So April was a little crazy here for me at least. I ended up going to the ER four times and it was stressful. It turns out I had a hormone imbalance and that was causing me to feel like I had mono. I was exhausted and bone tired even after sleeping for 10 hours. I was dizzy and light headed, feeling like I was barely present in my own skin. Good news is I am slowly getting back to normal but it has been a slow crawl back. Everyone in the family was very supportive and pitched in to help out. I have a few more doctor visits next month and this should be all squared away.
We had a great Easter here at the house. I will see about getting the pictures from Leng (our resident shutter bug) and get them to Flickr so you all can take a look. We decorated eggs with the kids and they had a blast doing them. They had even more fun finding them after brunch on Easter Sunday. Our brunch was well received and it was great to see the grandparents (Grandad Don, Papa Micheal, and Grandma Graham) there.
The older kids Tre and Nani have been off for the whole month on spring break. They have been doing "school" with me for 30 mins a day, Monday through Friday. I went to Lakeshore and filled up a box with supplies (markers, dry erase books, games and art supplies) for school. I seat down with them and talked about how to set up their classroom. They gave great suggestions like a chart for stickers for when they finish assignments. I went to Target and put together a prize bucket for them to draw out at the end of each week. We have done some "field trips" to museums, parks and some lunches out. Overall I think it went well and still kept them plugged into their routine for school so when the start back up in May it will be less of a struggle to transition. Hopefully it will work.
I turned 40 this month and it was wonderful. I went to dinner with my dad to Lotus Thai along with the husbands and Monica. The food was delicious as always and I got a print of one of my dad's photos (I am one of his biggest fans of his photography) from a trip he recently went on and Monica got me a heritage DNA test from National Geographic. I am extremely excited about it - my family history is sketchy at best and frankly suspect what I have been told. This test and the database it's tied to traces your ancestry back to a continent of origin. I will post the results in the blog when I get them back. I also went to see the new Cirque Du Soleil troupe touring through the country.
Totem was incredible! Our seats were great - we were about 4 rows back from the stage itself. It was the usual dynamic and energetic show - incredible costumes and complex music. We ate a great dinner out at Bully's just before the show. It was the dads, moms and Monica. A big part of thrill was having an all adult out night. We had great conversations and it was great to really catch up with everyone. We hit the gift shop before the show and scored some great swag. A cool scarf with pockets , finger monarch butterflies for the kids, the CD & program plus some art prints as a gift for my dad and Micheal for baby-sitting the kids so we could attend the show in the first place.
Grandma Graham took the older kids to a matinee show of Totem the day before and they had a wonderful time. It was a great dry run to see if we could take the older kids to future shows of the Cirque. They were so excited to talk with us about the show and they were tickled pink that they saw the show before the adults. The morning after our show they talked and talked about the show with us and we pulled out the program so they could show us things and ask questions. So the next time we go we might be taking them as well.
Degen is really shaping up. They have begun the garage conversion in earnest. The sun porch is finished and just needs to be painted. They have almost completed the kitchen upgrades and the rest of the house is painted. They have done about 1/2 of the stairwell as well. We are meeting with the contractor and designer tomorrow to go over the flooring and a few more items left for the house. We are still looking at moving in to the house in June and we're checking out some solar panels for the new house and our current house - it looks promising. Apparently the technology has come a long way and is looking very affordable. I'll see if I can get Bill to take some pictures of the improvements and get them posted up for viewing.
We're still looking for a school for the kids. We are investigating the local schools near our new house. We're still in the early stages so I'll keep you posted. I think the biggest challenge is going to be overcoming the traditional attitudes of the area - we're going to be pioneers again with LGBT visibility. The question is going to be how bad it could get or how much resistance we're going to face. Wish us luck but if it is looking too grim we'll be looking at private school options .
The family is doing very well overall. We're all looking forward to the move and having more space to live and be. The idea of having a guest room is also intoxicating - we could have extended stays with friends and family (hint hint after the move come visit y'all).
Love and kisses to everyone out there.
