Valentine's Day

Well, it must be one of our most pathetic Valentine's Days yet. :)  Not that we try to make a big deal of it, Ehren and I don't even go on dates on Valentine's Days.  But usually I do try to make things special for us and the kids. And I still tried today but now as I sit here I'm thinking I shouldn't have tried so hard when obviously we are all a bit under the weather.  Especially me!  I've been sick since Sunday and even though yesterday I thought I was getting better today I got up feeling worse than ever, throat swollen and hurting a lot.  But, I was not going to let that stop me from my Valentine's plans.  What was I thinking? :)

I had all the kids here today and since some of them were gone before we didn't get to work on our Valentine crafts before today.  So of course we had to get that done today, you can't go to daycare and not come home with at least one Valentine's card. :)  So one by one I took the little kids to do the hand print crafts, then some other finger painting hearts and stuff.  It really doesn't take too long but the kitchen was a mess afterwards.  One of our Valentine's traditions with the kids is to have a special Valentine's snack in the afternoon, after the kids come home from school.  So, I was busy getting some of that ready plus getting a dinner ready so we could have a nice dinner together as a family, with a special dessert too.  Well, as we are about to have a snack with all the kids my little niece threw up.  I was just walking towards her when she was about to do it on the carpet so I quickly scooped her up and brought her over to the toilet.  Poor thing didn't feel good at all.  Anika threw up 2 days ago too so I know it is some bug going around at our house.  Kason and I got it first and had bad fevers for about a day.  And even though he's been doing a lot better during the day, even today he fell asleep on his bed before dinner time and is probably going to sleep until morning.  It is just really wiping us out and I knew it was just a matter of time before it got me too. :)

So, even though the kids were all very excited to get their Valentines at school and have a special snack, it just wasn't the same as when we're all feeling healthy.  Nobody was really hungry for dinner either so all that effort I put into it seems a bit pointless now.

On the bright side, when everyone else is not feeling so great, little Kinley I watch had probably the best day yet.  She's the baby that cries for her mom or me most of the day.  Today, she calmed down right away, took nice naps and when she was up she just laughed and giggled with the other kids.  So yey!  Something good happened today. :)

No, even though it seems pointless so many times, I still wouldn't change anything and wouldn't stop trying.  It's who I am and keeping our little traditions alive means a world to me.  And hopefully some day they'll mean a world to our kids. :)

Hope you are all staying healthy!

one of the crafts we made - this one is for nana

Kade's Valentine's Box

Teachers' Valentines

snack time minus 3 kids

Finally we get a smoothy for snack :)  We only get those in the summer

poor Aveah after she threw up

sick kids

Normally, when you think of sick kids you feel really bad for them and their moms and dads because it takes extra energy to take care of the kids while most of the times the parents get the virus from their little ones.  I don't ever wish on someone's kids to be sick but ironically, the best blessing for me these days is when one of the daycare kids is sick.  I feel bad for the little ones and the parents but at the same time I'm smiling inside because it means a much easier day depending on who is sick. :)

So this week has been one of those - easier and quieter because 2 little boys were sick.  They weren't gone the whole week but even just one day here and there of less kids makes a huge difference.  At the same time, I usually end up getting something from them and this whole week I think my body is fighting something because I have had no energy and am ready to go to bed at 8 with our kids.  So I think in a way God knows how tired I am this week and this is His way of lightening my load for me.  Makes you think how many times other people's troubles, little or small, can be someone else's blessing.  Hopefully I remember it next time something frustrating happens to me because maybe in that moment there is someone who's being blessed because of my misfortune. :)

Happy Weekend to everyone!  More snow on the way for us and we're hoping to do some sledding and playing outside.      

Kason and his best buddy Carsten

another year older...

Well, yesterday was my real birthday.  We have to say that quite often - real birthday.  That's because now I have a fake birthday, March 2nd that legally I have to go by.  I think I wrote about it on here some time ago.  Ehren made a comment the other day how not only do I have 2 wedding days to go by, now I also have 2 birthdays. :)

But it was such a nice birthday weekend.  Ehren was so awesome and tried really hard to make it special.  First he got me some yellow tulips for me and so Anika didn't feel left out Ehren got her some pretty flowers too (don't know the name of them :)).  I think him doing that touched me so much more than me getting flowers.  Anika was so excited and proud of her real flowers and showed them to everyone that came over and stills shows them to whoever hasn't seen them.  He's such a good dad and knows how to make Ani feel special.

