Her Grandmother

Harryette Paramore Kellam Thomas

January 17, 1922 - April 25, 2013

My amazing grandmother, whom I called Nana, is dancing and joyful with the Lord in Heaven today. I miss her immensely but am thankful and grateful that her pain has ended, her memories have returned to her (she had dementia in later life), and she has reunited with all her beloved family and friends who went ahead of her.

I am remembering all kinds of things today...

She was the grandmother who did summersaults with my sister and I in the front yard - with her mother yelling at her from the porch.

She was the grandmother who got in our kiddie-pool, but made sure she had a shower cap on her head so her hair would not get messed up.

She was the grandmother who took me shopping at Farm Fresh when I stayed with her overnight - and made sure we visited the cookie and ice cream aisle. She would say, "Let's go get some fun food." Then she would wink and I could pick whatever I wanted.

She was the grandmother who came to every birthday party, Christmas, Thanksgiving, 4th of July, etc. She never missed a holiday or a chance to spend time with her family.  

 She was the woman who attended church every Sunday.

She was the woman who led Bible study, led a women's group, collected offering, worked as a greeter or usher, was an elder, and did many other things around the church.

She was the woman who read the Bible every morning - with her coffee.

She was the woman who studied the word of God using The Daily Bread every day.

She was the good and faithful servant that God calls us all to be - I know she heard those words today when she arrived home in Heaven. 

She was the woman who refused to eat the deer meat my dad had cooked - but loved it when we told her it was beef pot roast.

She was the woman who spit on the worms when we were fishing, because my other grandmother told her it attracted fish.

She was the woman who insisted we say grace at every meal, but would start eating way before because she was tired of waiting for all of us to get it together and sit down.

She was the woman who could not walk past a wrapped present with her name on it. It had to be opened!!

She was the woman who was always full after dinner - unless there was dessert. 

She was the woman who kept chocolate in her house, because there is always room for chocolate. 

She was the woman who needed a cup of ice with her coffee. She did not take coffee with any cream or sugar, just one ice cube please.

She was the woman who would travel to Moyock with my other grandmother to get a barbecue sandwich. She was also the woman who would travel to meet her brother for a crab cake. Traveling to spend time with family was never a problem for her, eating good food was a bonus.

She was the woman who drove a silver Cadillac - lovingly called the Silver Bullet because of her lead foot.

She was the grandmother who called Sean and Andy (my brother-in-law) her grandsons (rather than grandson-in-law).

She was the grandmother who loved her family with a passion that was unwavering.

She was the grandmother who taught me what it means to be a Christian.

She was the grandmother who showed me what it means to be a loving mom and grandmother.

She was the grandmother (I am lucky to be able to say this about both of my grandmothers) who showed me compassion, care, kindness, and love each and every day. There was never a day that I questioned whether she would be there for me, give me whatever I needed, help me with whatever problem I had, or guide me through whatever obstacle I was facing. She was one of my guideposts in life and I am grateful to be her granddaughter.

Today the family is mourning our loss but we are grateful that she is out of pain and joyful that she is rejoicing in Heaven watching over us all. 

Rest in Peace, Nana. We love you!!

Source

His: Living in America - April 24th

       A few months ago I briefly discussed that Australia and America have some different holidays. This Thursday, April 25th is ANZAC day. (ANZAC is an acronym for Australian & New Zealand Army Corps) This is one of the most honoured and respected days in the year. The day is a time for all of us to remember those who have died in battle while defending Australia or her allies. April 25th is the designated day as it is the anniversary of the first campaign at Gallipoli that led to major casualties for Australian and New Zealand forces during the First World War. (More information about the ANZAC landing at Gallipoli can be found here)

         ANZAC is a big deal in Australia. As students we were taught the importance of remembering those who had given the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom and would often lay wreaths at local monuments. Large crowds attend the services and marches and it truly is a community event. Most stores are closed and most people have the day off so they can attend the services and other events throughout the day.

