

My parents are coming over Sunday to help with the addition {whether permitting}

With all that's been going on, house work has been put aside

I've been planning to wash bedding for 4 days now but every time I go to strip the bed, I find this

and I just can't find it in me to disturb her

This morning I found her here so the bedding got washed

Oh how I wish I had time for a nap with that girl

Give the kid a break

Last Monday Parker was seen by his allergy/asthma doc

I thought things were going well

We keep him on Zyrtec year round and we add Singular as soon as it hits 50 degrees

We noticed that Parker's eyes were starting to look a little puffy but that's nothing new for this time of year

His doctor and I discussed his meds, activities and the normal stuff and she looked him over

She noticed the puffiness right away and asked if he had anything else going on

Nope

Well.... one look in his nose and throat proved me wrong

He has severe post nasal drip which would explain the clearing of the throat all the time

{how can a boy on so much allergy medication still be having problems- I thought it was a nervous habit}

and his nose is inflamed

He's a mess and spring just got here

His doctor suggested keeping him on the same meds and trying a nasal spray again

We took him off the nasal spray two years ago because of nose bleeds

She told us that we're running out of options and allergy shots may be the only way to go

I feel like we're over medicating him yet I don't know that we're ready to commit to 5 years of shots
If the success rate was 100% or even close, I wouldn't be as hesitant

I'm struggling as a mom with what to do
Where's the parent handbook when you need one

This boy loves to be outside
Always has, always will

Being outdoors wrecks havoc on him but he's tough and takes it in stride

40th Birthday Weekend

The hubby went over the hill this weekend

The cake my mom made for Chip's birthday

I got up early Saturday morning and made a Starbucks coffee cake and a cheese cake

Chip had been eyeing a blue-ray player and hinted that he wanted one for his birthday

We can't surprise this guy so my parents and I went in on one
 and he was thrilled even though he knew what he was getting


This girl thought it was her birthday too

I wanted to do something special for Chip's 40th but everything I thought of or suggested was shot down

He just wanted to get more work done on the deck so that's what we did

There hasn't been any blood, sweat or tears but there have been a few disagreements
We had different ideas about the hand railing and spindles so that's where we quit on Sunday
We need a few days to put some thought into how we're going to make it all work

Sunday evening my parents invited us over for a birthday supper
Oh my, does my mom know how to feed an army
Steak, fried potatoes, baked beans, salad, jello and cake and ice cream
My mom treats her in-laws like her own and spoils them rotten

So that was the extent of the birthday weekend

Spring break {day 9&10}

There just aren't enough hours in a weekend

I told the hubby that the house must be cleaned before anything was done

We've been spending all of our extra time outside on the deck and the house was being neglected

Parker's talent show partner came over to get fitted for her outfit that my mom is making

These kiddos better make it through the try outs or we're going to have some broken hearts

Grandma took the boys for a movie and sleepover so we got an evening to ourselves

We did a little shopping and had supper at Olive Garden

Sunday morning we went to church

Pastor Daniel and Pastor Tim always know what we need to hear

After church we worked on the science fair project

If my children ever come home and tell me they have a project, I'm checking out

I have spent hours on this project and it's not even mine

If it weren't for my son having a partner who has done nothing but needs the extra credit,

I would have called the teacher and told her Spencer wasn't participating

We picked up more wood for the deck
This probably isn't the safest way to haul 16' boards but we made it home

Spring break has come to an end

I had lots of fun things planned and sadly not one of those things got done
6 weeks until MY summer break starts
Maybe we'll get something done then

Spring break {day 8}

Friday was GORGEOUS with a capital G
I feel like Spring is being pretty sneaky
60 today, 40 tomorrow

When I saw the 7 day forecast I made plans to meet up with a friend at the park
I wasn't thinking about every body else being on Spring break and being there too
but we had a blast and go some vitamin D
I had to be back mid afternoon for a client
Trying to take a few days off failed - Some day I'll learn to say no

When the hubby got home, he drug me outside to work on the deck
I'd rather be out in the warmer temps than on the weekend when it's 30-40 degrees

We're making some progress but not as fast as I would like

We got a bunch of boards put on and realized that one of the braces sits up higher than the rest
We used some of my dads fancy tools and got the problem fixed but it slowed things down

 Some day soon, I hope to have those spindles up to code

This guy has been working hard

We're getting there
 although some days I wonder why we didn't hire this done or start from scratch
Using the old braces have caused some problems but anything is better than what we had before

While we were working on the deck we had a handful of neighbor kids over creating art work

Oh how I wish we had more days like this

Spring break {day 7}

I took the next couple of days off to get some things done

We needed supplies for the Science Fair project so we did some shopping

and came home and worked on that

We should not have waited until one of the nicest day of the week to be inside 

Lesson Learned

Yesterday was a tough day for this mama

I am totally over protective when it comes to my kiddos and yesterday was my challenge

Spencer has been wanting to go to a friends house 

I hadn't met the family so I kept telling him no

Last Thursday he came home from school and told me that he has a school project

and he and ______ need to work on it together

I told him he couldn't go until I met ______'s mom

I talked to her on the phone and set up a time to meet her

I dropped Spencer off at _____'s moms work yesterday and she took him home with her

I was in panic mode the whole time he was gone

This friend lives about 25 miles out in the boonies

I had Spencer text me when he got there and I checked in once

I made it very clear that I did not want them riding 4 wheelers

So..... I was a bit surprised when I went to pick him up and they were out shooting guns

SERIOUSLY!

My kids have guns but are NOT allowed to shoot them when friends are over

Spencer had a blast out on the farm and was safe and sound when I picked him up

As we were leaving, Spencer told ______'s mom- Thank you for having me!

Ahhhh..... This boy does have some manners

For a split moment, I felt like I might have this parental thing down

While Spencer was away, Parker also had a play date

He and his "friend" have been working on an act for the talent show

Parker went to her house to practice and then went to have Pizza with her family

These 2 are googly eyed over each other and it's adorable to watch them

I survived the day!

Spring break {day 4,5&6}

I'm finally feeling better
My mom gave me some amazing arch supports
 and even after standing on deck boards for 5 hours, the first step out of bed doesn't send me to my knees

I worked my tail off on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday
while the kids got their cheeks wind burnt playing outside in these chilly temps

Reminder: This is why we should not have spring break in mid March in Iowa

I took off the rest of the week to spend some time with the boys and tie up some loose ends