My Dad is a Pro, Kids who lick feet, and Easter Wonderfulness

Days in the Life


Monday morning I missed my alarm (I think I turned it off in my sleep) and woke up 15 minutes late when a text came through. Thankfully, I still got my workout in before Sofia arrived and I received another text reminding me to turn up the thermostat. I possibly, probably, most likely would have completely forgotten about that without the text.

Sofia was fussy the moment she arrived and very quickly woke up the whole house. That was the opposite of my morning mission... Mom and Dad came up to my room and "rescued" me. Dad was the one to finally get her to sleep. He is a pro.

Sofia slept for 2 and a half hours and woke up happy. That made everyone happy. (But not any less tired...)

In the afternoon Aron came over to help me with math. I was so confused by the practice tests. 

It was affirming to discover why they were so frustrating. We found errors throughout the tests. So really I'm smarter than I thought I was after I took the tests which made me think I was not as smart as I thought I was before I took them. 

Then I got to deal with communicating my experience with the company. Not the fun part, if you were wondering. But, nonetheless, the kind thing to do. 

After an hour and a half, Aron suggested we put math away and eat brownies. I liked that. 

Then he beat me three times at ERS. I still love that game.

I babysat for small group that night and drove Nana home afterwards since Grandfather had an Elders' meeting.

I love reviewing an ordinary day to find that in the ordinary are blessings and joys and frustrations and things to laugh about and reasons to sing to the Lord for He is good, His mercy endures forever, and His love is never failing.

Tuesday Great I'm drawing a complete blank.What in the world did we do that day? It was not that long ago, I should know this. It must not have been very exciting since I remember NOTHING.

Well, I'm pretty sure Mom and the littles went to Bubble Land. I know Sofia did not come that day. 

Chloe worked. Dad had a meeting. 

Oh yeah! 

Mom had to take Christian to CareNow because he got poison ivy on his face. It required a shot, but he was fine. 

When they got back Mom and the littles left. 

So Christian and I had the house to ourselves some, which means we played music and I studied in the living room. 

I blogged late afternoon. 

Mom, Dad, Chloe, and Christian went to our community college to meet with a dual credit advisor. 

I made dinner. 

I don't recall anything significant taking place that evening...except, oh! Christian challenged me to an arm wrestle (after requesting that I flex my arms for him) and I beat him four times. He wasn't able to get me down. That's not that significant, but it might be considered interesting and it is notable because I'm sure the days I can still beat him are numbered. 

Wednesday morning spirit and body feeding before work: 

Calvin was so cheerful this week! He took a three hour nap in the morning so I was able to take care of communicating my issues and the errors we found with math to the company who wrote the study material and practice tests, as well as get some other work done. 

At home I exercised, then took a self-improvement/inspirational(?) book outside to read for about 30 minutes to try to get some sun. When I went back inside I already had tan lines. No sunburn. I was very pleasantly surprised. Mom got to practice not being jealous. 

Mom, Sofia, and the littles went to Mia and Gabe's gymnastics class and then the library. Sofia did not fully appreciate the gymnastics class experience. 

Mom and Dad went out for a date in the evening and Gabe entertained us at dinner with his incredible air guitar skills. It was about that time that I realized I'd not eaten anything all day since lunch aside from some snack thing while at work (and that was not because I was hungry). Don't forget to eat lunch. It's a bad idea. 

After dinner we watched "The Willis Clan." 

My foot had not hurt at all all day so I told Mom and Dad I thought it would be a great idea to go check out a trampoline park the next day, then go play basketball at the park, and finish the evening by going dancing in high-heels. My idea was vetoed. *wink* In all honesty, though, I'd have loved to go play basketball and then go dancing (just not in high heels). The trampoline park thing, however, is not my idea of fun.

Thursday I had Sofia from about 9:30 until she left. 

Mom, Christian, and Ava left about 10:00 to go help with a funeral and then go to an orthodontist appointment. 

Ava getting snuggles before she left.

I got new flowers for my room from the garden!

How to pour milk with one hand:

Sofia had a great day, she took good naps, was hardly fussy at all, rolled over a couple of times, and was very sweet. I like her a lot when she is happy. When she is screaming...i like her a little bit less. 

