Today my husband and I celebrated 14 years of marriage.
By eating Tres Leches cake and watching our wedding video with our 4 children!
It was perfect!
We went out to a nice dinner nearly 2 weeks ago for an early celebration when our church had Parents' Night Out, meaning easy, cheap babysitting! (With 4 kids flexibility about not needing to celebrate actually right on important dates is key!) When we were seated at a window table for two at that restaurant, our waiter excitedly motioned to the young couple sitting at a table just outside our window on the patio. "I hear that is a wedding engagement about to happen over there. Word is he's about to pop the question, so you guys may have the best seat in the house!"
And we did! Just after our meal as our dessert was served we got to see the whole thing, complete with the man leaving briefly and returning with his dog (dogs are apparently allowed on the patio of this restaurant) who was carrying a package tied with a bow around it's neck. The package turned out to be the engagement ring! I know! The guy definitely gets extra points for creativity and for having a really cute dog! She said "yes" and then his parents and her mom suddenly popped up and were taking pictures and hugging the newly engaged couple!
It was like a movie! Sweet and beautiful, even. But, I couldn't help thinking, the really beautiful stuff of marriage comes when the movie is over, reality has more than set in, and it is still good.
We ordered a new dining room table this past weekend after years of eating on a too small, totally beat-up by kids table for too long, so as I hit the confirmation button on the computer purchase screen, I looked up at my husband and said, "Hey, I know! This can be our anniversary present TO EACH OTHER!" My husband said, "Awesome!" Which is why we are a perfect match! I'm so glad neither of us has the love language of gifts!
Then tonight, at our actual anniversary dinner on our still-beat-up-until-the-new-one-comes-in dining room table with our 4 loud children, some of them still in their swimsuits from swim team practice, my husband asked each child what they were thankful for and the littlest one, the 4 year old we brought home to join our family from Ethiopia 17 months ago, she said she was thankful for her family.
And it was obvious to both my husband and I, that what we have is the good stuff!
This marriage, this family, all that God has blessed us with. . .
Even later after we'd answered a million questions from the children about engagement rings and bridesmaids and bouquet tosses and just when you know it's the right time to ask someone to marry you and they were all in bed and my husband was elbow-deep in dishes and I was scrubbing stains out of laundry, he joked that this was "quite the party".
And it is!
Find more Thankful Thursday here.
Showing posts with label marriage. Show all posts
Showing posts with label marriage. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Oh how I love a good project!
Why clean baseboards when you can paint them?We have two bathrooms lined with newspaper and blue tape.
A new coat of paint was very badly needed.
The current mess is definitely worth the likely results!!
And, I have the best arrangement worked out.
My husband tapes and I paint.
I so got the best end of that deal!
Seriously, I hate taping, hate it.
I think my husband knows I'd likely just skip that step, hence him taking it over!
Monday, February 14, 2011
What Love Really Is: Lessons from a Target Store
I rallied with the Valentine's Day preparations late Friday afternoon and headed to Target with all 3 of my kids so they could pick out Valentines for their classmates.
Imagine my delight to discover brand new carts at the Target! Oh, they were amazing in all their pristine plasticness, a new design without any metal at all!
My older 2 kids were grubby from all day at school plus an hour of playing in the backyard, the youngest still with the chlorine in his hair from swim lessons and the snotty nose he's been sporting every day for what feels like eternity but in reality is about 5 days! My 5 year old daughter is sitting in the baby seat of the cart. She's too big, but somehow fits her long legs in there. And me? I don't argue because the days of pushing my baby girl around in the cart really are numbered (assuming she won't squeeze her 13 year old self in there someday!)!
To add to the spectacleness of the kindergartner in the baby seat of the cart, she insists on taking off her slip-on shoes, so her bare feet are there dangling nearly to the ground, her 3 year old brother (the one who just wiped his nose on his shirt) is sitting behind her in the back part of the cart.
The 7 year old is looking at cards with me, grabbing them off the shelf faster than I can. "Here, this says 'For my husband,' on it; how about this one for Daddy?"
There are several other shoppers at the Valentine card display along with us, only they are more serious in their card selecting. They are determined to find the perfect card for their special someone and seemingly frustrated as each card fails to adequately capture how they feel.
