First Quarter of 2018

Hardy Elementary had a Kindergarten Expo on March 30th. Gabriel got to tell everyone all he learned about rainforests.

Chase loved doting on his great Aunt Lynn's dog Isabel. 

Our first big snow of the year in January

From the snow to the sand...this picture was taken at the beach of Fort Boykin

One of my favorite pictures of the boys this winter that Tim snapped while we were on a walk at Windsor Castle Park. 

In front of the big fish tank at Bass Pro Shop

Chase, Jaycee and Gabe playing on Papa's iPAD...sometimes we have to pry the boys away from electronics

Gabe at the YMCA taking swim lessons this winter

"Dress like an Animal Day" at school during Spirit Week...Gabe was a wolf. 

Valentine's Day cards, Honor Roll and Reading Awards

We are over a quarter of the way through 2018! No need for me to even say that time flies since my last post was in December of 2017. I also don’t need to go into the usual spell about how busy we’ve been because that’s the norm for us. Even though I also probably don’t need to go into how cold the winter was, I’ll still do that as it gives me yet another thing to Praise the Lord for now that spring is here. The first snow storm of the year hit shortly after the kids returned to school after Christmas break, but we had a couple more after that and a few nor’easters that brought about chilly, windy weather. I lost count of how many snow days the boys had off from school this year. Thankfully, Isle of Wight County hasn’t forced any make-up school days into the schedule.

Fast forward a few months and here we are at spring break. Winter has not wanted to leave us as we’ve still had some chilly days so far this spring, but we can rest assured that warm days are ahead of us. I decided to take off a full week to be with the boys for their spring break this year.  I’m so thankful I did as it gives me the opportunity to document how our year has gone so far and how much we’ve all grown in different ways.

So, let’s start with the head of the household, Tim.  He finally broke down and sold our beloved 2000 Tahoe this winter. I thought I was going to cry when we sold it since we made so many memories with that truck, but surprisingly I held up well when I realized that Tim got almost the full price he asked for it.  Besides, it’s hard to get all bent out of shape when you replace a 2000 Tahoe with a 2017 Chevy 2500 LTZ diesel truck.  Tim is thrilled with his new ride!  We are indeed blessed and thankful to have newer vehicles in our driveway.

As for me, I’ve been fortunate enough to be a part of an incredible women’s bible study group here in Smithfield on Monday nights.  I was already in one last year, but we transitioned leaders of the group.  When this leadership change was taking place, we lost a few of our old members and the new leader and I got a little concerned since our numbers were down.  However, since then, God has brought in many new members and we are now larger than we were before…but, it’s not the numbers that make this group special; it’s how the Holy Spirit works through each of us and how we can each use our talents and prayers to encourage one another.  Plus, we can never study or know enough about God’s word because it’s His Living Word that is constantly feeding us what we need at specific times in our lives. Before I get too preachy, I’ll just say once again that I’m very blessed to be a part of this bible study and it has been one of the highlights so far of my year.  Aside from that, most of my other time during the weekdays is consumed with work and trying to sneak in exercise classes after work a couple times a week before heading home to help the boys with their reading homework. 

One of Chase’s highlights this year is getting his top braces off…but, he’s not out of the woods yet as he just got his bottom braces put on and he will probably need another round of braces for the top teeth as his permanent teeth gradually replace the baby ones.  However, he’s handled the braces like a champ and seems to be confident with his new smile. Chase certainly isn’t lacking any confidence with his social skills as he often talks too much.  In spite of getting called down for too much talking and giggling during class a few times this school year, he has still managed to consistently make the Honor Roll. Chase has always been smart and now he is also mastering the art of sarcasm, which keeps Tim and me on our toes. Our eldest offspring will soon be 9 years old.  He keeps trying to convince us that he will be old enough for us to get him a dog as soon as he hits double digits, so we have a year to combat that idea.

The baby of our family was somewhat reserved when he first started Kindergarten last fall, but he has socially bloomed into a confident little boy.  Gabriel’s speech as evolved to the point where we’re pretty sure he won’t require it anymore next school year.  In fact, he is currently only meeting with his speech teacher once a month and it is just for a brief 15 minutes or so for her to just talk to him and make sure he’s maintaining his skills. Even before he could fully verbalize it, we always knew Gabe had a strong personality and was quite the character.  His latest thing is taking dry erase markers (thank God we got away from using the permanent ones) to draw mustaches and abs on himself so he can imagine that he’s the Incredible Hulk or some other character.  During the Winter Olympics in PyeongChang this year, he asked us why people were going to “Pee-on-Chang.”  Right before Spring Break, I asked him if he was excited to have a full week off from school and his response was, “how many years do I have off?”  Our almost 6 year old boy keeps us rolling with laughter as he has the perfect combination of wit and innocence.  Oftentimes, Chase gets jealous when we laugh at Gabe, but any parent with more than one child can attest that you love your children equally and they each have a unique personality that you adore. 

