Friday, March 27, 2009

Spring Break

Well, Spring Break has come and gone. Apparently this year, that meant that for a small break we would have spring, but now winter is back, again! Seriously, as I type this they are forecasting four inches of snow tonight and tomorrow.

Oh well - at least the girls had some good weather to play outside for Spring Break. Their first stop was to Nana and Granddad's. Gracie promptly got into mud mode - I got this picture the first day: Eventually they got all cleaned up and headed to Dallas to the American Girl Bistro and shop. This was a request that the girls had begged Nana for, and of course, she was only too happy to oblige. This was also the culmination of a period of saving for the girls. They have been getting allowance for some time now, and a portion of it is put aside for something they are 'saving' for. Both girls had listed American Girl items as their goal, and although neither bought the item they listed, they did spend their money on American Girl items. Now they've decided to save for a Wii, but at the rate they are saving, it'll be several years before they get it.

Mid week they returned to Oklahoma, and Thursday we spent the entire day at the zoo. The girls spent the first half at a Girl Scout Badge workshop in the zoo school (while I read a book in the parking lot) and the second half we enjoyed the beautiful weather and saw the rest of the sights. It's a pretty nice zoo, for its size. When they announced that the zoo was closing the girls got rather paranoid that we were going to be locked in, but we managed to get out!

For the second weekend of our Spring Break, Mimi and Pepaw came up to visit us. It was a bit windy while they were here, but still warm. We visited a lot, and checked out a garden center where Mimi and I dreamed big, but bought nothing. What self-control we have! Still, it's good we didn't purchase anything, because it would be freezing to death this weekend! Here's the girls and Pepaw decorating little wood cars:
The finished products: And here's a good shot of Mimi having tea with Ms. Grace-ita Chiquita Bonita: and Ms. Margarita Picklesworth:
Anyway, that was our spring break in a nutshell. Now we are back in the school swing of things!

Friday, March 20, 2009

Inner Beauty

Last night, as I was putting the girls to bed, I sat down to talk with Gracie. She was looking off towards her desk, and a picture that one of her friends in New Mexico, Annalise, had drawn and given her with her birthday present one year.

She asked me, "Why did she make her hair red and mine blue?"

"I don't know. Hers was a lot lighter blonde than yours was. She maybe only had red and blue and wanted to make them different." I replied.

"Do you think maybe she thought her hair was prettier than mine?" She questioned.

I mulled this over and was still thinking of a reply when she said, "Hair is pretty on the outside, but what counts is what's on the inside, like in your heart."

"Yes, that is true." I said.

"And your bones." She continued, patting her arms. I smiled and started to speak, but then here came her toes from under the bedspread, "And toes. I have pretty toes."

"You have beautiful toes," I smiled, "But I think it also is important to be nice and kind too."

"Yeah," she replied thoughtfully.

"Good night sweet girl! I love you." Inside and out...

Thursday, March 12, 2009

Cold, Clowns and Cookies

Oh my gosh, what happened to spring? After a beautiful weekend, I dropped my girls off at school today, and it was SNOWING!!!! It snowed for several hours, coating all of the fully budded out trees with powdery white stuff. I took a picture, but it didn't really come out well:



Today at Gracie's girl scout meeting they learned about clowning. They had a real, live clown that told them all about it, and at the end she painted their faces. Maggie got her face painted too when we got there to pick Gracie up:










I stopped today to pick up more cookies for our final cookie booth. Afterwards I saw the weather report for the weekend, and now I'm wishing that I had just cancelled the booth and said, enough! Oh well. . . hopefully it will go much quicker than our last one, which was really too early in the morning. This one is in the afternoon, and at least the grocery store we are at has a big covered patio so we are protected from the elements. Arghhhhhh, I want spring back!!!!

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Giddy to be in the Groove

I am so glad to be back in my routine! Since my last post, we did declare a break from all activities. In fact, I don't believe I left the house once I got home from the pharmacy on Monday until the next Saturday. See, after my post on Wednesday, I developed an "adverse drug reaction" - a lump in my throat that made it difficult to swallow. It felt like I had a ping-pong ball lodged in the base of my throat! The doctor's office said to stop taking my antibiotic, since I might be having an allergic reaction, so I did. Then, that night, as I was taking my Aciphex (for acid reflux) I remembered that last time I had taken it, I had a similar reaction after 15 days - and I was on day 10 this time. I called the doctor again the next day and they said to just stop taking everything. I was concerned that the strep would come back, but the doctor's office said that it should have been weakened enough by the antibiotics that I had so far that my body should be able to fight it off. I just didn't want the strep to come back and get Jerry and the girls sick too, but I decided that since I paid the doctor for his professional advice, I should trust him. He ended up being right, but I still fell into a very bad mood.


I spent most of Thursday in bed - not that I was hurting badly or anything - I was just down! I was questioning, "Why can't I get well? Does God hate me?" Of course, it was rhetorical. I know that God does not hate me. My sister said, "No - but maybe he's disciplining you. You know he only disciplines those he loves." My glib response, of course, was that God must love me a lot! Really though, this week, through Sunday School and BSF (gosh, I was so glad to be back, I was giddy!) I was reminded that when we are presented with difficult circumstances, each choice we make is either a step towards God, or a step towards self. And really, you can't count on how you feel - it's human nature to question - but you have to go with what you know from the Word. So, what do I know? Sometimes it is a good exercise to remind myself. . .
  • If God allows a trouble, he will give me a way to make it through that trouble. (1 Corinthians 10:12-13)
  • I am commanded not to worry. (Matthew6:25-34)
  • God wants me to cast my anxieties upon him. (1 Peter 5:6-7)
  • He knows what is going to happen. (Psalm 16:5)

So, although things aren't quite back to 'normal,' health-wise, I am making a choice to once again have faith in what I know to be true of God, and know that whatever he has in store for me (and my family) is the best thing for us - even if it doesn't always 'feel' that way.