I stoop down to peruse some cards at the bottom of the display
The 7 year old opens one and the song "Wild Thing" starts playing.
I cannot squelch my laughter.
And, there, crouching on the floor in the Target, I glance up at my motley crew of kids and think, "This is it. The life I never would have guessed I'd love! And it really doesn't matter which card I choose for my husband, because our love that has been through some real, messy, joyful, chaotic, blessed life and still says, 'I'm not going anywhere; we're in this together' is better than anything a card could say!"
Imagine my delight to discover brand new carts at the Target! Oh, they were amazing in all their pristine plasticness, a new design without any metal at all!
My older 2 kids were grubby from all day at school plus an hour of playing in the backyard, the youngest still with the chlorine in his hair from swim lessons and the snotty nose he's been sporting every day for what feels like eternity but in reality is about 5 days! My 5 year old daughter is sitting in the baby seat of the cart. She's too big, but somehow fits her long legs in there. And me? I don't argue because the days of pushing my baby girl around in the cart really are numbered (assuming she won't squeeze her 13 year old self in there someday!)!
To add to the spectacleness of the kindergartner in the baby seat of the cart, she insists on taking off her slip-on shoes, so her bare feet are there dangling nearly to the ground, her 3 year old brother (the one who just wiped his nose on his shirt) is sitting behind her in the back part of the cart.
The 7 year old is looking at cards with me, grabbing them off the shelf faster than I can. "Here, this says 'For my husband,' on it; how about this one for Daddy?"
There are several other shoppers at the Valentine card display along with us, only they are more serious in their card selecting. They are determined to find the perfect card for their special someone and seemingly frustrated as each card fails to adequately capture how they feel.
I stoop down to peruse some cards at the bottom of the display
The 7 year old opens one and the song "Wild Thing" starts playing.
I cannot squelch my laughter.
And, there, crouching on the floor in the Target, I glance up at my motley crew of kids and think, "This is it. The life I never would have guessed I'd love! And it really doesn't matter which card I choose for my husband, because our love that has been through some real, messy, joyful, chaotic, blessed life and still says, 'I'm not going anywhere; we're in this together' is better than anything a card could say!"
Monday, October 18, 2010
There is no longer a 5 year plan.
Some time very early in our marriage (or perhaps even before we got married, I can't remember now, it's been over 11 years) we had a long-term plan.
Very long-term, stretching a good part of 25 years or so.
It was detailed, too, with things like exactly when we'd buy our first house, have our first child, have our second child. . .
There was no third child in that plan!
And certainly no fourth child!
There was probably a trip to Paris and Hawaii in there, but definitely not to Ethiopia.
And adopting a child from Ethiopia? Would have been unfathomable to us eleven years ago!
My husband had in the plan one of the two of our hypothetical children getting a full scholarship to college (wishful thinking!), which helped the finances look a little prettier.
Then as life happened, which it always does, I think the plan evolved into more of a 5 year plan.
And as we more and more let go of our plans and began to earnestly seek God's plans for our lives, even the 5 year plan melted away!
And now?
I don't think there is even a 1 year plan!
We pretty much have no idea!
When we went to get our travel shots a few weeks ago the doctor talked about a certain vaccine we wouldn't need just for the 2 one week long trips that were on the agenda, but we'd need if we planned to spend any large amounts of time in Ethiopia in the next 10 years. I looked to my husband questioningly and he nodded that absolutely we should get the extra shot, so that when it's time for us to go be missionaries in Africa we'll be all ready to go!
So now instead of intricately planning our our lives, we are praying to "live a life worthy of the calling we have received." Eph. 4:1
But, the amazing thing to me is that as God has changed our plans, He also changed our desires. Things we wanted for our life eleven years ago not only don't matter anymore, but are actually things we don't want now!
God changes hearts and replaces earthly desires with heavenly ones. That helps to explain lines like this one from the Steve Camp song, "Run to the Battle": "Some people want to live within the sounds of chapel bells, but I want to run a mission a yard from the gates of Hell."
Very long-term, stretching a good part of 25 years or so.
It was detailed, too, with things like exactly when we'd buy our first house, have our first child, have our second child. . .
There was no third child in that plan!
And certainly no fourth child!
There was probably a trip to Paris and Hawaii in there, but definitely not to Ethiopia.
