Spring Break!

This cute photo was taken at Abbey's birthday party yesterday at Build-a-Bear workshop! Very cute, huh? I think we can call an official end to the birthday week and enjoy our week of Spring Break!!!

The snow stopped Saturday afternoon and melted very quickly, and yesterday temps were in the 60s. Spring-like weather is on tap for the first part of this week and we intend to get outside, ride bikes, and picnic at the park amongst other things! It was so nice this morning to wake up and realize that I had nowhere to be and nothing to do ALL day. I haven't had a day like that in such a long time. And I think we all need days like that more than we realize.

Our kids have been watching the "Grease: You're the One We Want" show for a couple of months now. If you're not familiar with it, it's basically a large casting-call where men/women audition for the roles of Danny/Sandy on live tv, and week after week, America votes to choose who the Danny/Sandy they want to see in the Broadway production of Grease opening this summer. We don't let our kids watch too much stuff like that, but this one has been kinda fun, and they're very hooked on it. Last night was the final episode and the 2 lucky roles were awarded to very talented people. Abbey got the soundrack to Grease for her birthday and her favorite song is "Greased Lightning" and she walks around singing and dancing to it these days. She puts on quite a show, let me tell you. Sarah's favorite tune is "Hopelessly Devoted" and Will likes "We Go Together" (or track number 22). They're upstairs listening to it right now. They keep asking when we'll let them see the movie, and we keep telling them it will be a loooonnnnnnggggggg time before we say "yes" to that, but they think they're cool listening to the music. Very funny.

Well, today is March 24 and it is snowing outside. Hopefully the snow is on it's way out, especially since this week is Spring Break!

John and Abbey shared a birthday on Thursday. John is 40 and Abbey is 5! John took the day off to spend with Abbey, and they hung out together all day. Abbey picked out a restaurant for the birthday dinner...Noodles, followed by ice cream at Coldstone Creamery. She's been given the royal treatment for the last few days and that will likely continue through tomorrow afternoon when we have her party. We're taking her and two little friends to Build-a-Bear workshop. They get to each make their own teddy bear. She's very excited. I feel a little (okay a LOT) guilty that John must share his birthday with Abbey. I doubt he would have chosen Noodles for his birthday dinner (though he does love Coldstone's milkshakes for dessert!) and I don't think that pink birthday cupcakes or Build-a-Bear with three little girls is his ideal way to spend a Sunday afternoon, but he's a good sport. And Abbey loves it so much that she and her daddy share this special day! Thanks to all of you who wished John a happy birthday. His inbox was full of birthday greetings and blessings and he loved it.

John got an early birthday gift this week. He got to meet and have dinner with an author he greatly admires. Brennan Manning. John's company secured a book deal this week with Mr. Manning and John will be the editor for the book and get to work with him during the process. Very cool. There are a lot of neat details involved in this story, and it's evident to us that God's hand is at work in all of this, and we are both very humbled and very much in awe of God's kindness to John this week. Will keeps asking if Brennan Manning is related to Peyton. Go figure.

LOTS and LOTS going on around here!

There is just so much stuff going on around here that I can barely keep up with it all, much less post about it.

We've all been a little on the sick side lately. Mostly just colds and allergies, but last week Abbey had strep, and John has some sort of stomach bug right now. Really yuck. I'm so ready for everyone to be healthy again!

One of our good friends from Arkadelphia is in Denver this week and we got to have dinner with him last night. It is always such a treat for us when old friends are out this way and we're able to get together and visit. It is very very good for our hearts!

Cool story: Last month when we were in San Diego, Sarah called us on our way to dinner one night and was telling us that her teacher was in a small group at her church and her group had just started a new Bible study. The study was called "Living the Questions" and it dawned on her mid-way through the intro session that Sarah's dad WROTE the study. She was excited to tell Sarah about it and Sarah was excited to relay the info on to us. Neat, huh???

We're enjoying some amazing spring-like weather this week. I only hope it will last. Snow is in the forecast. John and I went on a date last weekend and it rained the entire time we were in Colorado Springs. That kind of rain is pretty unusual around here; we get showers, but not long, soaking rains. In our little town just north of the Springs, we got snow instead of rain. We were laughing as we drove back into town and saw cars covered in powdery white stuff. Even though this is our 4th spring to live here, it just still seems incongruent for snow and March to be in the same sentence. Oh well!

