Marching On

Wow! It's March! Where did January and February go? Why do I STILL have a blasted Christmas tree in my front room???

I just wanted to give a little explanation as to why I have written so rarely lately. One reason is that Claire and I have been sick and it has taken a while to get over it. Secondly, I have been working more often--every day. It has been a little stressful, but I'm managing. The main reason, however is that my husband is a grad student. Yes, I know, he's been a grad student for 6 years. But this semester has been the toughest yet. I would venture to say that it would be tough even if we didn't have two young children, but that just further complicates things.

As most everyone knows, Scott is working on his masters of divinity. This degree requires a big "comprehensive exam," or "comps." They only offer the comps course once a year, in the spring semester; so even though Scott won't graduate til December, he still has his comps this semester. As if that wasn't enough, he is also taking one of the hardest graduate Bible courses, History of Christianity, from one of the hardest professors (or the hardest) at ACU. Because he has to write three major papers (his comps is actually two papers written about two "cases" that he has to defend) this semester (all due within the month, I believe), he's been spending a lot more time in the library. Remember, we live 100 miles from Abilene and that library is in Abilene. He has been leaving on Monday afternoons to go the library, spends the night with our friends, then attends class Tuesday morning and spends the rest of the day in the library. He's been getting home on Tuesdays at around 11:00pm. Aside from the extra library work (which may not even be enough!), he has to spend a lot of his time at home actually writing, reading and researching. Plus, he has a full-time youth ministry job. Hopefully all this hard work will pay off!

Now, I'm not typing all of this to get sympathy! I just wanted to let everyone know what is going on in our world, in case you are wondering why I have been somewhat absent. I have been spending most of my days working, caring for my children, and by the time I have time to actually sit down at my computer, I am just too tired. I try to keep up with you all, but that's been hard, too. So, I apologize if my comments on your blogs are non-existent or if I just seem to not know what's been going on. I probably don't! I need sleep!

After saying all of that, let me give you a quick update on my kids:

Claire: She is growing so fast...growing more beautiful every day. She has her first little tooth barely poking through now. I think more are going to come very soon. She is so close to crawling. She is definitely "scooting" and even trying to pull up some. Her hair is getting longer, too, but she's still pretty bald. What hair she does have is quite blonde!

Will: A mess, as always! (I say that in the MOST loving way possible!) He is just doing really well. He's still thisclose to being fully potty-trained, but we just can't seem to get over that one little hump. He is growing, too; I can tell by how his clothes are fitting. I look at the two-year-old pictures we had done almost a year ago and I think, "wow, he looks so small!" This kid is so smart...almost too smart for his own good. I think that's why we have trouble with him sometimes. Everything is a negotiation. I mean, everything. It can be quite comical sometimes. I just love him to pieces!

Thanks for reading this novelette. Love you all and I'll try to catch up with you, too!