Stuffy noses abound

The Meadows' house is full of the sounds of coughing and of noses being blown. Poor Liam woke up early this morning so stuffed up that he couldn't breathe. We found his binky and gave him his Mr. Peanuts and cuddled him in our bed for an hour. Poor little man. Mark is on the mend but he still has a cough and stuffy head. I just have the stuffy congestion thing. I wish it wasn't such an ordeal to buy Sudafed. I mean, really, I'm not making any drugs with it...I just need it to unclog my head! I bought the over-the-counter stuff and it just didn't do the trick, so Mark went to the pharmacy and got the real deal. It works so much better. Granna and Grandad are coming for a visit tomorrow (yeah) and so I need to do a few house cleaning things. It is so much more fun to play on the computer or read my book than clean, but the dog hair is slowly piling up and taking over!

Cough Cough Cough

That is the sound heard in my house lately. We have all survived the winter without getting sick at all and now it's started. Mark started feeling bad on Friday and he has a nasty cough and congestion thing going on. I started feeling bad today with a slight cough and stuffy head and now Liam's nose is running like crazy. He actually blew his nose into a tissue today, which is awesome, but didn't understand that he should stop blowing when the tissue was away from his nose. It was a little messy. So pray for us that we'll nip this in the bud and stay healthy!

Spring equals baby cows!

Are these cows not the cutest cows you have ever seen in your life? I love going to the farm in the early spring so I can take a peek at the babies. They are very cautious and don't usually get too close, although the little red one was close enough for me to touch. Just wanted to share a few really cute pictures. I love the running calf too. It was a perfect day for a frolic!

Very Busy Weekend

Laura and I met in Staunton on Friday to take the kids to Gypsy Hill Park. We fed ducks, played on the playground, ate a picnic lunch, and played on the big gazebo stage. Callie and Peyton did a lot of running that day, running down hills, across large stretches of grass, back up hills. They had a blast! We left for the family farm that night and the kids went to bed way later than normal and were still up at 6am ready to hang out with their cousins and grandparents. We had a big agenda on Saturday - breakfast, a walk to see the new calves, coloring eggs, lunch, a big egg hunt, dinner and then home. I think the kids just about ate their weight in chocolate and sweets. Liam had an egg hunt at school on Thursday and when he saw Mark going outside to hide eggs he started yelling, "Eh eh." After he collected about 10 eggs, he sat on the picnic bench and proceeded to eat his haul. He learns quick!

On Sunday we went to church and enjoyed fantastic music and a great message about heaven, then we did an egg hunt with Nonna and Granny. The kids again ate their weight in chocolate and played with lots of Peeps paraphernalia that Nonna brought, light up Peeps toys, Peeps bubbles, etc. Mark and I cooked dinner and after the kids went to bed we all played a game called 3-13, a very fun card game. At one point during our game I looked out the window and there were snow flurries! Nothing stuck, but it snowed for about 3 hours! Maybe snow will become our Easter norm. Last year we had to do our hunt in the basement due to snow!

6:45am

6:45am is really not all that early, but that's when Liam decided to get up this morning and Mark and I both groaned! I tried to get him to settle back into our bed for a cuddle, but then I heard Peyton telling me she was going poop. As I helped her in the bathroom I looked out at some other houses and could see just a few lights on and I thought, "Do those people hate mornings as much as I do?" We have only one morning person in our house and he's the littlest guy, so we have to suck it up and get up with him. But boy do I look forward to the day he decides to start sleeping in...please tell me that will be soon! Or maybe I'll wake up one morning and suddenly I'll be a morning person...nah, that's not happening!

Hats and Stuff

I was thinking today about all the "hats" I wear and wondering how that expression came into being anyway...I think we all wear different hats, some of mine include wife, mom, sister, daughter, photographer wannabe, friend, cook, taxi driver, etc. I don't like to label myself as any one thing because I'm too many things. But one thing that I definitely am is a Christian, and I wear that hat as best as I can, being human and all. I have been talking a little bit about Easter with Peyton and trying to keep it in terms a 3.5 year old can process. I'm looking forward to hearing the message our pastor will preach on Sunday. He always comes up with an interesting view on Easter and it's not always the death and resurrection story. I always walk away feeling inspired and excited.

The daffodils are slowly peeking out of the soil and I'm reminded of rebirth and in the joy of my own "rebirth" into the Christian faith. It's so hard to live my faith, but I'm trying to do it so that my children will know that not only do Mark and I love them, but that Jesus does too and He is always there, even though we can't be. I just hope that He will give me the words I need when I share with Peyton and Liam. I'm not very good at that part at all and I don't want them to grow up thinking that religion sucks or that church is boring. I don't think it's about church or organized religion, which have issues and problems, I think it's about a relationship with Jesus, and I know that it is not always an easy path to follow. But I know he is reaching out to me and I need to reach back.

So anyway, I'm feeling deep this week for some reason. I've been thinking a lot about my life and how I want to live it. I hope you all have a blessed and happy Easter and that the meaning of Easter doesn't get lost in the shuffle of the Easter bunny and egg hunts.

