The days after Christmas

As you can see by the slideshow, below, Christmas came to Western Nebraska.

After candlelight on Christmas Eve, in which the voice choir sang twice and Lars had crawled away into the narthex while I was singing, we came home and went to bed. The pastor, of course, stayed up writing a sermon. All is quiet and calm.

Christmas Morning, Al left early and I grabbed a shower and quickly got dressed, as I had about seven things to do before we left.

Eden woke up, ran to the bathroom in tears and started crying b/c she'd had diaharreah all over the bathroom floor and was standing in quite a mess. I undressed her, tossed her in the shower and threw her clothes and the rugs into the washer. Ran upstairs, got Lars up and into the highchair for breakfast and back down to Eden's shower. After her shower, she was, quite naturally, cold and shivering.

Back upstairs to the kitchen for a naked baby breakfast. Eden has to go again. Off the stool, into the bathroom, onto the toilet just in time. Back to the table for breakfast. We left the dishes where they lay and got some winter church clothes on. As soon as her tights and shoes are on, it's another run to the bathroom. Again, just in time. I change out the underware for a pull up, just in case...

Out the door, down to the car, back inside for the blankets, back down the car, back up for the cheesecake, back down to the blazer. The driver's door won't shut. Chalk up one more reason for a new vehicle. We drive to church, holding the door shut with one arm and steering with the other. Get to church just in time to run in and sit down. Except Lars has pooped up his back.

Eden sits in the back pew while I take Lars down, strip him, clean him up and put his sweater and pants back on over a clean diaper.

Get up to the pew, Eden has to go to the bathroom three times before the sermon. We really need a bathroom upstairs!!

Get through church, head home to eat lunch. Lots of cheese and yogurt offered up for this meal, along with some whole milk. Daddy comes home in the midst of this and we open gifts before crashing in various locations around the house for naps. After naps, we open some more gifts, play and read stories, then watch The Grinch and Frosty the Snowman beofore popping popcorn and heading to bed.

All in all, a great and relaxing day. Full of adventure and always full of something to smile about.

Has anybody seen my sheep for the manger??? Eden??

Yesterday, we got a sitter and Al and I headed to Scottsbluff to do some after Christmas shopping. It was great, except that Al and I both had what Eden did the day before. Thank God for the Wal-mart restrooms on both ends of the store! We hit about seven stores in 5 hours and test drove a vehicle we'd like to figure out how to pay for :-)

Love to all, enjoy the slideshow!

Christmas 2008

From the Strawn Family to yours, Merry Christmas!

Twas the week before Christmas...

I’m sorry, did somebody say ‘last week is over’? But I’m not ready yet!

That means Christmas is coming soon! Not yet, we don’t have snow! You can’t have Christmas without snow! Can you? Well, in Western Nebraska, apparently if you have biting cold weather and a whipping wind, then you can have Christmas. With that in mind, I guess we’re more than ready!

Needless to say, this week has been cold. The weather channel has varied it’s adjectives by saying, “Very chilly”; “Extremely Cold”; “winds in excess of…”; “very bitter”; “dangerously cold” and the like. At least they are creative. Wind chills tonight will approach -30 degrees. That’s unimaginable, but what’s even stranger to me is that, in a matter of 24 hours, we can have a 40 degree swing and the sun will be shining. By Thursday, it’s supposed to be bright and 42! What’s up with that?

Per usual, our week before Christmas was somewhat cramped with time. Somebody had something every night this week, and sometimes more than one thing. Poor Lars just went along for the ride…over and over and over. He looks like a snow creature in his bulky coat and hat. Cute, but annoying.

In the rush of the week, I completely forgot Eden’s Christmas Party at daycare on Friday…oops. We had the Austin’s over for supper that night, in a delayed thank you and also to sit and visit over fine wine. The kids played darts downstairs and watched Charlie Brown’s Christmas Special.

