Back to Life

I have been sick for the past week and a half. Bleh.  Seriously, I hate being sick.  I had laryngitis for three days.  I have had a nasty sinus mess and I felt terrible.  I am finally on the mend and it wasn't a day too soon. 

The boys had last Thursday and Friday off of school.  I was so excited to go into the canyons to see the fall colors, go on a hike, and play.  I spent the weekend whispering and trying to be nice because I was so sick.  All plans were cancelled and the boys were great about keeping themselves busy. 

After we painted the window, Seth decided that he wanted to be a wizard like Snoopy.  Seriously?  He has 5 or 6 costumes that fit him and he wants the one costume that we don't have?  Thankfully, Paul's bath robe fit Seth like a wizard's robe and I found a hat at the grocery storeso he had a costume.  Phew! 

I discovered an interesting thing about communication when I had laryngitis.  While I talked with the kids, I had to whisper.  During the course of the conversations, I noticed that the kids were whispering back to me!  I need to remember to use this tidbit of information when I need a quiet conversation.  (It didn't work with Daniel, though.)  The boys didn't realize that I was sick for two days.  I guess that they just thought that I was whispering for fun. 

Today the boys had the school Halloween parade and class parties.  I am the room mother for Mark's class.  I had a lot of anxiety about this party.  I had done a lot of the prep work a few weeks ago, so I just had a few last minute things to put together for the party.  The party was great and I had the energy and health necessary to enjoy being there. 

To avoid rambling more, I'll just say that I am finally feeling better and I am happy!  Life is good!

Normal

Below are pictures of gifts that I have recieved over the past few years. 

Ha!  My dryer doesn't even have a 'normal' setting!

It really is exhausting! Believe me!

I see a theme going on here.

Just so you know, I'm not taking offense at the sentiments sounded here, I'm taking them as a compliment! 

 

Halloween Window

Last month when Madeleine and I went to brunch for my birthday we came up with a plan to paint a Halloween scene on my front window.  Madeleine use to paint windows while going to college for money, so she was excited to try her hand with the craft again. 

Today Madeleine came over and painted ! I love how it turned out! It was a lot of fun to watch the process and to see how the kids helped out. We love the Peanuts gang at our house, so a decorated Snoopy and Woodstock (isn't he adorable?) fit the bill. 

Madeleine painting the characters in white

Jane painting with water- it kept her busy for a while!

Paul and Seth filling in the color.  Paul took this job very seriously.

Mr. Mark painting Woodstock

Jane 'painting' with a dry brush

Madeleine adding the finishing touches.

The final product.  Thanks Madeleine!

Their Friends are Hysterical

The other day I posted about the joys of having tweens in the house.  One of the last reasons was "Their friends are hysterical".  That line rang true this week and I was so glad that I had a fresh perspective on friends because it helped me make some fun memories. 

Mark's friend Taylor was over here and they were playing a computer game together.  For whatever reason, they were talking to each other in a British accent.  It was a terrible British accent.  They slaughtered the accent, but it was kind of amusing.  They did pretty good with the accent considering that all they have as models for a British accent is Harry Potter, Monty Python, and the Gyco Gecko (okay Gecko is Australian, I think, but at times the boys sounded like this).

I was in my sewing room listening to them and I started to get kind of annoyed by their crazy talk, but I remembered that "their friends are hysterical" and I was able to enjoy listening to them.  When they would break out of character, I would chide them and tease them.  I was truly enjoying this crazy British accent thing that they had going on. 

Dinner time was approaching and I gave them the warning to get things wrapped up.  When they discovered that we were having sloppy joes, they informed me that it was too bad that Taylor couldn't eat over.  I told them that if Taylor called his mom and asked to eat over using his accent, that he had my permission.  Taylor got the phone and used the thickest, boldest accent yet to get permission from his mum.  We all had a good laugh about the phone call- he was awesome! 

We had a distinguished guest at our table that night and I couldn't have been happier! 

Hold Her For Just A Little While

The other day Jane woke up early and I didn't want her to wake up the boys as they had been up late the night before with their play performance and they had another late night ahead of them.  I went into Jane's room and gave her a cup of milk.  I rocked her in the rocking chair and thought that I'd hold her for just a little while and then play quietly with her in her room until the boys woke up.

Much to my surprise, Jane fell back asleep!  I was afriad that she would wake up if I put her back in her crib, so I reclined the chair and held her while she slept.  It has been a long time since I have held her while sleeping.  I loved every second of it! 

While we were sitting there, I was reminded of our first night together in her room.  I held her on my chest and we both had a good rest.  Of course, she was a lot smaller then, but for a second I was pulled back into that blissful moment of holding a sleeping newborn.  I loved feeling the heat of her body, listening to the sounds of her breath and watching her chest move up and down. 

She didn't wake up for an hour.  I am so grateful that I was able to use that hour to calm my soul and hold my beautiful baby.  I will treasure that morning with her forever.