Spring Break 2012

Saturday, March 17, 2012

A new type of Spring Break for me

In all my years of high school, college and teaching I have NEVER been so ready for Spring Break as I was this year. It has been a very hard and trying school year for me thus far and I was more than ready for my vacation days. In fact the Wednesday, Thursday and Friday leading up to Spring Break were by far my worst three days of teaching ever and they only got worse as time progressed closer to Friday afternoon. But nevertheless, Spring Break had arrived and I was ready and happy for my 9 days off.

Looking back on my previous 8 days off I have not done alot AT ALL. This is SO NOT MY KIND OF Spring Break. I usually like to do things with friends and family and take some sort of trip during a long break such as this but not this year. This break began with "Chocolate and Sunshine" as my sister Allison would say, as it was Chris and mine 6 year anniversary but it has ended rather boring and uneventful.

Friday, March 9

The weather in Houston had been very nasty and rainy and this caused Chris's baseball tournament to be cancelled in Baytown but he had to stay late for practice and other classroom necessities so he did not get home until about 7pm. We usually reserve Fridays as a night to have our "family time", go out to eat and spend time together. Not this Friday! Chris got home so late and was so tired we stayed in. In fact, I was so tired this night I went to bed before 9pm.

Saturday, March 10

It was still rainy and overall gross in Houston so thanks to Chris' baseball tournament getting completely cancelled, we were able to spend quality family time together at The Woodland's Waterway and Mall. We took Natalie to the Center Food Court Carousel and some of her other favorite stores. We went into Chris' favorite store Teavana to scope out his Anniversary gift. We also ate a fabulous Food Court (Seriously, it was pretty good!)lunch together before heading home to put Natalie down for her nap. The rest of the day was spent at home relaxing and having fun with each other.

Sunday, March 11

IT IS STILL RAINING! This day was Mine and Chris' 6 year Anniversary!! We began the day at church and then spent the rest of the afternoon together. We ate at The Cheesecake Factory, went to the mall to get each other's gifts and then went home to eat some of our Anniversary Cookie Cake. It was a wonderful Anniversary and I will never forget it. It was an Anniversary for the record books.

Monday, March 12

The weather is finally beginning to look up. It is sunny and 80 degrees outside. However, the Aldine baseball field is still very muddy and nasty so Chris' game for today had to be rescheduled for Wednesday. We spent the day at home since Chris had to study for his PPR test this coming Sunday, March 18. This is the final step in to being completely and fully Texas certified!!! This is the test that ALL teachers must take that focuses on how to teach and not your specific content field. It is somewhat difficult but very hard to study for. In fact, when I was preparing to take this test, I just took multiple practice tests since there really wasn't alot of material to study with. Chris is an excellent test taker so I know he will do well but he needed to study and prepare so we stayed at home all day and helped him get ready for this BIG test!

Tuesday, March 13

Chris had a double-header baseball game in South Houston all day so it was a "Mommy and Natalie's DAY OF FUN"! We began by running some errands and then going to Babies R Us and Target to start my baby registry for Baby Luke. Natalie was very helpful at both of these stores and she would tell me how many of each item to add. She would also tell me things like "Baby Luke needs diapers" and "I don't like that Mommy". It was quite humorous! She did just fine in Babies R Us but the time we got over to Target (which was only 30 minutes or so) she was drifting fast. I noticed this and looked at my watch and it was only 11:15am. She also began to sneeze a whole bunch. Most of the drainage she was sneezing was clear but I wrapped it up at Target really quickly and got her home. I took her temperature and she had a 99.3 temp but was sneezing alot. I went ahead a gave her some Benedryl and tried to get her to eat but she didn't want any of that. The rest of the day she was fussy and needy and I knew she was coming down with something.

Wednesday, March 14

Chris had a game this afternoon but we decided to go to one of our favorite eateries "Five Guys Burger and Fries" with Jackie. This was great, as always, but I could tell both Chris and Natalie were not feeling it. They both just looked "sick"! We got home and Natalie had a fever of 102.3 and Chris had a fever of just under 100. Unfortunately Chris HAD TO GO TO HIS GAME which then led to his full sickness for the rest of the week. Chris got home that night at 7pm and was very weak and tired.

Thursday, March 15

WANTS THE MOST is her daddy who is also sick and cannot hold and take care of her like usual. This put alot of stress not only on him but me as well. Chris was at his worst and could barely walk around due to his lack of strength. We were just a VERY sickly house. Besides my jaunt to the salon, I stayed at home and watched my two sickly family members.

Friday, March 16
Today Chris and Natalie seemed to both be doing better but were not 100% just yet. Neither of them had a fever but were both very "puny". They seemed to be feeling better and Chris thought getting out MIGHT help! We decided to try and go to lunch and maybe this would help them. Natalie seemed to be fine during the lunch but Chris was fading fast. He came home and still had a low grade fever of 100 degrees and was very weak. In fact, he was so weak he could not even finish his lunch or dinner (He is REALLY SICK!). Natalie did not have a fever but was still sneezing and the Benedryl we had been giving her was not helping her so I went to Walgreen's to get her and Daddy some medicine. About $65 later, I came home with just about 1 of EVERYTHING! I put them both to bed and hoped for the best!

Saturday, March 17
ST. PATRICK'S DAY

Today Chris and Natalie are both better but yet again not 100%. Natalie has not had a fever but is still sneezing a little. We tried the new Children's Allergy Medicine and that has seemed to help her. I spent the morning with her in my arms and both of us watching Veggie Tales. Natalie still does not have a fever and is beginning to feel like herself again! We went outside and played with bubbles and played with the dogs. She was having a great time. She finally got her appetite back and ate one of her favorite meals, Ravioli, for dinner. After dinner was the ABSOLUTE best for me because we went upstairs and watched Beethoven's 2nd together. This was the 1st time she has sat in my lap the entire length of a movie and watched it faithfully. She snuggle up next to me and would laugh and say wonderful things about Beethoven and the puppies. It was wonderful and TOTALLY worth a week of doing NOTHING to get this in the end! It made me tear up a bit!

Although this is NOT AT ALL how I would have pictured or liked my Spring Break to go, I did in fact get A LOT of Natalie time and snuggle time with my baby girl. Soon, I will not be able to give her this undivided attention since a new baby will be in the house. Of course, I would have liked to have been able to "go out and do things" this break but I think in the long run, this was better for my family. Poor Chris with his long hours and non-stop schedule has been so tired and I am sure he needed to just sit/ lay and do NOTHING for 4-5 days. I know this will have done him good in the long run.

Monday starts work again for both Chris and I and neither of us are looking forward to it. Chris will be in full-swing district baseball games and long practices. The STAAR test (Texas Academic Standardized Test) is coming up and it seems to be at the forefront of each of our schools minds right now. With that being said, Chris and I both will be at the beginning of "Testing Season" and will have alot on each of our plates. However, this coming weekend I plan on meeting up with my sister and spending some quality time with her and Natalie before Baby Luke gets here (Lord willing of course... you never know what will happen at the Davis House between now and then!). I know all of us will need that and I am looking forward to that family time with her and Natalie. I am going to consider that part of my Spring Break.

In the long run, this type of break/ vacation was best for my family and I think it was still a good break... just not MY KIND OF BREAK! This week is one of the many reasons, I talked Chris into teaching and I just cant help but think about the many years to come with us and our children on vacations during this week and spending that quality family time together "out and about".

Here's to Next Year's Spring Break. We will be a family of FOUR! I cannot wait to see what that Spring Break entails! NO MATTER WHAT...

GOD IS GOOD... ALL THE TIME!