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.

Fall

Fall is fully upon us!

With a Thanksgiving Feast

hugs for aunties

and sisters

the changing of leaves

reunion of family

(in this picture are 4 generations of Hill ladies)

hats for our heads

boots to keep our feet warm and dry

lots of bundled up backyard play time

on bikes

in our new-to-us playhouse

some tears 

(I think they come with every season)

and lots of smiles!

another wonderful year!

Today our family is giving thanks for another year with Matt Robbins, a beloved husband and father!  I find it is so easy to take each day for granted and just fear what the future might hold for us or loathe turning another year older.
But today is a day to celebrate - we have had another year of laughs, love and growing together as a family.
Thanks be to God!

(I won't tell you how old he is, but you might be able to guess.)

Hannah informed me, "Daddy will be so happy if we make him a crown."

so we did.

We celebrated in traditional Robbin's style with a crazy cake.

There was lots of daddy love

and chocolate cake love.

(p.s. if you are wondering about the large red, blue, and purple bruise on Peter's head - he fell headfirst into our back door last night, ouch! but he made a quick recovery and I think it looks worse than it is.)

the practice of being thankful

After a flurry of fun houseguests and sleepless nights this past week, I found myself struck down with a cold. And when I have a cold I am grumpy. Matt and I are both encouraging eachother to be thankful in all circumstances. So in a quiet moment when both kids were napping, I sat down to write a list of things I was thankful for, even though I was sick. I thought I'd share it!


I am thankful that…
1. even though I am sick it is nothing serious and I will feel better again soon
2. my kids are fairly happy to play by themselves while mommy sits on the couch
3. my husband can come home in the middle of the day to help me when I am exhausted, plagued by a bad headache and need to get the kids down for naps
4. being sick is the exception and not the rule for my body
5. there are meals in the freezer that are easy to make
6. I got a good night’s sleep last night



And now I am thankful that I am well and can enjoy my family and this Christmas season!

a homemade thanksgiving

This year Matt had the brilliant idea that we make the Thanksgiving meal for my family at my grandparents' house!
We like cooking but having never attempted a turkey or some of the other traditional Thanksgiving dishes, we were a bit nervous. We got my sister on board, compiled recipes, wrote a detailed shopping list and crossed our fingers that all would go as planned. (And we decided that whatever didn't quite work out - well, at least we could laugh about it later.)

Matt tackled the 17lb. turkey (literally - it went flying at a couple of points in the cooking process, once in the sink and once onto the counter) and thanks to an oven bag and a savory rub,  it turned out deliciously!

I made a beautiful apple pie (which I sadly did not get a picture of, but that only motivates me to make it again) and then raced between assisting with other dishes, trying to keep the kitchen clean and tending at times to both kids.

My sister found an amazing sweet potato casserole recipe by Emeril and worked on that, as well as making her signature mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce and gravy.  (Ah yes, when I say "homemade" not even the cranberry sauce was out of a can.)

By the time we sat down to eat my mom counted 14 dishes total and the only thing that remained untouched on the table at the end of the meal were the  rolls (okay, these ones were store bought).

Both kids graciously took naps during the Thanksgiving meal and when Hannah woke up she was anxious to try some pumpkin pie!   (She didn't seem to mind that we left out the evaporated milk and that it tasted, well, a bit dense.)

All went well until we tried to start the dishwasher and discovered it was broken!
 We spent a better part of black Friday washing dishes - but it was worth it!
We now feel very prepared for future Thanksgiving meals (not that I'm committing us to anything at this point).