Stomach Bug

 Tuesday I was on my way to a dr appt and had a few bad stomach cramps. That doesn't happen often but I didn't think much about it. As the day progressed so did the symptoms. At 1:30am the stomach bug that is going around hit with a vengeance! I was awake the rest of the night, in the bathroom. Wednesday morning I still felt "off" but not enough to miss out on school. So I taught and made the best of it. The school nurse stopped me and asked if I was feeling okay because I didn't look so good. She said that there was a nasty stomach bug going around. By the end of the school day I was worn out. I figured it was because I hadn't slept much the night before. I hadn't run a fever so I figured it was something I ate. I came home and laid down for a couple hours, determined to feel good enough to go to P's baseball game. I made it out the door...barely...getting to his game a few minutes late. I watched him bat and then barely made it to the ballpark bathroom where I started vomiting violently. I raced home and spent the rest of the evening alternating between trying to sleep and running to the bathroom. 

Around 11pm I got up to use the bathroom for the 1 millionth time and, as I was washing my hands, I got lightheaded. The last thing I remember was thinking, "If I move fast, I think I can make it back to bed." I didn't. Rob heard a commotion in the bedroom (he was planning to sleep on the couch). He came in our room and found me sprawled out on the ground with blood dripping off my face. I didn't make it to the bed, but I'm pretty sure that our gun safe "caught" me on my way down as I passed out. Without going into detail, it was a very embarrassing situation that Rob dealt with in the classiest way possible. We argued about me going to the hospital but I was adamant I was not going since the boys were already in bed for the night. He finally realized that I was going to be more stubborn than him so he helped me get in the bath to get cleaned up. In between getting cleaned up and making it back to our bed, I passed out 2 more times. All I could think about was how I was messing up our floors after the housecleaner had just come that day. (The things that run through my head!)

Thursday I woke up and wasn't doing much better. I knew if I didn't get to the hospital, I wasn't going to feel better any time soon. So, after Rob took the boys to school, I agreed to have him take me to the ER. The doctor gave me an IV and Zofran and I felt like a million bucks about an hour later. Actually, I didn't but I definitely felt more human. I was discharged and went home to sleep the rest of the day while Rob took over Dad Taxi duties. 

Last night (4 days after originally feeling sick) I finally felt human again. I don't remember the last time I was that sick and I definitely don't remember ever having to go to the ER for dehydration. (I drink 60-90 oz of water a day...every day!). It was horrible and I don't wish that stomach virus on my worst enemy. I am glad it's behind me and hope to never experience it again. I don't get sick often but, when I do, it's not a big deal. I don't deal well with stomach bugs and that one was a really big deal. Glad that one's behind me. Good riddance.

Spring Break

 There's something about Spring that makes me want to clean. There's also something about Spring that makes me want to travel. During our Spring break, the traveling bug in me won out. We jammed our week off with soooooo much stuff. We started the weekend with E playing in a tournament and P killing his first turkey. That Monday we met up with P's girlfriend and her sister at a local trampoline park, where they wore themselves out playing tag and Dodgeball. Then Tuesday morning we got up, loaded up the truck and headed to Texas. We stayed in a cute lakefront cabin for 3 days, where we were able to unplug and enjoy time as a family. We fished every day, made S'mores, walked on the little beach, caught turtles, used our imagination, saw bald eagles, waited out storms and visited Lake Fork Trophy Lures. The trophy lures store was probably the highlight of the trip. An employee asked us if we wanted to go see where the lures were made. She gave us a tour and went into great detail about how each lure is handmade. Then she told the boys that they could each fill a gallon ziplock bag with all the "reject" lures they want. They had barrels of lures that were simply not fit to sell because the dye was further down on one side or the other. I think the boys heard angels sing as they filled their bags with probably close to $300 worth of soft baits!

We got back Friday and I had just enough time to do some laundry and clean a little before heading to MS for Easter. Sunday morning we enjoyed a nice sunrise service and then went to a later church service before going to Rob's cousin's house for a nice Easter lunch. After we stuffed ourselves with delicious food, the kids enjoyed an egg hunt. 

I don't think we could've humanly fit any more things into our week. We had a blast and I am so glad we chose to travel instead of clean. Ha! Here are some of the pictures from our adventures.... 

Baseball! Baseball! Baseball!!

 If you asked me what my least favorite sport to watch is, it would be a toss up between golf, tennis....and baseball. But if you asked me what one of my most favorite things to do is I would say watching our boys do something they love. Good thing my love for our boys trumps my dislike of baseball because our lives are consumed with it! Both boys are now playing baseball so 4-6 days a week our days and nights are consumed with practices or games. 

