My Little Get Away

Case had a conference in Vegas this week. They were putting him up in a 5 star hotel, so he thought I could get away and relax for a few days. He actually told me to bring some work from the office because he thought I'd be bored hanging out by myself all day. Who is he kidding?? 4 days just to relax...they flew by!!!


I slept in every morning (if you can call 7 or 8 sleeping in). I would head to the gym for a couple hours, then head to the pool and read.
Then I would come back and take a nap in the most comfortable bed I've slept in, wake up for dinner and snuggle up in bed to read some more.

It may not seem like fun to you, but it was so fun for me to be so relaxed.

It was also fun to spend a little time with Case. Thanks Sweetie for letting me tag along. I had a fabulous week doing absolutely nothing!! And thanks Grandma and Nick & Annie for taking care of my little treasures.

Did I mention that I slept and read---A LOT!?!?!

And then, I returned to Paradise!!

My Vision

One day I was telling Casey about vision boards (as seen on Oprah of course). He has been on me for months to get some boards to put our "visions" on. I'm hoping that posting this blank board will actually motivate me to fill it up with things I hope to happen.

(See Melissa, I really was painting and sanding)

Coupon Geek!!

I have turned into the BIGGEST coupon geek!!

He Remembered!!

He remembered!! Case actually remembered my "mom" day. He had an early tee time for a tournament at Valley View this morning. When I came up to make breakfast, there were 2 boxes of doughnuts sitting on the counter!! He hasn't been the most sensitive soul this week, so I am more than thrilled he remembered--and made the trek to the grocery store at 6 am. I guess it balances out the week!! Even better was hearing Livie ask Hallie if she was going to have another doughnut and Hallie saying "No, there's way too much sugar in these. I'll have something healthy." Too bad Diddy didn't get the memo--he can't shovel the doughnuts in fast enough!! I gotta run--I don't need to waste the day doing this.

My Mother's Day Wish

I know the girls have made me Mothers Day presents at school and they are so excited to give them to me. The other night, Hallie asked me what I wanted Daddy to give me for Mother's Day. As soon as she asked, I immediately had this thought come into my brain---I just want to spend the whole Saturday playing with my kids and just being a MOM!!! No cooking, no cleaning, no yardwork, no billing, no errands, nothing, but playing with the kids. Case told me I better make sure everything else is done by Friday night.....whatever!! I can't wait to spend the day reading books, playing games, running outside and doing whatever else the kids want to do with ME!! Hallie told me she would make sure there was no fighting, so I could have a great day taking care of my children. Yay--I can't wait. This will be the best Mothers Day ever!!

Stranger

It seriously feels like my hubby is fast becoming a stranger. We have spent 5 of the last 6 weeks with some serious sick bugs at our house. When we're full of bugs, it's ALL about the kids. The boys just cry and cry. They cry if you pick them up, they cry if you put them down, they cry if you even turn your head---and they don't sleep well. I've had my fair share of all-nighters this last month. To make matters worse, Case and I keep getting sick and we seem to be bad on the same days. It's all we can do to keep things together sometimes. The other thing that has been hard is that ALL 4 of them were sick at the same time and 4 kids and 1 lap just don't mix. By the time I got the kids to the doc and diagnosed on Monday, I was at my whits end--I was averaging about 2 hours of sleep a night for the last few nights. As soon as I found out everyone was really sick, I got in my car and started crying because I was so relieved to know what was wrong and I was ready for medicine!!!
That night, Case and I were kind of short with each other because the constant crying was really getting nerve-racking. We couldn't take it out on the kids, so we were kind of taking it out on each other. The next morning I woke up to find an email from Case saying when he got home from work, I was to get out of the house and not come home until I was ready. I started to cry when I read that because I knew Case was just as exhausted as me and it meant the world to me that he realized how bad things had been and he wanted me to feel some relief. I went to the office at 8:00 that night and stayed until 5:30 am--it felt so good to be busy and to actually see a task get completed. Even though things have been horrible this week, all I can think about is Case thinking of me. That actually makes things seem all better.
It has been a long week. I've been pretty sick, so I've been sleeping on the couch, so I don't get Case sick. Tonight I went in to kiss him goodnight and he was like "what are you doing." Yes, we've been sooo preoccupied with sick kids that a kiss goodnight was totally out of the norm. I think I need to plan a fun night to get to know this stranger I call my husband. Maybe then, I'll feel like a wife again too because right now, I feel like a professional snot wiper.

Something Nice?? About Me??? Hmmmmm

I'm told on a daily basis that I'm "just too hard on [myself]." I don't find that to be one bit true. I like to think I'm constantly working on improving myself. When I told this to my friend, she suggest that I work on saying nice things about myself--she even challenged me to do a weekly post stating something I like about myself and include an example. I've accepted the challenge and have found that this is going to be so hard for me. I don't think I can do once a week, but maybe twice a month. Here goes C.
A few weeks ago I received a "Daily Gem" email with this quote. When I read it, I actually forwarded it to Case and told him that here is something I think I'm good at. I think he was excited to hear me say something positive about myself. I know he wishes I would do it more. The quote says....

“What can. . .young mother[s] [do]. . .to reduce the pressure [of raising young children] and enjoy [their families] more?. . . Recognize that the joy of motherhood comes in moments. There will be hard times and frustrating times. But amid the challenges, there are shining moments of joy and satisfaction. Author Anna Quindlen reminds us not to rush past the fleeting moments. She said: ‘The biggest mistake I made [as a parent] is the one that most of us make. . .I did not live in the moment enough. This is particularly clear now that the moment is gone, captured only in photographs. There is one picture of [my three children] sitting in the grass on a quilt in the shadow of the swing set on a summer day, ages six, four, and one. And I wish I could remember what we ate, and what we talked about, and how they sounded, and how they looked when they slept that night. I wish I had not been in such a hurry to get on to the next thing; dinner, bath, book, bed. I wish I had treasured the doing a little more and the getting it done a little less."

I like that I'm a live in the moment kind of mom--for the most part anyway. We have a basic routine that we follow, but on a lot of days, I'll completely blow the routine to savour the moment. Don't get me wrong, I have my fair share of challenges and frustrations, but I really do love "doing" what a mom does.
Just this past Sunday, I woke up early to make sure we made it to church on time, well the boys were so fun and playful that morning that I couldn't resist tickling, wrestling, and playing with them--the result I was late for church. Case and the kids made it on time, but not me.Would I trade the opening hymn for those sweet giggles? Not ever!!
*I am NOT advocating missing church or even being late--just giving an example!!
WOW--that was so HARD for me!!! Hopefully it will get easier!!