Flamingos and Butterflies: Happy Easter!

I am not sure where to begin...so much has happened since my last post.

I have had much of this drafted forever now...I mean LIKE forever! And here it is Easter, and after visiting with my family on this beautiful day, I am finally able to take a few minutes to publish this.

So I will start with Happy Easter!

But goodness...what could I possibly share next...?

Hmm....how about

Parent Teacher conferences....

Spring Break...

The last mad dash of practice before for our Benchmark test...

one of my baby boys turned 19,

and last but certainly NOT least...four arduous days of testing!

Hmmmm.....

Guess I will start at the beginning, and well, you know me by now I am sure...most of this catching up will be done in pictures.

We had really great conferences this semester. I have to say that these were my easiest yet.

One of my most favorite things every year during conferences is when my kiddos come back to see me. These cuties come back every time, and Mrs. Whitt and I sure do love them!

After conferences, we were headed into spring break!

We actually had a bit of beautiful weather during our break! I managed to make it to Petit Jean with Josh and Joshua for a little hike!

While we were enjoying our hike, I managed to run into some of my kiddos! I was so excited to see these sweet girls! Such a small world!

We even managed a to drum up a craw-fish boil for the boys during our break. Derrick had been dying for this for a long while now!

After our lovely break, we had one week left before testing. Yuck!

We worked our rear ends off getting ready, and I am sure you know as well as the kiddos just how that was no fun!

Of course we had to make sure to find some fun somewhere! We squeaked out a few fun days in the sun...

Every spring the field just past our playground turns into a blanket of flowers, and the kiddos love playing in them.

I am sure that by now, most of you know my weakness for hibachi...

Justin and I managed to sneak away for a quick lunch, just the two of us, and he managed to snap this cool pic...

Now, right next to the hibachi restaurant is my second favorite book store in the world...Hastings.

This place is the bomb because they sell not only new books but used books, too! Check out all those "used" tags! So many to choose from...

Here are some of the fun new titles I walked away with! I can't wait to share some with you soon...be on the look out.

Katie and I walked our first 5K of the season. It was a fun stroll around UCA. Sure brought back memories!

After our 5K, we stopped by the local library for a "Friends of the Library" sale! Holy Moly! Books...I am talking amazing hard back, library quality books, as far as the eye could see for $.50 a lb. Yes....fifty cents a pound! This little lady walked out with 36 pounds of picture books! Katie Byrd finally told me she was cutting me off, and we had to leave. LOL....

During our week of testing, Justin turned 19. I cannot even express to you just how much want time to slow down. In less than a month from today, I will be watching my boy graduate, and then putting him on a plane to San Diego for basic training in the Marine Corps. Be ready for some tears that week!

Josh and I took Justin out for his birthday. This is him being totally embarrassed that we had the restaurant crew sing to him.

Here are two of our boys and their girlfriends. : )

We managed to tough it through testing. Most of us managed to keep smiling. I have NEVER been a fan of high-stakes testing and the stress it puts on my kiddos, but you just have to roll with the punches and do the best you can sometimes. I am so proud of these kids; they worked so, so hard!

Love seeing happy kiddos, no matter what!

We did manage to get some work and reading in, too!

After all that testing, we had a Benchmark celebration. The kiddos earned tickets all during testing that they could spend on an afternoon of fun and treats.