So Much To Say So Little Time

I hope you enjoyed a wonderful Easter with those close to you. Easter at our home wasn't quite as I had envisioned it, but it was what it was. AKP was running a fever and I was feeling yucky to my stomach so all plans were cancelled and we stayed home. Luckily, we went to church on Saturday after the festival our church has for kids the Sat. before Easter.
So, why haven't I blogged in a while??? TW came down with Influenza last Sunday and it hit him hard. He didn't arise from the couch or bed until Thursday. Friday and Saturday his energy levels were still pretty low. So, my week consisted of taking care of him and being a single mom to our three children. By Thursday I was exhausted emotionally and physically! I had many topics I wanted to blog about during the week, but there was no time. I will leave you with a short explanation of each blog entry I was going to do instead!

• Last weekend we made the road trip to see TW's brother and his family in Bloomington, IL. Instead of taking the main interstates to get there we decided to take the more scenic route and it was great. I usually sleep the whole time we are in the car. But, out of the 5 hour trip on the way there I only slept the last hour and a half asleep. Things we saw that we enjoyed...lots of small towns, enjoyed dinner at a small town cafe, lots of corn fields, beautiful landscape, and some funny road signs. I couldn't get over the fact that we saw signs that actually said "Roadside Table". Now, I had seen "Roadside Park" before but never just "Roadside Table". Low and behold there it was, one lonely picnic table all by itself there on the side of the road. We got a giggle out of this everytime we passed one. Next time we are going to pack a lunch and enjoy the Roadside Table. We enjoyed our time hanging out with our family that we don't get to see nearly enough!
• While in IL my SIL and I attended the Hearts at Home conference. I had never heard of Hearts at Home until my SIL told me about it a few months back. H@H is a group that is made to support women in their profession of motherhood. We heard awesome speakers and attended very helpful workshops! Visit the website http://www.heartsathome.org
• Some of you may remember that TW has a slight obsession with Starbucks. He now has me hooked on Starbucks as well. He is usually an early riser and arrives at the local Starbucks drive thru by 5:30am. Every morning he orders the same thing, so the workers know him as "Venti bold and tall half caf". Since he was out of commission last week I made the morning run to Starbucks for us (only I didn't make it there by 5:30, it was more like 7:30). Well, they recognized the order and asked about TW. I explained he was sick and they sent their well wishes. I find it humerous that we know have a relationship with the Starbucks drive threw workers.
• I attend a weekly Bible study and I am currently studying Solitude and Silence. This week in class our leaders had us to a ten minute time of silence and meditation and then they allowed us to have the remaining 45 minutes to journal, nap, walk, or whatever we wanted to do to connect with God. They had blankets and pillows all over the floor and candles lit. It was great! I woke up totally exhausted physically and emotionally and I was really needing the rest. I truly believe that God knew exactly what I needed and was giving this time to me at Bible study as a gift. Time to come and rest in his arms. What perfect timing our Father has!

Out of the Mouths of Babes

We were driving home from dinner and we pulled onto Broadway to drive home when AAP exclaimed, "Hey, we are on Broadway! My future has arrived!" Now, that's a girl who knows what she wants.

Household Executive or "Cleaner" ?

My kiddos are home from school AGAIN today. For some reason the teacher's are having more meetings. Now, don't get me wrong...I love having the kids at home (remember my Spa treatments), however I don't understand why it seems our kids are always off of school. My kids are extremely social and are always making plans for play dates, sleep overs, outings to fun different places. So, this morning at 8:15am they wanted to walk over to the neighbors to see if they could play. I reminded them that their parents work so they might not be at home. After walking across the street and finding out that I was right they came back home. They asked where the kids go when their parents work. I gave them a few different day care places that they might go and then the following conversation occured...

AAP: Their parents work but you don't.
Me: I do work, I stay home to...(interrupted by AKP)
AKP: You clean!

Well, not so much my answer. I was going to say that I stay home to take care of you all! But no, AKP thinks I stay home to clean. I have her fooled; I have a cleaning lady! Mwaahhhhh!

Are you a Shlumpadinka?

It is no secret that I enjoy Oprah! However, because her show comes on at 4pm here I rarely get to watch it. I do record it on our DVR so I can go back and watch the ones that I want. I was visiting with a friend from college and she was telling me about one of Oprah's episodes where she did makeovers on some stay-at-home moms. She said that Oprah labeled them as "Shlumpadinkas". This peeked my interest, so when I got home I went to check the DVR. It was there...YES! I feel like I have been wearing the same outfits over and over and wondered if I was a shlumpadinka. Now having a son puts a whole new twist in the daily question, "What will I wear today?" As soon as I decide to put on a cute outfit Bubby seems to get it stained or dirty within the first 30 minutes of me wearing it. So, my question to myself is: Is it better to wear a cute outfit and keep it on even though it may have a stain on it because then at least people can see I made the attempt to get ready for the day, and clearly it is obvious that I am a mom and my kids stained me...or do I just give up for this season of my life and wear jeans and a simple tee everyday? Well, the latter seems to be what I have decided to do latter!

Oprah's thoughts on a Shlumpadinka (taken from her website): Do you run errands in your pajamas? Are your husband's sweats a staple in your wardrobe? If the answer is yes, you may be a shlumpadinka. "I made this word up a long time ago," she says. "It represents, for me, a woman who dresses like she has completely given up…and it shows."

While I don't run errands in my pajamas, I have partially given up on style some days. So maybe I am a Sometimes Shlumpadinka.

The funny thing is that yesterday as I was doing laundry I had decided that I was going to wear my brown velour fitted sweat suit one more time, as it is pretty cold here, before Spring arrives. Then after watching this show last night after the kids went to bed I was feeling bad about wearing the sweat suit. On the show they talked about how much better you feel about yourself when you decide to dress for the day. It is true! I feel more productive if I am wearing a non-Shlumpadinka outfit. And, I feel better about seeing my husband when he comes home from work when I look nice for him. Once we get married we should still dress to impress our men.
So, did I wear the brown velour warm ultra comfy sweat suit today...

Nope! Instead a pair of cotton, casual, black pants with a white tee, a black and white scarf tied around my waist and a pair of red, patten flats. Still comfy and practical but a little nicer looking! :)

Are you a shlumpadinka?