love

Shout out to my two loyal readers!  Bonus points to whichever one of you reads this first.  ;)  And, oh yeah, I have three readers because I set Mike up to automatically get an email whenever I post (I think he does actually read it and not just delete the email...).  Ha!

I guess life has been at just a normal state of busyness.  Nothing too crazy, but we're certainly not bored either.  We are loving Mike's slow season at work and are trying to really soak it up, realizing that Friday's off can only last so long.  I LOVE FRIDAY'S OFF!!!!  I can hardly even begin to describe how wonderful it is.  Just having him around more is something I don't take for granted, and there's a couple fun little traditions that seem to be going on.  Mike takes Caleb and Logan to school in his truck on Friday mornings, and the last couple weeks he's taken a walkie-talkie with him, and left one with Levi to see how far they would keep working.  So that's kind of fun.  And, at the end of the day when he picks Caleb and Logan up he brings hot chocolate for him, and they just love that.  I mean, as a first grade boy, how cool is it to have your dad pick you up from school in his pick-up truck and have hot chocolate ready for you??  Yeah, he's pretty much an awesome dad!  (And, I promise I'm not just saying that because he's reading this!)

Our laundry room project seems to be progressing slooooooowly.  The new drywall is mudded and ready to go.  We're basically ready for the carpenter to come, but haven't heard yet when he'll be able to make it here.  I would like to have some painting done before he comes, but I've been dragging my heels a little bit.  I finally broke down and bought a paint sprayer, which I think is going to be a useful tool to have for many projects, but I feel a little overwhelmed about the learning curve.  It arrived a few days ago, I took it out of the box today, I'm not sure if I'll be ready to test it out tomorrow or not.

The boys' big thing right now is GaGa Ball.  (I have no idea where the name came from?  But that's what everyone knows it as.)  They play it at recess, and here at home.  There's a small 'pit' you play in, and I guess it's kind of the opposite of soccer in that you don't want it to touch below your knees (if it does, you're out).  I think at school Caleb plays it more than Logan, but at home they all play it with Mike up in their room.  (Jackson may have even said, "GaGa Ball" the other day....)  A couple weeks ago Caleb got some pretty good bloody knuckles from playing.  That boy always has some sort of injury like that.  And, from what it looks like so far, Jackson seems to be headed in the same direction.

A couple weeks ago Mike and I were able to go out on a date.  Wait, what?!  Yes, a date.  An actual, get-a-babysitter-and-go-out-to-eat date.  We had a very nice time eating dinner at Brann's Steakhouse (Christmas gift certificate!), and browsing at Barnes & Noble.  The babysitter we've had a couple times now seems to do a great job, and is not intimidated by four little boys.  Yay!

I just have to say I am loving my crazy life with my five crazy guys.  It's not all sunshine and roses - there are plenty of challenging times, but it's a beautiful life.  I would try to elaborate, but as words are not my strength, I'll just have to leave there.  Thank you, Lord, for Your blessings!