walk-a-thon

 Heidi's school had their fundraiser this week.  Truth be told, I really don't like fundraisers.  As a former teacher, I understand how critical fundraising money is for schools.  I know funding is limited and that it takes money to get the best materials and resources.  I also know people work hard for their money and asking friends and family to give their hard earned money is just not something I am comfortable with.  When Heidi brought the fundraising information home she was so excited about it and wanted to call everyone she knew and go to all the neighbors.  I told her we were not going door to door, but she could call her family.  Jeff's parents, my parents, my best friend in Cali, and all of my brothers sponsored her.  The average student walked 25 laps, but Heidi walked/ran 36 laps!  I couldn't believe it!!!  She could not wait to call everyone and let them know.  She had the second highest number of laps in her class.  All of our hiking and trips around the lake must have paid off.  She had such a fun day and was in such a great mood when she got home.  I am so grateful for our friends and family who supported her. It really meant so much to her and made the

day so special for her!

enjoying spring

 I try to get the girls outside as much as possible and the weather has been beautiful in between storms.  I really love taking the girls to the lake to run and ride bikes.  They love throwing pine cones in the water, racing each other, blowing "wish berries" (dandelions), and watching the ducks and geese.  The loop around the lake is a mile and they can all easily run the whole thing.  It really is a great way to spend some of our time in the mornings.  Sometimes we meet friends there, most of the time we stop by after we drop Heidi off at school or before lunch.  The beauty surrounding us never ceases to amaze me.

Working with Savanna on academics has not been an easy task.  She has a lot of energy and a not a very long attention span.  She is also left handed and that has made learning to write letters difficult.  I am left handed and wasn't too worried about it until I started working with her on it and realized the challenges that come with being left handed!  We have been working hard on her name and she now does pretty well! I am really proud of her!

spring break

Heidi and Savanna were off of school for about a week and a half.  It was great and it went way too fast.  Jeff didn't feel like or want to take time off work (plus he had a scout camp out) so we spent the week around town playing like it was summer!  I don't know why I didn't take more pictures of our fun.  My friend snapped this one of her little guy and Heidi with the tortoises.  They are two weeks apart and they are such good friends. We started the week with a day of hiking and the park with friends.  The next day we went to a different park with more friends.  We also hit the zoo and spent every minute we could outside.  The weather was great, the company was great, we didn't worry about schedules or running from one activity to the next.  It was amazing.  I wish summer had weather this nice.  The week really got me excited about having all 3 of the girls home all day again soon.

four wheeling at wind rock

 We took the girls four wheeling the first weekend of their spring break. They were so excited to go.  They love four wheeling, and they love staying in hotels.  Four wheeling is different our here and we are still learning where and how to go.  This place was called Wind Rock. It is a privately owned place so our machine was fine to use there.  Tennessee law requires kids under age 18 to wear a helmet...even under a roll cage.  This is fine, but really quite annoying.  The girls were uncomfortable and Caimbree especially had a hard time trying to see, but she was so sweet and didn't complain at all. Every time we asked her if she was okay she would say, "I'm fine."  She is so easy going and rarely makes a big deal about anything that is bothering her.  At one point she and Savanna fell asleep and we couldn't even see their faces!  It was pretty funny.  The weather was nice, but it had rained the day before so it was super muddy.  The girls thought going through the big mud puddles was super exciting.  We were all speckled with mud before the day was over.

 After our day of four wheeling we checked into a hotel for the night since we were 3 hours from home and didn't want to drive back super late.  I don't know if anyone is as excited about hotels the way these girls are.  It cracks us up.  As soon as we walked in they were so excited and whispering to each other things like, "I can't wait to sleep here!  This is the best day ever!"  They love riding the "alligators" and drinking apple juice with breakfast.  I wonder how long they will be this excited about staying in a hotel.  Overall, it was a great weekend and a great way to kick off

 spring break!

caimbree our outside girl

Caimbree is one delightful little girly girl who loves to do all things outside that her daddy loves!  She especially loves four wheeling.  We had to go get the girls helmets for our upcoming trip.  All three of them wanted pink helmets and when Caimbree saw this pink four wheeler, she would not get off.  She said she wants it for her birthday.  I mean, we love you Caimbree, but you're probably not getting a $4000 four wheeler haha.  When Jeff takes her out on the four wheeler, she doesn't want to come in.  I'm glad Jeff has a little four wheeling buddy.

sometimes it snows in march

The weather this year has been nuts.  We had a long and very hot summer.  Fall was nice, but because of the longer summer, it was shorter than the year before.  Winter was so mild. We were outside most of November-February.  Now it's March. And it snowed.  Don't worry, we will be back to 70 by Friday.

