Spring has sprung in Missouri - we've been blessed with beautiful weather and unseasonably high temperatures throughout the month.  The weatherman keeps saying it is more like May, and I love it!    The trees and bushes are all in bloom, and our spring flowers are quickly making their appearances, seems like something new is popping up every day.  I just hope we don't have a cold snap in April, that would be brutal.  And, as some people are saying, if it is this nice in March, are we in for a miserably hot summer?  I hope not, but I really am enjoying the weather we're having right now, so I will just be grateful and enjoy what we have.

We are also seeing a late influx of the flu throughout the United States, and in our local area as well.  Our general region has been on red alert the past two weeks, and all our employees had to show proof of vaccination in order to be able to work within the hospital and areas directly related to the hospital.   The discussion for next year is that all employees will be required to have the flu shot as a part of employment, unless they have an allergy against it.  And knowing that we have had several patients in hospital die from the flu, I do understand why health systems are mandating this for employees, so that we aren't spreading it unintentionally.

I haven't had the flu in several years, but I did come down with a very nasty upper respiratory infection this week.  I wondered if it might be the flu, but I never had a fever more than 100 degrees, which is one of the determining factors for the flu.  My bout started with a scratchy throat on Monday, and went from there; first time I've missed work for more than a day because of illness in quite awhile.   Several friends on Facebook say that they've had the same thing, and it lingers for weeks.  I can see that may be the case, as it is Saturday and while I'm up and function again, I still have the whole cough and congestion thing in full force.  Yuck.

"5PM"

 I'm enjoying a quiet weekend, getting my strength back and preparing for the week ahead.  Enjoying my favorite kind of Saturday morning, with a freshly brewed pot of coffee, some music playing on Pandora, and catching up on the computer.  Later this morning I have a massage - and the best part is that it is paid for through my flex savings plan, with a prescription from my physician.   One of the best uses of my money- helps relieve that stress that I tend to carry in my back, and it is still within my budget and Dave Ramsey approved!

As you can see,  I have still been having fun this month with the Photo-a-Day challenge on Facebook.  All of my photos are taken with my iPhone, and then I use some finishing tools on my phone to add filters, frames, etc.   I've also started posting my photos on Instagram, so if any of my family/friends would want to follow me on there, it is fun!   Instagram is a photo-sharing site, kind of like FB but without all of the other junk - my username on there is nancycatherine71, if you are interested in doing it, and posting some yourself!   But in the meantime, I will still post some on here.

This one I took in the grocery store on my lunch break one day - the word of the day was "fruit", and I had hoped to buy some strawberries to eat, and take a photo of them when I did.  But it was not yet strawberry season, and they were very puny-looking.  So Brian and I were skulking through the produce while I snapped photos with my phone.  This was one of my favorites for the whole month:

I enjoyed a visit from my dad earlier this month; he was in town for a judge's conference and stayed with me on a Thursday night and then we all enjoyed Friday evening together at Susan and Ron's home in Stockton.  Brian and I grilled out for dinner Thursday night, and then Dad assumed his usual position later in the evening and so did Rocky... I was the only one awake in the living room, at 8:30 at night!

Let's see, what else - oh, we enjoyed a trip down to see friends Chris and Jana in Kimberling City, at their bar and grill, Fishtales.  Brian loves their burgers - says they are a close second to his favorite burger joint, Five Guys Burgers and Fries...

Last weekend we spent Sunday afternoon at friends' home near Springfield, for a birthday barbecue.  They had two little donkeys, Pebbles and Bam Bam.  Daniel was very excited about them on the way to the house, but once we got there and heard them loudly braying, he wanted nothing to do with petting them!

Things have been going great with Brian, he is very down-to-earth and grounded.   One of the best things is that in addition to our relationship as a couple, Brian has also been such a positive person in Jace's life over the past several months, something for which I am so thankful. Jace and his dad are close, and Jim is very involved with Jace in sports, etc.   But I remember being 13, and having another adult besides your parents is sometimes what you need - someone else who can tell you the same things your parents are saying about school, grades, friends, peer pressure, etc. - Jace seems to really listen to Brian, and Brian has the background and experience in working with kids and teens, it is just a very natural thing.