Eden is practicing hard for her Christmas program tonight…she is an angel and has had her line memorized for weeks, but she’ll only say it in private. I said it really doesn’t matter how the program goes, Jesus will still be born and we’ll still celebrate it and it will still be the best pageant ever!

May all of you who are travelling have safe trips home and back. Those of you who will be stuck in the airports, watching the snow fall and eating crumbs off the floor, hoping for Mom’s home-cooked meal, may the peace of Jesus be with you!

For everybody else, far away from home or family, may the peace of Jesus be with you also. It’s the day to celebrate Him and His Holy Birth, so be thankful for what you’ve got and be pleased that you can have a quiet house to take a nap in!

For those of you like us with a small family within arm’s reach, may the peace of Jesus be with you. Stand around the piano, sing carols and stay warm, passing out hugs and hot chocolate as you are able.

Tigger comes to town

A British Surprise

What a wonderful week in the Strawn Household!

Our surprise guest arrived on Sunday evening, hungry and ready to put her feet up. Jenny, otherwise known as “Tiger” to the camp world, came to the states from England for the Christmas/New Year season, spending much of her time on the mountain in Colorado, connected to a snowboard.

Jenny and I met almost 12 years ago back in Michigan, both working our first year as pool assistants/camp counselors at the Girl Scout camp that I attended as a child, five miles from my house. We taught each other the “American” and “English” languages, respectively, spent nights off discussing cultural differences and weekends off together with the other Brits touring my hometown and the surrounding area.

My favorite memory of that first summer is when nine Brits came home with me at the end of our first session. We slept all over the floors and couches and my mom and dad woke up to a surprise houseful and made a huge American breakfast of bacon and eggs and all the works.

Skip ahead to this week, Jenny, a city girl, got to see Western Nebraska and all the panhandle has to offer. Though we were not able to see everything we’d planned, we hoped to entice her to come back someday!

After Samson’s bath on Monday, we drove around town and showed her our day to day life, making potato soup for the Christmas Supper at church. As it were, we didn’t have enough people to act the skit for the ladies that night, so she played the part of the “lady who wrapped one too many Christmas presents”. Naturally, she was a hit and I think her accent helped her cause!

Tuesday, we drove to Chimney Rock and the cemetery before taking her over to Scottsbluff. We got lost looking for 11^th Ave (I was on 11^th St) and she saw a real tour of the residential area. We then drove up Monument Pass and looked out over the city, just as the sun was setting. It was beautiful.

Wednesday was naturally busy and she joined us for Advent Supper and service, where my children were so naughty, she had to sit alone while I was in the back of church, yelling at my daughter. She planned to leave that evening, but we sat on the couch talking so late, she thought she’d better stay one more night.

Thursday, we drove around looking at big tractors, which Western Nebraska has an abundance of. We drove out into the hills and tooled around as far as I dared without getting lost. As a field trip, we stopped at Mark’s work and he took Jenny and the kids on a ride on a couple of the John Deere tractors. He gave her a hat to take back to her nephew, who loves tractors, as well as a book and a ball cap for herself. After that, we went to Laura’s to visit and gather eggs. That was a first, and quite possibly, a last!

Since it was already Thursday, and she had to catch a plane on Friday morning, she decided to stay to babysit while I was at choir. Then, after supper that evening and after another late night chat, we turned in for bed.

As all good things must come to an end, she took off Friday morning, with farm fresh eggs, a few cuttings of Sarah’s plants, lots of John Deere goodies and a disk full of photos. It was great to have her here for the week and I’m still catching up in sleep from those wonderful late night chats!

Last night, Al and I watched the Red Wings game to the very end, shoot out and all. I was so hyped up from that, I had a hard time settling down to sleep. Eden crawled in with me in the middle of the night with every piece of her exposed flesh below zero Fahrenheit.

Sunday is cold and windy here. The thermometer says -2, and the wind chill is -22 right now. A good day to stay indoors with a good book and a cup of hot chocolate.

