A Little of This and a Little of That

• For awhile I was kicking butt with my daily to-do lists. It felt so good crossing stuff off that list every day. Really good. But I've been distracted by life and have not been doing my to-do lists. Consequently, my productivity has sunk to abysmal levels. Funny how a little list helps me so much. I guess I better get on that.

• The kids and I spent a large portion of Saturday cleaning the heck out of the house (Chris was out of town). Two days later, and guess whose house looks like it hasn't been cleaned in weeks?

•  Bethany's basketball banquet was Saturday evening. Her team was the undefeated league champion! She got a trophy and a couple t-shirts, and ended the evening with a sleepover with a few of her basketball pals.The girls did such a great job, it was awesome watching them get better and better as the season progressed. While it was definitely very time consuming, I hope Bethany plays again next year. Both she and Connor have been playing quite a bit on the driveway. Maybe we'll even get Connor to sign up next year.

• It is not quite the official start of spring, but it sure feels like spring - late spring even! I honestly don't remember a March that's ever been this consistently warm. They're calling for temps in the 80s this week! Of course they're also calling for highs in the 40s by the weekend, so we'll see! I'll enjoy this lovely weather while it lasts!

• Last night I said my final goodbye to my friends before they left for Washington. I've sort of been in denial, even though every time I went to their house the past week, more & more of their belongings were packed away in the moving truck. I'm so glad we are already planning to visit them this summer, so we have something positive to focus on. Plus we came home with their trampoline last night, which the kids are so excited about. I will miss these fabulous people so much! 

• I feel slightly guilty that I hide the Ben & Jerry's in the back of the freezer. It's just that one little carton of it doesn't go far with four kids. If they get at it, it'll be gone in about 2 minutes flat. 

• The leprechauns didn't visit our house this year. What kind of mother am I, anyway? Bethany and Connor made a little scavenger hunt for Lucy because she was really looking forward to some St. Paddy's Day fun. They hid green stuff all over the yard for her, pretending that it was the leprechauns. And they each chastised me separately for not turning the milk green or doing anything else festive. Next thing you know, I'll be counting on them to keep the whole Santa thing alive.

•  I can hardly wait until Spring Break. Even though we are getting fewer days off than in years past (and that really irks me), I am looking forward to taking a break from the daily grind. And since we've made plans to visit Chris's aunt for a couple days, I'm even more excited. 

• I am still begging for votes in the Wyndham Women on Their Way contest. Please do me a HUGE favor and click HERE to vote for me.  I decided several days ago to stop checking the other entries to compare votes and see how I'm doing, so I have no idea if I'm still in the top 10. But I hope that I am, and I need all the help I can get! The last time I checked I became really discouraged because a couple other contestants were gaining 500-700 votes overnight (and mysteriously getting very few votes for days at a time...), and for all I know more and more contestants might be going the way of the middle of the night vote influx as the contest progresses. But nonetheless, I'm not giving up. You never know, I could possibly win, stranger things have happened. And so many wonderful people have been sharing my entry on Facebook - you guys are all awesome, thank you so much!

• I just got done re-reading one of my favorite books, One Year Off by David Elliot Cohen. I don't think it's in print anymore, but you can get a Kindle edition for $5.99. The book is about Cohen's round-the-
  world trip with his family. Although I wish it had more...details, and information, and pictures...I still love it and find it to be quite inspiring. 
  

• Mathilda just suddenly looks huge to me the past week or so. I don't know if she's truly had a growth spurt or if I'm just seeing her differently all of a sudden, but she is a big kid now. There's no going back.

So, it's not really a "true" blog post, but I'll be back with something more substantial soon. And I'll be announcing a cool giveaway this week too! Hope ya'll have a good week (since my friend Paul said I should try harder to appeal to the southern folks).