February Happenings

Usually February is not a very busy month for us, but this year has been quite busy.  There just seems to be a lot in general going on. We have had some unusually warm weather which has been wonderful, but I know it is a tease for weather to come. Elijah wanted to learn recently how to cook his own eggs, so I snapped a picture of him making them. I sat in the kitchen and gave him step by step instructions. He was so proud of himself and was convinced they were the best eggs ever. Things usually taste better when you put time into them. 

Elijah finished up his church basketball season. He puts in a lot of effort even though he usually can't score and is usually at least a foot shorter than the other kids playing. He sticks with them and gives it his all. 

Eden spent some time with Nana and they got to make her gingerbread house from Christmas. It was actually perfect for doing around valentines day anyway. She was very proud of it. 

Benjamin and his buddy Holt are doing awesome this season with their fishing team- The travelers rest devildog anglers. I am so thankful for this group and that high schoolers from all other schools are allowed to participate. It has really been a blessing. I would much rather him be out fishing on the weekends then out finding other things to do. They did two tournaments in February and placed 2nd in the tournament and missed 1st place by 0.2ounces!  Benjamin caught a 6lb bass so they also won the biggest fish of the tournament. It was a big deal and they are really thriving in this.  We could not do it though without Holts dad who is their boat captain and takes them to every tournament! He has sacrificed a lot of sleep, time and money to do this with the boys. 

The first day Holt caught a 4lb bass. 

 

Spirit week

Spirit week is always fun at the kids school. Here are a few pictures I snapped of them on RED/WHITE/& BLUE day and wacky tacky day, and Caleb on Group/pairs day. 

Caleb won 1st place for the Red, white and blue day for the 8th grade. 

This makes it look like the lock on the door is part of Edens hair, but this is how they dressed for wacky tacky day. 

There was also group or pairs day and Calebs group dressed as frat guys. 

 

Valentines Day

Brad has always been really good at making sure I am appreciated and loved. He gets me flowers almost weekly because he knows I LOVE fresh flowers. He has started to also make sure he gets Eden flowers now. He wants he to know how important she is and that she can be loved well too. For valentines Day Brad got both of us beautiful flowers and got Eden a balloon and bear too. She was so excited to get them. I also threw in some pictures from our first valentines day when Brad and I were dating. We drove down to Charleston, SC and Brad had arranged a dinner cruise for us to go on. Then we drove back to Greenville that night. He has always gone out of is way to make it special.  We are not big "valentines day" celebrators, but we do use it as an excuse for a nice dinner together.  This year we went to Soby's the day after Valentines day. Its so nice because now that Benjamin and Caleb are older we can just say "Hey, you are babysitting tonight" and we get to go out to eat. It's made date night more frequent and easier to do. 

 

Daddy Daughter Dance

It's a big deal to have a date night with Brad! I mean I love having a date night with him too, so Eden had been preparing for her daddy daughter dance for a long time!  She was SO EXCITED. She would get to eat in the castle (California Dreaming) with Uncle B and Mills as well. Then off to the Dance where there is a time of prayer, dancing, pictures, treats etc. 

Eden wanted her hair done and a little lip gloss as well. She was beaming! I am so thankful Brad puts in the time to make her feel important and cherished. She needs to know and understand her worth as a daughter in Christ and that one day a man needs to love her well and cherish her just as Christ loves the church.  

She wanted to make sure her lip gloss was just right and had to check it out in the mirror. 

This is something Brad and Brandon do together with the girls and I hope it becomes a really special tradition with all of them for many years. 

 

Oh My Gross!

 Today I was doing so well drinking my gallon of water. I was over at moms house and had just finished my 32 oz yeti of water. I took the lid off and refilled my cup. I took a HUGE gulp out of the straw and tasted the worst, most foul tasting water I had ever tasted. I was just about to tell mom something was wrong with their water when I looked down to see a stink bug holding onto my straw and trying to stay above the water in my cup.  It had sprayed my water with stink bug juice! IT WAS SO GROSS!  I could not get the taste out of my mouth. I have no idea how that bug got into my cup when I was filling it up.  I will however look into my cup every time I go to drink out of it. I hope I never "taste" stink bug again! 

A class he likes

 Caleb does not "love" school. He is the kind of kid that loves what he is interested in. If he enjoys it, he will know all there is to know about it. Recently Caleb has been getting in the car every day excited and telling me about his science class and his first aid elective. He absolutely loves the class. When he is engaged he does so well. If only we could find a way to be this engaged in Algebra!  I don't actually blame him, algebra was not my thing either! 

His teacher is so very hands on and allows them to learn by doing or experiencing. She is an excellent teacher.  Caleb actually got to experience a real emergency when one of his fellow students had a seizure in class. It shook him up quite a bit, but he learned a lot from it. Here is a picture of something they did in class that was posted on the school website. 

