I was treated to some live theatre this evening. Just before bedtime C asked me if she could put on a puppet show. She got finger puppets at Moppets last night and couldn’t wait to put them to use, but I also think the prospect of delaying bedtime was also factored in.

I sat on the couch as she hid herself behind a chair. From there she proceeded to share the Christmas story with her little finger puppets. Parts of her story were up to artistic interpretation, like when Joseph and Mary kissed after finding out Mary was going to have a baby. But all in all, she kept pretty close to the story, which really warmed my heart. We try to teach our children, and we trust other people to teach them as well, but we aren’t always sure how much they are retaining. 🙂

After her performance, we all crawled into bed and I read a ton of stories with them. I’m trying to purpose to do this several times a week, since there are many nights we don’t even get to read because it is too late.

I definitely cherish our cuddly, book reading moments!

“When I walked into your room just now I saw something on your bed. It looked like maybe it was a note. Do you want me to get it for you?” C said with a little smile. She ran to grab the note from my bed that I had just moments before seen her writing in the corner. 

She’s been doing this lately- leaving me notes and telling me about them. This one was an incredibly sweet one.

“I’m sorry I can’t stop saying I love you cause I love you.”

Dear sweet girl, let’s never stop saying it. I’ll tell you every day and you’ll tell me every day for the rest of our lives. Sleep well little bug. 💓💓

Thank  you!

Thank you to my in-laws for opening their home to our little family. We commandeered a good portion of their house, we hijacked their washer and dryer, we elbow each other over the stove, and our children wander up into their area multiple times a day to see their grandparents. Living with my in-laws is such a blessing and I absolutely adore watching my children interact with them. They chase grandpa around the house and he chases them in return. They beg grandma for cookies, and bring her presents of crafts they have made. The first thing out of Baby E’s mouth each morning is, “Where’s grandma?” This transition could have been disastrous for the kids, but instead it has been an adventure. And for that I am truly grateful. 🙂

We are three weeks out from the sale of our townhouse, and the children have adjusted very well. Baby E asks about the townhouse the most and wonders when we will be moving back in, but I explain to him that we live with grandma and grandpa now. He pouts for a moment and then goes back to playing. The one time I drove by the townhouse with the kids, C started to cry, so I haven’t done it again. But overall my kids have been troopers and I count myself blessed that they are handling it so well. 🙂

C showed up today at church in the same dress as her cousin. If she had been any age over 13, this might have been a mortifying experience, but when you are seven and one of your favorite people in the whole world is wearing the same dress as you, it’s one of the most awesome things to ever happen to you. I love these girls and how sweet they are with each other. Such a beautiful pair!

I felt a twinge of disappointment this morning when I woke up and there was absolutely no snow on the ground. There wasn’t even anything falling from the skies. The kids were even more downcast because they had worked themselves up for some snowy magic. As the morning wore on, snow started to casually fall from the sky and eventually it was legitimately snowing. The kids begged to go outside, but the first time I sent them out, there wasn’t much accumulation. That didn’t stop them from eating all the snow they could find, or dragging each other in the sled across the grass. They came in with cold fingers and cheeks, and I told them we would try again later.

Thankfully after nap time, there was at least an inch on the ground (I know, I know, that isn’t much, but for my kids it was a winter wonderland.) They got all suited up again and we all went out. I dragged them down hills on the sled. It didn’t take long for C to lose interest so she headed inside, but the boys and I explored some more. And when Baby E abandoned us, Big E still asked to play outside. So he and I built a couple of tiny snowmen and put them on the front porch for the grandparents to enjoy.

When we came in, I made hot cocoa for three very happy children.

Today was really a beautiful day. I enjoyed spending time with my little ones and I loved seeing their smiles. There is something magical about snow, and I’m pretty sure it gets me every time. 🙂

I braced myself for the worst last night when I picked the kids up and C said that she wasn’t feeling well. If you’ve traveled with us for any length of time, you know how much I despise stomach bugs and the thought of being entangled in one made a wave of anxiety flow over me. I had some errands to run, so I knew the kids would be in the car for the next hour at least. I gave C some grocery bags in case she had to throw up, but I worried that our evening would deteriorate quickly.

To my surprise, C and Big E fell asleep within minutes on the road, and got a solid hour nap before waking up. We almost got back to the house when C couldn’t hold out any longer and threw up in her bag. When we got home she went straight to bed. After dinner, I settled the boys into bed and Big E started to complain about his stomach. Uh oh.

We have a couple of twin mattresses propped up against one of the walls in our basement palace, so I put them on the ground to sleep nearer to the kids. When I finally laid down myself, I got hit with a massive pain in my abdomen and an overwhelming nauseous feeling. It lasted for about an hour and half and it was gone. Except for the nasty diaper Baby E gave me this morning, everyone felt much better upon waking up, so it definitely wasn’t as bad as I expected.

I stayed home with the kids, and they watched tv while I spent my time cleaning and rearranging some of our packed things. I still have a lot of work to get done, but I’m making progress.