All afternoon I blogged and caught up in my journal. It felt really good to be current. 

Then all the kids came to my room to talk. I very much enjoy all of them. I can't even imagine what life would be like without a lot of siblings, and I'd never want it any other way. Siblings make the best friends. Push hard through the times you feel like they are your enemies (hopefully you never feel that way, but if you do), the relationships on the other side are well worth the time, effort, and prayer you put into them. 

Dinner was every man for himself (so I may or may not have forgotten about eating) and we finished the night with "The Willis Clan." 

Friday Sofia did not come and we all slept in. Everyone had a pretty normal school morning (aside from starting later, obviously) and Dad had a meeting after lunch. 

I did a math practice test by another company and finally passed! I was very relieved. 

Mom and I went to the community college to speak to an advisor and turn some things in for me and the others. Then we stopped by Kroger to purchase flowers for Sunday. 

It was a beautiful afternoon, so Christian and the littles enjoyed throwing discs outside. Everything is so green! Spring is my favorite season. Hands down. Except for the weeks where it just rains. But y'all already knew that.

That night I babysat Kate at her house, except that she was already in bed so I just read for a majority of the time. And told the dogs to "sit, lay down, stay." 

One on either side of me.

Saturday it was all-hands-on-deck to get the house tidied and cleaned, and the yard groomed. The inside work didn't take all that long, actually, and then we got to arrange all the flowers to go all over the place. The yard work took a lot longer, though. 

Chloe made 64 (give or take) cookies to take to church.

Easter outfit. 

Mom, Gabe, Ava, and I left early to go to Costco, then met the others at church about 5:00 so Dad, Mom, and I could be a part of a graduation meeting to discuss what that will look like. I will be graduating alongside two other girls in the church. 

The service was such a sweet blessing as it is every week. And afterwards there was an actual sit down meal provided for everyone. All babies were removed from my arms so that I would actually eat.

Sunday morning we did not have too much to do, aside from some food preparation, to be ready for our church-wide Resurrection Sunday celebration. People began arriving about 11:00 and most everyone was gone by 4:00. 

So many pretty flowers!

Getting the food ready.

We had food out the whole time, with a coffee bar, and people ate as they felt like it, and visited. The weather was beautiful so the kids played outside quite a bit. We also did some English Line dancing on the driveway. 

After everyone but Aron left, we got everything cleaned up and then enjoyed time with Nana, Grandfather, Aunt Lauren, and Uncle Phil. 

We played games, almost napped on the couches, watched our recording of the time we put on "The Taming of the Shrew" in our attic theater, and eventually decided we were hungry and so pulled out leftovers for dinner and watched "The Fifth Avenue Irregulars." 

Dad did an egg hunt for the littles.

It was a wonderful Easter. 

I've Been Pondering...

When I think about what Christ did for us I am torn between wanting to sob in gratitude and wanting to run dancing and singing for joy. His grace is astounding.


That Moment When...

Dad is the one to finally rock the screaming baby to sleep.

You decide that doing a workout titled "Brutal Booty" would be fun.

You realize the "Brutal Booty" workout was not fun.

Dad is sitting at the kitchen table with his robe pulled over his mouth and nose to block the coffee smells.


The Herd: Quoted 

"It's just a small discomfortation. You are fine, baby!" -Me to Sofia who had the hiccups.

"Discomfortation? That is not a word." -Chloe

"It's a disconvenience." -Me correcting myself.

"Have you had coffee yet today?" -Chloe

"No, there is a cold cup sitting upstairs on my nightstand." -Me

*Mom and Dad start laughing*
"What happened?" -Children as they come running.
"Nothing, I said something that made mom laugh and then she said something that made me laugh and the moment is over." -Dad laughing at us.
"Yup, children do that." -Mom joining.

