Here I am, Take 2

So much for blogging twice per week. It's been more than two years since the first entry of this blog! I really want to do this if for no other reason than to have written memories of our children while they are little and doing many memorable things each day. Maybe I'll succeed this go around and actually keep up with this!

Today was a good day but busy as usual. I sat out to have a day where I just hung out with the children. I somewhat succeeded but still ended up doing laundry and cleaning bathrooms. I've tried to reduce caffeine this week and have learned that I am very tired. Apparently, the caffeine was keeping me going and without it, I feel like I need a nap at every moment. Corrie has been "off" for the past few days. I attribute this to the busyness of the holidays but she has been waking up at night more often and not napping well. Hopefully, this will improve as we get back to normal this week.

We spent this evening at Pa's house sharing a Christmas meal that included Robbyn, Kevin, and Colleen. The kids got gifts from Pa and Sue. The gift of the night was a toy trumpet that Caleb received. He hasn't mastered it yet but it was cute to see he and Chloe blowing the trumpet and talking about being in Daddy's marching band someday. Chloe received a Cinderella dress and holiday DVD's. The kids watching Frosty the Snowman all the way home!

I have started having snuggle time with Chloe and Caleb at bed time. All three of us get in Chloe's twin bed to snuggle, read, and pray together. My original intent was to settle Caleb down before bed (NOT WORKING!). The children look forward to this time and it insures some special moments with the older children which is often lacking during the day when Corrie needs so much attention. Tonight we read a Berenstain Bears story by flashlight. Caleb loves these stories. We have been pretending that I am mama bear and he is brother bear. Today when I called him "Caleb", he reminded me that he was "brother bear". He even called me "mama bear" when he needed something else at breakfast time. It's always fun to see what character he will assume each day. So far we have had everything from Veggietales to Disney characters.

It has been good having Erik home during his break. We have had a lot of good family time together and the children have loved being with Daddy.

Well, only a few more hours of 2011. I really haven't given much thought to the start of a new year. Maybe I should ponder that now...