Decorating the Tree

A week of Surprises

Lars can crawl!!! Not only that, he can walk, too!

On Friday night, he stood alone for a moment, freaked out and ran towards daddy’s open arms. We all watched in amazement as he took those first steps, as if it was a miracle. In some ways, I guess it’s a miracle how every part of the body works in its own time, but I won’t get all biblical at the moment. It was so fun to see first hand, as I suppose every mother thinks their child is the greatest at that very moment.

I was worried because Lars never crawled. He’s get up on his knees occasionally, but never crawled. He would scoot to get wherever he wanted to go. Well, worry no more. Two minutes after he walked to his daddy, he got up on his knees and crawled all over the living room, chasing Al, who was also crawling all over. Eden joined in shortly thereafter, and everybody was laughing and crawling on the floor in circles. It wore him out and he laid in the crib and went right to sleep an hour later.

Earlier this week, I had a surprise phone call from and old camp buddy of mine who is in the states from England visiting her boyfriend in Colorado. Turns out, we’re only a few hours apart and she is driving up on Sunday afternoon to visit Western Nebraska for a few days. I’m looking forward to digging out some old photos and having a few good laughs during some serious story telling adventures.

Got the tree decorated this week, as well as the rest of the decorations put up around the house. Eden was so fun to watch as she found new things every day. She loves my small nativity, and will sit on the stool next to the table and move them around for hours. She grabbed my cell phone earlier today and told me that Baby Jesus was on the phone and wanted to talk to me.

Lars is enthralled with the lights on the tree. He has reached up and tried to touch them, but changes his mind at the last moment.

I was in a cooking frenzy for two days, making several batches of mom’s peanut brittle. What a sticky mess, but boy does it taste good. Hoping to get grandma great’s star cookies done this week and cut out cookies after that. So much for those 30 pounds I lost this year…

Al spent his morning off recording Christmas themed lessons for the radio station, and his afternoon off cleaning the garage, coming in to warm up part way through the day.

The weather has turned and winter is here to stay. It was 5 degrees last night and then 40 today. Such a vast difference, really.

Sunset this week was 4:25 in the afternoon and that makes for such long evenings with the kids. I miss the Central Time Zone. Going to have to get creative as the winter gets longer… Thank goodness for NHL Center Ice, Go Wings!

Strawn Siblings Visit Cousin Lea!

Rocky Mountains from 3000 feet

A Week to be Thankful For

This week was fairly relaxing and yet busy. Lars has been up every morning at 0430 and expects everybody else to be awake and ready for breakfast. Not to be out done, Eden has showed up in my bed every night between 0130 and 0330. It's quite a party in our house at night.

Since we returned from Denver on Monday afternoon, I have done several loads of laundry and generally picked up and cleaned the house. I think I vacuum every day now that Lars is more mobile in his walker. He gets ahold of everything, including day old food which is typically more crumbly than fresh food.

Tuesday, I had to prepare for a triage training for the rescue dept at the fire hall by making potato soup and bread rolls. I find that if we feed the people who are supposed to come, they make a better effort to attend, which is my goal. Being volunteers with regularly busy schedules and work and family life, it's hard to attend trainings on top of regular meetings and fire trainings. With the food layout we had between another EMT and myself, we had almost 30 people attending from all over three counties. A great turn out and a great meal! Now, we are hoping to take this new training and turn out a county wide mock disaster in the spring. This means I need to start planning now...

Wednesday, we had Thanksgiving Eve service at church and sang all the harvest hymns that I like so much. When I was growing up, I loved singing the hymn "first the grain, then the ear, then the full corn shall appear" really loud, even though I had no idea what the hymn writer was talking about. Since when does corn have ears? As much as I hate to admit it out loud, you do miss something when you don't grow up in a farming community. I was just telling my sister that Eden can name a half dozen different types of tractors working in the field. As we drove to Scottsbluff, she told me what she thought they were. When I saw a patch of cows and said, "look at them cows!" she said, "they are bulls, momma." Whatever you say, kid.

