A little bit of this, and a little bit of that!

We haven't been overly busy these past few weeks, but we have been spending lots of quality time together as a family. Our weeknights consist of family dinner time around our table, followed by lots of gardening and playing outside until the bugs start biting. I actually helped Daniel mow our grass the other night. Now to most that may not seem like a big deal, but I have been so sick these past few years, that pushing a lawn mower around the yard would have worn me out. This past year, it probably would have killed me...lol. It killed my knees afterwards, but I was so excited that I was able to do it that it was totally worth it.

I was recently diagnosed with entropathic arthritis which is yet another auto-immune disorder. It's pretty much an inflammation of the joints, which in my case, is caused by my Crohns disease. The unfortunate thing about having one auto-immune disorder is that it pretty much leaves you wide open to develop more. My GI is pretty sure that I have had it for awhile but since my Crohns flare was so severe, that it masked the arthritis. It wasn't until my surgery and my subsequent remission from the Crohns, that the arthritis came into play full force. These last few weeks I have had a lot of trouble walking. I named my walk, the grandma shuffle. My knees and feet were in such bad shape that I honest to goodness was having to shuffle just to get around. It didn't matter how much I rested my body, or how much activity I participated in, my joints hurt. Right now my course of treatment for the arthritis is to continue with my Remicade infusions. Not only does Remicade help those with irritable bowel disease,but it helps those with arthritis as well. Thankfully I get one treatment for two diseases. I had my first infusion since my surgery this past Saturday, and while my knees and feet are still sore, I can tell a big difference. I don't want to cry when walking down the stairs now...lol.

That is why mowing the grass the other night is blog worthy for me...lol. If I was able to mow the grass just before my infusion, now that I have had the infusion, I just might be able to mow the entire yard by myself...yay!

Planting her "pretties" in the garden.

Like I said we've been doing a lot of gardening. Our veggies and fruit are finally starting to go to town. I can't wait until we start getting actual produce from the plants. The garden is in need of a good weeding, however we are waiting to purchase a big container of Preen. Both girls love being out in the garden in bare feet. It doesn't matter how many times I sit down and put their shoes on after they have taken them off, they still repeat the process. I finally gave up with enforcing shoe wear, so I just keep my fingers crossed that neither girl step on anything.

Relaxing after her dinner.

Speaking of the girls, they both continue to thrive. Not a day goes by that they don't crack us up, Cadence especially. The other night at dinner she decided to kick back and relax until we were all finished. We don't typically encourage feet up on the table, but sometimes you just have to sit back and chuckle.You have to live a little and appreciate the small things.

Both ladies drinking the pool water like puppy dogs.

A couple of weeks ago we broke out the swimming suits and the girls took their first swim of the season at Mamaw's. Uncle Dusty was kind enough to fill up their pool early in the afternoon for a evening visit on Mamaw's last day of work. While she isn't officially retired until the end of the summer, since she was a school cook, her last official day of work was the schools last day in session. It was during this swimming session we discovered just how impressionable our daughters are at this age. Addison gets a kick out of mimicking the dogs. She will put a piece of food on the ground and eat it off of the ground like the dogs, she drinks the pool and bath water just like a dog, she'll even fetch a toy on all fours just like the dogs. I'm not really sure how we'll break her of this habit...lol. For now we just sit back and laugh at her and her sister.

Helping mommy make some homemade banana bread.

What do you think the problem is daddy?

Both girls are at a stage where they both really enjoy helping us out around the house. They always have to be involved with anything we are doing. I have been allowing Addie to help me cook. She'll pull up one of their kiddie chairs and just stand and watch until I allow her a task. She even helps do the dishes. Yesterday she helped us finally put boxes away that were still sitting in our dining room from when we moved in, and just this morning she got out their toy vacuum and followed me around while I swept the living room. Saturday night she and her sister even helped their daddy put a new blade on the lawn mower. I think that picture is going to be my favorite summer picture. I'm going to print it out for Daniel for fathers day so that he can put it on his desk at work. Who needs a son when you have two little girls that are happy to follow your every move!

I hope everyone has a great week!!