I suffered from the flu for about 2 weeks.  Hacking cough, sore throat, stuffy head and nose, aches and pains…  I had to visit the doctor twice, the first time getting put on 5 days worth of antibiotics, and the second time having to get a shot in my tush!  During the time of my illness, I could not smell.  Or taste, as the two go together.  You have *no* idea how aggravating it is not being able to smell!!  I could almost deal with the illness, but I could not stand not being able to smell anything!  It’s one of those things you just take for granted, but once it’s gone, you realize how important it really is!  Anyway, I rejoiced the day my smell returned by cooking a Rachel Ray dish.  J  Have I told you lately how addicted I am to the Food Network?  Well I am.  Very much so!  Heck, I could pretty much be my own show at this point.  I am quite the badass in the kitchen these days! 

So life has been good aside from being sick for a few weeks.  Thankfully, no one else in the house got sick.  I was so worried about the kiddos, but they’re all fine.  The boys have started baseball practice and they are both loving it!  They totally dig being on different teams this year.  They just got their schedules and found out that they play against each other later in the spring.  They’re so psyched!  I dread that ride home…;)  They’re quite the competitive little guys so I can only imagine how that game will play out.  But overall they’re both doing well.  They continue to kick butt in school too, which makes this mama beyond proud!  We had 2 great conferences with their teachers earlier this month and I can’t help but smile when I see how good they’re doing with their school work and how darn good their behavior has been.  I’m not one to reward my kids for grades and such.  That’s pretty much something that is expected in my household and not deserving of rewards.  But they really have done an extraordinary job this year (especially considering our struggles in years past) so I think we’ll do something special to reward them at the end of the school year.  They really do deserve it!

Isabelle Rose…oh, that child… J  On one hand, she is a total doll baby.  On the flip side of that, she can be hell on wheels.  Her emotions/moods seem to be all over the place lately and I understand that this will only worsen as she inches towards the teen years.  Wonderful!  I can’t wait!!  That being said, she still has a sweet side, which I adore.  I make it a point to have “girl time” with just her and I whether it’s a pedicure, dinner out, a little shopping spree, or even a simple visit to the pet store.  I cherish these one-on-one moments with her and just watching her and listening to her talk, I feel like my heart could explode from loving her and everything about her so much!  God, I love that child… J  But moving on from her awesomeness (despite her not-so-pleasantness at times...;), she has started playing lacrosse this spring for the first time.  Lacrosse required that she have a physical completed.  During that physical, we were told that she ranked in the 19^th and 17^th percentiles for height and weight, respectively.  In other words, my daughter is a pip-squeak.  I don’t know, but it seems to me that kids just keep getting bigger and bigger.  Mine have always been average or below average with height and weight, but to hear that Belle is so low in comparison to girls her age, well it really surprised me!  Ah well, her small size doesn’t seem to affect her on the lacrosse field.  She had her first game last Saturday and she was AWESOME!!  Seriously, I know I’m mom and all, but girlfriend kicked some serious lacrosse ass out there!  Holy cow!  She did really, really good and ended up being the high scorer on her team.  She is so aggressive out there on the field, I absolutely loved watching her play!  Her team ended up winning 13-4.  We’re definitely gonna love lacrosse this season!!  Other than lacrosse, Belle continues with her horseback riding lessons as well.  The owner of the barn has asked that Belle come to the barn as often as possible.  When she gets new lesson horses in, she has Belle ride them so she can gauge what level riders will be capable of handling them.  Also, she’s got a new horse of her own that doesn’t get ridden enough apparently, and she told me she wants Belle to be the one to ride him.  How cool is that?!  I love watching her ride.  She’s so beautiful on a horse.  Of course I know nothing about horseback riding either, but I do love watching her interact and ride the horses at the barn.  She’s really in her element there.  OH!  Almost forgot to mention…a few weeks ago, Belle got glasses.  I’ve been having her vision checked since she was 3.  She has two different color eyes and apparently that can signify vision problems (or so I was told by the eye doctors my Mother works for).  Belle told me a few weeks ago that she was having trouble seeing things far away and she was almost due for her yearly check up so I went ahead and took her in and yep, she needed glasses.  She’s so cute in them!  I’ll post a picture when I can.  My digital camera recently broke (dammit!) so I’m waiting for a new one ~ hoping to get one for my birthday soon!

So that’s about it as far as the kiddos go.  Me, I’m trucking along as usual.  I registered for 2 triathlons this week, both taking place in June.  I feel more committed since registering.  Also in recent Georgia news…we’re heading back to the beach for spring break in a few short weeks!  Yay us!!  Oh my gosh, have I told you how I adore the beach?  Love it.  Love, love, LOVE it!!  We’re going to Perdido Key this year.  I’ve never been there, but it’s on the gulf, which I prefer.  Okaloosa Island, which is where we regularly go for spring break vacation, seemed to be really pricey this year so I ventured out a bit with my search for a rental property.  From what I’ve read and seen on the internet, we will thoroughly enjoy Perdido Key.  And I found the most precious condo for us ~ oceanfront, pool for the kids, and even a workout facility, which will be awesome since I will be full force in training.  I’m excited beyond words for this vacation!  We’re heading out April 4^th and will be staying for the week.  I am counting the days…  Speaking of vacation, remember my plans for Africa this fall?  The trip for which I must save beaucoups of money??  Yeah, that one.  Wouldn’t ya know it, the minute I attempt to save money for something like this, all hell seems to break lose in regards to money matters.  Let me recap…not including Christmas expenses (which is right about the time I started my savings), we had mechanical issues with my vehicle.  Yep, right after we paid that sucker in full.  $3,200 later…the spring on the garage door broke.  Had to get that replaced.  Oh, and then H discovered leaking in the garage…coming from the hot water heater…  Luckily it ended up being something else, but still another unexpected expense.  And while the plumbers were out, we went ahead and had 2 toilets repaired.  Then our homeowner’s fees were due at the beginning of this month…another $800…and don’t let me forget the cost of lacrosse for Belle ($200 registration + about another $150 for gear…) and baseball registration for the boys…another $300 or so…ummm, what else…  It seems like there’s more, but this is all I can come up with at the moment.  So I’ll just have to wait and see what my savings look like come May.  That is when the money is due for the trip ~ not including airfare.  Wish me luck! 

Okay, I think I’ve typed enough for one entry so I’m gonna head out.  I’m not even going to bother apologizing for my slackness in blogland anymore…it is what it is.  It looks like I’m lucky to get a blog or two in per month these days and guess what, that is quite okay with me!  I’ll write when I feel up to it and that’s all I can offer.  I do hope that everyone in blogland is just swell and I thank you for stopping by from time to time!

Until next time, these are the days of my life….

Be great! 

* Isabelle Rose leading the pack here with the ball, getting ready to score.....

* She plays the front center position (#1 in white) and has to do the "toss up" to start new plays.  She won the toss every time...:)

* In the center here after winning a toss-up, running towards the opponent's goal with the ball