Ballet Observation, Valentine's & Duke Farms

Daddy enjoyed the extra 48 hours home by doing more borrowed puzzles with Austin.

 

And watching Amelia at her ballet observation.

 On Tuesday, we had some snow come through. The big kids asked if they could go outside and play; I answered yes and that I would be there to help them in a moment. A few minutes later, the big kids had gotten themselves entirely in their snow gear without help! (Minus putting on boots with mittens already on!) They had remembered their extra inside layers, gators and snow socks. Definitely a positive to the growing independence of my kids!

 

This peanut ended up with a double ear infection. But those antibiotics worked fast!

 If you had told me that a 5 year old could study the book of Isaiah and retain it, I would have doubted you. But doing our Bible Study together has been a highlight of this year for me. I've memorized so many more verses because of doing this with Austin and have loved the connections he's making.

Happy Valentine's Day!

The kids have loved their hearts each morning.

 

Stephanie & Siena invited us to come over and make cookies on Valentine's morning before Austin went to school. They had fun playing with Siena's toys and making/decorating cookies! 

 

 

 

The 100th day of school was supposed to be Feb13. But the snow day moved the 100th day to Feb 14. So the kids could dress up for Valentine's day or as if they were 100 years old. The kids' teachers sent us photos of the classes.

Austin showing off his 100 things poster. 

Since Thursdays are usually our breakfast-for-dinner night, the kids asked if we could go to the diner to celebrate Valentine's. While I already had plans for a special dinner out on Friday, I figured we could use extra reasons to smile with Patrick's absence. :)

Friday morning's temperatures went over 40 degrees so we were off for a bike ride/walk at Duke Farms. Colleen walked all the way to the Orchid House and then rode back. She insisted we bring Purple Baby and fig bars.

 

 

 

 

Austin was elated to discover a frog in the Orchid House.

 

 

 

The kids had a "pop up" planetarium at their school.

Austin got a black stripe on his yellow belt!

 

Who knew that Friday nights were a deserted time to go to Costco and have a slice of pizza?!

A Miracle of Childcare

When we are discouraged, I don't want to forget the miracle that happened for our family this past weekend.

Patrick had tentative dates for his trip to India on the calendar since before the new year. I also knew that I had 2 doctor appointments for Amelia and Amelia's ballet observation scheduled while he would be gone - on Monday & Tuesday after he left on Sunday night. Both of these doctor appointments were incredibly difficult to schedule, having been on waitlists for months, requiring us to travel an hour each way and always on top of normal commitments like Austin's bus pick-up in the middle of the day. I'm not sure how to communicate the difficulty and stress associated with just their scheduling, much less to try to find childcare during those appointments.

I knew these appointments were coming so as soon as we returned home from Christmas, I started going down my list of potential sitters. We don't have any daytime sitters right now, and all our neighbors have gone back to work or have their own scheduling conflicts. I reached out to everyone we knew and anyone they knew, calling over a dozen gals for any of the 3 time slots that I needed childcare. They answer was consistently "no" - everyone had their own commitments for those times, even 5 weeks in advance. I did finally find the daughter of an acquaintance who could come for the Monday morning appointment, while bringing her 2 year old with her. Even up until the week before Patrick left, I was still trying new leads on someone to come on Monday evening and Tuesday evening, but hitting walls every time. We were frustrated and resigned that I would just have to haul all the kids to the appointments, whether it was appropriate or not.

When Colleen started her fever, it initially didn't occur to me how it would affect the childcare situation. Our friends were coming in for the weekend, and we were distracted by hosting them and dealing with Colleen's immediate need for comfort. Then on Saturday night, it hit us that because of her fever, I would have to cancel the sitter for Monday morning as to not infect the sitter's daughter. And, I couldn't take Colleen into the hospital with me, as there are signs everywhere, even "guards" posted, trying to make sure sick kids don't enter. I was so discouraged, disappointed, and stressed that we were going to have to reschedule these appointments that were so very difficult to get in the first place. Also, we knew Patrick's upcoming travel commitments weren't going to make the situation any better. Patrick and I found ourselves on Saturday night praying and begging God to provide childcare that didn't mind a sick kid sometime in the next 24 hours or give us peace about the disappointment in canceled appointments.

Sunday morning I was downstairs eating breakfast with our guests when Patrick came down and stunned us. He had received a text in the middle of the night that a screw had broken on the piece of equipment in India that he was supposed to go see. So his entire trip was delayed by 48 hours. 48 hours was just enough time to meet our need. He was able to stay with the kids while I went to the Monday morning appointment & take Amelia to her ballet observation and give her the special attention we had hoped for.

We serve a God who knows our needs and cares about them, no matter how small or big they seem. I marvel that He would answer our prayer by messing with machinery on the other side of the world. And He answered our prayer in such a way that neither Patrick nor I can take credit. It was a miracle, and we are so grateful.

February Visit with Friends @ Liberty Science Center

A few weeks ago I had asked Briana + family if they wanted to come and visit while Patrick was gone in India for work. They picked a weekend, and we made plans. Then Patrick's work schedule delayed his departure by a few days, and Colleen started a fever the night before they arrived. They came anyways! They arrived later Friday evening with just enough time to giggle and play before bedtime.

These girls were so giddy to be together!

The legos came out almost immediately. 

We opted to use our new family membership to the Liberty Science Center for Saturday. Patrick stayed home with Colleen who was miserable. The kids enjoyed the skyscraper exhibit - building, doing tests in the wind tunnel, digging, and learning about construction workers. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We got tickets to enter the largest planetarium in the Western hemisphere and saw a movie about black holes. 

After our picnic lunch, the kids spent a LOT of time in this climbing structure. While its technical name was like "the infinity loop", the kids called it "the mushroom" or "the brain". It was built into the side of the atrium, hanging in mid-air. They climbed and went round and round and round and still begged to return throughout the rest of the day after we hauled them out. 

Climbing across the wall, rather than up, is actually pretty hard! 

 

Practicing their graffiti in an exhibit all about communication. 

 

The microbe room was interesting, as was watching the dissection of a rabbit eye.

 

The energy exhibit was, of course, presented by Exxon. 

 

After a long fun day, we returned home to play, read, put on make-up and have a dance party. 

 

 

I loved how throughout the weekend, I would look into the living room to find any 1 or 2 of the 4 big kids reading.

Sawyer was super sweet and played with Colleen for a bit while the adults were getting ready on Sunday morning.

 

The temperature hovered right at freezing so Patrick took the big kids to the park on Sunday morning to play. Delaney needed a hat, and Patrick mischievously gave her an Auburn one. (Briana went to South Carolina.) 

Our friends left after lunch to drive back to Virginia. We were grateful they came and provided entertainment while Colleen was sick. I love how they occasionally ask "Now, we're not really blood cousins, right? But we're kinda like cousins, right?"