The things kids say...

So, last night we were sitting down to supper (Chick-fil-A...thank you, honey!), and Katherine (the youngest) had a runny nose. After she came back to the table from wiping it, she commented, "My buggers taste like pee in the frying pan."

Progress is a beautiful thing

Children ARE getting better.
Monday, Leah stayed home.
Tuesday, Justin stayed home and Leah came home early.
Wednesday, Justin and Leah stayed home
Thursday, Justin, Leah and Heather stayed home.
Friday, Heather stayed home.

I am HOPING that everyone will be back in school on Monday.

Meanwhile, some scenes from our week...
Today, I'm running...birthday parties, a field trip (that the husband had to go on), house cleaning, and a Brew Group... Busyness is us.

Sickness Update

Will this NEVER end?!?

Today, I ended up staying home from church with a sick child...entering week #4 now...theoretically, this COULD last a LOT longer...we still have 3 kids that haven't gotten sick at all yet...ugh. Pray that we all get better SOON...I don't know how much more of this I can take!

Tonight, Jason took the oldest 3 to Winter Jam...sure wish I could have gone...last year was a LOT of fun!

This afternoon, there was SNOW! Didn't last long, didn't stick, but it sure was coming down for about 2 minutes!!

More sickness...

I am SO tired of having sick people in the house. We're on week 3 right now, and have 2 kids sick still....and a third one just came back in saying he wasn't feeling well. Jason has been sick now for 3 weeks. This HAS TO end soon!

So I haven't been on here for a while...understatement. I got to do a bunch of running around on my birthday...we had all kinds of award ceremonies at the elementary school...
Justin made the Principal's list with straight As...and had perfect attendance.
Heather made the Honor Roll and had perfect attendance.
Leah had perfect attendance...1st graders don't have the opportunity to make Honor Roll. Unfortunately, the teacher didn't get her name on the list, and we didn't get to take any pictures.

The school has this really cool mural...Katherine loves it!

That night, some really good friends surprised me with a portable party...complete with cake, candles, soda, and balloons. Then, they took me out for dinner and coffee...and a couple of hours of fun an laughter.

Work has been CRAZY...trying to keep with sick people, messy house, AND loads of work...please forgive my absence from my blog. I WILL be back...hopefully soon!

But I don't FEEL like deep cleaning...

This last week has been awful. Sick people all over the house, trying to carry on, despite the fact that most of us *should* have been in bed. The stomach yuckies, sinus drainage, nausea, diarrhea...yeah, we've got the whole nine yards. Not going to rant about the inequity of not wanting to infect others, but there not being any grace/mercy/available time to take off from school and/or work. Suffice to say I'm frustrated. AND, I HAVE TO get busy doing some clean-up, so people stop getting sick one of these days soon!

So, today is my birthday, and we're not feeling much like celebrating here...too many sick people....and this is not really a birthday I am much in a mood to celebrate. Feeling just a little old now. Guess I need to change my "About Me" section, since I'm no longer a "thirty-something".... My mom made me cry with the card she sent with some memories of the day I was born. At least I am not feeling as bad as I did the day I turned 30!

Okay, time to go get the rest of the family up and evaluate how many sick people will be staying home today...

I LOVE my handsome husband!!

My Wonderful, busy, loving husband really surprised me last night with a beautiful birthday present.



Thank you, Honey! I LOVE YOU!!

(and the chain broke today...grrr...)...

I FINALLY did it!!

Many, MANY months ago, I made a public promise to clean my desk...I don't know why. Perhaps it was the thought that publicly humiliating myself would actually prompt me to break with my nature, and actually STOP procrastinating. I don't know. I DO know that I FINALLY have done it...only somethingn like 8 months LATE. Ahem. At least it is done. My husband is happy.

So, before pictures (and let me add that it was actually MUCH worse than this...I just didn't get pictures today before I started):

****UGH****I can NOT find the picture I was looking for...believe me...it was AWEFUL. Think one HUGE pile of papers completely covering my whole work surface, periodically falling on me or off the sides of the desk.

And after pictures:
And THIS is what I took OFF of there...the SAVE box:


And the shred pile....AFTER we'd already shredded almost 2 bags full:


I'm feeling productive today!!

