Yes, I’m back…did anyone miss me??!! I had a great weekend scrapbooking with some friends in the mountains. I’ll post pictures later. I got over 40 pages done and all of our 2005 family album done!
Liam had a recheck for his ears today…all clear. The claritin seems to be working! Yippee!
I am dealing with a tooth ache. It’s a lot better than it was yesterday but I went ahead and scheduled an appointment for the dentist for Wednesday. I hate tooth pain.
More later…
Well, mommy is nearly home, so it’s time to clean up all the spills, broken toys, and other signs of all the ruckus we caused while she was gone. The only problem overnight was when Zoe fell out of her bed. I guess the rain got her so knocked out that she didn’t sense she was too close to the edge. She was fine except for the scare, so I tucked her back in and we went back to sleep. This morning we were up, dressed, and out of the house by 7:45 a.m. headed for church, since I had to be at least present for sound check with the loaner sound board. All the kids were great and very helpful in getting out the door. Everything went well at church, except that I wasn’t able to go get Zoe and Ace so they could come in the worship service. After lunch and some roughhousing (and Liam being into everything), we headed for naptime. We are all excited about Mommy coming home today…she should be here very soon. This concludes the “Mommy’s Away” updates…your regular programming will resume shortly.
Mark
Well, our busy day is done…not much to do after naptime except eat supper and play outside for a little bit before the rain hit. One big rain so far and just a little bit of thunder and lightning. Looks like there is much more to come, though, during the night. That means Zoe will sleep very well.
Abbie seemed to be enjoying her trip. She said she had completed ~30 scrapbook pages. I really hope and pray those ladies have enjoyed themselves. They all deserve this kind of opportunity. It has really hit me these last two days the weight Abbie carries as she cares for the kids and takes care of our household. Even though this is not the first time I’ve had the kids by myself overnight, it’s always good for me to have this time with them as I remember and realize anew how wonderful and special my sweet wife is. She not only deals with all the questions and booboo’s and fits and attitudes and expectations and needs of the kids, there is a list of other thing she does, too. The list includes the following: planning meals, ensuring groceries are bought to fix those meals, regular doctor’s appointments, Zoe’s ballet classes, Zoe’s speech therapy, sick kids & the corresponding doctor’s visits, MOPs leader, her Character Creations card business, washing clothes, cleaning the house (except the floors), nourishing a -3 month old baby (that would be 6 months in utero, or ~26 weeks pregnant), etc., etc., etc., and last but not least putting up with me when I get home from work.
Thank you, Abbie, for all you do. Thank you for the love and devotion and care you show our family. Thank you for the example you are setting for Zoe. Thank you for loving me.
Okay, enough of the sappy stuff…Abbie’s back tomorrow…I’m sure she’ll post something about her trip eventually.
Mark
Well, our little super-troopers held out until about 9:30p.m. last night at the movie. I think Ace would have watched the whole thing (it had dinosaurs, cowboys, horses, lions, etc. in it), but Liam was “goofy-tired” and Zoe was just plain ready to go. We did outlast the Blands and the Ledbetters, though, so there’s something. They were finally asleep around 10 last night, but of course, they did not sleep in this morning. We got up, took a shower, got everybody ready, ate breakfast, did our chores, and were ready to go to the park at 10:30. We played there until about 11:30, then on the way, the kids found out they had Chick-Fil-A coupons for free kids’ meals in the goodies bags that were being handed out at the movie. A new church in the area was the sponsor and they really did a great job…not just the goody bags but they had Sno-Cones, popcorn, soft drinks, etc. in plenty. So, we continued past the house and had lunch at C-F-A, nearly free. The fun didn’t stop there, though…after we got in, the kids got their swimsuits on and we (I) washed the van. The kids mostly got themselves wet – lots of “Daddy, spray me!!”. Now everyone is asleep or quiet and I have washed the Saturn. On to other chores and duties…I’ll try to wrap up the day after they go to bed.
Mark
(No pictures because Abbie has the camera, but I did get some video of the them playing in the water, so you’ll see that later.)
Okay…you didn’t think I knew how to use this blog thing, did you….it’s me, Mark!
Today’s update is that the plumbing is ready for inspection, which means it is all tied in and tested, ready for fixtures, basically. Mr. Bill and couple of his guys also hauled off a bunch of the trash and extra wood that had been laying around, so the area looks a little cleaner.
