Easter weekend rambling...

I tend to find our house seeped in drudgery right now. Food needs prepared and dishes washed three times per day.  Laundry is in a constant state of needing attention...if it doesn't need washed, it needs folded and taken care of.  Diapers must be washed every other night.  Meals need planned.  Lessons need to be studied and prepped.  Children need corralled so that lessons can occur.  Diapers need changed.  Bills need paid.  Budgets need analyzed.  Each day is a bit like groundhogs day with the same tasks facing me every morning.  The end is in sight.  Jut will be done with school in 28 days...but for now, it is 4 more weeks without a break for this weary mom.

However, I got a surprising break this weekend.  I wasn't anticipating the break...it almost felt like a vacation.  It was so nice...so relaxing.  My soul was able to relax and recharge a bit.  I can push ahead and manage these last four weeks.

Our weekend started with breakfast out with my family.  We had fun relaxing and chatting.  Some friends and relatives dropped by to say 'hello'.  It was a great start to the morning.  Then, a friend of E's invited us over for an egg hunt.  It ended up being just us and the host family.  It was fun.  We don't get to socialize with non-church friends very often.  It was really fun to get to know this family. We had a great time.  We shared lunch with them and watched the kids play outside.  It was just a nice, relaxing time.

We took the kiddos home for rest/nap time.  I ran out and did some last-minute Easter shopping without any tag-a-longs.  Shopping without kids is sheer bliss. Restores the soul.

Afterwards, we headed out to Mom and Dad's for supper and egg painting.  Pizza is always good.  Egg decorating is always a crazy event...but goes better when Mom and Aunt Stacey help.  The kids played outside with the dogs.  They worked on their 'nature center' making it even better than last year by adding shelves.  Exciting times.

This morning started with an Easter basket search.  Then, we headed to church.  Afterwards, it was lunch at Mom's and an egg hunt.  E was an expert egg finder...X did pretty well.  C didn't understand what all the fuss was about with those silly plastic eggs.  He just wanted to run outside.  However, he was envious of the jelly beans when the eggs were opened and then kept trying to open the eggs.

After the excitement died down, C crawled up in Mom's arms and promptly cuddled in and went to sleep.  Jut, my parents, and my grandpa decided to take C's example and snooze.  The older two got some coveted IPad time and everyone recharged.

We had a bit of supper and headed home.  The kids went to bed and here I sit with my feet up...very relaxed...no dishes...no laundry...no menial household tasks (minus the diapers in the wash) for two days.  Lots of fellowship and fun.  This weary mom is feeling relaxed, recharged and ready to face the next hectic week.  God is good.

The First Visit(s) from the Tooth Fairy

On January 29th, E informed me that she had 2 loose teeth.  She had been waiting for that day for at  least a year...and it was finally here.  Well, Jut and I, as super parents, said, "Don't touch it or wiggle it.  Let nature do its thing.  Your adult teeth will push it out."  Our very first-born traitish daughter followed our words to a T.  She didn't touch them...waiting for 'nature to do its thing'.  Well, fast forward to two weeks ago (March 7th).  We went to the dentist.  The hygienist and dentist looked at the teeth and claimed it was time she started wiggling those babies and get them out of there.  Her adult tooth was in on the bottom left but it came through completely behind the baby tooth.  They thought that she'd have them out by night if she started wiggling and playing with them.

On March 12th, the kids were getting ready for bed.  I asked E if she'd like me to pull out her tooth.  I had been playing with it for her a couple times in the previous days and had been getting it to bleed a bit but it was still hanging in there strong.  She said, "yes".  So I gave it a twist and a tug and out it popped.  She said that it didn't even hurt.

So, we cleaned it off a bit.  Put it in her 'kiss-kiss' box and put it by her bed on a little shelf.  In the morning, the tooth fairy had left her a piece of gum, a golden dollar coin, a quarter, dime, nickel and penny.  The tooth fairy also sprinkled 'fairy dust' all over her shelf and pillow.

She had more fun carrying her box with all her 'goodies'.  It was her first piece of gum and she thought that was pretty cool.

Then, she decided to see if the 'fairy dust' could make her fly.  She put on some fairy wings, and she kept sprinkling her 'fairy dust' on herself and jumping off the furniture.  She claimed it made her jump higher and farther and that she was really flying.  It was hilarious.  She was adorable.  I'm glad that there weren't any ladders leading up to the roof of the house!  She was so excited about it all.

