Free at Last

After 2+ weeks of sick kids, I was finally able to get OUT of the house today with the kids and hit the gym!  For me, working out is one of the best mind detoxifying things I can do.  Well, that, and a long walk alone outside, or an hour long massage (but you can imagine how un-often either of those things happen!)  Our gym here is literally 3 minutes away, and the kids really enjoy playing at the Kids Club there.  So off we went!

Fortunately, the stomach bug that went around here was rather friendly, and we had a few dates in-between our kids playing tag with it, that it wasn't an awful ordeal.  But it did keep us from going anywhere other than outside.  So I am glad it is over, and we can resume getting back to a social life!

Spring arrived so warmly here that I assumed it was just going to get warmer from then on out... Silly me!  Who else is ready for warm park weather to arrive and stay for awhile?  I certainly am!

Now Rapunzel is free from her 4 story tower, er, town home : )

Here are a few pics of us being cooped up:

 Playing tent on a sick day

 Outside on one of the few warm days we had

 Playing outside on a cold, chilly day! (this lasted for about 15 minutes.  The kids were totally fine, but mommy was the wimp and said, "This is way too cold! Inside!"

 Aero 

 Movie time. Yes.

 Printed Paper Dolls!  Cheap, easy, and fun!

 Marcail cut these out on her own!

Thought you might appreciate a close-up of our freshly painted feet : )

These Days

It's another late night, and I have just finished putting all the kids to bed.  Does anyone else do this count-down? : "1 down, 3 to go!  2 down, 2 to go! 4 down, ALL DONE!!!"  I sure do!  Whew! : )  And if at no other point in the day do I feel like I've accomplished something, when all the kids are sleeping and the house is quiet, it's then that I feel like SuperWoman : )

Andrew's work schedule has been a grueling adjustment for us.  Mostly it's just a big adjustment of how to spend time together, of how to maximize that time.  It is normal for 2-4 days out of the week for him to leave in the morning and I'll see him long after the kids are in bed.  So when he is home, it feels like party time!  : )

I want to be very cautious here, that this doesn't come out like a drawn out complaint, because I don't really think that way.  Yes, sometimes the days get really long with his schedule being as it is, but I am so pleased that God has been faithful to us.  This job that Andrew has now- it is pretty much everything that he has been wanting.  He wants a work enviroment where he is stretched, where he is invested in, where he is surrounded by people with whom he shares similar interests and a place that has a vision that he can run with.  And this is it.  Not only did he end up doing what he really wanted to do, but God provided this pretty much the instant he was informed of his employment downsizing.  It was just remarkable.

We knew that taking this job would be a stretch for us.  For him AND for me.  And it certainly has been.  There have been moments, today even, in the midst of the chaos, neediness, and noise that comes with 4 children at home, where I just think to myself, "Put a fork in me! I am DONE!"  And yet I've pulled through somehow (after an earnest prayer and some hidden tears).

I'm not sure yet of what God wants to accomplish in us moving to Virginia, but I know that He wants us here.  So regardless of the stretch, I'm all in.

Anyway, back to maximizing family time- its very much a work in progress!  On the times that Andrew does have with us, I wrestle with the best way to spend it.  See, there are several options.  Do I :(a) Put aside all the housework and play with Andrew and the kids - which means that I will have to do it all later, after the kids are in bed, which would cut into MY time with Andrew; (b) Get the housework done while Andrew and the kids are enjoying each other, that way Andrew and I could have some time together later - which means that the kids won't have a "full" experience of family time; or (c) Have Andrew help me with some of the housework that way we can get family time AND alone time in - but which means that on his time off he is still working around the house. Hmmmmm.  Am I missing a better option?  Ideally, I could get everything done while he works, that way we can play when we are all together.... but...... I have not achieved that level of amazing yet!!!

Marcail and Me being silly : )

That is probably my biggest struggle now.  And out of all the major issues in the world, I know it is very, very minor.  And I am very, very blessed.   Speaking of blessed, Andrew just walked in the door : )  So I'm gonna wrap this up and call it a night!  Leave your thoughts, please!  I have this app on the blog that lets me see that I have WAY more visitors than I have comments ; )

Returning!

There's so much to update on, but this will have to be a quick post; I have four children running around in my living room.  Well, one is confined to his walker, but he makes enough noise for the rest of them : )

We DID have our 4th baby, and I am not 70 wks pregnant like the baby app on this suggests : )  Note to self: take that app off!  : )  His name is Logan David, and he has a gorgeous set of bright blue eyes, and is currently 7 months old already.

We MOVED (again) to the DC area.  In a little but quickly growing city called Gainesville, in beautiful Virginia.  I had no idea that it would be so beautiful up here!  Green, green, green rolling hills, a splash of mountains, thick lush trees, hundreds of acres of pasture land and cows and horses.  It really is just gorgeous.

Andrew had gotten laid off at his job in Franklin, and the whole story of how God provided and directed us here so quickly and clearly was something I will always cherish in my heart.  I'm not sure of why He loves us so much to be involved so directly in our circumstance, but it is beautiful to me.  I am even now still seeing His hand providing and taking care of us.  Do you know how comforting that is?

Marcail and Donovan are enrolled in the local elementary school for next school year - there are some moments when my heart squeezes with pain when I think about how much I'm going to miss having them around me all the time.  And other times, I feel so thankful that they will have the chance to take their energy somewhere else than my dining room set : )   We'll take it a year at a time and see how that schooling environment works for them.  It is so nice to have options!

That is all I can squeeze in for now : )  It's getting rather loud and rambunctious in here....