Alive and fairly well

Let me just start by saying I've been a horrible blogger. I'm going to try to get back into the routine again!

The last two weeks have been a blur. This end-of-semester crunch was very busy; very crazy. We're very happy it is over. NDSU held two commencement ceremonies this spring - a graduate/professional ceremony and an undergraduate ceremony. As tired as I was (and happy to have them behind me), I always get goosebumps from 'Pomp and Circumstance'!

I had an amazing Mother's Day. It was relaxing and I got to spend every minute with my wonderful family. Well...I did take a nap for a bit, but they were playing outside, so were very close by! Last year on Mother's Day we were in the midst of preparing for our home study to be done. We had our interview on our anniversary and the home visit a few weeks later. How incredible that we now have an amazing little girl?! Sometimes it feels like a dream. We are so lucky!

We had a very uneventful 15th wedding anniversary last Thursday. I worked a little late prepping for NDSU's two commencement ceremonies. I met Trav and the kids at Snap Dragon - our fav Chinese restaurant in Fargo-Moorhead. Fortunately, it's only a few blocks from our house. Exhausted, I nearly fell asleep during the meal. It was so fun to celebrate with both kids. Carson thinks it's pretty funny that both Trav and I had hair (or more hair) 15 years ago. :D Trav and I plan to head out for supper some night in the next few weeks for a date.

The weather has been cool (enough so we can plant tomatoes quite yet - perhaps this weekend), but yet warm enough for trees to start getting leaves and the grass has completely greened up. It's fun to see the daffodils blooming - oh, how I love spring. It always reminds me of springtime on the farm with baby animals (especially calves).

Carson is on the home stretch of becoming a third grader. He's very excited. He has a busy summer - golf, tennis, horse therapy, baseball, and art lessons. Grace will love having Carson home more, although she very well knows the routine of 'bruder, bus' each morning. She often asks 'what happened' as she shrugs her shoulders, and raises her hands and eyebrows'. It's adorable. She loves to count and will even try to play hide-and-seek by herself if she is in the mood to count. Grace can be heard counting and adding an intermittent 'shhhhh' in every now and then. :) Grace will start horse therapy this summer too.

Yesterday Trav got his tonsils out. He's doing wonderfully! I couldn't believe how well he looked and could talk when I saw him after the procedure. He's a bit groggy from the pain meds, but they are keeping his pain very well under control. Rest and fluids are his top priorities and he has a lot of time to recuperate - no class until he starts June 8 and we have respite staff for the kids.

Carson's tonsils are coming out on June 5. He doesn't know this yet. We're going to wait until just a few days before to tell him. We're heading down to the Cities for it and Carson will be in-patient at least over night. He'll probably be fascinated by it, as the first thing he wanted to do yesterday when he saw Trav was to look at Trav's throat.

I'm in the midst of a whirlwind summer course. It is designed to get me started on my literature review for my dissertation. It is very condensed (thus fast-paced) but it is just the jump start I need. That will be keeping my early mornings and late nights busy the next few weeks. My goal is to keep writing this summer, but at a more moderate pace. Best advice I've heard lately was from a fellow classmate (who just graduated on Friday). He told me to set a goal (after the course is over) of writing two pages a day. Breaking it down like that makes it quite do-able!

To add to it, we decided it would be a great idea to have a rummage sale this weekend. We have a lot of stuff to get rid of - baby stuff, a lot of Carson's clothes (I had saved everything...now I've just saved keepsake clothes), and odds and ends. It's going to be a huge rummage sale. Several of us in the neighborhood are having one Friday evening/Saturday morning. Crazy? Yes, but it will be nice to get rid of this stuff!

Well, time to get ready for work and then get Carson ready for school. Happy spring - here's to another beautiful week!