Tis the Season...

...Baseball season that is.

As you know, as soon as the end of March rolls around it is go, go, go around our house.  It is mostly all fun stuff, but it gets busy. 

Here are a few things we did this past week.

Last night we got to go to Fifth Third Field (Dayton Dragons single A ).  I love that they let high school teams from around Ohio come play a game at their park on Friday nights.  Our school (with Tippecanoe) was invited last night, and Todd was invited to dress down with the Varsity team.  He was pretty darn excited.  He loved being out on that field. 

There is something about being at the ballpark.  The whole atmosphere is just fun.  The smells, noises, relaxed feeling.  It is just plain fun. Can't wait to do that again next year.

We didn't win, but it was fun.

Judd loves running after foul balls.

Mitch enjoying the game.

#21

I also went on Justin's field trip yesterday.  We went to a community play and then the park for lunch.  Lets just say that by the time I got off the bus I had a pounding headache and might have gotten a little bit bus sick.  There were about 130 (+ or -) little kids and boy, did we have fun. 

Justin and I kind of ended up on our own today.  Josie (whom we haven't seen since she got back from Florida last week.) left to take her ACT test bright and early this morning and then she came home and changed her clothes to go Huber Heights for the Seminary Bowl/Dance.  Todd had double header that we missed because it is pouring rain and who thinks that's fun?  Well, he does, but I've never been one to enjoy being wet & cold.  And he didn't say it out loud, but having a reason to miss the dance was pretty high on his list too.  Just like his dad in that respect.   Mitch went to his friend's house after lunch and Layne took some allergy meds and passed out on the couch.  So we decided to make peanut butter no-bake cookies, brownies, and homemade pizza (I think we are almost done with the Easter ham!).

Now I'm pretending that the mess will clean itself up, eating some of these yummy treats we made, and finishing up this post.  But, we all know who is really going to clean the kitchen, so I'd better sign off.



Thinking about Easter Traditions

I've been thinking about our family's Easter traditions for a couple of days.

I haven't come up with too many.  We do the usual egg decorating and maybe the not-so-usual with the Easter Bunny coming on Saturday morning so that we can focus on the Savior on the Sabbath day. 

So this year I've decided to try a couple new things.  I've ran into two articles about the origins of Hot Cross Buns this week.  They piqued my interest, so they are now on my list to make on Friday.  (Good Friday) 

I had to borrow a pic from The Frugal Girl

Josie has my camera this week (She is in FL.  It is spring break this week and our school's marching band is marching at Walt Disney World.  So they went for a whole week of fun.) but this is pretty much what my trial run looks like.  I had dried cherries in the freezer so I added them instead of raisins.  Yum.

I also like the idea of these Resurrection rolls that give little ones (and us big ones) a visual about the Resurrection.  I'm guessing I might be the last to give these a try, but I love the idea. 


Do you have some great Easter traditions that you'd like to share?

p.s.
I was just wondering, what happened to the 5"x3" Giant Peep Bunnies?  I can't find them anywhere anymore.  I may be one of the three people in this world that LOVES Peep Bunnies but I'm not embarrassed to admit it. 

Happy Easter

I Once Heard....

...at age 37 I'd notice some changes.

AND that has proven to be true.



-Depending on the light, my arm now has to move anything with fine print to an appropriate distance for me to read it.

-Staying up till 1:00 a.m. isn't as easy as it used to be.

-Getting up from the floor is no longer a graceful act.

BUT Something happened today that I didn't expect.

-I met my new anti-itch doctor (yes, it is as bad as ever!) and he is MY age.  Same month and year, even.  I never really thought about the day that the doctor(s) were no longer "older". 

Good thing I don't mind getting older.  It just took me by surprise.

Finding JOY

Once in a while I learn something new that brings me great joy.  This is one of them.  http://www.daciaray.com/?p=38  If you are short like me then this might bring you joy too.

I found it on a blog I like called Dicia Ray.  She has lots of fun ideas to try.  One thing that made me really like her was when she said she likes, "reminding girls how to be girls".  I like being a girl.

Then that made me think of a great talk, given several years ago, by Margaret D. Nadauld. (“The Joy of Womanhood,” Ensign, Nov. 2000, 15).  The whole talk is a good read, but here is the part that bubbled up to my memory.

“The world has enough women who are tough; we need women who are tender. There are enough women who are coarse; we need women who are kind. There are enough women who are rude; we need women who are refined. We have enough women of fame and fortune; we need more women of faith. We have enough greed; we need more goodness. We have enough vanity; we need more virtue. We have enough popularity; we need more purity”

Then that made me think of the great women that I've looked up to through the years. 

*My own mother.  Whom I don't tell thanks often enough.
*My dear grandmothers.  Who taught me a world of things; from baking bread to making dolls out of hollyhocks.
*My mother-in-law.  Who treats me as her own.
*My beautiful sisters and sister-in-laws.  What a lucky duck I was to get all of these amazing women as sisters.  I admire them more than they know and wish I could be more like each of them every single day of my life.
*My Aunts.  Each one has put a special stamp in my life. They are all very talented women.
*My girl cousins.  These ladies are awesome!  Some of my deepest friendships have been with my cousins.
*My sweet daughter.  Her commitment to the gospel and cheerful disposition brings me great joy.
*My fantastic friends.  There are some people that you just know that you were meant to be attached with.  We women need the type of friend that will drop anything to help you.

As you can see, my list could go on and on.  There are too many women that have touched my life to count.  Church teachers, school teachers, people I've worked with...they are everywhere, these wonderful women.

Then that made me want to be better.



