Happenings

There's nothing exciting or particularly interesting to post about right now. But there is still a lot going on. So I will remember what life was like with just two children, here's a list of some of our everyday, ordinary happenings.

• My house is clean. Really clean! And guess what? It has stayed really clean for several days in a row! There are no dishes in the sink. There is only one basket of dirty laundry needing to be washed. The floors are swept and vacuumed. The living room is dusted. My desk is organized. The kids' rooms are {almost} clean. Toilets are scrubbed. There's a place for everything, and everything is in its place. My craft table is happily untidy, but that is how it is supposed to be when I have a project in process. Even the garage is nice and clean after we had a big garage sale last weekend. Everything that was left went to our local thrift store. Clean feels so good!

• I open all the doors and windows first thing every morning because we live across the street from an orange grove, and there are 3 citrus trees in my back yard. They are all blooming right now, and my house smells like Heaven!

• After much diligent work, both Snapper and Pepper brought home straight A's for the second trimester of school. Both made Prinicipal's Honor Roll. Snapper won a special writing award and got to present her Unexpected Surprise story at an honors assembly!

• Pepper started in the K/1 talent development program this week. It is for kids who are excelling and need extra challenge.

• I just finished Beth Moore's Bible study on the book of James. Awesome study, of course. I am working on memorizing the book of James. It is a big challenge, because even though I have a decent memory and memorize shorter verses here and there, I haven't tackled a whole book--albeit a short one--of the Bible before. I started memorizing James when I was in high school, but I only got about 15 verses in. Today I finished memorizing chapter 1! It is more convicting than ever when you memorize it...

• Snapper is working on reading Florida's Sunshine State books. There are 15 books on the Sunshine State list, all varied in content, genre, and reading level. They are selected to introduce young readers to newer books and to motivate them to read. She has read 6 of the 15 so far, and is shooting for 12 by the end of school. I have been reading the books too, to see what she is putting in her head. I have thoroughly enjoyed the books so far, and I'm glad she is broadening her reading horizons.

• Matt got a ginormous splinter--the size of a toothpick--in his finger on Saturday. It was a plywood splinter. It went in almost to the bone and did a lot of damage. A Monday visit to Urgent Care resulted in Tuesday surgery to remove a piece of wood that remained in his finger. Surgery revealed that the splinter came out cleanly, but left a deep puncture which had become infected. Matt is going to have a big scar on his finger, and he is on antibiotics to treat MRSA. No bueno.

• Our avocado tree is loaded with itty bitty baby avocados!!! I don't want to wait until October for them to mature! But come October, it will be guacamole central around here!

• Pepper and I planted a garden on Monday afternoon. I purchased about $50 worth of seeds. Some are heirloom seeds which means I will be able to collect and save the seeds to plant next year! We started our seeds in seed trays which are on a table in our covered patio. As soon as the seeds sprout and get a good start, we'll plant them in a section of our back yard, which Matt is going to prepare on Saturday. If everything grows well, it will eliminate my veggie and melon shopping all summer! I plan on doing some canning, too.

• I am very happy that the NASCAR season is back in full swing again. I never quite know what to do with my Sunday afternoons From December-February. I just wish my poor driver, Jimmie Johnson, hadn't had such a rocky start to his season. But I know he'll come back strong. He always does. I thoroughly enjoyed the part of the Daytona 500 I was able to see. It got rained out on the first day, and started at night on the next day. We ended up leaving early (as in 11 p.m.) after a massive fire on track delayed the race for over 2 hours.

• I am thankful for our DVR. I record The Voice, American Idol, A Gifted Man, and Unforgettable. Matt and I enjoy watching a show together each evening after the kids are in bed. We usually make popcorn and cuddle while we watch our show.

• Pepper needs art classes. He is an amazing artist! He is drawing with perspective at age 5! His drawings tell the stories that he constantly has running through his head. I just love it!

• I'm building two more puppets. I'm making a larger version of Danny with a glove hand that will allow Matt to use his own hand as Danny's hand! I'm also making Danny's sister, Amy. This is a learning process for me, and has ended up being both challenging and fun. 

• We've mastered gluten-free pancakes, waffles, spaghetti, and fried chicken. Three cheers for quinoa pasta, and a lovely blend of quinoa flour, millet flour, and rice flour.

• We have two new music obsessions: The Piano Guys and Lindsey Stirling. LOVE their music!

• Our swim club pool is getting a new liner...a big ordeal. We have to share an 8-lane pool with another team, city swim lessons, and two high school water polo teams. That's somewhere around 500 kids using a very small pool. It makes for strange practice times and crowded lanes. I'll be glad when we can get back to our wonderful, huge pool.

• Our adoption paperwork has been submitted for review on 4 sibling groups and 2 individual little girls. I stalk my email while we hurry up and wait.

• We are very excited about the kids' spring break in a week! The break will kick off with Snapper's Area 2 Championship meet, one of the largest meets we do. She is swimming 50-yard races in all four strokes, plus 100 IM, 100 backstroke, 100 freestyle, and her first ever 200 freestyle. It is at one of our favorite pools, so it should be a blast!

• During spring break week we are going to South Carolina to work with Children's Conferences International. We get to work with some of our favorite peeps, plus about 800 very awesome kids. Our kids are super excited about going, too!

• I am having a root canal next week. Oh joy. And then there are 3 more fillings to do. Oh joy again.

• Laser hair removal totally works! I scored a ridiculous bargain on Groupon and I am in the middle of laser hair removal treatments on my chin. See, it's like this...my body joined Pepper's in a testosterone bath during my pregnancy with him. My chin now thinks it is a man. I honestly think my goatee could rival my husband's if I let it grow. So when a too-good-to-be-true deal came along, I grabbed it. And my chin is regaining its femininity again. Thank you Jesus for laser hair removal!

• Our 15-year-old Caravan has electrical issues somewhere in the wiring under the dashboard. We've replaced several parts and blown a lot of hundreds trying to fix it. Alas, it will not be fixed. We've come to the sad conclusion that with 200,000+ miles on it, it is no longer worth trying to fix. We thank you, silver van, for 10 years and 170,000 miles. You have been good to us. Now we have the challenging task of raising the support to purchase a new(er) van for our growing family. We will need it in the next 3 months.

• Our kids have amazing friends. So do Matt and I. I am so thankful and so blessed.