puke, real estate and bombs: my life this week

what a week.  on monday i put my husband on a plane bound for vancouver, with the expressed instruction "don't buy me a fixer-upper".  once again, he's buying a house without me.  my mom sees a trend - I sell our homes alone, and he buys them alone.  well, the buck stops here!  i'm praying that our next home is of the 20 year variety.

that night my son puked all over his bed.  thankfully the only thing he had eaten was an apple, and I have to admit that as far as vomit is concerned, apple is the way to go. 

Tuesday we (both kids and I) all woke up feeling sick.  so, we mustered enough energy to go to the library, check out an enormous amount of books, and sit on the couch reading.  around 6pm I said "kids, do you know what we've accomplished today?  we've all bathed.  that is our only accomplishment".  they weakly nodded their heads and went back to reading.

wednesday night i held my daughter as she cried herself to sleep - probably because she's picking up on the stress her parents are under. 

Thursday we prayed for a miracle.  we prayed that a house would pop up onto the market that would be perfect for us.  well....a house popped.  the exterior reminds me of a swiss chalet (which hearkens back to the sunday lunches of my childhood ...ummmm....chalet sauce), and the interior is covered with cigarette smoke and cat pee.  DEFINITELY a fixer-upper (refer to paragraph 1).  however, it's large, with a solarium for a studio, and space for a guest room, and a big yard, and could be (after lots of work) an amazing home.  is this our miracle?  i'll let you know.

friday was my son's sixth birthday.  he climbed into bed with me for morning snuggles and I asked him if he felt bigger.  "oh, yes!"  he said, then i could see his little mind was working on something - "get out of bed right now mom!"  "why?"  "I have to measure how tall I am!".  he has always used my body as his means of self-measurement.  i remember when he was so proud to hit my belly-button, and now he's well past. 

we opened presents and I made his favourite "pescetti" (trans. "spaghetti) and broccoli for dinner.  he jumped up in the middle of the meal and clasped his hands together and said "thank you God for such a delicious supper!".  thank you folks, my job here is done.

 i spent the evening creating cake bombs for his birthday party.  he, like his sister, was having a spy party.  what kind of cake do spies eat?  I suppose the kind with files or bullets hidden in them, but that is just a little beyond my comfort zone.  fake bombs though....I can handle.  scott finally staggered into the house around midnight.

Saturday was the party.  six six-year-old boys descended.  I have come to the conclusion that I love to plan parties, but the execution of them is a little overwhelming.  here's where my hubby comes in - this whole marriage thing is a lovely strategy for life: teamwork.  he had the boys using him as a moving target for water gun practice, he made a multi-level obstacle course which included them navigating through a laser web (not real lasers) and jumping down the stairs into a pile of pillows (real pillows).  I ran the finger-print analysis training and made the ID badges.  we're a good team.


but here's how we look after a birthday party at the andersons - "like death warmed over" - one of my moms best descriptive lines.  i'm still recovering.   I think the combined stress of this week has sent me into a bit of a tailspin.  so, please pray for us.  pray for physical health, for the ability to calm our minds and our bodies and trust in God's provision and timing.  buying a house from across the country is difficult.  buying a house from across the country that needs renovations before its inhabitable feels gargantuan.  my gift is that I can let go of control and recognize God's sovereignty and goodness - but that is also proving to be a gift I keep refusing. 

here's hoping the week ahead is filled with some normalcy (or, at the very least, no puking), and a miracle or two would be nice.  yes, a normal week with miracles - hear my prayer Lord.