Thanksgiving Day we woke up late, sat around reading stories, and made a late breakfast of eggs and bacon and toast and hash brown potatos. After naps, we headed to Roy & Joy's for turkey dinner. I made a cherry pie that I'm embarrased to say was the absolute worst pie I've ever even seen. Roy braved a piece, but didn't come back for seconds. I pitched the rest. After visiting with their extended family's extended family and learning a bunch of names, we headed out to George and Janette's for dessert and another round of turkey supper. We know most everybody there and sat around on the couch while the older kids took my kids around to play. I didn't see either one of them for at least an hour! Bedtime came quickly for Lars and we came home to a clean kitchen and a quiet evening. I don't think I can be quite thankful enough for that Thanksgiving Day.

On Friday, I convinced Al to help me load the kids in the blazer and head up to the storage unit. In one trip, we loaded the Christmas tree, still upright and lit from last year, and all the green & red boxes into our two vehicles and brought them back to the parsonage guest room. Since then, I have put a little bit up each day. It was so fun today when Eden came home from Christmas Program practice, she saw all the snowmen, a wood cut out nativity and other things she could play with, and she was in awe, touching everything 'new'. She helped me set up the ceramic nativity this afternoon and has moved it around several times, as I used to...until this year, when Eden took over that job for me.

The wings played both Friday and Saturday, so we made a point to watch them. I think the league should adjust their schedule. They are too old to play back to back games, as was obvious on Saturday's really lousy game.

Tonight, Douthit's came over for stew and buiscuits since they left for Texas less than a day after we got home from California. The girls needed some play time and the adults needed to catch up after a week apart! When they were ready to leave, Mark noticed that their vehicle was covered in an unexpected white powder... snow. It goes well with the 50mph sustained wind we've had for two days. I'm sure it will be blown away by morning, but it's awfully pretty tonight.

Blessings to all as you begin Advent around the world. Be careful you don't get trampled to death on your next trip to Wally World!

Resort A La Strawn

Paradise re-examined...a weekend in Heaven

Return to Reality

Allen and I have just returned from an amazing weekend in Palm Springs, California for an LCEF convention in which the two of us were voting delegates for the Wyoming District. We almost didn’t get there, but that’s in the next paragraph. Read on for full details.

It all started on Thursday afternoon. We loaded the Blazer up and hit the road. It seems as if our luck with that Blazer ran out a few days after we bought it 3 ½ years ago. This is me bringing up old wounds, but it seems necessary to give you any indication of how frustrated I was about the latest disaster on the road. If you recall, in May, the four of us took a road trip up a mountain near Rock Springs, Wyoming, and we shredded three tires in a matter of 30 mintues, pulling out the Visa to rescue us.

Now fast forward to Thursday. We’re driving on I-76, miles from the last town and miles to the next town. We pass a vehicle that immediately speeds up to pass us. The passenger is signing out the window, making gestures to indicate we were driving on a flat tire. Indeed, we were. An EXTREMELY flat tire. In the course of the next 15+ miles, we had several people flag to us, letting us know we were about to become disabled on the side of the interstate, with two kids and no houses, businesses, or any sign of civilization in sight. Not to mention no friends or relatives within two hours of us, and no road side assistance.

We slowed down and kept driving, looking for an exit with services. Thankfully, Brush, Colorado showed up after about 20 minutes. The first service station we found happened to be a tire repair station (Thanks, God!) and I walked in, said, “Sir, we’re on our way to the airport and have a flat tire. Do you have air?” He stopped what he was doing, came out to take a look and basically said, “It’s too damaged to air up, it might blow up. You need a new tire.”

De Ja Vu. Out comes the Visa, and 15 minutes, we were on our way to Denver.

