A busy couple of weeks

It feels nice to finally sit down and relax. The past few weeks have been very busy. We had Valentine's Day, Sam's birthday, Preschool, and did I mention that I'm a little too pregnant! I feel completely drained, especially after a full day of cleaning and grocery shopping, but it is now time to make sure we don't forget what a great time we had.

Every year for Valentine's Day Ryan and I agree to not get each other anything, and every year he does anyway. I have officially learned my lesson and will remember never to forgo a gift for him. My gift to him was only a card and yummy dinner, but he, of course did not seem to care a bit. His gift to me he claimed was more like a "You're having my baby" sort of gift and I took it gratefully. It's a spa treatment, head to foot. Hair, facial, massage, pedicure, the works. It sounds amazing and I can break up the appointments individually, which is the plan. That pedicure will be first on my list as my feet and ankles are beginning to swell and could use some pampering. Ah, Ryan, you are the best!

This is the 4 inch high triple chocolate cheesecake we made for dessert. I didn't win so many points for appearance but the taste was out of this world! Oh, chocolate you are Divine!

Samuel's Birthday was Monday. We celebrated Sunday night as a family and Tuesday we had a little party for him with friends.

We opened a few gifts Sunday night, including: A NEW Cars DVD as the old one was wasted and had stopped working! Color Wonder pads and markers, and a play tent and tunnel. Sam had been excited about a few at his friend's houses so we hoped it would be a major hit. It was! He sleeps in it at night and takes most of his naps there also. It's so funny. We are glad he loves it so much.

Russell loves it too!

The party we had for friends was Shark themed. So...

The invites-

The cup cakes-

And all games were shark themed. Games: Pin the tooth on the shark, fishing, shark tag, etc.

I hope everyone had a good time because Samuel did. He is still talking about it and tells most people he meets how old he is now. He even informed the post man at the post office today when we picked up another package for him. "I am 4 now, and this is my present!" he told the man behind the counter. I am excited to take a few pictures of him playing with his new play dough dental patient, which is what was in the package. Thanks everyone for the thoughful gifts. Sammy loved them all and it made him feel very special to be getting mail from his family and friends.

It was my turn to teach preschool last week. Our theme for the week- Cooking. We learned about the food groups and pyramid, talked about healthy foods, and attempted to cook together. Five 4 year olds are a little hard to organize into a cooking team but they did great. It was fun, but have I mentioned how I do NOT have the teaching stamina that is required to teach these crazy kids more than just 3 days every 5-6 weeks. Wow, maybe it had a little to do with my pregnancy state but I was exhausted come Friday and then I had to make up for all the things I neglected while teaching. i.e. cleaning! Yikes. It took days to pick up the mess.

Oh and Sam had his 4 year checkup this last week also:) He is doing great health wise and is 50% down the line in all his numbers. Way to go Sam! We love you buddy.

Last but not least- it snowed here. Are you shocked? Do you even believe me? Well, here are a few pictures to prove it. All taken from my front porch.

It was only a few inches and it was gone in 24 hours but it was perfect snow man snow and there were snow men everywhere! The power even went out for an hour or so just for kicks. What a novelty it was for the locals. It had been something like 9 years since their last snowfall. Ha ha ha, of course it snows while we are here. It was beautiful, but so was today and it's 65 degree weather. I am loving winter in the South!

Read more...

Alone time

I was just sitting at my dining room table staring at the calendar I have hanging on the wall. Today I wonder at how the days seem to all mesh together and yet move so slow at times. It's been a long week. Ryan has been gone for most of it, and between unrested children and rainy weather we've been inside a bit too much. Today we delivered birthday invites for Samuel's birthday, just to get out of the house. It was pouring rain. Needless to say we got wet, some of us more than others. One of the homes we stopped at had a huge puddle in the front walk. Sam didn't even hesitate, splosh splash. He was all grins until it dawned on him how much colder it was when soaking wet. He immediately suggested we go home and luckily we had only one invite left to deliver.

I haven't been feeling very well lately, but I don't mention it to complain. It has just made for a very long week and I do hope it passes quickly. Unfortunately, it's nausea and pregnancy related I'm sure. So chances are it's here to stay and hang out until this little miss is born. But the good news is it's not too bad and I can function and go about life as I normally would. I just feel yucky. I never got sick again with my other pregnancies but things have been a bit stressful lately. Then, add in some sick, tired kiddos and a husband with a very busy week keeping him away from home and things start going gray around the edges. I feel a bit like I have a little black rain cloud hovering over my head. It turns grey at night when I get to rest and relax a bit but the threat of rain intensifies when one of the boys wakes up coughing or upset about something. I am glad the week is coming to a close. Sometimes I worry the world is passing me by, and sometimes I wish I could hide somewhere while it passes. I am glad my rainy days are only slight colds and stressful decisions, for that I feel blessed.

Sam's birthday is in a week or so and he's already told me he wants a shark cake. So our party is going to be shark themed and I have shark cupcakes in the works. Birthdays are so exciting when you are young and so I hope to make it special for him. I can't really believe my Sammy is going to be 4. I guess I have another week or so to let it sink in.


A little silver lining:

One morning this week I walked into the boys room to get everyone up and after I said good morning to him, Sam smiled and responded enthusiastically with, "I knew you would come!"

Because Ryan has been away a lot his arrival home is pretty special. Every time he walks through the door, Russell will yell in a very low voice, "DAAAAAAAAAAAA!" and giggle as he runs to him. It's so funny, especially since he will do it to him even when he leaves the room for a few minutes and then comes back.

After announcing to me at dinner time that he did not like what I had made him. Sam then told me that it was a good thing I had put onions in it and then proceeded to eat all of the onions out of it.

While folding laundry this afternoon Sam came in to see what I was doing and asked what I was folding. It was his bed sheet I explained. "Oh, thank you so much Mom!" He said as he threw his arms around my neck in a big hug.

I had some time to finish reading Persuasion. I've seen the movie, but never read the book until now. Loved it!

Read more...