Girls Day Out

Jason travels a lot. A lot, a lot, a lot. Not this trip, but the one before, the girls and I were feeling particularly blue about his absence and we decided to spend a day in Fort Smith with only one agenda- to have stress-free fun together. (Yes, there is such a thing as stressful fun when you are a parent.) We started with lunch at our favorite restaurant, Panera Bread. The girls love to sit outside and we just happened to have very nice weather that day. 

                          

It took a little work on my part to get everyone in a happy mood but I finally succeeded and our day really started to have a care-free feel to it. 

                         

We spent time in the mall just walking around and looking at rings and clothes and toys. 

And then we made a quick stop at the nail salon for a little polish on our toes.

                                    

We ended the evening with dinner and a movie. Nora fell asleep on the way home so I put her straight to bed once we arrived and the other three went to sleep quickly and quietly. 

                                    

It really was a nice, fun day together and we made it even better by calling Jason periodically and letting him share in our fun as much as possible. It was a nice glimpse into how it will be hanging out with the girls when they are all a little bit older and able to better handle a whole day out and about. 

Quick Update

Just a few pictures to show what has been going on in these parts. Samson disappeared Sunday afternoon and I was broken hearted but also not giving-up on his return. Then, this morning while I was exercising, I noticed a flash of white go across the living room window. It was Samson! He had returned from his own Incredible Journey. And he looked it. My heart was rejoicing that he had returned but it was also breaking because he looked so pitiful. He was barely able to walk and I could see the pain in his eyes. Nora and I wrapped him up in a towel and took him to the vet. They gave him a couple of shots of something and confirmed that he had probably been hit by a car or hurt by a larger animal. They said if he wasn't better by the morning that we need to bring him back in to be seen.  He's perked up a teeny, tiny bit but mostly, he's still pretty lethargic. He did venture outside for about ten minutes this evening and Nora got so excited. "He's walking, Mama! He can walk again! He's not sick anymore!"
I didn't tell her about the blood I found under his tail area on the laundry room floor. :(

While we were outside watching Samson, the girls and I walked around the property and picked some wildflowers for the hearth. They make the living room smell glorious!

Night y'all. 

It's just shameful

Two disclaimers:

1. I am too tired to put all these pictures at the bottom of the post which is where I really want them to be. 

2. I cannot find any recent pictures of Elaina to add to the mix. I am going to make a point to snap several of her this weekend and have a post just about her. 

I took Nora to the park one afternoon.

Valentine's Day Date

Dentist Appointment Date

Sometimes I just look at her face and marvel at the beauty. And also at the amount of food and snot smeared everywhere.

I mean, shameful. But it's been really relaxing to think about what what was going on in my daily life, but not think about it in a "posting" kind of way. Because, to be honest, I normally do that a lot. I walk around the house writing blog posts in my head. I fold laundry and write blog posts. I do dishes and write a killer post that would make you double over in laughter. And, also to be honest, I almost never write those posts. I did realize the other day that I could just get some sort of recording contraption but then, would my posts lose some of their organic-ness? I don't know.

Also, do I overuse commas?

I feel that I do.

There were a few things going on lately that I wanted to end before I got back to regular posting. And they have ended so I really have no excuse now. I quit working on a regular schedule. I get to just show up if I have a day that I want to work. That's pretty fun. Also, I changed my hair back to dark brown. And then I gave a sigh of relief. I've always liked my original hair color and it was fun to try something new and different but the fun ended rather quickly. My skin was a strange color with blonde hair.

So I'm back to looking like me and that's comforting. 

