Is it really March?

Here's T drinking like a big boy!

So I think I've been writing today's blog backwards- I started at the end and then realized it sounds pretty negative- (I'm writing it in between going to sweetly encourage boys to go to bed.) I left out lots of the good things from this week- the biggest good thing is that James will be home in less than 3 weeks! We also only went to the doctor once this week- well, twice if you count the ER visit, but T looked at the long line and decided to end his lethargic behavior and act like himself so we went home. I was blessed to have a good friend take K & C home with her, feed them dinner, and keep them instead of having 3 boys go to the ER. I was able to teach a Womack doctor that yes, a blood test will in fact detect 5th disease. The boys did great with their bloodtests- no tears except T's because he wanted to go first! We stayed home Wednesday and Thursday to make sure we didn't spread any fever germs around. We did have some sleeping backsliding- T is supposed to be transitioning out of the closet nursery to make room for baby sister, but found himself back there and even managed to get moved to our bed when I was overtired.
But Friday was a gorgeous day- we met lots and lots of Fun Friday friends at the park and played for a long time, took good naps, and then celebrated T's half birthday at Sonic. I didn't feel like making dinner so I called a friend who I knew would be up for not cooking, unhealthy food, and a place where kids could play while I sat. Then we got ice creams for everyone to celebrate T turning 18 months!
Saturday the boys worked hard on getting birthday presents ready for a friend and then we went to our Fun Fridays Group Babysitting Night which went great. Two moms got to go out & the kids were so cute I really wished I'd brought my camera. They even did a great craft which they remembered enough about to tell me tonight they were thankful for the Holy Spirit. I did take some pictures of our preschool time this week where you can see T is participating now. He really likes to color, play blocks, stand up on chairs (probably his favorite), and tonight started doing playdough.
Here's K showing his Balaam's talking donkey
Check out that focusHe's saying "color"- turning into quite the talked (unless you hold a phone by his ear then he just grins.)

Someone asked me recently if time has been going by fast or slow- I'd have to say both. Some hours have crawled by really slowly- say when we've had sick kids so we were home tired and with cabin fever, or when I've refereed too many arguments. But some days have been really good and we've managed to fill lots of our days with good friends, good fun, and sometimes good food- not that we ever stop missing James being here, but you have to make the best of it.

I was really convicted this week about living by flesh not by faith. Amazing how you can go listen to someone speak, really get a lot out of it, but then need a friend to point out to you how you fit what the speaker talked about. I should say amazing how I- and to be fair to my friend she said she does it too. I guess it's in a lot of us- to try to work harder at things instead of just trusting God. I've had the saying "Let go and let God" in my head since then- I really need to do that but it's easier said than done.

So here are some of the things we've learned (and relearned) this week
-late nights are fun but make for tired boys & mommies
-good naps are great at the time but can make for a painful bedtime
-rainy days can make for long afternoons & make TV a tempting option
-you can't reason with a 3 year old to get him to go to bed
-ice cream doesn't make rough bedtimes better but it does taste good!