I finally got that PJ day!

We HAD a fun weekend planned...movie night on Friday, grocery shopping (fun for mom because dad was home to help unload) and Fun Fest on Saturday and then seeing The Wizard of Oz on Sunday.  We only got as far as a leisurly movie night on Friday (Rise of the Guardians and dried cranberries and raisens in our popcorn) and shortly after waking up on Saturday, our weekend took an unplanned turn!  Gabe started showing symptoms of the flu...yes...all of them!

Here's the biggest problem with that (other than watching my youngest son pale and lathargic while hugging a toilet and a bottle of gatoraide all weekend): I can barely keep down food as it is, or even look at food without gagging, for that matter :)  So, Matt and I quickly claimed our roles for the weekend.  He was in charge of bodily fluids and I was in charge of everything else!  It worked well.  He helped Gabe in and out of the bathroom, cleaned up messes that occured as a result of that pesky flu and I was in charge of the other two (guarding their hands from anything Gabe had been in contact with), I wiped doorknobs, toilet handles and toilet seats with disinfectant, kept refilling the patient's drinks and was in charge of temperature taking. 

I got to take Nate and Adri to Fun Fest and also got to attend church on Sunday.  We won't be there the next two weeks, so I was glad that all of us didn't have to miss.  Can I just say that I am head over heals, crazy about my husband and his willingness to help when things get rough?  I wouldn't have made it through the weekend (without twice the mess) if it weren't for him.

We also had to miss our weekly Sunday dinner at my mom and dad's and in true Mary fashion, she sent us dinner instead...itiallian beef sandwhiches, hashbrown casserole and red velvet cake (Gabe had chicken noodle soup).  She's awesome!

Instead of our normal Monday of gymnastics and food prep for the rest of the week, we're spending the day in our PJ's.  We got Nate off to school this morning (very relunctantly...he really wanted to stay home with us), and started the daunting task of washing every blanket, pillowcase and sheet on every bed in the house and disinfecting every hard surface within reach.  On top of wearing our PJ's all day and the fact that Gabe woke up feeling much better, I got to use the sanitize option on my new dryer for all those stuffed animals and pillows for the first time! 

I've also adapted a new mantra...I'll be saying it for the next several days.  Sickness, sickness stay away...we don't want to miss spring break this year!  Florida countdown = T minus 4 1/2 days :)

It's been a while...

My mom reminded me yesterday that I haven't written a post in a while.  For some reason the past few months has whizzed by.  As the kids get older and are involved in more things, there are fewer days to spend journaling and lounging in my PJ's.  Adri even reminded me last week that we haven't been to Story Time at the Library since the Christmas decorations were up!

Nate just finished participating in the school play, Cinderella, as a town villager, which added to the chaos on most school mornings because his practices were before school.  Gabe just finished up wresting, which kept us busy 2 nights a week and sometimes more with meets.  Between that and AWANA, church, gymnastics, tutoring, homework, speech and trying to make an effort to eat at home EVERY night of the week, the time just got away from me!

Another reason I've had less time to journal is because Adri only takes a nap about 2 days a week now.  She spends most mornings, bringing every toy she owns from the basement to the living room and then from her room to the basement and if I can manage to get her to sit still for 20 minutes to watch a Doc McStuffins or Dora, I use that time to get dinner ready and or clean up the disaster in the kitchen that occurs because I'v overslept and had to prepare breakfast for the kids in the blink of an eye.  While the boys, at 3, would watch TV all day if I let them (I may have done that a few times), she would rather be doing something with her hands.  She LOVES sticker books, painting, coloring and lacing or beading anything (you never know where you'll find a stray bead...in a register vent, glued to the dog's hair, or in the toilet).  She'll make necklaces and bracelets with beads and her favorite thing to do is make her afternoon snack into a necklace by lacing cheerios with yarn and saving them until the boys get home.  I think she does this just to tease the boys with her 'cool' snack.  They don't care, though, and she still hasn't offered to make them one!    

Matt is working a lot these days, so with the exception of our bedtime routine, I'm on my own for the day.  I don't even wake up anymore when his alarm goes off.  If it's still dark and it's still in the 5's, I don't open an eye!  I asked him the other day why he stopped telling me goodbye in the mornings and he said that he hadn't.  Yeah...it's WAY too early if I don't notice his farewell!

My friend, Erin, says "These are the best years," and I often recite that in my head (a million times a day) when things get monotonous, a little too chaotic, or I feel like a chauffeur running in circles (from the elementary school, to the church, to the Y, back home, to the high school, back to church, to the school again and then back home).  We'll get back to the library soon and I see a PJ day in our near future :)

Here are a few pics from the last few months.

No school on a Friday = a great day to visit the Children's Museum (especially when it's a school day for Indy kids)!

Adri's 'self portrait' of her friend, Natalee!

Happy Valentine's Day!

I have been helping in the nursery at church for about 9 years.  After Christmas, I switched gears and now teach the elementary kids twice a month!  These are a few of my treasured students.  The prep time for this class is so worth it.  I really love getting to know them better and helping them learn about scripture.  I usually walk away having learned a few things, too!

I have an obsession with watching my kids sleep!

Adri sleeping again...I couldn't get a picture of her perfect little pouty lips, so I thought this was just as cute!

Poor Razzle...

Movie night (every Friday) was something we started recently.  It's now one of the highlights of my week!  Matt and I get to sit on the couch or floor and snuggle with the kids, while they're in charge of snacks.  It's usually popcorn!

Gabe went his entire wrestling season without one pin in a meet!  He's aggressive in practice and of course, with his brother!  After several meets and realizing that he wasn't trying his hardest to pin his opponent, we asked him why.  He said it was because they make you sit next to your partner before you wrestle and it's easy to become friends.  

Cinderella Villager/Guard...Nate was mad because Gabe was in this picture!

I found this and just thought it was fun!  We were 18 in this picture...a few kids, 16 years later, and Matt's still a goofball that makes me laugh!  I think he still has that tie!

The B I B L E

I just love my kids!  It almost sounds so silly to say.  But become so full of joy when they repeat something they've heard me say a million times to one another.  Or maybe they find a way to explain it in their own words, showing me it's a part of who they are becoming.  

I overheard Nate telling Gabe the other day, after he said he didn't like someone because they were mean, "You don't have to like them, but you do have to show them God's love.  Maybe you could be a good example to him."  Then I heard Gabe tell Adri a few days later that telling me 'no' was disrespectful.  Then I hear Adri sing songs about how much she loves Jesus and learning about Him, and I overflow with JOY!  

My children are blessings and I love them more than I could every adequately put into words, but I also love when I see their character and kind sprits peek through...which usually happens in between arguments or tantrums...but it still happens :)  

Happy Tuesday!