7 Quick Takes on Friday -- the overhaul version

This is the summer of overhaul. Right now we are overhauling...

1. Our new house. Did I ever mention here that we bought it? The new foundation was finished last week. Next is a roof and then heating/ cooling -- maybe geothermal. And Dennis has to put in a new kitchen and two baths. And then rewire. And then redo all of the walls and floors. And then maybe we can move in. Maybe.

2. Eating. I've realized that the gestational diabetes that has disappeared twice post-partum has remained this time. It means a lot of changes in what, how, and when I eat.

3. Church. We've been visiting around this summer and have a much larger view of the Body of Christ. It's a good thing.

4. Bedtimes. I put a chair in the hallway and have been reading to the kids a lot of evenings. It's been lots of fun to read childhood stories out loud and the kids are slightly more eager to go to bed.

5. Breakfasts. It's embarrassing that this has been an issue, but post-Emmeliese it has been hard to all get to the table together in the morning. But the kids and I are back to eating breakfast together and food is preceded by reading from the Psalms, a song or two, and praying for our day. Afterwards, we've been doing Bible study together. I get out mine and they get out theirs and sit at the table. They look at their Bibles and draw pictures and I look at mine and write, all the while listening to some very loud hymns sung by the Cambridge Singers. It's been very, very good for us.

6. My spirit. I feel like we are at a bend in the spiritual river we've been riding the last year or so. There's peace here and it's a wonderful thing.

AND -- I started writing this in the morning -- and the rest of the day was... not as expected, so...

7. Stewardship. Dennis lost his job about noon today. I suppose it is more amazing that, as an engineer in manufacturing, he still had a job and had been relatively untouched by the economic downturn before this moment, than the fact that he lost his job today. He is upset, of course, but we've known this was a possibility for a long time and are fairly well-prepared. Tonight, Dennis and I went out to the lake while his mom watched the kids, and we talked about how many opportunities are present because of this job loss, chief amongst them the ability for him to do a lot of work on the house. And we have the chance to be even better stewards of all our gifts, which, as we realized again tonight, are abundant, indeed. And we both know that God is bigger than Dennis' employment or this recession or any worries we might have. We'll be ok. In the meantime, we continue to overhaul! :)

For more quick takes, see Jen's.

The Momma is crazy

Today I returned from a little trip up to Chicago with the three kids. That's right -- one momma, three children aged 4 and under -- on vacation, in Chicago. Surprisingly, it was mostly fun! We stayed in the Loop, rode the train and the bus a whole bunch, saw lots of interesting things, did LOTS of walking --even in the rain, had ice cream with Aunt Cyndi, and took a taxi when our legs, patience and tempers gave out on us three block from the hotel near naptime. And now I know what I need to differently next time. Chief amongst those things -- begin planning vacation more than 12 hours before taking one.

FYI -- Daddy stayed home and worked on the new house, oversaw the completion of the new basement, built a wonderful staircase involving major architectural work, tore up the kitchen floor and took out the old cabinets, did a thousand other things I don't quite understand, and, most importantly, didn't feel guilty because we weren't at home wishing Daddy was here with us. (Not that we didn't wish he was in Chicago with us, but y'know...there are TRAINS there! And we're easily distracted.)

I wish I had pics to post, but I had Emmeliese in the sling and Annalivia and Daniel in each hand. There was no free hand for picture-taking. Luckily y'all know what Chicago looks like, right? Just picture us there. :)

Because I want to remember this

I'm breaking blog silence because the coolest thing happened here yesterday and I want to remember it. Note to self: Start a real journal. :) But this is a good one to share.

Yesterday, my friend, Melissa, came for a little visit. It was a lovely day, temperature-wise, so we had lunch on the front porch. Daniel and Annalivia were doing some playing and at some point, something fell off the porch that Daniel wanted, so he went down the front steps to get it.

The front steps to the porch are sort of in the process of rotting and there are rather large gaps in them in places. We usually walk down one side and up the other. For some reason, he walked down the side with more iffy spots and his foot got caught in a hole. He fell, and in the process, hurt his hand.

When I got to him, he was bleeding but I couldn't tell where the blood was coming from. He was crying a lot and I picked him up and looked him over, discovered the bleeding hand, and started moving him inside.

In the meantime, Annalivia, as soon as she noticed Daniel was bleeding, had run inside and grabbed the box of bandaids. She immediately got out a small one and had it unwrapped and was bringing it to me as I came inside with Daniel.