"Red"
(flowers from Brian, "just because")

Looking forward to the upcoming Easter weekend, and time with my family in St. Clair.  Annie and Matt will not be able to join us because of timing and airfare; we will miss them so much!   But we'll take plenty of photos and know we'll see them soon, hopefully this summer.

My coffee's cold and my massage is in less than an hour, so better close and get this Saturday going!

Mom, I'm Hungry!

Having had plenty of friends and coworkers who have shared experiences of their sons and the teenage years, I've been waiting for some of these issues to come up with Jace - and it seems like puberty has finally arrived, folks.  Jace has never been a big eater - he's always eaten just enough to get by, and then he's ready to leave the table and get back outside or to whatever he's doing.  But first I noticed him starting to eat more at mealtime, and NOW it seems like it is snack time, all the time.  I used to be able to buy snacks and they would last for a week or so - but I come home now and my little 13-year-old has cleared through a whole box of Cheezits in two days, or a bag of cookies in an afternoon.   Luckily his metabolism is so fast that he isn't packing on the pounds, but I've told him that he cannot eat junk food like that, or he may have a problem with weight down the road - AND it certainly isn't doing his body any good with all of the empty calories he is consuming.

Last night we (Jace, Brian and I) were watching an episode of Top Gear on History Channel (a total guy show, but I enjoy watching something with the two of them, and it is pretty entertaining) and we each had a bowl of pudding for dessert.  Jace finished his lickety split, and was ready for another bowl!  I countered his request with a banana, which he happily accepted.  Then he had another banana, and still wanted to know what else he could have.   So I brought out some roast beef I had made in the slow cooker on Saturday, and I heated some up and made him a sandwich.  After all of that, a fudge round to top it off!  

I know my shopping list is going to increase - and one of the biggest challenges will be finding/making healthier choices for him to snack on, rather than the Honey Buns and other junk food he would wolf down if I kept it in stock...   I bought some cheese, bananas, oranges, canned pears (he loves) and will hard boil some eggs tonight as well.  When I made him a chore list today, I made sure to put very specific snack instructions at the bottom - "You can have a cup of pudding and a fudge round, but no more sweets after that - have a banana, piece of cheese or peanuts if you're still hungry, and I'll fix dinner as soon as I get home!"

Baseball season is in full swing, with practices twice a week, so we've got to keep this boy fueled up!  Any suggestions are absolutely welcome - should be a busy and fun few years coming up!

Oh, and I have the remaining photos from my February photo challenge, will post those tomorrow!

Jace made the Tribe team!

His dad just texted me, and he has made the baseball team - so proud of him!  Tryouts were over a three week period, and he went to one of the early ones.  He pitched and batted at that one, and his dad felt he did pretty well, but was one of the smaller 13 year-olds, and it was some pretty fierce competition.  Jace wanted to attend the final tryout session this past weekend, and we drove back from Stockton on Saturday so he could do so.

The main guy organizing it came up to me after Saturday's tryout and told me that he was glad Jace had tried out again.  He said that  Jace was much stronger in fielding/throwing the ball than he had been in his first tryout, and that several of the coaches had commented on "the kid in the Orioles jersey"...

He's at the Y Teen program all day today, and I can't wait to see him tonight - he'll be so excited to hear he made the team.  Tonight is also 7th grade orientation for him - a big week.

A Showy Way of Going...

When I started uploading pictures for this post, it was 10 o'clock on Friday night, and all of the adults were sitting in the kitchen at my sister's house, while my brothers-in-law read aloud from the Craigslist ads in Stockton and other small towns... some of the descriptions are hilarious, grammatically and otherwise!  This was one of our favorites- this fella is very proud of his roosters!

