Spring Break

This week has been Marky and Maddie's spring break; Meredith will have hers next week. We have had such a beautiful week together. The weather has been so terrific. I love the anticipation of all of my spring bulbs coming up out of hibernation. So far, the crocus have said hello, and there are a few brave daffodils that have bloomed. I know that a spring snow is just around the corner but watching these happy plants come up gives me hope that the warm weather is really coming. Earlier in the week, we drove down to Denver to see my grandparents, the kids' great-grandparents. We took my mom with us, so there were 4 generations visiting together. That's a pretty cool thing. I don't get down to see my grandparents as often as I would like to, but it was nice to visit with them. Both of my grandparents are very musical and so I thought they would enjoy hearing Marky and Maddie play the piano for them. I'm sure there are pictures of me playing on this exact piano! Memories! While we were there, a car accident occurred directly in front of the house. Once we got over the initial shock of the crash, it was pure entertainment for us. We saw a firetruck, police, motorcycle cop, and a tow truck. It was a dream come true for Michael! All of his favorite things!!! For supper, we met Poppop at Macaroni Grill and enjoyed a dinner out. That night, the girls had a sleep over over at Grandma and Poppop Oman's house. Michael and I went on a little date to Target. He even got me some flowers!!! The rest of the week we have spent playing with friends and toys, sleeing in the living room and just taking it easy. Thursday, I took the girls to the beauty school and we all got manicures and pedicures. The kids loved seeing the place that I went to school. Michael went over to his friend Giovanni's house to play while we were getting our nails done. After a yummy lunch at IHOP, we went and got Michael and then share our equally fun experiences with one another; I think that he was pretty happy that he had gotten to play with his buddy instead of endure nails. All in all, it has been a great vacation. The past 2 days, Michael and Meredith have had high fevers so we've been watching a lot of movies and taking a lot of naps. The sun is shining brightly this morning, so hopefully the three of us (that is all that is at home right now) can get outside and enjoy that today. Happy Spring!!

Weekend

This past weekend, Daddy and the kids had a special time together. Friday night they went to the Holiday Inn Express to stay and play in the swimming pool. We love staying at hotels - pools, breakfast, television, travel size shampoos and soaps. Holiday Inns are so kid friendly, plus with all of Daddy's traveling we usually have the benefit of a free night! Patrick said that the kids had a great time swimming and playing at the hotel. Saturday, they all drove down to Golden to the train museum. They rode a train, played with some Thomas trains, and had a wonderful day. I was MIA on this trip because I was long gone my own trip. My friend Susan and I drove our way across Nebraska; me to see my sister Lisa, and her to see some college girlfriends. We both had delightful times at our prospective destinations. Friday night my sister and brother-in-law and I went to a really great restaurant called "The Mill". It had the atmosphere of a "Hard Rock Cafe" and very yummy food (and drinks!). We had to drive a ways to get to it, but that just made for more fun talking together in the car. EARLY on Saturday morning, we drove to Omaha where my niece Ashley was to compete in the Midwest Spelling Bee. It was quite an event, with only the best spellers in the Midwest present. Ashley did such a great job! She survived through many difficult words and got out with the obscure words "dearth" and "pundit". I've never heard of those words, and we were pretty sure that the man giving out the words hadn't heard of them either because he didn't pronounce them clearly OR correctly. Most of the spellers met their match on those 2 words. Ashley was disappointed, and yet still proud of herself for how far she had come with her ability. It was awesome to be apart of it. The rest of our day brought shopping, shopping, eating, and more shopping! We had so much fun!!! All except for Lonnie... he probably should have gone to see a movie or taken a nap rather then try to keep up with the 6 of us girls. It was a blast for me to shop with my sweet nieces - they are such unique and special individuals. Each of them has their own style of clothing as well as their own way of spending their money. My niece Brittany, who is 9, has quite the eye for putting outfits together; I wouldn't be surprised if she ends up with her designs on a fashion runway someday. The weekend was perfect. Lots of laughing, great conversations and wonderful togetherness. I missed my family so much, though. It was great to get home and give them all hugs and kisses. I am so blessed that Patrick is so creative with the kids and willing to do more than just sit at home with them while I'm gone. They had such a great time together I don't think they even knew that I wasn't with them. This coming week is spring break and we are so excited for the time off from school. It is going to be a great week!!!

Busyness

Life at our house has been business as usual, but over the past week it seems as if the business was more "busyness". Daddy was traveling, I was in charge of leading the Brownie meeting, everyone needed their hair done before spring break, Maddie had her talent show, we were all getting ready to go away for the weekend, and the list just kept going. It was a great week - when the chaos was under control. But how do I keep the cap on the chaos?? I love our family life, even when it is busy, but I DON'T like chaos. It robs me of all joy, and I find myself wishing for things to end rather than enjoying the present moment that we are living in. I have really been wondering about this over the past week. The only answer that I have for myself is to take it one day at a time, one event at a time. Yes, I have to do some planning, but I really need to make sure that I don't get overwhelmed with all that there is to do because then it turns into chaos. I am sure as time goes by I will get better at the busyness. My greatest desire for our family is to have balance in our home, so it is to that end I will keep directing our days. Here are some pics of some of the things that we have been doing!