I got Daniel positioned in front of the sink and washed off his wound and then ran it under cold water. He was sobbing the entire time. Pretty soon, Annalivia appeared with Solarcaine (our wound treatment of choice). I took it from her and about two minutes later, she came back with a baggie full of ice that she had made for him. In order to make the ice pack, she had gotten in the drawer, found the baggie, moved stuff off of a stool, and then had taken the stool over to the freezer, climbed up and had gotten the ice.

We took the ice pack and went back to porch and I had Daniel sit on the settee with me. Annalivia came out a few minutes later with her arms laden with Daniel's toys. She had brought his baby, his doggie, a tractor, and his dump truck. She put it all beside him while, in a very gentle loving voice, saying things like, "Here ya go, buddy-boy; here's your tractor." She disappeared again and came back a few minutes later with water for him in a little glass.

I was so amazed that she had done all of these things without being bidden at all! She saw blood and thought he needed a bandaid. I mentioned to him that we'd put medicine on the ouchie, and she went and got the medicine. She saw him with water running on his hand and knew it needed ice. She saw him suffering and brought things that would comfort him. I was just so proud of her and told her how proud I was a gazillion times yesterday. I told her that she had done exactly what Jesus meant when he told us to treat each other like we want to be treated. And I made sure she heard the whole story again when I told Dennis about it when he got home. Our little girl was just so kind and generous! I'm still sort of in awe.

FYI -- Daniel ended up being ok. We used a couple of creatively placed bandaids to cover his bleeding, and within a little amount of time, he was not even mentioning anything about his injury. Thank God for the healing power of little boys. And thank God for the big sisters who love them.

About blogging...

When I started this blog, I lived away from family and friends. My little girl was growing and changing and I wanted to tell everyone about her. I was also pastoring a church and emerging from what, at the time, felt like a 25-year spiritual drought. I had lots to say and not many, other than a longsuffering husband, to listen to it all.

Things have changed since then. I have three kiddos now, and while the transition to three children from two did not seem as overwhelming as the transition to two children from one, what I find is that I no longer have much actual time to record my thinking about cabbages and kings. When the end of the day comes, or a child actually naps, it seems much more pressing and, frankly, more fulfilling to do a load of laundry or read to another kid or talk to my husband or... any number of things, really, rather than blogging.

I am not sure what will happen in this space. Historically, whenever I decide to step back from blogging, just the thought of stepping back, or the announcement of it -- whichever -- seems to be all I need to spur me forth into a blogging frenzy. Lord knows I have enough pics to fill up an entire summer and some of the fall! So I may appear tomorrow with brand new daily posts.

Or I might not. I find my brain processing lots of thoughts about faith and family right now, but I also don't feel very compelled to spew them all out onto the internet. I've been grateful for the space to process aloud, especially as an extrovert without much people-time that was tank-filling. And to have people interact and give input here and on your own blogs was really great. I've found that lots of people I know read this blog -- which I appreciate. Really. But I've also found that processing things in the open can lead to hurt feelings. And that's my last intention. Really.

So. Here's to the blog and to you who read and have read. I have "met" some amazing and truly-inspiring folks because of blogdom. Thank you. And in case I don't get back to say it any time soon -- serving and loving, together, with you, has been a life-changing experience for me. Thanks again.

Seeking a hand or foot in the Body of Christ

I've been thinking -- if the Church is the Body of Christ and we are all called to serve different functions, would it not follow that there are different times in our lives when we need different parts? For example, perhaps we need a hand at one point in our lives and later the hand has served its purpose and now we need a foot?

I wonder why it is that we believe our individual churches have to function as all parts of the body. Or maybe it's just mainline established denominations and the people in them that tend to think this way? What if joining a church when one is baptized and remaining in it until death is just not the way it is supposed to work?

Sisters

Last night, Annalivia asked if she could "hold the baby." Turns out that the baby is almost too big for her to hold! So Emmeliese sat on Annalivia's lap. And they made-do just fine.

Buds

Emmeliese and my grandfather have a special connection. He was the second person, after Momma, she engaged in smiles. Last weekend we were at my parents' house and Gramps took the opportunity to take his little buddy to his truck to have a conversation. Emmeliese enjoyed it.

7 Quick Takes: The mostly-about-domestic-stuff edition

1. Only 1 week 'til we close on our new house! We're so excited to get to work on it, we can hardly stand it. We drive by the place three or four times a day. And we talk about it constantly. The wait is kind of excruciating, but good for us. We're doing lots of planning and dreaming. It's fun to allow our imaginations to run wild. We basically will have a blank slate at the new place. I think it's going to be a blast to figure out how to fix it up beautifully AND frugally. Endless entertainment!

