Valentine's Eve and the rest of the week

So, if you follow this little blog of mine, you already know how I feel about this little activity. What you probably don't know is how it started. When Jaxon was 2yrs old, there was a girl that worked for my Mom and was friends with my little brother. Her name was Devri Ellis (Larsen). She was always glowing and was/is so beautiful. I wish I had a picture to show you what I mean. She is such a sweetheart. So, wow, 9 years ago, Jaxon asked if he could take Devri some cookies for Valentines. He loved her. She would play with him everytime she saw him, and yes, way back then Jax knew how to pick 'em. Even when we would go to the Highschool baseball games, Jax always went and sat with the highschool girls. Him and his "B" (pacifier). LOL. Yes, I am laughing right now remembering how he looked sitting up there with all the girls with his hat and B, so proud of himself. Anyway, all these years we have made cookies and taken them to Devri. She is all grown up now, she is married and a mom. A couple of months ago she moved to Twin Falls. I thought I had the perfect plan. Nate was going through Twin on Valentine's morning, so he was going to drop cookies off to her, but I didn't get her address in time. Now I have her address and Nate will be surprising her 1 of these days. (but not with these Valentine cookies :) )

I laugh watching Mady frost a cookie. She does get a little better every year. I am sure her skills would develop lots quicker if we did this more often! I noticed that with all the cookies to frost, she only frosts ONE. Yep, one. She spend the whole time working on this one cookie, which I think makes us all feel better, just because, she knows not to lick her knife, but fingers are another story. And she made sure to eat this cookie too.

He is such a helper! He did take the pics of the kids and he made sure to get one of me. When I was posting these pics I also found some unappropriate shots of me. Nice. Who wants to see those? Nobody!

While, the original plan was to do cookies on the Eve of Valentines because Nate was heading out of town in the morning. I soon realized how grateful I was that things worked out that way. Monday afternoon I started to feel like I was getting the flu. I survived making bread, cookies and dinner and went to bed. Tuesday morning I woke up and couldn't move. Nate had left at 6 that morning and I said a little prayer to help me get the kids off to school. Jaxon came into my room after his shower and I asked him to make egg sandwiches for him and Jordan. I then asked him to make sure I was up by 7:20 to get their lunches made. It worked out well. I then wrapped myself in a blanket and took them to school. I came home and went back to bed. MyLeigh was so good to help with Mady. Actually, Mady played in her room most the day while MyLeigh did school work. I said another little prayer and got up to go get Jaxon from school, again wrapping myself up in a blanket. I probably looked like an idiot, But the thought of going out in the cold was not exciting. Got Jaxon home and went back to bed. We managed grill cheese sandwiches for dinner. I cut bread and cheese while Jordan made the sandwiches and MyLeigh cooked them. I got so dizzy that Jordan took my hand and helped me lay down on the couch. He then took a blanket and covered me up. We managed through the rest of the night and everyone was in bed and I was back to sleep before 8:00. Wednesday = a repeat of Tuesday. For dinner this time, there was frozen pizza in the freezer for emergencies. This was an emergency. By about this time I realized that I had not been helping the girls with lunch. When I mentioned this to MyLeigh she responded that she didn't want to wake me up and that they just had Valentine cookies for 2 days! Nate made it home just before bedtime. Thursday morning he took me to see our friend/PA at his clinic. Yes, I say took, but it was more like force cause I wouldn't have gone on my own. Come to find out I had Strep Throat. When I hear those words, fear shoots through me. All of that is for another post. I will just say that I have only had it one other time and it was 6 yrs ago. I had complications from it that resulted in 8 months of antibiotics and steroids and many trips to see specialists.

My point of all this is...I have a hard time being sick as a mom. I lay there and think of all the things I should be doing. Like I am sure most of us Moms do. I also am amazed at all the things I do get done on a day to day basis, even when I feel like nothing gets done. I missed helping in both boys' classes and helping with a Valentine Party. I was grateful Mutual had been canceled and that I hadn't arranged to help with the book fair. Those are just some examples of what my days look like. I feel like my kids are neglected...umm sugar cookies for lunch? Oh, I might add that I actually think those sugar cookies became a staple at our house for the 2 days they lasted. Thank goodness or my kids might have starved. I did find a silver lining though. I realized how much I treasure my health. I think it is safe to say that I put my body through a whole lot of wear and tear and I need to start "thanking" it for all I am able to do. I also observed my kids growing up. I watched them take care of each other and help me. I am glad that I have taken some time to show Jaxon how to do some things in the kitchen and that MyLeigh is a little mother, Jordan with all his emotions is compassionate and tender and Mady has an imagination that tops them all. I don't think she even missed me, she was so busy playing "tea party" and dressing up. (if you have seen pics of her room, take that x20 to get an idea of the mess she made in her room over 4 days.) I missed giving my kids kisses and snuggling with Mady. So, maybe being sick every once in a blue moon (please) is a good thing. I need to start being grateful for all the things that I am able to do, instead of all the things that I can't fit into the day.