        People honor ANZAC day in different ways. In most towns and cities there are dawn services to remember those who have perished in battle. The services are often attended by members of the community in addition to veterans and include laying of wreaths, playing of the last post and the Reveille. Similar services are often held later in the morning. There are also marches/parades in many communities which include veterans and other community groups. After the march and services many veterans will gather in local gathering spots for fellowship and lunch.

       I played in the city brass band when I lived in Australia and we had a busy but fulfilling day on ANZAC day. We would start off playing at the dawn service, then board a bus to travel to a small community nearby to play in the march and their morning service there. We would then travel back to our city and participate in the march, service and then lead the march to the RSL club for lunch. I was often tired at the end of the day but the veterans always appreciated us playing music for them and being part of their special day. They all sacrificed a lot for us and this was the least we could do for them after they did so much by serving for the country.

      ANZAC day is not celebrated in America but they do have a similar holiday called Memorial Day which is the last Monday in May. Even though I will not be able to participate in the services or marches on ANZAC day I do plan to take a few moments to remember those who paid the ultimate sacrifice and helped ensure our freedom.

     

Her Weigh-In (4/23/13)

Weigh-In Day is here! I was really hoping the 5K on Saturday would help get me a loss this week after a horrible gain last week. Here's what happened...

Weigh-In: +0.6

I said last week that I wanted to have some courageous conversations with myself. I really tried to do that this week. "Do I really need this?" "Am I really hungry?" "Could I drink some water instead of eating?" I think it helped, though I know I have a long way to go. It is becoming so apparent to me that I have a food addiction. It is what I turn to when I am mad, sad, frustrated, etc. It is what I look to for comfort, to make a bad day better, or to celebrate something good. Knowing is the first step to fixing I hope!

Last Week's Goals:

~Earn 15 Activity Points
       I did it!! I finally earned 15 APs in a week. Here's hoping I can do it again!
 ~Walk the Color Me Rad 5K in under an hour
       They do not time you at the 5K because it is meant to be for fun, so I am not sure of my official time. However, Sean and I know that it was under an hour so I am a happy girl!

Goals for the Week:
~Earn 15 Activity Points again this week
~Eat less than 60 points on Saturday

Recipes to Share:
Baked Ranch Chicken on Laa Loosh

Sean and I both love chicken and we build at least three nights of chicken dinners into a weekly menu. This means we try to be creative so we are not eating the same things over and over and over and over. When I found this recipe on LaaLoosh, I thought it would satisfy my love of fried chicken and Sean's love of easy recipes all in one dish. It did not disappoint. The flavor of ranch is subtle and the sour cream adds a great creaminess. I love the crunch factor and Sean loves how easy it is. Check it out here. As always, if you try it, I would love to hear what you think.

*fingers crossed for a good coming week*

His and Her GBU (4/22/13)

Hello everyone! Happy Monday!! We are linking up as we always do for the Weekend GBU but before we do...

I (Amanda) need to ask for prayers for my former and current students who lost a classmate last night. She was truly an angel on Earth - someone who was always smiling, happy, never met someone she didn't like. She was the girl who tried to make a classmate's day better if they were sad and someone who was a true friend to all. She will be truly missed by the entire community. Please pray for her family, for her friends, for her graduating class (she was a senior this year), and for all those who love her. Thank you! 

 

 
Good -
Color Me Rad 5K - (Amanda)
I have seen photos of friends on Facebook who have done color runs in the past and I was jealous. I wanted to do one and was so excited to find out one was coming nearby. I signed up, got some friends to sign up, and on Saturday we walked 3.1 miles visiting 6 color stations to be decorated. Here are some of the amazing photos that Sean took of the walk.

Getting started - all clean!

Purple station first

Yellow station - they sprayed this color at you

Orange station (the wind kicked up so the pics are so fun!!)

