Gardenin' Fools!

It has been so rainy here the past couple of weeks that when the sunshine comes out, I just want to celebrate by getting my hands into the earth! We have put off renovating our gardens for all of the 7 years we've lived here, because we continually have a plan for adding on to the house and subsequently re-finishing the outside somehow. I figure the gardens will be pretty well destroyed in that whole process, so I've just let the weeds take over. Well you know what? I'm no longer willing to stare at weeds! I decided we'd just weed and plant one tiny section at a time until our yard looks like the English cottage garden I've dreamed of. We started with 8 small flowering plants, and we're slowly but surely weeding one little patch at a time in our front bed to make way for one plant at a time. So far we've got 2 planted and though they're sparse, they're infinitely more beautiful than the grass and weeds previously residing there. Praise God for His beautiful botanical creations!!

Oh, darn!!

I woke up with a slight sore throat and some major congestion. I worried it could be strep since the kids had it last week, but then wrote that off since I had other cold symptoms and no fever. Well, now I do have a fever and feel pretty awful! UGH! I scheduled a dr appt for first thing tomorrow morning, because if this IS strep, no way am I waiting it out. I'll feel pretty dumb if it's just a cold but even dumber if I wait and end up even more miserable than I am now!

Will I be a boy?

We were in the car and had just gotten Happy Meals for the kids (I asked for all "boy toys" since Caris wanted a spy toy, not a Trollz doll). Caris said, "Mommy, when will I be a boy?" I said, "You won't, honey - God made you a girl." She was pretty bummed to hear this news! LOL!

Phase Two

The kids & I went to Home Depot this morning and chose two shades of blue for the boys' room. One is really dark and will be the backdrop for their "outer space" wall with stars and planets. The other is a medium blue that will hopefully complement the outer space wall nicely, without being too dark. I put the first coat of paint up on the outer space wall. It's a GREAT color and the boys love it! Malachi even got excited - hooray! Hopefully the paint will dry quickly enough that I can put the 2nd coat on sometime tonight. It might even need a third coat. Bleh, lots of work, but to be expected with such a dark paint.

Alif's so cool

This morning Alif handled the kids while I "slept in" (amidst much ruckus, but still - I was in my bed) until 8:00, and guess where they all are now? Out to breakfast! I love my husband!!

ROFL Graham!

Graham is not suffering the same sadness as Malachi with this bedroom changing-around. He said earlier, "This is the most fun day EVER!"

Just now, as the boys watched Stuart Little, he said to Malachi, "That was a so short party, huh?" And I realized, there IS a party on that movie that is so tiny, and how funny that he recognized that! He's got Alif's powers of observation when it comes to movies, I guess.

Shakin' Things Up

I've thought for some time that it might be a good idea to switch the kids' bedrooms. The room Caris is in is bigger than the boys' room, and the boys' room has white paneling on the walls that was darling for their nursery but cuter for a little girl's room than a big boys' room. This is rather an involved process, because the beds will have to be disassembled and reassembled, ceiling fans switched, walls repainted, curtain rods moved, etc. We began the first segment of the move today - moving the stuff. This is a way bigger feat than I'd imagined, and we're only about halfway through. Yikes! We'd moved a few of the boys' cabinets over, and I set Malachi's karate bag on top of his dresser (a picture of he & I was on his dresser in their old room). He tried convincing me that he'd rather have the picture on the dresser and the bag on a cabinet, and I tried to counter-convince him that no, the bag would be lots better on the dresser. All of a sudden he dropped his head and started to cry quietly. In that moment I realized what a drastic change this really is for him! We moved to this house when he was 7 months old, so his old bedroom is the only bedroom he's ever known. I put the bag aside and set the picture where it had been and comforted and held him, knowing how really hard it is to make big changes. I asked him just before Quiet Time, would he rather have Quiet Time in his old room (in his own bed) or in his new room, and surprisingly, he said he'd like to have it in his new room, with some blankets and his pillow on the floor. He'll come around, and their new room is gonna be so cool he won't be able to help but to love it, but I need to be patient in the meantime!

That was quick!

Those antibiotic shots are very powerful! The kids are just about back to normal today! No one has a sore throat at all, and Malachi's rash is much improved. I feel a little congested and tired and am praying I don't get it!

Sick Indeed

All 3 kids have strep throat. All 3 kids had huge antibiotic shots. I hope all 3 kids are like new by tomorrow!

Sick kids

My kids & I have been sick for the last few days. Caris and I had colds - hers worse than mine. Graham had a sore throat and a bit of a fever. Malachi has a very sore throat, a low-grade fever (about 100.5) and he's just very, very lethargic. I'm actually afraid he may have strep, so I will have him seen today. It's no fun being sick!

8 years

We've been married 8 years today! Wow!

It's Monday!

Mondays always feel so refreshing to me. It's like a new start each Monday.

Last night Alif & I taught the 2/3 Sunday School class. It's our first time teaching and I was admittedly rather nervous, but it went just great! We had a good time, the kids had a good time, and we're looking forward to next week. We'll teach this class for 3 months.

I did not do any of my usual "deep-cleaning" on Saturday, so I'm doing that in between schoolwork today. So far the living room is done. LOL It's not 10:00 yet so I guess there's no room for panic, but I really would like to have the house clean today.

Tonight I have a meeting at church for CrossRoads' first VBS! How exciting! I have such fond memories of VBS as a kid, and I look forward to building those same memories for my own kids.

Yesterday I realized that next summer ('07) Malachi will go to his first summer camp! How weird is THAT? He is going to love it so much! It will probably feel like 5 of the longest days of my life without him here.

Weaning

Several months ago I came up with a plan for weaning Caris. I decided to get her set up on four nursings a day, then cut down one per month until we were down to one, and then spend another month cutting that one back to nothing. At the time this whole process seemed soooo slow and gentle, and the end seemed very far off. Well wow, it's March and she's down to one a day, first thing in the morning. It's so weird for both of us every time we cut one out. It's such a part of our daily routine! Last night was the first time putting her to bed without drinkie, and it was actually very nice. Everything was the same (kissing and hugging daddy etc.) but then I just carried her off to her bed, tucked her in, prayed with her and turned on her frog (it plays a tune for about 30 seconds), just like at naptime. It went perfectly for her, but weird for me. Today at nap she cried for a few seconds about wanting drinkie, but I assured her that she'll have drinkie tomorrow morning. How weird - and sad - it will be when there isn't that assurance any more. :*( I told her that when she is ALL done with drinkies, we will go and pick out her VERY OWN new cups, and she can have her milk in those special cups. I guess that will have to be our big deal. It feels totally false to celebrate her weaning when it really is a sad thing for both of us. I want to say it's bittersweet, but it's not sweet; it's just sad. Nonetheless though, it would make no sense to pump for 8 days while I'm in Scotland for an almost 3-year-old, so wean we will. Sigh . . . why do babies have to grow up?