I know that many think Valentine’s day is just a day created by Hallmark. Others think it’s a cheesy holiday for saps. Say what you will, I’ll jump at a chance for a date night with my hubby. And I don’t mind a sweet card and some cinnamon heart candy either.
But, after having kids, Scott and I found it rather difficult to go out for Valentine’s day. Since we don’t hire babysitters, we typically rely on friends or grandparents for babysitting and you can’t ask another couple to babysit for you on Valentine’s Day.
We knew this day was coming for awhile now. In fact, it got pushed back at least twice. But, sadly, the inevitable could not be avoided…after spending 10 weeks on the east coast, aunt Karen and baby Eli headed back to Texas this morning. We have had a blast having them close for so long. It’s been so fun to “pretend” they were local and see them casually for dinners, or at church, or for an overnight every now and then.
Thought you might enjoy a little simple math to recap the week here at the circus. Add together the following totals….
2 major snowstorms 33 inches of snow fallen 1 official blizzard
20 cups of hot chocolate drank 2 types of cookies baked
1 Daddy sized igloo built
1 sledding hill 0 power outages
1 sleepover with our cousin
This morning I woke to sounds of my daughter coughing…I stumbled into her room to comfort her and set up her nebulizer, thinking to myself that at least I had gotten 2 hours of uninterrupted sleep. Then my eyes focused a bit more and I took a second look at the clock. It was 6:15, not 1:15!
We slept through the night! I felt much like a new mom the morning after her baby makes it all night without a feeling!
We have had a wonderful couple of days here at the circus celebrating Jesus’ birthday. We decided to spread the celebrating out over several days rather than cram it all into one day. On Christmas Eve we went to the Children’s service at our church at 4:30. Then we went to Boston Market for our now traditional Christmas Eve dinner before heading back to church for the candlelight service at 6:30.
Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!!!
Growing up and living in the midAtlantic region means that snow is something we are familiar with, but we don’t encounter on a regular basis. It’s not like we’re living in Houston and a dusting of snow occurs once a decade. But, it also isn’t unreasonable that I don’t go out and purchase snow suits for my kids every winter either. We can typically anticipate seeing snowfall at least once a year.
What a full and festive weekend we had here at the circus! Friday night Scott and I got all dressed up for a fun and fancy Christmas party! We got to enjoy tasty appetizers, holiday drinks, and the opportunity to sit and chat with old friends. A super way to start the weekend. (Though the baby did not like the cheese dip I ate too much of and I paid for that with an upset stomach later that night).
During this stage of the game, sometimes it’s easy to forget there’s a person growing inside me. Yes, my jeans are fitting more snugly these days and I tend to nod off on the couch each night around 10, but other than that I don’t feel all the different. And so I go through each day making meals, cleaning up messes, and trying to accomplish lessons, errands, and other excursions and quite often forget that all the while there’s a life growing inside of me.
Last Friday while the girls spent the day caring for and practicing to hold “baby Ewi” my son spent the day dressed in Camoes and gathering his weapons arsenal to play army with uncle Jim. I wasn’t exactly sure how much uncle Jim would feel like playing army, since he lives army every day of his life and this was his leave time to see family before deploying to Iraq.