"My foot has not hurt at all in 3 days!" -Me 

"Next time it hurts let me know and I will pray for it." -Mia 

"I'll lick it." -Gabe 

"Ok, I'll have my tongue on your ankle while I am praying." -Mia 

"My toys are not what makes me happy." -Ava 

"You are chattering like a squirrel, it's time for you to go to bed." -Mom
"Really? I'm not tired..." -Me
"Said the two year old who then zonked out in the car." -Dad

Four hours of math, Check engine, and Choked by fumes

Days in the Life

Monday morning we were all ready for the great painter invasion...and then they texted that they were not coming because of truck trouble. That was just after we acknowledged that this week would be a week of being flexible, fluid, and happy to go with the flow.

So we continued on with our day.

Mom and the littles met friends at a zoo for a good part of the late morning and into the afternoon. I took charge of Sofia who had not slept for Mom at all prior to her departure.

At 11:30, though, I fed her a bottle and within seconds of finishing it, she was out. 

She proceeded to sleep for 3 and a half hours. 

Dad had lunch with someone and Chloe, Christian, and I worked on our own things at home. 

That night I babysat for the small group.

My foot hurt the entire day and the pain had moved into my ankle as well. It was hard to sleep that night because of that and a couple other things. 

Tuesday morning I woke up at 6:00 to be ready for Kate to arrive. Both she and Sofia were given into my care when they arrived so I got to finish getting ready for the day with both of them playing at my feet. I loved it. 

Kate was "helping" make my bed. 

Walking down the stairs- don't fall, don't fall, don't fall. 

(Holding both of them didn't last much longer than 5 minutes.)

Aron arrived before any of the rest of the kids were awake to make us pancakes for breakfast. I made green smoothies so it would be a balanced meal. 

Kate and Sofia were both model babies all morning. 

After we all ate together, me dripping syrup on Kate, who had eaten her own breakfast and still wanted bites from my plate, the babies went down for naps and the rest of us discussed possible day-trip plans for the coming weeks. 

The kids threw discs outside with Aron for a bit, while I iced my foot. Then some people went over to the little house. Kate was awake again so I stayed home. 

Also, the painters arrived and scattered to work all over the house fixing water damage, a guy showed up at our door wanting to talk to Dad, and a couple other random guys came down the driveway. It was rather a crazy morning. 

I realized after I took the picture that 

we probably should not let Kate play with library books. 

We don't really do "spring break," but since Aron was here Mom told the kids they could blow off school for the day. They were, of course, all for it. Except Mia, who asked to do her math during rest time in the afternoon. 

There was time for a "deep discussion" when people returned from the little house. Then Aron headed out and we ate lunch. 

Kate went down for her afternoon nap about 1:00 and since I'd slept badly, gotten up early, and my foot was hurting, I decided to take a nap too. Just right about that moment I made my decision, the painters knocked on my door asking to work in my room. So I went downstairs to do much needed math review. Doing math when you are tired is a bad idea. 

Very quickly, however, Mom had to leave for an appointment, and Sofia, who had decided that naps are overrated, was given to me. Then Kate woke up. So I got neither a nap, nor math accomplished. Oh well. *smiles* 

How are they so cute?

She wanted to share her food with me and the baby.

After Sofia left, I fed Kate more and then braided her hair and turned on music for her. 

She loves having her picture taken. 

I got to put dinner together then, while trying not to cry about my foot. That was the worst it had hurt and it was not fun. 

My room in upheaval for the painters.

We had a mostly quiet evening with a visit from Nana and Grandfather to see the progress around the house. 

Wednesday morning the painters arrived and Mom, Sofia, and the littles left to go meet friends at Bubble Land. Meanwhile, I escaped next door to study and take a practice math CLEP test. 

I finished it, not super-pleased with my score (it was much lower than I had excepted based on my confidence working problems on my own and how I felt about it as I was taking it), and came back home to eat lunch.

After talking with Dad, I decided to study my trouble spots and take a second test right away, so I headed back next door with a double chocolate chip cookie, because that makes math more bearable. 

I finished that one and it was even harder (probably because I'd already done 3 hours of math so far that day and was tired) and I still didn't do great. So I went back home to discuss it with Dad and then put math away for the day. Four hours is a long time. And math is not my favorite. My hope had been to be able to pass at least one practice test and then schedule the real one for the next day, but we decided not to do that. 

Aron came to pick Christian up so they could go play disc golf and then go to their guys' group. 

