After Nick and Erika left, we went into full-blown LENT IS COMING/BABY IS COMING/WE HAVE TO GET READY mode.
Well, *I* did, anyway...
March came roaring in with a crazy vengeance.
We had been healthy since our cold/flu/respiratory bug that was our constant companion from August-November.
We hadn't seen a doctor out here since we moved.
Let's let that sink in: No doctor from October-March. Now, for us, this is unheard of. I thought maybe we had narrowly escaped the season.
I was VERY VERY VERY wrong.
We had great plans for Lent. The things we were going to offer up. The extra things we would be taking on. Tithing, prayer, fasting. You know, all the good stuff.
We make plans.
God is so funny and kind. He knows what is best for us. Always. He knew we needed to work on our patience and trust AGAIN this Lent. He rearranged some things for me and helped me re-plan our perfect Lent.
Starting with the GREAT TUMMY BUG OF 2019!
I sent out a quick e-mail on the eve of Ash Wednesday to a friend in Rochester, telling her that one of the kids was acting a little kooky. I was concerned that they were getting sick, but I couldn't tell if it was just the effects of the full moon or whatever they ate or whatever activity they had just attended.
Mother Gut: What You'll Never Find In A Parenting Book
Never doubt it. Always trust it. God gave it to you for a reason.
Ash Wednesday arrived, and Esther was acting super strange. Really tired and headachey. It didn't stop the kids from pulling their usual shenanigans, but I knew we were in for something awful when Esther put herself down for a nap.
When I told the children we would not be able to attend Ash Wednesday mass, they took it upon themselves to Ash Up.
With a Sharpie.
Pause.
Breathe.
Pause.
Sigh.
I texted Matt immediately at work about the permanent black staining on his offspring's foreheads. He called them hardcore Catholics.
I call them crazy. Those crosses will still be there come Easter.
Also at the start of Lent, the Schwalm family decided to read the Bible together. My brother Matt spearheaded the whole thing, began a blog, sent out invites and VOILA!
We are currently in Week 4, and my life has never felt more beautiful or fulfilling. Having family to talk with about faith is just so...Perfect.
All the screens we were going to give up for Lent and all the extra cleaning/purging we were going to do actually gave way to TONS of video games, messes everywhere, early bedtimes, hardly any school, and me learning to CHILL THE HECK OUT.
What can I say? I'm a work in progress...
I only once lost my cool when this picture came in on my phone. I've never felt so happy and sad at the exact same moment. I had been wanting to attend the Women's Conference in Rochester. I thought it would be my last hurrah before the babe arrived. When the sickness came about, I resigned myself to my position of confinement.
But my mom and my sweet Whitney met up and even took a picture for me and I just cried and laughed and sighed.
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| When the toddler won't eat anything, you give him whatever he asks for. |
Mike and Amanda sent a care package full of love to the kids, and it got us through some pretty heavy days.
Bonus: the children are also learning phrases in French AND Spanish!
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| Sarah and Nate tried so hard to stay healthy... |
Right on Saint Patrick's Day, we seemed to have turned the corner. Everyone felt well enough to at least take a sip of their homemade Shamrock Shakes and yell "Slainte!"
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| Thomas reminds me more and more of my brothers every single day. |
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| Amanda recently sent me this picture from years and years ago, when I was her sponsor and she was fully brought into the church. This picture brings me so much joy. |
Everyone put on their red for Good Saint Joseph's Feast Day.
We got out our Liturgical Living book and started celebrating the earthly father of Jesus!
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Esther and Nathan seem to be in a full-blown competition about who can lose the most baby teeth at once. Four teeth in one week between the two of them.
It was a busy time for the Michigan Tooth Fairy.
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When Matt and I looked at eachother and realized the sickness had finally passed over the house and we were on the upswing, I thought we shared the same thought.
"TIME TO NEST!"
But I misread my own husband because he was apparently thinking
"TIME TO REST!"
No matter. I did what I did and it's done now.
It's that time again! No, not spring! THIRD TRIMESTER, BABY!
And that means NESTING has arrived, full-force.
Matt acts as though this is a horrifying thing, stating that his To-Do List gets bigger by the day because my desire to nest is MUCH LARGER than my energy tank or capability something or other...but I really wasn't listening. He usually says something silly or unnecessary like, "Maybe we should have talked about this before you committed fully to purchasing and installing such and such" or, "Honey, please don't touch the sledge hammer" or, my personal favorite, "Why do you need to know where the circular saw/drill is?"
I had to up my game this time around because he's taken to hiding his tools and even hanging the ladder up too high for me to reach.
He especially appreciates frantic texts at work about how I am unable to finish the laundry but am certain that the shades I hung didn't need to be measured with a legitimate tool.
HOWEVER:
Matt hung up every single shade in record time with MY HELP barely any nagging lots of encouragement.
I shared with everyone the story of the nesting hitting hard, and they all had incredible confidence in Matty. I showed him the overwhelming response of "GO MATT, GO!"
And GO he did!!!
Thanks, Babe. You da best. On to the next project!
