"Spring break...but not actually a break.."

Time is flying by in the Hull household for yet another week!  Last week I celebrated my 34th birthday.  Which was really nice, considering that I was under the impression I was turning 35 this year.  During the week was the same old stuff!  Kids and I doing schoolwork and crafts, Hayden, Jeff and I going to rehearsal for the production that our church is doing on Good Friday, me exploring some new recipes for our new healthy way of eating, and appointments at the chiropractor and allergist.  The only real difference was that Jeff was gone both Friday and Saturday for the state drama festival, so most of the running around was just the kids and I (though my dad was sweet and drove me to my allergist appointment and mom kept the kids at home with her so I could have some quiet time!) I'm finding that when I get my shots, I start feeling like I have the flu for a couple of days.  I get sore and achy and really tired.  This week, I  had huge red bumps on my arms which were then surrounded by hives.  This started Friday evening after my shots and they finally were mostly gone by Wednesday.  It really stinks and it makes me feel crappy and miserable, but it will all help in the long run and be so worth it!  I have also spent a lot of the last week developing recipes and meals for our new way of healthy eating.  I have come up with some really terrific stuff, so I'm going to start an extra page on my blog for recipes!  I know that some of it sounds kind of far out- but my goal in this is to have my kids eating the things that they love and not know that those things are not filled with cane sugar or gluten or hormones or preservative or dyes.  So far, we have been very successful!  Nobody has complained about missing out on anything!
I was very fortunate on Sunday to be able to celebrate my birthday with several people that I love and adore!  It was a beautiful day and we spent over four hours sitting outside on the deck snacking and visiting.  It was a perfect celebration for me!
Jeff got back late Saturday night/early Sunday morning from the festival.  His students performed really well, but they were not one of the two schools to advance to the New England Festival.  He has been on Spring Break this week and the kids and I took the week off of school.  I still had daycare kids all day Monday and Wednesday.  And I had an ultrasound on my gallbladder on Tuesday morning.  The results from that are supposed to be in next week. The rest of the day Tuesday we cleaned the garage, cleaned outside, and played outside all day. Wednesday night we had rehearsal from 8-10 for our play and Jeff and mom and I are doing all the costumes so that will have to be worked on.  Today I got up and made some more cookies (check out the recipe page for this tasty treat) and a fruit and nut tart.  Jeff and I cleaned out Hayden and Cebelle's closets and pulled out their spring/summer clothes and tried all of them on to see how everything fit and to assess what they might still need for the summer.  This evening, we are going to watch the new Chronicles of Narnia movie, "Voyage of the Dawn Treader".  The kids are really excited.  We are having turkey burgers and fries for dinner and eating while we watch the movie.  It's a rare treat for us!  We have more busy days planned for the rest of the weekend as well.
Today was kind of our day to relax...and it has been more relaxing than most days.  But there are always things that need to be done!  We still need to get the kids showered and cleaned up and I still need to make dinner....well, the list goes on and on.  I'm just thankful that every busy day also includes some quality time with the people that I love.  My life is full of blessings and I thank God for them everyday!

"Rainy Days and Mondays...."