2. The Habitat Restore is my new favorite place. Both cities near us have a location, which is amazing because there is such wonderful stuff at both places! I love just going in there and drooling over interior doors and crown molding! Last week, I got a $1500 cooktop for $100, a $2500 jacuzzi tub for my sister for $119 and a $350 sink for $25. This week I found a $185 chandelier for $25. I think we are going to furnish our entire house with recycled goods by using Habitat Restore and supplementing with Craigslist. Those two resources are pure gold for people with fixer-uppers.

3. Speaking of recycled goods -- I have been browsing through some antique stores lately and I am wondering why in the world anyone would ever go to one of those furniture places like Oaken Dreams, or whatever they are called, and spend several thousand dollars on fake wood when one could find a decent antique made of real, solid wood for a third of the cost. I wonder if people know that antiques are not that expensive, comparatively? Especially when one compares longevity of the piece in question. To each one's own, I guess...

4. While at those antique stores, I bought a really great quilt. It was inexpensive because it had big brown stains all over it. I brought it home and soaked it in hot water with TONS of Oxyclean. Now I have a beautiful antique quilt with white areas that are really, really white. It's so pretty and it's a relatively uncommon pattern called Arkansas Snowflake. I just wish it was big enough to use on our bed. I don't think my children will properly appreciate its rescue or beauty! :)

5. We are purging again before we move to the new house, whenever that is. We started with the kids' toys. We sorted out two huge containers of toys that are going to the local thrift store and/ or Goodwill. So far, they haven't missed any of the toys we've put aside. And I love how easy it is for the kiddos to clean up their rooms now. In fact, their rooms are some of the only clean spots in the house at this moment! :)

6. My mom and in-town sisters and I figured out menus for the next three weeks the other day.(We each cook one night of the first four days of the week and make enough for the other families and my Gramps.) Since we started sharing cooking duties, we are eating such a variety of foods we wouldn't normally eat, spending MUCH less time cooking, and I'm saving a lot of money! It's WONDERFUL!

7. Tomorrow I get to spend the afternoon completely by myself doing whatever I want to do. Dennis has to work in the morning and I'm going to take the kids to have breakfast with a couple of college sorority sisters and their children (3 adults and 8 kids -- we're crazy) and then I get to be BY MYSELF for a few hours! I'm so excited!

For more quick takes, see Jen's spot.

Two months

Emmeliese Elizabeth turned two months old on Mother's Day. She's getting so big now -- holding up her head a lot, staying awake more and smiling, smiling, smiling (but mainly at Momma only and NEVER when the camera is out). Time is going so fast! What a big girl!

Mothers' Day photos

What one doesn't think about teaching one's kids

Tonight after the whole family got home from being out and about, I stood in my neighbor's yard with Emmeliese, chatting. Annalivia and Daniel tromped up and down his sidewalks, which are apparently more march-inspiring than ours, and then Annalivia disappeared. In a few moments, Dennis disappeared, too, and a few moments after that, I heard Annalivia howling in frustration.

After my conversation with the neighbor, I came inside to find a sobbing Annalivia wearing only a t-shirt. I could tell by her face that she was mad. I asked her what was going on. "Daddy won't let me go pee-pee in the yard!" she yelled.

Turns out Dennis had found her with her dress hiked up, crouching behind some bushes in the side yard -- i.e. the "side-that-faces-Main-Street" yard. And while she had done a fine job concealing herself from the view of our house behind those little bushes, she hadn't considered whether any one else could see her, i.e. someone driving by on Main Street at dinner time when the road is at it's busiest.

It honestly never had occurred to me that I needed to have a conversation about when it is and is not appropriate to go pee outside. It has occurred to me now. The conversation has been had -- with this kid, anyway. I'll move it up a few years with Daniel.

7 Quick Takes

1. TomorrowToday, May 1, I turn 34.

2. I have a rather significant case of the flu right now. It's not very helpful to get sick when the talk-about-town is all about the "pandemic."

3. Annalivia has a preschool program on Saturday. I'm excited to see her perform her songs and do whatever they do. She's excited, too. I pray I feel ok.

4. My mom and two sisters and I are doing something new with meals -- we are each taking a day for four days at the beginning of the week and preparing meals for the rest of the families and my grandfather. It means we don't have to cook for four days, at least, and we have leftovers to eat for lunches/ on the weekends. It's awesome!

