30th Birthday.. A bust!

Well, atleast I'll be able to say my 30th birthday was unforgetable...I just wish it was for more fun reasons then it was! :) The entire week leading up to the big day was rough with hubby out of town, 2 sick kids (at 2 different times thankfully), and a sick hubby (when he got home). My birthday kind of snuck up on me. I woke up to a nicely decorated kitchen (balloons and 30 signs) and Francis making fat free waffles to enjoy. Unfortunately, before I could enjoy my breakfast we were flying out the door to take Grace to the pediatricians office. What an ordeal that was. We thought she might have a urinary tract infection. We were there for 2 hours trying to get her to pee in a cup, to no avail. Finally, they had to use a catheter to get a sample..that was so tramatic..only to find out that it isn't an infection after all. It's been a long week of worrying and wondering if they need to go to the doctors or not...it's a lot of mental stress. Anyway... since she isn't feeling well, we weren't able to go out to supper last night either. When Francis and I finally got to bed last night we talked about how we were just going to reschedule my birthday to next week and have a do-over! :) Today, I found out that Francis had planned a surprise birthday party with some friends..but those plans had to be changed earlier this week because of how sick my family is. It was then just going to be the girls taking me out to supper tonight...but that has been called off now too, because Grace just isn't feeling well. I'm a little disappointed..but I'm glad I can be here for my sickies. I'm especially greatful that I have gotten the bug yet so that I can be there 100% for the ones who need me. I keep praying that I stay healthy long enough for them to all be better!! So, that is my 30th birthday tale.. I guess it is fitting in some ways since I really wasn't looking forward to this one. Even Isaac and Grace knew that I didn't want to turn 30... I keep telling them it was going to be my 29+1 birthday :) I leave you with one of the only pictures I took on my birthday... kind of sums it all up!

Lilac Festival 2009

The 2nd week of May (or 3rd depending on the year) has been one of our busiest for the last few years. This was the 5th year that we headed to Rochester's annual Lilac Festival. As always, the lilacs were gorgeous and smelled so good! As always, I took a ton of pictures (198 to be exact, not all of the lilacs, but according to Francis 190 of them were!!!). We went on Monday, the day after mother's day. The kids did amazingly well considering how busy the day before was. They had a blast running through the bushes and smelling the lilacs. They also enjoyed going on a few rides before heading home. There isn’t much to say about each picture… but I hope you enjoy them!


This one shows how big some of the "bushes" really are!

Loved the white bush in between the 2 purple ones:

Isaac smelling the first of many lilacs:

Pink Lilacs:

Grace's turn to smell:

Too Cute:

Francis took this one... I like how it shows the pathway through the lilacs:

Purple and White Lilacs:

Sweet Girl:

This was a very different looking lilac bush with it's long stems of flowers:

First time we've ever seen these yellow lilacs..they looked like butter:

My favorite picture:

This was a very white lilac...so pure:

Love this picture too:

and finally, the rides! :)

Momma's Day 2009

Alright... time to play catch up.. I hope! :) On Mother's Day, Francis, Isaac, and Grace made me a beautiful video that I got to watch before heading to church.



The kids and I only stayed at church for the 1st part and quickly came back home to get ready for the rest of our day...we were heading to spend a Day Out With Thomas for our 3rd year in a row.



It was a pretty eventful trip out there. I had been having some signifcant pain in my side from the pregnancy. The most pain came when I had to sit for any length of time... so about 1/2 way into the 1 1/2 hour trip we decided I should try laying down in the back seat. Yeah... that lasted about 10 minutes with my face in a grocery bag emptying my stomach!!! I've gotten car sick my whole life.. but I haven't been anywhere but the front seat of a car in so long I kind of forgot how bad it really is! I may have tramatized Isaac and Grace... they keep bringing it up over and over again! :) So, anyway.. we arrived and as we got out of the car Thomas was coming down the track... it was very exciting! :)

The weather wasn't the best... it only got to be about 55 degress... but it didn't rain at all, so we were thankful.

We had fun taking silly pictures,

getting faces painted,

and getting pictures with Sir Topham Hatt and Thomas.

Grace didn't want anything to do with Sir Topham Hatt... which is funny because last year she was the one in the picture and we couldn't convince Isaac to go near him at all... funny how their personalities chance year to year! :) We then went inside (out of the cold) and listened to a Thomas story being read and watched a Thomas video. They had fun looking at all the decorations set up outside and running through the maze that was set up.

In no time it was their turn to ride on Thomas. It was so quiet this year that they were able to be the first ones in line for the first car of the train. That put them as close to Thomas as they could get! :) The had a lot of fun on the ride...there isn't much to look at... they came back excited to share what they had seen.

And all too soon it was time for us to leave.

Isaac and Grace were both tired from the long day... Grace even fell asleep for part of the ride back.

We stopped for supper at Red Robin (one of the few places I can go to with all of my restrictions right now) and then came home for the night.

We had a very fun and memorable day together. It's amazing that next year there will be one more little one to love! :)

My First Book Review!!!

So... here goes nothing! :) :) The first book up for review on the MOPS Book Blog Tour is Making Work at Home Work by Mary M. Byers. I thought it was going to be a book about how to get started with working from home...but I was wrong. This book is actually geared towards moms who are already working from home and trying to find a balance between work and family. It is a great read and resource for moms who are trying to find this delicate balance. The book has practical tips and useful advice that is easy to follow and realistic. The book is broken into two parts: 1- Saving Your Sanity: which includes chapters on how to identify your goals, setting boundaries, and how to make time for yourself (even if it has to mean scheduling it!). The second part of the book is on Preserving Your Profit. This section includes chapters on keeping records, having the right tools for the job, and how to even plan for retirement.

One of the things I enjoyed about this book is that she includes interviews from real work-at-home moms. They share their own experiences of what has worked for them and what hasn't and give advice to moms who are looking to start their own at home business. But, my most favorite part of the book and probably most useful to me, as a busy stay-at-home mom, is the appendix at the end with quick and easy dinner recipes...for work-at-home moms... but I'm ready to try several of them myself!!! :)

So, there you have it. If you are trying to work from home with your little ones underfoot and are looking for a little help in balancing it all, give this book a try and let me know if you gain any insight from it yourself! :)

*Sigh*

I really want to blog.. I have stories and pictures from momma's day and our trip to the Day Out with Thomas, and the Lilac Festival, and the Apple Blossum Festival. I just don't have time. I thought I'd be able to find a few minutes to write.. but the kids have been so sick this weekend and week so far, that I've been going to bed soon after they do. But, I will be back to write about these fun days soon. Right now.. I just need to get so sleep..praying all the while that Isaac and Grace can sleep tonight.

Something New-Book Review...

So... as part of MOPS International, moms were given an opportunity to join the MOPS Book Blog Tour. As part of this group I will be sent different books to read and then give a review of them here on my blog. I'm excited to be a part of this and hope I don't bore my handful of regular readers. Hopefully, I'll encourage you to grab a new book and take a look at it. Be looking for my first review later this week! :)

Jumping in Puddles...

Wow..2 posts in one day!! Can you tell I'm trying to catch up? On Thursday, after we got home from the grocery store the kids had an impromptu puddle jumping session. I don't think they have ever done this before..atleast not to this degree. Most of the time they don't like getting wet, but this time was a whole different story... and did they have fun!!! I'll let the pictures speak for themselves! :) :) :)