(I think I wish I had this darling sewing machine, or a little girl to buy it for.  Do you think Josie would want to take it to college with her?)

Welcome To The Family

Today is a very special day for our family.

It isn't every day you get to add a new member to the pack.

Introducing:

Brad & Melanie Coleman

We are so sad that we couldn't all be there, but thankfully Layne was able to attend.  I'm sure everything was beautiful and exciting.  I can't wait to see lots of pictures.

We fell in love with Melanie this past summer and knew that it was just a matter of time. 

She's got herself into a pretty awesome family, if I do say so myself.  But she probably already knows that. 

Congratulation Brad & Mel.  We love you both so much.

Proof of True Love

Most people know that I'm not a touchy, feely kind of gal.  The idea of getting a back scratch or foot rub just kind of makes me shudder.  Until about September. 

It started pretty simple and not too big of a deal.  Just a spot here and there would itch.  I could forget about it after a while.  But as time went on it consumed my entire body.  Head to toe!  My ear lobes, my kneecaps, my toes, my wrists, my everything.  I'd wake myself up (and Layne too) from scratching at night.  I dreaded night time because it got so much worse at night. 

So these past few weeks it got to where it has been pretty much the only thing I thought about.  I wouldn't go anywhere that I didn't have to because I needed to be home where I can scratch anything at any moment.  And needless to say, my skin has become calloused and yes, blood has been involved.  My dear husband has been super duper awesome and scratching me whenever I need it, even in the middle of the night.  They are those really deep itches so the kids just didn't have the muscle required for any real relief.  Although, I have scarred Josie for life after making her (yes, making her) scratch a spot that I couldn't reach and can't describe on my G rated blog. 

At first I thought it must be the change of seasons.  So I went though a huge bottle of lotion.  One night Layne was putting some on my back and he told me that my skin wasn't dry at all.  So that wasn't it.  I thought that maybe I was missing some minerals or vitamins, but more of them just made me nauseous.  I tried to eliminate different food groups.  Non of those seemed to be it.  I talked to a doc (not my usual doc) and he said that since there wasn't any rash or hives and it was all over it was probably psychological.  That makes sense.  There were a few things that had me busy and stressed.  So I figured I'd wait out the holidays to see if the stress of the season was the reason.  It just got worse.  Benadryl could have been pink tic tacs for as much help they offered.

On Christmas Eve Layne had had it.  And a rash had finally appeared.  Our Dr. office was closed so he took me to Urgent Care in Marysville.  That doc didn't even look at the rash.  All he did was walk in, ask me if I was pregnant, handed me two prescriptions, and then wished me Happy Holidays.  I remember this last part because as I was walking out I was thinking, 'the holiday has a name dumbbell.  Merry Christmas!'.  I've been a little testy and on edge since I hadn't been sleeping.  It wasn't a nice thing to think, being Christmas and all, but that is what happened.

The thought of feeling normal again seemed like a dream.  I went right to the pharmacy and filled my Prednisone and Atarax Rx.  Merry Christmas to me!  I was so pumped. 

Let me just say that I've just experienced the most horrible 12 days in my life.  Why I let it go on that long and why I thought I had to take the whole round of pills before I got help is beyond me.  I was going crazy.  Me and Prednisone are not friends.  I now know that it can induce insomnia.  I probably slept 2 hours a day and when I did fall asleep I wasn't in a deep sleep and had the weirdest dreams.  I felt like my skin was crawly and jittery & that only induced more itching.  Night time was torture. I literally walked laps around my house all night.  This past Sunday at church I sat down to play the piano and could not do it.  Justin probably could have one handed it better.  If I wasn't near tears then I was yelling.

Layne had to leave town yesterday.  He was very concerned about how I was going to get all my scratching taken care of with him gone.  And he really didn't want any more permanent scars on our children's memories, so he made me this. The kids call it Mom's Rake.

If that isn't true love, I don't know what is.  Ü  It still make me giggle when I see it, but let me tell you.  It is dang awesome.  Even the kids use it.  You can really dig into that deep tissue itch. 

After I got home from the airport yesterday morning (probably not very safe to drive that far with no sleep, but I got home) I called the Dr and got an appointment.  When Dr. D. walked in he looked at me and asked me what I was on.  I asked what did he mean and he said your skin is all lit up, what are you taking?  I showed him and he looked at me and asked why on earth I didn't come in sooner?  I didn't have an answer that made any sense so I went on and on about nothing and told him that he had to fix me before Layne got home because I wasn't sure how much longer he was going to deal with the crazy lady I had become. 

He said that whatever I'm reacting to is in my blood stream and that is why it is a full body itch fest.  So now I have three more prescriptions, but guess what, they seem to be helping!  I forgot to mention that about Sunday I had started getting a cold and by yesterday that had turned into a sinus infection and pink eye.  So if I didn't have that 'crazy' look in my eyes before, the pink didn't help.

I slept pretty good last night.  This morning I got the kids (the two that weren't puking) off to school and went back to bed and didn't wake up until 1:00 pm!  When I finally woke up my first thought was how peaceful my body felt.  The yucky drugs are getting out of my system and I'm starting to feel human again.  The itch isn't gone (the rake is sticking out of the top of my shirt right now) but WAY better.  So much so that I was able to sleep all day.  That in itself is amazing.  So high five to Dr. D and a smack across the head for Cassie.

That is my story.  That is why I haven't been myself.  Why I haven't been able to do more that I absolutely have had to do.  Why everyone here has stayed out of my way.  I don't know that anything has ever consumed my mind and life as much as this has.  What I do know is that I should have gone to my doctor months ago.  (Yes, just like Layne told me to.)