Both of our boys are beginning another season of soccer.  Tim is coaching Chase’s team this season, so the biggest challenge will be to get Chase to remain focused rather than use soccer practice and games as his social time.  We are also anxious to see how Gabe will do playing his first season without Tim as his coach.  Gabe has a tendency to be a sore loser, so we hope he won’t throw tantrums on the field with another coach.  It was easy for Tim to nip it in the bud when he coached him.  Aside from soccer, Gabe successfully completed Stage 2 swim lessons at the YMCA this winter.  We hope both boys will be ready to tackle the pool without any flotation devices this summer.  

As we close out this spring break, I’m reflecting on how thankful I am that I’ve had this week off with the boys.  I’ve found myself guilty in the past of working too many long hours, accumulating too many unspent vacation hours and missing out on spending this quality, precious time with them.  I’m trying to break the trend of working too much and not spending enough time with my children.  Although I’m beyond thankful for my job and I actually enjoy working, taking a day off to accompany one of the boys on their field trips (like I did for Gabe for his field trip to the VA Living Museum in March) is far more important as there will come a day when those field trips are a thing in the past and the boys won’t be so excited to have me around.  This week I’ve had the opportunity to remind myself how priceless this time is with the boys.

This is how I cherished the moments this week:

Saturday, March 31^st—the boys got to go to Swader’s (a place with go-karts and arcades) while Pam, Amber and I got to see the Broadway Dirty Dancing show in Richmond (this was Pam’s birthday gift even though her birthday was back in January).

Sunday, April 1^st—got to spend Easter with my family doing the traditional egg hunts and egg coloring.  What a beautiful day it was to celebrate our Resurrected Savior!  My mom’s first cousin Alice and her husband Robert paid us a surprise visit to spend Easter weekend with us.

Monday, April 2^nd—went for a walk around the neighborhood with the former leader of my bible study group on Monday morning and Gabe had a play-date with his friend in the afternoon.  I also spent some time organizing Chase’s clothes and packing away the items he has outgrown.

Tuesday, April 3^rd—got to go to Busch Gardens for the first time this season.  The park was super busy, but we made it our mission for Chase to ride Griffon for the first time.  He can now say he’s ridden every roller coaster at Busch Gardens.  Gabe got to ride his very first “big” rollercoaster: Verbolten.  His reaction at first was that he was born “weddy” (ready) to wide (ride), but by the time the coaster pulled back into the loading station he said that he never wanted to ride it again.  We’re confident he’ll warm back up to it with time.  Now that Gabe is tall enough this year, it’s exciting that all four of us can ride rollercoasters together.  I think the Sesame Street days at Busch Gardens are in the rear view mirror now. 

Wednesday, April 4^th—Happy Birthday to Papa (Ted Breeden)! We spent the day in Charlottesville with Tim’s grandparents, aunts, uncle, and cousins while Ted got an MRI for his back (not a fun birthday present).  With Tim’s grandparents having had several health scares lately, we wanted to make sure we could visit them over spring break not knowing if we’ll be given this opportunity again. 

Thursday, April 5^th—I used this day to catch up on chores around the house while the boys had a lazy day playing with their electronics.  We had soccer practice in the afternoon.  The first soccer game should start next weekend!  Go Pirates (Chase’s team) and Panthers (Gabe’s team)!

Friday, April 5^th—spent most of the day with Grandma (still holding strong at 92 years old!) and my mom.  I also got to do some shopping and had a lunch date with a dear friend.  The boys wanted to see Despicable Me 3 in the theater, but it was no longer playing there…but, it was on Netflix, so they still got to have a movie night at home. 

Saturday & Sunday, April 6^th & 7^th—concluded our spring break by attending a Laser Tag birthday party Saturday afternoon for one of Chase’s friends.  After the party, Tim and I treated ourselves to a hibachi/sushi dinner…the boys fought over chopsticks most of the time…this is why Tim and I don’t go out to dinner very often with the boys.  Tim worked both Saturday and Sunday.  I took the boys to church this morning and served in the nursery taking care of 3 year-olds.  After church, I did my best to prep meals ahead of time for the week to make the transition back to work this week less hectic.  I just wrapped up the day with a walk around the neighborhood with a friend.  As I was walking on this bright, sunny day, I couldn’t help but think of the hymn “It is Well.”  In spite of not wanting this spring break to end and knowing there may be challenges ahead as I go back to work and the boys go back to school this week, “It is Well with My Soul.”