March craziness...and gratitude

We desert camped twice this month.  First, we discovered a new place for desert camping--Glamis Hot Springs.  The kids thought the actual tubs with hot spring water was cool.  They rode bikes and played Uber with the golf cart around camp.  We went off-roading with the Jeep near the Salton Sea, climbed rocks, and explored the tracks.   

Two weeks later we went back to the sand dunes.  

Addisyn went to 6th grade camp.  We are thankful it was scheduled before our big trip so she could go!  She requested some rainy weather clothes and got herself packed pretty independently--she was still nervous, but I'm sure all those GS weekends and summer camps had her well practiced.

Crazy hair day-- Marissa thought the cup Piper had last time was pretty cool so that's what we did for her this time.  

For Jacob's birthday he took the party to the BMX track--so fun!  All ages enjoyed it.  It was fun watching the kids get brave, and happy to see them able to recover and get back out there after a fall.

That night, Chris took Addisyn and Piper to the Gulls game for Girl Scout night.

Spring portraits at Fuerte-- Natalie captures their natural smiles very well.  She likes them cropped horizonal for effect, but she cropped some vertical for me so I could frame them.  Since we are preoccupied right now, they will sit in the cardboard shipping box for a while...for a year... (*edited P.S. shhh... don't tell Natalie but it actually took me a year and a half to rediscover them so I could take pictures of the picture for this blog and they still aren't hanging up.)

----- As if that wasn't enough for one month... those aren't actually the things that really defined March 2019 for me.  March was full of craziness... and gratitude.  Happy we can find the silver lining despite/because of unfortunate circumstances.

• Karen's breast imaging was "inconclusive"... hopefully nothing to worry about yet.
• Karen had a bit of a scare when the gyn Dr. found a tender spot in my belly during a routine exam... follow up turns out it was just a muscle knot in my abs, yay!
• Only Marissa got lice... nobody else (my itchy head was psychosomatic).
• We found a slab leak in the hot water line... but at least we still have water in the house, and can turn on hot water for short periods of time for showers, and it's not winter so cold water isn't too cold.
• The washing machine thumps like a helicopter... but it still works! Yay because I don't have time to shop for a new one yet, but mostly thankful to have it because of the lice.  
• Spoke to soon--the washer is done... went to my folks to finish the (non-lice) laundry, and my mom helped me go get a new one within a couple weeks.  
• Girl Scout cookie season was cold and rainy... But we finished strong and all 3 girls reached their stretch goals and the cash balanced at the end (that's a tough job keeping it all straight for 3 girls).  And, the unsigned check was returned signed (Addisyn had to write a letter to the woman so she learned how to handle a problem).  
• Planned and led the first ever GS Sunday for our Service Unit (despite telling myself not to take more stuff on this year!)... it was beautiful and I'm thankful for the girls who participated, and thankful for the volunteer who stepped up and made the workshop feel successful!
• The deadline for transitioning to home school is looming. We are nervous about the life adjustment in starting homeschool for the first time... thankful for the teachers who are supportive and helping us prepare.
• We are peeling wallpaper in the hallway--what a mess... Piper's room is done and we have incentive to finish it finally
• Piper broke a finger... but we see how dedicated she is to caring for it and her team, and coach enjoys her help on deck.  
• Sick kids... Karen had to cancel a couple sub jobs/work days, but thankful for my part-time position to be able to be flexible.
• Missed my return deadline for the shirts I bulk-ordered... I practiced acceptance and brainstormed ways to use them/cover my cost, but then they took the return anyway--nice!
• Huge oops! I left the stove on for an hour when I was gone and melted the lice comb I was trying to sterilize and smoked out the house... It could have been much worse--stinky but thankful nothing worse happened, thankful I was ready for a new pots & pans set for my bday this year anyway.
• My car driver side window is broken, again... but not completely, it's got sort of a hiccup but it never got stuck in down position in the rain.
• Oops, missed trash day... glad it wasn't full and we made sure it got out the next week.
• The shed has had a hole in the roof for 3 months... it still hasn't leaked, and we finally are scheduled to fix it.
• Oops, missed my traffic circle volunteer day... the world keep turning :-)
• I had to turn down the chance to play flute for funeral... I enjoy playing and cared about the person it was for, so bummer, but I'm learning how hard yet good it feels to say "no".
• We have drywall holes in our walls and have to be without water for a couple days... thankful we will be able to get everything patched up before we leave. 
• We had to hire a babysitter for the first time in like forever... enjoyed connecting with Annie, and had bonding time with my mom, and got to see my hubby present for a client event and was so full of pride and fell even more in love with him!! <3

Some of these problems are minutiae, some hefty sized, but thankful none are major illnesses or deaths in the immediate family.  Other general stress includes Stacy helping Grandma Edgar who is at the hospital, planning for our big trip is barely happening and we are only 6 weeks out, and our house is about to get torn up in repair work and messy dust and I don't have boxes...