Easter/Spring break

You would think with how many times I have walked by Easter displays at work that I would have been much more prepared for it this year. Or it could be looking at it for so many months in advance made me put it off thinking that I had months before the day actually came. Easter had come, and gone..... we didn't really do anything out of the ordinary anyway. I think the chocolate bunnies are already gone, or at least unrecognizable pieces in the labeled baggies in the fridge.

The kids started Spring break last week. They were off on Friday, and have all of this week off. It's still hard to not compare the two weeks off that they had in Phoenix. We all feel gypped whenever this comes up here. Especially with such a mild winter this year, you can't blame it on the snow days. We didn't have ONE.

We are keeping things low key this week. We'll be making up for it in a few weeks.

Today we spent some time outside. Today has to be one of those perfect spring days by definition. The sky is so pretty, and there are puffy white clouds moving across the sky. Even Megan and I being outside washing the car (which finally had all of the winter crud scrubbed off of it) and the boys out playing on skateboards, we had a yard full of robins, blue jays, cardinals and squirrels. The breeze is perfect and now that we are inside I need to open the windows.

We may have dinner outside on the deck tonight, and if we do I will make a fire in the firepit. There is just enough chill in the air at night to do that, and we all get to sleep in tomorrow too.

Drive by posting.....

 Spring has been great so far. It feels good to be out of the house. Lately Matthew has taken over Trevor's skateboard....which means I'll probably have to buy him his own soon. There wasn't much interest in it for a long time....until now. Of course they both want it at the same time. Gosh Matthew looks so big in that picture.

I did some yard work while the kids were out in the front. Plus today was the first day that the turtles came out from being stuck inside all winter. They loved it. What used to be a huge nusiance of dandelions in the grass, is now heaven to the tortoises. They did a great job wandering around the yard and eating the flowers.

Mornings like this make me love Kentucky. It is beautiful in the spring. Several weeks ago I was at Matthew's school, (which is a big school, but there happened to be a huge window at the end of a long hallway. Out this window I saw part of a horse farm across the street from the bus loop. There were horses grazing. I thought, "What a view.") It looked like a postcard.

Yesterday I drove Matthew to school since we had been going through more sealed boxes in the garage and found a bunch of books for him to donate to his teacher's class library. The bag was pretty heavy for the bus, plus some mornings I like to make a treat for Matthew and take him to McDonald's for a McGwiddle. (How he says McGriddle.) We enjoyed the pretty drive, on a twisty road canopied by trees just starting to get leaves.

I parked in the parking lot at the school. We sat for a minute while he finished up on his breakfast, and I looked as the sun was coming up over the trees. The farm across the street along with the white blooms on the trees in the contrast looked so pretty. Almost breathtaking. (No horses out today though.) We sat for a few minutes and I watched the colors brighten.

That in the above photo is a barn. Under that window, you can see sliding doors. Yeah, some horses here have it made. This is one of several enormous farms near Matthew's school. You can see why I love the drive.

As you exit, the farm with the white fencing takes up as far as your eye can see ahead and beside you. I can picture riding in that field at a nice canter. By the way....the farm below is for sale. I know what I want for Christmas.

I'm glad I had my camera with me. They aren't great photos because they really don't do it any justice, but this is part of our 'everyday.' I wish I could have somehow captured the sunrise, the way it felt, the way I felt watching it.

 Below: my flowers have bloomed. They look so pretty. The arrangement is pretty big and very difficult to get a good photo of. I still love them.

saturday

 Above: my flowers on day 2. There are a couple more waiting to open. They were so pretty when I woke up and saw them this morning. I split the arrangement so that Megan could have some on her desk in her room.

 Well, this was a basket of clean blankets, ready to be taken upstairs to a linen closet. However, Piper decided that it is her bed. I was on my computer and started to hear her snore. I didn't realize she was in the basket (she's the same color as the blanket) She seems to like this better than her bed. That blanket and basket may belong to her now.

Today was beautiful outside. I tackled a little bit more of the garage which had since been messed up after Mike and I worked so hard on it before. Moving from the big house we had in Phoenix....we had a lot of stuff. Plus moving again here in Kentucky, I realized that there is stuff that I am simply sick and tired of moving around with me. Kitchen stuff I don't use as much, or things that I have replaced since working at Kohl's. Plus some of my motivation was to find things to donate for friends who lost everything because of the tornado, or if they had family that needed some things. It was a good reason to pare down.

A lot of clothes that Megan and Matthew have grown out of, and some toys mainly. One family I know only has the clothes that were in the washer and dryer that one day. The laundry room was in the basement....and the tornado took their upstairs. Including all of their clothing. The only thing she had were winter things at the time, so now that the weather is changing....I have some kids' clothing until she can pick up a few more things. It's amazing to think that you have to build a new wardrobe, for several people in your family, when usually you have a long period of collecting things.

The toys above are some of Megan's old Playmobile things. We had a HUGE moving box full of these things, and sets that she had. Part of me really wanted to hang onto them (I still love looking at the new Playmobile sets at the store and am always tempted to buy one.) but....we can't hang on to everything. The thought of some little girl having a huge collection of farm/people/camping/princess/castle/safari stuff made both Megan and I happy. I figured that it wasn't worth keeping, and taking a photo of some of them would help us remember as much as keeping a big box that takes up space in the garage. There were many hours playing with these things. I hope somebody else has as many.

