Life Lately

I used to update this blog every day then every other day and now maybe twice a month? I need to write more.

Lately, my lack of writing hasn't been from not doing much. We've been really busy, and I do have so much to write. Sometimes it gets repetitive, though.

Just as I had hoped, with the warm weather, our family has gotten out of the cold days funk. I've been super busy with teaching at TCC and also LUO. I am teaching three residential classes with TCC, which has been a lot three days a week. I have just two and a half weeks left. I've really enjoyed getting in the classroom, and I feel like I have connected with my students. Then in the online side with LUO, I've been able to keep up and even grow in new areas in my job. So, I've been busy, busy, busy, but staying on top of things.

We brought Marlowe, our lab puppy, home a month ago already. It has gone by so fast, and she is growing even faster. She weighed 10 pounds when got her. She is already over 20. She is so sweet, and we all just love her to bits. She is getting better about not biting hard (she just play bites) and has learned to sit, stay, and come. We're proud of our girl and plan to get her in puppy training next month after Eliot's soccer season ends.

The day we got her...

And now...

Speaking of soccer, we lived in this crazy busy world of swim lessons and soccer both going on for about a month. It was far too busy, but I wanted to get Eliot closer to swimming and I didn't want him to miss out on soccer. Fortunately, it was only for a month, and the swim lessons really boosted Eliot's confidence. I feel like I need to write his instructor a nice letter or something because one week after swim lessons ended, he started actually swimming on his own under the water. Then he started cannon balling into the deep end and swimming to the shallow end. And just yesterday he started touching the bottom. He's growing so fast and it's just April. I'm so excited to see what the summer holds for him and swimming.

Eliot has only had two soccer games this season so far due to all of the rain, but he's doing even better than last season. This season, he is mostly with older kids and his team is pretty big, so he has less playtime and no goals yet, but he has done well recovering the ball multiple times each game. I really just want him to have fun, so when he gets the ball, it's a nice bonus.

Almost two weeks ago, Chris's mom and dad came in town to run the 5k. Chris also ran, and Eliot ran a 1k. I have determined that running races just really isn't for me. I don't like the crowds and have a panic attack (I'm not exaggerating) with so many people running alongside me, so I think I prefer just to run on my own around the neighborhood. I was so happy to go out and cheer everyone on, though, and it was a really beautiful day, especially with the free pizza. Chris won third place in his age group, so he got a fancy pants medal too, and Eliot did great for the 1k. Eliot was quite nervous at first, but he was pretty sure he "winned" in the end, so he ran all out to the finish. Ha. I know it was an incredibly special moment for Chris to be running with his son something longer than a little toddler dash, and I was tearing up watching them run together too.

With the warm weather, the boys have been in the pool almost every day, and I've been working on the gardens. All the nasty pollen and tree crud has been falling from the skies, so I fill up a bag of yard trash every day, yet it still looks messy out there. I've been planting new flowers in the bed out front for a "cottage" look, and Chris and I have picked up more tropical-looking plants for the back. I can't wait to get it finally all cleaned up once the trees stop trying to reproduce so we can spread some mulch too. I can't believe I'm one of those people who actually likes doing yardwork, but suddenly I am. Planning out the gardens during the cold months is what keeps me going, so it's such a relief to be able to dig into the dirt and see everything come together. I should probably live on an island....

Over the past four days, poor Jack-boy has been fighting off some kind of a virus. His temperature keeps going up to over 104 (one time it was 105), but the doctor assures me he is fine. Then his temp will go down, and I think we've beat it, just for it to go back up again at night. Ah. He seemed the best yet today, so maybe he'll be happier tomorrow or by the weekend. I think Eliot had the same cold last Sunday, but he just took a nap (which he never does) and then was fine. And of course Jack has passed the cold on to me too. I do love the extra cuddles, but I want him to feel better soon!

So, that has been our life lately. A lot going on in a lot of different directions!