Stop the presses, she's speechless!!!

Ok, that's not all together true. I have plenty to say, just not a whole lot I can go into here. Soooo... I'll take stream of conscious for $500 Alex...

We have sickness at our house, the nasty kind. We traded in our yearly strep fest and frankly, I'd rather we all have strep. We are taking turns having gastritis. The nasty kind where it comes from both ends. It is going around at church in varying degrees and it aint fun! Sarah woke up with it on Thursday morning. Super Hubbie has it now reeeally bad. He had to go to the doctor today for IV fluids because of dehydration. Joshua had it yesterday but seems to be ok now. I've had something mild that I think is related, but not vomiting (thank You Jesus!!!).

I. Hate. Vomit. Give me blood, and give me gore. But do not! give me vomit!!! *shudder*

It got cold again. As they say on Facebook, DISLIKE!!! I was so enjoying the warm sun shiny days. They'll be back, of that I have no doubt. In the mean time, our April showers have arrived early. It is grey and dismal outside, and a bit chilly. Next week is spring break and I'm hoping for beautiful weather so we can be outside!

Several years ago I dubbed the week of spring break "Family Fun Week". Coming on the heels of winter we all have cabin fever, so I try to do something fun outdoors each day of the week. We pack picnic lunches and head out. This was much easier to do in NOVA as there are several Nature Centers where you can visit for free and hike their trails. I've not been terribly succesful at finding many things like that down this direction, but I'm still working on it. Also, the last couple of years the weather has not cooperated, which has been hugely frustrating! There are so many things I want to do with my kids next week, I pray the weather cooperates and we are all healthy!

My oldest is finally hitting a big growth spurt. He's still much smaller than his younger brother, but I still predict he will catch up and possibly eventually overpass him. He's now taller than me. I noticed it the other day when I was playing around with him and I had to look up at him when he was standing next to me. I have mixed feelings. On the one hand it's a relief to see him finally start catching up to the other boys (although he is still skinny as a rail - for ROTC they had to tailor make his pants! I tried to tell him and Super Hubby that there are not pants on the market that will fit him right, but no one wanted to believe me!). On the other hand, he is looking less and less like a little boy every day. And boy howdy, does he ever have the teenage attitude to go with it!

Having teenagers is exciting and frustrating all at the same time. It's exciting to watch them grow and mature. While we all complain about our children growing up and changing before our eyes, and we make jokes about wishing they would stay little, there is something so very heart breaking and distressing about a child who doesn't hit all those important milestones. I have a precious friend who is going through this right now and it's really testing and stretching her in so many uncomfortable ways.

It has been such a relief to see Luke blossom over the past year. We went through some very difficult months with him during a certain stage of puberty where we were really very concerned and had many doubts that he would ever learn to function on his own in society. Not that he is slow, but rather he is "absent minded professor" smart. His brain functions on such a high level that he has a hard time functioning "down here" with the rest of us. There are still some issues of quiet rebellion and a difficulty in submitting himself to authority, but when I look at the big picture of the Luke I've known these past 5 years I am so encouraged by the changes I am seeing in him. The struggles of a few years ago are gone, and have been replaced with the normal struggles that every parent and child face. He is becoming someone who can be counted on. At one point I seriously doubted that would ever happen. I am feeling hopeful for his future and I know that if he continues to stretch himself and mature that one day he will do the big things we all know he is capable of!