And adopting a child from Ethiopia? Would have been unfathomable to us eleven years ago!
My husband had in the plan one of the two of our hypothetical children getting a full scholarship to college (wishful thinking!), which helped the finances look a little prettier.
Then as life happened, which it always does, I think the plan evolved into more of a 5 year plan.
And as we more and more let go of our plans and began to earnestly seek God's plans for our lives, even the 5 year plan melted away!
And now?
I don't think there is even a 1 year plan!
We pretty much have no idea!
When we went to get our travel shots a few weeks ago the doctor talked about a certain vaccine we wouldn't need just for the 2 one week long trips that were on the agenda, but we'd need if we planned to spend any large amounts of time in Ethiopia in the next 10 years. I looked to my husband questioningly and he nodded that absolutely we should get the extra shot, so that when it's time for us to go be missionaries in Africa we'll be all ready to go!
So now instead of intricately planning our our lives, we are praying to "live a life worthy of the calling we have received." Eph. 4:1
But, the amazing thing to me is that as God has changed our plans, He also changed our desires. Things we wanted for our life eleven years ago not only don't matter anymore, but are actually things we don't want now!
God changes hearts and replaces earthly desires with heavenly ones. That helps to explain lines like this one from the Steve Camp song, "Run to the Battle": "Some people want to live within the sounds of chapel bells, but I want to run a mission a yard from the gates of Hell."
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Nothing says "wedded bliss" quite like a waffle maker!
Do you want to know how you know you've been married a while?
Two days before your 11 year anniversary at 2:30 in the afternoon you call your husband at work and say, "Hey, you haven't gotten me anything for our anniversary yet, right?"
Husband: long pause as he frantically looks to his calendar and then the date inscribed on the inside of his wedding band, thinking, "Is our anniversary today? Was it yesterday? No, it's Saturday, wow, I almost forgot!"
But, outloud he says, "No. . ."
Wife: "Good! Because I just found a gift I'd like to get as our joint gift to each other for our anniversary. It's only $38.29 on Amazon! And with our free trial membership of the Amazon Prime we get 2 day free shipping so if I order now it might get here on our anniversary."
Wife: pauses just in case husband would like to say anything.
Husband: "That sounds good."
Wife: "Do you want to know what it is?
Husband: "Well if you want to tell me or is it supposed to be a surprise?"
Wife: "No, I'd rather tell you because I don't want to get it and then have you get all weird about me buying a cheap one because a while back you said if we got one we should get a nice one. It's a waffle maker. You know I hate the idea of adding a new kitchen appliance or spending money, but we have thought about getting one for a while now and I just found a good homemade waffle recipe on a blog that I want to try and the kids would love homemade waffles a few mornings a week! The waffle maker is not as expensive as the professional ones but it has tons of 5 star consumer reviews that say it works just as well as the more expensive ones. It has this flip mechanism that really makes sense that it would cook a better waffle. I have to go take my mom to get her hair done, so I really can't talk, but what do you think, should I order it?
Husband: "Yeah, go ahead."
It just doesn't get any more romantic than that, folks! Seriously!
But, really it is perfect! Neither my husband nor I are real gift people. We've taken the test and it is not either of our love language. Praise the Lord because I don't know what I'd do if I was having to buy my husband little gifts all the time just so he felt loved!
So, by now in our marriage we pretty much run the gifts by each other first, you know, no use wasting money on something the other one may not really like!
And last year we went on a huge vacation for our 10 year anniversary so this year we already knew was gonna be low-key! And even I have to confess to almost forgetting it all together!
But the waffle maker saves the day, I got the shipping notice and it looks like we really may get it on our anniversary!
I can't wait for some homemade waffles only not with cheese like Mel does, nope, I prefer mine with strawberries, syrup, and whip cream! Yum!
Two days before your 11 year anniversary at 2:30 in the afternoon you call your husband at work and say, "Hey, you haven't gotten me anything for our anniversary yet, right?"
Husband: long pause as he frantically looks to his calendar and then the date inscribed on the inside of his wedding band, thinking, "Is our anniversary today? Was it yesterday? No, it's Saturday, wow, I almost forgot!"
But, outloud he says, "No. . ."