Chloe returned from work and we loaded up my car with books and stuff to take to donate. We took the books to a huge, old, recycled books store to try to sell them. While the staff looked through our boxes we walked around. Neither of us purchased any books (I already have a huge stack waiting to be read sitting in my room), but it was so fun to walk around and look at stuff.

When they were done looking, we took the ones they didn't want, along with the other stuff and dropped it all off to donate. 

Mom made a deal with us a couple years ago that if it ever got above 82 degrees outside during the winter, she'd buy us milkshakes. So far it has done that every year since and we very, very rarely get milkshakes any other time, so we all remember that deal. 

It got above 82 on Monday, so on their way to Bubble Land, the others picked up milkshakes. Driving home, Chloe and I decided we still wanted ours, so we each purchased our own and sat down in Chick-fil-a to enjoy them and talk. 

I like the Oreo one. 

This is Chloe and when I told her so she said, "Inescapably." 

When we got home I had a few minutes before I turned around to leave to go get Christian. 

My room was supposedly finished, but when I went to see it, I found the painters had accidentally used the pink paint that is in the little girls' room to patch where they had fixed water damage. So I let Dad know and prepared for at least one more day of my room being a "mess." (It wasn't that bad, actually, I was surprised that it didn't bother me that much. I didn't enjoy not having it the way it normally is, and having to stay out of there most of the time, and having to dig through my closets to get to stuff that I'd had to put out of the way, but I was able to adjust appropriately and just chose to not let it bother me. Two years ago, though, that would not have gone over so well.) 

As I was driving down, the meeting place for where I was to get Christian changed. Two people called me and I pulled over and formed a new plan. It worked out fine and went right along with "a week of being flexible." 

I ended up going to a Starbucks near the In n' Out Christian was at and caught up in my journal until Aron and Christian arrived and we headed home. 

When we got home around 9:00 I remembered I'd not eaten since lunch (a milkshake and coffee does not count as dinner) so I ate real dinner and iced my foot. Then, for the first time in a long time, I read for almost an hour before going to bed. I had forgotten how much I enjoy that. But I remembered why it doesn't happen often anymore, I kept almost falling asleep. 

Thursday morning the painters arrived early and got started painting the living room and the stairway. My room was still not done and it was raining. I decided I wanted to form spontaneous get-out-of-the-house plans. 

It's so cool to read World Magazine and see my Uncle's picture!

Progress!

Mom needed me to care for Sofia while she and the littles did school. As soon as they were done, though, and had eaten a quick lunch, they took Sofia and headed off to Bubble Land again. 

Chloe's hand is yummy. 

After Sofia left, I got ready and headed to get copies made for Dad and then go blog and study at Starbucks...at least, that was the plan. 

I got to Staples, after fighting unexpected traffic, and realized that my check engine light was on. So I got the copies made, then rushed to Starbucks (because I'd had a lot of water to drink that morning), and finally settled at a table to text Dad and find out what to do. Unfortunately, what to do was leave right away and go get my car looked at. 

I took my mocha with me in the car and waved hopes of blogging and productive study time goodbye. 

After getting on and off 35 three times and making several U-turns, I finally got going the right direction and took the correct exit. I totally knew where I was and where I was going, I just wasn't paying attention. 

Thankfully, the car repair place was not busy, and a simple oil change took care of the issue. 

Chloe and Christian left for Debate early to go pick up Christian's wallet from the restaurant he left it at the night before.

I headed home to turn around again once everyone else returned and go pick up Aunt Cendei to meet Aron for dinner at Babe's. 

We all had a lovely time at dinner. 

Friday morning Mom woke up with her hip hurting so badly that she could hardly move it. Dad took care of Sofia until I was ready for the day, then left for a meeting. The painters arrived and finished all their work by mid-afternoon. We were so excited. And slightly choked by the fumes. 

When Dad returned just before the painters left, we formed a plan for the evening. It was a clean-and-put-the-house-back-together party! With everyone working, it didn't take too terribly long to get rid of the layer of dust over everything and vacuum and put furniture back where it goes. It felt great to have stuff back to normal. 

Chloe is funny.

