Building Buddies

I've been on the treadmill a couple times this week. Walking mostly, and then doing a minute or two of running sometimes as well. SLOW.....I'm VERY SLOW. But I'm just trying not to fall over right now. The past 2 nights I've felt good after running. Today has not been an easy day, as far as pain and fogginess goes, so we'll see if the exercise helps tonight.

I had an MRI of the brain and spine again today. Lying on my back seems to cause more head and neck pain, so you can imagine how pleasant that experience was. But I got through it, and I guess I'll get the results tomorrow.

And after my week off, I'm back on my chemo pill of Xeloda...which doesn't seem to have negative side effects for me. Actually, I seem to feel worse when I'm off it. We'll see how this works out this week.

I'm leaving you with a gift: peace of mind and heart! And the peace I give isn't fragile like the peace the world gives. So, don't be troubled or afraid. (John 14:27)

Can I cry over spilt wine?

Doing things with 7 kids can be fun....or it can be a disaster. Often, because of all the bickering, arguing, insisting that someone is cheating or someone is calling someone names or someone looked at someone wrong, frustration rears its ugly head way too often...and we have to stop what we're doing.

So I should not have been surprised last night when our "simple game of Monopoly" started out quite fun, but then turned loud and obnoxious. It ended with my full glass of red wine being knocked down, splashing all over my favorite pair of white paints that I was wearing.

Rather quite symbollic of our attempts at amusement together.

I can't imagine how my trip to the Mall of America with all of them is going to turn out!

Excellent Evening

There's been way too much downer news lately. Seriously, I feel like everytime I turn around something depressing is happening. From my own personal health issues to all the deaths from natural disasters on the other side of the globe...and then everything in between. Not much to smile about.

But today, it was the PERFECT spring evening. The sun was out. The ground was dry. There was no wind. There were no mosquitoes.

After dinner, the kids and I just headed out back and had some fun. Lots of smiles. A ton of laughter. Pure enjoyment. It was an evening we all really needed.

(Ella took the above picture)

Well indeed

Max, Ella and I were finally well today. Maybe I should have waited a day before venturing out just to be sure they were fine, but the mere mention of possibly going to a play place this morning had Ella running to the laundry room, putting on her boots, then pulling on my hand yelling, "Come on mommy!" She hadn't been out of the house in a week, and obviously couldn't get out of this place fast enough!

Once we got to the Giggle Factory, she tried to climb over the magnetic gate, instead of being patient enough for me to fill out the disclaimer form and pay the entrance fee. Then when we were let in, I turned to put the kids' shoes in a bin, and turned back around to take off their jackets. Max was standing there obediently, waiting for me to take his stuff, but Ella was no where to be seen. The place was filled with many toddlers running everywhere, so I quickly looked all around the room, but I still didn't see her. Then I glanced up at the play structure, and there she was, at the top, still wearing her winter coat, crawling in the tubes.

Yeah, she definitely needed to get out.

Chutes and Ladders

Today was Cameron’s official first day of summer…no school.

We went to an amazing park I had never been to before. I think half of Minnesota was there as well.

While playing, Ella had sand dumped on her head by a little girl whose response to me when I asked her not to do that was, “Well, she’s not being very nice.”

Despite climbing through all the ropes, crawling through the tubes and slipping down the slides at least 10 times by himself, Max decided at one point that he was scared and had to be helped by some of the playground monitors before I was able to scale the ropes to reach his tear-filled face.

Cameron and his two friends were (supposedly) being chased and pushed around by another group of boys.

And yet when it came time to go, none of them wanted to leave.

Can’t imagine why not! Is this KidHeaven or what?

Throwing Frisbees instead of Tantrums

My six year old has been somewhat difficult lately. Crabby a lot, stomping around, giving me dirty looks. Having complete meltdowns because he can’t go to someone’s house, or because Ella put his hotdog in her mouth and I had no more left to give him. And when I say complete melt-down, I mean on the floor screaming his head off and crying, so that I just step outside and tend to the other kids while he continues with his ridiculous tantrum. I have to tell him 5 times before he does anything, and then he often forgets what he’s supposed to do once he finally makes it to his destination. And all of my negative answers to his requests are met with “But…,” responses explaining over and over why I’m wrong and he should have his way.

So when he had his Kindergarten graduation last Friday, as I left the classroom, I turned to his teacher with a bit of worry on my face and said, “They do still have school next week, right?” And she assured me that they’ll be in class until Thursday. Needless to say, I’m a bit nervous wondering how we’re all going to function happily this summer with his little attitudes popping up all over the place.

But tonight, after dinner, the three kids and I went outside. In between pushing Max and Ella on the swings, I tossed the Frisbee with Cameron. And for the first time in a couple weeks, we actually had a lot of fun together. (And he was pretty good!)

I wonder if he’ll tire of Frisbee soon, because September is a long way away, and it might be the daily activity that saves my sanity this summer!

Happy Hour...before church

This morning, the kids were playing what Max called "Eating Time!" and what Cameron referred to as "Restaurant." When taking my order, Max screamed, "What you want to drink Mommy? Want a margarita?"
"Um, do you have anything else?" I responded, taken aback by their beverage choice for me.
"NO! We just have MARGARITAS!" Max yelled.
"Okay then, I'll have one."
"What kind?" Cameron asked.
"What do you mean what kind?"
"Well, do you want a rock margarita?"

It was then that I realized that my husband and I might want to start ordering our margaritas on the rocks a little more discreetly.