We arrived in Denver around 5:00, found Cousin Lea’s apartment with no trouble and tromped a truck load worth of baby and toddler stuff to an otherwise grown up living space. After a ham sandwich, we loaded back up and headed to the airport, where we took a late flight to Palm Springs, then hopped a shuttle to the resort.

Since we arrived in the dark, around midnight b/c of de-icing at Denver, we didn’t see much other than the lobby and our Villa. We were forced into an upgrade, because they gave our room away.

Late the next morning, we peeled open our eyelids, grabbed a shower in the biggest walk-in tiled shower I’ve ever seen and headed out to explore. Lo and behold, we were in the middle of the mountains, sitting in a basin of the desert surrounded by beauty that’s unspeakable. Date Palm trees taller than the buildings, flowering shrubs and huge potted plants were just the beginning. Grapefruit trees right out our back door on the deck, manicured walk ways and crystal blue swimming pools, green grass perfect for the golf course that circled the resort, and butlers at your service, always with a smile.

The weekend was filled with sunshine, windless walks, and quiet time. Our obligations included a formal banquet on Friday and Sunday night, both with award ceremonies, speakers and music. The worship service on Sunday morning, a 2 hour meeting one afternoon, and daily bible study completed the weekend.

We both met many people from all over the states and got to know quite a bit more about the services that LCEF offers to Lutheran schools, churches and church workers. Seeing all that LCEF offers is a model of how they use their gifts to expand Christ’s Kingdom.

Overall, it was a great time and we hated to hear the alarm going off at 0400 Monday morning in order to catch the 0600 flight. Cousin Lea, Eden and Lars were waiting at the curb when we arrived in 40 degree Denver and an hour later, we were on the road back to Nebraska. Eden again asking, “are we going to my house and sleep in my bed tonight?”

Many thanks to Cousin Lea for opening her heart and her apartment to our children. It was not an easy task, as they did not sleep on Saturday night, and Lars awoke for the day at 0330 one morning. I have not seen the photos, but I hear they made tracks around Denver in the stroller, Eden taking in the artwork all through town. They hit the library and the park at least once, baked pizza and pumpkin bread, and read every children’s book they could get their hands on, I think. We would not have been able to go without her, and I’m thrilled that we have a sliver of our family so close.

The photos don’t do justice, as is often the case, but do take a walk though them, just looking at them makes me think it’s sunny and 70 degrees outside!

Back to reality tonight…Eden won’t behave and has been sent to bed. Lars is laying in the crib, whimpering. Mom and Dad ready for bed, but watching the late night Red Wings game. It’s tied at one (1) so we can’t possibly go to sleep now!

Weekend Villa for the Strawn's

Another week in paradise

California, here we come!

After weeks of travelling and shucking our kids across the country, we are packing to go yet again. This time, the children are staying in Denver with my Cousin, Lea, who is in for quite a tiring few days. The preacher and I are boarding a plane to Palm Springs, California, which is east of Los Angeles. (Hopefully, the fires will be under control by then, and we can enjoy our trip without fear of evacuation.) The trip is being funded by LCEF and we are going as voting delegates. The weather is supposed to be sunny and warm, a dream for someone who had snow this week. We leave on Thursday evening and will return Monday morning.

Speaking of snow… Eden woke up to a snowy yard one morning this week and said to Lars, “Lars-y, Look! It’s snowing!! We can go sledding!” And then to me, she said, “Mommy, Look! A clue!” I said, “A Clue?” And Eden pointed to the dog’s paw print in the snow and said, “Yeah, A Clue!” Now, if you’re a parent, you already know that this refers to the educational cartoon, Blue’s Clues. Every time Blue leaves a paw print, it’s a clue to the puzzle. She wanted to go right out and solve the mystery.