It's raining again today....and my family has been going non-stop for yet another week.  Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining.  I like being busy and having things to do.  I think if more people had really full schedules and other people depending on them, it would mean that there would be fewer egocentric people who think that the entire world revolves around them and their self importance.  And I think we are all prone to that...we become so involved in the drama of our own lives that we fail to see the pain that others are suffering or the joy that others are feeling.  Life is meant to be celebrated and SHARED.  We all have this shared experience of birth, life, and death and I think it is a shame that we often become so self involved that we fail to take the time to share it.  Other peoples experiences not only mirror our own, they offer us opportunities to become better people.  We can learn from mistakes without making them, become more empathetic by experiencing grief that is not our own, and rejoice in accomplishments that we did not work for.   It makes me sad that people miss out on those things because they refuse to see that though they are unique and special...they aren't the only one.  God made all kinds of unique and special and loves us equally.  I think the least we can do is appreciate all kinds of unique and special and not get so caught up in our own version.
This has been a pretty normal week for us.  School, daycare kids, church, etc.  Jeff and Hayden and I had our first rehearsal for our church's Good Friday production last Wednesday. That was really fun.  I think it is really going to be great.  Cebelle is disappointed that she isn't involved, but I explained to her that she isn't quite old enough to read the lines and memorize them.  So she is content to stay home and play with Ninny and Papa while the three of us rehearse.
We had appointments on Friday, which has become the normal for us now.  The kids were at the chirpractor at 9.  They are doing wonderfully in their care there.  The difference in the both of them is just astonishing to me.  I feel so blessed to have met these wonderful people and to have the benefits of their wisdom and experience and to have options that don't involve our family taking tons of medications.  Our change is diet has gone off without a hitch.  I actually ate some gluten and sugar a few nights ago and it made me ill.  I thought I really wanted a piece of bread....but I doubt that I will be wishing for that again.  It also made me really lethargic, which I haven't been at all since we changed our diets.  And I love eating all the fresh veggies and fruits.  Tonight for dinner we are having a maple/mustard pork loin, sweet potato latkes, and homemade applesauce.  I don't feel like I have given anything up.  I'm working to completely get rid of soda.  Right now I have one about once a week.  And then my next step will be caffeine.  I will probably do a cleanse shortly after.
I also had my second round of venom immunotherapy on Friday.  The shots burned this time.  They felt like fire going into my arms all four times.  I also had my first reactions the day after.  My right arm was really itchy and feverish.  I also broke out in head to toe hives on Sunday after cleaning out my flower beds and being outside most of the afternoon.  That resulted in a mess of blood blisters covering my neck and chest.  Hopefully, that is completely unrelated to my injections.
Hayden and Cebelle have been doing amazingly well.  I am so proud of these two kids and all that they do.  Hayden has decided he might want to play baseball this year.  I will wait and see.  He did this last year and then when Jeff and I told him that if he signed up that he was responsible for being an active participant at every game and practice and that if he made the commitment there was no quitting, he changed his mind pretty quickly.  I think he just wants to go hang out with his friends....the fact that there is more physical exercise than I already make him do for PE is a serious drawback.  Also-he isn't really much of a team player.  I think he would do well in martial arts or gymnastics, but I haven't been able to find a program for him that fits into our schedule.
Cebelle has no interest in sports.  She just wants to craft.  She makes all kinds of cool projects and when I craft-she is usually right up in the middle of it!  She is very creative and inspired.  She is actually even learning to knit and crochet.  She does a knit cast on really well and she can do a small crochet chain.  I don't force it on her, I let her practice whenever she wants to.  We haven't moved on from that because she wants her cast on and chain to be perfect and even before she learns the next step.  Considering that I spent days practicing the perfect cast-on before I knit a single stitch, I can completely understand that.
I do wish that the rain would go away.  I love what it does for my flowers...but it always makes me so completely lethargic.  There is nothing I would love more than to curl up with a good book under my favorite quilt and a cup of tea.  And after finishing a chapter....to snuggle up and take a little nap.  But that's just dreaming on my part....I will at some point curl up with my NOOKcolor and read another book.  I read one this morning while Hayden was working on some schoolwork.  But right now I have kids to shower and dinner to start and a house to clean.  I plan on keeping busy.  If I don't keep busy, I will get really depressed that my birthday is on Saturday and that Jeff won't be here.  I'm extremely proud of him and his students for advancing to the state festival.  This group of kids is amazing and they completely deserve to be rewarded for their hard work.  I just wish that it meant that Jeff wouldn't be gone for two days on my birthday weekend.  And if they win and advance to the New England festival, which would not surprise me considering the amount of talent that is in that show, he will be gone for the other half of spring break next week.  So-this is my struggle to not be self-centered and self-important.  Those kids deserve his time and effort and I refuse to make him feel bad for doing something that is so terrific.  I am extremely proud of him and those kids.  And though I will be sad to not share my day with him, I will be glad that he gets to share that special moment of accomplishment with those kids who so richly deserve it.  And I will be thrilled to spend the following day with family and good friends and celebrate what is important in life.   (No, not my birthday....didn't we just discuss the downfalls of self-importance?!?!)  We will celebrate life and love and shared memories and the fact that God has blessed me with another year of those with the people I love and cherish.  In all the craziness that is our daily lives, don't forget to celebrate your life and share it with those you love.  You will never regret it.