P started playing for his middle school a couple weeks ago. He played his first game on Wednesday and I was impressed. He got hit, hard, with a ball on the side of his head before the game even started. But he went back out on the field before the first hit and played his heart out. He ended the game with a throw to 1st, earning the last out of the game. His team won!

E is in his third tournament this weekend. I don't know if I'm more amazed at how well his team is playing compared to their first game or how E stays eternally optimistic. When I was putting him to bed tonight he said, " Tomorrow is going to be a long day because I'll have 3 games." He's already thinking ahead to playing in the championship game despite not winning a game yet. (They've been close once or twice but didn't pull it off.) That's the heart of a champion!

I love watching the boys play. I love hearing their excitement when they talk about baseball. I love watching them watch baseball, taking notes on how they can get better. Although baseball is far from my favorite sport to watch I will gladly watch my boys play baseball every day of the week because I love them! 

First Date

Sometimes I look at our oldest and he looks like our little boy. Other times I look at him and he looks very much like the teenager he's becoming. That was the case a few days ago when he had his first date. He's had a girlfriend since Christmas but they both have busy schedules and don't get to see each other outside of school (other than youth group). Sunday, however, they were both free so his girlfriend's mom and I helped them make plans to go fishing and then to fro-yo. We picked Miss A and her mom up and took them to our favorite local fishing hole. Miss A's mom, Summer, and I sat a ways away and talked so they could have their privacy. Sadly they didn't catch anything due to the high pressure. But they had fun. We ended the afternoon at fro-yo where I got to know Miss A better. According to P, the date had the expected first date awkwardness but it was cute watching them from afar. 

Then last night Miss A and her mom came to watch P's first baseball game with his jr high team. He started the night by getting hit in the head with a baseball during warm ups. But he pulled it together and was able to throw a nice final out of the game. Afterwards Rob and I got to witness the "teenage" awkwardness as we said our goodbyes to Miss A and Summer.

Hopefully as they hang out more, the awkwardness will fade. I really like her and her family and am glad that P can call Miss A his first girlfriend. They have both set the bar high for future relationships!

Violated

Friday morning Rob was leaving for work only to come back in a few minutes later saying, "We were robbed." His truck had been broken into. We had been down this route before. His truck had been broken into several years ago, but that was different. That time his truck has been in the driveway and the people had just opened the door and took 1 thing. This time there was more than one person. They came into our carport and actually got into his truck to get what they wanted. This time I feel violated. This time it feels personal. This time it's affecting me.

I don't want to go into too much detail because the boys read this blog sometimes but I've been anxious since Saturday. For some reason I was able to sleep just fine Friday night. But Saturday, when we were at a local rodeo, it hit me. E was having fun, laughing, clapping and smiling from ear to ear while I sat next to him thinking, "So many people are drinking. There's bound to be a fight. Or worse." Then I'd talk myself off the ledge and try to enjoy myself. The rodeo itself was fun but I couldn't get out of my head the entire time.

Saturday and Sunday nights, when I did sleep, I had nightmares. I woke up and checked the security cameras on my phone to make sure nothing was amiss. This morning when Rob left for work, I watched him on the camera to make sure no one was out there, waiting. All day I was on edge and I felt like I was barely holding it together for my students. When I got home I got dressed for the gym...and went to bed. I just couldn't get motivated to do anything more than sleep. 

I pray that this passes. I don't like this feeling, constantly on high alert. I look forward to the day when I am not worried or anxious. This sinful world can be scary but I know my God is bigger than it. So I've got to put my fears at His feet before I unravel. Sometimes that's easier said than done. But I know when I do let go of it He'll carry me just like He always does. 

Baseball Blues

I lie awake, with my wheels turning, my mind replaying this weekend over and over again. You see, last Spring, E played on a rec team that sucked. He was the only decent baseball player on his team and it broke our hearts to watch his team get annihilated every game because no one had a clue as to how to play ball. During one of the games, we were approached by an acquaintance, asking if we had ever thought about E playing tournament ball. We discussed it a lot and decided that that would be a great way for him to expand his natural, God given talent on the field. 

There are a lot of different local ball organizations in the area so we weighed the pros and cons of a few of them that interested us. We talked to E about it and ultimately decided to go with the more expensive one because the organization prides itself on professional coaches (instead of invested dad coaches) that teach the fundamentals of the game. E tried out and was beyond excited when he found out he made the team.

Fast forward to a month ago. He had just finished the Fall academy that the organization offered (which I wasn’t impressed with from the little I learned about it along the way). The person in charge of communication was not communicating. Tournament jerseys were late in getting ordered and, because the world is the way it is right now, some of the stuff didn’t arrive in time for the first tournament this weekend. We looked like the Bad News Bears.

