recap

Lots to recap from this weekend for the Parnell house, including a few exciting firsts, lots of fun, and little sleep. HA!




We are all happy to have David safely back home with us. He had been out of town since Thursday for work. He got home around 4 today and the kids and I were thrilled to seem him. I must say, my four day stint as a single Mom was pretty exhausting and so I am really appreciating those Moms that run the whole show on their own 24/7.
Feeling really grateful tonight that I have a partner in crime!



And to be truthful, I wasn't completely alone all weekend because my Mom offered to keep Lila and Bennett during Elise's 8:30 a.m. soccer game on Saturday. It would have been doable to bring them, but I wouldn't have been able to watch any of the game. Turns out, it was an important game to watch.....Elise scored her first really legit goal!!! I wish I had video of her face, as the expression was about equivalent to when she realized we were getting to keep Boss! She immediately turned and looked to see that I saw, and when I gave her a thumbs up she ran across the field to me to give me a high five!! Good thing I had sunglasses on to hide the tears that were welling up. And, please do not mistake my pride for being over the fact that she scored a goal- I could care less if she is a good soccer player or not. But, her self confidence has grown, and that is what got me. That and the fact that I was thinking of how devastated David would be to miss it, and the first words out of her mouth were, "I can't wait to tell Daddy!"
She says she is going to score another one next week just for him!

My Mom had taken L & B over to Mimi and Grandpa's house, and so we headed there to meet them and so that Elise could tell them about her game. So exciting! After that we came home so that Elise and I could bathe and shower (so much for "Fall" around here- it was miserable again- even at 8:30 a.m.) and get ready for her exciting night. Ella was coming over and I was taking them to a friend's faux slumber party Saturday night from 5-8. They were so excited!

The kids played for a while, and then we headed out. I dropped off E and E at the party, which was a big deal! This was Elise's first drop off birthday party. I know the Mom well, and it was at their house, so I felt comfortable letting the girls stay. I could tell Elise was so nervous, even though she wanted to go so bad, and I fought back the tears for the second time that day as I drove away. I know the only way she is going to overcome her shyness is to conquer situations like that, and so I was really happy that she wanted to go, and that she had Ella with her to lean on. Turns out there were a lot more girls there that she knew (including the super sweet and motherly "big" Camille), and so she ended up having a blast.

I decided to go on a "date" with Lila and Bennett while the girls were at the party. They were sad they weren't at a party, and I was kind of tired of being in our house and so we went to McAlister's for dinner. Kind of hard to get very stimulating conversation out of two 3 year olds, but they made me laugh a lot and we all enjoyed our food. They ate so well, I decided to give them an extra special treat and we walked across the parking lot to Menchie's to get some frozen yogurt. YUM. They had so much fun picking their flavors and toppings, and then choosing our table to eat at. At one point I looked over as Bennett took a HUGE bite of chocolate with gummi bears and he just smiled and said, "Delicious."
So cute.

We came home, walked Boss, got ready for bed, and then went back to get the girls. When I got there the street was PACKED with cars, and I ended up having to get barefoot-and-pj-wearing L & B out of the car to go get the girls. I pulled right up to the door to drop them off and there had been maybe 8 little girls there. OH MY GOODNESS what organized chaos when we entered that party!! All I can say is that Lindsey deserves some kind of medal for having so many girls at her house! They were having a blast though. They had pizza, pedicures, face painting, made glitter pumpkins, and I am sure much, much more!

Elise and Ella had fun pretending they were twins and were so proud of their blue sparkly toenail polish. Another first was happening that night, Ella was going to spend the night. I was so proud of the girls (really all 4 kids) and how well they cooperated when we got home from the party. We immediately went upstairs, washed off the face paint, brushed teeth, said prayers, and got in bed. I only had to go into Elise's room once to tell them it was time to go to sleep, and they were just whispering quietly while laying down when I did so.

I wish I could say the rest of the night went as smoothly. Would have been a little too good to be true, with 4 kids under 5, for things to be so easy!

In general, the kids do not sleep well when David is gone. Well, really they aren't the greatest sleepers overall. We rarely go more than a 3 day stretch without someone waking up in the middle of the night for something. So, I was not surprised that Bennett was up Thursday night, Friday night, and Saturday night, and also not shocked that Lila got up Thursday night as well. Last night won prize for worst night, and so I am pretty thankful it was my last one solo- at least for a while. Elise started coughing a lot shortly before midnight (and not too long after I had finally fallen asleep) and could not sleep. I let her come down into my bed so that she wouldn't wake up Ella. She just coughed and coughed and coughed. I finally gave her some meds around 2:30 because she was beyond exhausted and frankly, so was I. She finally slipped into a peaceful sleep. About 30 minutes later Bennett woke up. He is usually pretty easy to get back to sleep, but not this time. Afraid he was going to wake Ella and Lila upstairs I brought him down as well and tried to go to sleep. He fell back asleep, but no luck for me. So I headed to the couch! It was like a game of musical beds!! After a short while he noticed I was missing and came out the couch to get me!! By this time it was close to 5, and I think he and I just passed out in my bed (with Elise) out of shear exhaustion!
Whew! Makes me tired just thinking about it!!
(Obviously I am being a little dramatic right now for documenting purposes and I completely realize that missing some sleep a few nights in row and taking care of my own children for a long weekend by myself is not really a huge accomplishment in life! And, I am very grateful for the tiring yet rewarding weekend!!)

I am pretty proud to say I still managed to get all of us to church (better late than never, right?) and Elise to Godly play. Kimberly came and got Ella this morning before we left. Lila, Bennett, and I made a quick grocery run while Elise was in Godly play and then we headed home for lunch and the tough Saints loss.

I must admit that not too long after David got home I laid down for a "power nap" and ended up sleeping for an hour! I appreciate him giving me a little rest and taking over right after he got home!

So, a jam-packed weekend in our house. The one downer was the Saints loss (to the Falcons- yuck!!), but hopefully, like Drew's book, they'll come back stronger.

Hope you all had wonderful, exhausting, exhilarating weekends as well!