Who gets the blame?

When the weather forecast doesn't actually come true, who gets the blame?

When the schools are canceled for a day on the "chance" of winter weather, and nothing happens, who gets the blame?

When the storm hits somewhere other than it was predicted, who gets the blame?

Always, the meteorologist gets blamed. It's not his fault. He can only give an educated guess...but really, it's not his fault. After all, he has NO control over the weather, at all. THAT would be God's venue...but no one wants to blame Him...except when trying to get money out of the insurance company.

So, I have decided that I would NEVER want to be a meteorologist, weather guy (or gal), or even play one on TV.

Which job would you avoid at all costs?

Highlights of the weekend

We had a pretty good weekend...any weekend that involves a clean house, pizza, company, ladies' brew group, and a classic practical joke had to be fun!

Friday was fun. The kids were all off of school for the day, so a couple of friends came over, bringing more kids and lunch...and STARBUCKS!! They did dishes, fixed lunch, rubbed backs (oh, yeah!!!), and we generally had a really fun day. Child #3 left at lunch time to go spend the night with her friend.

Saturday started with my ladies' Brew Group, which was a LOT of fun...and an ongoing challenge to implement GRACE in our daily lives through our study of Chuck Swindoll's book A Grace Awakening.

When I got home, Jason was busy setting up his newest toy...a 26" flat-screen HDTV with surround sound. I got to help with things like creating a shelf for one of the speakers and tacking the wiring up on the wall. Lots of fun. Then Jason had to go get Child #3 from her friend's house (a WAYS away) and hurry back in time to 1) pay for and pick up the "new" car for eldest daughter, 2) drop eldest daughter off at babysitting job, and 3) make it to our couples' Brew Group on time. Yeah...it all worked out...except for the part where he actually brought Child #3 home with him. Nope...drove all the way out there and left her there for another night...after giving her $20 to help out with things like dinner.

So, we paid for ($900 CASH) the "new" car, drove it home and parked it. Later that night, we played musical cars and parked it in the garage.

We DID make it to our Brew Group on time....barely....and without supper. Which was okay, because there ARE usually snacks and we planned to go out afterwards. The study we are doing is Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University....and let me tell you...it is EXCELLENT. I am SO stoked about getting out of debt and staying that way....and I think for the first time, Jason is too!

So, while we were at Brew Group, Jason got a text message from the mom of the girl Child #3 was staying with, saying "{Child #3} bought a dog." We both thought it HAD TO be a joke, so his response was "I hope it is stuffed." to which she responded, "not so much." Through the course of the conversation, she gave a few details (very few), and we were starting to think we were really going to end up with a dog in the house. On the way home, we talked about what we were going to have to do...we're only allowed two pets at a time, so we were going to have to get rid of one of the cats (anyone want a beautiful tortoiseshell calico who is scared of her own shadow?), and plan to make a run to Walmart after church on Sunday, when Jason picked them up.

Church Sunday was really pretty uneventful, though a really quick review of many of the same points we had heard in Brew Group just the night before. On the way to church, I had a discussion with the children about getting rid of the 'fraidy-cat...and Child #1 was crying about getting rid of "her" cat, but she did talk to someone at church who might be able to help us... ...and then everyone hurrying home to get ready for their various Super Bowl Parties...including the kids and myself.

We had to finish the whole furniture juggling process that had begun the day before with the introduction of yet another TV to our house...(I am embarrassed to say we now own 5 TVs). We finished that, swept, vacuumed and got everything picked up. Jason was supposed to be picking up Child #3, yet again...and getting home before the company started arriving around 4:00. No Jason. Guests arrived. No Jason. Yeah, he was late to the party that HE planned. GRRRR...I hate it when he does that!!

He finally got home and filled us in on what happened.... It seems that Child #4 HAD bought a dog...NOT a stuffed on, but a PEZ dog. Yeah...they really had us going...good practical joke, though I really wanted to strangle *someone* when it was all over....

So, our party was fun...pizza, ice cream, sodas, cookies...we had a blast, even though a bunch of people couldn't come and our team didn't win....it was still a good game. And there WERE a few good commercials. (Oh, and Bruce? He looks good for his age, but he's definitely NOT young any more!!)

How was your weekend? Any good parties?