Flowers for my room! 

When we were finished I ordered Papa John's Pizza and left to go pick it up while everyone else finished a few other things and got ready for bed. 

I finally tried one of the spicy peppers that comes with the pizza and I really liked it! I like some spicy things, but I didn't think I would like it as much as I did. 

Dad and Christian watched "U571," Chloe and the littles watched "Star Wars, episode I-have-no-idea," and Mom and I watched "The Devil Wears Prada." 

Saturday was wonderfully quiet with no strange men working all over our house. We kept windows open to help with the fumes, though, and Dad was still working on getting his office back together. Mom's hip was totally fine! 

I spent the morning sleeping in some, having my Bible time, sipping coffee, dreaming, praying, and catching up in my journal. 

After my shower I finished this drawing. Very rarely do I take the time to draw something that is not a portrait. I enjoyed this! 

We all left for church at 4:30. Christian and I were a part of the pre-service worship and prayer time, which merged right into the actual service this week. The others went to Costco and arrived in good time. 

One of the many babies I hold at church. 

If I don't have a baby, people start asking me what's wrong.

Sunday was very restful compared to the previous week. 

We had our brunch meal as usual and then rested in the afternoon until Aron arrived about 4:00. 

The plan had been to go eat at the Cheesecake Factory, but Mom and Dad were both dragging, so Gabe, Aron, and I were sent to pick up food from the Cheesecake Factory. 

Nana and Grandfather joined us as well and we set out all the food to eat family style. (That just means, we had several entrees and everyone got what they wanted for their own plate.) 

While we ate, we watched "Phantom of the Opera" which is another family favorite. We'd not seen it in a while, which made it even more fun. At least half of us sang along quietly at different parts. Mia declared that the Phantom must have crossed over to the "dark side." 

My foot did not hurt at all all of Sunday, until I jumped over the couch... Don't do that if your foot has been hurt for the past three weeks. It's a bad idea. 

That Moment When...

You perfectly parallel park without hitting any cars.

You donate the laundry basket that was just supposed to be holding stuff to donate.

Your "check engine" light comes on.

Mom drops her mascara wand on her shirt, it slides down to hit her sweater, and then lands in her lap. (Eye makeup remover took care of the mess.)

Dad shakes a paint can vigorously and then realizes it wasn't sealed.

You are the first one to go to bed and find out that at 9:00 it's still loud enough in the house to make falling asleep slightly difficult, but not impossible, if you are tired enough for some unknown reason.


The Herd: Quoted 

"Last night, when I was laying awake, I was trying to think of something I could do to bless everyone. I couldn't think of anything that was quiet." -Mia 

"Oh, those need to not be I front of me." -Mom referring to the box of donuts. 

"Get thee behind me!" -Chloe 

"Wait, is it April?" -Me 

"No, March." -Christian  

"Oh whew!" -Me  

"Buddy, will you forgive me for the times that I have not been a good mom?" -Mom
"Sure! But, you've been a mom for 18 years now, how come you're not good at it yet?" -Gabe 

Sunshine, Ice is cold, and Meeting five guys for lunch

Days in the Life...


Monday began our week of spring rains. And storms.

I had been limping since Tuesday morning and my foot hurt if I bent it, twisted it, stood for too long, moved quickly, etc. So I pretty much just walked around slowly, not bending my foot. It worked fine.

I attempted to do an upper-body workout that morning and was able to do most of it as long as I did push-ups on my knees and one-footed planks.

Mia reading to Sofia. How?!

Dad needed me to run an errand for him late morning, just as the power went off in our house. It was out for about an hour.

In the afternoon I spent some time doing a coloring page with Ava, one of the "adult coloring page" thingys. It was fun!

We had to move small group to Monday night because of some unexpected plans on Tuesday.

This time we had pasta, salad, and lots of desserts with chocolate.

It was pointed out that I should probably be icing my foot (didn't think of that...), so during our sharing time someone sat me down with ice and a timer. Pretty soon I was in need of a blanket as well. Ice is cold! And John Wayne was tall.

Tuesday morning Kate and Sofia both came. We wondered if Kate would be jealous if I held Sofia some too. She surprised us and actually loved her! All day Kate called for "baby" and wanted to know where she was. It was pure adorableness. 

