Good morning from my house to yours.  It’s all of 21 degrees here but we are warm and cozy indoors, daughter Sarah is sitting snuggled next to me in the recliner as I type.

Rich has been gone all week on a business trip but came home in the night (around 2am) and because it was such a late flight he is able to work from home today.  He’s in the other room now, working on his laptop.  Our town’s McDonald’s had a makeover recently so we are planning on taking the kids there for lunch to check it out.  Yes, the children are home today from school for a Teacher’s Conference Day.  And the best part of all is our dear Grace and Brittnee are coming home for their March break tonight!  We’ll have Grace home with us for a week, which will be nice because Rich has another trip to go on.  She and I can get into all kinds of mischief together while he is away, which will probably entail a trip to the greenhouse and Barnes and Noble, that’s as wild as we get.

I wanted to share some photos that I’ve been taking throughout the week, some highlights of our days together, me and the children.  Every day I am struck by the relationships I have with each one of them.  There are stressful moments of course, but the closeness and love we share outweighs the hard times by far.

On Monday we had a snow day from school.  David started a fire and for dinner Seth roasted himself a hot dog.

One night when I was tucking in the children I took photos of them for Grace because Seth was reading one of her favorite childhood books……..

And Sarah was reading Eragon with Grace’s cat, Sammie.  In Grace’s bed.  (the girls share a room now and when Grace is home Sarah sleeps in the trundle-bed right next to Grace).

Funny photo of Bagheera sneaking up on Sherlock.  He loves being stealthy and pouncing on Sherlock.  Sherlock always reacts with hisses and a punishing paw.

My current read is Unorthodox, by Deborah Feldman.

Caleb on the big drum.   He’s so great, I kept my eyes on him the whole time, I notice as the fifth child he lives comfortably, knowing that “no one is paying attention to him” (not true, but when you’re #5 out of seven you do get a little more freedom as mom and dad are focusing on the older ones and the younger ones) so he’s relaxed and fun during the performances.  He was chewing gum and I even saw him blow a big bubble!!!  As a “good first-born” child I would NEVER have been chewing gum during a concert!!!  He talked with the kids next to him, laughed at the 5th grade band’s charmingly rustic and off-beat number, helped one of other boys keep track of his beat and music, and so on.   I was in awe of him.

I had left David home with Sarah and when I got back I found him all dressed up in a suit jacket working on his homework at the table.  Why?  Because he “felt cool” (better) wearing it.  I think he felt business-like while writing his school paper.  David was sick over the weekend and missed school on Tuesday but is all better now.

Sarah had been wanting to make cookies and we finally did it.  Oh boy were they DELICIOUS.  She carefully looked through the Taste of Home baking cookbook (from Hannah) and chose the recipe she wanted to try.

They were impossible to stay away from.  She and I made them together and she learned how to separate an egg.  We put the completed cookies all on a vintage yellow fiesta round platter.

My sister Amanda and I had been texting that morning and we both have this same shirt so we decided to wear them that day.  So I thought of her all day long.

I always write the date next to a new recipe and this time I let Sarah do it.  We divided this recipe in half because I didn’t want to spend 17 hours in the kitchen rolling out cookie dough.

We took a cookie in to David but found him asleep in my bed.  I was so amused by him I took a video.  He had carefully put relaxing music on my laptop and had it playing, like a lullaby, right next to him as he slept like a baby in my bed.  The kids all covet my down comforter, in fact, Sarah’s birthday is in May and she’s already requested one for her 9th birthday along with a hoverboard.  So funny.

Seth took a shower and when he was up there he got annoyed that Sarah’s horses were all over the floor so he took them out and cleaned up the shower.  He was so proud he would NOT stop talking about it and even went up to take pictures.  That evening I took him to Rite Aid so he could buy himself a new toothbrush (he wanted “one of his own”, which sort of confused me as there are about 25 toothbrushes around but we do seem to share everything in this family) some men’s body wash, and some men’s shampoo.  I have a little man!!  So charming to me.  I can’t complain about a boy who wants to be clean!

Still talking about the upstairs shower, he also thought about taking Sammie to school in his backpack.

“Just as I am, without one plea.”  And tired.

I did have fun yesterday with a friend, the two of us went to the mall together and walked over 2 miles and then shopped at Target.  We got Starbucks as we left and came back to my house where we worked on a puzzle and she read to me!!!!  It was relaxing and nice.

After she left, and I ran to the school to get Caleb, Seth and I finished the puzzle together. We laughed at Walter because he couldn’t fit in the box.

This puzzle is special because Joanna and her family put it together and then she gifted it to me to do.  So I thought of her the whole time we worked on it.  I love the birds.  It was a fun one to do.  Maybe now I’ll pass it along to Cassandra, or my Mom, or Amanda!

This was good and easy!!  I made it for dinner yesterday.

It’s a big big bowl of pasta goodness.  The kids all liked it, and so did I.

Last but not least, last night Caleb and I watched Spiderman: Homecoming together.  It was the most relaxed I’ve felt all week and I even slept for a little while, so cozy with my son and cat keeping me warm.

Happy Friday!!!