Tim stayed out at his work last night, and with the prediction of a lot of snow over the next 18 hours, we decided he should stay out there again tonight since he was slated to work on Saturday anyways. I was thinking last night, as we were navigating our stomach bug, that while I never saw my in-laws, it was so nice to know that we weren’t in the house alone. One of the things that I hate when Tim works long hours or stays overnight at work, is being in a house by myself. (I know, the kids are there, but it isn’t the same as having another adult with you.) So it’s been really nice to be here, especially on those nights. 🙂

They say it’s supposed to snow a bunch tonight and tomorrow, so I spent a little while this evening digging through one of our storage units to find the kids’ winter boots. My search was successful, but unfortunately only C’s fit, so we will have to figure something out if we get enough snow to play in.

I love snow, so I really hope this storm doesn’t disappoint!

This is Baby E’s Aunt Julie hair. He likes to wear it around. It looks ridiculous. Ha ha!

I’m not sure what a smencil is, but it’s caused a lot of grief in my little family over the past two days. When I picked the kids up from the sitter yesterday, C was excited to show me her new smencil. She said she got it from one of the kids on her bus, but as she dug through her backpack to show it to me, she started to freak out. Apparently it wasn’t there. Since I have no idea what a smencil is, there wasn’t much I could do, but shuffle through the same stuff she had already gone through. I told her we would drive slowly out of the driveway, and we circled the cut de sac, but we never did find it. C was very upset and explained that smencils were something you could buy at school that cost a $1 and she was so upset that she had lost hers.

I happened to have $2 in my purse, so this morning I gave C and Big E each a dollar for a smencil. However when I picked the kids up this morning, Big E couldn’t find his new smencil either, and after digging through his backpacks, we only came up with a few handfuls of crushed goldfish crackers.

C never got to show me hers because she wasn’t feeling well I picked her up and she went to bed when we got home. So, I know these things exist, I know in the past 24 hours we have been in possession of 3 of them, but I have no idea what they are.

PS- I just googled them. They are pencils… that smell. (meanwhile my kids kept explaining them to me as ‘long cylinders.’ Ha!)

Pretty sleepy tonight so here’s a cute picture of my little pasta loving Savage. 😍😍😍

I hate limbo- that place where nothing is certain, where circumstances shift daily, and you just don’t know where to settle your feet. It’s not a good place for me to be and yet that’s where I am. Limbo.

Every time I think the next puzzle piece is being put into place, it shifts, moves, or disappears entirely. Honestly, I thought the next step in our journey was solidifying this week- I was excited for something concrete. But it isn’t going to. Not this week, at least. But Lord willing, it will soon.

It felt like a sucker punch today, and I fought back tears as I made the kids some dinner. And while I just wanted a quiet corner to cry in, I have three sweet ones that need their mama to be present, so instead I dried my eyes and crawled into their bed and read them stories until I started to lose my voice.

In the grand scheme of life, my setback isn’t tragic. It might not even be a set back, in a few weeks it might be just an anecdote, but I just don’t know- I can’t see the whole picture. But I truly adore the one that can. God started us on a journey that I know He will bring into fruition in His timing and on His terms, and there is great peace and release in that. It frees me to live in the moment, to acknowledge that I can’t control everything, and it forces me to relinquish my white knuckled grip on what my ‘expectations’ are regarding our future.

So I guess in truth, I’ve always known where to settle my feet- not on the shifting sands of life’s circumstances, but on the immovable pillar of God’s promises.

The discussion about our future plans has been intentionally vague, because I’m not ready to talk about it here until it is all squared away. The next few days will be a major deciding factor of our next step, so prayers would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!!

I picked the kids up this evening and they begged to see some Christmas lights so I decided to drive them through our old town to see them. They enjoyed seeing the huge tree on the boardwalk all lit up. I remembered that the local motorcycle shop did a huge train display so on a whim, we stopped to check it out. Last year was the first time we had ever gone and I knew the kids would like seeing it again.

When we stepped in the door the kids got so excited. The couldn’t contain themselves as they hurried between the viewing stations. The train set has buttons and knobs that the kids can use, so they had a blast seeing what each one did.

Thankfully the store provided dum-dums, otherwise I would have had a much harder time getting them out of there. But with the promise of a lollipop, I got them to the car and home for dinner!

This evening was the children’s Christmas program at our church. They kids have been rehearsing for weeks and they were very excited to participate, especially C. I did four videos for the evening and C was thrilled that she got to narrate one of them. Working with the kids the past few weeks to put the videos together was a lot of fun. Each kid brings their own unique energy and personality and it was wonderful getting to spend a little more time with them!

I am incredibly grateful for the team of people that works with our kids to pull together programs like this evening. I know there were many adults that spent countless hours working out all the details, planning rehearsals, and training the children and they are such a blessing. So thank you to each of them that helped and thank you for letting me be a part of that process. It was a lot of fun!