sick days

So I am sick.

Not just a cold (even though colds are sure uncomfortable) but really, really sick, like with pneumonia.

And at 30 weeks pregnant that's a pretty miserable thing to be.

Add on top of it that my loving hubby is in one of his busiest weeks of work
(welcome week for UCD students), the loving responsibility of caring for Hannah and Peter and it sure sounds like a recipe for disaster around our house doesn't it?

But you know what is surprising?

So many people have pitched in to watch the kids and bring us food so I can rest and Matt can work.

And we're making it.
We're tired, but we're making it.

What could have just been a horrific mess with all of us at each other's throats and my incessant coughing on top of it, has turned out to be a pretty peaceful week of tackling each day as it comes and watching as God provides more friends and family to help.

For example,

(the cousins)

today marks the second day this week that my kids have spent ALL day at their cousin's house.
They love it there!  They are well taken care of.
I'm pretty sure if given the choice they'd rather stay the night there.
They play and play and play and occasionally stop to eat.
And it allowed Matt to take me back to the doctor and interpret all my coughs into words.
 and then he went back to work and I went back to resting in a quiet house.
It was the best I could imagine for the situation we're in.

And that's one other thing I should mention - Matt has seriously stepped up his game and risen to the challenge this week.  He just completed his 33 page paper for his Doctoral program at Fuller, and has been running around to all the welcome events, shuttling kids to and fro, sitting with me at the doctor and speaking for me (every time I talk I launch into another coughing fit),  making sure I have what I need and assuring me that we will get through this and that he loves me so much!

I am so grateful for him!

He takes good care of me.

so do my friends,

and my family,

and my God.

being

Yesterday and today I have taken such joy in putting my kids down for naps.
We read a book together and then I sit on the floor of their darkened room and I sing.
Song after song - camp song, worship song, kid's song, songs that my mom sang to my sister and I.
I sing until Peter's eyes start to close and Hannah finally settles down.
And I find that there is something beautiful about that moment of slowing down and doing nothing else.

At 7 months pregnant, much of life right now is characterized by my own need to slow down.

And you know what?
I don't mind.

I enjoy sitting at the table with the kids gluing random stuff to pieces of paper.


 

I delight in watching Peter's chubby fingers squeeze the glue out of the bottle.

His very serious expression about what he is doing.

Hannah's joy at successfully bending a pipe cleaner.

Watching Peter try on Daddy's shoes

and shuffle all over the house.

Observing them as they ride bikes in circles,

around and around and around again.

And sometimes get a ride.

 

I've been reminded a lot recently that God created us to be.
We are human beings and not human "doings".
Our value comes not from what we accomplish in a day but from the One who made us.

My kids and this growing little one inside me are constantly giving me the opportunity 
to slow down, be and just enjoy it.

Now I'm off to take a nap.

fancier

Matt and I love good food.

In fact, we love cooking good food together.

But one of the things about having small kids is that we rarely get a chance to cook good food together AND have friends over for a fancier kind of meal.

Tonight we got our chance!

A couple that we have known for the past 4 years is getting ready to head to Africa and they bid on Matt's ability as a chef at a fundraiser in the Spring. 
What better way to put their winnings to use?  Have us host a  fancy salmon dinner with a bunch of couples from our old small group and tell us about their coming adventures!
(If you want to read more about their adventures check out their blog:  http://tommynmandi.blogspot.com/)

So here is the plate we served:



Mesquite Salmon, chard risotto, Balsamic grilled asparagus, heirloom tomatoes....

It was pretty darn tastey!

 

And a chocolate crazy cake to top it off and celebrate Tommy's birthday!

It was a great night.

And I don't mind a bit that my fingers are pruney from dishwashing or
my feet ridiculously swollen from standing. 

It was sweet time with dear friends!

p.s. did I mention that we did this with 8 kids under the age of 6 running around?  It was fun chaos!!!