Our Family Project- Part II

Hey guys  

Remember when I talked about our new family project?

Well, things are progressing and moving right along in that department, thanks to the hard work of my oh-so-talented hubby and the mild winter we have had.  <----- I mean, seriously, it’s supposed to be 70* today and it’s February!  Love it!

Anyway, here are some more “project” shots…  What do you think?

Any guesses? 

We are SUPER EXCITED!!!

 

I’m going to go pick up my house a little bit and then go watch more progress outside.  It’s too beautiful not to be outside today!  After the severe weather that had us heading downstairs to the basement at 330 this morning, I never would have guessed that the weather would be so perfect today.  My heart goes out to all those around our area in Branson, SE Missouri, and Southern Illinois who lost loved ones and had destruction because of the storms.

So just to make you smile, here’s a little pick me up, thanks to Pinterest:

Heehee, I thought it was too cute

Have a good day, friends

xoxo

And Just Like That…

Half of Tyler’s high school basketball career is over.

Yep, Spike, that’s how I feel too.

In some ways it’s been a long year.  And at times we were even begging for it to be over.  But not really.  Because when you get right down to it, we love watching our kids do their thing more than anything.

And everyone has their own “thing” at Bulldog basketball games.  It is most definitely a family affair and a big tradition… 

Tyler, of course (wearing the same #40 that his dad wore in HS):

 

Zachary, manager extraordinaire (and Sam his partner in crime):

 

Katie (cheering on her team by dancing with Spike at halftime):
 

 

And the nervous parents and grandparents (Jack has no fingernails left, BTW):

 

After the final buzzer sounded last night, with the score not in our favor, I watched as the mommas of the seniors wiped away tears as they watched their boys play their final game in a Bulldog uniform.  All the years of blood, sweat, and tears flashed through their mind as if this moment isn’t really real.  This is finally the end.  And then it hit me…I’m halfway there.  I’m halfway to being that momma, watching her senior play his last game. 

And I’m not even close to being ready. 

I mean, I feel like we just got started!

I know I’ve said this before, but could time.please.stop.now??  I may or may not have asked Tyler if he’d like to flunk a year or two in order to drag this out a little longer… #momoftheyearhere

I know this is all part of the process of growing up, and it’s something we all go through, and it may seem a bit dramatic, but when it’s your kid…there is seriously nothing bigger.

So, unless I figure out a way to stop time in it’s tracks, we will keep marching forward and pray that God will be our Guide as we travel through these different phases of life.  You can bet that I will be soaking up every.single.minute.

 

Good job, boys.  We are SO PROUD of you. 

And THANK YOU, TYLER for giving us lots of things to cheer about this year!!

Peace. Love. And Bulldogs.

xoxo

Sunshine & Rain Showers

Oh wow.

Ok, so this is a little intimidating. 

The first time my Live Writer program has been opened in three weeks.  Blank page.  Has it really been three weeks since I last posted??  <leaves to check>

Yep.  Geez.  So much has gone on, so much happening, yet I have no idea what I’m going to write about.

Truthfully, one of the biggest reasons I haven’t written is because I’ve been in a somewhat pissy mood [thank you absent hormones] and really didn’t want to write just depressing and cranky posts.  But then I had the thought,

“But this is MY blog.  The place to write MY thoughts and feelings and to share.  Yes, even if they are sometimes not all sunshine and flowers.” 

So here I am.

Here to write about my sunshine and my rain showers of late.  I’ll try to be brief and catch you all up.  We’ll see how that goes.

SUNSHINE
-Good oncologist checkup on Feb. 3!
-”Benign findings” breast MRI – still CANCER-FREE!!
-Health and wellness household-wide.
-Basketball keeping us busy.
-A beautiful, mild winter, all except for the light snow that fell last week that led to 2 snow days and very ecstatic kids (and teachers as well).
-Substitute teaching for me…whoa.  My thoughts: Teachers don’t get paid NEARLY enough!  But I AM enjoying subbing! <---Probably because I have the “grandma role” here…I get to give them back.
-Our family project is coming right along!  I’ll share more later.
-The office phones are starting to ring a little more again…Praise God!!
-Running has been back in full force, back to getting in my 30-40+ miles per week with a good balance of treadmill and outdoors.  LOVE.  Oh-and I’m also lifting weights and getting buff.  Ha!
-My birthday present from my parents was registration to the Country Music Marathon in Nashville on April 28!!!!!  My sister, Jessica, is running too, along with my sister-in-law Kristy.  It’s going to be a great girls’ weekend!!  I.cannot.wait.
-Oh yeah, and I had a birthday…#34!  I’m glad.  I like even numbers.

RAIN SHOWERS 
-Really my only rain shower is cancer-related…of course.  Blah.  This is pretty much my reason for my pissy mood as of late.  Even since Sarah passed away, I just feel surrounded by cancer.  And not all good news either, sadly. 
--Two ladies I follow on Twitter and [try to] participate in weekly breast cancer chats with, Rachel and Susan both lost their battle [I hate that phrase by the way] with breast cancer within one day of each other.  Both young and vibrant and very vocal in the fight against breast cancer, their passings leave giant holes in their families as well as the blog world.  
--A friend, Krissi, whose Caring Bridge site I’ve been reading for quite some time with stage IV breast cancer now has mets to her brain…ughhhhh….  She has been doing so well and taking chemo like a champ and her mets to the liver have been receding.  With no symptoms her dr ordered a brain MRI last week only because it had been a year since her previous one (which was good).  This one showed up several places of metastases in her brain, albeit very small.  Now she is pausing chemo while they zap these places with radiation.  
--My cousin’s mother, Lorraine, who has been doing well since a diagnosis of pancreatic cancer last year, was diagnosed with metastasis just a couple of weeks ago, and just passed away on Saturday.  Geezzzzzz…..cancer, cancer everywhere.  I really am so tired of all of this.

BUT, despite the rain that occasionally falls, I have to remember this:

  

Here’s to blessings and sunshine, friends!

Love you guys

xoxo