And I was sleeping soundly....

I spent the weekend with a couple high school friends in Holland, MI. The weather was pretty horrendous, so we really just spent time doing a lot of talking and a little eating;) It was so great to catch up and realize how much they have remained "themselves" while still growing into beautiful women/mothers. I was thankful that I can leave my children with my husband, knowing he'll do a great job on his own and I can spent a weekend worry free. I was gone about 36 hour...but I am rejivinated for atleast 36 days! Marc, of course, did a great job making the weekend fun and fabulous for the kids, but he might need his own weekend away at this point! He had a few exciting moments:

1) Apparently Phin is surrounded by angels and they are really good at their job! We have a basement door off the kitchen. This door opens to a long set of wooden stairs that end on a very hard floor....ceramic tile on top of cement=nightmare for parents. We keep this door firmly closed and it is hard to open. I practically have to body check the thing to get it open. Marc was in the living room when he heard a loud "crack" and instant crying, followed by Ava's yelling, "Phin needs help!" Marc ran into the kitchen to find Phin crying at the TOP of the steps. He is apparently training for football already. He managed to push against the door hard enough to open it. It is miraculous that he just got scared but didn't fall down the stairs. MIRACULOUS. Thank God for keeping him safe and sparing Marc a heart attack.

2) While I was sleeping happily in Holland...Marc was woken up at 3:00am by a little three year old face RIGHT beside his that said eerily and softly, "Papa, there is a bug in my room." Marc wanting desperately trying to preserve his beauty rest said, "Just sleep here with me." I don't know why at 3am parents forget that it is miserable to attempt to sleep with a toddler. Only the toddler sleeps; Marc spent the next twenty minutes fielding away kicks and jabs and listening to the "suck, suck, suck" of a pacifier (yes, our 3 year old still sleeps with a pacifier- no comments needed on that one;). He was deciding whether or not to wake her to bring her back to her bed when he heard crying from the other side of the house. Number Two had chosen that night to experiment with NOT sleeping through the night. Marc carried Ava back to bed and found our son sitting up in his crib, happy as the day is long to see his papa at 3:30 in the morning. His face seemed to say, "Papa, what a delightful surprise!" Why he awoke is still a mystery, for his diaper was clean and he barely drank his bottle...perhaps he heard his sister stompin' about and wanted to join the fun. After getting Phinny settled, Marc had to return to big sister's room to defend her against the attack of the giant fly- atleast that is her impression of the little pest. Marc reports the fly being the fastest fly he has ever had the priviledge to fight- so fast in fact, that his only resort was to shew him from the room and close Ava safely inside. My hero of a husband than happily returned to bed- alone- and closed his eyes to set in for a precious few more hours of sleep. Five minutes later instead of being in a blissful state of sleep, he lay awake listening to sound of his might foe, "bzzz, bzzz, bzzz, bzzz". In the end Marc won the war- but the bags under eyes pay tribute to valiant efforts of the black insect with wings that moved at the speed of light....

3) This morning as Marc was helping Ava pick our her clothes for church, his little mischief making son tipped over her potty chair- her "full of pee from the night before" potty chair. Ava still laughs as she recalls papas panick over the "pee pee" on the floor and how he "saved" phin and was "being so fast to clean it up"...


I have to say I appreciate my husbands care for my children, enjoyed a laugh at these and many more instances, and was all the more grateful to be on the listening end and not the experiencing end of this weekend.