2 Weeks

Aaron went to Honduras for two weeks on a work trip. He had a lovely time, I’m sure, and he’ll have to tell you all about it if he wants it documented. 

For me, it was two weeks from hell. Ivan, Ollie, and Cal got croup. Ruby woke up at least 6 times every single night, Ollie at least twice, and Cal basically only slept if he was in my arms or in the bed with me. So basically I didn’t sleep for two weeks, held a croupy baby for two weeks, and tried to console a croupy toddler, while making meals, doing homework, breaking up fights, running kids every conceivable place, and attempting to pack in all the extra holiday everything that goes on at this time of year, and on and on. 

I did go to Hooper one of the weekends, and that was nice. And Aaron’s parents came over lots to help. And I’m pretty sure those are the only reason all six children and myself made it through those two weeks alive. 

Here are some pictures. 

The kids and I made 3D snowflakes.We watched a youtube video to learn how, it was a little bit time consuming, and i ended up finishing Ollie's, Adelia's and Ivan's, because they each lost interest at one point or another. 

During the weeks Aaron was gone the kids made 2D snowflakes and recreated our "Hall of Snow" from last year. I guess that's going to be a tradition. :) 

Cal is 3 months old. Seriously though, how cute is he in this hat?! Love this kid!

The second night Aaron was gone was Monday, so I attempted FHE by myself. For activity and treat we made gingerbread cookies. It is so hard to cook with five children in the kitchen and one in the bouncy chair at your feet. Yikes! Definite exercise in patience. But we survived, and the cookies were delish. 

Sooooo many helpers.......

We managed to make it to the weekend, and then we hit the road for Hooper. What a relief. We were supposed to get a big snow storm, but the weather held out for me and we made it safely there without so much as a snowflake.  Cal loved laying under Gramma Tam's fancy tree and watching the lights twinkle. 

My mom and Kerry were doing the 12 days of Christmas to my Granny Jan at her assisted living place. They asked each of us kids to take a turn doing something. So today we want as the "Seven Swans a Swimmming" (see what I did there, haha!) And we sang Christmas carols to Gran. Ivan was all over it, he organized the songs, made everyone practice, and even did a solo part. He was happy as could be....until I made him be in the picture. This was Gran's first time meeting Cal. We had a really good visit and only managed to break one finger off of a wiseman in Gran's nativity. 

 

Ivan and Lincoln checked out some new Calvin and Hobbes comics from the library. Ivan was very excited to show me this one. It accurately describes how it feels to have Ruby sleep in bed with you. (She did sleep with me for at least a little bit every night that Aaron was gone.) 

What a goof. I'm loving the lopsided grin and that baldy head.

Ruby did her part to make sure that I never got one single second of alone time the entire time Aaron was away.....not even when I was using that bathroom.

In that middle of everything, I started another painting project. Because I desperately needed an outlet, and for whatever reason, painting is a good outlet for me. I started doing the girls' room. I'm doing it light yellow and light teal, possibly with some coral polka dots. I love it so far. Every time I paint something in this house, I notice how much I hate the original neutral color the builders put in. It's dark. But you don't realize it until you paint something lighter and suddenly everything feels bigger. Crazy. I got two walls and most of the ceiling done while Aaron was gone. 

 

And this little buggy.....he's so cute. Even though he's been croupy coughing and miserable, he still smiles at me. I'm beginning to seriously rethink his Type. I have always sort of thought he was a Type 2, but now I'm wondering if he might not actually be a Type 1. I guess we'll see....