During Kate's morning nap I iced and elevated my foot. 

The rainy view. 

Me: "My babies!"

Ava: "I want to hold one." 

Mia: "Babies! Babies! Babies!"

Kate: "I want to sleep and eat at the same time." 

Sofia: "I am awake. Ask nothing more of me." 

More icing during lunch. 

Not my idea of fun. *Shivers*

After lunch we all settled in the living room and sort of danced. Because I couldn't, Kate didn't want to and the others wouldn't because Kate wasn't. 

We gave up and went to hang out in Chloe's room before naps. 

Elevating my foot. 

Once both Kate and Sofia were in bed, Chloe and I talked about her four fantasy/science fiction/fairy tale novel ideas. It all sounds highly complicated and confusing to me (I can hardly read books from those genres as it is), but I was happy to give equally complex plot twists and ideas. Even if my ideas made no sense to me I was sure she'd be able to translate. 

I told her to get to writing them because the worst that could happen would be that she would have a series of four novels that her family and friends would enjoy reading and the best that could happen is she could become like C.S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien and have biographies written about her in which the story of her older sister's great encouragement and motivation would be a favorite. Either way, the outcome is not bad! 

The sun came out! 

I was so excited about the sunshine I grabbed the laptop and sat on the floor by the door in the patch of sunlight to study. 

After Kate woke up from her nap she was looking for Sofia, who had left. She was sad that "baby" was gone and it was so cute. 

While I braided my hair and threw on a little makeup, I enjoyed remembering a whole year ago when I first started watching Kate and I had to hold her while getting ready. Now she stands next to me and pulls open my drawers and says words. Time flew so fast and she isn't even my child! 

Mom, Dad, Chloe, and Christian attended a Dual Credit meeting at our local community college in the evening. Aron came over to "help me babysit" (by the littles' request). We traded my ironing 13 of his shirts for his babysitting fee. (I seriously love ironing, I was thrilled.) 

The kids tried to teach him The Virginia Reel, but ended up playing games and just listening to music until dinner time. Then they watched "Alvin and the Chipmunks." (I was still ironing, but in the room.) 

Wednesday morning I cared for Calvin. 

Mom took Mia and Gabe to their gymnastics class, which they thoroughly enjoyed. Mia got hurt, but was brave enough to not need Mom! 

I got to leave work a few minutes early and was going to just go home, but decided I probably should go work at Starbucks for a bit. 

Trying to get as much sunshine as I can. That would be none.

I thrive on sunshine. When it rains I often get headaches and feel very sleepy regardless of how much sleep I get. 

I know rain is important and I love how green everything gets after it rains and the smell of rain is so sweet, but sunshine is my favorite. 

Because I seem to always be smiling many people have given me the nickname Sunshine. I love it. 

God is the source of my joy and happiness (regardless of the weather) and wherever I go I want to be shining for Him, reflecting His light. That's why I say I want to be a ray of sunshine everywhere I go. 

I was struggling again with the rain. I took a morning nap during Calvin's nap and had a headache off and on and needed to study, but had no energy. 

I was going to go home (probably to take Aleve and sleep more), but I felt like I should go to Starbucks and work instead. 

Of course I was sleepy and forgot to order decaf coffee. (If I have much caffeine after noon I usually then have a hard time getting to sleep at bedtime.) But when I looked at my cup to check whether or not it was caffeinated, in place of my name (which the barista never asked me for), was Sunshine. 

That's how I know God sees me. He knew my struggle. He sent me a gift and I know that nothing about me escapes His notice. He loves me and that same love that He has for me, He has for you.

At home we had a relaxed evening and Christian and I played four rounds of Abalone while I iced, heated(?), and elevated my foot. (We both won two games.) 

Thursday morning I woke up with nothing on my schedule and within 30 minutes my day was booked. 

Mom and the littles left to go somewhere, but that was two and a half weeks ago, so I have no idea where they were all day. 

I left the house at 9:00 (less than an hour from the time I woke up) and headed to meet a friend for coffee and to study. We didn't end up getting any studying done, however, as we quickly became involved in a deep discussion. 

