sunnydaisies

We got snow last night! No school for any of us today! YAY! We like the occasional snow day that we get. It means lots of sledding and hot chocolate all day long. We have a pretty good sled hill right behind the house so I can still keep eye on the kids while they are out there but the best times are when I go out and join them. The boys like to challenge me in sled races and Kayla likes to have a buddy to sled with. Sometimes we even have a friendly snowball fight! I'm so looking forward to a fun day!

Usually the Superbowl is reason to party at our house but tonight the boys are down at a friends house watching the game and my daughter is at her friends playing. It's me & my hubby and the dog. The kids are all gone and they aren't even grown up yet. Just think how boring it will be when they really are all grown up and gone.

Last night was great! We didn't do anything special, we just took time out of our busy life to sit with each other and watch tv, talk and laugh. My boys even stuck around and weren't off running with their friends. It was nice and we had a good time with each other. I think I like these low key family times the best!

As you know this week we had to attend a funeral. Of course my kids were upset that they lost their Great Grandma and my husband and I were there for them. I also noticed that it really takes a whole family to nurture a child. My parents, my brother and his fiance and my husband and I were there for all the kids. Making sure they were doing okay, sharing stories they may not have heard, reinforcing that Grandma is at peace, sharing a laugh and wiping tear. We just wanted them all to know that we understood their pain too. I think all of my family played a part in nurturing my kids this week and turned a sad experience into something positive and uplifting. I hope they learned that life is worth celebrating.

So for myself I want to think back not to my parents nurturing me but my Grandparents. They can be an important part of who you are too. Growing up we spent a lot of time with our Grandparents. They both were very sweet God loving people. I have fond memories of going to church and being read bible stories. They are responsible for molding the spiritual me. I also think about the garden that they always had in their backyard. We would go out and water the plants, pick the vegetables and talk with each other as we worked. I always loved watching those plants get bigger and going out to finally pick the vegetables that they produced. I always smile when I think about that :-) It isn't always something that you set out to do but maybe it just those things that you naturally do that make a positive lasting impression

It's been a rough week .. I am happy to get a new start and move forward. So here goes:

Thursday after school I took Ryan to get his first contacts. He had to be taught how to put them in and take them out. He was pretty scared about putting them in but he kept trying and trying. He started to get frustrated but kept going. I had to remind myself to be patient too and just kept encouraging him. About an hour later and after a $10.00 motivator (Hey... whatever works right?) He was able to get them in and out all by himself. I was so proud! He is very happy with them and was glad to be able to see the board at school yesterday. I'm sure his teacher was happy about that too!

Monday got off to a good start... I had classes all day(aced my Psych test.. WoooHoo)  and then laundry and packing. I love the challenge of packing three kids .. it can be like a three ring circus with everyone running here and there... but it's done.. well almost done. I still have to pack my things.

I took Ryan (11)  to get fitted for contacts. I think he both scared and excited. Excited because it will be nice to play sports without having to worry about his glasses or having to go without and then not seeing. Scared because he is worried about putting them in and taking them out. We go on Thursday so he can learn how to take care of them. I am kind of excited for him. I remember that I got my first contacts when I was 13. I think my parents wanted me to feel good about myself. You know how awkward that age can be.

It's been a really long rough weekend for us. We received word yesterday that my grandma has passed away. It has been a whirlwind ever since of phone calls and getting ready to leave town for a couple of days. I feel like I haven't had much time to do much nurturing the in the last 24 hours. I am relieved that the kids are taking this all in stride. They are sad that their Great Grandma will no longer be with us but they also know that she was quite sick and would not be getting any better.

I feel bad for my daughter, she will be missing a Girl Scout outing that she had really been looking forward too for weeks now. She's a good kid though and understands that family is more important.

I had a nice evening last night with my daughter (8). My husband had to work late last night so my daughter & I decided to go crawl in bed where it was warm, just her & I. We read a few books, chit chatted, acted silly and fell asleep watching a movie. It was nice to have that time with each other. When you have more then one child it can sometimes be hard to have that one on one with them.
When the kids were younger we made it a point to have that special day or outing one on one with Mom or Dad. Now that they are older and there are so many activities that we are running to it is much harder to do.

Will it end anytime soon? I feel like it keeps going and going and going... It started fine but I received a call today that my Grandma is not doing well. She has been really sick for months now. I was going to keep this to myself and not say anything to the kids as I didn't want them worrying. They cam home from school and we did our usual routine of dinner & homework and ran up to school for a bit for the science fair. Pretty much a typical night our until my boys jumped on facebook to see what was up with their friends and saw a post from my little brother saying he was leaving from collage to drive home because grandma is dying.. UGH! I didn't want to tell them myself and surly didn't want  to tell them through facebook! So I have spent my evening talking to my children about death, God and peacefullness.