GNO

GNO. Or better known as Girls Night Out. For the young mom's out there, let me tell you. Nothing re-energizes your love for your children and husband as a good Girls Night Out. And they vary. There are times when my friends are having troubles in their marriages or with their children, and I come home and thank Jeff for being the husband that he is, and appreciate my kids a little more. And there are some times when I come home envious of new vehicles, new cars, higher salary careers and exotic vacations. Darn Eve and that apple in the garden. Jealously would not be part of our life it Eve had not sinned. Friends come and go over the years. Co-workers that you promise to "keep in touch" with and parents of your children's friends, but let's admit - few friendships really STICK. Through the tears, the laughter, the births, the moves, the bad times and the good times, I can count those friends on one hand. I am thankful for these friends and hope that we continue to STICK. Last evening we celebrated Jenifer's big 4-0. I laugh, because I clearly remember celebrated her big 2-1. Big difference in celebrations. I was home on the couch in flannel pants by 8:30p last night. For her 21st, I was just eating breakfast at Denny's at 8:30 a.m...never having went to bed. Maturity is good. But memories are even better.

IBS

Well, Carlie is 1/2 Ringger. There is no way around that. She looks just like a Gongaware, but is a Ringger. She has been having stomach and bowel issues for a couple of weeks now. They come on very suddenly, and last week I even had to go pick her up at school because of it. My mama instinct kicked in and I had a feeling there was more to it than just "fiber." Yesterday we took her to the doctor and his question to me was, "Does she worry much?" Uh, yeah...like all the time. After some examination and many more questions it was determined that our lovely eight year old has Irritable Bowel Syndrome. We were informed that stress or nerves can bring this on. Seriously, how much stress or nerves can an eight year have?? Obviously enough to cause IBS. We are on medicine for a week, and then we have to "watch" for future episodes. *sigh* Just when feel like you have this parenting things mastered, you roll the dice wrong and take four steps back. God, I know you have this in the palm of your hand. Let me lay MY worries and anxieties at your feet and let me teach my child to do the same.

44 degrees in February

All winter we have been promising Carlie that we would go ice skating. Well, sunny and 44 degrees? I say today is the day! We lasted much longer than I anticipated skating. Carlie quickly caught on and was doing great by the end of the day. She is worried that if we don't skate more often, she may forget how to skate by next winter. Yeah, that makes two of us. Jeff was prepared for snacks and hot chocolate with Lucy, as we didn't think she would last long at all. But the rink had to PVC contraptions (I wonder if there is a patent on these babies...) that we snagged once we arrived. With this "help" Lucy skated the day away with very few falls. Skating always brings back memories of the chair on the pond down on the farm. Oh, we had many of long afternoons ice skating on that pond. I wonder if dad was always as freezing as we were, or if laughed and smiled as much as we did skating with our kids. I bet so.

My beauties.

The "contraption."

Homework

As Carlie advances in school, so does the homework projects. This is her first "at-home-presentation" project. Flat Stanley (see picture to the right) had to be sent to a friend or family member who would journal about Flat Stanley's (hereinafter referenced as "FS") visit. What a better choice than Aunt Lacey...as she was heading to the Colts game that weekend! Well, to save time we scanned and emailed FS. Which turned out to be a very good thing. Good ole' FS was on his way to the Colts game, but got left in the wine cellar at St. Elmo's. But I'll let Aunt Lacey share that story ... But the project wasn't a failure. Lacey carried through like I knew she would, and we got FS visiting a lot of fun places in Indianapolis. Carlie is scheduled to give her presentation (which includes notes on note cards!) this week about FS's adventures. I would do anything to be a fly on the wall when she gives her presentation. I have a hard time believing that my baby is giving presentations to her class. She's not that old ... is she?