After a week of 78 ice storms, 4 days of no school, and a round of strep that could be described as the image you DON’T want to see when you google “strep”, I am grateful that we all survived!
The week may have been crazy, but there were some really sweet and wonderful moments mixed in! Here are my moments of gratitude for the week:
Saturday Morning
A normal morning for me looks like this…
As I wake up to the sound of my alarm I can feel that half of my body is teetering on the edge of the bed because the other half is being warmed by the little person that has scooted too close. As I try to open my eyes I am off to wake up Maddie and start our day. For the next hour it is a whirlwind of making breakfast, cleaning up breakfast, attempting to wake Kyle without inducing tears, making beds, picking out clothes, re-picking out clothes, styling hair without inducing tears, yelling “we have to leave in two minutes” – for 10 minutes, and then searching to find everyones shoes. Sound familiar? I’m guessing a lot of Moms go thru this same routine every morning.
Even on Saturdays I usually wake up with anxiety-producing thoughts of everything that needs to get done running thru my head.
Not this past Saturday! I had the most peaceful morning. I got to wake up 100% naturally. No alarm, no children in my bed, no sun glaring in my window.
It was a bit of a rainy morning making the light in my room a cozy haze of dull gray. I drifted in and out of sleep for about 30 minutes. My bed was the perfect temperature, not too warm, not too cold. As I finally woke I snuggled under our new blanket that still has that new soft feel and let my body sink into the softness of my mattress. I enjoyed every minute of laying there in peace. I actually had a smile come across my face.
I was so grateful for a chance to wake up in pure peace and bliss on Saturday morning.
Birthday Party & A New Experience
About two weeks ago my daughter, Maddie, turned 10. Usually for her birthday we will have a family dinner with all the aunts and uncles and cousins and then a small family celebration with just mom, dad and brother. This year we decided that she could finally have a (small) friend birthday party.
Where we live it is pretty common for people to have big birthday parties at places like painting studios, waterparks, gymnastic gyms, or pottery cafes. Growing up in small town Iowa I was used to birthdays being cake at a friends house and a few games in the back yard. Things have definitely changed.
Since this was our first time throwing a party for Maddie I wanted it to be something unique. So I looked to the internet to try to find something fun that would appeal to a small group of 10 year old girls… a hard age to please! I came across an article for unique birthday ideas for tweens- exactly what I needed! One of the ideas on the list was “aerial acrobatics”. It looked perfect- unique and fun. So we decided that was it and found a wonderful place in Kansas City called Learning 2 Fly.
What a fun and truly unique experience. The girls loved it! Some struggled and some excelled, but they all had so much fun. They learned how to climb, twirl and spin themselves in colorful “silks” that hang from the ceiling. Doing tricks like the X-box, Egg Roll, and Superman.
It is definitely a party I would recommend to impress anyone, boys or girls, at any age.
This week I was so grateful for this new experience and the fun had by a super sweet group of 10 year olds!
Antibiotics
I thought we were going to escape this winter without any major illnesses visiting our house. As sickness swirls thru the air at school and work I was feeling super lucky that everyone has been well.
LESSON: Don’t count your chickens before they are hatched!
This week we went down HARD. In the middle of last week Maddie started what seemed to be a winter cold with a super stuffed up nose, general tiredness, and a mild sore throat. I let her stay home from school one day and then thought she was ok enough to go to school the next day. By Saturday she still didn’t feel great, but again, I thought she was ok to participate in all her Saturday activities (birthday party, violin rehearsal).
Sunday was a different story! She woke up with a sunburn looking rash covering her torso, neck, arms, hands. Of course, when I looked it up online my fears only got worse….Scarlet Fever. That can’t be it! That is from like 1820 or something, right!? After a visit to the Dr it was confirmed, Scarlet Fever. Crazy! It was a result of untreated strep. Ugh, Mom of the Year over here.
Well, I guess I got mine because by Sunday afternoon I had strep too. And I went down hard!!!!
I don’t think I have ever been more grateful for anything than I am for the antibiotics that heal our bodies and keep us safe.
A Little Love
This past weekend we had a lot that needed to get done before we started the next week. So on Friday I wrote out a to-do list for each person in the family on our little kitchen whiteboard. A great way to divide the work and give out age appropriate chores.
Unfortunately over the weekend both Maddie and I got sick. Bad sick (read the section above). Maddie recovered pretty quickly, thank goodness. I, on the other hand, was seemingly on my deathbed. At one point I cried because I hurt so bad. Later Maddie told me that she saw me crying and it made her cry because she thought I was DYING!!!! – I felt like I was dying.
By Wednesday morning I finally mustered up the strength to leave my bed and made my way down to the kitchen. There I saw my little chore list on the whiteboard…. It had been altered. Maddie had erased all my chores and now my list read Feel Better multiplied by 4, Love Maddie. Oh my goodness, how sweet!?
This week I was so grateful for my family who to take care of me and let me check out of life for a few days. THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!
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