Timeliness

My children have no sense of urgency. The fact that we will be late to school/church/play dates/class/whatever does not bother them at all. Today I tried a trick out of desperation, and it worked! Apparently the key to keeping them moving is bribing them with old Christmas M&Ms. Unfortunately, that is not a daily option (unless I want timely children who are Pavlovianly addicted to chocolate) but it's nice to know that at least they are capable of hurrying if properly motivated. And I can always keep a fun-sized bag around in case of emergencies.

Bouncing Back

We are slowly crawling our way back to the land of the living. Today, for the first day in over two weeks, everyone went to school or work and all of their extra activities. Our apartment is still a disaster area, but I finally have enough energy to be bothered by that. Unsurprisingly, I am the slowest to recover (thanks, pathetic immune system). The flu symptoms are gone, but the exhaustion seems determined to stay for a while. Today I managed to both go to the store and cook a real dinner- although I will confess did also take a nap. The only one in our family who is not pleased with this upturn of events is CiCi the cat. I think she really misses always having at least one person available to snuggle with on the couch at all times. 

Not a Robber

That moment when you wake up from a two hour flu-induced nap, panicked that you will find your 5-year-old who is also home with the flu horribly neglected and miserable. Instead, you find her cuddled up watching a show with a stuffie, a bowl of ramen, and a sippy cup of ginger ale. Turns out she hasn't been cared for by a friendly intruder. Your awesome husband just arranged to work from home for the morning so that you could sleep. 

Grandma Molly

Stephen's wonderful Grandma Molly passed away last week. She was such an amazing lady- with a heart big enough for everyone she met, and we were blessed to have her in our lives. 

Not too sick to be descriptive...

The boys have been sick this week. John came down with it first, and they refused to stop snuggling at night. Big surprise, Seth woke up feeling very under the weather. He described how he felt very clearly.

"My body is too hot- from the inside."

"I think my hands don't work. I don't want to even move my fingers."

"When I shake my head my brain is sore."

"My tongue doesn't even feel like a tongue."

"I think food would just be terrible, no matter what it is."

"I don't think I can go to school- even though it's a publishing day, and I'm not even behind, and it's almost my turn. That's how you know I'm really sick."

John went to school after missing two days. Apparently it was a little too soon. He said "I must look how I feel, because all day everyone kept asking me if I was ok and if I needed to sit down." (With the notable exception of the gym teacher who told him if he was healthy enough to do math he was healthy enough to run laps. Not sure I agree with his logic.) 

Looks like his teachers won't be too surprised when he doesn't show up tomorrow. I hope they both feel better soon.

Cousins and Friends

We were at my sister's home this weekend, and the following exchange took place when Joy (5) wanted to take a bath with Sophie Mae (almost 4). 

Joy: Sophie- can I take a bath with you?

Sophie: (thinking about it) Yes. Because we're cousins. And we're friends. We're friend cousins!

I am grateful that my kids have so many friend cousins, and that I do as well. We're really lucky.

Totally Worth $2

On Friday I had to order a few things from Prime Now (so spoiled to be able to get quick, easy delivery!). As I was filling my cart I saw a face painting kit on clearance and, being the queen of impulse buys, I went ahead and ordered it too. John has asked for a kit for Christmas and didn't get one, so I figured it would be a fun surprise. 

He was thrilled, and proceeded to paint everyone's faces (or in Seth's case, hand). Rose asked for a surprise- and it turned out beautiful. Joy wanted to be a butterfly princess cat (who doesn't?). Seth wanted a flaming skull of doom. And John delivered. Then John and Seth faked shiners, and a fight to explain how they got them. I fake grounded them. 

Totally worth $2.

Two Cuties

Snapped a picture of a little post-swim lesson story time. I sure love these two cuties!

Sharing is Caring

In a total mom moment, I realized that every tomato in my BLT tonight had a bite taken out of it by a child who took one bite of their own sandwich, picked out all of the tomatoes, and then opted for a BL. Can't waste good tomatoes.

20 Stages of an IKEA Trip

1) I need a few specific things. I have already mapped out where they are. We can be in and out.

2) OK, we're in! Off to the- what? You're starving? I fed you lunch two hours ago and you had a granola bar and an orange in the car on the way here! Fine. I know you are a growing boy. I will buy you a hot dog. Fine. You are all growing children. I will buy you all hot dogs... Fine. And chips and icees because it is so darn cheap.

3) You kids stay with your dad and finish your meals. I will get a head start on browsing. Now I can look at all the things with no one to rush me!

4) Hmmm... maybe I really DO need a pop up colander...

5) Look! New bathroom accessories! That toilet brush is WAY cuter than my current toilet brush.

6) Grab all of the impulse buys.

7) Put 3/4 of the impulse buys back.

8) Re-grab a couple of my former impulse buys.

9) Hello family, you're back! Help me decide if this slab of wood is worth $15. What? It's a shelf! 

10) I like to look at all the things, but the kids like to touch all the things. Stop touching all the things!

11) How long does it take an 11-year-old to pick a plant? No, you do not have to name it before you decide to buy it. Yes, I will look up its scientific name for you. Great, let's go!

12) Time to load our big purchases. Stop running under the rows. We are looking for aisle 15. Stop running under the rows! Looks like the bin number is wrong. STOP running under the rows! Oh good, you found the right one. I SAID STOP RUNNING UNDER THE ROWS!!!

13) Let's pick a line. (Whichever line we get into magically turns into the slowest line.) 

14) Still in line.

15) Hmmm...how did I manage to spend that much money? It doesn't matter- IT'S ALL WORTH IT!

16) We're finally out of the line! Wait- did you pay for Alberto Verizano? (The plant)... Back in the line.

17) Now we're really out of the line! Let's hurry and... get in the elevator line. I cannot believe we spent so much time here.

18) Time to squeeze all of our loot into our tiny car that is already full of small humans. We can totally make it fit.

19) I got way more than we needed. We are never doing that again. 

20) Oh! I just remembered something we missed. I guess we will have to go back soon. I can't wait to do that again! 

No Cavity Club

No cavities and no tears! (No climbing on the counters and yelling at the dentist to just leave people alone either.) Our smoothest trip to the dentist yet.

Snow Day!

Thanks to the "bombogenesis" storm that hit today (I did NOT make that word up) we all got to stay home. Stephen somehow convinced us all to go out into the blizzard, and various levels of enjoyment ensued. The camera got too cold and turned itself off, so I don't have any adorable sledding pictures. But I do have these!

Plus one...

Since we are catching up- you should know that there has been a feline addition to our family. Meet CiCi- a magical cat that Rose is somehow not allergic to. 

It's Not You, It's Me...

I know, I know, over 3 years without a post. I'll be honest, I met this site called Facebook and we have been seeing a lot of each other. It's great for some instant gratification, but sometimes you just need a place where you can overshare and not worry about cluttering other people's news feeds. Plus, it's that time again. New year, new unrealistic expectations for myself. So I'm back.

I won't make promises I can't keep about how often I will post or how awesome said posts will be. But I spent some time over the holidays looking at old posts with my kids and it was really great to see the pictures and the memories. So I will try to save more of those here. For the children, people. For the children.

Speaking of the children- here they are! They have definitely grown in the last three years. More details coming soon about what we are all up to. Stay tuned!