Butterflies Everywhere!

Blackberry pie and raspberry pi

We celebrated pi day by having pizza and blackberry pie for dinner. I snapped a picture of my blackberry pie along with my raspberry pi B model because they are both pis! Although I only have the pi 2 and apparently there is onboard wifi with the pi 3. I also (in my copious spare time) want to build a retro pi gaming console. I have NO free time now. I'm a manager of 10 faculty and have to do all their reviews and answer all their questions. It's like real work! I'll get to the retro pi though - that is the fun stuff!

Erik took me on a surprise date to see Bon Jovi! Even after 20 something years I knew all the words to his songs - the oldies, not the ones from the new album. He rocked it! 

Bon Jovi

 This week is spring break for the kids. I've almost lost my mind though. On day 3 I yelled at them to get off their lazy butts and clean the house #momfail. Yes - not my best mom moment. On Tuesday we went to the Franklin Park Conservatory. At first it was just a bunch of plants and flowers and I was worried my kids wouldn't care. When we went to the butterfly exhibit they loved it!! Butterflies were flying everywhere and each kid got to hold a butterfly.

kids in the tree

Matthew next to his favorite sculpture

my favorite butterfly

Sarah with a butterfly

Jenna's butterfly

Matthew actually does have a butterfly on his finger

My Mom and Dad have saved me the rest of this spring break. They are watching the kids Thur - Sat. I'm not sure why I was more stressed this week than normally. With the kids home, making dinner for We Are cherished at church (I do this every 3 weeks), and the piles of work I have it's been crazy.

In other news:

1. I've been reading a lot about the Nephilim lately. I became interested in the Nephilim after reading the Mortal Instruments a few years ago. Now I'm reading the Book of Enoch which is a book considered canon by the Ethiopian Christian church which I found interesting. It contains some good information.
2. I'm also reading A Court of Mist and Fury which is the second book in this series after a Court of Thorn and Roses by Sarah Maas. Jenna can NOT read these books. They are quick, mindless reads but not suitable for a 12 year old. Although Jenna read the entire mistborn trilogy so I'm not sure there's something she shouldn't read.
3. The Edge series by Ilona Andrews just came in from the library for me so that's another series I'll be starting soon. I finished the Clean Sweep series (there are 3 in that series) and let Jenna read them. We both really liked those books.
4. Jenna had several Barnes and Noble gift cards and spent all of her money on 5 books. We went on Monday to buy books. She has ALREADY read all of them!
5. Our Cooper book club is reading the Blade Itself. It is OK but I haven't gotten into it. I need to step up my game though. I can't have Joel outreading me.
6. Every day Erik and I play Castles of Burgundy. I have won 30 games and he has won 72 which is not a great percentage. I need to step up my game in Castles of Burgundy too!

Erik knows the answers to everything

It's amazing what 12 years will do! This same chair held Jenna and Nicholas when they were very little. One pic was taken March 2005 and the other pic was taken February of 2017. Now they don't even fit on the chair together ;)

Maddie and Sarah fit!

 Erik turned 42. That is the answer to everything. Of course who knows what the question is? But now Erik has all the answers. He wore the black belt at tae kwon do for his birthday. When we first started tae kwon do he could barely kick. Now his flexibility has improved so much. He can kick pretty high and is much better at stretching. It has really been good for him!

Erik as a black belt

 For Erik's birthday dinner he wanted chimichangas topped with fresh guacamole and chili con queso. Inside the chimichanga was beef, black beans, cheese, and cilantro lime rice. I also made honey wheat bread but since he ate so much chimichanga he didn't have room for the bread.

Birthday dinner

 Instead of a cake Erik opted for a french silk pie. This pie was delectable if I do say so myself. I made the pie (using pasteurized eggs) and homemade raspberry chocolate whip cream using the raspberry jam I can. Yum!!

Birthday dessert

 For Erik's birthday I got him the expansion to Settlers of Catan so we can play it 5 player (Matthew can play too).. Jenna got him bacon and made him a very cute card. Sarah got him granola and made him a robot out of shoeboxes, and Matthew got Daddy a light bulb (of course!).

google - world's best dad and inside is....

Erik!

robot gift

Erik's light bulb

My workout schedule is thus: Tuesday - heart and soul (45 minutes workout 15 minutes Bible study - seriously I love the women in this Bible study!! I feel like I can relate to them so well), Wednesday - spinning, Thursday - zumba toning and tae kwon do in the evening, Friday - body combat and zumba with Lindsay!, Saturday - yoga.

My FAVORITE day of the week is Friday because I love Lindsay's zumba class. I look forward to it all week. I leave there dripping in sweat and just love it! Well she is moving to California. This is awful. I might move with her. All my favorite zumba teachers are leaving. First Tera now Lindsay. Now what will I look forward to????

Lindsay and me after zumba

Sarah working on breaking a board

Playing Erik's new game of Settlers by the fire

 Jenna has been doing really well in the color guard for winterline. She is in the back middle in this picture. She really knows the routine and does a great job. She really dislikes the bumblebee-like uniforms though. Her winterline actually beat a high school winterline in the last competition. We were so impressed!!

Jenna winterline

 In other news:

1. We are going to give Theo 6 months. Currently Twinkles is afraid of him and she sprints  across the house in fear of him. I think she feels terrorized in her own home and we don't want her to feel like that. If it doesn't get better we might have to find a new home for Theo. I would be so sad since I love him so much. But we can't have Twinkles afraid all the time.
2. I am teaching Wednesday evenings this session. Actually having to go in to campus and get dressed and showered is kind of a lot to ask. I guess it's okay to have a real job once in awhile.
3. I've been on a Ilona Andrews reading rampage. There are 9 books in the Kate Daniels series and they are great urban fantasy. I've just plowed through them along with the 3 books in the Innkeeper series. I let Jenna read the first two books of the innkeeper series but no more than that! 
4. I also just finished reading A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah Maas. Another urban fantasy book.
5. Sarah has been playing project spark quite a bit. She has built several worlds and is a very good programmer. She recently showed me something she was working on. A test environment so she can test her characters and enemies. I know seasoned programmers who don't test enough! She's 9! I can't imagine what kind of programmer she will be!
6. Spring break is coming soon. The kids will go to Nana and Papas for several days and I will sleep in and read books. Win! Win!