On Saturday Ehren and I went on a date to Grand Forks and we tried an Italian restaurant.  It was a tiny place with maybe 10 tables but the food was really good, real Italian food versus a chain kind of restaurants.   It was just a nice time alone, which we don't get too much other than after the kids are in bed and by then we're usually both pooped. :)

Then yesterday (Sunday) it was a bit cold but not very windy and the sun was shining nicely.  Kids played outside for a long time which I was so thankful for and I even got to use my cross country skis - finally this year.  Whenever I had a chance to do it it was either way too cold or we didn't have snow.  So I was loving being able to go out there and ski.  I got pretty sweaty too, probably because I was sinking in the snow and had to work extra hard.  It got easier after I would follow the path I made in the snow, but it would be nice to get a snowmobile to make a track for me to ski on.  So, at least I can say I skied this winter :) and really it was like I got the perfect weather just for my birthday.

We also had Ehren's parents over for dinner yesterday and watched a little bit of the super bowl.  It was very nice to just sit and visit with them.  Ehren and Ani made me a cake (with a bit of supervision by me :)) and Ani was so excited to celebrate my birthday.  So all in all, I had a great birthday weekend.  Getting older is easy when you're surrounded by so many people that love you. :)

Ehren printed out these cute "cards" from each of the kids.  It was a picture of Kade and Anika at 1 years old with a cute note about them.  I loved Kason's card the best because he really is my little superhero.  I can see now how moms tend to be so soft-hearted with their last baby.  Sometimes I have to catch myself and think if I'm babying him too much or if I'm being too soft with him.  It's just so hard not to when he gets so excited to see me every morning, hugs me tightly and says over and over how much he loves me. :)  I love each one of them, but I see how quickly they grow up like Kade has so I want to hold on to Kason as long as I can, while he's still my little boy.  Then again, I know I have to remember Kade might act like he doesn't care and that he's mr. independent, but he's still a little boy who needs his mom very much.




  

      

frustrated

There are days like today when all I can say is I'm frustrated.  Frustrated with kids, babies, taking care of kids, potty training kids, changing diapers, feeding them lunches and snacks, and so on.  Especially the potty training part is what gets to me.  It is hard enough with your own kids but when you are trying to potty train someone else's kids that only come here during the week is just hard.  Right now I have two kids that are 2 and a half years old so the best time to get potty trained.  They both go in the toilet very nicely, problem is neither one of them ever lets me know they have to go so if I ever miss it, I'm out of luck and their pants are wet.  Luckily they haven't done number 2 in the underwear yet. :) And no matter what I try, the little boy keeps going out of the toilet/potty chair more than in it.

On top of having 6 kids under 4 all day today, one of them is a pretty crabby 10 month old baby.  I mean crying and fussing the whole time she's up unless I hold her.  She's been doing a little better lately and at least she has been eating baby food and drinking bottles very nicely for me.  Well, today after her mom leaves I am looking in the bag for baby food but nothing's there.  I call her to see what I should give the baby for lunch to which she says"Oh, we've been trying to get her off of baby food and just feed her whatever we eat."  I thought ok, I'll give it a try but of course just as I thought she had 3 tiny bites and she was done eating real food.  So on top of everything else today it just added to my frustration.  After lunch she was very crabby and I know she was hungry but since she won't eat anything I have there's nothing I can do.

I am just realizing every day how I'm ready to be done taking care of little ones.  I don't know how people can do it year after year, even after their own kids are grown and move out of the house.  I am at my limit now so I know this has to be my last year.  In a way it makes it more bearable when I have an awful day to think it's only for a little while longer.  I know it has been great for our kids to have playmates when they were toddlers/preschoolers but as they get older it is so hard to still have to deal with diapers, feeding, potty training and even having to have all that baby/toddler gear and toys around the house.  I just can't wait for the day when I give it all away but for now, we need it for the kids that come.

I'm thinking though that this doesn't even have as much to do with the kids as it has to do with a cabin fever that is hitting all of us right now.  With the Siberian temperatures for so long and being stuck inside every day, I think we're all losing it a little bit. Well, I know I am for sure.  At least we have that unfinished basement where kids run around, play basketball and burn some energy off.  I don't know what we'd do without it in the winter.  I keep watching the weather and for a week now we could see that this coming Sunday we will finally be in the 20s!  So we can't wait to do some ice skating outside that day and we better because the following weekend will be below 0 F again.

So, now that I complained to someone in the cyber world, I can go back to work. :)  Cheers and hope you're not suffering of a cabin fever like I am.

shelf

Here is our newest furniture addition that Ehren built for me this weekend.  I gave him all the dimensions and how I want it to look and it took him about half an hour to finish it.  Seems like for such a quick job he could be making lots of pieces for the house. :) The longest part about it was the staining which I love doing so I worked on that this Saturday.  I really wanted it to look light to kind of match our kitchen cabinets but even just the pre-stain liquid made it turn darker.  The stain I started with was making the bottom 2 shelves really red and I didn't like that because our kitchen cabinets are more natural/yellowish tone.  So we got another stain, a really dark one and I went to town with that on the 2 shelves.  Now I like how it turned out because it's dark enough that the redness doesn't show much.  I left the top shelf with just a sealer on to keep it as light in color as possible and we really like the look of it.  It has some dents and stuff because it is very old wood but it makes it look cool.

