I got home from St. Paul today - WOW what a weekend. I'm sooooo tired!! Just totally bone-crunchingly exhausted. Thankfully, the weekend turned out much better than it started . . . .
My mom and I gleefully headed for the airport on Thurs. afternoon at 2:30 for our 3:30 p.m. flight which would arrive in Minneapolis at 6:30 which would be the perfect time to go get a yummy dinner at a fun restaurant with my sister who was patiently waiting for us there. Perfect.
However. My mom and I then proceeded to sit in the highly uneventful, very restaurantless Rapid City airport for SIX HOURS. Because Northwest Airlines is that efficient. Evidently the Mpls/St. Paul airport was operating on ONE runway for incoming flights. ONE. And apparently our little commuter flight attempting to fly in from the metropolis that is Rapid City was on the BOTTOM of air traffic control's priority list. Go figure.
Oh yeah, and Joe Biden's plane was there too. (To which I said SO?? But evidently he's important enough to shut down a chunk of the airport. Hmmph. Whatever.)
So we finally arrived in the cities at 11:00 p.m. We were so tired by this point that while on the tram to baggage claim, my mom (loudly) started a rendition of what we thought the computerized tram voice should sound like in the great state of MN - very Norwegian/Ole and Lena kinda thing - and it was hilarious. "Next stop, dat der baggage claim, you betcha!" I'm pretty sure everyone in the tram was convinced we'd had one too many onboard cocktails. (We didn't even have one, I assure you).
I fell into bed at 12:30 completely exhausted. But oh, were we in for a treat.
This was my second Women of Faith conference, and I'm now convinced I want to go EVERY year. It's such an amazing, inspiring experience - I can (and did, I guess) sit and listen for days on end to these marvelous stories of God at work in people's lives. It was AWESOME. No other word for it. Just AWESOME. And emotionally draining! Story after story after story of God's grace and love and mercy and how He orchestrates things, and lives upon lives upon lives that have been saved, transformed and renewed. We took in so much information it will be days - maybe weeks - before my head will be able to process it all. My current prayer is that God will impress upon my heart the things HE wants me to take away from this, so it will be interesting to see what I ultimately come away with. Who wants to go with me next year?!?!
More to come, but for now I'm completely wiped out. Oh, I should mention that poor Jack came down with the flu two days before I left but Mark did a fabulous job with him, Noah, AND the puppy. Thanks sweetie, for making it possible to have this weekend to grow. You're the best.
Have I mentioned I'm tired?
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Monday, October 12, 2009
Eat. Play. Sleep. Poop. Repeat.
That's been our life around here this week. Feed Murphy. Play with Murphy. Murphy naps. Murphy poops. Like 90 times a day. And then we repeat. Whew. It's easy to forget how much WORK a puppy is. But, lucky for him, he's so darn cute. He does sleep REALLY good at night (8+ hours), so I'm totally thankful for that. And he's the best little cuddler in the world.
Meanwhile, the kids had a 5-day weekend - partly due to teacher work days and also Columbus day - and it was so good for them to just have NOTHING for a few days. Winter arrived here in FULL FORCE (12 degrees! Wind! Snow! More snow! Uggh!) last week, so their weekend sporting events were cancelled and they got to just hang around home, which is their favorite thing to do. And of course it's my favorite thing to have them home with me!
Noah spent much of his time off heavily debating the 2009 Halloween costume. Honestly, you would think he was having to choose a college. About drove me nuts. He's very particular about these things for some reason. He did finally arrive at a decision today (hallelujah!!) . . . which will remain top secret until 10/31. :) Noah is also proving to be the highly responsible one when it comes to Murphy - always makes sure he has food, makes sure he stays away from the stairs, prays about his potty training (?!), etc.
Jack has been cracking us up. We were at TGI Fridays the other night and our waiter told us that the kids slushies came with free refills, so Jack eagerly ordered one. And proceeded to request a refill EVERY time the waiter came back. By the time he'd gone through 4, I told him he should probably quit. He leaned across the table towards me, and in a hushed voice said "I'm trying to make a good deal out of it, mom! They're FREE!" Grandpa Dick, he has YOUR genes!! :) Then last night he came out of his room 1/2 hour after he went to bed and told me he couldn't sleep because he had this list of things on his mind. After we discussed the list, I sent him back to bed. On the way, he turned around and - very seriously - said "I'll let you know if anything else comes up." :) Okay. Thanks buddy.