The sounds of SILENCE

The kids are at preschool today and the house is SO quiet. I am listening to the sounds of silence right now, the birds singing outside, the traffic noise, the sound of a diesel engine in a gigantic US mail truck that drives up our street every day. I appreciate these sounds much more since having my kids. When they are home I hear a lot of things, toys hitting the floor, the screams when someone takes someone's toy away, the laughter as they play together, the little songs Peyton makes up to entertain herself....I love these sounds, but sometimes a girl just needs some silence to hear herself think. Today I have a bunch of stuff to do for the consignment sale I took part in earlier this month. I have to do data entry so I can get volunteer hours, so I'll sign off now and get ready to do that. Have a great week and enjoy the sounds of your homes and lives!

One cuddly boy

Liam has turned into a very cuddly little boy. He went from pushing me away to asking for my "wap." We always go to peek at the kids before bedtime and last night as we leaned over his crib, Liam opened his eyes and stood up. I lifted him up and held him for just a moment before putting him back in bed. What a joy to be able to cuddle him. His language skills have exploded in the last few weeks. There are still a lot of words that only we understand, but things are getting clearer. It is so cool to see him grow and change. Okay, I posted this picture for the expression on his face. He got the forehead wrinkle from his mama. In fact, both kids were doing that on the day they were born. It's fun to see what they do from birth and what they pick up from us. We drove past the rubble from a building that was just torn down and Peyton said, "Hey mama, look at all that crap!" Oh boy is she ever my daughter!

Springtime is so lovely

I LOVE the change of seasons. The birds are singing today and it is so lovely outside. I did a lot of cleaning this morning and rewarded myself with a delicious latte and time to read on the deck. I took our basil, rosemary, and cilantro outside for some sunshine too. They're looking a little weepy. I'm a little disappointed in our mild winter because I would have really liked a big snowstorm this season, but I am excited about getting started on some outdoor projects and in resuming the painting of the inside of the house. Mark and I have already talked about what we want to do with our landscaping this spring/ summer and now we just have to find the time for him to do it! I swear as soon as it gets warm and stays warm, the first thing I will do is paint our bedroom. I have to touch up a wall in Peyton's room first (where she ripped a shelf off the wall), but then on to our room. Peyton wants me to paint it pink, but I think I'll go with something more earthy, like a nice dark brown. When I told her it would most likely be brown, she then suggested brown with pink stripes! It is amazing how many projects we can find to do in and out of the house. I'm not sure if it will ever be "perfect," but I look forward to at least getting rid of some of the old paint and window treatments and making it more our home.

Hope you all enjoy the nice weather and get a chance to see the beauty of God's creation firsthand this week!

Biscotti times 3!!!

This is supposed to be biscotti. Does it look like biscotti? No, not exactly. I searched the good old internet for a chocolate chip biscotti recipe to cook some for Jane's upcoming birthday. I tried a recipe that was okay, not great, but okay. Mark's co-workers ate it. Then I tried my good old tried-and-true-always-works recipe from my Italian cookbook, modifying it a bit to add choco chips. It didn't work! It made delicious chunks of stuff, but it would not cut into biscotti shapes. I finally found a third recipe and it was okay, but it was darker than I would have liked. Anyway, I packaged up some of the second and third try and mailed them to Jane today! Surprise and happy birthday (a bit early!) I hope you enjoy it. Mark and I ate some of the chunky stuff last night with glasses of milk and it tasted great, but more like a cookie than biscotti. Sometimes I just can't get my recipes to work. I'm going to attempt a large chocolate sheet cake for a family Easter dinner. I just hope it works and that I'm not going to plan B at midnight the night before.

Fun weekend

We had a very busy weekend. We traveled to Richmond late Friday evening and took Peyton to see "Little Red Riding Hood" on Saturday morning. Nonna won the tickets in a raffle and was excited to be able to take Peyton to the show. While we were at the show, Uncle Craig took Liam to the playground. Liam went down the slide about 30 times yelling "Gen" at the bottom. I think Craig was well worn out by the end of the morning! We had dinner with the Wileys that evening. Abel had wanted to know where Peyton was the previous Sunday, so we got them together for a play date. They ran all over the house and yard and had a great time.

On our way home on Sunday we stopped to visit one of my college roommates, Lisa. We found each other on the internet about a year ago and when I realized she was so close to Richmond, I hoped to be able to visit. It was such a special treat to see our kids playing together and to catch up. I swear it was like we parted yesterday, not 10 years ago! I think it is a very special blessing to be able to reconnect with friends from the past.

We had 65 degree weather today...it feels like spring is just around the corner. We've noticed that the rabbits have really come out in the neighborhood, as have the kids. There are more kids out playing in the afternoons and evenings. We spent the morning and late afternoon playing in the sandbox and running all over the yard. I love this time of year and I'm really excited that they can burn off some of their energy outside!

Liam has his 18 month doctor appointment tomorrow and both kids are getting a Hepatitis A booster. Peyton keeps telling me that Liam has to get his shot first, so that's the plan for now. Mark is going to meet me at the doctor for support! I hate being the one that has to hold them down for shots, it just makes me feel like the bad guy.