Wife: "Good! Because I just found a gift I'd like to get as our joint gift to each other for our anniversary. It's only $38.29 on Amazon! And with our free trial membership of the Amazon Prime we get 2 day free shipping so if I order now it might get here on our anniversary."
Wife: pauses just in case husband would like to say anything.
Husband: "That sounds good."
Wife: "Do you want to know what it is?
Husband: "Well if you want to tell me or is it supposed to be a surprise?"
Wife: "No, I'd rather tell you because I don't want to get it and then have you get all weird about me buying a cheap one because a while back you said if we got one we should get a nice one. It's a waffle maker. You know I hate the idea of adding a new kitchen appliance or spending money, but we have thought about getting one for a while now and I just found a good homemade waffle recipe on a blog that I want to try and the kids would love homemade waffles a few mornings a week! The waffle maker is not as expensive as the professional ones but it has tons of 5 star consumer reviews that say it works just as well as the more expensive ones. It has this flip mechanism that really makes sense that it would cook a better waffle. I have to go take my mom to get her hair done, so I really can't talk, but what do you think, should I order it?
Husband: "Yeah, go ahead."
It just doesn't get any more romantic than that, folks! Seriously!
But, really it is perfect! Neither my husband nor I are real gift people. We've taken the test and it is not either of our love language. Praise the Lord because I don't know what I'd do if I was having to buy my husband little gifts all the time just so he felt loved!
So, by now in our marriage we pretty much run the gifts by each other first, you know, no use wasting money on something the other one may not really like!
And last year we went on a huge vacation for our 10 year anniversary so this year we already knew was gonna be low-key! And even I have to confess to almost forgetting it all together!
But the waffle maker saves the day, I got the shipping notice and it looks like we really may get it on our anniversary!
I can't wait for some homemade waffles only not with cheese like Mel does, nope, I prefer mine with strawberries, syrup, and whip cream! Yum!
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
13 Ways God Has Spoken
Okay, I feel like I'm wading into deep waters here, but I'm going to share anyway.
One of my big reasons for keeping this blog, for investing my time in it, is because I hope it will someday, when the time is right, minister to my children.
There are many, many aspects of faith that my children are too young to digest right now. And the details around the concept of God speaking to them, like I shared in this post a couple days ago, definitely falls into that category of something I want to convey to them when they are older, but my diagnosis with cancer 5 years ago taught me (among many other things) that we have no guarantees about how long our stay here on earth will be.
I used to teach a Bible study for middle school kids, and I think that is just about the right age to delve into this topic in a very practical, real-life way.
So, to expound on my "God speaks" topic from earlier this week and record it for the day when my children are ready to hear it, here are 13 ways I feel God has "spoken" in my life:
1. His Word - this means the Bible. Open it, read it, study it. Over and over again. It is the biggest, guaranteed way God can speak to you. You will always learn something new! Use it to test all the other ways listed below to determine if God is really speaking. God will never "tell" you anything that contradicts what He has said in the Bible.
2. Daily Prayer Time - and not just once a day, but often throughout the day "talk" to God. Praising Him for good things and asking for help and wisdom for the hard things.
3. Nature - covered here on Tuesday, but nature reveals God in tons of ways.
4. Sermons - God has gifted and inspired many amazing Bible teachers. You can even download and listen to sermons from the Internet these days! ** Remember always test that what you are hearing is Biblical. The Bible warns that there will be false teachers (2 Peter 2:1-3)!
5. Circumstances - I prayed for my entire pregnancy with my 1st child about if I should go back to work after the baby was born. God showed me many subtle signs along the way, but spoke really clearly when at the end of my maternity leave it was pretty clear that if I returned to work as a consultant for the company I was working for, that I'd be staffed on an out of town project 2 time zones away from my home and my 12 week old baby. Those circumstances made it very clear that I was not going back to work!
6. Problems - As hard as they are, God does use problems to teach us.
7. Music - I cannot even count the number of Christian songs that have ministered to me!
8. Other people sharing what they have learned from God - again, be careful that you check everything against God's word, but God really can show you a whole lot through other people's wisdom. Seek out Bible discussion groups, blogs, Christian books, etc. that discuss the Bible and living as a Christian in today's world.