Practice

The father/daughter dance is coming up on Feb. 10th and Eden is SO excited. She got to go last year with daddy and eat at "the castle" which is California Dreaming. This year she is going again and can't wait. Tonight she asked if Daddy would dance with her. Tonight she wanted to practice dancing with daddy. 

Not a Lot Going on, but so much to do.

 I had to look back in my photos over this week to see what has been going on with us. We are constantly busy but it also seems like we aren't doing anything. 

Brad is still dealing with the stuff from the wreck. His back is really giving him problems. He is going to the chiropractor 2x a week and still taking 1000mg Tylenol or 800mg Motrin 3x a day.  I don't know if I put it on here, but he did have a concussion from the wreck and it has taken a while for him to not feel like his brain is foggy. The insurance company did total his truck so now we get to deal with all of that and negotiating a fair deal for his truck. It's always something. 

Benjamin hasn't been driving really at all. He isn't ready (which I am fine with.) I don't mind if he wants to wait a little while before he starts driving. He is enjoying school as much as kids enjoy school. Its crazy how much he has grown in the last year. Compared to his friends he isn't super tall or anything, but he is almost taller than Brad and he passed me a while ago. He wears a mens size 10 shoe, mens medium in shirts etc. Its just so crazy how it all changes.  Two weekends ago he went on the high school ski trip with church and tried snowboarding. He injured his wrist at some point when he fell and has been complaining about it ever since. I am pretty sure he sprained it. 

Caleb is finally working hard at trying to keep his grades up, but he has a bit of a hard time not getting into trouble in his math class. I get emails constantly about his behavior but of course he claims he "never does anything." It's always just in this one class. UGH raising kids is hard my friends. Caleb is taking a class with his science teacher that is a First Aid, Safety and wellness class. He LOVES it. He will get CPR certified at the end of the class. Tuesday night we went to a high school preview night for Caleb. He has not been excited about going to the same school as Benjamin and I think for him to be able to see the school and get a feel for it, it made him more excited about going. Caleb finally had his appointment with the pediatric gastro doctor (we scheduled in October of 2022) Well she thinks his stomach pain episodes are something called Abdominal Migraines ( I am not a doctor, but as a mom and someone that has had it, I think its his gallbladder) We are doing another gall bladder ultrasound on Monday to see if there are any stones. 

Elijah is plugging along with church basketball and keeping up his social life. He gets invited to EVERYTHING. He has a great group of friends. He is doing really well with school work and keeps steady A's. He has the most amazing teacher this year. She does so much with auditory learning and it is so good for him. It is how his brain works. He still struggles with spelling, but that will be something that he struggles with throughout life more than likely due to his dyslexia. Monday afternoon we are meeting with the pediatrician to go over Elijahs results of a test we had done to find out how his body metabolizes medications that affect the brain. So his ADHD medication etc.  It will also help us to figure out if there is a better medication for him. Poor kid HATES his medication and hates taking it, but he has to have it. He literally cannot concentrate without it. We don't have him take it on weekends, breaks from school or holidays etc. but he has to have it for school. We will see what the doctor has to say, but I am interested to find out more. 

Eden has been sick most of this week. On Tuesday night she was home with Benjamin and Elijah while we went to the school preview night. Benjamin texted me in the middle of it and said she was screaming and saying her ear hurt. I ended up awake most of the night with her. We alternated Tylenol and the last bit of Motrin we had, to try and get her to the morning. I was at the doctor at 7 am with her. She has had off and on fevers since Wednesday.  Hopefully she will be on the mend soon. 

This week I had to take a CPR renewal class. I have to do it to keep my dental hygiene license up. I was so tired that day after being up with Eden most of the night, but I got it done.  

I am adding in a few pet pictures from this week.  This first one is a picture that was at school. Its one Benjamin did in his art class. I was pretty impressed with it. 

Callie is so funny with her need to cuddle with me in the morning. Our routine is for me to sit in the sunroom and drink my coffee and do my devotions while she cuddles with me.  She didn't get to do that when Caleb had his appointment so when I got home she just wanted nothing more than to cuddle with me. She literally had to be on top of me and as close as she could get to me.  Penny eventually joined in too and both dogs were on my legs. 

Everyone loves to join in when I am trying to do my exercise. Eden gets all her stuff out and then the dogs have to join in as well. It's a family affair. 

This was a picture in Edens newsletter at school. She has a lot of fun in her class at school. 

Little miss Rosie (fatty patty) was just chilling on the coffee table the other day. She is usually flinging the dirt out of the plants when she gets onto the table. 

This was just a picture from my CPR class. Nothing exciting, but class was quick and to the point and I got it done.