Here and gone again…

Jeff left this afternoon for class in Columbus, but before he left he had a good workout. His workout buddy Alexa had no problem keeping up and even surpassing Daddy.  You can tell by who's smiling in the picture, and who keeps going in the other picture. The rest of our day was errands and gymnastics. Alexa drew a great picture of Olaf, and at gymnastics Coach Dan asked her to draw picture of gymnastics. Analiese kept busy reading before open gym, she has been into reading Geronimo Stilton. Colin did all he could to be either looking at someone's iPad or play with mine. We downloaded Nemo's Reef and he was so excited.  Brandon had Man Fest at the church tonight with the youth group, and then off to Brad Pranaitis's for his birthday.

Field Trip Day

Better to do a field trip today than to do school with Jeff just getting home yesterday. We went to Montgomery County Solid Waste Management.  So fascinating....great talk of what to do with garbage, saw the pile of waste from the trash pick up just this morning (and it was only 11 am!).  Definitely will change how I recycle!

He's Home!

The kids enjoyed airplane sleeps masks and leftover airplane food (their usual gifts since Gabon doesn't have much for souviners)!  I got pain au chocolate from Paris! Sigh. Life is better now that he's home!

Filled the day while we waited...

Jeff's plane was landing at 6:30 pm so the question was how will we make it until then?  We loaded up the car and brought along Ethan and Tierney and made it a fun day instead of a day of just waiting.  We went to Cincinnati Museum Center and had a great time.  Sure Brandon and Colin got in trouble for buying Starbursts and Lifesavers (respectively) instead of chips and Ethan's locker broke and we had to wait and have them bust it open, but a fun time was had by all. This was a celebration that we made it through...maybe not with flying colors but we made it. Third times a charm.

Such a bad day

About 19 hours left. Jeff will be home and hopefully life will be a little easier.  These are the ways I've coped in the last 48 hours.

Spring For a Day

We had a relaxing morning today... Colin and I had breakfast together, then he enjoyed playing bubbles for quite some time.  With such beautiful weather outside, Alexa and I made a birdfeeder out of pinecones, peanut butter and birdseed; she was very proud to hang it on the tree.  The birthday party Colin was supposed to go to today at Boonshoft got canceled. Poor Isaac had the stomach flu. So instead, we took a trip to the library and went shopping for new Bible for Colin. After getting to meet with Carissa for a couple of hours, (you are so sweet and have such a tender heart!), we had some dinner and a movie night. The kids loved Cheaper by the Dozen!

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Full Day!

Got to get together with our homeschool group. Love spending time with these ladies! It is always such a meaningful time together, whether fellowshiping, teaching, or commiserating over woes of homeschooling.  We had fun at our Valentine party afterwards too. Alexa with a good friend Lily and Colin with his good friend Isaac pictured below. We even went to the homeschool art show at a local gallery earlier this evening.  It was well done and the kids did a great job! Our Friday night gymnastics was a great time with Analiese practicing her front tuck off the springboard and Alexa doing great on the high bar. Alexa really enjoys the girls and her team. Coach Dan always pow-wows with them at the end of practice to talk about being a team and doing such a great job. Alexa loves these peptalks!

Breathing in the Spring Air

We got a small window of great weather. I had to satiate my craving for some chocolate frozen custard from Ritters. We all enjoyed the delicious, refreshing, experience. You would think it was the first time we had ice cream ever!  Comments like, "This is the best ice cream ever."And "I haven't had ice cream in such a long time!"... we sure love our sweet treats.

The women's Olympic figure skating final. Wow. The marks were so close and so many of the women skated amazingly.  Adelina Sotnitkova took the gold over reigning Olympic champion Yu Na Kim.  Carolina Kostner, Gracie Gold, Ashley Wagner, and Polina Edmunds all skated fantastic.  This was such a deep field of talented, capable, deserving women.  Brandon was glued to the TV during the women's hockey final. USA was ahead by two until Canada overtook them and tied the game. Canada then won in overtime. Such a disappointment. Olympic fever continues…

The kids enjoyed some exercise, Colin did his laundry, and the kids we're anxious to talk to Jeff via Face Time. We miss that guy. Hard to believe it's still six more days to go.

Everyone's Catching Olympic Fever

Brandon and Colin enjoyed a very early hockey game in the living room. And I came across The official USA Olympic team gloves! Only 4.99 on sale at JCPenney! We can't stop talking about the Olympics around here and I am staying up much too late to watch them! However, it only comes around every four years, and what's a figure skater to do? 