Green station (another spray - I made sure to turn around at each station so they could get my back and front)

Pink station

3.1 miles done - decoration done - soooo very much fun!!

Bad - 

(Amanda) My grandmother, whom I love so very dearly, has been suffering from dementia for many years. She is now in a lot of pain, she is bedridden, Hospice caretakers are with her daily (as is my mom), and she is struggling. It is so hard to see her so frail and sickly. My prayer is for peace and comfort and if you are a prayer-ful person, would you join me in that prayer? I know God is listening and it would be appreciated by my whole family.

Ugly -

(Sean) I had a great time hanging out with Amanda and the team at the Color Me Rad on Saturday. The only issue was that fine powder irritates my lungs and sinuses so I felt the after effects Sunday. With some luck it should go away in the next day or two.

Source

How was your weekend?

Happy Monday,

His and Her Sunday Social, 4/21/13

 

We took a few weeks away from the Sunday Social because our Sundays were crazy busy. But we are back now and ready to answer this week's questions.

What is your shopping weakness?

Amanda - Lately, I have been buying a lot of pretty yarns. I have no idea what I am going to knit with them, but I have the yarn ready to go.

Source

Sean - I don't do a lot of shopping. The first thing that came to mind would be entry fees for running events as I don't want to pass up a great event.

 
What is your food weakness?
Amanda - Anything chocolate - especially a chocolate dessert.
Sean - I have a long list, none of which is good for me. Top of the list would be a good icecream. 
 
What is your go to movie to watch when nothing is on?
Amanda - Ummm, my DVR is always so full that when nothing is on I go to that.
Sean - I have Netflix so there is always something there. If I had to choose a DVD movie it would be one of the Back to the Future movies.
 
What is your go to breakfast food?
Amanda - Yogurt parfaits right now are giving me something to look forward to in the mornings. The inspiration was the Chick-Fil-A Yogurt Parfaits.

Source

Sean - It depends on the situation. Most mornings its either cereal or a ham, egg, and cheese breakfast muffin. If it's race day, I will grab a burrito or hoagie from Wawa as it packs in plenty of energy and protein for the event.

 
Do you drink coffee? If so how do you take it? 
Amanda - Hot blonde with sand please! :) A little sugar and milk in the coffee, unless it is a Cafe Mocha which I take as is.
Sean - Not a big coffee drinker. I have only had it a few times and I am by no means a hard core fan or addict.

Our favorite question was the first one - so we ask all of you, what is your shopping weakness?

Enjoy your Sunday!

Her ABC's

My little fur baby!

I am totally stealing this idea from Jessa at Armpit Cupcake.

ABC's

A. Age: 33

B. Bed size: Queen...though with how much room Alex takes up a California King would be wonderful

C. Chore you dislike: Dusting...I can't stand it!

D. Dogs: One cute (and at times annoying) fur baby named Alex.

Source

E. Essential start to your day: Coffee is required to function on any kind of a normal level.

F. Favorite colors: Purple is my absolute favorite color.

G. Gold or silver:  Both work for me, though most of my jewelry is silver.

H. Height: 5' 8"

I. Instruments you play(ed):For 8 years in middle school and high school I played violin.

J. Job title: Teacher, Confidant, Friend, Drier of tears, Righter of wrongs, Paper pusher, Meeting Attendee, Writer (of lesson plans), Grader (of papers)

K. Kids: Just the one fur baby

L. Live: Virginia

M. Mom’s name: Mom (Mommy if I want something - haha)

N. Nicknames: A few friends from college still call me Manders

O. Overnight hospital stays: When I was 10 I had surgery on my ankles. I was in the hospital for a few days.

Source

P. Pet peeves: Depends on the day...the mood...the quality of the coffee in the morning

Q. Quote from a movie:  I quote Gilmore Girls a lot -- only one movie quote that I can think of..."Smile - it increases your face value." ~Truvy (Dolly Parton) in Steel Magnolias

R. Righty or lefty: Right.

S. Siblings: I have one sister and brother-in-law who live in South Carolina. A sister-in-law and brother-in-law who live in Newcastle, Australia. I also have another brother-in-law who lives in Brisbane, Australia.