So, now that she knew what to expect from the whole losing a tooth thing, she started really working on that second tooth.  We were at Mom and Dad's on Saturday night (the 16th) and she sat the whole time working on that tooth.  By the time we left, she had it just hanging on.  She told me that she didn't want me to touch it because she was going to pull that tooth out.  Well, when Jut was brushing her teeth, he asked her if she wanted him to pull it.  She said 'yes'.  He grabbed her tooth.  She jumped and the tooth came right out.  Bye-bye tooth number two!  It was easier than the first.

So, the tooth fairy came again with the same trade for the little baby tooth...and now E has quite the gap in her little mouth.  So cute...getting so grown up.  .

An interesting tidbit:  Her first bottom tooth came in 11-12-07 and her second was on 11-14-07.  I guess since they came in within 2 days...it makes sense that they both came out within 4 days.  :)

Ramblings...

The last time I took a month break I could blame it on impending motherhood, but that's not the case this time.  Life is just busy and exhausting and Jut needs the computer for school stuff when I have in the inclination to post.  .

However, he should be finished with his degree in eight weeks, I think...maybe seven since it is Friday.  That will be nice...however, life won't slow down at that point in time.  It will probably just get crazier...as we are going to buy a house, remodel (fairly extensively, if the bank agrees) the house, and move.  I get hives just thinking about it all.  It would be so much easier just to stay here and rent forever.  But, I know the pros will definitely outweigh all the cons once we are living there, if only we could just skip to that part.  

Some fun news...E is about ready to lose her first two teeth.  We visited the dentist yesterday and they told us the teeth should come out any day.  She just has to start wiggling them more.  (We told her to leave them alone and not rush them...but it is time for them to be out...so now she needs to be wiggling!)  Her first adult tooth has broken through.  We can see it on the bottom left side.  Exciting times...but sad too.  Her smile will never be the same again with her cute little baby teeth.  I want her to grow up but it is bittersweet as it happens so fast.

To go to the dentist yesterday, E dressed up all in white.  When I questioned her about her outfit choice, she replied, "I'm going to the dentist, so I'm going to dress up like a tooth!"  When I told her hygentist and the dentist, they exclaimed that they'd never had anyone do that before.  E grinned like the Cheshire cat.  She thought that she was so cool.  Sometimes, she still is my adorable little girl.

We've joined a homeschooling/play group in the past month.  It is an insane group of children.  The oldest is seven.  The youngest is about seven months...and there are about 10 kids between those two ages.  It is wild and crazy but the kids LOVE it.  It is fun to see other moms and chat.  So, that has been quite the adventure.

Homeschooling is going well.  We compared some work samples from Sept to now today.  It was fun to see how much she's progressed.  She'll be finished with her reading curriculum by the end of April.  Her math will be finished by the end of March.  I'm going to have to get creative and find some fun extension activities for her this spring.  She reads all the time.  I'm still getting use to her mentioning what different signs around town say.  It is fun to watch the world of words for her.

C has been ill.  He ended up at the dr last Friday and was diagnosed with a double ear infection, an eye infection and respiratory junk.  Today, X ended up at the dr and was diagnosed with a bit of bronchitis, a double ear infection and dehydration.  So, there are 2 bottles of antibiotics hanging out in the fridge.  Fun times.  We've had a miserable winter as far as sickness goes.  There was a month in Dec/Jan where someone was throwing up every week (or more) and February brought all this respiratory junk.  I'm ready for spring.

The fun news of the house is that my children are officially obsessed with Star*Wars.  They started playing Angry*Birds Star*Wars.  They drove Jut crazy with their inaccurate knowledge of Star*Wars based soley on the game.  Finally, he couldn't take it anymore.  So, they have now watched bits and pieces of Episodes 4-6 and a bit of 1.  X loves Chewy.  We had to make the "No wookie noises at the table" rule this week.  E loves Princess Leia.  They refer to C as R2D2.  I get to be Queen Amadalla.  Jut is Vadar.  Fun times.  E's creative writing for school is themed 'Star*Wars', the story was 'Frozen Yoda', actually.  I hear that everyone wants Star*Wars b'day parties and Star*Wars Halloween costumes...everything revolves around it right now.  They have even started playing the Wii because Jut has a Star*Wars video game.  However, that is hilarious to watch.  Jut tries really hard to not get frustrated as the kids do their crazy things with their characters, as he is actually trying to do something in the game.  Makes me laugh every time.

So, that's a snippet of life around here...Star*Wars, snot and school...that pretty much sums life up.

On our Walk Through the Woods on a Snowy Evening