Where have I been?

The kids have been out of school since Monday for a week break. This is not Spring Break-I think that is still in April. (Mental note-make plans for Spring Break). This reminds me of the half-term breaks that we had in England. I loved those. A week was long enough to relax, get some jobs done, and do some local exploring before I was ready for the kids to go back to school and resume my normal routine.

Lauren had a follow-up dental appointment Monday. They made impressions and she will have some braces put on her top teeth in March. I think the plan will be to keep them on until September. She was originally planning what colors she would choose each month for the wires, but I think reality has set in. She doesn't seem all that excited about them now. Oh well. We'll get some cute pictures of her and Nana in their matching braces this summer.

Speaking of summer--we have mentioned it to some people, but we might as well tell all-
we are actually going to the States this summer! I know, I know, it has been almost 5 years. We have family and friends who met Nick briefly, and many who have never met Ryan and Logan. My kids actually do not know what Wal-Mart or Target is-imagine that? (well, maybe for online shopping :). I have been telling them about some fun things we can do in the US. I was telling Ashlyn about ice cream shops where they mix in your toppings, ice skating at the Galleria, the Riverwalk in San Antonio, possibly riding horses in Texas...they are really excited. The logistics of traveling are a bit scary. It will involve renting a van after a 10-hour overseas flight and driving many miles. I think I can only convince Allen to do this once while we are here. The last time I came to the US, I did it solo with a 5-month-old and two girls, ages 3 and 5. It went really well!

We have had almost a week of sunny weather! This is something we have not experienced since October. Hmmm...what else have we been up to? They had "fasching" events last week to celebrate the weeks leading up to Lent. We did see people dressed up in bright costumes, but missed the parade in town-maybe next year. Besides the normal errands, we have managed to clean out some clothes and closets, bake oatmeal chocolate chip cookies (and heart rice krispy treats today!), color valentines, wash vehicles, get Easter decorations ready for next month, visit the library, attend Girl Scout meetings/activities, AND......Allen and I had a dinner away at a local restaurant with a couple whom we met through our daughter. Needless to say, we weren't sure if the evening would happen since we had barely pulled into the parking lot and had "the phone call" from home from a neighbor to tell us that Nick had fallen over the baby gate and cut his lip pretty badly with his tooth. The men made the 5-minute trek back home and returned, determining that stitches were probably not needed. The food was fantastic and the conversation was fun- a nice evening out! Honestly, it had been several years!

The week ahead: selling Girl Scout cookies, keeping kiddos busy and keeping my sanity-wish me luck! Hopefully we can do something fun with the Monday holiday.