Saturday, March 15, 2014

Hello Spring!

I think it's finally here, in all it's beautiful glory.

Oh what a joy it is to see my grass green, beautiful green buds on the trees and Robins fluttering around the yard looking for food.

Green Grass

This whole week I've been taking care of a sick child while trying to keep my own sickness at bay, and what has given me immense pleasure during these long nights and days, is watching Spring arrive.

Robin

But let me just show you what it's looking like for me around here, and I know that some of you are still under winter advisories and being slammed by snow, but maybe these photos will give you some hope that Spring may just be around the corner for you too.

Spring

Robin

Woodpeckers

I do think one of the most beautiful birds out there, have to be the Woodpeckers.  Aren't just lovely?  Noisy, and quite annoying and destructive at times, but nonetheless beautiful.

While enjoying these new signs of Spring outside the house, I've also been loving the sun rising earlier and setting later too. Though I will tell you the whole daylight savings change has completely thrown me off kilter and I've been exhausted this past week.

I don't think my body is quite used to this anymore so it's taking a while to catch up, but then throw in my son being sick and not sleeping well and waking up at all times of the night, and it makes for a very tired and quite cranky momma. It's one of those joys of motherhood that we need to accept and deal with, right?

So here are just a few pics of the past few days......

Breakfast

::::  early morning oatmeal with honey and bananas

Lunch

:::: sitting down to a quick bite to eat before starting school with the kids

Tae Kwon Do Testing

Last night we had the kid's Tae Kwon Do testing in Boise.  Let me tell you that I was so nervous for them that I almost couldn't watch my children do their form and the sparring.  I wanted to cry LOL

They were nervous too and I could tell that they were, but they did SO well and they kept their composure and got up there and did their best, and that is what matters.

This past week I've been talking to them at length before the testing, reminding them that this is for fun and that yes, they need to give it their all and their best, but if for some reason they don't make the next stripe or belt, that they need to show good sportsmanship and not make a big fuss about it.

I know that they understand it and were both quite prepared to get there and have fun, no matter what.

Tae Kwon Do Testing

I'm happy to report though that both my kids and my nephew passed and got their yellow stripe.

Let me explain to you first that they've missed out on 2 testing occasions since they started last year September, because unfortunately our financial situation didn't allow us to go, it costs $85 per child to test and with us having 2 kids, that's a lot of money.

But we're so happy that we are finally back on track and are able to do this for our children. They did us proud :)

Tae Kwon Do Testing


This week coming up, I have a few projects I would like to work on.  I have downloaded quite a few forms and printables for budgeting, menu planning and so forth.

I have also been doing a bit of research online and have found some amazing blogs about organizing and planning etc.   Can you believe that I don't have a planner, never really used one??

But I find that now I am starting to realize just how helpful they are, and I think they will make my life much easier when I can see what I have coming up in the next few days, weeks, months.....but as I figure it all out, I'll share with you too.  And if you do use planners and organizers, I would love some advice, hints and such.

Alright, now it's time to get going.  I have a date with my TV, have lots of shows to catch up on so I'm going to try and do that, I'm thinking I shouldn't fall asleep too early because I actually took a nap this afternoon.  If you know me, you know that is something I don't do, I never nap LOL  But I'm just plain tuckered out and needing to catch up on my sleep and I'm assuming that was my body's way of telling me that.

I do hope you've all had a great week and weekend so far.  I have to get some grocery shopping done tomorrow and I'm hoping to bake some bread and then get into my craft room and working on my quilt a little.  Not sure how much of that I'll actually achieve, but we shall see.

Blessings,
Sandra

6 comments:

Lulu said...

love the pics..congrats to the kids..
any pics of the newest doggie?

Naomi said...

Oh isn't that funny, I had always thought you did have a planner!
I started using a planner in the latter half of last year and I do find it really useful at keeping me on top of things (or at least feeling that way!)
I did the same thing, there are lots of great blogs about organising and lots of free printables out there :)
I just have menu plans, daily to-do lists, weekly to-do lists, cleaning schedules, Medical records and a craft.project/blog section. I use excel spreadsheets for all our budgeting still. Oh and I have a page at the back of my binder with all our family details on as an emergency situation cheat sheet that we can all access.

Ha! Sorry for the essay! I hope you and Nicholas are feeling much better soon! xxx

gillyflower said...

Hope you catch up on that missed sleep and feel better soon so you have the energy to enjoy the coming of Spring!
Hope your son feels better soon too, and congratulations on the success of your children - proud moments for you all!
Gill xx

~Carla~ said...

Congratulations to the kids!! Well done! :) I'm green with envy that you have spring... it's going to be -20c here again tomorrow... *sigh* It's been such a long winter... we were told here not to expect "stable" spring weather until mid-April, so we have quite a while to go yet. :(

Judy said...

Congratulations to your kids, that is so awesome! We are finally starting to melt here and my husband saw the first robin the other day, I missed it :(

Liz said...

That's so exciting for your kids! Congratulations to them again.

I have to say that I am very organized with a my planners. I have a planner that has the monthly and weekly slots so I can write all of our appointments and such every day. I often include errands, what I cooked for dinner (so I know when leftovers have to be thrown out and so we don't get stuck in a rut of the same food every week. I also have a monthly calendar on the wall in my kitchen that I use for appointments. It's for the whole family not just my reference, and then there is the dry erase calendar on the kitchen wall that we write things like Sydney brings snack for school or Ben has gym, music, or art, as well the appointments for the month. If I didn't keep all these I would probably not remember anything.