Spring Break

This week the kids are on Spring Break. It has been an ideal week so far and we have been outside for a lot of the week. I worked in the yard while the kids played for most of Monday and Tuesday (except for a short trip to Target on Monday to spend allowance that was burning a whole in every one's pockets).

Today, Gretchen and I decided to trade "child care" for "kid free errands". I took Gretchen's kids for 2 1/2 hours in the morning. The kids were supposed to play outside, in the woods and on the playground. They were supposed to burn energy and then when it was hot in the afternoon they were going to watch a movie at Gretchen's. They didn't quite get the plan. They were in and out of the house and spent more time inside drawing at the table than running around outside.

At noon, we met Gretchen at McDonalds. She took my van on her errands and I brought her van (a 12 passenger) to McDonalds with all 10 kids. The kids had a big time. After McDonalds she took them all home and I ran off to do some errands.

I went to get a hair cut and run to the grocery store. Malachi took a nap at her house and the other kids watched a movie. It was a fun day for everyone.

Date Night

Last night we had the biggest treat! Covenant College music department put on West Side Story. My brother, David, and his wife, Mary, offered to send us to the musical and babysit our kids. Not only that, they came to our house. They treated the kids to pizza and treated us to dinner. Wow! We were so astonished by their generousity.


Mary showed up at our house at 5:00 with her 4 kids and we were off. We went out to eat and took our time because we weren't paying a babysitter. David joined Mary at our house after work and brought the pizzas. When it was time for bed, Mary took her kids home and David put our 5 to bed. Then he "studied" (he is working on getting his masters from Duke and has a lot of homework) and watched basketball.


We had a great time. Greg and Debbie Duble joined us at the play. They love West Side Story, as do I, and Jon was introduced to it for the first time. The Covenant College kids did a marvelous job and we were so impressed by their production.


What a blessing. We had a great time and couldn't be more thankful for David and Mary's gift to us.

My week

Monday night I had a Premier Jewelry Party. It was so much fun--mainly because of the ladies that came. My mom and sisters came and several ladies from church that I love, but don't get to see or hang out with too often. I earned $160 in free jewelry which was also fun.

This week has been so much less stressful than last week. Although there were moments of stress, I didn't have a "task" looming over me. I did have my jewelry party Monday night, a Women's Ministry meeting on Tuesday night and grocery shopping to do Wed and other errands to run on Thurs, but it was a good, stress-free week until...

Thursday afternoon I found out that the IRS was denying our tax return. I was so upset I cried. Five minutes before I found out about this, I spent 30 minutes on the phone with BCBS insurance discovering that Ezra's surgery and Jon and Isaiah's ER visits were going to cost of thousands of dollars in medical bills. We needed that tax return!

So Friday I spent an hour and 3 minutes on the phone with the IRS. The end result was that the IRS had made a mistake. I thanked God over and over again (every time I got put on hold) because he gave me the nicest, most helpful person in the whole IRS to talk to me. She was so nice and patient and spent an hour working hard to figure out what happen. Apparently it was their mistake and thankfully we are getting our refund.

Friday morning, I enjoyed a visit from a lady at church who has three kids. One is in kindergarten with Isaiah and the other two are exactly the same ages as Ezra and Malachi. It was a fun morning. I am so glad Becki, Nathan and Catherine were able to come over a "play."

Bathroom

After a week of hard work, I basically finished the bathroom this evening. When I start a job, I never think is it going to be as much work as it turns out to be. It took me 4 days of work to finish it. I painted the tub and toilet room red and the sink room red and tan. I love it. I am so happy with it. I still have to finish caulking and painting the baseboards. I also will be keeping my eyes out for new "extras" for the bathroom--things to decorate the walls and a new trash can.

Some day I will also try to paint the cabinet doors, but that is not a priority right now.

I am so happy I got it done in a week...that is really fast for me. I usually work a little at a time, mainly during the baby's naps. It can take me a month to paint one room. This feels really good!

Malachi turns 2

Malachi's actual birthday is March 17 -- St. Patrick's Day, but as always we celebrated on Sunday at Grandma and Grandpa's house. Grandpa was in Uganda teaching at a Seminary, but we had to celebrate without him.

After Sunday lunch we did cake and presents.

He got a little too close to the icing while blowing out his candles. (notice his chin)

Malachi has two main loves (like his Grandpa Caines): Books and Balls.

He also got two flashlights and a bubble blower.

This is Elijah, Ezra and Malachi playing with the bubble blower on our deck.

Wallpaper Removal

Since we moved into this house a year ago, it has been my desire to tear down the wallpaper in the hall bathroom and paint. The wallpaper was a grey and silver marble swirl, that was so out dated that no one that saw it would possibly think I liked it or put it up myself, so I was saving that job until last. Everything else (except making new throw pillows for the living room), I feel like I've finished, so onto the bathroom.

I bought a sample of paint and decided I would tear down one wall of paper and see what I thought of the color...but one wall lead to another and then to another. The hall bathroom is divided into two sections: the toilet and tub room and the sink room. After tearing down one wall in the sink room and thought I'd check out the tub room. Behind the wallpaper in the tub room was mold--yuck! Now what?

I plugged along for about 45 minutes on my own and then I was joined by Isaiah. Isaiah loves jobs like this. He wants to be a remodeler when he grows up -- just like Mr. Bowman.


But it didn't take long before everyone wanted to help. (We never let Trouble, aka Malachi, help--he was napping). Jon and the big boys all started demolition. As Jon said, "Boys like to destroy things."
It is not all done, help from the boys meant little pieces of paper left here and there on the wall, but I would say mostly done (I probably have 45 minutes of work left to do on Monday). I was thankful though, because these sort of projects usually take the whole week because I do a little bit each day because I am on my own to get them done. Only now, I have to figure out what I do about the mold. It was just behind a section of wall paper about 5 feet high and 4 feet wide--but I still have to do something to repair it before I can paint.

Sickness

We have been very blessed in my 9 years of being a mom, and we have only had one other case where the stomach bug swept through the family. But we have it now. Monday Malachi threw and then had fever all day Tuesday, but was fine by Wed am.

Everyone else seemed fine, so we all went to church last night. Isaiah threw up in the middle of class. I collected everyone (all 5 kids) from their classes and told Jon (who was teaching a class) to get a ride home with my sister's family. By 10pm, Jon, Isaiah and Elijah all were throwing up and had fever. So, needless to say, from 8:30pm until 3:30am, I was assiting someone sick. Finally at about 4:00 things quieted down.

I can't complain, because this hasn't plaugued us too often. I am very grateful that the virus seems to be 24 hours and that all 7 of us didn't have it at once (there wouldn't have been enough bathroom space). Just waiting now for Jonah and Ezra to get it--I'm hoping I'll go last so I don't have to take care of anyone while I'm sick.

Off to see what my day will hold.