Lincoln had a friend over in Feb. (Yes, I am that far behind on posts. Actually it's worse that that because I never posted about Christmas.)

Speaking of Christmas, there is one thing that I want to remember. This year we arranged for Santa to come before we headed off to see Keith's family. Santa came the Friday we got out of school. We rushed home and made our birthday cake for Jesus (that's what we leave for Santa-part of my effort in keeping perspective) and a breakfast pizza for the next morning. On our way to my parents' house, which is about a 5 minute commute, Lincoln fell asleep. Keep in mind that it was only 6 pm. I thought he would just take a short nap, but he never woke up. (I'm pretty sure he didn't take a nap at school that day.) Poor mom had to put out the cake and reindeer food all by herself. Anyways, since Lincoln went to bed SO early, he woke up ready to go at 3:30 AM. We had spent the night at my parents' house, so that they could enjoy "Christmas morning." While I knew that they were anticipating an early wake up call, I was pretty sure that 3:30 would not be acceptable. Luckily, Lincoln didn't remember that Santa had come, AND there is a tv in the room we were sleeping in. I managed to keep him in the bedroom until 6.




Anyways, Lincoln had G over, and they made squid. You just cut up hot dogs and push pasta through them. I saw the idea in Family Fun Magazine. I think they suggested using spaghetti. I bought linguine because I thought it would be a little stronger.

NOTE: If you decide to do this, be prepared for flying pasta. It might even be good to do the first step outside if clean floors are important to you.





You put them in a pot of boiling water and cook them until the pasta is done.























Then you eat. Talk about having fun with your food! YUM!!

If I had to use one word to describe the way I have been feeling the past few months, it would be . . . discouraged.

The three year mark hit pretty hard. At this point, I find myself struggling with trusting God's plan. I sit and watch other young families thrive and grow and wonder if he has forgotten about us. I hate that it is just the two of us, and so I feel discouraged.

Lincoln has been a bit of a handful lately. While I love being a mom, I will tell you that doing this on my own isn't easy. It is so hard to come home from a long day at work and find out that he has been misbehaving at school. When he has a bad attitude or he is disobedient it is always me that must handle it. It is always me that must come up with consequences. It. is. always. me. While I know that it is perfectly normal for kids to go through difficult phases, part of me takes it personally. I can't help but doubt myself as a mom, and so I feel discouraged.

School has worn me out as well. This has been a year of transition. I knew going into it that this year would be a challenge. I don't regret changing grade levels, but it has been a lot of work. The other prek teacher I work with is phenomenal. She is one of those teachers who goes above and beyond every single day. I've struggled with feeling like a slacker this year. I try to remind myself that she is in a different place in life with all of her kids grown. When I come home at night, I can't do hours of work. I have a little boy who needs his mom's attention. My head knows this, but my heart is a different story.

The good news is that it is spring. Warm, sunny weather makes everything better! And there's also a big birthday party coming up. You'll have to wait and see what this year's theme is. I will tell you that I am going to be the paper mache queen when all is said and done! : )

I know. . . it's been forever since I last posted. I've been having some internet issues, and some health issues, and some emotional issues. I took care of issue #2 in Feb., and I took care of issue #1 over spring break. Issue #3 is still a work in progress. At this point, I'm so behind that I don't even know where to start. I guess I'll just begin with pictures.

We went to pick strawberries on Thursday. Yum! Yum!

We also managed to get a couple of bluebonnet pictures.