5. We made an offer on that house I mentioned long ago. It was accepted. We may have thrown a bit of a wrench in it today, though -- we had planned to pay cash and get a loan for the fix-up, but found out that taking out a mortgage vs. a construction loan saves us 3% in interest rates. Tomorrow Today I have to go sign for a mortgage loan (I sent Dennis on his own today) and pray that the sellers are ok with this switcheroo.

6. Tomorrow Today is also May Day. If I feel well enough, I'm planning to have my kids make paper cones for flowers to take to the neighbors. I'm fairly certain I won't feel well enough, so this might wait until next year.

7. I think my blogging desires are being partially satisfied by Facebook. Instant feedback like that on Facebook is a slightly addictive thing, I think, for those of us who process life verbally. I realized, though, that I really like having a record of our family life in more than just a few words or sentences, so I might try to get back to a more regular blogging schedule. But I might not, too.

For more quick takes, go here.

Conversation at bathtime

Daddy to Annalivia: Annalivia, did you draw on your kneecap today?

Annalivia: (regarding obvious penmark on knee) Ummmm...no.

Daddy: (skeptical) What happened then?

Annalivia: (thoughtfully) Weeeelllll, I think, yesterday, a little bee made a hole in my tights here (points to ankle) and crawled all the way up... and then bit me!

Daddy: Wow. (Looks at knee again) Hmmm. It sorta looks like pen...

Annalivia: It could be.

More Emmeliese pics...

...including this one can be seen here.

The momma is necessary

Last night, I went out with two of my three sisters for a few hours and left Dennis home with the kids. Dennis had been sick this week and, for some reason, I just felt really weary. So, after I got dinner together for the fam, my sisters came and picked me up and we headed out for a bit. We went out for sushi (something I don't make and Dennis doesn't eat, which was my only real request in figuring out where to eat). And then to a bookstore, where they read magazines and I read a couple of chapters in a book I've been trying to get through. It was very nice and when I arrived home, I felt refreshed.

While I'd been gone, though, Dennis had been worked over. Emmeliese was fussy and had been crying -- really crying -- off and on for the three hours I'd been gone. Annalivia and Daniel were fussy, too. (An aside -- I've decided it's one thing to deal with newborn fussiness which is tiring enough. It's quite another to add to it, at the same, time fussiness from two kids who should know better. That's just exhausting.) Consequently, when I arrived home, Dennis, who hasn't been feeling too great, was feeling a tad fussy, too.

Anyway, when I came home and saw that Dennis was overwhelmed and Emmeliese was still awake and fussy, I took Emmeliese. And I took off my shirt and her clothes, snuggled her in the crook of my arm in a little ball and fed her, skin to skin. She took about 20 minutes to do her typical routine of a few cycles quieting down, falling asleep, burping, waking up, eating more, falling asleep again, burping, waking up again before she fell sound asleep on me. I held her for a little while longer and then put her down in her co-sleeper. And there she stayed asleep for about 5 hours. Very nice.

Every-once-in-a-while, I get in a funk about my efficacy, purpose, etc. as momma. Sometimes it feels like everyone needs something from me, but that I have a flawed product to offer. Post-partum this becomes a little sharper for me. So, it was nice last night to take a breather and then come home and be able to do exactly what at least one member of the family needed and thereby, provide relief for another member of the family, too.

I was thinking about it this morning and realized that maybe this is what the momma role is about for our family. Maybe I'm less the cog in the wheel of family functionality and more the lubricant that lets the other parts move against and with each other with greater ease. Whatever. It comes down to this -- I'm necessary. I like that.

Funeral

I found the computer cable and downloaded several hundred pictures this afternoon. I'm hoping to post a few in the days ahead.

Dennis happened on this scene a few days after Grammy's death. Harold the Helicopter, Jeremy the Jet, Sir Topham Hatt in his car, and a couple of miscellaneous cars/ farm equipment are gathered around a little ceramic church. Dennis asked Annalivia what was going on and she said, "They're all at a funeral!"

7 Quick Takes on Friday: IT'S SPRING!!!

1. Things have gotten kind of busy around here lately; it seems like my hands are never free to type up a blog post. Obviously. I'll apologize now if this one remains the only new post for a bit.

2. Spring has finally, FINALLY, arrived in central Illinois! The Spring Beauties are out. We call these flowers Edelweiss in my family, though I'm not certain whether that's just because, perhaps, we were overly-fascinated with Julie Andrews. Anyway, there is an old home here in town with a big front yard that is positively carpeted with Spring Beauties when it finally gets warm enough. And today it was finally warm enough. It was so beautiful -- thousands of little white flowers raising their heads to the sun. I took Annalivia and Daniel by it and sang Edelweiss for them. And then I sang it another 15 times, at Annalivia's request. It may be time to introduce her to Julie.

3. People are always asking me what it's like to be a mother to three kids and here is my answer -- I really truly love being a mother to these three children. My mom is still being a huge help taking the older two kids to her house for several hours almost every day, so, granted -- I don't get the full effect. But everything has been made easier by the fact that both Annalivia and Daniel simply adore Emmeliese. In the morning, when Emmeliese is awake, I put her in the middle of the bed and let Annalivia, and, to a lesser extent, Daniel, talk to her and take care of her and put her pacifier in her mouth. They love it. Daniel reports on the goings-on with mixed up subjects and objects. "She kissin' me!" he says when he kisses her. Or "She touchin' my hand!" when he takes her hand. Last night he said, "She really love me," which, if the pattern holds, means, "I really love her." I believe it.

4. Amy and Sarah were two of my dearest friends in college. We were in the same sorority, lived across from each other, graduated together.... we're dear, old pals. :) We were all pregnant at the same time this year and Sarah delivered a little girl on April 3. Amy's little girl was born this Monday, April 13, after losing two sons in the last two years. I am so happy for both of them, but am especially rejoicing for Amy this week. I think it's so neat that we all had daughters within about a month. And I think they are all about the same size now. Sarah's Lucie was 8 lbs. 9 oz and Amy's Amelie was 9 lbs. 1 oz at birth. And Emmeliese is nearing 10 lbs, I think. I can't wait to meet them someday and take pictures of our girls together!

5. We might still buy the house we have been oggling. We had an inspection done on Wednesday. It turned up what we expected, which is both good and...not so good. We realize that we may be overly enamoured with the house. We've decided that it just doesn't exist elsewhere in this town; i.e. its size, location, age, price, availability, just aren't found in another home. And we can both picture our Christmas decorations there. :) So we'll probably try to buy it. It will be a big project. As my sister said, this house will be our fourth child. And it may require more attention than the other dependents combined.

6. I read a good book recently. Jen, at Conversion Diary, who hosts 7 Quick Takes, had mentioned a book by Holly Pierlot, A Mother's Rule of Life. I read it, and though it is written by a Roman Catholic for Catholic mothers, it has a TON of good info in it. I found lots that was very applicable to our lives. I would highly recommend it, especially for liturgical families, though any Mom capable of filtering theology that is not directly applicable would probably find it useful.

7. Yesterday was a gorgeous, gorgeous day here. The kids and I took a long walk in the morning and then went out to the lake in the afternoon. We saw some turtles sunning themselves and immediately Song of Songs came to mind, "For lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone; the flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land."
You know, I once was the pastor who didn't know scripture by heart. No longer. Spring is here! Renewal comes.

Come away, loves...

(For more Quick Takes, see Jen's.)

Ten on Tuesday

I've tried starting different blog posts several times in the last week, but for whatever reason, could not coordinate completion of that task. So here are 10 random thoughts which may or may not get me back to blogging.

1. I have lots of pictures I need to share which would be easier if I were to find the camera cable and download them onto the computer.

2. Now that I've had a bit of time to process Emmeliese's birth, I realize I have more to document here. I may get to that someday. But for now let me just say, as a separate number...

3. Re: a C-section -- Oh. my. word. I have NO idea why women would electively choose a C-section over natural childbirth. Even Daniel's uber-long, incredibly painful labor was NOTHING compared to the recovery involved with the C-section. I know part of my discomfort is due to the two vertical incisions I have, but I also have no understanding of why anyone would think a major surgery is better than dealing with some soreness/ swelling. I have absolutely NO idea how women do this with children who are closer together in age or without parents/ helpers nearby. The weight restrictions mean that I can't pick up my older two kids, well, legitimately, at least. (Accidents happen, kids need comfort, you know...) I can't carry Emmeliese in her carseat. If I do, I feel it in a big way. I'd take two epidural-free vag births over a C-section any day. Really.

