Friday reflections

As I sit here with a glass of wine, I am praising God it is Friday and that we've survived another week. There have been moments when I really wanted to sit down and post an update or share a story, but I just couldn't bring myself to do it. I was either avoiding the computer for fear of being sucked in... or half-asleep trying to have "veg" time after putting the kiddos to bed. Both good reasons for our general sanity, but awful for our blogging!

The week has felt like a whirlwind, even though as I look back on the calendar it appears so much more free than it seemed. The snow that sweetly blanketed the area on Thursday is much to blame for the harried, disorganized feeling I had toward week's end. Nothing like nature to throw a schedule-lovin' mama and her crew into a bit of a tailspin!

Here's a brief synopsis of the week's highlights/low lights--whatever you want to call them!

* Monday I had a MOPS progressive dinner event with main dish at my house--it was a super fun night for me with friends, a chance for the boys to have a night with Mimi/Papa, and GG to spend some precious father/daughter time with MG. He gave her her first bath from her daddy--a telling stat. seeing as she's almost 6-mos-old!! That's how crazy life is around here. Usually Mama takes care of the baby, while Daddy wrangles the three bruisers. He had never given her a bath... until Monday! I was so glad father and daughter had that sweet time together.

*Tuesday GG was slammed at work--bye bye Daddy for the rest of the week; Mama flew solo for the next four nights--yikes! To say my patience was running thin at moments was an understatement! Many prayers were uttered throughout the course of my days--Lord, be my Shepherd!

*Thursday delivered a much anticipated 3-4 inches of snow, sending our town into craziness and canceling school for the next two days... BOYS WERE HOME WITH LOTS OF IDLE TIME! Never a good recipe for success.

*Thursday morning, MG and I dashed out to try to find sleds at the last minute before the snow started (yes, school was canceled before it had even snowed); we are successful at Tar.get! woo hoo!! Mama felt accomplished until returning home and realizing I'd completely wrenched my lower back/sciatic area putting MG in and out of the van!! Unfortunately, this meant I was down for the count most of the day Thursday while GG was still slammed at work and Mimi and Papa were fetching CG (GG's formerly deployed brother who is stationed in Italy) in DC.

The most comfortable position for me to be in was on my stomach. Which begs the question--how does one mother 4 young children while lying face down on the floor?? Many thanks to my sis, J, and my dad, Pappy, awesome physical therapists who coached me over the phone. What amazing, brilliant people I have in my court!! :) They counseled me and got me to a point of peace. I had to live the day doing motions that were least painful--I could do that. I just had to figure out what made me hurt and what didn't. I aimed for as little pain as possible!

I made do with the boys, watching them sled a hill in our front yard while sitting at the window, nursing the baby. I popped Ad.vil and after sledding, they watched a lot of TV and spent a good amount of time on the computer too. I will say, I so dislike spending our days that way! By the end of the day, we all felt yucky. So much for snow day #1. We had nowhere to go but up!!

*Today I awoke feeling SO much better--back in the land of the living. The boys and I spent little time in front of the TV and computer and just ENJOYED the day together. This was AMAZING!! We went sledding, had a snowball fight, made bread in our new breadmaker, went to lunch and got to welcome home CG, and finished the afternoon making fake gingerbread houses (out of paper!) They had a ball and I was on top of the world as their mom... We ended on a definite high, praise God.

So cheers to it being Friday! Cheers to my improving back! Cheers to the return home of our beloved CG! Cheers to GG coming home tonight for a bit of rest! Cheers to the fourth Sunday of Advent! Cheers to a highly anticipated holiday time with family!

Thank you, dear Lord.

God bless you and yours for a wonderful weekend,

He Says

GG, today after Mass:

"Honey, we gotta stop giving these kids Red Bull for breakfast."

LOL :)

My Big Little Man

I'm so proud of my #1 boy these days.

He's becoming such a big little man.

He's playing more like a big brother.

He's giving when the little ones are in need.

He's using his manners often.

He's helping me when I'm in a pinch.

He's doing great in school and really revving up his reading.

