things of this past week

my rollarcoaster commitment to journalling (it's a new word) must be in another slow spot. Always with momentum, just sometimes less than other times. (as in, once a week, instead of the nearly everyday that I am sometimes guilty of.)

Anyway. things of this past week.

Lent began. Notable for me because of the blissful enjoyment I get from reading my aunt's commission to write everyday. Her incredible talent with words takes form through her blog and incredible memories and stories come to life. It's inspiring, emotional, entertaining and spellbinding in the way that only a master storyteller can do. Read it, I promise you'll love it. coriconnors.blogspot.com

Playdate with grandma and grandpa. We surprised grandpa with a dinner picnic, since he was working late at the lab. The girls were remarkably well behaved compared to their normal crazy, full of energy and showing off selves. We ate dinner together and then grandpa donned the newly tanned buffalo hides and proceeded to chase them around the room. And by chase, I mean plodded along on his hands and knees while the girls squealed and ran and giggled with delight. After several laps, they decided he was a nice "buf'lo" and proceeded to pet him, climb on him and then take turns being the buffalo too.

Had a quick parent teacher conference with Butterfly's preschool teacher. She showed me some of her recent projects and her wonderful teacher was full of compliments and praise for our brilliant little girl. She said that her letter recognition is especially good for her age, her coloring is exceptional (she stays in the lines better than any kid her age that I've ever seen), she's eager to involve her classmates and sensitive to someone being left out and that she thrives when being given a job and getting to help. SO proud of this amazing kid.

Had a check up with my doc so I took AngelBaby with me while the big girls played with a babysitter. She showed off for the doc and was full of big smiles and happy jabber. But the real reason this excursion was fun is because AngelBaby and I went to visit family after the appointment. We got to see Gram and some of the favorite aunties and thoroughly enjoyed our brief visit. They got to cuddle the baby, we got to talk and it was wonderful.

As a side note, AngelBaby has another new nickname. Butterfly and I were holding the baby as Ladybug came pattering down the hall. Having just woken up from her name, she wandered quietly and hesitantly so I called, "come here Ladybug, come cuddle" (as I often do). Butterfly continued to pat the baby and cooed to her, "are you my Ladybug? no, you can't be Ladybug, you're the baby!" I asked her what we should call the baby. she replied, "hm, I think the baby is your flower. Then I can sing to her" and she launched into the song from Disney's Tangled "flower, gleam and glow..."

On Friday night we drove up north and met my parents and sister for some errands and dinner and a Chinese restaurant. My big girls bounced off the walls, eating some of their dinner but mostly enthralled with the discovery of chopsticks. Ladybug held them in one hand while using the other to shovel lo mein into her mouth but Butterfly diligently worked at manipulating them. She tried hard, repeatedly asking her Papa for help until she abandoned his method and settled for using a single chopstick to spear her food. It was much more productive.

We arrive late at Grammy and Papa's house and stopped for a few minutes before continuing on to my brother's house where we crashed for the night. The girls were so excited at bedtime because the got to sleep in their cousins' room but both of them ended up awake and crying and coming to my bed in the middle of the night. I didn't mind, sometimes it's nice to have that cuddle time with them.

Daddy stayed home to work so Butterfly went with her uncles and cousins to Lowe's Build and Grow workshop. She had a great time and came home eager and proud to show of her creation--a Valentines bud vase. Meanwhile, we kept the younger girls at the house to play. The girls had a blast playing with their cousins all day. And then in the evening, we had a "dippin dinner" (fondue but with individual servings of sauces--it's works out better that way with so many kids trying to share). The food was plentiful and delicious, the company was wonderful and it was, all in all, a great evening. After dinner we decided to head home. In part because we realized some of the kids were sick and we were worried about exposure and partly because we missed daddy. So we drove home, showered to get rid of any chance of our getting sick too and settled into bed.

more on that--in the end everything was okay and it's not really worth mentioning except it was a good "mom moment" for me. When we first arrived, we realized my nephew had a rash, possibly shingles. His parents were being cautious but not overly concerned. However, I put up a fuss, concerned about my five month old baby and her immature immune system. Without a confirmed diagnosis, I didn't want to take a chance on my baby developing chicken pox which can be pretty severe and dangerous at her age. So my nephew had to sit out on the family activities the next day, staying home with Grammy rather than coming over to play. I felt bad, worried that perhaps I overreacted and not wanting him to have been left out if it turned out to be nothing. But I instinctively felt that I needed to protect my little one. Grammy reported that his condition worsened through the day and by evening, his parents took him to an instacare clinic. The doctor diagnosed him (and his sister) with a staff infection. I feel so bad for them! But am so glad to get a diagnosis and get them the treatment they need. As for my family, I felt much better about my overreaction and we all followed doctor's orders for a proper disinfection to eliminate any chances of sharing their misfortune. (Yea for trusting your instincts and sticking up for them, even when you might just be overreacting.)

Sunday was slightly less chaotic than our usual craziness, which made for a really nice day together. After our late night arrival and disinfection party, we slept in, had breakfast, played, went to church and then dashed home for a quick dinner and a visit from our home teachers. After that, Daddy's sister came over and we spent the evening having dessert and playing games.

Monday started early, after one of those rare but unfortunately rough nights for AngelBaby. But we muddled through our usual monday madness of picking up the clutter and running errands--the highlight of which is taking Ladybug to the store where she will undoubtedly insist on picking out a doughnut for Daddy. It was an especially good doughnut run though because we had good timing and even got to stop and play for a few minutes, rather than our usual quick drop off.

For Monday evening, we rededicated our commitment to a formal Family Home Evening program and it actually went rather well. Ladybug was easily distracted but we managed to accomplish what we wanted to do. Butterfly loved helping me make a dessert and was adorable as she proudly served it to her Daddy and sister. After dessert, I put the baby to bed and then we had some blissfully sweet cuddle time with our big girls. Daddy and Ladybug took up one couch while Butterfly and I cuddled on the other as we watched a movie. It was one of those perfect moments that I want to capture and hold onto forever. It wasn't really anything special. It was rather simple actually, but serene and wonderful, uncharacteristically calm and cuddly and the perfect chance to hold my fast growing little girl.

Today was more of the normal chaos, a quick trip to the gym, a playdate with a friend, folding ridiculous quantities of laundry, more indulgence of my new tv addiction Scrubs, continued neglect of the overgrown pile of paperwork that I was supposed to file three months ago (it's my dark secret in my otherwise slightly neurotic behaviors), slowly working at filing our taxes, going to my monthly Bunko party (I love Bunko night, I get to hang out with some amazing ladies), cuddle time with my girls and now blogging. Yet another productive day.