T. Time you wake up:  The alarm starts going off at 4:40. I am up and moving (slowly) by 5:00.

U. Underwear: Ummmm....yes.

Source

V. Vegetables you don’t like: I cannot stand brussel sprouts and cabbage. Icky!!!

W. What makes you run late: I am a complete and total procrastinator so I will play around on Facebook or Instagram too long and - voila! I am late again!

X. X-rays you’ve had: The most recent were last month when I was at Patient First for bronchitis.

Y. Yummy food you make: My favorite is the new pot roast recipe we have found. It is so yummy! Click here to check it out.

Z. Zoo animal you like: I am a big fan of the elephants and giraffes...and rhinos and tigers...and seals and otters...and pandas and polar bears...yeah, I pretty much like every animal.

That was really fun! Thanks for sticking with me through all 26 letters. If you want to join in, comment using the information for the first letter of your first name.

Happy Thursday,

His: 13.1 miles/ 21kms is a long way!

I am taking a break from the Living in America series for this week as I wanted to share my half marathon story with you guys. Last weekend my friend Kristin and I ran our first half marathon after many months of training and planning.

      I was never a big runner when I was younger. In fact the only times I ran was when I was being chased, when I was made to in PE class or the odd event at the athletics carnival and even then I usually placed dead last. If you had told me back then that I would ever participate in a half marathon I would have laughed at you. I started running on and off a few years back to train for a few triathlons. Up until this year the longest distance I had run was 8km (5 miles) but I needed to run longer distance to qualify for the City2Surf race later this year. I ran a 10k (6.1 miles) and 15k (9.3 miles) a couple of months ago and the next step was to run a half marathon. I was talking to my friend Kristin who had also started running longer distances and we talked about running a half marathon. I  told her about the Dismal Swamp Stomp, that it was in April so it wasn't too hot and it was flat. We both decided that if we were ever going to run a half marathon that this would be the race so we signed up and continued to train for the race.

     Due to a very busy schedule it had been 5 or 6 weeks since my last long run and race day was here. My original goal was to finish somewhere between 2hrs 15mins and 2hrs 30mins but with the lack of training I would settle for finishing and if my time was under 3 hours I would be happy. My plan was to simply pace myself and hope that I didn't run out of energy and have to walk the last half of the race. The race started and I settled into a nice rhythm and continued down the course. To my surprise I was able to continue running for the first few miles without stopping. In fact I felt really good and figured if I kept this pace up I would do just fine. Mile after mile I kept running and keeping a steady pace and felt like this was the best race of my life.

Source

      I got to the half way mark, (6.6 miles/10.5km) then the 15k/9.3 mile mark and I still hadn't had to stop and walk. Shortly after this point I did need to take a quick break and walk a little bit. I was still very happy as I was somewhere between the 2 hr and 2hr 15min pacers and I had run non stop for much longer than ever before. I knew at some point I would run out of energy and have to walk more than I ran and that was during the last 3km/2 miles. I was excited that I had made it this far without major issues but was wishing the race was only 11 miles instead of 13.1. I tried to run when I could but I had to stop and walk a number of times.

     I had just under a mile to go when I met a fellow runner who encouraged me to continue running with him. We talked as we ran and I learned that this was his 3rd race and that someone ran with him for the last mile to encourage them and it was time for him to pay it forward. This definitely gave me a boost and I was able to cross the finish line much quicker than if he hadn't come along. The best news was that not only had I finished the race, I had finished the race in 2hrs 12min 30secs, much faster than I had ever hoped. If I hadn't been so tired I probably could have done cartwheels I was so happy!