Flowers and domestic day

 Hm. I have no idea why these pictures come out looking as weird and grainy as they do on my blog. They aren't like that on my camera, or my computer. I need tech support to show me what I am doing wrong here.

Today there was a surprise at the door for me. Flowers! They had come in a box, and at first I thought that they had been mis-delivered. BUT they had my name on them!! Mike is so good about keeping me with fresh flowers all the time, but since he is away I certainly didn't expect anything. I admit, I totally cried when I saw that they were from him. It makes me so happy to come up the stairs and see them sitting on the kitchen island.

They are in bud form right now and promise to open within the next few days. I am actually so excited that I get to watch them change. Right now they are all packed in there, or closed. They look beautiful on the website he ordered them from. I think they are beautiful now, but like I said I am pretty excited about being able to watch them the next few days.

 (Megan would kill me if she knew I posted that photo. This was after her bike ride.....)

Weather is nice today. Lots of thunderstorms yesterday which I admit kind of freak me out right now. I think still trying to come down after the past two weeks with all of the tornado damage. It has still been strange.

The kids are all off from school today for some faculty related thing. We're happy about the three day weekend! So today Megan and Trevor went for a bike ride. They were gone for a little while, and Matthew and I stayed home and watched a Lego TV show together. As soon as the two got home, Matthew and Trevor went out and played outside. Today has been a 'no electronics' kind of day.

Megan and I made a cake from scratch this one which was amazing. It was so simple, but it is sooooo good. I found it on Pinterest. (Love Pinterest!) While the cake was baking, we made chicken enchiladas. We did all the work on top of the stove until the cake was done, which by that time it was ready to put the pan of enchiladas in the oven to bake for awhile.

I'm somewhat impressed with my domestic skills today.

That photo does not look good with the grain....but oh, that is one beautiful cake. The glaze oozes down into the little caverns of cinnamon mixture. Yum.

Trevor at park - taken with my phone

Today was beautiful! After the kids got home from school we went to the park. Apparently at some time since last summer, they put up totally new equipment. There is now a three story tall structure with slides coming out
from different sides, swinging things, obstacle courses.....it's COOL.

The boys spent some time playing with each other while Megan and I walked a little under 2 miles around the park. It just felt good to be outside and enjoying warmer weather.

not my photo....taken from the internet from a resident in Crittenden. Those are some very expensive horse trailers. I hope that they are still around.

not my photo, but it is getting closer.

and then the day after all of the rain and nasty tornadoes, we woke up with several inches of snow on the ground. This is so strange. I feel bad for those who were working through the night trying to find belongings at what was left of their houses. It was bitter cold.

after all of the excitement of the weekend, early on a Monday morning, here is Trevor - showered, dressed, brushed.....and asleep. He snuggles right into the corners of the couch. It is way too early to go to school.

The changes of the past few days. There have been obvious changes of behavior around town. People are quiet, they are helpful....but it reminds me a lot of the eeriness of September 11th when people were out but not sure what to say to each other. This was my experience at the stores once I made my way out. I didn't drive south of here as they were saying that it was so congested with all of the work trucks trying to repair the power, and roofing people, and the hundreds of volunteers who had been out to help clean up. I did drive down the road a bit and witnessed horses and cattle on the side of the road, furniture and papers everywhere, clothing stuck up in trees. You can't help but know that is all pieces of somebody's life. There are odd things that you see now and wonder if something fell off a truck, or just happened to land there after the wind. Like a metal mailbox in the middle of a busy road. How far did it come?

The weather. This is a biggie. Two days before the tornado we were enjoying some amazing spring like weather. We were outside in it and had the windows open. Then the day that the tornado hit. The next day started out chilly, but got increasingly colder through the day. Which brought a few inches of snow overnight. Snow. For real. It's so weird. Now, according the weather we are going to start warming up this week. It will be a crazy spring that is for sure.

Monday I had a dental appointment. As soon as all of the kids were off for the day, I drove out to the office. I thought I was going in for a cleaning, but the sweet girl behind the counter said, "We are doing a filling today?" and clapped her hands with excitement. I said, "Uh, nooooo I thought it was for a cleaning." I think she could tell that I must have straightened right up when she said filling and figured that I was nervous. Yes, yes I was. I don't really like going to the dentist. Plus the last time I was there, even though they took good care of me, I had an extraction and that freaked me out a bit.

I had to be brave. I went on back....and she asked me if I wanted any laughing gas. You bet. Yes PLEASE.
I was able to lay there for about 5 minutes with oxygen over my nose. Then she came and adjusted the gas.....a deep breath.....and I could feel my eyes just roll backwards, and my hands feel numb. Oh yeeeah. I'm not nervous at all anymore. I got to lay there for about 15 minutes while they kept coming in and checking on me. I felt goooooooood. I felt like I was a part of the chair. I learned I can get a shot of gas next time even if I'm nervous for a cleaning. I think that I will start getting monthly cleanings, and I'm sure there is a lot of work we can find to do in there. I looooove my dentist. I also love the bottled water, the pot of apple cider, and the cookies. - most importantly, I love the people who don't hurt me! Yay to healthy teeth!