Shane left on Friday afternoon and on Friday night a big group of his family were getting together for dinner at a restaurant I had never been to. They of course invited me and the children along. Let me interject here that there are lots of times when we (or just I) do the work to get the kids out to some or other event and on the way home I think, Well that wasn't worth it. Friday night had all the makings of being a night like that: it was frigid outside, with snow flurries falling. I was getting the kids out by myself for dinner at an unfamiliar place without Shane's help then had to get them back home and to bed. But you know what? It wasn't like that. It was totally worth it. And the children did exceptionally well. I mean, someone else might not have thought so (what with Silas spinning in circles at one point and almost running into the table of strangers next to us, Lieren having a majorly uncharacteristic meltdown right when we got there when I handed her to an aunt she hadn't seen in a while, and Simeon dumping a very large basket of crayons on the floor repeatedly) but I think they did great. They sat in their chairs, ate their dinner, interacted with people, and I actually got to eat and carry on a bit of conversation. Silas may have thought I had already lost it on the drive home as I gushed over how well they did. To make it all even better, everyone was in bed on time.
Simeon woke me bright and early at 6 on Saturday morning so we were up and going like any other day. I took the three of them to Silas' tumbling class, which was fun. There is a little indoor playground where the babies love to climb and slide. It was crowded on Saturday because indoor soccer is going on, but we managed the crowd and said quick hellos to people we knew. Here is where I will admit I was the mom in sweats who didn't realize she would see so many people on this little outing. Thankfully I had showered and had gotten ready a bit.
We spent the rest of Saturday at home. I put chili in the crockpot for dinner. We played in the loft in Silas' room. I gave the children baths. It was quiet and low-key and the children were as happy as can be. I was in bed at 10 after getting as much ready for Sunday morning as I could. I sent Shane a text at about 9:30 that night saying I had just finished vacuuming and did he know how much he was missed.
Sim was up just after 6 again on Sunday but the Lord was gracious and he happily played while I got ready. I just had a couple more things to do when Silas got up so the two of them watched a few Elmo clips on YouTube while I finished. They looked so sweet tucked in bed between pillows watching their videos. Then Simeon asked for "Gabba" and he said it so clearly that I couldn't resist but let them watch one or two Yo Gabba Gabba clips while I grabbed a necklace or something.
I prayed (out loud mostly) all morning that the children would have happy hearts so that we could make it to church with a sweet spirit about us. The Lord graciously answered and when I asked Silas to get his shoes he even said, "Sure, Mommy. No problem!" and scurried off to get them. When we got to church, I was so glad to see my friend Trisha and her family pull up right behind us. Lieren walked in with them, holding hands with Trisha and Silas' friend Haley. Sim walked holding my hand then Silas took his other hand and I had one of those moments where I love my children more than ever.
I was blessed to be at church (we didn't get to go last week because Sim had a fever) and while there was a mild fuss amongst the three as I was picking them up, it was not a big deal. Silas requested Steak N Shake for lunch and I decided a treat sounded good so that's what we had. Silas got his own strawberry shake and I shared a chocolate one with the other two. Believe me when I say they ate most of it. They aren't always much for sweets so I was surprised.
I won't say that naptime was a success this afternoon. But everyone was down off and on for a while. When they were all up and had a snack, I got out our slide and they burned off some energy for over 45 minutes on that thing. They are all learning to wait in line and take turns. It is the cutest thing.
Then I let them watch Little Einsteins while I made breakfast for dinner. We never do that but I didn't have much else sitting around and they all ended up loving it. When we were about to eat at 5:30 I realized that Shane's group would be driving into town soon. Just knowing he was close was enough to give me the boost I needed for the last leg of the weekend. And when he walked in way earlier than I had thought, it was a gift.
It has been fun to recount the weekend with Shane and hear about his time away with our students.
I didn't take too many pictures but here is proof that sometimes our children really play happily together. In an effort at full disclosure, though, what I wanted on video (and missed) was Simeon yelling, "I want it!" while chasing after Silas who was holding some ball Sim coveted. What Sim does say over and over again is "My turn" then he says "Here Sissy" when he takes her the ball. She says "Thank you" pretty softly.
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