I might as well

I have a bit of time (shocker!) and so I might as well update my silly excuse for a blog. I have had so many things that I ought to write about, but I just haven't. Not sure quite why but nevertheless, the cyber-masses (all 3 of you who read my blog) will just have to do without knowing some of the minutia of my life.

So this is what's up: Spring Break is here! It really is. The Bradford Pear trees are in full bloom and look like fluffy clouds have been caught on them. They are really pretty. Things are starting to poke up in my garden; the rose bushes all have new leaves. In short, the earth is waking up around here and I am thrilled to see it. Of course, the yellow pollen is starting to shake loose and I'm not all that thrilled about that but after the winter we've had, I'll take Spring anyday, yellow dust and all!

The kids and I are headed to Nashville tomorrow to hang out with Dawn and the girls while Brad is writing. My nieces are the only cousins my kids have and so when they get to missing each other pretty fiercely, we try to get them together.

Just about all my friends are taking their kids and going somewhere. I've decided that Spring Break is the time when moms and kids go off on a little trip while the dads stay here and work. It doesn't sound all that great for the dads EXCEPT that they'll have peace and quiet here in which to enjoy lots and lots of basketball. Not a bad deal for them.

We have had some home improvement projects going on. A couple of weeks ago Eric and my Dad tore out our old kitchen countertops to make ready for our new granite ones. They are soooo pretty and cleaning these smooth counters is so sooo soooo much easier than my ceramic tile ones with grout grooves and all that. As with most home improvement projects, once you start updating one thing, lots of other things begin to appear dated. So, with the new counters we 'had' to replace the sink (after all, who wants an old white ceramic sink when you could have a new stainless undermount one?) which meant we had to also get a new faucet for the sink. Then, all of the brass and white ceramic door/drawer handles suddenly didn't match so those had to be replaced with new stainless ones, and then the light fixture (which is also brass and ceramic) seems to stick out so we bought a new one of those to match all the stainless touches. It's not installed yet but it will be at some point when Eric has time. We also replaced our old dishwasher, because it didn't work anymore, not because it didn't match anything. It was a legitimate replacement.

In addition to all of that, Eric has been building us a new--custom--shower for our master bathroom. Why a builder goes to all the trouble and expense to build a beautiful master bathroom complete with a huge jacuzzi tub and then puts a tiny 2.5 by 3 foot stand up shower stall in there is just beyond me. Of course, when you're only 5'3" you don't really notice things like how short the whole thing is or that you can look out over the shower door but that was the case for Eric. So, a while ago, he and Dad tore out the fiberglass shower and gutted the space down to the studs. Eric has done the rest pretty much on his own. There is a LOT of prep that has to be done in ensuring that the space will be waterproof and all that before any tile could be laid. I have been able to help some with the tiling but since it is still a relatively small space, it's not like we can both be in there spreading thinset and laying tile. I'm mostly the assistant. But he's given us a LOT more space. The tile goes up 9 feet so we won't have to worry about the water pinging off of his head and damaging the drywall. He's built me a little ledge to put my foot on whilst shaving my legs and also built 2 cubbies into the wall for shampoo and things like that. All that's left now is to grout, seal the grout, install the faucet and install the door. Then there'll be some touch up painting and things like that bus as soon as that door is on, it'll be fully functional!

Eric graduates in May and it couldn't come soon enough. He's been super stressed with all these house things in addition to midterm tests and research paper writing and sermon planning (he preached last week) and planning the talent show at church and Easter is coming up...It will be a happy, happy day when he is done with school. We're just hanging on til then.

The kids are all healthy as of 1:54 on Monday. Jaylie and Ethan were both sick last week. We've broken the nebulizer out for Ethan and will keep him on his preventative treatments through pollen season at least. Poor little fella. Isaac had a great time in basketball again this season and has improved quite a bit since last year. Jaylie continues to love ballet. Her first recital is in May. She may dance at the Meadowbrook talent show. Last night at our fellowship supper, Lan (a sweet 15 year old who is super talented) performed a song and so Jaylie decided to accompany him with her interpretive dance. Of course, it was sweet and he was gracious about it. She just loves to dance.

I think that just about catches you up to now. I will try (without promising) to blog again before too long. Hope you all enjoy spring in all its glory. Whatever allergy meds you have to be on to get out there and play---take them! It's worth it.

Much love
D