Chuck Update

Like me, nothing too much going on. Unlike me, turns out he's NOT allergic to the outdoors. Which is surprising because he hasn't been able to breathe easily for as long as we've been married. He visited the allergist on Monday and found out he was only allergic to oak trees. Psh. I mean, good for him. I was actually looking forward to our twice weekly dates at the shot clinic.

He lost someone very important to him in February and is still dealing with that. Death sucks.

Otherwise, his calling is okay, his after-school job is okay. Life is okay.

Me Update

Really, nothing too exciting is going on. Here are the highlights:

• Allergies: I haven't been able to breathe clearly without the aid of drugs since September. It's miserable. I'm going to blame my poor running on it, but I'm not sure that's medically sound. I treated it with pills first, and then when that wasn't working, flonase. Finally I decided to see an allergist. Turns out I'm pretty much allergic to the outdoors (trees, mainly). Great. I'm also super allergic to cats (WAHOO!) and dust mites. I was given a prescription-strength drug to try, but I don't love it. So I think I'm going to try the shots. I really really just want to breathe through my nostrils again.
• Camp: It's definitely so much easier to do this a second time. It almost feels too easy, you know? But I have all of my materials from last year and as we're going to the same place, not much has changed. There really are many, many more callings that would be worse for me. Teenage girls crack me up.*
• PTA: What a mess. We started the year with a four-person executive board; I'm the treasurer. Our president nearly quit in December and was convinced to stay on. However, she does nothing, not even responding to emails or texts. Awesome. Our vice president just had baby number five, so she's out. And the secretary was ghosted by the president early in the year and I have no contact info for her. So it's me. Just me. And our parents really don't do anything. I take money, deposit money, write checks, design fifth grade t-shirts, and try to update our taxes so that we're in compliance. It's a lot. But I'm not sure how to do more on my own, so pretty much we're going to do nothing. Lame.
• Hiking Goal: With Rhett playing hockey on Saturdays and more rain (shocker), we haven't gotten out yet in March. I'm hoping to change that with a hike Sunday. We're doing okay, and have camping plans for spring break, so I think we're on track. I'm totally making us custom patches when we're done so commemorate it.

But this really is our slow time of year. Finally Monday was a bit warmer. I ran without a vest and gloves; it was lovely. I'm sure summer will be here in April. Sigh.

*Also, so do teenage boys. Chuck and I went out a couple weeks ago and had our neighbor watch the kids for the night. When Chuck texted him earlier in the day to make sure he was still planning on coming over, he replied, "Yeah, I'll show up." Hahaha. We now say this all the time. Yeah, I'll show up.

Rhett Update

We're quickly closing in on his birthday. So exciting. He's still playing hockey and is enjoying it. Sure, it can be hard to get him to go to hockey, but once he's there he has a good time. I get that. At school he's doing fine. We picked his middle school and even chose his classes. I'm still in disbelief that in six months I'll have a middle schooler. So weird. He loves scouts and thinks he'll keep doing it even after the church isn't. He sleeps in the weirdest positions and would prefer to sleep in one of his polo shirts, if only I'd let him. He's had a couple of band concerts with school, so that's been good for him. He loves reading, but loves reading books below his level and repeatedly. We're trying to change that.





He's definitely in an easier stage right now, for which I'm grateful. I expect (or just am preparing for) that to change come sixth grade.

Ollie Update

Whenever I start writing about Ollie, I always want to start with, "This kid." Because, well, this kid. He's just so...Ollie.

I think the biggest Ollie news is that we finally found an extra-curricular activity he's interested in taking. He likes many things, but I think he was terrified of having to get used to yet another adult whose job it would be to tell him what to do. But after seeing him running around the house, treating every piece of furniture as if it was at a playground, it hit me: PARKOUR. And of course, in 2019 in suburban D.C. there is a class for this. There were many classes, actually. So we picked the one that best fit our schedule and he's been going for a couple of weeks. He LOVES it. They jump on the trampoline, do burpees, and practice cool tricks off foam blocks. It's hilarious.


He's my dabber. This kid, way more than Rhett, does stuff like this. Rhett would NEVER dab, but Ollie? Yep.


Playing with my phone because his brother's band concert was boring. Ha.


I won't lie. He can be hard. He doesn't want to do what he doesn't want to do. But man, the kid keeps us laughing.

Valentine's Day

This is not a holiday I care about. But any excuse for treats is good enough for me. I had one gingerbread house leftover from Christmas, knowing I'd save it for Valentine's Day. The candy is just too fun! I had such high hopes. I should have known better. Sigh.



These strawberry rice krispie treats, however, were delicious. I don't believe you can go wrong with rice krispies treats.