A little bug takes down the house....

Whew.
It's Thursday. The last thing I said to Sarah today is "you're in charge." The last thing I said to Glen was "Sophie sure is quiet."
I get up to peek in the living room (because I live in fear of Nancy Grace making me a subject of her show) and my two darling children have made pallets on the floor and are laying peacefully beside each other. Watching Dora.

We are thankful that they are feeling so content today...the house has been turned upside down since Monday.

Monday evening I came down with one violent stomach bug. As far as I know I hadn't been around anyone with one. Could have been food poisoning I guess. We'll never know. But it was bad. If I could have figured out how to logistically get to the hospital I would have gone. I think.

The last time this happened, we (Glen and I) boarded a plane bound for China less than 24 hours after the onset. I remember it like it was yesterday. Dr Phil started, I got sick....next day as Dr Phil started we were walking into the airport bound for China. As I've been recovering this week I've been able to see even more how God walked with me that week. I remember nearly passing out going from the domestic terminal to the international terminal in San Francisco. I still see that looooong corridor stretched out before me. I remember Glen asking the night before when I was sick "should we call the agency? Postpone the trip a day or 2?". And as weak as I was, even though I couldn't walk from the toilet to the bed....Satan would not have this. It was that Mama Bear in me rising up as I said "I'm going to get my baby...on time. No one will tell her I couldn't come." They were big words for a girl who could barely move, but it was that mustard seed of faith that God needed to get me through.
Most of the overseas part of the flight is a blur to me. Considering it's a 14 hour flight, wow. Nice.
But at some point I remember trying to eat the roll. I was too weak to pick it up. Glen fed it to me. And I remember praying "Lord, I'll take all of this if it will just be ok when I hold Sarah."
My next memory is walking into our hotel room in Hong Kong and realizing "I'm ok".
The next day was my recovery day...I had to fill my empty tummy in Hong Kong. This is hilarious to those that know me and how picky of a picky eater I am. Seeing the "fish and something" Pringles wasn't the answer I was looking for.
Still weak and tired and jet lagged and about to become a mommy...I don't remember anything else much about that part of the trip.
But every moment after landing in Changsha is etched in my memory. In my heart of hearts. I will never forget my labor and delivery of Sarah.

It's interesting when I look back on the "labors" of Sarah and Sophie. Those moments seem perfect in describing my relationships with each of them. Sarah, she happens "to" me. And I'm not sure I can even accurately describe what I mean. My entire being feels everything that happens between us. Good and bad. We butt heads and then move on. We love with everything in us. When we have really difficult times, it kills me, reduces me to nothing, but I'll use my last ounce to get back on track.
Then there is Sophie. You know I call her Hurricane. We landed in Changsha the very day of the onset of the worst natural disaster the province had seen in 80+ years. The entire trip was surreal. An ice storm the entire time. My "labor" with Sophie was a storm. She happens in the "midst" of me. And even though we heard they were deicing the planes with, ummm, boiling water....I was going to board and I was going to get my daughter. Going from day to day never knowing when we would have to pack up and run out the door to the airport...was just part of it. At 5pm we're all talking about what a strange trip it is and which hotel restaurant to eat in tonight; at 510pm we are told "pack your essentials!! get downstairs in 10 mins you leave tonight!!!" No fancy goodbyes, no packing carefully for the flight. Just grab what you have to have and go!!! We eventually got out on a flight that was never on the books. It never happened.
Yes, every day that's how I feel with Sophie. She's a whirlwind of activity. Joyful, wonderful, activity. Her temper flares up without notice and freezes everything around her. Her giggle picks you right up. But when she goes down for a nap or bedtime...I collapse. It's all this hurried activity and then stillness. And you long to see her again but wish she'd be a bit slower.

It's funny how God can help you in situations long before you knew they were situations. And He does. He longs to.

And He's helped us this week. Glen has been able to be home, while I lay non-functioning in bed. He's at work now. Which must feel like a vacation.

I'm behind on everything now. Cleaning, errands, school.... I had planned for this to be such a fun week before school started. Hmmmmm.....

"We plan. God laughs." (sorry..don't know who to credit for that and I'm too tired to Google it. :) )

Our crazy summer

I'm sure it was just yesterday that we watched Sarah graduate from Kindergarten and cut all her hair off.... that was the start of our crazy summer.
We are not busy people. But somehow this summer got out of control.
We went to Missouri, had a dance recital, had vbs, had company and ballet camp, Sarah and Mommy went to Denver, had a last visit with friends moving to China, mommy went away for 4 days, daddy went away for 3....
And now we should be starting school next week!!!
Hmmmmm....


Despite being totally out-of-our-element busy we have had fun.

I know I owe a picture of Sarah's new haircut...Granma has been waiting patiently. Sorry about the wait. Here she is:



I'm sure I have a better picture of it, we'll see.

Glen comes home today and after that we should settle back into our boring, slow lives.

We've actually managed a little bit of Tot School.

Beads were our big thing.
One day I set some beads out to introduce them. She immediately wanted to put them all in a bowl.



When she finished getting them in there, she was quite pleased with herself.








So I dumped them out so she could do it again. This did not please her.



We picked them up, put them away, and moved on.

Next, I gave her spoons to scoop with.

First the little spoon.



Then the big spoon.



Life was good.

Next, stringing beads.

Day one. There was no way on God's green earth she was going to put a treasured bead on the pipe cleaner.

But on day two...she was all about it.




That little activity gave us something to do every day, twice a day, for about a week! Score!!!
Sarah had her own beading activity. Fuse beads. Oh the madness!! Just look at what we got.... this is about a tenth of the beads that came in the keg-o-beads... surely someone out there gasped in horror at seeing the chaos of mixed colors!! It just about sent my organized, OCD-self into a tail spin!


So what did I do while the girls beaded??


Ahhhhh....serenity now......

Tot School also involved some new toys for the coming year. My new favorite web site is Montessori and Such. I wish my home was a Montessori class room. Such order! But alas, it's far from it. So I settle for their toys. :)
Here is Soph with her sewing toy. Big hit...for all the girls in the house. :)



We did a major overhaul of the school room. Glen was such a trooper to understand my need for a uniformed appearance. I love it. Sarah loves it. Sophie loves it. We'll give you a tour in one of the next posts. Sarah is pretty proud to say Mommy is her teacher...which sends my heart into outer space! I'm pretty proud of them too. But this time of year is always filled with anxiety that they won't like being with me, that school time will be torture, that they won't learn, that I will fail...you get the idea. My only assurance is that I know God has called us to this, for this season. He has something to teach us with this season and our only choice is to put one foot in front of the other and walk in His steps. So, I'm excited and scared. But ready to see what is in store for us this year.

More later...the Lego Engineers are calling for a snack. Now...do I have snack??