The Saga Continues

Yesterday, I finally got some much needed rest: mentally and physically that is. When we woke up in the morning we were a sick-free household. No fevers or coughing, no running noses or crusty eyes. It was an act of GOD and I was so excited to get my day off. I called Kathie to see if she would keep the kids and immediately rushed them over upon her approval. Over the river and through the woods to sanity we went. I dropped them off (or shall I say that I practically threw them from the van as I drove by) and came back home to enjoy a four hour nap. Ahhhh...... :) So nice.

I made it into town to pick up my pictures and then home for a couple games of Bejeweled Blitz before going to pick up my hoodlums. All I can say is that it's a good thing I enjoyed that day off.

When I got there, Kathie said, "I hate to tell you this. I think Elaina has pink-eye." I am pretty sure that I nearly burst into tears. Then it hit me. Maybe when God is trying to tell me something I should be a better listener. He finally caught my attention and I realized that I was not giving the response he was looking for. All of this time I have been thinking, "God, what do you want from me?!" Not that I was truly asking, mostly because I knew the answer. It's very easy for me to miss church and do what I want instead of what I should be doing. It's much easier for me to say, "don't worry God, I have this under control." God laughs. It's as if he is saying, "Okay...I will be here when you need me." And he laughs and knows that it will be soon. Being the ultimate parent that he is, he lets me go and go until I finally figure it out for myself. So, I am happy to report that I am on a healthier spiritual road as of late than I most recently have been. My goal is to have Elaina baptized before her first birthday.

On top of God trying to speak to me through my children, he also directed me to a book that was truly uplifting and moving. It's called "Left to Tell" and was written by Immaculee Ilibagiza. It's a true story written by a woman who survived the Rwandan holocaust. It made me realize that whatever I am going through, I should turn to God. If she can do it while being forced to hide out in a 3 ft by 4 ft bathroom with 7 other women for 3 months, I certainly can while living in comfort and safety.

http://www.lefttotell.com/

The other day a friend and I were talking about doing things that help us "find ourselves." I have concluded that you never actually "find" yourself, but that the search is what keeps you motivated to be a good and honest person: a person who listens to God when he speaks.

God and I had a good laugh together today. I found out the dog has pink eye. Go figure.

The Pity Party

I can't wait for Spring to get here. I am so looking forward to working in my garden with my tots. It is going to be great fun. I love going to the greenhouse and coming home to work in the dirt, and enjoy the beauty while grilling and spending the evenings with my family. I love when the sun stays up later. When it gets dark so early in the Winter, Zachary often asks why the sun is sleeping. And just when I thought that Spring was nearly here, and we had a very nice weekend which was not too cold, KABLAMMY...snow storm. I need to get out of dodge and back to somewhere warm. If I could just have Michigan Summers year round, that would be great.

We are now on our fourth week of sickness around here. It started on a Thursday, what seems like an eternity ago, and is still happening as we speak. Flu-like first, then pink-eye, then pink-eye again, then RSV for Elaina, now RSV for Zachary and me. They say that it can last up to two weeks. I am tired of this house, and I am tired of my babies not feeling well. I am tired of cancelling any and all plans that have been made due to the illness flowing freely throughout my house. I am tired of missing swimming and not being able to take my kids to Kathie's. I must escape the madness. I 'veel' not survive. If I do happen to survive, hopefully I will be able to blog again soon. For now, I have a mess of trains to clean up. You're shocked, I know. :)

The Nutritionist and the Broccoli

We finally brought a new member into our family. We adopted a dog named Sasha, and she is so much fun. A true joy to have around. We even had a trainer come in and she was very impressed with Sasha. We are pretty sure that she was once trained, and now just needs some brushing up. It really makes my life very easy! She even does well in the yard which is not fenced. She stays right with us and loves to play ball and Frisbee. We are so excited to take her to the beach this summer.

I know that the tales of Zachary-land have not been posted recently, and so I figured I would give you a few morsels today.

Yesterday we went to see the nutritionist and she asked Zachary what kinds of food he likes to eat.

Zachary: French fries!
Her: You do? What else?
Zachary: French fries!
Her: What other foods do you eat?
Zachary: French toast!
Her: Oh, okay...do you like any other foods?
Me: Tell her about what kinds of fruit you like to eat.
Zachary: Fruit snacks!
Me: What other fruit? What about strawberries?
Zachary: I only like to eat apples out of the garage.

:::sighs::::

I find this very interesting since I can't even keep fresh fruit in the house. He actually ate seven tangerines in one day a few weeks ago. It is constantly grapes, strawberries, pineapple, oranges...etc... Whatever he can get his hands on. We went through 10 lbs of bananas in a weekend. No joke.

As for today, it's been a good one already. Well, good for you anyway, since you get to reap the benefits of my messes. I took a rest on the couch, only to wake up and find two entire heads of broccoli shredded into trees that were being used as a forest for his trains.

Me: Zachary, what is this? (pointing to the broccoli)
Zachary: (pauses....) A MESS!
Me: Clean it up. Now.

I went downstairs to start a load of laundry right after this. We keep our folded laundry on our large laundry table that we have set up in the laundry room. He had taken his arm and cleared off half of the laundry. But what's wrong with that? He needed it to break his fall when he was going down his slide. Clearly, it was a necessity. Now all of the clean laundry was mixed with the dirty. Needless to say, I made him sit in timeout until I was finished cleaning it up.

What else will this day bring?