Ready for spring!

I know I'm not alone when I say that I am READY FOR SPRING! Our household has had quite enough these last 4-5 weeks. Without going into all the details, our kids have been through so much. Jillian has been sick 3 different times since the last week of January, missing 2 days of school one week, one day the next week, and most recently missed the entire week. Last week, she had a fever for an entire week (Sat - Sat) and YES, I brought her to the clinic -- TWICE! Finally, she's back in school this week and we're hoping it's the last of it for her. Delaney and Elliott have each been sick on two separate occasions, ending when Delaney had influenza B and Elliott was treated for an ear infection. Ugh. It's certainly a good thing I'm a stay at home mom because I would surely have been fired from any job, as I was home with a sick kid for three weeks straight. And just when we thought we'd made it through this terrible month, I found lice (shudder, shiver, cringe) on Saturday morning in one girl's hair. Maybe she just wanted equal time with me! After all the treatment, laundry, vacuuming, bagging of stuffed animal, etc. I felt good about getting through that issue as well. Until I woke up the next morning with a terrible headache that progressed to a migraine putting me out of commission for the entire day. It's really, really, really enough already. Bring on Spring!!!

Go back a few weeks to when the weather was gorgeous and the snow was melting. Jillian (on a rare day she wasn't sick) and I took the dogs for a walk. Actually, that was a day Elliott and Delaney were both sick. Anyway . . . the pups had a ball splashing in puddles and racing around in the fresh air. Until we got home and they both needed a bath because they were full of dirt and grime! It was decided then that Harper would need a spring haircut because I would not be giving her 3 baths a day!!! As cute as she was with all her shiny hair, she's quite adorable now! Even if she is embarrassed by it and currently hiding in shame in her kennel.

This is 'everyday' Harper. She had her cuter moments when I would spend the time brushing her and putting a pony tail or bows in to keep the hair out of her eyes. But that is just too much to do on a daily basis with three kids! So she was a ragamuffin most of the time. And she's a terrible wiggler, so trimming up that hair between her eyes is completely out of the question. That's why there are dog groomers!!!

Still cute, even though her coloring underneath is totally different than when she was a pup. She's now white and apricot with only the dark on the tips of her ears and one side of her 'mustache.' And I no longer have to spend 1/2 an hour every night brushing out her coat!