We made it!

Well, we're back from Wisconsin, and we made it just fine. Actually, it was much better than fine! The kids were extremely well behaved in the van and at my mom's. They had their typical high energy, but that was no surprise. I think we all had a great time! We went sledding almost every day we were there. We spent time with my sister and her kids as well as my grandparents. On our final day my parents had a birthday party for my grandma, with lots of extended family attending. I was worried it would be overwhelming, but it wasn't. It was actually very fun to see my kids playing with my cousins' kids, just like I'd played with my cousins. And now school is back in session and our wonderful routine! Hooray!

I did some crafting over break. I still need to take pictures of the mittens and scarf I made. I got some flannel from my sister. It used to be a changing table cover, so it is well washed and very soft. I cut it into some pajama pants for Z, who often feels left out because the girls seem to get more homemade crafts than him. I used a pair of pj pants that fit him to cut the new ones, and had them sewed up between the time I put G to bed and the time I put Z to bed. So he got to wear his new pants, but I didn't get a picture. He declared them "so soft I almost can't feel them!" and made my day. I'll get some pictures taken soon.

Right now I need to get going. Our school district has one day a month where they let the kids out of school a couple hours early so the teachers have grading/inservice time. It doesn't sound like a big deal, but it's a major routine-buster! :) Luckily, we have our neighbor boy visiting after school today, and that will bring us to an even number of kids!

Getting Ready to Travel

I'm getting ready to go visit my mom, sister, and other relatives! (You can see my niece and nephew above, wearing hats I made them!) I leave on Saturday, and I'll be gone for a week. I've started preparing my house for my absence. :) I really haven't left like this ever! Once I was gone for 5 days, and T took off work and ran the house, but I took G with me then. This time T's mom will be coming to keep things running. I'm so greatful! But I want to get things in order so she and the kids and T will have a smooth time of it.
While I'm gone, I'll be helping my sister with all the things she's dealing with now. I'll go with her and B for B's chemo, and I'll go to the hospital with my sister when she has a procedure to blast away a kidney stone. I'll also just be helping around the house, and hopefully lightening her load. And when I'm not with her, I'll be haning out with my mom and stepdad and grandparents. I'm just really looking forward to this time away. You can check out B's website
http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/rebeccab and see her progress.