Here's what's up.
High: A warm front came through this week. And by warm front, I mean like 50 degrees. I wish the cold didn't bother me anyway.
High: John got some time away by himself and came back rejuvenated in spirit, which is such a blessing.
High: Yesterday while John was gone, I managed to eat breakfast, lunch and dinner with friends. #winning
High: Our church hosted its Global Village - a night that showcases many of the ministries that we are partnered with throughout the world. I took the kids and had many friends there to help me. Seriously, what would I do without them? The event was well done, and in the vein of helping our kids understand the wider world we live in, it was great to show them some of the stuff there.
The conversation in our car on the way home was both encouraging and hilarious. One of the activities that the girls did was get a high five from someone that had glitter on their hands. This person explained that the glitter represented germs that were on people's unwashed hands, and that some people don't have access to clean water to be able to wash their hands. Then, they played with play dough to represent making food, and we watched the glitter germs spread into the food ready to be ingested and make people sick.
Later in the car, Lily started asking why people don't have clean water and why we can't just get it for them. It was both good and hard to see her start to glimpse the mess of a world that we live in, but I did see that she understood a bit. She started talking about giving them money and looking for other ways to help. Bella piped in with, "and then they eat play dough and get sick!" I tried not to let Bella hear me laughing. So close, yet so far.
Low: Last night was a major low. The timing of John's meetings and activities were such that he arrived home really late (1 am). That in and of itself was not the problem. William's almost incessant crying was the problem. I think he's getting some molars, and he's being a big baby about it. We rocked him, cuddled him, gave him ibuprofen, and even tried bringing him to bed with us - which shows how desperate we were, because we almost never do that, and he still cried. He didn't have a fever or any other noticeable symptom, other than crying. t eventually turned off the monitor, because I am an awesome parent. We all survived to see this morning, so I'm not saying that was a totally bad plan.
Low: Last night was made worse by hearing frog noises in our house. When everything is quiet at night (except for the crying child), its hard to tell where the noise is coming from. Earlier in the evening, I was convinced that a lizard had gotten into our house through a crack between our front doors. There is a lizard party on our front porch every afternoon on warm days, and I was just certain one had gotten in and that they must somehow make frog noises that I had never known about.
I was searching under all the furniture with my phone light to see if I could locate stray lizards. I eventually realized that the noise was coming from a toy that was going off in the cabinet.
Fast forward to later in the bad night. John and I, who had not slept much, hear the loud frog noise from our bedroom, and for whatever reason, I completely forgot that I knew it was a toy. I started asking about lizards again, because I was deliriously tired. I stopped just short of googling "what sounds do lizards make?" around 4 a.m. At one point, we were both up, walking around, hunting for the frog noise. It was then that we realized (my SECOND moment of realization), that the noise was coming from a toy in the toy cabinet.
I feel like I've lost my ever-loving-mind, so that's a low. I don't think any lizards are actually in our house - so I guess that's a bright side.
High: At one point last night, Bella came in asking to cuddle and then had to be walked back to her bed crying. That was another low point, and John actually said, "I don't think this night could get much worse." My response - "don't say that - because the night is not over." And to be fair, no one vomited and no one was actually sick that we know of, so it could have been a lot worse.
High: Today was Lily's Thanksgiving Feast at school, and I got to go eat lunch with her. I do love seeing her in the middle of the day, and she was pleased to have me there. I love Thanksgiving, and eating elementary school cafeteria food was sentimentally nostalgic for me.
Low: Eating a feast with a plastic spork. This was harder than you might think. There was no plastic knife to go along with my spork, so making my way through the turkey was difficult. I eventually gave up and just bit through the large pieces, because I like to keep it classy.
Low: Lily made it very clear that she didn't want to purchase a tray of food, but I thought it would be a good experience for her to try the Thanksgiving feast. #rookiekindergartenmommistake
This morning, as she was getting ready for school, she said, "I hate you when you make me buy a lunch tray." At that point, I was pretty committed to the plan and explained that there were better ways to tell Mommy that she'd like a packed lunch in the future. She repaid my stick-to-it-tive-ness by eating two things at lunch. Her roll and my roll. Packed lunches it is. I saw my neighbor with a pizza for her kids, and I realized - neighbor knows what's up. I'll bring CFA to next years' Thanksgiving feast, because Save A Turkey, Eat More Chicken.
So, that's been the last couple of days. Never a dull moment around here. I'm hoping for an early bedtime for everyone tonight.