In other news this week, I washed the windows outside. I waited for our sprinklers to be shut off for the winter and got a bucket of Dawn dishsoap water, RainX and Vinegar. Dusted off the squeegee and headed out with a couple rags. Eden insisted on helping me, which made for a soapy mess, especially when I washed the big one in our front room by hanging out the 2^nd story window, balancing precariously on the sill.

Samson had to see the vet this week, as he was throwing up every day and giving my carpet cleaner quite a work out. Vet didn’t see or hear anything obvious, gave me a bill and sent me on my way. Last night, he threw up again…

Lars loves his walker. I’m sure social service agencies across America are looking for me because I’m letting him use the dangerous 1970’s child care item. But let me tell you, I’ve never had so much peace and quiet since he was born. He is on the go all the time. In defense of those who took it off the market years ago, Lars has fallen on his face several times in it. I always know he has tipped over when I hear the ‘ahh ahh aah aah’ coming from down the hallway. Like a good equestrian rider, however, he gets right back in the saddle as soon as it’s flipped right side up.

In yet another news flash, our front door is fully installed, caulked and painted on the inside. It coordinates very well with our walls on either side, tying the whole room together. I also ordered new black and white photos of winter scenes that I took last January during a snow storm to put in the frames that line the wall going down the steps. My hope is to take out the spring-like flower photos and put in winter-scapes to make it festive for the colder season. I need all the help I can get to be excited about winter in Western Nebraska. With all that creativity, I could be a show on HGTV.

Side note: Eden will not finger paint with her fingers. She must have a brush.

Lars has been fighting a cold & cough for two weeks now. Now, he has passed it along to his father, who sounded like a dryed up frog in the pulpit this morning. I’m thinking I’m going to be making doctor visits before we head for the airport.

Today is the last NASCAR race of the season. Eden and her daddy are plunked on the end of the couch, all cuddled up. She with her blanket and him with a box of tissue.

Until next week…. enjoy a song from Eden. Yes, I know I need better lighting.

A quick note

A typical night in the Strawn House:

Lars in bed by 7:00.

Eden in bed by 8:30
Eden out of bed by 8:45
Eden in bed by 8:50
Eden out of bed at 9:00
Eden in bed at 9:01
Eden out of bed at 9:15
Eden in bed at 9:15.3
Mommy stands guard at the top of the steps.

Mommy in bed by 10:30.
Daddy in bed ???

Eden in our bedroom 12:15
Eden in limbo between her room and our room, often sleeping in the hallway or stairs landing.

Lars awake at 12:30
Lars crying at 0100

Everybody back to sleep by 0200.

Every once in a while, the pager goes off and Mommy leaves.

Lars up at 0600

This week, however, was extended to include a baby with a cold, runny nose, fever and hacking cough. The hours between 0200 and 0600 filled with a deep wailing that kept even the dog from sleeping.

Interesting highlights of the week:

1. Sarah ordered NHL Center Ice on Charter, so now we can watch all the hockey games, Red Wings included.
   
2. Payton came to babysit in Friday night so the adults could have a date. We went to a loud Mexican Restaurant in Scottsbluff with the hottest salsa I've ever had the pleasure of tasting.
   
3. Sarah got her flu shot
4. Got caught dumpster diving (got some good stuff, though!)
   
5. VOTE 2008 and watching the election results and speeches
6. It snowed, causing the 1st snow day of the school year
   
7. 65 mph winds that shut down I-80 and Hwy 385
   
8. I vacuumed our wall to wall carpeted house all in one day.
   
9. Eden informed us that she wants to wear Lars' penis.
   

Guess that about does it. Have a blessed week everyone, and please, be happy who you are, not discontented of who you aren't!

Halloween, a day of fun

Returning to Nebraksa.....

Ok, all you die hard blog-followers, I sincerely apologize for throwing you off and posting a mid-week blog last week, then not adding to it on Sunday. I do hope you’ll forgive me for keeping you on your toes!

