Happy Easter

Cate had an egg hunt on Thursday at school. The only large fenced-in area big enough for all of the kids at once was the cemetery next to the church. So that's where the egg hunt took place. They do have a fenced-in play area, but it's not large enough to hold all of the classes, plus parents, plus siblings.
Cate helped Brennan find a few eggs of his own.
Each kid was only allowed to find 5 eggs, which made it very fair for each kiddo.
Thursday was also opening day for the Cincinnati Reds. So we all sported our Reds gear (but I only managed a picture of the kids). We can't wait to head to the ballpark. Being so close to downtown means we can decide at the last minute if we want to head down to a game.
On Friday both Cate and I were off school. We dyed some eggs. I ate one and had no issues. I've been feeling pretty awesome lately, too, so I think the worst is over and we'll chalk it up to some weird viral or bacterial thing complicated by an ulcer-- which is pretty much what the doctor called it.
We started a little container garden in our backyard. I've never been much of a green thumb, so if this works out, we might try a raised bed next year. For now we're trying our hands at tomatoes, cucumbers, spinach, green peppers, and strawberries. Putting them in containers means we don't have to deal with weeds.
Eric and I have decided if even one pot yields something useful, we'll consider it a success and try again next year. If more than one yields something edible, we'll aim for the raised box. Cate helped me decorate a large pot for each crop.
We visited the bunny at the mall. The kids got fun masks.
Brennan didn't scream or cry the way he did with Santa. But he didn't sit still for long. This was the best I could get unless I wanted to pay $17.99+tax for ONE 5x7.
The bunny visited my kids last night and was very generous. Playmobil 123 is genius-- Brennan loved the rocketship. Cate got a Playmobil egg with a zookeeper and animals. Of course treats and books were part of their baskets. Cate also got a couple of new coloring books.
He also left me this. My mason-jar lovin' heart is so excited to have a lid for when I drink my coffee or tea out of mason jars. Today we celebrated Easter at church and then with family. I think this quote from Brennan Manning (yup, that's where we got Brennan's name) sums it up:

"He could not be glorified until he had been crucified. The whole purpose of his redemptive suffering, death, and resurrection was to share with us the fruits of his Easter triumph." ~Brennan Manning

Happy Easter! I'm off to attempt to put two children, who have ingested probably three times their normal daily sugar allowance today, to bed.
~Melody :-)

My Favorite Porch

Last week, my mom was on her spring break and came for a visit. I took a half day off of school on Tuesday so we could head to my favorite front porch for the afternoon. We finally got to meet my cousin's sweet little boy. Cate and Brennan had fun exploring the backyard. Brennan is so close to walking, but just isn't quite there yet. That boy has had some dirty knees lately since he's been crawling all over outside.
We've been having some unseasonably warm weather lately, which has been nice. I'll take an early spring over late winter snow any day (even when late winter snow means snow days or delays....neither of which we've had this year- a first in my 8 years of teaching). It was hot enough on Tuesday to bust out one of the many baby pools in my great aunt's garage.
But it wasn't so hot we were uncomfortable sitting around and visiting.
I'm on spring break this week, as is Cate, and am looking forward to the extra time with my kiddos.

And on the gall bladder front, my tests were all normal. So at this point the doctor isn't sure what to do. I've got a new medicine to take before bedtime (since most of the time I'd wake up in the middle of the night with issues). The nice side effect of the medicine is that it makes you drowsy-- so I've gotten some pretty solid sleep the last few nights. The doctor will see me again in a month to see if things are improving, which they have been ever so slightly with each passing week. He thinks it might be viral or bacterial and something we just have to wait out (the ulcer didn't help things). So we'll see. By now I know which foods seem to give me problems and am just avoiding them. I'm allowed to start eating them again, but I figure I'll try again in the summer, when I don't have to teach 106 eighth graders if I feel like junk. On the bright side, I'm pretty much rockin' the skinny jeans.

Happy spring to you!

~Melody :-)

Our Next Toy Purchase...

...will probably be a toy lawnmower. Cate was fascinated by Eric mowing the lawn yesterday.
She pushed a little walking bike backwards (you're supposed to sit on it and push it forward with your feet-- Cate stood on the other side of the handlebars and pushed it like a shopping cart) like a lawnmower all over the yard.
We have a few little dips and patches of thick grasses in our yard, but Cate never gave up.
She pretty much followed Eric around the yard with her "lawnmower" the entire half hour he was actually mowing.
Then the "lawnmower" wrecked, Eric finished, and we headed inside. I'm on the lookout for a toy one now though.
I am taking a break from Not Me Monday this week as I really don't have anything to confess...really...I promise. I will say I did speak a little too soon in yesterday's post though. Around dinner time, some of my same old symptoms decided to come visiting (even though I'd been 36 hours without them and without medicine). The good news is that taking the medicine worked quickly and I was able to eat some dinner and feel quasi-normal the rest of the evening. The bad news is that I woke up a couple of times last night and this morning feeling some of the nausea again. I called the GI doc to see if there was any way to come in earlier or get some of the results from the hospital tests earlier...I should hear from them by tomorrow. Part of me figures that if it were something serious, they would've told me by now. I'm still remaining confident that this is something that will all be over soon. Thanks again to everyone who has been praying for my recovery.

