Lindsay's Random Thoughts: March, here we come.

We're already to March and I've already decided to be better about updating. Maybe that should have been one of my new years resolutions.....not sure how many I'll push out this year, but we'll try for more than one.

Here we are, beginning of March and I made it through year-end, the craziness of January and even the craziness of February. So, let's start with the holidays and year-end -- I'd love the say the holidays were great for our family but the overstimulation and travel took it's toll on me and I cracked while we were in Michigan and decided to leave family Christmas to spend time in our hotel room working on my laptop and getting ahead for year-end. And I will also say, if you don't come visit and don't know about my kids and what they like and what their interests are, you should probably stay in your lane and not tell me that my kids need gobs of toys and trinkets because it's Christmas time.

Anyway, we made it to January and Declan and Connor both had an extra week off of school due to a horrible snow storm that dropped about 9 inches of snow on us. It made for a great time trying to work from home, do school from home and stay in due to the extremely cold temps. By the end of the first week of January, we were all ready to be back in our "normal." Declan started his Intro to Hockey class which was the last class required for him to join a hockey team in August. Connor started swimming lessons again and was so excited to get back into the pool. And since that time, we've spent our weekends at the hockey rink and swimming pool among other activities.

At the end of January, I turned 42. The kids were awesome making it a great day for me and they celebrated me to make me feel like I was the best person in the world. Connor made me a gooey butter cake, brownies and a Toll House pie, Declan made me a card and they both made me a Hockey Mom tote bag for hockey season. I also got a Hockey Mom sweatshirt and apron with my initals on it. I got some new weights so I can enhance my at home workouts from my Mom and Michael and D took me out to nice dinner at YaYa's European Bistro for babba ganoush and an amazing pasta dish.

We had a trivia night at Declan's school on the 30th and while we weren't the smartest team, we had a bunch of fun as a family and learned a few trivia tidbits.

In February, we were faced with two more snow storms and more working from home and school from home over two separate weeks. To say I was/am looking forward to spring and summer is an understatement. Honestly, I am on pins and needles waiting for warmer, nicer weather! On President's Day both boys were off of school for the holiday and D and I both took the day off to do something fun with them. We took our 2nd annual President's Day visit to the St. Louis Science Center per the boys' request. They had so much fun throughout the museum and we ended our trip with an icee and lunch at McDonald's, which is always a special treat for them.

We also went to a St. Louis Blues-Chicago Blackhawks game at Enterprise Center and Lindenwood Lions-Alaska Fairbanks Nanoks game at the Centene Center. The Blues were victorious against the Blackhawks in a shoot out and most of us were excited (Declan is our lone Blackhawks fan) and Alaska Fairbanks won in OT. The boys were excited for Alaska Fairbanks to win since once of their players gave them a hockey puck.

We had STEAM night at Declan's school this past Thursday evening and we enjoyed our time doing activities and learning about science, technology, engineering, art and math. It's really neat seeing Declan in his school environment and around friends. His friends absolutely love him and come up and embrace him like they haven't seen him in forever, even if it's only been a few hours. He shrugs most of it off but I know he's extremely likeable and probably a good friend to everyone he meets.

This weekend, Declan finished his last Intro to Hockey class and we have a week off before starting up some extra lessons to make sure he's ready for joining a team in August. Connor has one more week of Daddy and me swimming lessons before he officially moves up to a class on his own the following week. And, Connor finished his soccer lessons at preschool this week. He's got a few weeks off from that before starting back up. They also love their monthly woodworking classes at Home Depot with Nana and Papa and look forward to building "something" each month. All activities that my boys absolutely love and I enjoy the fact that they both want to stay active, be athletic and learn valuable life skills.

Also this weekend, D and I have been hit with the plague that has hit nearly everyone recently. I spent most of yesterday in bed, achy and feverish. Thankfully my mom and Michael had the boys and allowed for me to get some rest. I'm starting to feel a bit better today but D has felt absolutely horrible today. Thankfully, my mom and Michael again stepped in to help us out. Michael was Connor's swimming buddy today and the boys decided to go spend some extra time at Nana and Papa's this afternoon to allow us to rest and hopefully feel better sooner rather than later.

So that brings us up to this week -- the first week of March and hopefully the first signs of spring, getting outside to enjoy some weather and hopefully feeling back to normal! I'm sure ready for it all!

As usual, here is a photo dump of our last few months: