To Grandmother's House We Go

I have alluded to the fact that things have been a little exhausting with ministry, housework, whiny/active kids and life in general lately.  It has been GOOD, so good.  But, I was tired.  My emotions more then anything.  Nothing crazy, just normal life.  You moms out there can relate, right?   Toddlers are wonderful and fun and I wouldn't trade mine for the world, but they wear you out physically and emotionally.  So, I talked to my sweet husband and asked him if he'd mind too much if I stole away for a few days and headed south to my parents.  Jason really doesn't like to be away from us (the feeling is mutual), but he also understands how exhausted I get and was feeling rather tired himself.  After some thought, and self-sacrifice on his part, he gave me his blessing and I called my parents to plan our quick little get away. 

It was everything I hoped it would be.  Lots of play time with the cousins, some one-on-one time with each of my kids, no cooking (hooray for a mom and sister who cook, take us out to eat + order in!), no chores, sleeping in while Pa woke up with the two oldest, a few naps, shopping with my sister + niece, girl slumber parties with my 15-year-old niece, a great church service, alone time, rest, good talks with my mom, exercise, a hot bath, hugs from my dad, basically a wonderful mix of getaways, low-stress kid time, and rest.

The only sad part, Jason couldn't come with us.  But, it gave him some alone time that he enjoyed, even if he was missing us.

The kids were SO excited to find this cardboard playhouse when they arrived at Pa + Grandma's.  Bella + Alex stayed the night two nights.  Early morning cousin play time in jammies!
Micah loves "BeLLLa."

The beautiful Alexandra.
Fireplace Performances :: I walked in the room one evening to discover a spontaneous before bedtime performance.  Melted me.  My sister and I did so many performances on the fireplace.  We sang songs, quoted Scripture, put on plays--we loved stages.  Debi, I hope there is a repeat performance in February so you can enjoy it with us!
I love the progression here of Pa's lap:
Elmo + Indie singing the ABCs is still a hit with these kids.
Movie time in Mommy's bed. Kinect fun with Alex + her friend Maddie--who Ivory + Micah immediately attached themselves to.  Maddie couldn't even eat her slice of pizza without kids crawling all over her.  What can I say, my son knows how to pick the pretty girls and Ivory can spot the sweet ones.
Alex + Maddie competed against my sister Sherri + I for points.  Fortunately Sherri + I were the camera queens and escaped without being photographed.

Micah enjoyed drumming along to the game.  Ivory entertained herself on Alex's i-phone.  This child loves her technology.


When I came home I was overwhelmed by a *sparkling* clean home.  As in Jason cleaned + a friend came and cleaned my home (like deep cleaning as in scrubbed walls, clean picture, clean blinds, scrubbed shower kind of clean).  Jason put up new shelves and re-organized our back porch + shed as well as cleaned out a closet.  Yes.  I felt spoiled.  People think I have it all together--well, don't be fooled, I totally rely on God's grace and am super blessed to have super sweet people in my life who spoil me + our family like crazy.  I just desire that we, in turn, will be a blessing to others.