9. Answered prayer
10. Unanswered prayer
11. The Holy Spirit - some people refer to this as that "little voice inside" that tells you to do or not do something
12. "Coincidences" - strange things that happen, like praying about something and getting in your car and hearing a song that so perfectly relates, or sitting in church and realizing the sermon is on just exactly the topic you are struggling with.
13. Husbands - Girls, don't bark at me about this one, but I really believe, if you are married, that God is going to speak big things through your husband. 1 Cor. 11:3, "I want you to understand that Christ is the head of every man, and the man is the head of a woman, and God is the head of Christ." God has ordained men as the head of the household. This means when He wants to lead your family down a certain path, He will guide your husband, so you as the wife are to follow rather than trying to take the reigns yourself!
That last point is really a hard one to understand and accept, but so important. Just read Genesis ch. 16 for proof of how bad things can go when we wives try to take control of a situation that God has worked out between Him and your husband!
I know in my family I lead on daily things like what the children will wear to school, what we'll eat for dinner, and what kid birthday parties we'll attend. So it may appear that I "wear the pants", but for decisions that really affect the future of our family, I really try to just support my husband without voicing a strong opinion myself, so he is guiding the decision for our family.
A few years ago we faced a big decision about moving to a new home. We were happy with our old home, but it was not zoned to an elementary school we wanted to send our kids to. Instead of telling my husband that we should move, where we should move and just exactly what kind of house I wanted, I researched our options.
I looked into the magnet programs at other local public elementary schools that we could apply for our children to get into without moving. I looked into the costs of private school. As my husband and I talked over our 3 options of taking our chances getting into a magnet program, paying for private school, or moving to an area where we'd be zoned to a good school, I truly was willing to go with any of the options. I didn't have, nor express a strong opinion about any 1 of the options, and felt sure God would work everything out no matter which option we went with. And I prayed for clarity for my husband to ultimately make the decision.
My husband went to the computer, plugged in the odds of our getting into certain magnet programs, the cost of private school tuition times 3 kids, and emerged from the spreadsheet about 10 minutes later declaring, "We've gotta move!"
I am so thankful he lead with that decision and many others in our 10 year marriage!
My husband needed a new car (as in his wouldn't even pass inspection) a few months ago and I said, "Go, get whatever you want." The salesperson was incredulous that my husband was able to buy a car without his wife so much as seeing it!
And now as God is steering our family down a particular road for our future. I am confident that it is God speaking because He is speaking through my husband. And do you know what? It is louder than I've ever heard Him speak directly to me!
Find more Thankful Thursday here and Thursday Thirteen here.
One of my big reasons for keeping this blog, for investing my time in it, is because I hope it will someday, when the time is right, minister to my children.
There are many, many aspects of faith that my children are too young to digest right now. And the details around the concept of God speaking to them, like I shared in this post a couple days ago, definitely falls into that category of something I want to convey to them when they are older, but my diagnosis with cancer 5 years ago taught me (among many other things) that we have no guarantees about how long our stay here on earth will be.
I used to teach a Bible study for middle school kids, and I think that is just about the right age to delve into this topic in a very practical, real-life way.
So, to expound on my "God speaks" topic from earlier this week and record it for the day when my children are ready to hear it, here are 13 ways I feel God has "spoken" in my life:
1. His Word - this means the Bible. Open it, read it, study it. Over and over again. It is the biggest, guaranteed way God can speak to you. You will always learn something new! Use it to test all the other ways listed below to determine if God is really speaking. God will never "tell" you anything that contradicts what He has said in the Bible.
2. Daily Prayer Time - and not just once a day, but often throughout the day "talk" to God. Praising Him for good things and asking for help and wisdom for the hard things.
3. Nature - covered here on Tuesday, but nature reveals God in tons of ways.
4. Sermons - God has gifted and inspired many amazing Bible teachers. You can even download and listen to sermons from the Internet these days! ** Remember always test that what you are hearing is Biblical. The Bible warns that there will be false teachers (2 Peter 2:1-3)!
5. Circumstances - I prayed for my entire pregnancy with my 1st child about if I should go back to work after the baby was born. God showed me many subtle signs along the way, but spoke really clearly when at the end of my maternity leave it was pretty clear that if I returned to work as a consultant for the company I was working for, that I'd be staffed on an out of town project 2 time zones away from my home and my 12 week old baby. Those circumstances made it very clear that I was not going back to work!