My boss came up to me the other day and asked me if I was happy. I said, "Do you mean working here or with life in general? Because I'm happy with both situations." And he said he meant in general. He said I didn't appear to be very happy. And that made me think. A lot. I truly feel happy so why don't I give off a happiness vibe? My mouth naturally turns down at the corners so if I'm just staring straight ahead, I probably do look a little disgruntled, but I'm not. Most likely, I'm thinking about something interesting I read the other day or what food I want to cook. I do feel tired, though. Not like a sleepy tired but a complete from-the-top-of-my-head-to-the-bottom-of-my-toes kind of exhausted. I start thinking about how many meals I have left to cook in my life time and how many loads of laundry are still before me and how much physical activity is required of me even just in the next few days. And I crave rest. But then, if I get the rest, I'm craving home and life with four active girls and a hungry husband and a jumping, chewing, most-adorable looking puppy. So it's like I'm floating in this middle ground of needing a break from life and yet wanting to be right in the thick of my life- both at the same time. I'm guessing it's pretty normal to feel this way when a person is in a situation similar to mine. I'm guessing all the seasoned moms would read this post and nod their heads and think to themselves, "Yup. Been there, my friend." At least, I hope that's what they would think. It gives me hope to think that's what they would think.  But I'm also determined to change my vibe, even just a little bit. I've started my very own happiness project. (I've really no idea what that book is about, I just assume it's about how to be happy.) There's really no steps to my happiness project. I'm just making an effort to appear happier. To smile more. To lift my eyebrows when listening to someone.  (Not in a creepy way.) To recount the good times. To stop and enjoy my kids more. That's the main thing I'm focusing on doing. I'm so bad to just focus on my cleaning and let them play their games. I don't necessarily jump in and play the dad or anything like that, but I do stop and watch for a minute. Smile at them. Give them a hug as they run by. This morning, I took about three minutes and rolled a ball back and forth down our hallway with Nora. She giggled until she almost made herself sick. It was beautiful. 

So, that's what I've been doing. 

That's where my thoughts have been. 

That's where my time and energy have been placed. 

What have you been up to?

This was the only photo I had the gumption to move to the bottom of the post. Peach was building a wooden game at Lowe's.

I know, I know

I keep trying to post. Honest I do. But for some reason, it has been very, very hard to find a moment to write something. I did, however, up load some photos the other day and I'll let them be my post for now and help me ease pack into regular posting. 

Maid Marion

Pallet sleeping at Aunt Kat's on the way home from Tennessee

They took over Aunt Kat's bed. And each other's personal space.

Nora rested on Daddy's fist. And it was cute.

On New Year's day, we finally made our gingerbread houses.

Claire's house was the only house to stay together.

The rest of the houses had to be decorated in pieces. 

This is how you pose for a picture but also keep your nakedness a secret. 

We also put together some ACME crafts that day.

Claire made a fabulous looking peach pie out of play-doh.

Audrey came for a visit and taught a How To Behave Like A Princess class. Nora didn't pass.

We acquired a puppy. His name is Samson and I have to admit I'm a little bit in love. 

He's very patient.

Daddy babysat one evening while I had my hair changed.

It's always more fun when he's in charge.

I think her whiskers are my favorite.

Nora would spend all day, every day with him if I let her.

I call this Through the Toilet Paper Roll.

New hair color. Me no likey. Me need brown again.

The girls had their Christmas Parties at school today. I just kept hopping between the three. It was handy because I could pig out on chocolate candy and no class was the wiser. :)

Sunday

Nora woke up at four-thirty this morning with a fever. Sometimes, when my girls have fever, they become very talkative and chatty. Eily is always that way and the other girls do it from time to time. Last night, Nora took her turn; she was shaking from the fever but chatting and chatting about all the things that were flitting through her little mind. Finally, I put on "Barney" aka The Andy Griffith Show, and she fell asleep while watching. So this morning, she and I slept until ten-thirty and the older girls made themselves breakfast and played in the schoolroom- I think. To be honest, I don't know what they did because I was passed out solid.
Once I finally got out of bed, I had the girls clean their room and make their beds while I cleaned the kitchen. Yes, they can fix themselves breakfast but the aftermath is a bit shocking.  Then they all drew and colored in the schoolroom while I started laundry, swept, mopped, etc.... We ate lunch and then the younger two found themselves in the closet in their room (it's very big) playing Mama and Baby. Right now I can hear them giggling.
The older two didn't really know what to do. The were bored. They were tired. They wanted to paint. (NO)
So I used my extensive background and conducted my first class of Pasture Play and Adventure 101. I really didn't know that these types of adventures had to be taught; they came to naturally to me as a child. But the girls have grown up in a much different setting than I did so apparently they needed a little prompting. I explained about the excitement of orphans on the run, of "getting lost", of pretending to be The Boxcar Children. So they are on their adventure. They are feeling timid about braving the wild alone but they have packed a bag of some essential survival items. These items include tea cups and saucers, plastic forks, a blanket, a plastic medicine kit and a diaper bag.

