The week I was too busy to write

 Well, it has been a busy almost two weeks but today is icy and school was cancelled so we are just chillin' today and I actually have a few minutes. 

Last week was school, laundry, teaching piano lessons, driving the girls to dance, trips to BJs (twice in one night because I forgot something I really needed), and lots of planning and painting. I painted all day on Friday (which was a snow day for the kids) and finally finished the basement and it looks great! I wasn't so sure about the stairwell and thought maybe I had gone too dark, but I am getting used to it. It feels good to have that project done and now I'll get to work on the boys' room/bathroom. I went to get paint last week before snow hit and the line to get paint was so long so I guess a lot of other people thought it was a good idea too. 

Saturday Josh actually made waffles (with Lily's help) and then my kids cleaned their rooms. It took four hours until they all passed inspection but I had warned them this was going to be a deep clean because their rooms were all so out of control. They got pretty grumpy by the end but for one afternoon, you could see all of their floors! Emma usually has Barbies and doll stuff and actually the most random stuff all over her room and the boys of course have Legos and magnatiles everywhere and for Lily it is books and art supplies. When they finally got done we went on a family errand. I dropped Josh and the kids off at Harris Teeter and I went to Target and Lowes super quickly. We came home and watched a Fixer to Fabulous, Josh ordered Outback for dinner and he had gotten a cheesecake for dessert. He usually takes care of dinner on Valentine's day but it being a Sunday he couldn't order in and he can't stand on his foot to be able to make anything so he took care of Saturday and I did Sunday. He got me beautiful roses and the dinner and cheesecake were delicious. We played some Disney Codenames that night before putting the kids to bed and it was fun.

Sunday I got up early and put out the books I had gotten for everybody and candy and the cards for the kids from their grandparents. It was fun when they all came down for breakfast because I don't think they were expecting much. We had a quick breakfast though because it was our week for church and so we headed out. It was a great meeting and always fun to see people, even at a distance. The rest of the day we relaxed, talked with family, and we made sugar cookies. I am not usually a fan of making sugar cookies and only do it once in awhile so that was an adventure but the kids loved it and they actually turned out pretty well. Josh got done with meetings early and so we had some relaxed family time, which on a Sunday never happens, so that was wonderful. I made BBQ ribs and twice baked potatoes and rolls for dinner and then we ate a bunch of cookies and watched more Fixer to Fabulous. 

It was also fun to reminise during dinner about our past Valentine's day celebrations, like in 1998 when Josh first gave me my necklace and told me he loved me for the fist time and we kissed for the first time to our first married Valentine's day when we went sledding and totally crashed and got scraped up on the icy snow. Then there was the Valentine's day we announced I was finally pregnant with our first baby and then the one where we spent all day house hunting with baby Lily and decided to purchase our first home. I'm so grateful Josh is my forever Valentine and I really love him. He has been so appreciative of all my help the past few weeks and just keeps telling me how loved he feels and how grateful he is for me. He is truly my best friend and I just love to be with him. We've always been a good team and we're almost always on the same page for parenting. He is really good at listening and processing my feelings without getting defensive or corrective or dimissive. I'm grateful every day for his gentle, good soul and his kindness, patience, sincere love and devotion to me and our family. 

We also said what we love about each member of our family over dinner and that was interesting. Emma couldn't come up with anything, Brandon said I give good hugs and kisses (which is what I had said about him) and Lily and Curtis said they like when I'm tough and sarcastic. Not exactly the feedback I was hoping for. I am a tough mom and I guess I should be glad my kids love that about me and that they think I'm funny when I'm sarcastic but I'd be lying if I didn't say it gave me pause to wonder if I'm actually a good and loving mom. 

 

This week we had Monday off so that was fun, especially after having Friday be a snow day. We did some power cleaning in the morning (mostly me) and then the Wiests came over for piano lessons and they hung out a bit to play. Tuesday was a busy day because I had to take Josh to the doctor and then to work, then school and piano and dinner and dance and book club. Oh and Tony was super nice and came over and painted the last little bit of the staircase I couldn't reach without a ladder. Ours is super heavy and I wasn't comfortable setting it up on the stairs anyway so I couldn't reach the last foor or so along the top of the wall but Tony was so nice and came and did it for me, which I really appreciated. 

Wednesday Brandon got to go back to school for his third day all year! He was super excited and so cute about it. As soon as he got home he told me he wished he could go back the next day. I'm so glad he finally gets to go but it will be wonderful when they are back full time. Any progress is good though. He is a little bummed there aren't any other boys that go on his day but at least at this age, girls are fun to play with too. Emma cried a lot of the day because she missed him so it will be great when they all get to go together. 

Today is Curtis's birthday and I can't help but think of when he was born. It was so stressful because we had no one to take care of Lily. My parents couldn't come and we weren't really friends with anyone yet since we had only moved here 10 monts before. Colleen had offered because we were serving in the RS presidency together and as it turned out we had to wake Lily up at 3am and drop her off at their house and it was hard for me. I really missed her and was sad they wouldn't let her come to the hospital to visit so I couldn't wait to get out of there. I also felt so bad imposing on them in the middle of the night. His birth was so fast I couldn't get an epidural and the other meds didn't work that great and so it was painful but quick. I tried so hard to nurse him but it was so painful and so I bought an expensive pump and tried that but he was always so hungry that I finally had to just give him bottles and then we were both happier by the time he was five months old. It was so stressful having a baby and an 18-month-old so that whole time is a bit of a blur in my mind. But, he was a cute baby with huge lips and huge hands and lots of hair. He was my most on-time baby coming the very next morning after his due date. I was nervous to have a boy but he is a sweet and sensitve and pretty calm kid. He loves to read and play games and build. He is curious and thoughtful and good at just about everything he tries (which can be annoying). He gives great hugs and is responsible and indepedent and overall is a great kid. 

I had lots of great ideas on how to celebrate this weekend (ranging from a flight to Orlando for a day at Universal to see the Harry Potter stuff since he is 11 today to a snowy weekend getaway to try snowboarding to even just playing a fun version of quidditch out in the yard) but none of them worked either because of Josh's broken ankle or Covid. It was disheartening and kind of broke my holiday spirit a bit. I just ended up giving up on doing anything and spent a bunch of money on presents, which is the opposite of what I usually do. Since today was supposed to be a school day we were just keeping it low-key with presents and dinner and cake tonight and then I told him Saturday he could pick a movie and family activity, but then school got cancelled! He slept in, I made him German pancakes for breakfast, he is playing computer games with friends and has plans to read and watch a movie later, then we will have French toast for dinner and do cake and presents when Josh is home. I got him HP Legos and socks and Lily made him a cool HP t-shirt. It isn't much of a celebration but I'm grateful for my big boy and though we've had a bit of a rough patch in our relationship the last few months, he still gives me great hugs and listens to me (eventually) and is a wonderful addition to our family.