One of my favorite programs to listen to is midday connection. I finally downloaded the podcast and I am back in action. I heard a great broadcast today about another book by Mindy Caliguire called STIR. This is a definite consideration for a future women's ministry study. 

One of the highlights of school today was Brandon looking at a beef bone to learn more about the skeletal system. Pretty cool activity.  And though it was a lot warmer today and a lot of the snow melted, more snow is on its way. That led to thoughts of our trip at the end of March. Can't wait to go to Legoland and Walt Disney World!

Oh the waiting...

Glad this day is over. Definitely ready for life to get back to normal.  Miss doing all the things we get to do together and the things I get to do because Jeff is so willing to share the load.  I am glad that his time in Africa has been profitable thus far. Praying for good things to continue to come out of that time.

History is Made!

It would not have been a surprise, but I thought I saw on the Internet that Davis and White got second. It turns out they got the gold! I was overwhelmed when the results came up. So excited for them and the history they have made by getting the USA's first gold medal.  Whew! What a relief. Tonight is the first broadcast of late night with Jimmy Fallon. I love Jimmy Fallon. He is funny and entertaining and talented and so gracious in his humor. Colin and Alexa had fun sword fighting that involved a lot of laughing and silliness. And today was our once a year trip to McDonald's! You would have thought I gave the kids each $100. I am not sure what they find so appealing, but they loved what I served for dinner! We went to Wendy's right after to get my dinner. LOL!

Please Refresh Me!

This was my cry to the Lord as the day began. Great time of worship this morning at church, and once I got home I couldn't get to my naptime fast enough. We still have 10 days to go before Jeff returns. While it has been a pretty good run, I am getting tired of having to be mindful of all that's happening.  Colin and Analiese spent the afternoon at the Brewster's. What a blessing that was! Just to have less activity, less possibility of disorder, and less fighting over media. Sunday is media day, because I am sleeping while they are bickering : ). Brandon did build a really cool boat on Minecraft, and took some time to help Alexa with her Minecraft building. We ended the day with grumpiness creeping in, but I was successful in getting them to bed before things got out of control. I was then grateful to have time to catch up on all the schoolwork that has been waiting for me, and watching the Olympics, of course. A nice bonus was getting to IM Jeff even though it was 5:30 in the morning for him and he couldn't sleep.  Poor dude, praying for him to be strengthened for the day tomorrow.

All for Fun and Fun for All

 Sigh.  Better day today.  Although a pretty unproductive morning, we all enjoyed some of our favorite things this afternoon. Alexa had a "Frozen" birthday party at her friend, Lilly's house.  She wore her fanciest dress and felt like a princess. Brandon had Lillys brother, Peter, over to go sledding today. Then Colin and Analiese got some much-desired media time while I met with a friend from Cru.  We ended the relaxing day with a movie night... I found Frozen on Megashare and everyone considered me their hero.  I spontaneously decided to make some cookies with a healthful flair…they had chickpeas/garbanzo beans/cici beans in them (of course, nobody knew those were in them)!  This is a huge accomplishment, as I don't tend to use any more energy then I have to for cooking when Jeff is gone. Even when Jeff is here, he's the one that makes the cookies!  Obviously, I was very proud of them as shown in my pictures!

This was taken in my bathroom. Every morning Alexa comes in at some time to greet me, spend time with me, and get some lovin before the day begins.  She loves brushing her hair, looking at my makeup, and asking questions about how I get ready in the morning. I always greet her with excitement and enthusiasm, knowing she's looking forward to seeing me as soon as she can each day. She makes the morning bright!

Expectations can Kill a Day

Not exactly the day I had in mind. Expectations could surely be the culprit. Was looking forward to a wonderful day of being with the kids, celebrating Valentine's Day, and enjoying each other despite Jeff's absence.   However, it just felt like I could never catch up today. I felt like I was always trying to get ahead but never did. We did manage to have a nice pancake lunch with heart pancakes and heart apples. We had a crazy trip to the grocery store. Of course nothing in particular made it crazy, it's just crazy to go to the grocery store with 4 kids! We ended the day with a relaxing time at gymnastics and and once everyone was in bed I got to enjoy the men's long program of the I heart Olympics.  

