MIA (again?!) or AWOL...

First of all, be warned, this post is long, and picture heavy. It HAS been nearly a month...

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I cannot believe that it has been nearly a month since my last post! Where has it gone?! I do know that there was a lot that happened since the last post.

Since the weather has been pleasant, we try to spend more time outside. A favorite outdoor activity is riding bikes, as shown here by Josh...

He has gotten "brave." He was showing off his skills for Daddy...

On another day, Ben surprised us by requesting the training wheels be taken off his bike so he could learn to ride without them...

Daddy did a great job keeping him steady, yet giving him room to fall...

That's why he's riding in the grass...so the fall would have a softer landing...




And then there was the Spring Carnival at the school. Now that was fun!
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The first thing that was exciting was peering into a real race car...

Then we saw some donkeys. The owner was telling us some folklore about this particular type of donkey (??). It is said that this is the breed(?) that Mary rode on that blessed night into the city of Bethlehem. For it's reward, it was then blessed with a mark resembling the cross, which we all know was Jesus' destiny. (My recollection of the story is somewhat clouded...I've slept since then! ;D)

Bubbles are always fun!

And firetrucks are always cool!

Balloon swords...

...and silly clowns...

...face painting...

...carnival games...

...games of all sorts, usually resulting in candy...

...Now we're talking! The inflatables!...(That's Josh in the foreground.)

And before we go, let's have a first-time ride...Josh looks happy to be trying something new...

...Ben looks, well, a little scared. Maybe?

We had a great time that day. But this was the beginning of a couple of bad days (weeks). On this day, Ben had a good time, but was otherwise a little "under the weather." He had a head cold, and it was bad enough by Monday, that he was out of school. Then the next day, Josh was throwing up. Wednesday saw them both back at school, but Thursday brought diarrhea to Josh, who stayed home again. Also during this time, good ole Mom came down with the head cold.

This was also teacher appreciation week, so we were trying to do some of the suggestions that the school sent home.

By Mother's Day, everyone but dear-ole-Dad was sick in one way or another.

But my dear-ones did make it a wonderful day for me...
Both boys brought flowers home from school...

And these were from Steve. (I received them early enough to share them with the teachers during Appreciation week. ;D)

And on Sunday afternoon, I received lots of cards and some craft items. Yipee!

And I was treated to lunch at my most favorite Italian restaurant, Carrabba's. YUM! I think we all agreed that the bread with the oil and spice dip is the best part.

(Not my favorite picture of myself!)

Though I am always satisfied with my meal at Carrabba's, we were still getting over our illnesses, with Ben having what Josh had the week before, Josh now having the head cold, and me still suffering with it as well (and not getting the rest that I should have), our appetites just weren't the same...we came home with a lot of leftovers...more than usual.
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And also taking up our time lately, is homework. Josh has been doing a lot of writing projects, like choosing a US state to write about, and a biography, as well as spelling tests. He even had to read and write a book report for Cub Scouts! Ben is also working hard on writing and reading. I am so proud of both of them! (I can't believe that the end of school is less than 3 weeks away!)

We also take time to play....Here's Ben modeling a "jet-pack" that he built. I think it's kinda like the one Boba Fett wore! (hehehe)

We also have been having a lot of fun playing on the Wii. We have a friend at church that we traded games with for awhile. We are playing his Super Mario Galaxy. It is really fun!!

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I had wanted to keep up on my blogging, posting maybe once a week. That hasn't been happening here lately. It may just be that I end up doing one a month, like a summary of the highlights...I dunno....We'll see...
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And with everyone being sick lately, there wasn't much crafting going on. Sometimes, I literally didn't feel like it.... just slept. I hope to get my mojo back in gear soon.

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As always, thanks for stopping by and visiting.

:)