We were all pretty excited with the snow when we woke up.  I mean, I may not be a snow person, but seeing the girls and their excitement (and knowing it won't last longer than a day or two), put us all in a happy mood.  Caimbree was so adorable when she woke up and realized it snowed.  Her eyes got a huge twinkle and she said, "I CAN SLED!"  We had fun sledding and Heidi built a small snowman.  Most of the snow was gone by evening.  Heidi lasted longer than Savanna and Caimbree...their hands got cold.

After they were done in the snow they came in for hot chocolate and their favorite movie, Frozen.

 Heidi had another birthday party in the

 afternoon.  It was a great day.

 I am hoping this last half of March shapes up better than the first half.  Usually January is a rough month, but March has not been such a swell start.  Heidi's leg problem started at the very beginning of the month (she seems mostly normal now, but I don't want to jinx it), then the two littles got sick.  They have been battling fevers, coughs, and Caimbree even has a rash.  She tested negative for strep but the doctor said it's classic strep rash so they are both being treated for strep (Savanna is on day 7 for fever, which is why she is being treated with antibiotic).  I threw my back

out again the first week of March.  Thank heavens it only lasted 3 days this time.  I have been battling the worst migraines as well, and I had a doozy that lasted over 48 hours and was bad enough Jeff had to stay home because I was incapable of taking care of the two youngest and since they were sick, it was our only option.  Thankfully that has passed and I am praying I don't have another one for a really long time.  We are hopefully on the tail end of sicknesses in time for spring break next week!  We cannot wait!  We have a four wheeling trip planned and will hopefully have warm enough temperatures to go hiking a few times around here.  Hopefully spring will last awhile before summer hits.

meeting elsa

 Not only did Heidi get her ears pierced on Saturday, but she also got to meet Elsa!!  Her best friend, Avery, has a sister who was having a birthday.  Her mom invited our family because she knew our girls would love the special guest who was coming.  I thought it was so sweet she thought of us and the girls were in absolute heaven!!  We have got to get these girls to Disney World!  They were so, so happy!  They got to sing and dance with Elsa.  They got to listen to her read them a story and she even painted snowflakes on their hands.  When we left the party Heidi said, "This has been the best day of my whole life!"  I was glad Savanna was able to break out of her shell and get the courage to join the fun because once she went over with the girls, she had so much fun!  It really was a great day!

pierced ears

 Heidi has been wanting to get her ears pierced since after Christmas break.  We decided that she is super responsible and could probably take care of them fine, but if she really wanted them done, she would need to earn it.  So she worked for two months earning small amounts of money for chores and behavior.  She was so determined and so excited when she earned enough.  She was so excited when we went to Claires!  She picked out some really cute flower earrings and she didn't shed a tear!  She has been keeping them clean and looking in the mirror and talking about how many days she has left until she gets to change them.  It s the cutest thing ever.  I'm excited for her to feel so grown up and to feel so thrilled about something she worked so hard for.

Heidi has been weighing heavily on my mind this weekend.  She woke up unable to put weight on her left leg Thursday morning.  With advil and rest, she had a heavy limp by the end of the day.  Friday she was barely limping and I assumed she had maybe

 just strained a muscle.  Saturday she complained about it once or twice, but seemed to be okay.  Today she started limping noticeably and was struggling to go from sitting to standing and vice versa.  To say I am consumed with worry is an understatement.  Nothing happened that we can think of that would cause this other than wearing two different shoes for "Wacky Wednesday".  She seems fine in every other way and she does tend to worry over the slightest pain, so maybe it's not as bad as it seems, but I am very worried.  We will see how she does tomorrow and if it doesn't improve, we will have to go to her least favorite place: the doctor. That of course will be a huge ordeal and I assume we won't even get any answers.  So in the meantime I am

praying my heart out and hoping it is nothing to worry about.

This last picture is one I snapped of the girls having lunch with Heidi on Friday.  They are always so happy when we get to see her during the day.  I'm glad we were able to sneak a lunch in with our favorite kindergartener!