Going-Ons

Our family is once again "on the mend". Yay! Sydney, however, is teething and appears to be in quite a bit of pain. Last night she woke up and wouldn't go back to sleep for TWO HOURS... and she cried the entire time she was awake. It was awful! So... today we purchased a teething homeopathic from New Seasons. David gave her some, and (although she's been struggling against her nap today) she conked right out... and slept for two and a half hours! I think we'll giver her some more before bed time. It definitely seems to be what's making her so fussy lately, and I'm happy to see her get some relief from the obvious pain she's in (sigh).

Well, we've had a pretty packed holiday season. It's been a good one, but really busy. David's concert went really well! He played several piano solos, and I actually sang in three of the six songs that were performed. Two of the songs that I sang in I had to do solos (yikes!), but they actually turned out okay. I was singing with some VERY talented singers, so it was really nerve wracking, exciting, intimidating, etc. to sing with them. But it was overall really fun!

Did I tell you all that I'm going to be teaching piano lessons? I'll be teaching beginners, so I anticipate that I'll get a LOT of little kids. It'll be work, I'm sure, but it'll also feel so good to be earning some extra income! I'm really excited about that :-) Anyway, David and I are going to be focused on marketing over this next month. We'll put up fliers, post signs, and we're asking everyone we know to please tell everyone they know about me. Anyway, my job will be to teach the basics to those that know nothing or very little about playing the piano. I'll be teaching a "prep course" for beginners, and they'll go on all the way through the first few grades of piano (which will take anywhere from one to three years, depending on the speed in which the student learns). After he/she has learned as much from me as I can teach him/her, my plan is to refer that student to an intermediate/advanced piano teachers (I have a few that I can recommend). So... please tell everyone you know about me... it'd be MUCH appreciated!

My Sickos

So... Charlie, Sydney, and David all have runny noses.  Sydney also has a fever, though.  I was up ALL night last night, because she wouldn't go to sleep unless I was actually holding her.  I just kept thinking, "If she gets some sleep, it will help her immune system to fight off whatever virus she's got... and it'll all be over... and then maybe I can get some sleep."  Now I find myself at the beginning of, possibly, another sleepless night (sigh).  I know all of you moms know exactly what it's like to feel a mixture of worry over your baby, and also feeling soooooo sleep deprived that you just want them to get better so that you can once again feel somewhat sane!

Cute Pictures of Our Kiddos

I know it's been a rather busy week for me, but I figured I could at least find time to post some cute pictures of my kids (along with a couple of pretty funny ones!), even if I don't have the time or the energy to write much.

I will say briefly, however, that our concert was very well received, and was an absolute blast to do! But I have no pictures of it as of yet... I'll go into that soon (I hope).

January 11th

This day was actually a very pleasant one. After doing our morning chores, we packed up the kids and went to the store. We wandered up and down the isles... in no hurry. Charlie kept seeing balloons here and there and kept shouting, "Mommy! Daddy! Balloooooooonn!!" So... when we reached the area with flowers and balloons, we let him pick out a balloon for Theo. David and I chose four single stemmed roses (as that is our tradition) along with a small plastic "I Love You" on a stick. (I'm hoping next year I'll actually remember to take a picture or this. So far I've been too emotional and wrapped up in the moment to remember to get my camera out.) Anyway, they were beautiful roses. A red one, a white one, a pink one, and an orange one with darker rusty tips. Together and individually they were perfect!

We left the store, and headed up to Theo's grave. This was the first time Charlie was able to help us place the roses on the grave. It was soooooo special. However, first we let Charlie put his "Happy Anniversary" balloon (he picked it out) into the ground on the rim of Theo's grave stone. The balloon was a small one on a stick, and it stood there so beautifully. Then we placed the little "I Love You" thing in the ground. And finally we laid each of the roses on Theo's grave itself. We all bowed our heads, as David said a little prayer of thanks for the time we had Theo in our lives, and he thanked God for His promise that we would see Theo again in Heaven some day. It was perfect.

On our way home, our kids fell asleep in the car... so we just decided to drive around for a couple of hours. So we did. It was such relaxing end to our day. David and I were able to just talk about our future, the past, what we like and don't like about our present situation, and how to possibly change the things we don't like :-) So we ended the day feeling so... ummm... in unity again with one another. Like I said... it was the perfect ending to a pleasant day.

Departures

This time of the year is always a rather emotionally difficult time for our family. (Of course, I show it more than David does, though.) But this year was more difficult than usual.

We went over to my parents’ house last night. Tanner and Noelle and their three girls were over there, and it was a rather bittersweet time. We all knew that the inevitable was about to happen. They would have to leave, but this time there would be no knowing when we would see them again. My heart was filled with a mixture of emotions. I was excited for them, and sad for us. I was sad that we wouldn't be able to just hang out with them whenever we all felt like hanging out and visiting. I was sad that we'd spent this past month and a half (or more) sick, which limited the amount of time we've been able to see them before their big move. But I know without a shadow of a doubt that this move will be so good for their family. And so... though I'm sad to see them leave, I'm happy to know that they are following God's leading!

I must say, however, there is just a tinge of jealousy on my part. I'm so jealous that they'll be in a much warmer climate than me, and that their getting to go on a really grand adventure. Well, I suppose we all get our turn sooner or later... and it's all in one's perspective, right? More than anything, though, I'm going to miss watching my nieces grow up, and Charlie will miss them terribly (he already asked me this morning where they were, and if we could go see them... sigh). The next time I see Georgie, she'll be so much bigger (sniff...)

Well, moping won't change anything, so I've determined to rely A LOT on the fact that we're in "the age of technology". We've got phones, text-messaging, email, digital cameras, and webcams! So... although seeing each other in person would be the very best thing, I'm glad we've got such excellent second-best options these days :-)

As my brother's family was leaving and we were all saying our goodbyes, there were a lot of tears. However, we truly do wish them the best on this new chapter in their lives!

Snow Pics!

Here are some of the pictures of the really deep stuff :-) Tessa came over one of these days, and I was able to get some pictures.

The Adventures of Charlie ~ Episode I

I was sick sick sick on Christmas, and it got worse. On Saturday it got so bad that I felt like I was going to DIE! I knew God was stretching me to my limits when Charlie decided to play "lets make a soup in the toilet". He put a whole bar of soap in it, and then proceeded to flush and flush and flush the toilet.... which predictably overflowed all over the floor! We tried plunging, but it was no use... it was STUCK. David and I were both sick at this point, so we had NO energy to do anything about it (except to mop it all up and sanitize the surface of everything). So we just used the upstairs bathroom for the next couple of days. However, Charlie got into the bathroom AGAIN on Sunday, and flushed the toilet again. That caused another flooding of our bathroom which we cleaned it up and sanitized AGAIN. Monday morning David awoke to the sound of giggles and the faint sound of splashing. Yes, you guessed it! They had overflowed the toilet again! And this time they were splashing around in "it". Yuck!! This was the last straw! In the end, the three Martin guys ended up having to take the toilet completely off in order to get the bar of soap out of it. So now... now we have a working toilet again! It's times like these that make you appreciate the small things in life... ahhh, toilets (lol).