A Strange Week

Well, it's Friday so I can say good bye to this strange week. Sometime after my last post I ended up on the couch for the rest of the day. Body aches and chills kept me huddled under a pile of blankets. My dear sweet 6 year old son who is just really growing up managed to make pb&j for his and his sister's lunches. My good, content youngest sweetie then took a three and a half hour nap while the older 3 watched TV. Yes, my children watched TV all day on Tuesday. Do I feel guilt over that? NO. They hardly watch TV so I'm thankful that it's exciting enough that they would sit glued to it when I was literally unable to move. My head was pounding, I was FREEZING, and every part of me ached- even my pinky finger. So it was good to know they were enjoying the wholesome entertainment of my collection of
Little House on the Prairie- season 2. Pete came home with McDonald's for supper just as the little ones were starting to fall apart. I was in bed for the night by 8 and my 11 hours of sleep did wonders. I guess it was some kind of flu bug? I still don't feel normal, but I'm getting there. It really does make the whole week seem out of whack when you spend a day and a half in bed. Needless to say, the laundry that needed to be folded Tuesday is still unfolded. And we're running out of clean clothes. Time to catch up. I suppose I could have worked on that yesterday. I didn't mean to go on an hour and 45 min walk with the kids. It's just that someone on our block was having a garage sale and then I saw another one and another one. The neon signs and hope for discovering treasures lured me further and further from home. So we traipsed around the neighborhood for nearly 2 hours and then headed home with our goods! Then after lunch the girls ALL (yes, even Kate) took naps. Then we were off to the last soccer practice of the season and Peter's last piano lesson before his teacher's break to give birth to twins. After that we met Pete at Sam's Club where he fed the kids a healthy dinner of greasy pizza and hot dogs and soft pretzel- UGH- while I began the grocery shopping. That was followed by more grocery shopping at Walmart and we now have a VERY full fridge and VERY little money :) I seriously don't know how families out there who really have a lot of kids keep food in the house. By the 6th kid I would think a second fridge is an absolute necessity unless you are going to shop twice a week. And you'd have to have a HUGE pantry!



On a serious note, I was saddened yesterday to hear about the death of Steven Curtis Chapman's youngest daughter. I'm assuming you've heard the story, if not, you can read it and express condolences here. I think it's been hard to get that family out of my mind for a couple of reasons. One, I am very paranoid about my children getting run over in a driveway- or about running over a child myself. I've probably watched one too many prime time specials on such incidents. I tend to look about 300 times before I back out, count to be sure I have all 4 buckled in, etc. When I back out of a friend's driveway I always want to see exaclty where each of her children are. And two, Maria was just a few weeks older than my oldest daughter. These "accidents" are something you think of happening to a toddler, but not a child who knows to watch out for cars. It's just a sobering reminder that the Lord has numbered our days. That while we have to be cautious and mindful, we must not worry or obsess over the what if's and the why's because we are not in control! Please remember the Chapman family in your prayers.

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend.