better late, than never {linky} WW

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wordless Wednesday LINKY party directory ~

nighttime excitement

Everyone in the house was asleep except me
when Kelly woke up last night complaining of a stomach ache. I gave her a sip of water and she went back to bed, only to return
around 2:30 or so -- to cough and almost throw up all over my bed!

We made it to the bathroom, but in the meantime, Mikey woke up screaming for me. Dad, being still really asleep, tried to comfort him, but he kept screaming louder and louder as I was cleaning Kelly up and getting her new PJ's.
I get her settled, and back into bed and then go to hurry and try to clean up the bathroom -- only to find ONE Clorox wipe in the container.
{aaagh}
Mikey is screaming his head off !


I finally get back into bed and he just cries and cries and cries while I hold him. His is MAD, but after about half an hour, he falls asleep.
The bathroom light turns on almost immediately after that. I call to Kelly to find out if she needs me, and she is just cupping water in her hand and getting a drink. She gets back into her bed right after.

Then DJ is at my bedroom door.
"Kelly woke me up, and then I heard Mikey crying. It seemed like it might be a difficult situation for you, so I came up to see if you need anything"
{awwww}

DJ likes to have a job to do, so I asked him to go get Kelly a tiny cup of water and set it by her bed.
He goes down to the kitchen, comes back up and gives it to her, and then comes in to tell me he is going back down to bed. As he was walking out my door -- he meets Kelly running from her bed...

At least she hits the hardwood floor between the rug in her room and the carpet in the hall.

Well, DJ yells, "Oh great!!! This is all my fault for giving her water!" and is almost crying.

Kelly is crying.

Dad is sleeping through all of this.

I wake up Mr. Sleepsthroughitall, and he goes to help Kelly in the bathroom.
(by help, I mean that he stands there in the doorway while she is sick)

The baby wakes up in my arms with a huge smile on his face and is hugging my neck super tight and rubbing his face on mine.
It is one of those moments that you want to savor and bask in for as long as possible, but I have a sick 5 year old, an upset 11 year old, a tired 40 year old and a mess to clean up off the floor.
{whaaa}

I get everyone cleaned up and settled back into bed.

Kelly has a few more, " I feel sick" and runs to the bathroom, but she is good, and Dad goes with her every time, since I have a sleeping 2 year old laying on me.

We all have just about settled down --

and then there is an earthquake.

DJ comes up again.
The earthquake was only a 3.6, but the house really shakes when you all the way upstairs --
and since he is up, I make him check on Kelly, she is almost asleep, and is not concerned about the earthquake at all.

As I am falling to sleep, I realize we also
have a Miss. Sleepsthroughitall.
Our sleepy teenage Paige missed out on all the action ~

{wordless Wednesday} linky

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wordless Wednesday LINKY party directory ~

{this moment}

A single photo

~ no words, capturing a moment from the week

a simple, 

special, 

extraordinary moment

a moment I want to pause, 

savor 

and remember

please
leave your {moment} in the comments
for us all to see

and even join in

where it all started

Soule Mama

{this moment}

A single photo

~ no words, capturing a moment from the week a year ago

a simple, 

special, 

extraordinary moment

a moment I want to pause, 

savor 

and remember

{after a soccer game}

please
leave your {moment} in the comments
for us all to see

and even join in

where it all started

Soule Mama

{wordless Wednesday} linky

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mama is a nut-case, day 1

So, yeah. Paige is on her trip.
Her school takes this trip every year. There are two other trips the kids can go on, one to Yosemite and one to Washington DC. I think the one for DC is only for 8th graders -- and the one to Yosemite has a ton of kids that go.
She went with about 30 kids up to Olympic National Park in Washington. They are staying in cabins, but will be hiking out to stay for two nights in tents.

