What's happenin'

Well it's still cold!  But today instead of snow it's rain, so that's an improvement.  Maybe.  Sometimes the moisture and dampness brought with rain is colder and chillier than a snow day.

I was telling a friend earlier this week that while there is much busyness on the horizon, right now there is not much busyness.  At all.  So sometimes the days tend to drag on with our only outing being to the grocery store or weekly library time.  We ventured out to the Kohl Children's Museum about 25 minutes from here.  It was similar to Marbles but a bit much.  Sensory overload to the max.  Luke and Everett would often walk into a new area without an idea of the theme and where to even begin.  After 2 hours Luke just stood still and said, "So I think we can probably go now..."  Not to mention this is one area we saw the cost of living a solid 65% higher than good ole Raleigh, NC which made for an expensive 2 hours.

We have a lot in the coming weeks and months, which will be nice.  Luke starts a "Jungle Safari" class next week at the community center where he will learn about a new African animal each week as well as play games, make a craft and more.  He is beyond thrilled.  Everett's library time starts next week also, which will be a nice change for him.  They do things on a monthly basis at our library so this month it was Luke and his 3-5 year old story time (parents and siblings not included).  Luke also starts soccer in 2 weeks!  We have some fun things going on this summer, including our baby brother making his debut in July.

It's also been a huge gift all around having Billy home every week.  When he traveled on a regular basis we were both really focused and he was so intentional on making sure the boys got their daddy time.  But now that he's home more, there's more freedom to enjoy time all together as well as for him to just take a breather every now and then and not worry about a to do list all. the. time.  Some nights after dinner the boys go down to the basement to play and Billy and I have uninterrupted conversation...CRAAAAZY.  I know.

While the days can be lonely for me at times, it's also been good time to do things I normally wouldn't do or haven't had time to do.  Like read a 450 page book in one week.  Two weeks in a row.  Or teach Luke to read (Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons).  I've tried out several new recipes that have been on my list for at least a year.  It's also given me time to look into getting my counseling certification through ACBC, which happens to have a center within an hour of us (praise the Lord!).  So all in all things are good.  We are learning a lot.  Enjoying our "newlywed bliss" all over again.  Learning the territory and experiencing new cultures.  And so thankful for the unwavering peace we've been given from the Lord.