     Kristin finished about 8 minutes ahead of me so she was waiting at the finish line. We both had a great time and are already planning our next half marathon. With some luck and proper training maybe one day I can break the 2 hour barrier. If you have ever thought about running a race I recommend just getting out there, training and giving it your best. You may not win the race but the elation of finishing will be just as good as winning the event.

Below is a link to the finish line video. (I wasn't able to embed it onto the page)
http://results.bazumedia.com/event/results/event/event-2958?entryID=3795184

   

Her Weigh-In (4/16/13)

Weigh-In Day is here! Let's see what happened...

Weigh-In: +2.7

It is time for some courageous conversations with myself. I am eating too many snack foods, making too many excuses about gym time, and losing motivation. It is time for some changes!!

Last Week's Goals:

~Earn 15 Activity Points
       I got 10 - that's close right? Must do better this week.
 ~Stay within my points
       Nope. :( Went 10 over.

Goals for the Week:
~Earn 15 Activity Points
~Walk the Color Me Rad 5K in under an hour

Recipes to Share:
I'm going to do this a little differently and share how I prep for my week's meals on Sundays.

For breakfast: 
~Using a scale and five Tupperware containers, measure 6 oz of Greek yogurt five times.
~Cut a container of strawberries. Add some to each container.
~Using a scale and five Ziploc bags, measure 1 oz of granola. Keep separate from yogurt so it does not become soggy.
**In morning, take out one tupperware container and one bag of granola. Mix and enjoy!
       I started this meal last week and am in love. It keeps me full, it is super tasty, and I find myself looking forward to having it. Yum yum!

For lunch:
~Follow Skinnytaste recipe for Egg Salad. Put into five Tupperware containers.
~Put five Deli Thins in five Ziploc bags.
~Using a scale and five Ziploc bags, measure 1 oz of Baked Lay's. Put in pantry with Deli Thins.
**The night before, put one carton of Egg Salad, one Deli Thin, and one bag of chips into the lunch bag. This way it is in the fridge and I just have to grab and go in the morning.

I know I am seriously letting my OCD show by telling you all about my prep work. It is a lot to do on Sunday but it is a huge time saver for the week. I am never sorry during the week that I did all that work on Sunday.

*fingers crossed for a good coming week*

His and Her GBU, 4/15/2013

It has been a few Mondays since we linked up with Kate and Kati for the GBU. We are happy to be back! Here's our weekend highlights -

Good:
(Amanda) We have found our new church home here in Western Branch. We both love this place, feel very welcomed, and have made this decision after praying long and hard. So excited to have a church home again!

Bad: 
I (Sean) ran my first half marathon on Saturday. Running 13.1 miles took its toll and I am still feeling the after effects. My thighs are still screaming in protest along with part of my left foot. I am pretty sore but it was well worth it so its not all bad. I have told myself several times this weekend that the pain is temporary but the results are forever!

Ugly:  
(Sean) Our back yard was getting overrun by tons of weeds. They were pretty dormant during the winter but as soon as it warmed up they blossomed and were trying to compete with our 5 wonderful rose bushes. I spent a couple of hours this afternoon clearing the weeds and although the garden bed is not perfect it is a lot better than before.

Source

How was your weekend? Link up with Kati and Kate to share your goings-on. :)

Happy Monday,

Her April "Currently"

I am so behind the ball on this one. Taking a week off of blogging really put me behind schedule. That's OK though - it's still April which means I can link up with Farley at Oh'Boy 4th Grade for her monthly Currently. Here goes...

Listening - It is a very peaceful time here in our household...two are sleeping and one is typing away on the computer. The washing machine is going, going, going - I am in awe sometimes of how much laundry two people can create!

Loving - My sister, brother-in-law, and baby niece spent Spring Break here with us. You can check out my post from Monday to see what we got up to. 

Thinking - We had a nice long winter here in the southeast corner of Virginia. Even I, who love winter, was ready for spring. This week, each day has been in the 80s and sunny. I am so glad Mother Nature let go of whatever hold she had on winter and let spring come in. Now it's time to start thinking about the gardens that need tending to.