I just love creating our own piece of furniture/art for the house.  It always means so much more to me than anything else we buy in a store.  So this is kind of an early birthday present for me. :) I still have to find some storage baskets/trays for the top shelf where kids can have their homework/Awana(church books)/and miscellaneous crap that I can just put there and at the end of the day or week they all put each item where it belongs.  Somehow a portion of our counter top in the kitchen becomes a collection of toys/things from all around the house in a matter of one day so now, they can collect in the "crap baskets" and not on my counter. :)  We'll see if it helps, but at least I like getting a bit more organized.

It is funny how doing one project almost always leads to another, or at least you start thinking about a new one.  So I have at least 3 other projects in my head right now which I'd love for Ehren and I to make but I know, one thing at a time. :)

my electric heating blanket

If you live in the Northern MN like we do, if you don't already have one it must have crossed your mind to get an electric heating blanket.  We try to keep our temperature in the house warm enough in the winter but we still need to wear 2 layers of clothes.  During the day I'm never cold because I'm running around so much but for some reason, as the evening comes and I slow down I am freezing, especially right before going to bed.  So owning an electric heating blanket sounds really nice as you get under the cold covers.

Well, this winter I have my very own electric blanket - Ehren.  I must have complained about it enough but almost every night as we're getting ready to go to bed he lovingly jumps on my side of bed and warms it up for me.  Then when I get in the bed I can't help but give him a huge smile as he rolls over to his freezing side.  It just makes my heart melt that he'd do that for me again and again.  It's so sweet but partly I wonder if Ehren just wants to see my big smile because he's waiting for it every time. :)  You have to understand too, we sleep Euro style in our bed, which means we don't share a big comforter but have 2 separate blankets.  We love, love love having our own blanket and not fight over one as we do when we go somewhere, but it also means we have to mostly warm up the blankets with our own body heat, not sharing them.  So when Ehren warms up my blanket, his blanket is still Freezing cold, not like one big blanket would be. Which is why it means that much more to me that he does it.

I love being married, having someone to share our ups and downs with, someone to laugh with or yell with, having a helper and an encourager, and someone to warm my bed for me. :)  Stay warm wherever you are!

 

glamping

So Ehren and I have been introduced to "glamping" this weekend.  About 7 of us girls get together for each of our birthdays and do something fun.  Most of the times we combine 2 of our birthdays together so it's easier to get together.  Anyway, one of our friends had this idea for her birthday this weekend and with the help of 2 other friends they surprised us with a Glamping party and it was the first time we got together with our better halves too. :)  I have never heard of it but I guess it is a common thing to do now and I'm sure there is a lot on pinterest about it.  It is pretty much camping, out in the nature, under a tent but everything about it is glamorous like lights, candles, decorations and the food is very gourmet as if you were at a restaurant.

It was a very nice surprise and I loved all the lights and beautiful settings.  I only wished it was a bit warmer because it was in a shed that gets pretty cold in the winter and even with a nice heater in the middle we were still cold.  Well, I really wasn't cold because I had the best seat - right next to the heater but Ehren was thawing out in bed for a while last night. :)  The food was all really good and fancy, just like it should be at a glamping party.

We also got a ride on a trailer behind a snowmobile, under a blanket with a hot cocoa in our hands. :)  It was  cute and we had some good laughs going thru some bumps and some of us spilling cocoa on ourselves.  Our friends really worked hard to make the night special and I'm so thankful for them.  They are the reason that my head is above the water some days and some months. :)  Especially since I'm home most of my days and only have little kids as my companions it means a world to me to have a time off and get together with my friends.  With some of them we try to get together almost every Friday for a play date and we have lunch with all our kids.  It has meant so much to me to stay connected this way to other moms and just being able to talk thru what we're dealing with, struggling with, sharing our ups and downs is so nice.

So I'm not sure if I would ever try glamping on my own, it makes more sense to me to do it for special occasions like birthdays, engagement and stuff like that when you can share it with a bunch of people.  But if it's just us as a family, I really enjoy the simple camping,  sitting outside by the fire, chatting away, or just being quiet.

One of the girls is a photographer and she had her nice camera with so I stole her pictures from facebook to put on here. :)

Ehren and Chris

yummy hens

all the girls - just one was missing