My mom has been taking my kids 4 days a week for 3 hours each day. It has revolutionized my life. I am eternally grateful. Even if she decided tomorrow that she was done, I would never forget the changes in myself that have come forth during this experience. Here are a few that I can think of:
1. I actually like my life.
2. I feel good about life and myself, so much so that I try to not wear pajamas when it is not appropriate.
3. I want to listen to music. I turn on the internet radio at home all the time.
4. I don't sit around watching TV all the time, trying to tune out the kids. I haven't actually watched TV in a month.
5. I look forward to my husband coming home, instead of equating it with another person vying for my attention.
6. I actually want to hang out with him instead of co-exist with him.
7. I'm actively searching for something to do with myself - something productive.
8. I've taken up gardening and landscaping the yard.
9. Even though I (remarkably) have not acquired more patience for the kids, I do enjoy them so much more.
10. I feel like myself, the me that I honestly have not felt like for the last 6 years.
Did I mention that I'm enjoying life again?
Thanks Mom!

Going East

What can I say? I was not born to blog...

It's been about a month now, but the memories are still fresh... These two are basically the reason that we have friends. When I was pregnant with the big one our college friends had just had their big one so we latched on pretty hard to eachother. In a small town, at a Christian college, there are few couples having kids, so the similar lives and experiences were a welcomed support.

Our trip was dreamed up when my friend wrote something on Facebook about us coming out East, though it was surely a joke. It inspired me to check ticket prices and though they are usually $400-$500 I found a way to use flexible dates and found tickets for only $117! We had to fly out of St. Louis (a 3 hour drive) and into Hartford (a 2 hour drive from their home) totalling 12 hours of travel each day. But the big one was on Spring Break and I didn't have any plans that I couldn't change, so we packed up. The girls were going on Spring Break!

But it was certainly not the kind of Spring Break that inspires legends, it was a little too cold for that!

We did spend a day at the beautiful beach.

We toured Providence and ate Dunkin' Donuts.

The little one learned some important skills that only little boys can teach.

We taunted our seafood before enjoying it in a coastal feast.

And in the end we came back a little weary but a lot cooler, just from having visited the East Coast.