i've really fallen off the blogging wagon. here's hoping this is the beginning of my recovery.

let's see if i can sum up february....

lots of basketball practices and then some games, Girl Scout cookie sales, cub scout meetings, church and homeschooling, a low-key valentine's day, Samuel's birthday (11!!!), Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent, running and walking and getting back into shape....

and a growing baby girl. Hazel continues to delight.

yesterday marked the beginning of my marathon training. my friend Karen and i are going to, Lord willing.  train for and run the Chosen: Marathon for Adoption in New Braunfels in October. i ran 6 miles yesterday.

i don't know if i have mentioned this on my blog before, but i was diagnosed with colitis when i was 7. it isn't something you are every really cured of, that is unless you get your colon removed, and i've had flare ups of it throughout my life. i've been having trouble with it since Hazel was born, and finally went into the doctor this morning. he put me on some medicine, but recommended i see a GI. i really don't want to have a colonoscopy right now since i don't have a breast pump and Hazel won't take a bottle anyways. i feel fine other than the bleeding, so i'm hoping that the anti inflammatory meds will fix things. from what i read, it's fairly common for colitis to act up during pregnancy/childbirth.

i've been trying to find some ways we can observe Lent as a family. here is one thing we're doing. it's like a Jesse Tree. Margaret and i drew and laminated the ornaments.



 another idea i saw that we are going to try to incorporate is the forgiveness or confession box. you write sins you confess and repent of and put them in the box. no one sees them. at the end of Lent, the box is burned, as a visual representation of how the Lord removes our sins from us.

the last couple of months we've been toying with the idea of selling our house. we really were on the verge of putting it on the market, but have kinda backed off the idea. there is going to be a whole big bunch of development happening down the street from us over the next year, an HEB, the Mueller Town Center, a hotel, the AISD performing art center, and other things, so it's probably better for us financially if we hang onto our house a little while longer. in the meantime, we're looking into some more home improvements that would make life a little pleasanter while we're here.

i planted my spring garden over the weekend. i'm so excited about it! every year we've gardened, our garden has done better than the last, so i have pretty high expectations of this one.

Brian and Hazel and i watched the Help last night. can't believe it has taken us that long to get around to watching it. we just seem to never have time for moving watching, and when we do, we're too tired.

well, i'm off to crack the whip.