6. Problems - As hard as they are, God does use problems to teach us.
7. Music - I cannot even count the number of Christian songs that have ministered to me!
8. Other people sharing what they have learned from God - again, be careful that you check everything against God's word, but God really can show you a whole lot through other people's wisdom. Seek out Bible discussion groups, blogs, Christian books, etc. that discuss the Bible and living as a Christian in today's world.
9. Answered prayer
10. Unanswered prayer
11. The Holy Spirit - some people refer to this as that "little voice inside" that tells you to do or not do something
12. "Coincidences" - strange things that happen, like praying about something and getting in your car and hearing a song that so perfectly relates, or sitting in church and realizing the sermon is on just exactly the topic you are struggling with.
13. Husbands - Girls, don't bark at me about this one, but I really believe, if you are married, that God is going to speak big things through your husband. 1 Cor. 11:3, "I want you to understand that Christ is the head of every man, and the man is the head of a woman, and God is the head of Christ." God has ordained men as the head of the household. This means when He wants to lead your family down a certain path, He will guide your husband, so you as the wife are to follow rather than trying to take the reigns yourself!
That last point is really a hard one to understand and accept, but so important. Just read Genesis ch. 16 for proof of how bad things can go when we wives try to take control of a situation that God has worked out between Him and your husband!
I know in my family I lead on daily things like what the children will wear to school, what we'll eat for dinner, and what kid birthday parties we'll attend. So it may appear that I "wear the pants", but for decisions that really affect the future of our family, I really try to just support my husband without voicing a strong opinion myself, so he is guiding the decision for our family.
A few years ago we faced a big decision about moving to a new home. We were happy with our old home, but it was not zoned to an elementary school we wanted to send our kids to. Instead of telling my husband that we should move, where we should move and just exactly what kind of house I wanted, I researched our options.
I looked into the magnet programs at other local public elementary schools that we could apply for our children to get into without moving. I looked into the costs of private school. As my husband and I talked over our 3 options of taking our chances getting into a magnet program, paying for private school, or moving to an area where we'd be zoned to a good school, I truly was willing to go with any of the options. I didn't have, nor express a strong opinion about any 1 of the options, and felt sure God would work everything out no matter which option we went with. And I prayed for clarity for my husband to ultimately make the decision.
My husband went to the computer, plugged in the odds of our getting into certain magnet programs, the cost of private school tuition times 3 kids, and emerged from the spreadsheet about 10 minutes later declaring, "We've gotta move!"
I am so thankful he lead with that decision and many others in our 10 year marriage!
My husband needed a new car (as in his wouldn't even pass inspection) a few months ago and I said, "Go, get whatever you want." The salesperson was incredulous that my husband was able to buy a car without his wife so much as seeing it!
And now as God is steering our family down a particular road for our future. I am confident that it is God speaking because He is speaking through my husband. And do you know what? It is louder than I've ever heard Him speak directly to me!
Find more Thankful Thursday here and Thursday Thirteen here.
Friday, May 8, 2009
What is a vacation?
I once heard a pastor speak on how important it is to have getaway time with you spouse. He said, "If I packed up my wife and 4 kids and we headed to Hawaii for week, that would not be a vacation, it would be a family trip. Now, if just my wife and I headed off for a week in Hawaii, now that would be a vacation!"
My husband and I are heading off for 6 nights in Maui to celebrate our 10 year anniversary!
Since we had 3 babies in 4 years, we have only had short, close to home getaways without the kids in the last 6 years since our 1st child born. And we have been talking about this Hawaii trip for a long time. But I think I saw it as more of a dream thing to do for our 10 year anniversary rather than something we'd actually do! But my husband arranged it all in the last couple of months!
All that being said, I wouldn't be honest if I didn't admit I have mixed feelings about the trip. Obviously it is a dream trip. I've never been to Hawaii and neither has my husband. It will be a trip of a lifetime. This will be a glimpse back to our pre-kid days, the whole 4 years we were married and traveled freely and often! The vacation will be an investment in our marriage. And growing up in a home where my parents had a horrible marriage, I know what a gift a loving, stable, strong marriage is for the kids! Let's face it, when you have little kids they are very consuming, taking over your entire life, and allowing you only 20 second conversations with your spouse before there is an interruption! So having time just the 2 of us will be amazing!
