On a Positve Note...

Before disaster struck on Saturday we were able to enjoy some of the fabulous weather and cheer Luke's T-Ball team the Blue Jays to victory. Here's some pics of our big hitter, his team on the field and lil' brother playing during the game.

If anybody wants to attend, they play pretty much every Saturday through mid-June except for Memorial Day Weekend. It's adorable!

Motherhood Combat - Shock and Awe

The past few days can only be described as motherhood combat. I have seriously gone over a few of the more challenging times of my adult life to include basic training, the police academy, and even childbirth. And I have to say, this weekend is right up there as far as challenges go. Unlike the others though - there has been no sense of reward to follow. Only relief and expectation of recovery.

For those of you who haven't heard our sob story, our family has been hit hard by a stomach flu. We have figured out that ours originated from Blake's daycare where he attends with a local teacher's toddler. Justin had a few choice words for the little lad that I won't share (giggle giggle)...

Anyway, Blake was sick Thursday night and Friday. By Saturday, he seemed to making a full recovery and even accompanied us to Luke's opening T-Ball game (I'll share some pics and positive news about that later). Saturday afternoon everything came on full force for me and Luke. By 11pm, I was pretty dehydrated and in a lot of pain. Becky P. was our hero that night, showing up to take me to the ER while Justin took care of Luke.

Luke tried school yesterday but is exhausted and stayed home today. Justin now has a touch of it and has been resting on the couch (our designated "sick" area) all day.

This has just been awful and to save you the details (and make you laugh) Justin called my whole episode "shock and awe".

And, by the way, Easter baskets make great yuck buckets! LOL!

Logan Banner - Front

Logan Banner - Front

This is the front page of my hometown paper - the Logan Banner. If you want to see some really scary flood pics from the recent heavy rains, click on the photo gallery toward the bottom of the page... Wow.

My family was fine but they're concerned about future flooding as well. The mountain strip mining is destroying the natural paths of streams in the mountain and the water just pours off everywhere.

No Spring Break Boredom Here!

Spring Break is coming to a close with weather more like early winter. Despite the weather, we've still had some fun this week and today we're just taking it easy, watching Animal Planet, doing laundry, and getting ready to head back to school on Monday. We've lived in this area for about 8 years now and we're still discovering new things to do. On Monday we went for an hour hike at a resevoir and nature area just miles away. The boys love hiking. Even though the hikes here don't compare to WV, it's still a way to get out and get some fresh air. I took the group pic of us using my new tri-pod stand with bendable legs. We just wrapped it right around a tree - pretty cool!

We visited a local bug "museum" which is alwasy a hit. This is the same place where I ate a cookie topped with a cricket in the fall to impress the boys. Bet there's not many other kids out there that can brag their mom ate a cricket... LOL. Only moms of boys will understand this...

We also made a trip to the science museum where we tried a lot of interesting hands-on displays, watched rats play basketball, and watched a beautiful IMAX movie about coral reefs.

We also started our seeds inside and have quite a variety. Blake is excited about the possiblity of carrots and Luke picked out his favorite - tomatoes. We're going to shoot for containers as this VA soil is just brutal! Red clay! Ugh! We'll have to import some rich, dark soil from WV! Wish us luck on this project!

Just Some Signs of Spring (And "Sprinter")

Easter Workshop

The boys attended an Easter Workshop last weekend and invited family friend Tanner to join. Tanner is in first grade and isn't quite as crazy about school as Luke but they've been friends since birth and always get along just great! The boys enjoyed making a craft, hunting for eggs and hearing the Easter Story. Doesn't Blake look like a wild man?! Fortunately, we noticed him in the back seat covered in chocolate from an egg he had squished before it made it's way all over our van! When I saw him I grabbed two things - wipes and my camera! It's funny that I haven't bought the first piece of Easter candy but between Aunt Missy, Miss Tasya and school they've managed to have more than their share of sweets!

Visit With Jacob, Spring Ball and Our Lil' Artist

Wow! What a whirlwind couple of weeks! Spring weather has visited us a few times and once again winter is refusing to leave! Here's some pics of our visit with Cousin Jacob from North Carolina who we had a chance to visit with a couple of weeks ago at MeeMee and Poppy's place. Don't they look cute covered in gravel dust?!

Luke has started T-Ball and is quite the little hitter. The schedule hasn't been posted yet but we'll let you know. If you haven't watched a T-Ball game in a while it sure does make you giggle! They are adorable! Luke even has a spunky little girl on his team this year. Blake makes friends easily with other young siblings while we watch the game and recruits little girls with ease to play GI Joe and slide down the hill but he can't wait to get started himself. He joins in our front yard practices with Daddy.

Also - can't forget to mention our budding artist! Luke had a piece of work selected for the county Fine Arts Festival!