Our Sweet Love Story: What I'm Loving March {2022}

While my old blogging days may be over, you may wonder why I still use this platform. The entries are the pages in my life journal. They help me document the memories of our past. I consider one of my most important jobs to be the historical record keeper of our family. While I find it fairly easy to remember the bigger moments of life like our children's births and family vacations, I find the little moments do fade with time and age...and actually more quickly than I would like. It is getting harder to remember what happened in previous weeks and months, let alone years. I imagine our brains are very similar to the marble filled recesses of the girl's brain in the Disney movie "Inside Out." All of those colored marbles represented the moments and memories of her life, but many of those little marbles would eventually fade and dissolve into nothing to be forgotten forever. I don't want all these little marbles to be lost forever. I love when I look back at my old posts and remember things I have completely forgotten. Our brains do have a limited capacity to hold data, and I want to help it remember the good stuff. So as for March 2022, I want to remember all the things I was loving.

Loving these big smiles ready for her first school pictures.

So pretty!

Not loving the official pictures which were a bit disappointing when the blue screen background they used gave her blue hair. Sigh. I hate digital backgrounds. Can we just go back to the old fashioned non-digital backgrounds that don't mess up my girl's beautiful curly hair? Yes, this is the second time this has happened to her. The first was on our first vacation together to Myrtle Beach when we purchased the pricey family photo at the pirate show, and both Maggie and I had green hair. Sigh.

Loving this "perfect princess" ready to eat her favorite burrito.

Loving this little "pout pout fish" ready for his school dress like a book character day.

And this younger sibling who had to participate too. Grayson was the same mean monster his big brother Brody used to be.

Loving this future Silver Fox posing at big brother's school.

Loving this girl and her daddy sharing ice cream cones in the bed.

Loving spaghetti faces!

Loving Red Power Rangers!

Loving grown teenage boys who still love ice cream cones.

And even older women who love ice cream too.

Loving cute little ice cream lovers.

And sweet little boys who love ice cream for dessert.

Loving getting this huge family together. 12 kids between us including our Mattie and the oldest cousin, Emma, who was not present at this gathering. Emma was preparing for her high school graduation and future endeavors as a music student in college.

Cousin Lanny is now 15 and a rising sophomore in high school. He is so similar to Evan and also loves playing soccer.

Cousin Cate is still as sweet and pretty as ever at almost 11. Her and Brody are only a couple of months apart.

Cousin David is a mischievous little guy at almost 8.

Cousin Libby is just a cute little handful much like her youngest cousin, Maggie. She is the baby of her family too. She and Grayson are just weeks apart. She also looks exactly like her mom and her other aunt.

These boys loved sharing cupcakes with the cousins for Mattox's birthday.

We all enjoyed cheering for cousin Lanny at his soccer game.

Loving my first take on an easy low carb "keto" lunch. Leftover taco meat with broccoli and cheese makes a yummy bowl.

Some chicken we cooked in the crock pot with a side of asparagus with parmesan cheese sprinkled all over.

A really yummy chicken fajita made with low carb egg wraps.

And lots of yummy omelets for breakfasts.

Loving this crew of campers.

Love big helpers with the tent.

And little helpers too!

Loving celebrating big Cub Scouters as they graduate out of Cub Scouts to the next phase of life...Boy Scouts, Middle School, and beyond.

Loving little scouts building things with dads.

Loving little scouts building and painting.

Loving outdoor games of kickball.

Loving these hikers.

Loving Webelos crossing the bridge for their Arrow of Light graduation.

And jumping down off the bridge.

Loving proud parents of their big kid.

Brothers who will always stay close.

Loving little tigers just beginning their journeys.

And huge smiles like this one.

Loving handsome Cub Scouts in uniform.

Loving little princesses who love the dirt...

And the outdoors.

Loving cuties in the bathtub.

And snaggle tooth grins like these.

Loving siblings who play together.

Loving mommy's and daddy's little girl.

Loving freshly power washed decks. Next step was some new protective stain.

Cute little girls who cuddle on the couch with their doll friends.

Curly little red haired girls are my favs!

But little hardworking boys are pretty awesome too!

Loving cute little boys with their stuffed friend at bedtime.

Loving pretty Eastern Redbuds blooming in the yard.

And Spring days spent playing in the yard.

This photo now brings both joy and sadness as it was unknowing to us the last day our Cocoa would be with us. I can only imagine the pain she must have been in as she still insisted on being outside with her family. She was barely eating and drinking, but we hoped she was on the mend from a snake bite weeks previous. Sadly, the next day she was no longer able to get up and quickly declined. A vet appointment only served to show how severe her condition was as her liver and organs had been destroyed by the poisonous venom. She was just so strong that it took over 3 weeks to overcome her.

I actually took this photo of the bite mark that still showed on her foot. She probably never even saw the snake as she was running through the woods behind our house.

After Cocoa's vet checkup, we brought her home and got the kids from school to say goodbye. We kept her comfortable on her bed surrounded by her family as she took her last labored breaths. Brody was especially hurt by this loss, but Grayson also suffered greatly in the weeks that followed.

Her life of less than 9 years was cut too short suddenly, but we will never forget all the wonderful memories she gave to us. I made a video for the kids to watch, and they request it when they are missing her.

The day before Cocoa passed was her last joyful day with us outside and also our oldest son's 15th birthday. While I am sad he suffered such a loss for his birthday, I also love what a sweet, kind, caring, intelligent, and amazing young man he has become. The world will definitely be a better place with him in it!