Springtime in Kentucky

Just in case I ever forget why I love this state. (I'm guessing the wee one to be a couple of weeks old at best - his legs were still soooo wobbly as he was beside his mama :))

Happy Easter & Happy Birthday

Hi, all!
I hope you all had as wonderful an Easter as we did. It was so beautiful here in Kentucky, sunny with blue skys though it was chilly. It even SNOWED on the way home from my mom's - what??!! - but the weather stayed nice enough for a couple of egg hunts! It was so much fun to see the boys run around and have a ball. My mom has absolutely THE best yard for egg hunts - it's tiered with plenty of landscaping for hiding little plastic eggs. In fact, it's so good, we often didn't find all the eggs until we were "re-hiding" for another round!

Turner and Ethan especially got into it running here and there and loading up their baskets with as many eggs as he could, often plowing over one brother or another to beat them to one. Carson, on the other hand, would get a bit preoccupied once he found one (and having to show it to us) that he'd not think about finding any others.

On the way home, we stopped by the cemetary to leave flowers for my dad, but disappoingly, we had just missed it by 20 minutes and the gates were closed. Today would have been his 65th Birthday. I think about him and miss him every single day. It's been over 8 years already and I swear it doesn't ever seem to get any easier.

So Happy Birthday, Daddy. I love you more than I can say.

Happy St. Paddy's Day!

Just a quick post to wish you and yours a little "luck o' the Irish" today! My boys got into St. Patrick's Day this year and we made sure they were decked out head to toe for school lest they get pinched. ;) Some hats from the Dollar Tree completed the deal and they were ready to party. Hope you had a wonderful day yourselves, ate yourself silly with some cabbage or potatoes or anything green you could find!

Please Pray for Jake

I don't normally put out these types of posts, but this family and their story touches close to home and close to my heart. And since I believe in the power of prayer, I'm coming to anyone and everyone who might read this to put Jake in your prayers.

Jake turned 2 in December. He is an amazing little boy who is a new big brother to his 6 month-old baby sister. His parents, Rick and Amy, are the best friends of *my* best friend's husband. (Follow that?) Jake was the answer to many prayers when his parents finally conceived him after a long period of fertility treatments. Now Jake needs your prayers.

Not even 2 weeks ago, Rick and Amy were sure that Jake had the flu. He was vomiting and not eating and just not himself. Concerned, they took him to the Emergency Room to make sure that he wasn't getting dehydrated and to confirm that the flu was all it was. Not long after he got to the ER, Jake had a seizure. The hospital immediately admitted him and did an MRI scan of his brain. Rick and Amy were completely unprepared for what the doctors would tell them - Jake had a tumor in his brain that was the size of a peach. Surgery was scheduled for the next day, where it was discovered that not only was this tumor malignant, but the doctors were not able to remove all of it.

A few days later, additional testing showed that not only did Jake have brain cancer, the cancer was now throughout his body and entertwined with his spine. Due to Jake's age and size (he's only 20 lbs), he cannot withstand radiation therapy. The only option the doctors gave them was chemo, but they didn't hold out much hope for that either.

Please, please, please, if you are the praying kind, put Jake and his family in your prayers. Spread the word about him if you would, get him in prayer circles and prayer chains, mention him at church. He could use all the blessings he could get right now.

Thank you so much.

Catch up

HOW did it get to be MARCH already?? Sheesh! I feel like I'm desperately playing "catch up" since my trip last weekend to Right at Home in N. Attleboro. I had a wonderful time there - the store owners, Lisa and Sharon, were beyond generous and kind and looked after me so well. (Even to the point of taking me to Gillette Stadium a few minutes away to see where my beloved Tom Brady plays. Did I mention I love those ladies?) The classes went wonderfully and the ladies that took them were even better. I had the best time meeting everyone and chatting - especially my fun women who took every. single. class. I offered over the weekend. You girls amaze me! A special hug and shout out to Reyanna and Kim - two online friends I finally got to meet in person which is probably my favorite thing about my job! Thank you, thank you, for having me. I can't wait to come back again! :)

I have to say though, that as wonderful as the teaching was, the highlight was finally getting to get my hands on my sweet baby niece, Lydian Jane...and seeing her mama, too, of course! ;) Tell me, HOW can you resist this sweet face?

My best friend, Ann Marie, drove up with this cutie to pick me up after my classes were over Saturday afternoon and I got to spend a few days with them. Let me tell you, this little girl is about the sweetest ever and so stinking cute. She was a long time coming and it was a thrill to finally see Ann Marie with a baby of her own. The best news is that they'll all be down for Easter and I'll get to get some baby love again before too long! Can't wait!

And finally...trying to dig us out of the 12-ish inches of snow we got on Friday. I could almost swear we moved somewhere north and no one told me! Sadly this snow was so fluffy and light it didn't make for good sledding or snowman building, but we sure tried....


The one good thing about a repeat of snow is an additional chance to take some snow pics. These cracked me up because we took the wonder pup out in it too - even though the snow was up to his chest! He loved trying to sled, though he prefered his belly over the flyer!

And see that really cool barn behind Carson in that first picture? I caught it through the lens as I was taking the picture and it captured my facination as it seems so picturesque and "Norman Rockwell"-ish. (That one was for you, Ann Marie ;)) So pretty, but I'll be glad when it's SO gone!