Happy Easter

Today has been a wonderful day. God is good and today was a day to celebrate Jesus and his sacrifice on the cross for our sins.

I will say that I missed two things today....Cliff and being at our church. The kids woke up and were excited to see what the Easter bunny left. Ella McCray was excited to find a trail of cottontails leading to their baskets and Tip only cared about the pile of jellybeans next to his basket:) It was nice to see their excitement.

We ate lunch at my sister's with our family and it was wonderful. My mom cooks better than anyone else...but I guess most people think that about their mother's cooking! We had dressing, gravy, deviled eggs and so much more. I loved every minute of it. Before we left, I did our resurrection eggs that tell the story of Jesus's death and resurrection. I want to make sure that my children know what Easter is really about and to have a love for Jesus.

Today was a great day, but I miss my husband and our home. Tip even asked to "go to his white house with his striped bed" tonight when I put him to bed. We are all ready to head home in the morning. This has been a wonderful Spring Break/Easter/Infusion trip, but there's no place like home.

On a lupus note- doing ok, but I figured I'd be a little bit "better" right after my infusion. I've had a lot of pain...my knees, shoulders, hips, elbows. I also have had a strong sharp pain in my left ear and pains in my side (I guess that's where that saying comes from). Maybe I haven't rested enough, or maybe I'm flaring, or maybe I need to start my arthritis meds?? Sometimes it's hard to tell. Oh well, we'll see how tomorrow goes:)

Thankful Today

As I sat down to post pictures from today, I am feeling grateful. I can go and do without having to worry about my energy level or pain. A year ago, this would not have been possible. I would have to consider how much energy it would take to go to the park and worry about the sun. But because of my Benlysta I am able to do things like "normal", well almost! Normal compared to life with lupus.

Today we lounged in our p.j.'s and napped. After our naps, the weather was nice, so I decided to take the kids to the park. I'm glad I did. They laughed and ran and then we fed the geese and ducks and I truly am thankful for the time I get to spend enjoying my children. We cuddled in the grass next to the pond and I just watched them smile and get excited about the geese. Then we swung by one of my favorite bakeries, Gabriel's (where I worked for a short time a long time ago), and picked up treats! Ella McCray has been asking to go back to a bakery since the other day when we went to a cute little French bakery in town to meet one of my friends. She now loves bakeries...smart girl:) She is her mother's daughter. Then we went up to the square and ate at Marietta Pizza Co. and the kids got balloons. Ella McCray had one made like Ariel (pretty amazing) and Tip got a helicopter. All together today was wonderful. To cap it off, I gave the kids an Easter Hunt Bath with grass, bubbles, and eggs filled with shaving cream (thanks again to Pinterest). They loved it...now we are heading to bed so that the Easter Bunny can come! Today was a good day. As we get ready for Easter tomorrow, my heart is just filled with love. I am so grateful that Jesus died in the cross to save me and I am grateful that God has blessed me so much with my wonderful life and loved ones. I am so lucky.

Life After My Date with Ben

Feeling pretty good today, no joint pain right now. I slept a little yesterday, although it's tough to do with a 3 and 5 year old.

We also had an Easter egg hunt, had an egg fight with confetti eggs (I bought them at Walgreens...and it was well worth the $2.99). I wish a had of bought more because they really loved it! Then we played outside with our cousins and their sweet neighbors. The kids had a ball. Then we attempted dying eggs with shaving cream and food coloring...and for the record-this Pinterest idea did NOT work:) So we redid the eggs the good ole fashioned way! Of course, I didn't get any pictures of our egg-selent activities.

And how could I forget?? I also took the kids to Chuck E Cheese to play after my infusion. This was a treat. They had a blast, and with my coupons we got a pizza, plenty if tokens, and they both got to go in the ticket blaster. They loved it!!

Benlysta Infusion Today

Well, today is my infusion. As of today, I've been one these infusions for one year!! They have made my daily life much better, and I will continue to take Benlysta infusions once every four weeks for the rest of my life. My doctor said we will add to them if needed, but they will become a constant in my medical treatment. I'm grateful today because my children are healthy. I watched both of them fall asleep yesterday and I couldn't help but thank God for my life and for my blessings. LupUS has made me thankful for the US in my life.

So now it's time to start doing Easter activities with the kids. I've found lots of good stuff on Pinterest, including egg hunts in the bath and glow-in the dark egg hunts. The kids are enjoying being here with their cousins. We even got to see my Dad and Barbara this time, which was nice. I'm glad I get to come home once a month to see my family. Living so far from all my loved ones is hard sometimes, and now that I have to come once a month for my treatments, I have begun to look forward to seeing my family. Like I said, I am very blessed:)

Fun, Fun, Fun

We are enjoying visiting with our cousins!! I am having a lot of trouble with pain management, but I have my infusion tomorrow, so hopefully that will fix things:)
We went this morning and had coffee and chocolate at a French bakery with an old friend who was diagnosed with MS. It's always nice to talk with someone else who "gets" what life is like with a chronic illness...and would you believe that she has heard of the Spoon Theory too! Wow, how nice:)

Feeling Bad

In all honesty, I feel s***y. My steroids are down and that means pain. I am also overdue for my infusion:( Pain, I'm in lots of pain:(

On a good note, Ella McCray is on spring break, so we've come to GA for the week. This is great because we get to visit with my family, but this means I don't get a recovery day the day after my infusion, and I need it...what do you do? Roll with it.

I'm also only able to post from my phone while I'm away from home and that means I can't place pictures with my writing, only after. So you'll have to excuse my postings for the next week.

Here are some pictures from last Sunday, Palm Sunday, at our church and some pics if our road trip and eating ventures!