Thank you, thank you, thank you!

If you look at my time stamp and wonder why I am awake at roughly O'dark thirty, I will tell you.

Involuntarily.

I went o bed hours and hours ago. For the first time in weeks-possibly months-the kids actually fell asleep at a decent hour and I got in bed early.

And then I started coughing.

And then I tried to forcefully expel a lung from my body.

I've had a cold for about 2 weeks now, and apparently my body has decided that it would rather function with only one lung than continue to exist in this phlegmy state.

And so here I am am, awake. So why not blog? My coughing won't bother you.

In the last several weeks, a few of you have been kind enough to pass some bloggy awards my way! I'm still catching up reading posts from my break, but I wanted to say thank you to:

First, Megan at SortaCrunchy bestowed upon me the "Bloggin' Princess" award. Head on over and tell her congratulations, because she also recently had a sweet baby girl!

Next, Dana at Principled Discovery has passed to me the the "Rockin' Girl Blogger" award.

Finally, both Val at Purple Valley and Michelle at Raising Little Women have gifted me with the "Nice Matters" award.

So I haven't coughed up a lung. Three or four pounds of phlegm and the lining of my throat are gone, though.

Hope you weren't eating or enjoying your morning coffee or anything.

'Night all.

Today

So my break is over and here is some of the excitement of our day today...

(baby crying)
ME: Luke, did you hurt Audrey?
LUKE: Yeah.
ME: Was it on purpose or by accident?
LUKE: By my elephant.

If that doesn't scream "on purpose" I don't know what does!

*****

We went to the bookstore after dinner, where Chloe and Luke were scared silly by a girl in a Curious George costume, but Audrey was utterly entranced.

Would you believe I walked right past their cafe with nary a snack or coffee cup in my hands?

Really.

We went out the door carrying our books (you didn't think we'd escape without purchasing anything, now did you?) and noticed some smoke coming from the trash can.

Suddenly Luke yelled, "FIRE!"

And there was. The trash can was on fire.

And everyone sitting at the little cafe tables outside looked over and commented on it.

They ooh'ed and aah'ed and laughed.

And sat there.

Apparently it is more work to take your coffee cup back inside to alert the staff to their impending crispyness, than it is to do the same with three children, because I was the only one to go back inside and tell anyone about the blaze.

Good thing I resisted the pull of the coffee and snacks, eh?

A break from my break

I'm taking a break from my blogging break to let you all know that you need to check out the giveaways at 5 minutes for mom! They are giving away a $100 gift certificate to Land's End and a brand new HP Photosmart A626 Photo Printer! Go leave a comment and enter to win.

Since I'm here anyway, I have to tell you what happened yesterday. We were getting in the van and Chloe and Luke both went around to the passenger side to get in. I was putting Audrey in her car seat on the driver's side and went to put the diaper bag down on the floor of the van, and almost set it on...a black widow in a web!

Thank God Chloe and Luke went to the other side because it was right where they put their hands to climb in.

And it was mean! It went right into attack mode when we tried to kill it.

Needless to say, I've been a little twitchy while driving since then!

Burned Out

Lately I've had so much trouble thinking of anything to blog that is more interesting than "grrr...argh...frustrating kids...must wash more dishes..." and I've realized that I am burned out. I'm tired and I feel like I spend 70% of my day yelling at or in some way disciplining my kids, 25% cleaning and 5% sleeping.

And I don't want to be *that* mom, who resents her kids and complains about them all the time.

My dad is coming in two days and is going to spend an entire week. He's going to help with some household projects and the kids love playing with him, and I am going to get out a bit. I'm going to leisurely browse Lifeway and find a new book to use for my quiet times, since lately I seem to just be reading the Word blindly with almost no comprehension, much less any application to my life. We're also going to do some fun trips as a family, and it will be so nice to have someone help with buckling three kids into carseats in 100 degree weather!

I may even get the last of the boxes in my bedroom unpacked and have a yard sale so I can finally park in my garage.

I'm going to take a break from the blog for the next week or so, and hopefully I'll come back refreshed and finding joy in my life again!

Have a great week.

WW- Dreaming of Winter

Tackle It Tuesday- Chloe's Room

Something had to change. Luke has been terrible at bedtime since Isaac left. He's up for about 2 hours every night after bedtime yelling and screaming for different things- drinks of water, using the toilet (which he refuses to do during the day), needing a different blanket or pillow...the list goes on.

So Audrey has been sleeping in my room since she couldn't share with him, and I wake up at every little noise she makes.

I was exhausted and frustrated with my kids. So I decided to move Audrey's crib into Chloe's room and totally rearrange the furniture there. By myself.

Halfway through, I thought, "What in the world was I thinking?"



I took a break for a few days, but finally sucked it up and finished moving things, and here is how it turned out-

So now Audrey and Chloe are sharing a room, and Luke is still up 12 times a night, but at least I'm getting a little more sleep!

To see more tackles, visit 5 Mintues For Mom

A blank canvas, a wide open space

Ok, seriously. I have nothing to write about. I have been wracking my brain trying to think of something funny, but my days lately, well, they haven't been exciting.

The most thought-provoking thing in my life right now is what sort of bed to buy Luke. And I am really struggling over this. The movers lost pieces of his toddler bed and he has been sleeping on his mattress on the ground since we moved! And I just can't decide- should we get him a regular twin like Chloe's? If we have more kids or adopt this would give us the most space.

Or we could get a full-size bed, which we already have a mattress for in the garage. Then it could serve as a guest bed when family comes and Luke could sleep in Chloe's room.

And I won't even get started on the various bunk beds.

It's riveting stuff, I know.

In other news, our personal financial information has been stolen for the third time! Tomorrow I have to place a fraud alert and order copies of our credit reports. Again!

Oh, my dad is coming to visit for a week, and we are going to paint one wall in my living room, and paint and install cabinets in my laundry room. Is anyone out there good at decorating and painting? Because I really need some advice. There are all sorts of funky niches and cutouts in my house and I just can't decide which walls to paint and which to leave white. But I did decide on a color- the one on the very right.

Maybe tomorrow I'll take some pictures of my walls and see what ya'll think I should do with them.