But, I have never left my kids for this long. And however tiring and annoying they can be sometimes, I really truly enjoy being around my kids most of the time! I will miss them, perhaps terribly! Also, the next week will be busy in terms of kid activities (but what week isn't, right?), so the logistics of planning for someone else to do it is hard. And then there is the worry that they will miss me, and the worry that they will not miss me.
My husbands parents are coming to stay with the kids at our house, so they will be in very good hands. Now I just hope they don't run screaming out of the house when I show them the schedule for each day, complete with all the running around to deliver or pick up somebody from something multiple times per day! But the house is stocked with groceries, it is fairly clean, all the wash is done and the meals for the next week are made and in the freezer, just ready to be thawed and heated.
Actually, maybe I want to stay home after all, that kinda sounds like a vacation week to me!
Oh wait, the toddler wants to sit on my lap while I'm trying to type this and eat my cereal. And he has a poopy diaper! Okay, maybe I do need a vacation, if only to be able to eat breakfast without the smell of poop in my lap!!!!
I have set some old posts to rerun this coming week. I know most of you have not been reading since the beginning, so hopefully they will be new to you.
And there will be some exciting bloggy fun when I get back! On the agenda -- the Jillian Michaels - 30 Day Shred
, every day, for 30 days, no exceptions, no excuses!!!! If you want, get the Shred yourself (and some hand weights and a mat) and join me for the start of the 30 days on May 18th. Because there is camaraderie in pain!! And I'll also begin potty training my 2 year old and blogging about it. Oh the excitement of it all! I just don't know how you'll contain yourselves!
My husband and I are heading off for 6 nights in Maui to celebrate our 10 year anniversary!
Since we had 3 babies in 4 years, we have only had short, close to home getaways without the kids in the last 6 years since our 1st child born. And we have been talking about this Hawaii trip for a long time. But I think I saw it as more of a dream thing to do for our 10 year anniversary rather than something we'd actually do! But my husband arranged it all in the last couple of months!
All that being said, I wouldn't be honest if I didn't admit I have mixed feelings about the trip. Obviously it is a dream trip. I've never been to Hawaii and neither has my husband. It will be a trip of a lifetime. This will be a glimpse back to our pre-kid days, the whole 4 years we were married and traveled freely and often! The vacation will be an investment in our marriage. And growing up in a home where my parents had a horrible marriage, I know what a gift a loving, stable, strong marriage is for the kids! Let's face it, when you have little kids they are very consuming, taking over your entire life, and allowing you only 20 second conversations with your spouse before there is an interruption! So having time just the 2 of us will be amazing!
But, I have never left my kids for this long. And however tiring and annoying they can be sometimes, I really truly enjoy being around my kids most of the time! I will miss them, perhaps terribly! Also, the next week will be busy in terms of kid activities (but what week isn't, right?), so the logistics of planning for someone else to do it is hard. And then there is the worry that they will miss me, and the worry that they will not miss me.
My husbands parents are coming to stay with the kids at our house, so they will be in very good hands. Now I just hope they don't run screaming out of the house when I show them the schedule for each day, complete with all the running around to deliver or pick up somebody from something multiple times per day! But the house is stocked with groceries, it is fairly clean, all the wash is done and the meals for the next week are made and in the freezer, just ready to be thawed and heated.
Actually, maybe I want to stay home after all, that kinda sounds like a vacation week to me!
Oh wait, the toddler wants to sit on my lap while I'm trying to type this and eat my cereal. And he has a poopy diaper! Okay, maybe I do need a vacation, if only to be able to eat breakfast without the smell of poop in my lap!!!!
I have set some old posts to rerun this coming week. I know most of you have not been reading since the beginning, so hopefully they will be new to you.
And there will be some exciting bloggy fun when I get back! On the agenda -- the Jillian Michaels - 30 Day Shred
, every day, for 30 days, no exceptions, no excuses!!!! If you want, get the Shred yourself (and some hand weights and a mat) and join me for the start of the 30 days on May 18th. Because there is camaraderie in pain!! And I'll also begin potty training my 2 year old and blogging about it. Oh the excitement of it all! I just don't know how you'll contain yourselves!
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