God speed, little ones. And God bless. 

The week that kept on giving

I keep putting off writing this post because there are a lot of pictures and sometimes I don't like having to mess with posting pictures.  But I'm making myself get to it because if I don't, I'll forget everything.

First off, we went to Harmony Hill. I know I posted some pictures during the week but I think I have a few more on my phone and later on, I'll post the ones from the big camera.

It was really nice on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. Then on Thursday afternoon, as several of us were sitting around enjoying a fresh lime sorbet (courtesy of Ryan and his Vitamixer),  we suddenly got to witness Nora lose her lunch. In my lap. All over everywhere.
So that was fun.
And the poor baby kept throwing up and throwing up and throwing up until she finally fell asleep that evening. The next day was Friday and by this time there were quite a few sickies around the property. By Friday afternoon, the drama with Nora was over but the whole morning I was on the phone with Jason because his car had decided to basically die and somehow, he had to get to Texas and then on to Colorado. Of course, he couldn't take the Explorer because I had it with with me. So Friday morning was chaos while I tried to figure out a plan for Jason's travels and teach the preschool class. There are two teachers for every class, but during the first class, one of Barbara's children's tummy was feeling a bit iffy and she had to go deal with that scenario. We managed to figure out a plan to get Jason to Texas (thank you Adam and Ashlie!) and then, through of the generosity of others, a way for him to go on to Colorado. Friday evening, as we were supposed to be getting ready for the end-of-the-week performance, Jason came running down towards our tent with Elaina draped over his arms. She had ran into another little girl during supper and had a fork in her mouth at the time. We took her over to the ER in the nearby town, while other extended family members had to stay behind and bathe and dress our remaining children for the performance. Nothing like putting all kinds of people out in one day.

The hole opened up into her sinus cavity so they gave her some pain meds and put her on an antibiotic and sent us on our way.  On Saturday, I packed up the campsite and we headed for Dallas. The original plan was to stay until Monday morning with my cousin, Molly, and her husband, Daniel. Sunday night, the Sacrans started dropping like flies. So poor Molly and Daniel had our entire family of sickies plus two other guests, Eleanor and Ryan. (Ryan with the Vitamixer.) Those poor people. There is only one bathroom at Molly's house so they just had to share the germs, whether they liked it or not. Slowly we all started to get better. Claire was the first to mend.

And then Eily perked up a little. 

Poor Jason, though. He just got worse and worse. For some reason, Jason's body will sometimes get to a point where it stops working for him and starts working against him. It happened the night before our wedding, again on our first anniversary, and then again one other time. I could tell pretty quickly that he was headed to that place and so once again, I dumped my children off on someone and took him to the ER for fluids and Zofran.  We were finally able to leave on Tuesday. It was a long trip home. We were all tired and exhausted and didn't like having to say goodbye to Jason.

So the next couple of days were filled with Mom having to make trips to our house to help me take Jason's car to the mechanic, pick up Jason's car from the mechanic and take me back and forth. Oh yeah, I forgot to say that on Tuesday, I came home to Adam and Jacob mowing and weed-eating my yard. It was literally as high as Jacob's knees. I tell you, my family- they're hard to beat. 

Thursday evening, Eily and Nora were playing some kind of jumping game where they were jumping from the couch to the coffee table but they would push each other as they jumped. Had I known exactly what was going on, I would have stopped it, but I didn't and therefore....

this happened.

Ouch.

