A Birth in the Earnhardt Home

Nope. I can't hide a pregnancy that well and it wasn't me!!! We bought a couple of new fish on Saturday afternoon and it turns out one of them was extremely pregnant! Luckily we decided to invest in a birthing tank thing that you put in your tank so the babies don't get eaten (like last time). Well, Oreo had her babies last night. Unfortunately mom didn't make it. But, there are many many fishies that did. Hopefully they will grow and get stronger. Some of the fishy embryos weren't even fully developed so you can see them in their egg state and some kind of half developed. It is like a great big science lab. The kids are so excited. We'll see how many of them survive. Ya'll be thinkin' about whether or not you'd like a new Dalmation Molly fish! We won't be able to keep them all if they all survive.

Celebrations

Sometimes a good celebration is all a girl needs! I got to go out and celebrate Karen's Birthday and the fact that a crazy quarter in school was over. It was so wonderful to just laugh and laugh and laugh.


Karen so excited about her gift. "I love it.....What is it? A music thingy or a thing that counts my steps?"



"I can't hear anything?" To which I responded, "I know it works, I loaded the music and tried it at home. Here give it to me."



"I can't hear anything?"

Laughter ensued for a good 5 minutes while we eventually got the thing to play again. Good times!!

Things that matter....

I am a perfectionist. There, I said it. I got an 89% on a Chem test and it rocked my world tonight. It was a super hard test and one that the professor did not completely prepare us for. I hated getting it back and having to accept the reality of my score. It will drop me out of my 4.0 status in this class and there probably is not enough left of the quarter to reclaim it. However, I came home tonight to my three children and my husband and all the disappointment disappeared. It wasn't by my strength. God alone gave me perspective.... immediate perspective about what my life is about. It's not about perfect scores coming out of college. (Although that would be really nice!)

It's about greeting my children and my husband and being excited with them about the bike ride that they all took together tonight. It's about intently listening as they relive their exciting tale of fast hills and skidding turns. It's about celebrating with a nine year old who is so proud of herself for going down the BIG hill with no brakes.

Hearing them tell me how much they love snuggling with me before they go to sleep is the perfection that I am thankful for. I did my best and I'm forgetting the rest. (Well, I'm not dwelling on it anyway which is really good progress for me.) Hopefully I'll be able to keep this perspective through the next four finals!

Rumplestiltkin

O.K. So for those of you who knew me way back when....I use to be pretty dramatic. I loved being in plays when I was younger. I grew up being in musicals in school and church and was even Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz my senior year, one of my favorite school memories. Well, it looks like my first born has acquired my love for the dramatic arts.

Mikayla was in her first play production this weekend. She was a villager in the play Rumplestiltkin. The Missoula Children's Theatre was in town and put on the play. She had to try out and loved every minute of it from start to finish. She had such a blast. She had a couple of lines and a solo in one of the songs. They had two performances.

Grandma and Grandpa got to come to the one last night. My mom and I just kept looking at each other and smiling. Then this morning was the second performance. Uncle Matt got to come with Jacob and Juliana as well as Aunt Catherine with Jason, Noah, and Lauren. It was so nice to be able to share it with so much family. We are all so proud of her! Great job Mikayla!

Isabella's doing great!

Isabella got to meet with her Academy Advisor, Mr. Eric, today. I should have brought my camera with me but the images are burned into my memory! She got up early, got dressed, and insisted on making a St. Patrick's Day craft for him. She read books to him, showed him some math pages that she recently completed, told him ALL about halloween last year (random I know), and counted to 100 for him, by ones and tens and then tens backward! Even I hadn't heard that yet.

It has been a (good) challenge to homeschool her this year. With my schooling ongoing, it has been such a blessing to have her enrolled in the virtual academy with advisors and teachers that comment on her work progress and such. It has kept me on track and committed to her experience this year.

I am so proud of Isabella and the progress she is making. I don't even really push, but she loves to learn. (As long as you don't ask her to color for homework pages. The girl does not like that!) I am so thankful for the gift of my daughter. She is a smiling light to my every day!

~He Loves Me~

Greg and I celebrated our 13th wedding anniversary on 3/1. I wanted to write this two days ago but you know how that goes. We have been so blessed in our marriage. I remember the Pastor that counseled us saying, "You think you love him now, but really, that love will grow and you will learn that there are so many levels to your love. You will love him more every day and the depth of what that love means will blow you away."

I have never known a statement to be more true. I did love Greg with all my heart even then. But as we have grown and shared our lives over the last 13 years I have learned a new appreciation for what that love really means.

There are days when I can't see past my imperfections. Days when the reflection in the mirror is less than desirable to me. But Greg sees nothing but beauty.

There are moments when I am less than fair. Greg takes those moments and blesses me with his ability to put me first.

There are times when we don't see eye to eye on things. These are the moments that Greg patiently "discusses" things with me until we have come to an understanding with each other.

There are times when I like to be the Princess. (Yes, even be watied on hand and foot) You probably don't believe me, but Greg does it! He is always doing those little things that he doesn't have to, but wants to, because he knows I love it!

Then there are those times when life throws me a curve ball. Times when I am weak and fragile. Those are the times when Greg tenderly holds me and weeps with me. Those are the times when my husband protects me as much as he can from the outside world. Those are the times when my husband prays for and with me.

This one I hate to admit. But, there are times when I am distracted from the life that God has placed in front of me. There are times when my vision is skewed by something in front of me. These are the times when Greg holds me accountable. He steers me gently around those obstacles and helps me see clearly again. (with God's help of course)

What a companion that God has blessed me with. God knew what He was doing far before I did. He chose for me the only man that could survive me and love me all at the same time.

Thank you Greg for choosing me. Thank you for loving me. Thank you for growing with me and never giving up. Thank you for everything that you are and will become in the future. I do love you more today than ever before and I know that love will only continue to grow deeper and more meaningful with every day that we are given.

I love you. Happy Anniversary.