I Am Thankful

The younger kids are in the middle of many fevers and lethargy but still enjoyed a family day of snuggling, watching the parade, feasting, being thankful, and playing games. One thing I was thankful for yesterday is that even when we have to cancel our Thanksgiving guests from coming over, to not to spread illness to others, we still have a full house.

Also, I’m thankful everyone felt much better yesterday (on Thanksgiving) than today. Today we have some serious kids down! Sebastian is sleeping like a log. Penelope is pitifully watching TV and Everett is restless on my lap cat napping. I'm glad we got to enjoy Thanksgiving yesterday. I’m also thankful for a sweet husband who heard kids crying last night and got up to say he’d stay up with me. I don’t need him to, I don’t expect him to (I can try to nap during the day -he has to be at work and can't nap or sit on the couch watching cartoons like I can), but it’s sweet and thoughtful and generous that he is sympathetic and wanting to help. I'm ever thankful for him.

It’s been pretty intense the last two nights with Everett. When I get one kid asleep another wakes up. everyone is easy to get back to sleep except Everett. Then if I do get him to sleep a dog starts barking and I have to fly out of bed to quiet him --and it happens ALWAYS just as I start falling asleep. The worst part though is that Everett has either flat out refused to sleep or he is too restless to get comfortable. He's not congested or anything so that's not the problem, he's just not feeling well. Even if I suppress his fever he still doesn't sleep any better.

Even though I'm tired, at the core of it I really enjoy taking care of the kids when they are sick -even though seeing them sick is not fun at all and I'd rather them be well! I'm still thankful though... it's tiring and hard work, but I'm thankful I can stay home with them. I'm thankful we are healthy and get over things easily. I'm thankful I studied a bunch about natural health 16 years go and still use what I learned. I’m dearly, dearly thankful we hardly ever need to see a Dr. (only 2 kids ever have needed to). I’m thankful that I don’t take things like health and family for granted. 

This is the last thing I got to see before going to bed last night. ♥ I was putting sick little kids to be while others were doing this.

These are some conversations/moments from November that I am thankful I wrote down and saved so I don't forget:

It is SO SWEET listening to babies talk. Everett talks so much to all of us now. I just told Penelope to put a coat on if she's going outside and Everett points to the heavy sweatshirt I just put on him and says to me, "Doh-knee-co." (Don't need coat.) Such sweetness, so adorable. He talks all the time now.

~~~~~
Sebastian ate all the soft mints I bought.
Penelope reminded me, "I told you yesterday Sebastian was eating them under the table!"
I asked, "Why Sebastian, WHY AND HOW could you eat all the mints!?!"
Sebastian's reply, "I don't know. I have problems."

~~~~~

Sebastian: Everett do you want to play castle toys with me?
Everett: "Auhh" (means yes)
Sebastian really sweet voice wrapping his arm around Everett as they walk away: "Ok, I promise I'll let you play this time."

This month has also been a bit overshadowed by grief, not mine but of other peoples. I've thought non-stop and helplessly watched on as a friend of a friend lost her two year baby to a terrible accident and as one of my friends watches her husband lose to cancer. Do I become thankful I'm not having that first person heartache? That I only get to grieve for a moment and then am recused from pain because my husband comes home healthy every night and my kids are safely tucked between the walls of our warm home? No, not exactly. What I'm thankful for is empathy, which hurts and sometimes keeps me up at night, but also keeps me grounded and unselfish. I'm also thankful I recognize the strength others have and that I try to learn from people who have no other choice but to be strong, because no one is immune to pain or loss. It finds us all someday in someway. I pray for peace and love in the hearts of those that grieve this holiday season. I hate sadness. 

Clean Houses, Bathroom Mishaps, Moms Need to Eat

So I had an awesomely-horrible mishap today. I was gone for a few hours to take Sebastian to the dentist. When I left I told the kids what snacks they could have while I was gone, one being string cheese. Everett (2) cries if he doesn’t get string cheese even though he only takes one bite of it and then sets it down.  When I get home I rush into the bathroom from being gone all morning and as I’m washing my hands I notice string cheese on the counter, one bite taken out.  I instantly know Everett left it there, probably sat it down to use the bathroom and forgot about it. As I take a bite and swallow Charlotte knocks on the door, “Mom I have something to tell you.” I jokingly say, “Is it that I’m eating your cheese stick?”  She exclaims, “Mom are you eating that…? Mom, DON’T EAT THE CHEESE STICK THAT’S IN THERE!" I open the door laughing knowing I'm in trouble. "Oh God did it fall in the toilet?" “No, but Everett peed on it, I forgot to throw it away.” I see the humor, I see how gross and unclassy I am for eating off the bathroom counter. I somewhat deserved what I got. I threw it away and had a drink of water. Never a dull moment.

Now in case you don’t know, moms eat leftovers from their kids all of the time. It’s a thing we do. If we didn’t do this we’d waste 50% of the food we bought at the store. Sometimes we do it out of convenience, other times out of pure hunger, other times to prevent waste (I do it for all three reasons). This is not the first time it’s backfired either. Sometimes you discover that you bite into their half-eaten hairy apple, or drink orange juice with pancake at the bottom. Sometimes you think you’ll finish someone’s cereal and find hidden eggs in it.  It’s a dangerous job, but moms get hungry.  

Tonight I was cleaning up for the billionth time this week and remembered that I loved it when a few weeks ago Charotte (16) said, “I see household tips online for cleaning and organizing and big families... sometimes I read through them and think geez we do all these, or have done them at some point, already.” It cracked me up. It’s true though; I’ve tried and do all kinds of things to make life easier and just making running a large household easier. Sometimes you’ve exhausted all the tricks of the trade and the only thing that helps is good old fashioned hard work and the desire not to live in utter chaos.

I was cleaning the bathroom for the third time in a week (toilet, sink and floor…yes 3 times a WEEK) and thought about that cute sign/door mat that says ‘My house was clean last week, sorry you missed it’

I need one that says ‘My house was clean yesterday, sorry you missed it.' When you have nine people living under one roof, I kid you not, that’s how fast things change around here.