Gorgeous Young Mottled Houdan Roosters - $5 (Stockton)

"I have several young 3 month old gorgeous showy Mottled Houdan roosters. They are striking looking! They are black and white with the big top hat and have a showy way of going. These photos show them a bit younger.

Pickup after 6 pm to allow them to get to quieted and cooled down and hopefully on their roosts. 7 pm might be better. You will need a good carry crate and cash. These guys have been treated as pets. Thank you. "


Some showy roosters, aren't they?


But back to the beginning of this weekend - Jace and I headed to Stockton Friday morning, to spend the weekend with my sister Susan, her family, and Tara/Luke and Isaac.   Ron and Susan bought a ski boat this spring, and we finally made it up for a weekend with them.   And what a fabulous time we had!  Thank you, Susan, Ron and boys, for a wonderful weekend!

We headed out to the marina Friday morning about 10:30; the sky was somewhat overcast, but the temps were still reasonably nice, in the upper 70s and low 80s.  A far cry from the 103 of last week, and very welcomed!  I forget how beautiful Stockton Lake is - of course I'm a huge fan of Tablerock Lake, but Stockton is even more peaceful - we were one of the only boats out on Friday.

Jace has been looking forward to our visit for the last couple of weeks; his cousin Landon has learned how to ski, and he has been anxious to learn.   The three boys started out on the tube on Friday, and Ron dragged them all over the lake!  

Lunch!

After eating some lunch, the sun came out and it was warm enough for the adults to enjoy the water. Luke, Ron and Susan all got out on their skis. Tara and I were so impressed that one of our siblings had the skills to get out there. We all three had a good chat about it - we think we could have actually been somewhat athletic, but we were never given the opportunity to develop our abilities... with six kids, our parents didn't have the time to haul around to practices, etc. so it just wasn't ever something that was encouraged.

Sisters!

Suz - showin' off her mad skills!

Luke got out as well, for the second time on Friday - he and Ron were out on the lake at 5:30 AM with Ron's boss.

Luke - he also had a showy way of going...

Ron goes out with his boss and others fairly often in the summer, in the mornings, and he was awesome on the skis - up on just one ski:

Ron - I'm so impressed!

Jace got up on skis his first try, with some pre-ski coaching from his uncles;  he did great!   He went again Saturday, and crossed outside the wake a few times as well.  He's hooked, and already asking when we can come back and go out on the boat again.

Our little guy, Ike, had a great time watching everyone get out on the skis and tube - the first time his dad got out on the skis and wiped out, Isaac burst out in tears!  But once he saw Luke was ok, he enjoyed the show.



Naptime - heading home




Me & Tara on the tube

After coming in off the lake, the guys put the boat away and fired up the grill for some burgers, french fries deep-fried zucchini, and more.  For dessert we had an early birthday party for Jace, he's geting ready to be a teenager... hard to believe!  His birthday is at the end of summer every year, and it is always hard to have any kind of party, since he and friends don't stay in touch as much over the summer.

Jace was very surprised, and it was special to celebrate this milestone birthday with our family.   He had a great time with his cousins, playing on the lake, the Wii, XBox, Legos and more- even though we only live an hour apart, we just don't get together as much as we should.

Now it is Sunday morning, and we're relaxing with coffee in Susan and Ron's kitchen, and just enjoying the morning before we all head home and start getting ready for the work week.  One of the best things in my life is my family, and times like these are the ones that the kids, and adults, will remember.  A big THANK YOU to Suz and Ron for everything!

Tonight was Jace's last baseball game of the season - his dad coached again this year, and Jace had a pretty good year, and felt pretty good about it.  He pitched quite a bit, played shortstop, and even caught a few games.  Saturday he tries out for the Tribe team, the school team for his junior high...  keep your fingers crossed!

RUN!

... And he's SAFE!



Coach took the team for ice cream to finish out the season
(he wanted three scoops, only got two!)