~Melody :-)

On the Mend

We are hoping and praying that I'm officially on the mend. I had a few minor symptoms on Friday afternoon/early evening, and have been tired, but today I am feeling much better. I have been off of the anti-nausea meds for over 24 hours at this point and am praising God for that. I don't meet with the GI docs for another week, but I am continuing to pray that the tests show up negative and that these symptoms were infection-related and are now a part of my past.

The sun decided to shine today as well. It's downright gorgeous out right now. The sun and our well-worn and inviting porch steps provided the perfect photo-op of Miss Cate in a cute dress given to her by my friend, Karen.



Who needs medicine when that cute face is smilin' at you?

~Melody :-)

Welcome Spring Summer

Yes, it was warm enough for this today.

~Melody :-)

Welcome Back Spring

The spring weather has come back...in fact, it's quite summery. Tomorrow is supposed to be in the low 80s (and Saturday and Sunday). Eric had time to steal a quick kiss before heading off to do an information meeting for Team in Training up in Xenia.
Cate and I spent some time playing outside with this toy that we inherited from a friend whose daughter has outgrown it (along with 4 bags of clothes...Cate is set for summer).
She enjoyed being off of the little bike and pushing it more than she enjoyed being on it. We'll make a cyclist out of her yet. This is just the beginning.
Later we went and had dinner with my friend, Emily, who just moved back after living in London for almost 3 years. After dinner, we walked around beautiful Eden Park where the fountain was turned on in celebration of the warm weather.
Cate walked part way around the fountain, but wouldn't let go. She has not taken any steps on her own since Sunday.
Emily brought her this cute hoodie from Europe too. I think it makes Cate quite stylish. It says "Italia" across the front.
I'm so ready for the warm weather to begin and excited that we'll actually need some sunscreen this weekend. Hopefully being out in the fresh air will motivate Cate to walk some more.

~Melody :-)

The Sun Will Come Out...

...today...and yesterday! Finally, some good weather on my spring break! Too bad it's pretty much over. But on the bright side, there's only about six more weeks of school left. When the sun did this yesterday:
We headed here, where mommy had coffee and split a waffle with Cate:
Next up was the park, for a bit.
Then Cate came home to play with Daddy, while I went to see one of my friends from school who just had an adorable little boy, Carter, three weeks ago.
We ended last night south of Dayton. Eric had to do a Team in Training information meeting, so Cate and I accompanied him. We grabbed a quick bite to eat at McDonald's, walked around while Eric did the meeting, and had a pleasant drive home in the sunset. Here's Cate waiting for Daddy to finish up.
Today was also pretty busy. We took my grandma to see her sister in Northern Kentucky this morning.
After she filled us up with lunch and ice cream, we headed back across the river to rest for a bit before we headed to the zoo. We met up with my friend, Laura, and her daughter, Tessa. Tessa and Cate were due the same weekend, but ended up being born three weeks apart since Tessa was early and Miss Cate was late. They kind of "played" together at the zoo. Cate touched a goat too, but I didn't get a picture.
I did get more zoo blooms pictures though.
Tomorrow I'm biking 55 miles. I haven't been to a training ride in three weeks because of the baby shower, Cate's sickness, and then my own illness last weekend. I'm really looking forward to it.

I'm sad to see spring break go, but I know summer vacation is just around the corner.

~Melody

Baby in Bloom

The rain let up long enough today for us to take a quick trip to the zoo (thank goodness we only live about 10 minutes away). The flowers were blooming all over the place, so of course I had to get Cate out of the stroller to take a few pictures.
And then I played around a little with my zoom lens.

~Melody :-)

Happy Easter

Friday's showers brought out today's flowers...
This is the first Easter Sunday in a long time that I have not gone to church. All of the events of Cate's sickness and ER trips last week finally caught up to me on Friday evening. Call it exhaustion, call it a touch of what Cate had (minus the throwing up), call it whatever you want, but I felt horrible. I slept most of the day Saturday until my parents came over to help move in Daddy's new toy (which Cate also loves).
We got it free from a woman my grandmother works with. Of course Eric is thrilled to have a real piano in the house now.

Saturday night we headed over to my grandmother's for Easter dinner and to meet my cousin Melissa's little girl, Aubree, who was born in January. Melissa, her boyfriend, and baby Aubree were in visiting from Wisconsin. Cate was fascinated by Aubree.
And by the goodies in her Easter basket from Nana.
As soon as I took a few bites of dinner, I knew that I wasn't back to my normal self yet. We ended up leaving early and I spent another evening on the living room floor, watching TV and praying to feel better. Somewhere around the end of Saturday Night Live, I crawled into bed and slept soundly until I woke up this morning...hungry and feeling much better. We took a look at what the Easter Bunny brought Cate.
I still wasn't feeling up to going to church though, so while I continued to sleep a little more, Eric and Cate walked down to the grocery store to get some diapers, which we ran out of this morning (usually I notice when we're low and go to stock up, but having been a little out of it, I didn't get the chance to catch up).

This afternoon I'm feeling much, much, much better. I've always been a bit of a worrier, so I'm not really surprised that the lack of sleep all week because I was worried about Cate finally caught up with me. Even though it's a little chilly right now, the heat is off and the windows are open as fresh air always does a body good. I'm looking forward to enjoying the rest of my spring break which will be spent visiting with friends and getting caught up with some school work and some house work as I head into the final weeks before summer vacation.

Alleluia! He is risen! Happy Easter!
~Melody :-)