On Thursday of last week, Al celebrated?? his 34^th Birthday. Mom bought a cake and some ice cream, but we didn’t have any matches for the candles, so we had to pretend. (We melted an entire candle on the stove trying to get it lit.) That evening, the two of us young whipper-snappers headed out to the long awaited theatre production, Noah! The Musical, playing this year only at the newly built Sights and Sounds Theatre. As you can see by the slideshow below, the theatre was quite spectacular, both inside and out. During the play, the stage opened up to become the ark. The seats were sitting on the bottom of the ark, with the walls all around you full of live & anamatronic animals, as well as the actors. There were 100 animal/food stalls, about 10’ by 10’ and the set was amazing. The model, below, gives you a glimpse of what the set was like.

After the show, we went to dinner at a steak house that was having an ‘after show’ party for another crew from a cowboy show. We were dining with people in ten gallon hats. Part of life in Branson, I imagine!

The end of our vacation was a reality on Friday morning, as we loaded up the truck for the long drive back to Nebraska, about 14 hours. We split it into two days, stopping over in Lincoln with The Wentzel’s, a fellow Pastor that graduated with Al, and his family. Mom and Dad stayed an extra night at the condo and drove home to Michigan in one shot on Saturday.

We arrived home sometime Saturday afternoon, gaining an hour as we crossed into Mountain Time. I spent the afternoon composing myself from the mess that had been left before me. Actually, I should clarify that the mess was really only in our bedroom and bathroom. The rest of the house looked untouched for 3½ weeks, including the dishwasher that I loaded before I left the 1^st of October, and the refrigerator that had a month’s worth of moldy food, expired milk and something unidentifiable stinking along the back shelf.

Mark and Laura came over on their way out of town with the girls. Eden was excited with the thought of seeing them all again, but was really too tired to care when they actually got here. Instead, they helped unload the truck.

So came the mountain of stuff that I’d acquired in Michigan, including Halloween costumes, hand-me-downs, new clothes, Lars’ new curtains, wine, sparkling wine and other wine, material for Eden’s bed quilt, ninety (90) quarts of canned goods, a bushel of apples & several bulk spices from the Amish store, a box of “Sarah’s toys” from the attic back home, suitcases, an unsafe baby walker that Lars fell in love with, Douthit’s DVD player and tractor shows, as well as the stuff we brought with us from here before we left!

Don’t even get me started on the laundry…

The rest of this week was spent catching up and trying to get ahead. Story of our lives, really. I had two EMS meetings in the evening, and one all day Trauma Board meeting in Scottsbluff. Eden went to daycare, Al had an elder’s meeting and confirmation class, as well as some overdue visits to attend to.

Eden has been up 3-4 hours every night this week, trying to wiggle into our bed or crying because she can’t find a pacifier (which she’s been off of since before Lars was born!) or she is being stalked by pretend monsters. That has made me overly tired this week and somewhat cranky that I’m apparently the only parent who hears her and can take care of her. Friday night, she slept all night and Lars was up. Go figure.

This week also was, of course, Halloween. Like last year, Lars slept through the whole thing and woke up as everybody was turning their lights off and going to bed. Eden & I went to school on Friday to pick up Lexi & Kyra, who came over to play and frost cookies. Mark & Laura came over and the guys took the kids Trick-or-treating, while the ladies passed out candy and Halloween pencils. We had a record number of kids this year, about 100.

According to Pastor, Eden was quite a mooch in the field. After she was given candy, she’d keep holding out her bag for more. Once she got more, she’d reach in the home owner’s bowl and grab what she wanted. This would explain why Eden’s bag had 3x as much as the other girls. Going to have to work on her manners next year, or at least teach her daddy how to monitor the child.

Saturday was the first day that I felt I could sit and breathe. I started the day with choir practice, then jumped on laundry when I got home, plugging away at that all day. My children were both fairly needy all week, but they know when Mommy needs a hug, too.

And just when you think you’re at your breaking point, your three year old tells you she’s going to go to church naked on Sunday morning.