Say Cheese

Well, it has been a day - not for me, (well, yes for me also, but that's not something I really feel like talking about) but also for poor Chocko Rocko... stuck in the house from 8:15 this morning until 6:15 tonight... all because he's so quiet in the morning (after he goes out to potty and comes back in to eat) and was most likely in his usual spot when I bellowed "Outside!":

He apparently didn't respond (which is not a surprise - this is the MOST mellow dog ever), and in my haste to get out the door this morning, I just absolutely didn't notice.   So when I walked in tonight, he eagerly met me at the door to the garage, and literally stampeded to the back door to be let out.  What a good boy, he didn't have an accident at all today, held it for 8+ hours!   I'm just going to be better about making sure both of them do make it outside when I shoo them out in the mornings - next time I may not be so lucky!

In other news, I have a new camera - I don't really know how to USE it, but I plan to learn!   It is a fancy schmancy one, DSLR - had looked at a Nikon and the Canon Rebel, but instead ended up with the Sony A55; just liked how it felt in my hands, and it really has a lot of features for me to learn about, so I'm excited.  I've signed up for classes at Lawrence Photo here in town, later this month.

Here are some pics of me and Jace, at my grandparents' this weekend, taken by my brother Rob, with my camera.  Thanks, Rob!   We didn't use a flash - I don't know that we still had the settings where they needed to be to really get the best shots (it was on Auto, so there wasn't much we had to do) but I'll be learning about that in the Lighting class in August.   And I loved the pictures - trying to kiss Jace here, and he was putting up a fight!

Can't believe he's going to be a teenager in less than two months - love him so much, the time is flying by.

Road Trip(s)!

I’ve got spring fever, but we’re back to 40-50 degree weather here in good ole Missouri - or “Misery”, as my aunt , who hails from Iowa, always liked to say when we were growing up! (Love you, Aunt Mary!) But I’m ready for the nice weather, and I’m already starting to plan some summer fun for the next several months. All trips have to be fairly “Dave Ramsey approved”, since we just returned from our scuba extravaganza. That’s the big one for this year. Last summer our big trip was our family vacation to Florida with Jace and Neil, which included renting a house for a week, a fishing boat for several days and a side trip to Universal City and Sea World for Jace and me.

So, what’s on the agenda?

· BBQ/Smokin’ Contest in KC – Jace, Dave and I will head up to KC for Dave’s boss’ annual event/contest in a couple of weeks… Dave and friend Garry (GDykes!) are partnering up to smoke some delicious recipes…. Yum!!
· St. Louis Cards – We’re running late this year in purchasing tickets, but I expect we’ll go to two or three games over the season – a couple with the kids, and one or two adult weekends.
· Visiting the Aunts and Uncles – Last year we headed up to see Uncle Rob, Aunt Tara and their families in August, before school started. Dave is going to try to join us this year, for a long weekend – it is always hard with his schedule, since he is gone M-Th. I’d love to make it out to North Carolina to see Aunt Ann - she says it has been 5 years since I helped her move out there, and I owe her a visit – she’s right.
· St. Louis Arch and the City Museum- Jace hasn’t been up in Arch yet, so that’s a trip for this summer – we’ll stay with Grandpa and Mimi, so our only cost will be for admission to both, and lunch for the day. I’d not heard of the City Museum until this past year, and it sounds like it will be a blast! When I was young, the exciting thing in STL was the Magic House - apparently the City Museum is in the old Brown Shoe Factory in St. Louis, and has some amazing things for kids, and the prices are very reasonable. Check out the link above!
· Zac Brown Band – Kansas City, Arrowhead Stadium - Dave and I are heading to see ZBB, Kenny Chesney and more at an all-day event in July; Tara/Luke are driving from Quincy to join us, along with several folks that work with Dave.