What’s worse is we played like them. It was embarrassing to watch. And in all honesty E’s team looked almost like the rec team he played for last Spring. We know E is a talented little ball player but we didn’t expect him (nor did we want him to be) the best player on this “elite” team. He ran all over the field because several of the other players didn’t know to cover their base or where to throw the ball. Once again we were annihilated and this time it hurt my mama heart worse than ever before. As I scrolled social media last night (rather a few hours ago), several of the teams he had an option to try out for not only won games but won their tournaments this weekend. It made our losses hurt that much more!

I write this for several reasons. One is that a few people said, “It’ll get better as the season goes. They’ll learn from this.” I hope so because right now I lack the confidence in the “professional” coaching staff. I can’t see the fruits of their labor, especially since it looks like the boys have never played ball together. I hope at the end of the season I can look back at this blog and laugh, thankful for all the wins we had. Another reason is to remind people that the most expensive option isn’t always the best of the best. Sometimes the expensive option is just that….a lot of money and nothing more. The last reason is that I want to be reminded of E’s journey someday way down the road….where it all began, the frustration and heartache. Who knows what E will do with his life? Right now he wants to play in the MLB and maybe he will. He’s got to start somewhere so maybe the frustration and heartache is where he has to start to get to where he’s going. I don’t know. All I know, at this point, is that we can only go up from here and I pray that we do because my mama heart can’t handle an entire season of loss after loss after loss.

Catch Up

 It's been a hot minute since I jumped on there and blogged. So I thought I'd say a quick hi while waiting for my oil to get changed. I know I sound like a broken record but life is keeping us busy. I think I can officially put "Mom Taxi" on my resume. As I got in my car the other night to pick one of the boys up from an activity I thought, "If I didn't have to get in a car for the next day or so I wouldn't complain." I also thought that someday I will look back on this time and think, "How did we keep up with that crazy schedule?" But it's our life and the way we live these days so we make it work.

On the weekends we try to find a balance between doing something fun and relaxing after a busy week (and before the next busy week). A few weeks ago we went to the Dixie National Rodeo and a parade. Last weekend we ran our first run as an entire family. Although it didn't sway Rob's opinion of running, I was impressed that E came in 1st place for the 1 mile run and Rob came in 3rd!! I placed 4th in my 5k division and P finished in the Top 20 overall. After the run we got cleaned up and then P and I went to a local Mardi Gras parade. I was supposed to take E to a basketball game Sunday, after church, but woke up sick. I slept most of the day.

Now that I've caught you up on our happenings, let me dive into other things. As I've stated before, parenting is hard. Other than the Bible, there isn't a manual that you can use to help you know the right decision to make. But sometimes I feel convicted about something and the feeling sticks until the right decision has been made. Several months ago we let P sign up for a social media platform. Since I already had an account with the same one, I felt like it was our safest option for him to test his freedom. But I quickly learned that the way I use it and the way he uses it are completely different. I only look at people I am friends with. I don't have a desire to follow people I do not know. He, on the other hand, looked at various things from unknown people. It made me uncomfortable. Not because I didn't trust what he was putting out there, but because I was afraid of what he had access to. I fully believe that once a child sees something they can't unsee it. So, after conviction and prayer, we decided it was best to take that platform away from him for now. Needless to say, it didn't go over well with him. There were tears and the silent treatment. The next day, I think he realized that we won't always see eye to eye but he still has to respect the fact that we are his parents and have to make the hard decisions that he won't always like. We, as parents, have to do what we can to protect his innocence.

That's another reason why I felt he didn't need social media. Right now we can protect him from things going on in the world. I feel that he can have limited knowledge about the problems with Russia, but it's not something he needs to be overly exposed to. He becomes obsessed with things and I can see him researching every thing possible about it, losing sleep over the "What ifs". A tween does not need that kind of stress. If that was the case, the legal voting age wouldn't be set at 18. 

Onto a happier subject.....Rob. The other night he was talking to me about a situation that he was dealing with. We talked about it quite at length (ie he talked and I was the listener for once). The whole time he was talking I became more and more impressed with how he handled things. It also made me realize what an awesome principal he would've made. I've found that the educators who did not like school make the best teachers/principals because they know how to reach the students. Rob also has the "mojo" as a leader, a true leader, one that people listen to. He's one that doesn't talk just to make small talk, but people stop and listen when he does have something to say. I just have mad respect for him and how he's really made something of his self within the company, a person that others respect.

Well, on that note, my car is ready. So until next time.....take care and pray for the world as we're in a bad place right now.