Wanting - I wish I could blame spring and the warm weather for my students lack of motivation but they have been unmotivated for a long time. I feel so exhausted at the end of the day because I have to be "on" and at full speed just to keep them interested in what we are learning. If anyone has any ideas for how to keep middle schoolers motivated, I am all ears!! I need something new to help them want to learn.

Needing - I think I do the same thing for "needing" each month and that's because I feel like the only thing I really and honestly need is more hours in the day. Between the regular school day and the after school commitments (mandatory and lengthy) three days a week, I am already late coming home. I spend time with Sean and then try to relax with a good TV show but I am usually working on school work so it's not too relaxing. I would love to be able to knit a little each day and read more than 10 pages of whatever novel I am limping through, but there usually isn't time. *sigh* Where is Hermoine's Time Turner? Perhaps I could buy that off of J.K. Rowling and get more hours that way.

Advice - (I found the typo after making the picture. Dolly Parton's character is Truvy - not Truly...oopsies!) I absolutely love this quote. I can hear Dolly Parton saying the line in my head which makes me smile automatically because her character was so happy in that scene. I am a firm believer in the idea that a smile can change your disposition. Even if you are not feeling smile-y and happy, if you put a smile on your face you will add a smile to your heart. When I feel myself snapping at my students or husband or just being in a overall grouchy mood, I try to think of this quote, smile, and see if that doesn't turn me around. Most of the time - it does. :)

You can click on the photo below to join in this fun linky party.  

Happy April!

His: Living in america - April 10

Source

It has been a long cold winter in Virginia and we have finally gotten some warmer temperatures over the last few days. I can finally say spring weather is finally here even if it was a few weeks later than scheduled. Spring brings warmer weather, blossoming flowers, plenty of pollen, baseball (Yay!) and ice cream trucks. Every day around 5pm you will here the melodies of the ice cream truck summoning the children outside to buy their favourite frozen treat.

     We had ice cream trucks in Australia but it only came by our house once a week on Sunday afternoons. The whole family would get something so we would have the money ready by the door and I was ready to race outside and up the hill so the truck would stop before turning onto a side street and away from the house. You had the choice of vanilla, chocolate or swirl soft serve in a cup, single or double cone and then for a small charge you could add chopped peanuts and malt. I believe there were other options like sundaes but we always got the cones with nuts and malt and they were very tasty.

           I had been in America for almost 10 years before I got to sample the goods from an American ice cream truck. This was mostly due to us living on a busy street or apartment where there were no ice cream trucks or me not having cash on me at the time. One afternoon we were at Amanda's grandmother's house and we heard the melodies of the ice cream truck. This brought back childhood memories and I raced out of the house, dreaming about tasty soft serve cones with nuts and malt. The truck was on the other side of the street so I raced around to see what options I had. Once I saw the pictures my heart fell as they had no soft serve, just ice-cream sandwiches, popsicles and other prepackaged frozen treats. Amanda joined me a few moments later and I expressed my disappointment about the lack of soft serve on this truck. I figured Ice cream trucks here would sell soft serve just like they did in Australia but this was not the case. She explained to me that most ice cream trucks sell the prepackaged treats rather than soft serve and that pretty much ended my fascination with the American ice-cream truck.

       I have since learned that there are soft serve ice cream trucks in America but mostly in larger cities like New York. The other thing I have learned to look for is to see if they have pictures or murals of soft serve cones or just the prepackaged treats on the truck itself as it will give you an indication of what items they will sell. Perhaps one day I will run into a soft serve ice cream truck one day and I can once again relive my child hood memories and enjoy a soft serve treat from the side of the street.

    

Her Spring Break Weigh-Ins

Happy Tuesday! I always find Tuesdays after breaks to be harder than Mondays - harder to get up, harder to find energy, just plain harder. Anyone with me on that one?

