April

Well, basketball is over =( It was an exciting tournament, and I loved being able to watch the 1st 3 rounds in Las Vegas. I'd love to be there every year for those first few rounds. Good thing Home Depot has 2 more years in their contract with Mandalay Bay! =) Louisville did great, made it to the Final Four.

 This past week was ridiculous waiting for that match against Kentucky. I remember getting so upset as a kid, and thinking life was OVER when Louisville would go down in the big dance. I'm glad this season is over. So many injuries and so many unexpected things; so many heart attacks at the end of games! 

As we finished our 10 mile race on Saturday in Papa John's stadium, we ran past the football practice field. the first spring scrimmage was underway! They've been at it for a few weeks, and had a few open practices too.These next few weeks are PACKED full of exciting things here in Louisville in anticipation of the Kentucky Derby.

We also have a few things going on in the Howell house as well. I'm finally going to the neurologist after I had to cancel my appointment in Nashville in October of last year. Hopefully we can figure out these headaches. This Saturday is April's Home Depot Kids' workshop, and I think they are making window flower boxes. We'll also take the kids to church for an Easter egg hunt Saturday, and then head to a birthday party later in the evening. EASTER SUNDAY! ! ! ! The next week is my niece's Spring Break. I'm sure we'll do the zoo a few times, and find some other things to do around here. Then on Monday the 16th, Lucy has an EEG here in Louisville. We have to try to keep her up as long as we can that night, wake her up as early as we can, and be at the doctor at 7:45 Am. They said the test will start at 8AM, and then we will meet with the doctor at 11 AM. I'm not looking forward to a LONG day with a tired, sleepy, cranky baby. Hopefully she will be so tired she will sleep the whole time--which I think is the goal anyways. We just have to try to keep her awake on the car ride over there too. This test will give us some answers ( we hope!) as to why she still has tremors when she wakes. I don't think she is having seizures , and neither does her pediatrician, but I guess this is the first step of tests. Then on Friday the 20th she has another hearing test in Nashville. We are coming down for the weekend for the March of Dimes walk! It's not TOO LATE to donate your money or prayers for these babies and families! If you live in Nashville and want to come walk, please join us! Go look at our page: LUCY'S MARCH FOR BABIES PAGE <3. Our initial goal was $350. We are almost at $100, and we will be happy with whatever we can do to help. I'm hoping for at least half of our goal at this point.

 The following weekend will be my Kentucky Derby Festival Mini Marathon! I'm almost to the point of being over it! After the anticipation and nervousness for the 10 miler, I'm spent. It's getting harder and harder to find an extra 2 hours every day to run and lift. I'm working just 2 hours a night on Tuesday and Thursday nights teaching swimming lessons at the Y, and Luke as to rush home to watch them while I go. I can't take them with me, or I could only work out an hour after ( max time for Y world is 3 hours a day). So we've managed to make it work, and sometimes Luke comes up a little after I'm done teaching ( 7pm), and we lift together. But the longer my runs become , the less we have been able to do so. Life will be so much more relaxed when I'm not trying to squeeze a 6 mile run in 3 times a week and a long run in on the weekends. I'll be glad to finally have time to work on my arms and abs again! That sad jiggly belly of mine will finally get some attention. And no, I don't lay on my floor and do abs when I watch American Idol or The Biggest Loser because I'm too tired to do anything but sit at that point. I'm heading up the Y this morning to let the kids play and get some miles in. I'm not a fan of being in the pool for 2 hours, and then spending over an hour on the treadmill. Maybe spacing it out today will help me a little!

I'll have some cute pictures of the kiddos to post later in the week, but here are 2 from Sunday afternoon at Sesame Street Live.