our spring break

We had such a jam-packed and fun spring break! I took the kids to Georgia for most of the week to stay with my parents. It was our first road trip in my new van and it was LIFE CHANGING. All three kids love sitting in the middle row together and we had so much space in the back! It was great!

We started off our week by visiting the great grandparents! We went to see my Grandaddy on Monday morning in Tyrone. The boys love going to Grandaddy's house because he has so many fun things in the basement to explore & play with. He also has a great driveway for scooter races! Grandaddy has kept a bunch of toys from my dad's childhood and it is all in pristine condition. I played with them when I was younger & now all the great-grands play with them! I love it so much.

This Hot Wheels set is at least 50 years old & they all love it!

We love our visits with Grandaddy! We ate pizza together & then played at a park before we headed back to Marietta. That night we saw Papa & Carol.

Cheney was obsessed with their dog, Benjie, and they all loved trying on Papa's hats. He has always had so many good hats!

 

We spent lots of time exploring parks near my old house. Grayson perfected his monkey bar skills over spring break and is obsessed! It was chilly a lot of the week but we were thankful for sunshine!

 

On Wednesday we spent the day at Zoo Atlanta. I think zoo trips are the kids favorite! We go to ours all the time.

It was a great day to go. It wasn't as crowded as usual, the weather was great, & the animals were all so active! I think the gorillas were our favorite. They reminded me of the boys...wrestling and throwing each other down!

 

We spent our last day relaxing (we were all worn out from being on the go all week!) & dyeing eggs. That seems to be a task we always do with Nana.

We also decided it was a great time for Grayson to get his first case of strep!

He felt fine luckily. ha! I also had an ear infection. What in the world?!

 

We came back to Tennessee on Friday afternoon just in time to have to some Easter fun!

We had a little (okay, maybe we had 200+ eggs) egg hunt in our front yard with some neighbor friends on Saturday afternoon. It was fast & furious! Cheney found about 5 & was content. The rest of the crew had overflowing baskets!

Griffy (3.5)

Cheney (19m)

Grayson (5.5)

We had a wonderful low-key Easter with our family! We woke up & went to church. I have been helping lead preschool worship on Sundays and it has been such a blessing. I love watching those babies-kindergarteners praise the Lord! We asked the bunny to come to our house while we were at church...because Sunday mornings are crazy enough already! We came home, dug through Easter baskets, lunched, played outside, & just had fun together! My favorite kind of Sunday. Love my people so much!



Menu Monday & a Cheney update

I'm back with a menu! We have a shorter week because the kids & I are heading to Georgia on Saturday for spring break!

Monday: Chicken Tostadas

Tuesday: Honey Lime Enchiladas

 

Wednesday: Sweet & Sour chicken & fried rice

 

Thursday: Grilled chicken, roasted red potatoes, & honey glazed carrots

Friday: Pancakes & bacon -- this is my favorite pancake mix I have found! (Besides TJ's pumpkin mix!) These pancakes are so fluffy! It is definitely one of my favorite Aldi staples!

We had our Vanderbilt appointment for Cheney last Tuesday.  We really liked the doctor that we saw and were with her for about an hour. We discussed the 5 weeks of sickness and all the various things that have been going on with our girl. I was afraid we would be brushed off since she had been healthy for a couple weeks, but we weren't! We are having to track her temperature/symptoms daily & go back in a month. They also did another blood draw:( So far, nothing has shown up in her labs.

 

I know that it really is a good thing, but I'm still puzzled. I am praying she will be 100% back to her spunky self soon & that this was all just a string of bad luck! Cheney is such a tough girl. She was so brave at her appointment!

 



Menu Monday

Menu Monday went on a short hiatus between life & sickness. But, have no fear, it is back! This weather has been amazing the last few days & I am excited about grilling out more. Makes planning meals easier! Here's what the Mays are eating this week:

 

 

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Monday: Baked Chicken Parmesan, garlic mashed potatoes, & green beans

 

Tuesday: Grilled chicken, sautéed squash, & baked sweet potatoes (I usually just marinate the chicken in olive oil, lemon juice, salt, pepper, & rosemary. What's your favorite marinade?)

 

Wednesday: Flank Steak Street Tacos -- I am excited to try these! Someone shared the recipe on Instagram recently and they sound so good! I will post it next week if we like it!

 

Thursday: Crockpot BBQ Beer Chicken sandwiches

 

Friday: Cheeseburgers (we use the Fuddruckers copycat seasoning recipe & it is so tasty!) & sweet potato tots (Thanks Aldi!)

 

Saturday: Mexican Pizzas

just because it needs to be said

The other night I happened to be looking at my blog and I noticed a comment on a post that I had not yet read. It was an ugly comment. This has happened a few times before, but this one pulled at my mama heart strings. I hate that I even feel the need to talk about it, but this is my space & I am going to.

 

I started this blog 7 years ago as a newlywed in a new city.  We were not close to any of our family or friends & this is how I shared our life with them. Along the way I found a little niche of other mamas who blogged and it became a community for me. Almost like a sisterhood.  We have shared joys, trials, and heartbreak with one another. It's an amazing little community & we rally around one another even though many of us have never met in person.  Ben laughs when so many of our Christmas cards come from people he has never even seen. But I know them! I consider so many of my "friends who live in the internet" to be real, close friends.