He's becoming such a big little man.

An owl, drawn in art class.

But even with all his BIGness,

he still wants to hug and kiss his mama goodbye in the morning.

He still wants to wave and wave (and continue to wave) goodbye to me until the very last second when we can't see each other anymore.

He still cuddles with me when we read at night.

He still needs me.

And I'm loving that and will hang onto it for as long as I can.

For as long as I can.

Love you, my big little man.

Advent Week 2

Happy week #2 of Advent to you!

We are off to a brilliant week so far... Amazing what a few days can do, especially having Daddy around all weekend. He was traveling last week, as were Mimi and Papa, which explains why I was hanging on by a thread come Friday. Which explains my last post and why my 2yo was getting into extra trouble.

FYI *the nap-on-the-counter incident occurred when T and J were happily playing on the computer, so I stole away to take a shower. Lesson learned: never trust an idle J, especially around naptime. :) Nothing like a good, humbling lesson to ring true my Advent and make me ever aware of my need for a Savior.

This week started with a fun winter punch--SNOW! You bet the boys were out early, bundled up still in their pajamas. They had a great time and GG and I were so relieved to get some wiggles out before church. Afterward the snow had vanished, so it was a good thing we got our snow fix early!

After church we welcomed Mimi and Papa back from Italy and even got to Skype with our favorite soldier in Vincenza! The boys also set up the train around our tree. You'll see we have our tree up, courtesy of GG and the boys, who went on a mission Saturday. It is a Frasier Fir and smells lovely. While I wish I could say we went to cut it down ourselves (always a dream of mine, Clark W.), this year we had to choose the quickest, most efficient path for our family, which means driving across the street to the grocery store to buy one for 29.99. What a deal! :) Don't doubt, though, that we had the whole family in the van singing "Deck The Halls" at one point this weekend. I really felt like the Grizzwalds and took my role as Beverly D'Angelo very seriously. lol. GG and I had a good laugh.
I leave you with our very own "Leaning Tower of MG", a new trick she's been showing us at dinnertime. She weaves back and forth a few times as if to say "Can I please go to bed now? Can't you tell I'm exhausted?"
Not before a few snuggles from her brothers. What a lucky gal!
God bless you today!

Just for the record

*Take a half pound of Dunkin' Donuts coffee grounds and scatter all over the kitchen floor.

*Several days later, steal 1/4 C. of M & M's from the upper cupboards (because you've watched and learned how to maneuver kitchen chairs to serve your purpose), consume half and add the rest to the ongoing mess. Proceed to fall asleep on the kitchen counter!

*Wait a day, then follow with 1/4 C. of mom's cup of coffee and drink with ease (because she makes it taste so sweet and creamy!) Exclaim with glee how much you liked it!!

And what do you have?

One very sweet and sneaky 2-year-old.

Oh, dear J, how lucky you are to be so cute.

Mom's gotta step up my game with you, little stinker.

From over at Building Cathedrals

You might enjoy this glimpse of our Advent season so far.

Keepin' it real :),

We're not the only ones feasting

So is this little cherub...

The big boys were SO very excited to be a part of this milestone. Here, T, aka "Jeff Gordon", assists the little lady in sitting up straight. Doesn't she look thrilled? :)

In the blink of eye, little MG has gone and turned 5 months! In our house, 5 months means one big thing--time for cereal! Rice cereal for one whole month. I force the bland rice cereal on my children for four long weeks... and then I spring real food at six months and they love it!! Sneaky mommy! ;)

BEFORE

MG, unassuming, chipmunk cheeks ready and waiting! Note the G-Ville classic whale bib, thanks to Dr. F out in CO. We had to have it for our first meal!

AFTER

Quizzical, perplexed: "What in the world are you feeding me?"

Bite #2: "It doesn't seem to be getting any better."

Meal #2: "It's not half bad as long as you spit most of it out after you've taken a bite."

Little stinker.

MG of the cherub cheeks.

We'll get you to eat soon enough. Soon enough.

Blessings,

B-mama!