s"cool"

well, it's not really school ... it's more like 8 days of "organized playtime." works for me!

our church has tuesday / thursday Bible study and now that it's over for the spring they offered those same hours for pre-schoolers for the next 4 weeks. perfect timing.

spring is busy ... very busy with lots of fun stuff (oh, and work) so it's good for all of us. ben has loved it so far ... nice to hang out with someone besides our dog. today ben felt pretty cool because he was able to sneak over to his backpack and take out his big Linus blanket and his monkey. mission completion.

notice the lunch box in the picture. they don't eat lunch at "school"... he gets picked up by noon ... but he HAD to take it because sarah and caleb carry a lunch box. 3 more years til kindergarten ... i think i can wait.

marathon...

where did the weekend go? we really didn't do much past friday night's marathon (both caleb and sarah finished their 26th mile...ben had enough energy to out run everyone!)

i start my marathon again today (work, kids, laundry, errands, work. kids, laundry, errands - repeat 26.2 times.) i'm hoping for a medal at the end of my race too...

social geeks...

high school....remember it? well, i loved it, yep, LOVED it and here are they are, the reason i loved high school.....

kerry, lisa and dana...the extra kids in the pic are thomas (kerry's), grace (lisa's) and ani (kerry's again)...

we always called ourselves social geeks...it seemed to fit us well. we knew we weren't IN the crowd but we were perfectly happy with our awkward little crew. we have way too many memories at the barn, stories of 'dinners' and bad songs from the 80's that still somehow end up on my voicemail periodically.

we've stuck together through big hair, bad mistakes, 4 weddings and a funeral (we still tell Jed stories when we're together...someone out there reading this is probably whistling a Beatles song.)

so, why post this? it's 1:30 in the morning and i'm working and listening to some seriously bad music...Best of the 80's. i've got enough diet coke in me to last through at least 1988. all i need now is some aquanet hairspray and i'll be set.

all i have to say is...hey, hey, you, you, get outta my dreams and get into my car...

sun up, sun down...sunday

the sun was up and so were the kids...so we headed to krispy kreme for a good dose of sugar. are you asking yourself, "hmmm, donuts before or after church?" well, the answer is, instead of church.

our church challenged us to "BE" the church instead of just "GO" to church so we spent saturday working with a small hispanic church in our neighborhood. we painted, weeded, planted, cleaned...basically everything i haven't done at my house lately.

our community group is starting a relationship with this church that we plan to continue after this weekend. it was a busy day and believe it or not NO PICTURES!!! crazy, i know....

so that left sunday open. after our healthy breakfast and quick lunch at SATCO (san antonio taco company) we actually had a church worship service at the park in the amphitheater. the weather was PERFECT, the kids were wound up and the music was loud. it was a great night.

the evening finished when the sun went down and everyone and everything was packed in the wagon...

i can't wait til summer...no one wanted to get up for school this morning...including me.

beat you to it...

this week rob threatened to take a picture of my closet and post it on his blog. i laughed, said "i dare you" and went on with my "schedule" - which, by the way, did not include cleaning out my closet.

here it is in all it's glory. a friend of mine in texas called last week and said they got hit by a tornado, i replied, so did we...just hit the inside of the house. weird.

as most of the people around me know....spring is my busiest time with work so i always prioritze...kids, work, diet coke, shower, sleep is further down the list and the house is somewhere dead last.

for the first time in a long time rob actually sees something half-full....problem is, it's the closet. oh well, gotta start somewhere.

AND....why would i post this on my blog for you to roll your eyes and say, "i can't believe she would post her mess"....let's be honest here. i don't care what you think of my mess, my mess doesn't define me.

i'll quote rob when i say (from his blog) “the older I get” the more comfortable I become with who I am, and who God has created me to be--regardless of what you think.

i think i'd be more embarrassed if my closet was clean and my kids were a mess.

leader of the pack...

caleb loves skipping church.....ok, that doesn't sound right. caleb likes missing HIS class to work with me and the 2 - 3 year olds. i'm sure you can imagine how easily a 10 year old can relate to a bunch of toddlers (same basic potty humor, a burp can send them all running and giggling).

here he is keeping them entertained at the end of the class with bubbles. i'm not sure who was more excited...caleb, the kids or me and the other teachers (who were able to sit for 5 minutes!)

FUNeral...

we just got back from Rob's grandmother's funeral...this time it was on his dad's side - Nanny Howard.

we drove down to Portageville and explained to the kids we were going to a very small town (best example Rob could come up with...Radiator Springs from the movie CARS, it worked, although ben did ask to see Mater...)

we drove by the house Rob's dad grew up in, his grandpa BUILT it, didn't just buy it...something our kids will never really grasp. the 2 stoplights in town blinked and everyone pretty much knew the Howard family. the thing that amazed Caleb the most...more people attend our church than live in Portageville.

it was an emotional service...mostly because the Howard family is incredibly close and very outspoken. i would have typed obnoxious but most of them read this blog and i don't want to get in trouble... but that's why i loved the weekend. my favorite quote from the funeral is when rob said, "i grew up around a burly group of uncles who are not afraid of sitting in their own puddle of tears."

i think it really hit me because this was the Howard family and it was like we were burying another piece of my father-in-law... Bob died 9 years ago and seeing his brothers and hearing them argue and laugh is a great reminder of him.

we were surrounded by 3 uncles and 1 aunt with enough cousins, 2nd cousins and other relatives to overflow the only catfish restaurant in town (ok, so it wasn't in town...we had to drive 7 minutes down the highway). i tried really hard to take some nice pictures with the family together and this is what i got...the 3 stooges picking up their "big" sister ... and let me remind you, their not 'young' anymore (and YES, i know you guys reading this...)

not that funerals are supposed to be fun, but when you are ALL staying in the 1 motel (not hotel) in a 2 stop light town with 3 uncles...what do you expect.

(Uncle Truman, I couldn't figure out how to turn off the audio so everyone wouldn't hear you say, "whoa, that was a heavy load...." but i doubt anyone will be able to understand you so don't worry.)

i'm sure i'll have more pictures to post...after A LOT of editing.

the only thing (or person missing) was my sister-in-law and her family. i'm sure we would have laughed more and slept less with them around. they stayed home to be with Luke in the NICU. their family was prayed for during the service and talked about at every meal. (their link is listed as aunt susan and uncle eric).