Weekly Highlights

Whew! This past week has been CRAZY! At the end of last week, I was feeling so discouraged about our house because we hadn't had any showing in two weeks. I prayed that we would get multiple showings (I was hoping they'd come last weekend). Well, God answered that prayer abundantly! We had four showings last week! And three of them were within a 24 hour time period. I was thankful for every single one of them, but getting ready for all of those showings made things a bit hectic. Because of the multiple showings and the work that goes into preparing for them and then getting out of the house while they're happening, that meant no blogging, too much eating out, more movies for my kids than I usually allow, and less face-to-face interaction with the kids (and apparently no picture taking.... when I went to transfer pictures from the camera to the computer just now, I hadn't taken a SINGLE picture with the camera all week. Oops!). None of that makes me happy, but I realize that's just the season we're in right now. Hopefully that season will be coming to an end soon with the sale of our house! (I'm definitely praying for multiple showings that result in a CONTRACT now! ;))

On Sunday, Alaina was still running fever, so I stayed home with her that morning and David and the other kids went to church. Alaina and I enjoyed our morning! We went on a walk.... (in the double stroller because I realized once we were already outside ready to go that our single stroller was in our van that David had taken to church)

...and then we just hung out at home. I cooked lunch, and we ate when the rest of the family got home. We traded off that night, and I took Aubrey and Jude to church, and David and Alaina stayed home. We had fellowship time after church, and that was fun!

Monday was a rough day. About once a month, I have a day or two where I'm completely overwhelmed by my life, I feel like an awful mom, and my kids totally conspire against me and are on their absolute worst behavior. This month, that day was Monday. Add in the fact that David doesn't get home until late on Mondays, Alaina was still running fever after four days and needed to see the doctor, and we had an afternoon showing, and it was just a recipe for disaster. I took Alaina to the doctor that morning. Thankfully, it was just a virus that needed to run it's course.

The sweet older doctor who we saw said, "You've got her all dressed up like she's having her picture made." Ha!

By the time we got home from the doctor, Alaina's fever seemed to be gone and she was acting WAY more like herself than she had since Friday (doesn't that ALWAYS happen??). I spent the rest of the day trying to get the house cleaned, and the kids came behind me and messed up. When they got up from naps, we loaded up and went to Target during the showing. It was awful. The kids just acted terrible, and nothing I said even phased them. I seriously almost lost it in Target. I was almost in tears by the time we were loaded up and on the way home. I cooked dinner, and then I bathed the kids and waited anxiously for David to get home. Once we finally got everyone in bed, I had a major vent session to David about how frustrated I had been with our kids all day and how much MORE frustrated I was with myself. I just felt like a crap mom. I felt better after our talk, and I knew these feelings would pass and I'd probably feel more like myself by the next day (thankfully, I did). I just have very high standards for the kind of mother I want to be (as I should), and I hate it when I fail so miserably (as I do often). Thankfully, children are very forgiving and love pretty unconditionally. More importantly, the Lord is so gracious and TRULY loves unconditionally. Thankful for His mercies.

Tuesday was MUCH better. It was actually a more hectic, busy day and should have been even more stressful than the day before, but it wasn't. I totally credit God and lots of prayer :) We went to Bible Study, which I enjoyed. I didn't think I was going to be able to go since Alaina hadn't quite been fever free for 24 hours, but my dad offered to keep her at church so that I wouldn't have to put her in the nursery :) Then we came home to get ready for another showing that afternoon. I was also cooking dinner for a couple who just had their first baby. Oh, and our realtor called on my way home from Bible Study to tell me that we would be having TWO showings that afternoon which meant that we had to be out of the house an hour sooner than I expected. Whew! I was cooking and cleaning while the kids were napping, and someone knocked on our door wanting a flyer on our house (our box of flyers was empty). I shouldn't have been surprised since I had prayed for more interest on our house! ;) Anyway, I managed to get the dinner cooked without totally trashing our kitchen like I usually do when I cook a meal for someone. Haha! David came home a little early to help me get the kids and the food loaded and the dogs put up. We delivered the food to the family, and then we drove around for a while looking at houses. We then ate dinner at Broadstreet and came home for bed. CRAZY DAY!

David took the van to get the oil changed on Wednesday, which meant the kids and I were stuck at home. I was kind of dreading it, and then my friend Megan texted me about getting together. Perfect timing! She came over with her three sweet little girls around lunchtime, and we had so much fun visiting! Their family is also planning to move to the same area where we're wanting to move, so we're excited about more playdates in the future! :) After they left, the kids napped and I relaxed!

Aubrey said, "I look just how Mommy looked at her wedding." I had a little less color and pattern going on and a slightly longer dress, but other than that, JUST like me! ;) How precious is my little (big) girl??

That evening, we had our last summer small group. We left as soon as the babysitter arrived, and we had a great last meeting. We really enjoyed our small group, and we loved getting to know some church friends better over the summer :) The kids also had a BLAST playing with Miss Ann Louise every week. They're going to be sad when she doesn't show up this week. Haha!

On Thursday, we had a lunch date with the Herringtons! We met at Mellow Mushroom, and it was fun! Jude was in a FOUL mood for a good portion of our lunch for some unknown reason, but we still enjoyed ourselves! We came home for naps after lunch. That evening, David mowed the grass while I cooked dinner, and then I went to Target while he bathed the kids. We then put everyone to bed.

Friday was supposed to be a low-key day, but our realtor called at 9 to tell me that we had a showing at 11. So, I sat Aubrey and Jude in front of the TV, and I ran around the house with Alaina in tow cleaning :) We just rode around during the showing. I had gotten the house ready, but not myself, so I couldn't be seen in public. Haha! We came home and ate lunch, and then the kids napped. I got ready because David and I had a date that night :) My mom came to keep the kids, and David and I went to dinner, and then we saw The Wolverine. We both enjoyed it! Sidenote: I've become a total "boy movie" kind of girl. I can't even tell you the last chick flick we saw.... and I'm ok with that. Haha! The kids were in bed when we got home, and my mom said they had fun.

Our church was having a garage sale/pancake breakfast to raise money for a mission's trip on Saturday morning, so David took the kids to that before stopping to get milk at the Farmer's Market. I enjoyed a morning of sleeping late and peace and quiet ;) The rest of our day was VERY low-key: meal planning, grocery shopping, straightening up the house, bathing the kids.... those kinds of things.

My little artist and her family portrait :)

That evening, we met David's parents for dinner at Primos. That was fun!