I'm excited to be heading to Women of Faith in Minneapolis this weekend with my momma and sister - Thurs. to Sunday with just us girls. I totally can't WAIT to get away for a little while! I'm a tad bit concerned about leaving the house in the hands of the 3 boys and a puppy (shiver), but it's just a house, right? Jack and Noah are actually excited I'm leaving. That can't be a good thing, can it?
Meanwhile, the kids had a 5-day weekend - partly due to teacher work days and also Columbus day - and it was so good for them to just have NOTHING for a few days. Winter arrived here in FULL FORCE (12 degrees! Wind! Snow! More snow! Uggh!) last week, so their weekend sporting events were cancelled and they got to just hang around home, which is their favorite thing to do. And of course it's my favorite thing to have them home with me!
Noah spent much of his time off heavily debating the 2009 Halloween costume. Honestly, you would think he was having to choose a college. About drove me nuts. He's very particular about these things for some reason. He did finally arrive at a decision today (hallelujah!!) . . . which will remain top secret until 10/31. :) Noah is also proving to be the highly responsible one when it comes to Murphy - always makes sure he has food, makes sure he stays away from the stairs, prays about his potty training (?!), etc.
Jack has been cracking us up. We were at TGI Fridays the other night and our waiter told us that the kids slushies came with free refills, so Jack eagerly ordered one. And proceeded to request a refill EVERY time the waiter came back. By the time he'd gone through 4, I told him he should probably quit. He leaned across the table towards me, and in a hushed voice said "I'm trying to make a good deal out of it, mom! They're FREE!" Grandpa Dick, he has YOUR genes!! :) Then last night he came out of his room 1/2 hour after he went to bed and told me he couldn't sleep because he had this list of things on his mind. After we discussed the list, I sent him back to bed. On the way, he turned around and - very seriously - said "I'll let you know if anything else comes up." :) Okay. Thanks buddy.
I'm excited to be heading to Women of Faith in Minneapolis this weekend with my momma and sister - Thurs. to Sunday with just us girls. I totally can't WAIT to get away for a little while! I'm a tad bit concerned about leaving the house in the hands of the 3 boys and a puppy (shiver), but it's just a house, right? Jack and Noah are actually excited I'm leaving. That can't be a good thing, can it?
Monday, October 5, 2009
Murphy
This weekend brought a new addition to our family: we'd like to introduce you to Murphy.
He's a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel and a dream come true for Jack and Noah. They have been begging for a puppy for years now . . . and we've held off because we've had a couple very unsuccessful attempts at dog ownership in the past. We're a tad bit gun-shy, you could say. However, I'm happy - and relieved! - to report that the first 36 hours have been successful. He's very easy to have around - is totally happy napping and lounging around with the boys.
He's a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel and a dream come true for Jack and Noah. They have been begging for a puppy for years now . . . and we've held off because we've had a couple very unsuccessful attempts at dog ownership in the past. We're a tad bit gun-shy, you could say. However, I'm happy - and relieved! - to report that the first 36 hours have been successful. He's very easy to have around - is totally happy napping and lounging around with the boys.
He's a whopping 4 pounds. (Should get to around 15-18).
And he ADORES the boys.
Now if we can just get him adjusted to the nighttime routine, we'll be good to go. Wish us luck.
And now I have to throw in a proud big sister moment - here's my baby brother with one of HIS dreams come true. He drew an incredibly hard-to-obtain elk tag this year (could be a once-in-a-lifetime thing) and started on the hunt of his life last week, which ended very well yesterday. Way to go, Josh - I'm SO happy for you! (And I can't wait to hear what your taxidermy bill will be!!) :)
And he ADORES the boys.Now if we can just get him adjusted to the nighttime routine, we'll be good to go. Wish us luck.And now I have to throw in a proud big sister moment - here's my baby brother with one of HIS dreams come true. He drew an incredibly hard-to-obtain elk tag this year (could be a once-in-a-lifetime thing) and started on the hunt of his life last week, which ended very well yesterday. Way to go, Josh - I'm SO happy for you! (And I can't wait to hear what your taxidermy bill will be!!) :)
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