 

But, let me make one thing clear: I blog for myself as a way to keep up with our life & for our families and friends to keep up with us.  I blog about real life: the good, the bad, & sometimes even the ugly. If you have a problem with me, I am more than happy to have a respectful adult conversation.  However, hateful comments --especially aimed at our children -- will not be tolerated. This is not a place to tear down my family & those comments will not be published. End of story.

 

I hate that this is even a post, but I just couldn't let it go unnoticed. Thank you to those who have always been kind & encouraging...if I could give each of you a fist bump I would! I'll end with a picture, just because they are cute!



an update

The past week and a half have been so hard to process because everything has happened so fast. My mom had her surgery last Monday to remove the spot on her lung. She was expecting to be in the hospital for 3-4 days, but her recovery went so well that she was able to go home the next afternoon! She is doing great; still sore, still resting, but doing great. We had to wait until Thursday to get the results back from pathology. That seemed like the longest part of it. Thursday afternoon I got the best call ever...her doctor had been able to remove ALL the cancer & it had not spread! No chemo, no radiation...she is all done and cancer free! I can't even tell you how thankful I am! I hated that I couldn't be there during the week since Cheney was so sick, but I did make a quick trip home over the weekend. I had to see my mom with my own eyes and give her a hug!

 

While my mom was prepping for surgery, I was at the pediatrician's office again with our girl. She had a 102-104 fever all last weekend & was so miserable. We finally figured out that she had a yucky UTI and tonsillitis. No wonder she was so miserable! We switched her meds and by the end of the week she was feeling better.

 

That is, until Monday. When she started throwing up. SO, basically we were back at square one. Sick again. Over the last 5 weeks Cheney has had 3 fever viruses (we think they are viral) & 3 stomach bugs. She hasn't had one whole week where she has stayed healthy & she really has not been around many kids other than the boys.  My gut has been telling me that something is off & I was so relieved when our pediatrician called yesterday and referred us to Vanderbilt. We will see a specialist in 2 weeks to figure out why Cheney is getting sick so often & make sure it is nothing serious.  Maybe it is just a string of bad luck, but I will be happy to have another set of skilled eyes look at her blood work!

So, that's where we are! Hopefully we can keep this baby healthy & get some answers soon. Thanks for all of your prayers & encouragement! I've got to give this girl lots of credit. She has been so sick but she still has the sweetest little personality! Cheney is the toughest girl I know. We love this sweet baby of ours!

when life is hard

I left off last week saying that we had pretty much kept Cheney away from all humans for well over a week in hopes that her immune system could recover. Well, on Thursday she got a high fever again at school. We went to the pediatrician on Thursday afternoon and our doctor ordered some blood work to be done so we could figure out why she was getting sick so often. That was brutal. Two sweet nurses tried at his office (well after closing time) & couldn't find a good vein. We went to the hospital and I stayed with our feverish & pitiful girl for almost 3 hours there. After 3 more attempts, they finally got what they needed. Cheney was so brave but it was not easy on my mama heart. It was awful. We have some answers but will get more tomorrow. She has had a 102-104 fever all weekend. I'm just so ready for our baby girl to feel good again.

 

That's not even the bulk of it. Last Wednesday we also found out that my mom has cancer. I hate even writing that out. I hate cancer. She's been trying to get answers as to why she is short of breath a lot & they found out that a spot on her lung is cancer. It's small (thank God) and a very slow growing type of cancer.  We are praying, praying, praying that it has not spread to her lymph nodes. She has surgery tomorrow to remove the spot & we will find out more after that.

 

 

This week has been hard.  Hard because it breaks my heart to see my little girl so sick & hard because the unknown is downright scary. I'm a planner. I don't like surprises. I want to know answers to something immediately.

 

This week has been an emotional rollercoaster. I have quite literally felt ALL THE FEELS. I have been mad, sad, overwhelmed, and I have been thankful. Thankful that my mom has great doctors. Thankful that they have a plan of action. Thankful that even though cancer is big (and ugly. and horrible) GOD IS BIGGER.

 

This is the story I read over and over on Thursday morning.  Daniel 3...the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.  They chose to be faithful no matter what the consequences were.  I know how I want this story to end. But, if it doesn't go my way, He is still good.

 

He is still good. 

Menu Monday

Well, I think Cheney's plague has finally passed. She has been quarantined all weekend so that she wouldn't catch anything else! I feel like my brain isn't working after the doozy of last week so our menu is super simple. Speaking of brain not working, I drove all the to Aldi with the boys yesterday with an expired debit card. Big fat oops. Ben had to come to my rescue. Adulting is hard, y'all.

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Monday: Oven fried chicken, baked sweet potatoes, & broccoli

 

Tuesday: BBQ Chicken pizzas (these are our favorite!) Using tortillas as crust is the best cheat way to get thin crust at home!

 

Wednesday: Orange chicken, fried rice (I will post my recipe below. It is super easy!), & steamed broccoli

 

Thursday: Chicken cutlets with brown gravy, mashed potatoes, & peas

 

Friday: Tacos

 

Saturday: out!

 

 

My at-home fried rice recipe:

1 boil-in-a-bag white rice

1 cup frozen mixed veggies

1 tbs sesame oil

soy sauce

2 eggs, scrambled

 

Prepare the rice as usual & set aside. Heat up the sesame oil in a skillet and sauté the veggies for a couple of minutes. Add in rice. Add a few shakes of soy sauce. I don't measure, I think it all depends on how you like it. Just taste & add! Make a well in the rice and add the scrambled eggs. Stir around quickly until well mixed. That's it!