4. My husband is the most wonderful, amazing, astonishing and self-sacrificing guy ever created. There's much more to say about him, too. But it wouldn't be enough. He's the top. The silver tread on the feet of Fred Astaire, as it were... :)

5. Our church family has been bringing us dinners over the last week or so. And my Gramps and Mom have been making us food, too. We are getting all sorts of yummy treats. Gramps made a meatloaf the other day that the kids absolutely devoured. It was delicious.

6. I've been missing my Grammy a lot. I think I just soldiered through Grammy's death/ Emmeliese's birth/Emmeliese's hospitalization/ Grammy's memorial service and didn't think much about anything other than that which was right before us. But now I have time to think and I am thinking that I will miss my grandmother every day for the rest of my life. And I don't mean that in a depressing way, but I think I will, in fact, miss her that often.

7. We are considering making an offer on a house for sale here in town. It is a great big, old house on a huge lot on a beautiful street and it's cheap because the house needs to be completely and totally redone. The thought of completely and totally redoing a house sort of terrifies me, but it invigorates my husband, so he is doing the coordinating of every meeting/ inspection, etc. I'm being moral support.

8. It snowed 7 inches here on Saturday night/ Sunday morning. Almost all of the snow melted yesterday and now we have thick green grass showing up. It's very exciting to see Spring!

9. Emmeliese still isn't nursing, really. She has nursed a few times and when she does, sucks for about two minutes and then falls asleep. After a whole lotta prayer/ agonizing/ talking-it-over with whomever would listen, I decided to begin pumping only twice a day before bed and upon waking. When she starts nursing -- if she starts nursing -- we'll start with that schedule and then see if I can get her to nurse at other times. This decision to back off the milk production means that Dennis hasn't had to do night bottle feedings. And I am actually getting some sleep, which, at this point, was important for the good of the entire family. I hope Emmeliese will learn to nurse, but you know... if not... life will go on.

10. Our big girl was 8 lbs. 6 oz. at her weight check yesterday. Today she is three weeks old. THREE weeks! Time flies...

Celebrating Grammy

Yesterday, we had Grammy's memorial service. Everything came together well. Friday night, we had a family gathering at my grandfather's house to start the weekend. Emmeliese decided to stay up until 1 in the morning on Saturday, and I ended up being awake until about 3 a.m. I was worried going into yesterday morning, but the whole day ended up being lovely. The visitation was packed. We ended up having to delay the service about 20 minutes to get everyone through the line. The service was very nice. I did the eulogy and it went well. It was incomplete, of course, but since it is rather impossible to sum up an 84-year old saint in 15 minutes, that was ok. Grammy had planned the service itself, had chosen the scriptures and the music and had even written out what she wanted on the bulletin. It was very nice -- very simple and elegant, I thought. Two prayers, two readings, three hymns, and the eulogy. Lovely.

The church had a sorority who had reserved the fellowship hall, so the we weren't able to have the funeral lunch there. We ended up in a much smaller room, that, frankly, I was worried about pre-service. It ended up being perfect. The luncheon was wonderful and my aunt's wonderful friend brought beautiful centerpieces for the table that were just perfect. Folks crowded in the room, sat on couches and radiators, ate and chatted. It was a great mix of formal/ casual that Grammy would have loved.

After the funeral, we came back and everyone in this family took 2 1/2 hour naps. We needed them so badly that we didn't mind sleeping through the 60-degree beautiful day outside. When we got up, we went out to Gramps' for another family dinner. My uncle and cousins set off fireworks in Grammy's memory and we hung out with dad's three cousins, sons of Grammy's sister, who came all the way from California to be part of the remembrance. It was great, too.

And when we got home, Emmeliese and I went to sleep almost immediately. Dennis was not so fortunate, but he eventually got to bed around midnight. Emmeliese was fussy a lot last night and I think Dennis ended up taking care of her a lot, since I got a lot of sleep. The kiddos let us sleep in a bit this morning, but our big plan for today is threefold -- 1. Rest 2. Pickup the messes around the house 3. Do some laundry. And if we don't get to numbers 2 and 3, it will be ok.

7 Quick Takes on Friday

1. Emmeliese is home!

2. Emmeliese is home!

3. Emmeliese is home!

4. Emmeliese is home!

5. Emmeliese is home!

6. Emmeliese is home!

7. I'm pumping lots, sleeping little, writing Grammy's eulogy, being constantly amazed by my super-husband, continuing to be eternally grateful for Mom's willingness to entertain Annalivia and Daniel, not answering the phone (sorry, if you are trying to call), and finding fun discoveries like this at 4 a.m.

But what really matters is this-- Emmeliese is home!! :)