Mommy’s away so Daddy & the kids will play…
We are planning to attend a movie at the amphitheater at our library…”Night at the Museum” is the movie. After much traveling (starting at 9 a.m.) for a stop at the bank, dentist’s appointments this morning (which went very well, Ace almost allowed himself to enjoy it), off to Miss Annette’s to see Mommy off, to Wal-Mart for groceries, over to the church to setup a temporary sound board (primary one quit), then home to hear the plumbers banging around under the house finishing up…the kids have been asleep for a couple of hours now. Time to up and fix supper and get ready for movie night! They were such super-troopers during all of our adventures today…I am very proud of them.
More later…
Mark
The plumbers came today. There was not much to take pictures of…just pipes sticking out of the floor. I’m not sure what all they accomplished, but they worked all day. I’m sure we’ll get a report from Mr. Bill in the morning. After making a slight change of the bath faucet/shower, Mr. Bill informed me that the plumbing under our house was done horribly! Yikes! Not sure how much more that will cost us. I prepared him that the electrical wasn’t any better but that Mark was going to fix that soon.
Mark will have to update on tomorrow’s progress…I’ll be off on scrapbooking adventures!
Have a great weekend.
Zoe and Mark are standing in the closet. It’s still hard to tell what is what…but we’re working on it.
At least that was what a total stranger told me in the check out line at the grocery store yesterday.
I ran to the grocery store while Zoe was in speech yesterday. A really quick trip since speech lasts 30 minutes. As I’m paying for what I needed, a man behind me noticed Ace and Liam (both acting wonderful…no fits at the time…which is how they usually act when we’re out). He said, “You’ve got your hands full.”
I was shocked by the statement, because two doesn’t seem like a lot when you have three. I turned around, then his eyes got big when he saw my belly. “…and another one on the way! Wow! You need a psychiatrist.”
What!?! I was so shocked then by such a rude comment. I didn’t quite know how to respond. I just smiled and told him that I actually had a 4 year old too. He stated, “They must drive you nuts.”
Now, I’m mad because I hate comments like that around my children. Especially a 2 year old who will repeat all that is said.
I really could barely get a word in edgewise he was so taken aback and continued to expound on how I didn’t get any “me” time (Babylonian mentality…”I am and there is none besides me.”). I tossled Liam’s hair and said they were blessings as I usually say when people start making comments about my children.
I thought the “me” time was funny. I wondered how much “me” time he actually got. As I was leaving, I started calculating in my head how much “me” time I got. I made sure to tell him I got naps and after they went to bed (which totals about 4 hours a day). He laughed made it out like that wasn’t a lot. Plus, ladies Bible study on Tuesday nights…that’s another 2 hours a week. Mark gives the kids baths (something we’ve done from the very beginning), that’s anywhere from 30 minutes to another hour. And this weekend, I’m going on a Birthday scrapbooking trip with 3 friends…that’s well over 48 hours. And then count in anytime I look at Mark after having one of “those” days and I get to leave the house or take a bath or hide in our bedroom for as long as I need. I’m wondering if maybe I get more “me” time than he realizes. And anyway, it’s not about “me” at all. God has blessed us with this ministry of raising children to learn to love Him. My job is to teach them about Him and to lead them to know Him. What did he do all day???
At church and in MOPS ministry, I’m surrounded by various families. They range from one child a family to 11! This was my first rude comment (aside from the jeers of, “Don’t you know what causes that?!” Wow! Now that’s original!)…about, what I consider to be, a medium sized family. I am going to start praying now that God will equip me to have “godly” comebacks to the comments about our sweet family He’s blessed us with. I know I had an opportunity to share with this man how God had blessed our family…how this was part of our calling…how my God time and ministry time to my children was more important than my “me” time. But, I was just not prepared for the comments that were made. Usually, the most I’ve gotten is “Your hands are full.”
Oh well! Praying for more preparedness for next time…and I’m sure there will be a next time. I know the kids are watching my reaction to those comments to shape and frame how they feel about our family.
Oh, and as I was leaving he said, “God bless you.” Well, He already has!!!
One of the guys got here about 7 and started working. Apparently, the other guy got sick on the way in. So, after an hour and a half of working, Mr. Bill sent him on to another site. However, in that hour and a half, he got the outside plywood walls up onto the frame! I didn’t get pictures because there was not a lot of time with ballet, speech, and a quick trip to the doctor (Ace has a sinus infection) and Bible study.
I forgot to add that when I talked with Mr. Bill on Monday, he sai all the work should be done in 4 to 6 weeks. I’m thinking about 10 just to give or take a few snags.
Framing started and the skeleton walls went up! Mr. Bill had to take the brick down. They were doing this when I got home from MOPS on Monday. The window was supposed to come out, but I think he is waiting to get some roof up before that goes.
My tub is here! It’s a garden tub. I’m excited. Mark said I’ll have to have a step ladder to get into it. This is the “bathroom” side of the addition.
Here’s the side of the addition.