Date Night

Ryan & I enjoyed a 'date night' on Saturday night. We joined our friends Michael & Kristi Grove and Vicki & Chuck Prescott for a dinner in downtown Chicago...to celebrate Michael's birthday.

We made reservations for Andy's Jazz club, on Hubbard Street. The atmosphere was really cool. The music was great. And we all agreed that the food was really good! Fun times!

Auntie Danielle was kind enough to come babysit the kids for us, so we could have a night out. The highlight of the kids' night was when they made a fort with blankets and watched a movie inside the fort. ;)

randomness

I was trying on my wedding dress...for the 1st time in over 10 yrs! Yikes! But I may need to wear it again...in a V-Day dinner/theater play that Ryan & I have roles in. So, I was trying it on. And to my surprise, it still fits! When I stepped out of the bathroom, wearing the gown, Marina was immediately before me...and her eyes were sparkling with enchantment! She started gushing about me and my 'princess' dress! "Mommy! You're wearing a princess dress! You're so pretty! Mommy! You look like Cinderella! You're wearing a princess dress!!!" And then she said something that made me melt into a puddle of love on the floor. She said, "But, Mommy.....who's gonna dance with you?" She is such a girly-girl! Because, obviously any girl wearing a princess dress MUST have a prince right around the corner, ready to dance with her! I LOVED seeing the innocent enchantment in her eyes. So sweet!

The other day, I was trying to do some housecleaning while the little kids took a nap. I knew I only had a short window of time to complete my tasks before the busy kids awoke, so I was hurried and stressing and really kinda crabby. I sent Mark outside to play in the snow, not so much for his sake as it was for mine, to get him out of my way. While I was switching the laundry upstairs, I heard Mark run back inside and stand at the bottom of the stairs and shout up to me, "Mommy!!!" I was so angry that he was being so loud and almost woke up the kids from their nap, I raced downstairs and lost my temper on him. "SHHHH!!! Be quiet! What's wrong with you!?! You're gonna wake up the kids! And why did you walk across the carpet with your wet boots?!? What do you WANT!!!" I was fuming! He looked at me with sad, embarassed eyes and said, "I just wanted you to look out the window at me." He had that same look of innocence in his eyes. Like, all he wanted was Mom's attention. And in that moment, all my housework and tasks suddenly seemed meaningless in comparison. I was so ashamed of my behavior. And I reminded myself that his desire for Mom's attention will be short-lived. Very, very soon, he will be too old & busy to ask Mom to look out the window at his snow creations. So, without another word, I followed him to the front of the house, and I sat at the kitchen window for a long time, watching him play in the snow, and thinking about my attitude, and realizing that I need to cherish these moments so much more than I do. They will be gone too quickly if I don't.

LASER TAG BABY!!!

Friday night we had Mark's party. 12 of his friends joined us at Chaser's Laser Tag for pizza, cake, group gaming, and (of course) laser tag! Pastor Michael and Kristi were so kind to join us too! I'm not sure who had more fun...the 10yr old kids...or Ryan & Michael, who couldn't wait to whoop on the 10yr old kids in Laser Tag!!! LOL!

Wow. Boys get awfully competitive when they have a laser gun in their hand!!!

Mark was hoping to score enough birthday cash to buy an ipod-touch. Sure enough, his friends were so kind to give Mark cash and gift cards, and now he has reached his goal! We plan to take him tomorrow to make his big purchase! So, not only did he have an awesome party with gr8 friends...he also is able to buy "the best gift ever!"

Mommy made some Creepy Crawly Alien Cupcakes...complete with one eye and tentacles...

Happy Birthday buddy!!!

We ended the night with a sleepover! The boys played air hockey and sword fights...and a few rounds of "tarantula" (where the boys had to creep down into the dark basement without being caught by the hiding Ryan & Michael! LOL! The boys were so scared to leave the bottom step, but they loved every minute of it!) Then they pulled up their sleeping bags, grabbed some popcorn, and watched a movie (Prince Caspian). They only got about 4 hours of sleep...so we are awfully tired! But it was worth every moment. We all had such a blast!

Happy Birthday Mark!

My baby boy turned 10 years old this week! That just seems so momentous to me. He's excited to be in the double digits. lol. What a sweet birthday week he's had too! We've experienced record cold weather this week, so he enjoyed 3 'snow days' @ home! On the morning of his birthday, I gathered the 3 kiddies around the breakfast table and we sang happy birthday to Mark. Then he blew out a candle that was in his blueberry muffin. So cute! That night, we treated him to his favorite restaurant for dinner...Portillo's. And Ryan watched a movie with him that Mark has been begging us all year to let him watch...Dark Knight. Ryan and I like that movie, but we hadn't allowed Mark to watch it (even tho all his friends claim to have seen it), because of the violence in the movie. But since he had turned 10 that day, and he is growing up so fast, Ryan decided to let him watch it. Of course, Mark loved the movie, and "wasn't at all scared!" (roll my eyes) So, it was a fun birthday for my sweet boy who has turned a whopping 10 years old! Phew!

Uncle Jay Explains the News

"I telled a LIE!!!"

My sweet little Reese has told a couple lies in the past few weeks. This is a new thing for him. The first time was when I sent him downstairs to get his socks and shoes on for church. I was upstairs still getting ready. After a few minutes I hollered down to him, "Reese! Do you have your socks and shoes on?" To which he quickly replied, "Yeah!" With hurried relief, I went about getting ready. But when I came downstairs, there was Reese, playing video games, with BARE FEET! He had a little grin on his face, like, "I tricked you. That was fun." The little stinker! From then on, I knew I couldn't place all my trust in his responses.

The other night, I sent the boys to brush their teeth before bed. They were awfully silly and playful in the bathroom, so as Reese walked out, I asked him, "Did you brush your teeth?" To which he replied, "Yes." Being skeptical of him lately, I narrowed my eyes and said, "Let me smell your breath." He shyly let me examine, and sure enough, he had NOT brushed his teeth! Another lie! This time, I knew I needed to take action, so he would learn that lying is not a game. I told him, "Reese, you told Mommy a lie. You said you brushed your teeth, but you really didn't. That's a lie. It makes Jesus sad. And it makes Mommy sad." At which point, he burst out into tears. It's like he was heartbroken that he had made Jesus sad and Mommy sad. I wanted to cry with him; he was so sincere about it. Quickly I said, "Reese, let's try again." And I went on to ask him if he had brushed his teeth. This time (thru tears) he told me the truth.

As he entered the bathroom, I overheard him tell his big brother, in a sad, sad voice, "Mark...I telled a LIE!!!" What a sweetie!!!! He melts me. Truly melts me.

I swiped this from a friend's website...so deep!

In times of change, the learners will inherit the world, while the knowers remain well prepared for a world that no longer exists. -Eric Hoffer