where to begin...

It has been so long since I have posted it is kind of hard to decide what to write about, where to begin and what to include. I guess the most recent current events are a good place to start...

I just got back a little while ago from teaching my first solo program at the Aldo Leopold Nature Center. It was a Soil and Water Conservation program for a boy scout troop. I taught 11, 10-11 year old boys all about soil, soil erosion, the water cycle, water pollution and waste treatment plants. I got them interested in the difference between point and non-point source pollution and had them loving an experiment where they got to pollute the habitat of Fred the Fish! They were of course talkative, rambunctious and annoying little boys but I still loved every minute of it!! I felt like ME for three hours and it felt great. I was outside, getting kids inspired about nature, interested in environmental issues and thinking critically about the soil they live on and the water they drink. Not the perfect Saturday for a lot of people but near perfect for me. I cannot wait to teach again.

Going back a little further in time...I got back to Wisconsin with the girls yesterday after four days in St. Louis. I was trying my best to be helpful, supportive and comforting to my sister, Parker and the rest of the family. I don't think I was really much help compared to the amount of added stress, laundry and chasing of kids that I created but it just felt good to be near my sister and mom while Parker was (IS) so sick. Going home was probably more for my comfort because being away from home when someone is sick is just awful, you have no way to help, no way to comfort or show support. I would have driven the six hours just to see Parker, give her a kiss and hug my sister.
Parker is certainly not in the clear yet as she is still in the hospital fighting infections, fever and getting back to her old self. I won't recount the whole week or the whole story of what is going on with Parker (if you aren't familiar with what is going on with my niece Parker you can go here), I will just say a huge thank you to all of my friends and family that have showed their love and support to Parker and the Allen family. I will ask again for your continued prayers for all of them. It has been a very hard week on the Allen family and I am praying that the hospital stay will not last much into week two.

On a much lighter note...Avery is almost FOUR MONTHS OLD! I am hoping to have some time tomorrow to take some pictures, shoot some video and post a big Avery update for all of you.

On a stressful note...Tuesday is exam day for Chris! This is a big exam for him (there aren't really any at this point that aren't!) and we are very hopeful that he will pass with flying colors. Of course we won't actually know if he passed until around the fourth of July!