The Wait did not Disappoint

So today we finally saw Frozen. Wow. Nobody told me Idina Menzel was playing Elsa!  That would've change my anticipation completely.  Marcella joined us for the epic event and was a great help as I had to leave the kids for water, popcorn, and bathroom breaks.  Talked about liquid measurement with Colin for school and he was proud to begin his red workbook for reading today.  In history, we also talked about ancient Greek pottery so we made some examples of our own.  

Analiese had some interesting questions about marriage, and I did my best to answer them."Mom, how old do I have to be to get married? 17?". "Well, you have to have permission before age 18.  AND you have to make sure he's the man that is best for you and God has for you." She said, "I know, I know but you can help me with that."  Aw. That is super sweet and she doesn't even know it.  She is hooked on Beatrix Potter right now. That girl sure loves her audiobooks!  We heard from Jeff via face time and is doing well. Somehow the extreme hot temperatures are not an issue-could it be everyone is sick of cold temperatures and continual snow and would give their left arm to be in temperatures of 90°? Hmmm... We rounded out the day with some time with dear friends. They, the Warner's, are adopting a son from Haiti! Every day is a day closer!

Clean out the refrigerator or take a nap?

Well, cleaning out the refrigerator won. It looks awesome! I will even sacrifice sleep for organization. This is a very bad disease.  So much happened today-pillow towers, more tents, bubbly beards, and laughed my butt off at that lip reading. You have to check that out on YouTube.  Huge difference in temperature between where I am today and where Jeff is!  So happy for the Russian pairs and the great job they did to go gold and silver. It was truly remarkable to see their performances so well done. 4 days have gone by now and I'm still not caught up on Brandon grading. These Olympics are killing my late-night productivity. It is well worth it, though.  

On another subject, the Lord always does something significant in my life when Jeff take these longer trips.  I am getting the sense that He is teaching me a deeper joy in the daily routine.  As well, I am learning to have a slowness in my soul that allows me to be proactive with the kids needs and with my schedule instead of reactive to everything that goes on minute by minute.  This is huge progress for me as I have dreaded for a long time coming down the stairs in the morning and being subject to whatever happens. He is teaching me to invite him into the moments, the details, and the challenges that I would typically handle on my own. I am sure there is more to come on that.

The days are not so much long but tiring...

It's amazing how much more taxing the day is when it's all up to you. We had a great day with school and some time to watch the Olympics (actually I napped well everyone else watch the Olympics).   I closely watch the time waiting for Jeff to land in Libreville. The kids had a great time playing with the tents in the basement and it so delighted my heart that Analiese and Alexis so enjoyed playing with the dollhouse today.  Analiese said "I'm so glad we still have that dollhouse. I love playing with it; it's so fun!" It is for such little girls and it is nice to know by 10-year-old still loves it.  After gymnastics and Life Group, The pairs competition for the Olympics aired and it was fun to watch! 

And so it begins...

Today is day one. Jeff left for Gabon, Africa this afternoon. My heart garland shows the days he will be gone. We will tear one off every day until he comes back.  I am exhausted from the weekend.  Definitely trying to take it easy in these early days well Jeff is gone, and I am recovering from all the fun things we did this past weekend.   Colin got to talk to his friend on face time today, school needs some attention tonight, and we did some errands this afternoon after gymnastics. Those hair products below are the things I use every day, but amazingly I usually forget one of them in my routine.  Who does that? 

GALentine's Day and the Day After

I was beyond thrilled with how the event turned out!  We had over 200 people come to be a part of the night which was full of great speakers, fabulous prizes, tons of individuals who made the whole thing happened, and so much willingness to look at a very difficult issue.  I could not have asked for it to be any better.  I suppose my one regret with it never occurred to me to have the food donated... Quite irritated It did not cross my mind to do that.  So after staying up this late with dear friends, I spent the entire day cleaning, organizing and preparing for the week ahead. I guess that's what happens when the husband takes the children to the grandparents house for 30 hours. Even though I was so exhausted from everything on Friday, I couldn't help myself! I always say the best gift I can have to have as many hours as possible to be home alone!  Ahhh, what a great day! Oh, and can you just be amazed with me by what you see next to the suitcase, this is all that Jeff brings to Africa for 16 days. Amazing.