We had to bring her to the airport super early, so Mike just didn't go to sleep Friday night and woke us up at 3:30. I had slept maybe 2 hours. We left DJ and Kelly asleep -- they had a 'sleepover' in Kelly's room and we brought Mikey with us. (Grandpa was home)

We got her to the airport Saturday morning. She needed to be there at 5 am, so of course WE were there at 4:30. That was even after stopping to get me coffee --

They were allowed to bring one bag, a sleeping bag and a backpack. Paige and I had her bag completely packed the Sunday before. (you know I don't like to do anything last minute) She had one extra of everything they said to bring -- shirt, socks, etc. She packed it all into a pretty big duffel bag that she borrowed from Grandpa and I had her do it all herself, so she'd be able to repack it on the return trip home.
We are at the airport and I am looking around, I am amazed at how HUGE these other bags are! I can't believe these kids are bringing them. I wish I had a picture of some of them. They are easily 3 times as big as Paige's bag. What the heck are they even bringing? I can't even imagine. Don't they realize they are camping!?

Paige is excited, but nervous. I want to wait with her, but I need to get back home too. So I left her. At the airport.

I held it together. I didn't even cry.

She sent me a text before we even made it to the freeway.

I thought texting was stupid when it was first out. I mean, who would write something out on your phone when you could just talk? Duh.
Paige and I text each other ALL THE TIME. It's crazy. It is so convenient. It allows her not to have her mom calling her constantly, but it allows me to know what is going on.

They ended up waiting there for another hour before getting on the plane. After the flight they had a three hour bus ride to the camp. It was such a long trip that all the kids were tired and she was bored from texting me, that she even did some homework.
(can you believe they got homework!)

I, have not slept this entire time, mainly because Mikey is awake, but also, Mike is asleep and Paige keeps texting me...

She called me right before they had to turn in their phones.
Yes, they have to turn in their phones and get them back for about 15 minutes at night.
(grrr)
When she got her phone back she called and got to talk to everyone. She called on the house phone, because sometimes my cell doesn't work in the house. We have  'dead zones'. I can have my phone right next to me and it won't ring -- but it will beep to check voice mail. So weird.
She sounds tired, but it seems like she is having a really good time so far. They have changed the plans a little and will be staying in tents two nights instead of one.
It's cold there. And raining.

I'll admit it, as I hung up the phone, I did tear up a little. But I am sure she couldn't tell.

I mean come on. I had never even left her (or any of them) with a babysitter --

After she called, we were downstairs for a bit. My cell phone was upstairs charging, but when we went to bed, I saw that she had sent me a text.

"Don't cry. I'll call tomorrow night. Love you guys"

I sure miss that girl.

{this moment}

A Friday ritual.

A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week.

A simple, special, extraordinary moment.

A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Join in at Soule Mama

          

















   Leave your link below if you'd like to share your moment.

Spring Break

We made no plans for Spring Break. Well, no fun plans. My plan was to do a bit of spring cleaning, but that hasn't happened yet and it is already Tuesday.

I wish we could still go up to the Lake.
{sigh}

I am a huge believer on kids getting the right amount of sleep. I think so many kids are sleep deprived and their parents don't even realize it. Here is a chart from Babycenter: sleep chart Kids need a crazy amount of sleep, right? Yes, I know my kids are older, but I can't find that chart...
DJ has always been an early riser (in a house full of 'let's sleep in' people) and even now needs 10 hours of sleep. He was the one who taught me to have a set bedtime. When he was a baby, if I didn't get him in his crib between 8:00 and 8:10 he would scream for two solid hours straight! If I had him in bed by 8:00, he'd roll over and fall fast asleep!
(yes, it took me a while to figure it out)
Oh, and no matter what time he went to bed, he woke at the same time every morning -- he still does that and so does Kelly.
As he grew into a toddler, when I went to bed I would leave one of those split cleaning buckets on his crib rail filled with books and toys, so he would wake up and play instead wanting to get out of bed at 6AM!
The point I am trying to make, is that it is not a normal thing for me to let my kids stay up past their bedtime.
Until this week.
These kids have been staying up and hanging out with us until at least 10:30 every night. They are dancing in the living room, playing video games and having ice cream!

I also have a rule about homework, even when there is a break at school. They are not allowed to go anywhere or watch TV or play games until all their homework is finished. Always.
Until this week.
I haven't made them do any of it yet... AND we went to the park yesterday.

It has become a mad house!

I love having all my kids home together.