Long time no blog....I don't think I have ever taken this big of a blogging break. Life has been quite a roller coaster since mid-December...some highs and some lows and lots of changes. I may or may not blog about all of that but for now I think I will just start with where we are at right now. I have actually been wanting to get back to blogging but in my mind I need to catch up and that seems impossible. I finally decided to just start and let the last few months go. I uploaded an assortment of pictures from this month. It's been a busy and blessed month. We celebrated Grace's birthday, Easter, I've walked almost every day since April 1 (my goal...and I've only missed 3 days I think), and after a few months without a job, Ollie went back to work. We are trucking along with school, I'm tutoring a lot, kids are rehearsing a new show, the girls are in senior tour and are writing a show that they will perform at local elementary schools in May, Joe is playing soccer, Hannah is working and just finished a driver's class called Behind the Wheel where she drives with an instructor 4 days a week for two weeks...and I'll let the pictures tell the rest...
Above is one of the many pictures I have of views from my morning walks. We are blessed to live in a beautiful town with so many places to walk. I usually walk through downtown and down by the lake but I also like walking through the neighborhoods and down some interesting streets.
These pictures are from a day in the life around here....Joe wrote an essay for his FLVS Critical Thinking class and Hannah did a "peer review" for him. Later he did some of Grace's chores so that she would take a break and play a game with him.
We took a little field trip to Santa's Tree Farm for their easter days...the kids had a great time. We went through a petting zoo with lots of baby animals, did an easter egg hunt, jumped on the bounce pillow, ziplined, cooked hotdogs and s'mores over the fire (our marshmallows for the s'mores were peeps!) and got our picture taken with the easter bunny. It was a fun day but HOT! Welcome to Florida...
Later that day we got to participate in a traditional Seder dinner and it was an awesome experience! Grace's friend, Anabel, is Jewish and they were so gracious to invite us to celebrate Passover with them.
I couldn't find our Easter baskets this year so I got creative...or maybe I should just call this practical. Nobody seemed to mind since each bag was full of jelly beans and chocolate.
Easter morning we went to church and then had lunch at H and B's and then spent all afternoon playing Fluxx, a card game that causes everyone to yell a lot, and Hannah might have cried a little too.
Grace had Pad Thai for her birthday dinner and Anabel came over and decorated her room while she was at theatre. Happy 14th birthday Grace!
While I am walking I usually listen to something...Levi Lusko from Fresh Life is one of my favorites for sermons. I also listen to a podcast called The Busy Mom and I especially love This American Life.
Hannah and I have been going to Tarbucks on Thursdays to work with a friend on studying for the PERT test to dual enroll at the local college. How are we here already??
Grace and I went to opening night of "Jesus Christ Superstar" to see her friends in the show and the next morning she and I volunteered at the theatre for the Amazing Race. At the theatre stop, racers had to grab a suitcase, put on 6 costume items, run up on stage and get their picture taken in a silly pose and then take it all off and run out the door. My job was to collect the costume pieces and repack the suitcases...I touched A LOT of sweaty clothes and it was pretty gross. Overall the day was fun though.
Above is Joe playing soccer, he's the one in the red shirt and bright yellow shoes. Below is from last weekend...Hannah, Madi, and I all went to the Villages to see their friend, Devin in a performance. It was great and we had a lot of fun together.
Last Saturday, Ollie and I did a 4 hour canoe trip on the St. John's River. I was super anxious before we left, I'm not a fan of canoes or river water or alligators but we ended up having a really great time together. I have arthritic hands so Ollie did a lot of the rowing and didn't complain at all. That last picture is when we were stopped for a rest and he was leaning over examining the water and the insects and plants.
