Small Update: Good, Bad and Ugly

Things have not been updated for awhile, and it was been VERY hectic around here.  I will subdivide into three categories:  good, bad and ugly.

Good Things:
Easter was great.  The family came over for the day and we had a nice time OUTSIDE- no rain this time.  Two weeks prior, the going away party for Ben and Lael was here and it rained, rained rained.  Lots of people (and kids) all shoved into our tiny house.  Easter was great- the kids played well together, we had a pot-luck style mean, and it was nice to have the family together.  Abby got "what she wanted" from the E.B.  He brought her the two dresses from the H&M Catalog.  Brooks got some random candy, new sandals and a few little toys.  Of course, my parents hauled in the biggest Easter baskets ever that morning putting us to shame.  And of course, they were full of things I dislike- silly string, lots of candy, and bubbles.  All a good messy time.  Abby did well singing in church.  No panics, yelling or screaming.  Good deal since I was in Sunday School afterward with the kids.  Ray was too- the nursery attendant wasn't present that day, so Brooks could not be trusted in church not to storm the alter and throw down the crosses up front.  The kids were good despite the fact that the church blew the shofar.  Really?  I know it's tradition, but put the ram's horn away when you have a ton of little kids up front.  (Ray is checking my lottery tickets right now, so if this post abruptly ends, I will see you on the flip side.)

Also good- My parents watched the kids the Saturday night before Easter.  We went to eat with Heather and Steve and went on the Ellicott City ghost tour.  Our tour guide was nice, but I would have liked to have seen him tour us around with a few drinks in him- and without the middle school kids on the tour with us.  I was glad the kids behaved for my parents.

Also good- Ben and Lael made it safely to Florida.  The hot tub works, the lawnmower works and Ray looks like a true suburbanite father now riding around on that thing.  I get to use it next; I think this will be the end of our gardens.  I can't even back my car out of the driveway.

Also good- Abby went shopping at the thrift store over break with her Easter money.  She stumbled on Barbie's Dream house and exclaimed that "it was what she was looking for her whole life!"  The woman that works there has met her a few times when she goes in and asked her how much money she had.  Abby pulled out her five and that was exactly how much it cost.  She even threw in some small dollhouse furniture that fits her other dollhouse.  The most exciting part was trying to get it in the car.  We now have three stories of pink dreamhouse-elevator equipped- flat screen tv- plastic in front of the fireplace.

Bad:  We had to go back to work after Spring Break.  The kids are getting wild, the weeks are getting longer and I feel like there is a lot to do despite the glaring light at the end of the tunnel.   

Also bad:  We did not win the GIANT JACKPOT a few weeks ago.  Seven of us went in at work.  It was very official.  We copied the tickets, signed the copies and I took them home to win.  We did not get one single number.  ZERO numbers.  So, when we heard it was a group of teachers from the county in which I live, I almost choked on my cereal.  I'm a teacher! We're a group! We should have won! The worst part was that the teachers said they would keep working.  I had my glitter pen handy and my rainbow paper.  Dear School..... (fill in here something that coherently says sayonara, and for lesson plans see bookroom, xoxoxo).  Sad. 

Ugly:  Stomach virus.  We had the worst illness ever last weekend.  Ray and I immediately got sick at 8 on Friday night.  Abby followed suit at midnight.  No one could literally get off of the floor.  It was the worst weekend of my life.  I really just cannot get over how sick we were. At one point, I asked Ray to call an ambulance and neither of us could move, nor coherently think about how to do that little act.  At one point in the evening, we both got stuck crawling up the stairs because we didn't have the energy to get to Abby.  I woke up with my feet in the running shower and my face on the tile.   Luckily, Heather swept in to make us soup and take care of Brooks the next morning (he was sick the prior week and good to go).  We are all still bouncing back. 

Pictures:

worst photo ever taken of the kids

not her best photo

prized possession

a giant brooks peeking into the bathroom- you can see his mouth