Tuesday around here also means weigh-in day. I weighed in last week also but didn't blog about it so I will share both. Here goes...

Last week's weigh-in: +1.8 (EEK!!)
This week's weigh-in: -0.3 (EEP!!)

If you saw my post yesterday (click here if you missed it) we had a very busy but very fun Spring Break. We ate dinner out quite a bit so it was hard for me to stay on plan. I did watch what I was eating and made better choices while out at the restaurants. I also made a conscious decision to drink more water and less soda which I am proud of myself for. 

I will forgo the goals recap for last week since I know I did not accomplish either. This week's goals are:
~Track all 7 days
~Go to the gym 3 times this week

Recipe to Share:

Source

I love, love, love Fettuccine Alfredo but I know how disastrous that dish can be to anyone who is trying to lose weight. All the butter and cream can do in any diet. You can imagine my excitement when I found this recipe from Point-less Meals for a "skinny" Fettuccine Alfredo with Chicken. It was every bit as good as the original and I think this is going to be a new fave in our household. 


*fingers crossed for a good week*

Spring Break Recap

Sorry about the bloggy break we took! We intended to post during my Spring Break but things were (good) busier than expected and blogging fell by the wayside. Never fear though - we are back up and running this week. 

To recap Spring Break, I am going to use some of the photos we took. There were many so I will try to pare it down for you.

Easter Sunday: We spent the day with my parents, sister (Jenn), brother-in-law (Andy), and our beautiful and oh-so-adorable niece, Bennett.

 Bennett is wearing the scarf I knit for her - pink, purple, and white yarn with white fringe.

Monday: Jenn, Andy, my mom, and I took Bennett for her first trip to the beach.

My favorite is the top left photo because Jenn looks so incredibly happy.

Tuesday: The family (minus my dad who was under the weather) took family portraits at Picture People in the mall. Bennett is so cute and will hold a smile for a photographer so all the photos were amazing. Here are a few.

 Bennett's hand positions make this photo even better.

 The girls :)

Super Bennett! (This pose always makes her smile.)

Wednesday: 

Happy -- Shopping day! Jenn and I went to an outlet mall that is about an hour away for some sister-time and serious shopping. I got some great new outfits for spring that I will blog about later this week.

Sad -- My grandmother has been dealing with Alzheimer's for many years. After a bout of stomach flu that left her dehydrated she was placed in the hospital. My sister took Bennett to meet her great-grandmother and all of us were in tears. There are days when Nana does not know us, but she reached out and held Bennett's hand when Jenn introduced them. I believe in my heart she knew Bennett was her grand-grandbaby and was thrilled to meet her.

Thursday: I stayed on my side of the city so I could get some R&R --- but more importantly, get some laundry done.

The day, however, was not completely boring. Sean and I gave up Chinese food for Lent - a struggle for the two of us, let me tell you. Thursday night we made sure to get some chicken and broccoli (for me) and sesame chicken (for Sean) to break our Lenten fast. Yum yum!

Friday: Mom, Jenn, and I spent some more time at the hospital with my Nana. I started a new knitting project - a scarf for my sister. (I actually finished a few projects over Spring Break so I will have to blog about those soon.) Then the whole family got together and went to our favorite Mexican restaurant for dinner.

Saturday: Jenn and Bennett were heading back to SC (Andy had to leave Wednesday to return to work). I got to hold Bennett for one last nap and then they had to leave. Hopefully it won't be too long before I can fly down and spend some time with them.

Sunday: Sean and I went to church and ran a few errands. We came home where I did approximately 20 loads of laundry (it wasn't that many - but it sure felt like it) and I got ready to go back to work. *sigh* How many days until summer vacation?

Overall, this may have been my favorite Spring Break ever. I read a few books, finished a few knitting projects, watched a bunch of DVR shows...but more importantly, I got to spend a lot of time with my family.  I hope your Spring Break was as amazing as mine. 

Happy Spring everyone!!