Warning: there is some blood in the next several pictures. For the third time in a week, I had to call on someone to watch my kids so I could take someone else in the family to the ER. Adam and Audrey quickly came over and I left with Nora. It was seven o'clock when we arrived at the hospital. Around ten-thirty Nora rubbed her little band-aid off her chin and I had one of the nurses at the front desk help me re-bandage the cut. About thirst minutes later, at eleven, I asked that same nurse if it was going to be anytime soon that we were going to be called back. He said it could easily be several more hours. I had been second guessing this whole time if it were even necessary for me to be at the ER. Maybe a butterfly band-aid would be sufficient. I asked him what he thought and he said it definitely need stitches. So, after waiting three hours,  I did what I should have done in the first place; I packed up our things and drove 45 minutes to the town where I grew up and registered Nora at the nice, clean, new-ish ER.  There was only one other person there and within 15 minutes they had us back in a room.  Let me tell you, the next hour or so was not fun. Watching your daughter, strapped in a straight jacket type of contraption, screaming in a way you could never imagine her capable of screaming, begging you to make them stop and asking you to hold her , is a horrible feeling and something I wish on no parent. Even with her strapped down, it took four of us to hold her still. The doctor and the nurses were amazing. They tried to comfort her with soothing voices. They sang to her. They were as gentle and as kind as they could be in that type of situation. Unless my children are literally about to die, I will always skip the local ER's and just go straight to the Booneville hospital.  After it was all over, they talked to her and visited with her and gave her stickers and loved on her. I am just so appreciative of their attitudes, the way they made us feel, and the care they gave us.

Before the stitches

The nightmare is over

At nine, I had called Sarah to come relieve Adam and since we didn't get home until two in the morning, she just slept on the couch. I felt so bad because she was supposed to be back at my house by six in the morning that coming Saturday. I'm telling you, it has been very hard to have to ask someone to come watch your kids over and over and over again. The guilt starts to pile up pretty quickly. On Friday, I babysat Rachel's kids while she went to a doctor appointment and then she came back to my house and told me to just go. Take a break. Spend some time by myself. So I went and bought a van. And it really was that simple and that easy. And I'm so thankful for that. By this time, we knew we weren't going to fix Jason's van so we had to find another vehicle but I didn't expect it to be so easy and quick. 

Big Blessing.

Around two or three on Saturday morning, Eily started throwing up.  I texted Sarah because, so far, she hadn't been exposed to the virus, and instead I asked Mom to come. Leah had been sick at her house earlier in the week so I knew at least I wouldn't be contaminating her. Or at least, I would be the first to contaminate her. She arrived around eight-thirty and I had to run to Fort Smith first to fill Nora's prescription. I finally was able to leave Fort Smith around eleven. I had to take the Explorer to Dallas so that Jason would have a vehicle to take to Colorado once he flew in from Maryland. I drove up there, waited a couple of hours, met my brother-in-law and niece who happened to be traveling home from a singing school in San Antonio, and came back home. I made it home around midnight. 

Sunday was church. 

Monday, Elaina started her tennis day camp. 

One day this past week, I took Nora to get her stitches removed. I don't know what day it was. I'm losing track of it all. 

It took some help from Benadrly, but we were able to get the stitches out with much less drama.

Saturday, the poor child had a migraine that was so bad that she threw up from the pain. She's had a rough couple of weeks.  But we are all good and settled in a routine of sorts. The girls are in the middle of swimming lessons, the house is clean, the laundry is caught up, life is moving along.

These are a few pictures from Harmony Hill that I found on my phone.

Claire, Catherine and a couple of boys leading a song

Claire showing off Eli's masterpiece

A posing Eily

Eily with flowers in her hair during class

I don't have many pictures of Elaina from Harmony Hill because the girl was never around. She was too busy socializing.

These two pictures are just some random pictures that were on my phone that I though were cute.

Nora swinging on the best kind of swing there is

Eating ice cream sandwiches on Nanny's porch swing 

I want to say thank you to Adam, Ashlie, Mom, Dad, Sarah, Dan, Caitlin, Molly, Daniel, Eleanor and Ryan. There is no way I could have mentally made it through the past two/three weeks without your help, kind words, patient attitudes and love. 

I also want to say that I realize that even though it was a rough couple of weeks, it was in no way near as bad as some other people's situations. I have a brother-in-law and sister-in-law who are having to deal with the upcoming surgery of their newborn baby boy. I have a friend who has a one year old little girl that was recently diagnosed with cancer and is in the middle of chemotherapy. I have many other friends and family who have things going on in their lives that are much more serious and important than my little boo-boo episodes and car trouble. I am blessed with four healthy girls. I have a supportive, loving husband. I have a roof over my head. I am very blessed and I know it. And I thank God for these blessings. They are not to be taken lightly.