John is working on a pretty big book deal right now and it looks like a celebration will be in order. It's a cool deal and he will get to be the editor on the project which is nothing short of amazing. I'll post more when things are a little more final! John is up to preach again on April 1, Palm Sunday. He enjoys it when he gets the opportunity and I love getting to hear him.

Oh, how could I forget?? Two more days until two big birthdays at our house. Abbey turns FIVE on March 22, and John turns 40 on the same day!!! We're gearing up for a big celebration. Abbey keeps telling me she's going to have LOTS of sugary stuff to eat that day and she's got her party all planned out. It should be a really fun day and I have a feeling we'll be celebrating through the weekend!

March is here!

I didn't realize it had been so long since I last posted. Where does the time go? I flipped my calendar over this morning and was amazed at what a blur February was. I know it is the shortest month of the year, but it seems like it just FLEW by.

Here's some of our February highlights:

We celebrated Will's 10th birthday. He chose to have a rock-climbing party at our local indoor sports center. He and 5 other boys donned harnesses and did some indoor rock-climbing. Will is a natural. It was very fun to watch them and even made me want to give it a try sometime. Will is a great kid--ultra responsible, smart, and handsome. He got a BIG, red, candy-filled heart from a secret admirer on Valentines Day. His mother is dying to know which adorable 4th grade girl gave it to him, but he doesn't seem too curious.

My mom got to be here for Will's birthday. In fact, she spent two weeks with us! Part of the time she was here, John and I were in San Diego. I've been wanting to go to California for such a long time and John's company was sending him to the National Pastors Conference to meet/recruit authors. He asked if I could tag along and so I did. I LOVED California. How nice and sunny and warm it was compared to our cold, snowy state. I keep telling John that the further west he takes me, the more I love it. But don't worry...I don't want to move to California. It was very refreshing to see all that green grass, flowers blooming, and the ocean. The highlight of my trip was going on a whale-watching tour. California grey whales migrate this time of year from the Artic Ocean down to the warm coastal waters of Baja, Mexico. I went out on a 4-hour tour and saw LOTS of whales. So, so cool. I'd never seen whales before and they were literally right in front of our ship. The ship photographer befriended me (I was solo on this adventure) and invited me up to a prime viewing spot on the ship! He even gave me a photo cd with some of his best whale photos on it. VERY COOL. This guy moonlights as a paparrazzi photographer so we had a very interesting conversation about that. He has recently photographed, "Paris, Brittney, those kinds of stars, you know". Funny!

I'm the yearbook coordinator at our kids' school and February was crunch time for me. I'm happy to say that we are 98% finished and the book is going to look great. It has kept me extremely busy this month, but I'm seeing the light at the end of the tunnel! Yea! All that stress and work though compromised my immune system and I ended up getting a yucky cold. It has cycled through our home, with all but John having caught it. Sarah missed 3 school days and is actually still not herself. The kids are out of school today and tomorrow for teacher conferences. I'm thankful that they'll have a 4-day weekend to rest and recover.

It snowed here all day yesterday. I think we got about 3-4 inches. Maybe less. Who knows these days. Since those 2 blizzards pounded us in December, everything is relative. If we can't measure snow in FEET, then we're okay...no big deal, why bother to count a few inches! If it's not blowing and creating white-out conditions, then driving is fine. I wasn't that way until this year. Our snow from those back-to-back storms in December has FINALLY melted. We've still got 18-inch drifts in our backyard, but our driveway/front yard/sidewalks are completely snow free (or they were until yesterdays snow!) Keep in mind that April is our snowiest month, with March coming in at a close second. We had some really nice days in February with temps in the 50s/60s (hence, the snow melt). What a tease! I love those days and we're definitely seeing more of them, but I know the reality is that we have seven more weeks with snow being a very real possibility.

Did you hear about the Denver zoo keeper that was mauled to death (in front of park visitors--ugh) last weekend? A jaguar named Jorge attacked her. Apparently the door to the room she was in wasn't locked. Denver Zoo officials are trying to find answers, but such a sad story. I really think I'd like to see a bear one day, and my chances in Colorado are good...but mountain lions and other big cats scare me out of my mind. That is something I NEVER EVER hope to see face to face. EVER!
I dont' even like seeing them at the zoo!