Snow Bliss

Any one that knows me well, knows that I love snow.  Yes, I love it because it gives me unexpected
days at home with my kiddos, but I also love it because it's beautiful!  Any window you look out of right now allows you to catch a glimpse of a marvelous, winter wonderland; for this I am grateful! Just last week, I was beginning to think we wouldn't get a good snow this year.  And, I had almost gotten used to the fact that snow days were over for the year and I'd get a little extra family time this summer.  Don't get me wrong, summer is great, but there is something extra special about being snowed in.  It makes my heart warm.  I just hope all my kiddos at school are warm... literally!

As soon as I logged in this morning, I realized that it's been a while since I last posted.  That seems to be the trend during the school year and might have something to do with us not being at home much during the week.  So, I'll take a few lines and fill you in on what's going on with the Donovan Clan. I'll start with Ella and Grayson.  Ella is going full force with piano and I'm pretty sure she's found her niche.  She's much like her daddy in the arts respect.  She's musically inclined and I love that they have that "natural" ability.  I, on the other hand, have to have the music in front of me to play anything at all!  Grayson is busy playing basketball right now (his first time at it) and has decided he'd rather play it over tee-ball.  We shall see.  I will say that it's the first sport he has actually practiced on at home... on his own.  In addition, we're working on the sibling fights and I'm praying for lots of patience.  I think it's gotten better, but we still have miles to go before we're done!  We've had to really limit technology time and, at times, I'd like to totally throw all electronics in the trash can!  I don't ever remember being so "obsessed" with technology, but I guess that is because it didn't exist!  Does any one else have this problem?  Fifteen minutes is about the max time I will let either of them play for a day.  It's just so hard to know where to draw the line without hindering their creativity.

Now, on to the rest of us.  Kermie has been working non-stop on the house after he gets home from work and on the weekends.  Although it may not look like much, he's actually gotten a lot of the "behind the scenes" work done.  With our house being so old, he has run into several obstacles that I know are driving him crazy.  And, I feel pretty helpless not being able to help with the actual design and building since I have no idea what to do.  Consequently, I've just been trying to keep the house clean while all of the madness ensues.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed that there aren't many more obstacles and we can get our bathroom and laundry wrapped up soon!

On a side note, I recently went to a new doctor to see what their opinion was on battling my anxiety, depression, fatigue, etc.  I had several blood work tests done and was put on a vitamin (all of which have been thoroughly researched) regiment.  After just a few weeks, I was feeling quite a bit better.  My energy level itself nearly doubled!  I'm very thankful for the energy to exercise consistently at home and keep up with my kids!  There for a while I felt terrible and guilty that I felt so worthless.  A week ago, I went back for my follow up visit to see how my blood work results came back.  My thyroid was all good, but I had several food allergy concerns that I honestly wasn't surprised by. Based on a low, moderate, avoid (not safe) scale, I am to avoid all dairy and egg whites.  There were a few other common foods that fell within the moderate range, but the dairy was the kicker.  I love all things dairy!!!!! I'm going to try my hardest to LIMIT some of my dairy intake, but to completely avoid would not be living (At least not for this ice cream, cheese, and egg loving momma!)!  We shall see how this goes over the next few weeks!  On top of the food allergies, I am also trying a more natural form of antidepressant which means coming off my Cymbalta.  So far, kind of rough.  I may or may not make it through that transition!  If not, life will go on and I'll be blessed either way! :)

I'm thankful for this down time to blog!  Maybe I'll get another 4 or 5 days of it! :)