a new week

Last week was long, tough, hard, discouraging, disappointing, draining.  I am feeling pretty beat down and weary.  And it's Monday :)  And Matt travels a few days this week :)

So I took part of the morning (Matt stayed with the littles, he's way behind on work but usually takes Mondays off and was kind to keep the morning work-free so I could get away).  Now I'm home, and the reality is that a morning away is not going to "solve" all the troubles in my heart.  But it was nice to eat lunch alone.  Seriously, I loved it. 

Everyone is resting, and I should be catching up - planning meals, starting the washer, picking up the living room carpet toy-debris.  Matt will be home for dinner tonight then it's off on the road tomorrow - but not for too long.  He'll be back Wednesday night or Thursday morning, depending on train schedules and his work load, etc.

As tough as last week was there were certainly a few highlights. 

Our big three were delighted to spend the night away with some friends.  They didn't get quite as much sleep as they are used to and after their return home Lydia fell asleep on the floor of the living room mid-afternoon.  And she stayed asleep even after all four siblings were up and bouncing around the house. 

It's not a big house.  That's pretty impressive sleep folks.

Another highlight was a family bike trip to our brand new McDonald's.  It's about twenty minutes (on bikes with kids) from our home.  If you think I'm crazy to be excited about a McDs in my (relative) backyard that's just fine with me.  

John Paul on the back of Matt's bike, I had Luke in the stroller but he got crabby and I moved him to the ergo before I took this picture.  It's definitely gotten chilly, especially if you're on a bike, so the kids were excited to bust out their hats and gloves.  (And yes, I burn a lot of calories trying to keep up with this crew walking!  It's nice to be on foot to help with some of the road crossings and bumpy pavement areas, but I'm gonna need faster transportation here pretty soon!)

My quiet time is ticking away and the meals are not getting planned, so I best wrap it up here.  


The brief update on John Paul: our surgeon is traveling until early December.  We are eager and hopeful that he will have his surgery as soon as Dr. Stone returns.  John Paul will be on a liquid then soft foods diet for a few weeks post surgery and we have some major travel in January, so it seems best to us to get through the early post-surgery weeks while still here at home. 

As Matt pointed out, at least he'll still be eating real food at Thanksgiving, which is pretty much a perfect holiday for a boy who loves to eat as much as our John Paul does.  But his first Christmas with our family might be a bit of a bust in the good-food department for our little buddy.  Oh well, pureed sausage balls anyone?!?!  Ugh.