Spring Break and Birthday Fun

  Ryan left for Orlando with his baseball team the first Saturday of spring break, so the kids and I were left on our own for the week. I had really wanted to do some fun things with them, and God was good in allowing me to feel well enough to get out and about with them even though I started having a recurrence of some of my recent symptoms. Ava and Grandpa sent a birthday surprise card with some money for me to do some special things over the break. So, on Monday -- my 36th birthday -- we had Sonic for breakfast, then went swimming for a while at the gym. After lunch, I surprised the kids by taking them to Skyzone to meet some friends (it's a huge warehouse with trampolines galore!). I accidentally left my camera at home so no pictures, but, needless to say, they had a blast and wore themselves out! That night we had pizza for supper with a French silk pie for my birthday dessert, and we watched the cartoon version of "The Hobbit" since we had just finished the book.

     Tuesday was another beautiful day, so we went to the Botanic Gardens and had a picnic lunch and played. Towards the middle of the afternoon it started getting pretty hot, but I was able to get lots of good pictures with the flowers blooming. Wednesday, we headed to Tchula and had a wonderful visit down there! On the way we stopped in Cruger to visit with Jan Jan. She had my uncle Steve and aunt Lee Ann, along with Stefani, who is married to my cousin Steven, and their little girl Leila Rose all over for a birthday lunch, which included a yummy strawberry cake. The weather forecasters had been predicting rain for the middle of the week, but God allowed it to be beautiful and sunny, so the kids spent most of their time outdoors playing with their cousin Morgan Hutton. They visited Cocoa the horse, rode the four-wheeler with Mama and the go-cart with Morgan, played in the hose and the mud, climbed trees, and just enjoyed the break. Nana cooked Mexican chicken the first night, then made a homemade carrot cake for my birthday the second night, and Papa grilled steaks for us that night. I was definitely being spoiled! Will was totally exhausted the second night and went to bed early without even finishing his steak supper, also missing out on the scavenger hunt that Nana fixed up for me for my birthday present. All of us girls enjoyed it though, and Nana had some great clues! 

     Friday, we came back home to Ryan who had come in earlier that morning. I am trying hard not to be too sad that the break is almost over. God gave the kids and me such a wonderful week together, keeping us all safe and bringing us back home to spend the last weekend together with Ryan. I am grateful for some very special memories!

Birthday pizza supper -- Will even remembered the "special plate" for me.

My pie complete with candles

Very bright heading into the botanic garden

Will kept climbing on things wanting his picture taken : )

Meredith talked Mama into wading too, so the kids had to take turns taking my picture.

Will's turn with the camera; I have some budding photographers.

And of course one silly picture! 

Meredith was enthralled by the beautiful azaleas in Nana's and Papa's backyard 

She is also thrilled to finally get to wear her "long skirt" from last year -- a favorite!

Cooling off!

Will's bulldozer he made with some cool magnetic blocks

And his motor boat

Nana laid down on the couch for a bit on Thursday, then Meredith joined her and conked out!

Morgan's go-cart and Dixie tagging along

Leila Rose saying goodbye and giving love

So, so sweet!

 

Big Things Happening with the Porters

        I have a very good excuse for not keeping up with the blog and not taking lots of pictures recently. About a month and a half ago, I woke up with some pretty intense sciatic and back pain that slowly progressed to nerve pain in my legs and right arm, sometimes involving back or neck pain and some dizziness and weakness at first. After seeing my regular doctor who tried steroids and anti-inflammatory, he referred me to a neurologist who ran two MRI’s, both which came back normal. With all the pain and the doctors’ visits, it has been a crazy couple of months. The positive thing is that the Lord slowed me down a lot, and He allowed me to realize just how hard any kind of chronic pain can be. My issues are gradually getting better, but I know many who have life-long struggles, and I can now see just how taxing -- physically, emotionally and even spiritually -- such struggles can be. The Lord has really laid it on my heart how little I pray for those who are hurting!

Aside from the neurological issues, Maggie and I also got strep throat a couple of weeks ago, so we were both miserable together. Then Maggie had a late reaction to the antibiotics and broke out in a pretty nice case of hives that lasted about four days total. I have some pictures of her rash, but she doesn’t really want me to share them.

Now that we seem to be better, the activities are starting to pick up. Ryan leaves next week for his Florida baseball trip to kick off his season; Will’s baseball practices are in full swing with his first game coming up in three weeks; Maggie and Meredith both have ballet recitals in a couple of months, and Maggie is getting ready for ECS next school year; and Meredith has had a HUGE week, losing her first tooth and getting her first glasses. I am looking forward to our spring break so I can do some special things with the kids and relax!

        (Sorry there are so many pictures of Meredith -- she just happened to hit lots of milestones and wasn't feeling badly or at school when I actually had the camera out.)

A friend of mine made this skirt for Maggie. It is beautiful and twirly!

Meredith has glasses because she has one eye that is far-sighted while the other is normal. This is what can lead to "lazy eye" but God was good in that there has been no vision loss.