Weekly Wind Down {Baby Snuggles, Sorrowful Heartache, and How We Must Go On} Apr 17-23

The week started out cold.  Again.  Rain, a little snow mix, and wind blew in Easter Sunday.  

The children were all up plenty early.  Ameliya and Evalynn were first awake and spent some time snuggled up reading on the couch while I fixed my food for Easter lunch.  

A yawn from sleepy Ev...

When the rest of the kids got up, they all found their Easter buckets in their hiding spots.  Evalynn was delighted to be in on the fun this year.  Aunt Annette had also sent Easter baskets for the children when we were in Missouri and, since we got home late, I put them out to enjoy in the morning.

Hunting baskets - Evalynn found hers!

We headed northeast after a simple breakfast of cinnamon rolls and sausage, to spend some time with our friends, Zach and Chelsea and their new baby, Haddyn.  We worshipped at a church around the corner from their house and enjoyed a nice service.  After church we headed back to their house and Chelsea let me take over her kitchen while she took care of feeding Haddyn.  Zach did the grilling while I put together green bean casserole and macaroni and cheese to go with fresh veggies.  Being friends with Zach and Chelsea has been very easy and natural feeling (on our part anyways).  There's no pretenses and they appreciate and love each of our kids individually and don't seem overwhelmed that we travel in a pack.  

We ate our yummy lunch and had a great afternoon visiting and loving on baby Haddyn before we headed back home.

We never expect to hold someone's newborn, but were blessed that Zach and Chelsea let us have a turn holding Haddyn.  What a genuinely chill, precious little girl.

Our children love new life and understand how precious babies are.  Evalynn didn't want to give her up and, when she was holding Haddyn, she whispered to her, "I'm your best friend."

That early morning caught up with Evie and she took a nice nap on the way home.

Supper was leftovers and then showers before a little playtime and then devotionals and bed.

Monday was a slow starting morning, which are my favorite kind of mornings after a busy weekend.

Chickpea sensory table with some car Easter eggs.

While the younger three played in the chickpeas for a school break, the older two played a game of ping pong.  A tabletop ping pong attachment was with their Easter things.

I've been trying out new things on Evalynn's cart to help us get through the last few weeks of homeschooling before summer.

At noon Mike and I swapped places and he took over the house and the kids and I headed to Missouri.  Emma had invited me to her Senior Tea and Mike made it work so that I was able to go.  It was refreshing to see that, while the world seems to sometimes spiral out of control, the Senior Tea remains iconic in our home county.  It was a very sweet service and I was glad Emma invited me.

After tea I ran to mom and dad's to visit for a bit, and to get some of our pork from their freezer.  For the first time this 35 year old "adult" did my own ordering of a full animal from the meat locker.  Granted, my dad still found and hauled the animal and picked it up for me, but I chose our cuts and processing this time.  Look at me.  Adulting.  Ish.

I got back into town in time to swing by the baseball fields and pick up everyone but Xavier to bring them back home.  Mike stayed at practice with Xabe, and I gave the others a bedtime snack of milk and cookies (and taught Evalynn about dunking).

Tuesdays are gymnastics mornings for Evalynn and she was so excited!  Natalee came along to watch her this week.

Shortly after we got back from gymnastics, our friend, Erin, dropped off her little Eden to play for a bit while she went to an appointment.  The little girls played so well together!

Mia is working on her state project!

Both girls ate a great lunch and then were seeming sleepy, so I had them snuggle up while I read aloud to the other kids.

I had a good visit with Erin before she headed back south and was thankful to see her.

Wednesday was gymnastics for Ameliya and then another rainy day spent indoors.  It was a perfect afternoon for curling up and reading aloud from our books.

Thursday is baked oatmeal days and Natalee did a great job making that for us.  The day dawned sunny and that was such a nice welcome.

Always in my bed in the morning...

The kids were thrilled to wear short sleeves and shorts and feel the sun shine in through the windows while it burned off the chill.

Natalee's writing assignment.  The prompt was "my idea of a great church is..."

Mid morning we headed to hippotherapy and the youngest four and I stayed outside while Natalee had her session.  I read aloud The Long Winter (Natalee's read it many times) and then the kids scootered,  roller bladed and chalked.

Thursdays have gotten a little bit busier as we've added in speech therapy for Ameliya in the afternoons.  We had her assessed and she needs a little bit of help with her /r/, /l/, and /w/ sounds, so we're going to work on that.

After speech I called back my cousin, Brooke, who had called while I was in Mia's session.  She was heading into the hospital with Scarlette who was having a hard time getting on top of the covid virus she had contracted.  We had to hang up as she pulled into the parking garage and kept in touch via text after that.

No one was anxious to be inside, even though the yard was muddy from days of rain, so out we went to play. 

I occasionally make a "snack bowl" from the bits and leavings of packaged snacks that need used up.  Thursday I threw vanilla wafers, pretzels, and some goldfish in a bowl and let the kids munch on it for afternoon snack.  Little missy sifted out her favorite things...

We usually have a baseball or soccer practice in the evenings but the rain has sure made things unpredictable.  Mia was able to get in a soccer scrimmage Thursday, and then Xavier had a baseball practice to make up for the one canceled on Wednesday.

Evalynn has been having a terrible time waking up in just a screaming panicked state between about 11 and 1 every night.  This is exhausting for all of us and usually ends up with her in our bed so she can calm down.  Even when she's with us, some nights she has these terror type episodes in her sleep and often yells and cries out.  We're permanently tired.  If anyone has any suggestions, I'm all ears.  

Friday Natalee and I had a zoom appointment at 8:30.  Lest anyone think I have it together all the time, the younger children were babysat by the Octonauts while we had that appointment.

I made protein shakes for the kids after our appointment, and Evalynn used soft bunnies to cover her ears while the blender was on.

Picnic lunch...

The weather was weird.  Mia's soccer game was canceled because of wet fields, but the evening turned out not being awful.  We spent over three hours outside, even though I tried to keep the kids out of the muddy yard.  Eventually I went in and made homemade pizzas and served them outdoors.

Then I took my muddy kids and hubby for ice cream.  When it feels like summer, do summer things....even though it started sprinkling before we got home.

Our friends Madi and Landon were out walking with their dog and new baby, Lindly so we got an evening snuggle before getting cleaned up and around to bed for the evening.

Saturday morning I woke to my phone ringing early with the devastating news that our world had lost a princess and sweet precious Scarlette had gone to heaven in the night.  This news dictated the actions of the rest of my day and I wrote Scarlette her own post before sitting down to write our weekly wind down post.  The rest of the day was a balance between seeking solitude, hugging my babies too tight, and just getting through.  

My Evalynn coming to check on mommy.

At one point Mike came to see what I was doing and he found me sorting sidewalk chalk.  He pretended this was completely normal and just left me to my own thoughts.

A homemade uncrustable was all this mama could muster for lunch.

Jace and Rogan came over to play and that helped pass the day.

Sent Mike and Ev to buy a new outdoor storage tote and she fell asleep on the errand.

A full table for supper.  

And so you see how a week can start with beauty and end with ashes and how somehow, through both of those extremes, we must find a way to go on.  God hold us close.