My hazelnut latte was good. 

From there I headed to go get my haircut. I think it had probably been about 5 months *stops to count the months* never mind, 7 months since my last one, so it was rather overdue... I kept getting my hair caught in my back pocket whenever I slid my phone in. 

I asked for two inches to be cut off. *grimaces* It was necessary. 

Before I got it cut. (Also before I left home.) 

And after. 

(I did not wear sweatpants all day, those are my pajamas.)

It doesn't really look like it got cut, but I can tell it's gone. This was a new hairdresser I'd not been to before so I was more nervous than I usually am about getting it cut, but she did a wonderful job. I have a long, long history of bad haircuts behind me. 

I decided to grab a late lunch at Chick-fil-a (surprise!) before meeting anther friend for coffee somewhere else. I was not hungry at all, but knew it would be wise to eat. 

More yummy coffee and a very sweet visit. 

(I forgot to get decaf.)

At home I caught up with Mom and Dad, showered, ate a fast dinner, and went next door to visit with Nana and help her with a project for a while. 

Grandfather took Chloe and Christian to Debate. 

Friday morning Mom and the littles left early-ish to go eat breakfast at Seven Mile Cafe and do some shopping. 

Chloe, Christian, and I worked on school stuff and then headed out to get lunch at Five Guys (not with five guys, there was no "boyfriend interviewing" or anything like that taking place) and to do our own shopping. 

We shopped at Payless Shoes, Plato's Closet, Target, and Old Navy. 

At home Christian and Aunt Cendei made tamales for dinner and I worked for a bit before leaving to get dinner with a lady from church. 

All Friday morning I was finally able to walk around without limping and was feeling so encouraged! Then, right about lunch time, it started hurting as badly as before. By the time I was going to bed it was swollen and tender to the touch. It had not swollen before, even when I first hurt it. 

Saturday morning Christy came to our house for Bible study. We made tea and coffee and went to sit in my room for our time so that I could elevate my foot. Our visit was so sweet. 

When we finished, Christy asked to try a hair-do on me and then picked out an outfit from my closet for me to wear for a fast photoshoot outside. The final result was totally different from my normal "look", but the pictures turned out amazing! Here is Christy's website. 

 And here are a few of the photos she took. 

The dried flowers I am holding are a bouquet I caught at a wedding two years ago. 

I dried it and keep it in my room. 

At my wedding one day I'll have it displayed somewhere. 

I made myself cry for this one so there is a tear on my cheek. 

Mom was in clean-up and clear-out stuff mode Saturday afternoon, so different ones were enlisted to help her. We also had to work on getting the house ready for the invasion of painters that would be taking place the following week. 

We all left for church about 4:00 so that Christian and I could be a part of the pre-service worship time and the others could go to Costco. (Christian is learning to play the guitar.) 

Church was wonderful and afterwards we stayed to visit and eat as usual. 

At home there was lots of food to unload and put away. 

Sunday after brunch we all had to continue going through stuff and getting the house ready for the painters. 

Late afternoon I thought I'd play a "quick" game of Rummikub with Mia, because that would be "fun." Yeah...so after an hour of her losing the game, she beat me. Want an exercise in patience? Play a logic game with a 6 year old and lose graciously. *wink* 

The sun came back and now everything is green! 

And I found our first rose. 

We finished the day by watching a "Tiny House Hunters" episode. 

That Moment When...

Your new hairdresser starts the appointment by telling you how she butchered a girl's hair two weeks ago when she came in asking for the exact thing you just asked for.

You find out that ordering your burger "as is" means you get a burger bun and a burger patty and nothing else.


The Herd: Quoted 

"And all the people of Israel answered, 'All that the Lord has said, we will do.'" -Mom reading from the Bible. 

"Liars!" -Gabe 

"When I have to tell myself 'that was probably legal' that means I'm slightly concerned that maybe it wasn't." -Me while driving. 

"How many cookies can I have? 2? 4? 6?" -Christian 

"One. Actually, two because I want another." -Mom

"I'm saving mine for later, I've had closure." -Me

"I have not had closure." -Mom