One other thing on my wish list is to take Jace to a concert; he’s never been to one, and always likes to hear about it when I go – one of my favorite things to do – because he likes music, too. (And, I need to take him while he’s still willing and excited to be seen at a concert with his MOM!) We have a big 3-day event coming to Springfield, and a couple of bands he would love to see (One Republic and Train), but tickets are $139 each for a three day pass – yikes! Maybe we’ll find lawn seats to something less pricey in STL or KC this summer. Any suggestions - let us know!

That’s my tentative list for now, but it will be a challenge to get it all accomplished -in addition to Jace and Neil’s full schedules of baseball games and our other commitments at home during the spring and summer. Never enough time to get it all in, but we’ll give it our best shot!

Forty!

Today I'm officially 40 and "over the hill"... ha! It is pretty nice to feel okay about this milestone... in fact, more than okay - happy about it, and just really, truly happy with my life, and with myself. A great feeling.

I've enjoyed a nice, quiet evening at home tonight. After our big birthday trip to Honduras and a whirlwind week upon our return, it is nice to just have some down time. Dave is in Dallas for work, and Jace is with his dad tonight, after our big Easter weekend in St. Clair. So it is just me, the doggies, a chick flick and the last of the lemon summer pie from this weekend. And, I started the evening - and my fortieth year - out right, with a trip to the gym for my cycling/cross training class after work tonight (which counteracts the pie that I'm eating this evening - or at least I'm tellin' myself that!).

One of the best parts of my birthday, though, was the time at home with my siblings this past weekend. All of us except Thomas were able to make it home, and it was a great weekend, even with all of the rain. The older cousins (Jace, Landon and Payton) all enjoyed playing outside between rain showers, and playing X-box, of course; we aunts enjoyed kissing on Isaac, Eva and Henry over the two days, and catching up since we hadn't been together since Christmas.

After Easter dinner on Saturday night, Jace helped Ann, Tara, Susan and Rob to surprise me with a birthday scavenger hunt (with clues from my childhood and teenage years - how clever!) ending in a big family birthday celebration over at Grandma G's house. The decorations were tasteful (no canes, no black balloons - instead, black and white chinese lanterns and pretty partyware:

The theme of the party was -of course- black, but it was fabulous -- they decided it should be one of my favorite things, red wine, and in particular BLACK BOX, the wine I like to bring home for our family gatherings. So they gave me a box of Black Wine to help celebrate the big 4-0, AND a Black Box cake - made by Tara - that was red velvet, just like the red wine! How clever is that!? And it was delicious, too!

Everyone had cards for me, and then I opened my gift - a photo album celebrating my 40th birthday. Just hearing the comments from my brothers-in-law as I looked through the book, it was evident how much time my sisters had spent on the album - collecting pictures, emailing back and forth to figure out the years/timeline on them, and scanning the photos in. Ann compiled everything and then made the album online, spacing the photos, picking out the backgrounds and frames, etc.


I absolutely could not have asked for a more special, heartfelt gift for my birthday - there were so many pictures from over the years, starting when I was a baby, pictures of our mom and dad and the four of us, then pictures of Tara, Mom and Gmother/Gpa Lawson, Thomas, my teenage years, after Jace came along, and much more. Some of the pictures I truly had not seen in years; Tara was apparently the one who had a lot of them, I was amazed at all of the variety she had! Here are a few quick photos of the book, just to show it off a little:

The album is 20-plus pages long, and full of fun pages of pictures - plus a few pages at the end with pictures of me and my "favorite things": playing the piano, oatmeal and toast, coffee, taking pictures to go on the blog, reading, napping, drinking wine - and, of course, having fun with my family! So then we had to get a few "Sisters!" pictures to commemorate Easter 2011 - and this time we even let Rob in a few of the pictures:

It was a great weekend, and I was really glad to be with them to celebrate. Thanks again to Ann, Tara and Susan, and to all my family - we all have our quirks, but at the end of the day I wouldn't trade us for anything.

It is after 10:30, and this 40-year-old needs some sleep! Goodnight!