As the Family Goes

JP II Quote

"As the family goes, so goes the nation, and so goes the whole world in which we live." John Paul II

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

February 19 Snapshot

What a busy week last week was!  This is the first time I have not been able to get my snapshot in over the weekend.  I guess it's better late than never though, so here we go (starting top left as always, and working around clockwise to the center):


Last week ended up being a busy one for us.  We had our usual gym class on Monday and I went to my parents' house for supper that evening, only to find myself snowed in overnight by a surprise storm.  That took away my guaranteed day home on Tuesday, which I was counting on to offset the rest of our running around that week (lent began on Wednesday and we had to squeeze in an early morning mass, since it was the only time that would easily fit around our piano schedule that day).  So when friends invited us to spend Valentine's day at their house, I was hesitant.  Since our kids are homeschooled, I relish opportunities to get them together with friends to do things like I enjoyed in school growing up, like exchanging Valentines.  I set my mind to going, and I'm so glad I did.  There were five families and twenty kids in total, and we had a blast. Some things are worth the extra effort, and time with friends is definitely at the top of that list.

This girl starting rolling onto her belly this week.  Jeff and I were watching TV one night while she was playing on the floor, and when she got fussy I leaned forward to pick her up and discovered her like this.  I couldn't believe it, she's growing so fast!

We celebrated a birthday this week for a very special little girl (who has been asking every day since before Christmas, is the next day my birthday?) That blessed day came this weekend, and we celebrated with a girls' day out (her and I, baby, Nana, Nanny and Godmother) and a family party at home.  This shot is a little blurry, but still one of my favorite ever of her Daddy giving her a big birthday hug.  Oh how we love this girl!

A good friend of mine is a hairdresser, so as part of our girls' day celebrations we took her to the salon for a princess hairdo.  Her birthday was about celebrating all things girl, we had so much fun!  

We spent a lot of time like this last week, and these guys were troopers.  I'm not going to say it was without its challenges, nothing is.  But I find the more I do the hard stuff (like getting six kids loaded into the van to go anywhere) the better we get at going with the flow.  I've starting giving simple instructions, like "please get buckled without screaming at each other" which really helps, as opposed to simply, "go get buckled up" (which usually resulted in them screaming at each other anyway).  Also I gave up grinding my teeth for lent, which is enormously helpful in keeping my cool.  Funny how the hardest things are also the ones that make us better - there must be something to that.

Fitness is a family affair in our house!  I bought this cool exercise program for the WiiU with a gift card I got from my brother for Christmas (thanks!) It's so much fun, and the kids love taking part with us.  Jeff and I signed up for a 5K run in May, and I'm eager to get outside and training as a family.  There's a kids event as well that I'm hoping some of the older boys will take part in, I'd love to train as a family.  I'm really pining to do something - four months post-delivery will do that to a girl.

Is there any better picture to describe life with a toddler?  This is birthday cake all over his hands.  He reminds me of a potter with clay on his hands - budding artist, perhaps?

Speaking of my toddler, I gave him an impromptu bangs-trim this week.  Our boys are all long overdue for haircuts, which has not been an easy thing for me to coordinate since I can't take everyone by myself at the moment (it's too hard with the baby).  Our one day in town is the one day the barber is closed, meaning I can't just get Jeff to meet me after work.  It will take a coordinated effort to find an extra day to take everyone out, but in the meantime this poor little guy's hair was right into his eyes.  I thought it turned out pretty good, Jeff says he looks like a Vulcan.  I'm hoping that means we can move "trip to the hairdresser" a little closer to the top of our list.

And finally, a picture of my birthday girl to end off this post.  We did a silly photoshoot the other day, and this was my favorite shot.  There is nothing this girl loves more than being silly, she is such a cutie!  Look at her little eyes, they say it all.  Life with girls is so much fun.

Here's to a much calmer week this week.  Last week was fun, but we need a rest.

Cheers!

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