Crazy Busy Day

Today I felt like I could barely get a grasp on what to do next. That always feels a little unproductive to me. But in the end, I got done what I needed. Tonight began the figure skating team competition for the Olympics. Tomorrow night is the opening ceremonies, and I will be sad to miss it. But, it is for a very good reason, of course it has to be because I'm obsessed with the Olympics!  GALentine's Day is tomorrow! I've been waiting for this day and was even so excited about it coming I could hardly wait all week for it!  So, in good I'm too busy to be a mom today fashion, all kinds of things happened. Colin and Alexa wrote all over their arms and their faces.  I went down to the church to check out the set up for the event tomorrow, and I came back to a squirt bottle war as they were having a day at the "beach" in the kitchen and dining room. Thankfully the kids got it cleaned up. I am sure it had a lot to do with the look on my face when I walked in the door.  I did let the girls watch some gymnastics on YouTube and the rest of the afternoon was spent with Colin, Alexa and Analiese doing a gymnastics competition for several hours.  Colin even told me before he went to bed that he wants to do gymnastics instead of baseball. Will be interesting to see if that lasts. Looking forward to tomorrow! I am sure the kids will do much better under Jeff's supervision.

Snow Day for Most, but School for Us

Once I woke up to Brandon shoveling the sidewalk outside my window, I was off and running for the day.  We got the snow promised… about 7 inches.  Legos, Nerf Dart "injuries", more food made out of Playdoh for the American Girl dolls, and sledding late at night.  We even got to celebrate Tyler's 21st birthday with dinner and some cake!  Alexa made him a sweet card with the guitar and a tree on it. He likes to play guitar, not sure what the tree was about. She also insisted that his name be in bubble letters.  I can't believe tomorrow is Thursday which starts the teams figure skating competition for the Olympics! Sochi will be amazing!  Huge sacrifice to miss the opening ceremonies on Friday night, but Galentine's day will be well worth it!

Storm Coming...

Soooo...the kids eagerly did school with Analiese teaching but with me, not so much.  We did however have a good time once the attitudes got re-adjusted.  Then this Buffalo/Cleveland girl began to take the winter storm warning seriously and decided to go to Kroger.  Not really bc I thought we would run out of food, but bc I had every ingredient but one for several dinners and I just couldn't do that to myself any longer!  As we were leaving, we saw our family of 7deer...definitely glad they are well with all the cold temps.  I only took Colin and Lex-they got samples and admired the Charmin Ultra Strong and Ultra Soft for some time (They have been swayed by the commercials and begged me to buy it. I'm sticking to the Kroger brand!).

No Media!

Well, we put the kabash on media starting today bc I feel like the "media police" and our day seems to center around who is next, who has had more time, whose turn it is, etc., etc.  I would like to be a mom, thank you very much, not a referee. So, we are done. Maybe Sunday they will have some time. We'll see. I tell my kids don't mess with the bull…you know what you'll get.  But really, it's good for us. Today the kids were doing so many other things like playing Risk, drawing on the marker board, playing with toys in the sink, as well as other things they do when they can't be on the computer.  Ahhhh... We will see how it goes tomorrow.  Other things that happened today...Colin doing spelling, Alexa reading, and Alexa licking the spatula from the cake. Yum! Tonight was the monthly Be Free Dayton meeting… Looking forward to raising some money for this group on Friday!

Super Bowl and Super Moms

Moms of All Seasons met today and it was a great time with about 35 women and Shannon Upton was fabulous.  Theeeeeeennnnnn I had a fun freak out moment bc I couldn't tune in FOX for the Superbowl and all I kept hearing was everyone asking to do media so I lost it.  It was BIG FUN.  On to the Superbowl and my awesome potato skins ( and other super treats!).  Tried answering Brandon's questions as fast as they were fired at me, Colin called the teams the Brongo's and the Seagulls, and knowing the Superbowl was broadcasting live, Alexa was amazed and a bit disturbed that the players were still awake at 8:45pm...she said they must be so hungry and so tired!  

Down Time

Got back from Columbus after a great time with my parents, an unplanned visit with my dear friend from college, Carrie Ross, and a nice time in the car with the boys.  Funny moment with Colin was when he was drinking his Mocha shake from Steak n Shake he said he thought they got the order wrong b/c it tasted like coffee.  The kid loves coffee but must have forgotten that's what mocha is!

The evening was much needed grocery shopping and some down time....a fire, a game (you can see who won and was pretty happy about beating her brothers), and catching up on Parenthood.  But shhhh....we still have 2 more to watch!