February 18

Oh!  What a glorious week of school break!!

The kids and I had the whole week off.  Tony had Tuesday off and took a vacation day on Friday!

Monday, I finished all my lesson plans for the rest of the year.  I could weep with excitement.  But, that was just the beginning of this amazing week...

I got to spend the entire week with my awesome kiddos.  We did boring stuff like buying groceries and having doctors' appointments.  We did fun stuff like watching the Olympics and going to the movies.  The best part was that we got the opportunity to just be.  Chloe and I went for a walk.  

We all climbed the stairs at the administration building.  

Coralynn had her first piano lesson!!

Thursday, I went back for my next medical test to hopefully be all better very soon.  The doctor is sure all is well, but he's going to retest just to be sure.  I'll never be great at handling the "I'm sure it's nothing, but" tests, but it certainly is better than just not being ok!!  The better part of Thursday was that Tony and I ran away for the night.  I found an amazing deal on our favorite nostalgic hotel in Panama, and we got to celebrate our 24th Valentine's Day together.

I love this man so much that I (yes, I) went to the movies.  And I loved the movie- Darkest Hour- so much that we took the kids back last night.  No, it's not a "kid" movie and Coralynn was completely lost, but the other 3 kids got enough from it that we had some excellent dinner conversation following the movie.

Friday morning, Tony and I went to my favorite mall and there was the beautiful spring-filled umbrella and flower display.  I love pretty.  Like I really, really love pretty.  The umbrellas will be my favorite picture for a very long time to come.

Saturday morning, we got up early so we could introduce Chicheme to the ocean.  We brought Cosita and all the family and off we went.  It was a bug-bite filled adventure, but I think Cheme enjoyed his time.

(You'll want to watch the video just to catch Chloe's shadow comment)

As you can see, Cheme did pretty well with the water.  

Yes, he gets to be off leash, and Cosita does not.  

This are for three main reasons. 

1.) We can still out run Chicheme while Cosita is "cheetah fast" according to Tony.

2.)  Chicheme isn't terrified of other dogs and mostly acts appropriately with them.

3. )  When Cosita runs up to people, she is terrifying looking. Cheme still gets a "cute puppy" reaction from strangers. 

When we got home, we got to give the fur babies a bath in their swimming pool.  They both hated the experience, but now they are fluffy and good smelling!

But, the absolute best part of the entire week was!!!...

Tony booked my 40th-birthday trip to Greece and Italy!   

For 12 amazing days, we'll be enjoying the beauty of the Mediterranean.  

I could not be any more thrilled!

The awesomeness of this week was unparalleled in 2018, but I'm so hopeful that there are more amazing weeks to come!  Tomorrow, our exchange student from Louisiana comes to spend the next 2 weeks!  More adventures will be had!

To two amazing weeks in a row bringing a third great week,

L