(Photo to the right is one of Jabin from earlier on in the week. Although he can have a temper, most of the time he is smiling just like this!)-->










Yesterday was Noah's birthday party. The day began with such promise--I had made most of the party preparations the night before, and the rest could be done while the boys were napping in the afternoon. We were even on track for getting to church on time!

HAH!

There's a proverb that goes something like: Man makes plans in his heart, but from the Lord comes the reply of the tongue.

In other words, the best-laid plans do so often go astray.

As I was sitting at the dining room table eating my cereal, Jason having gone for a quick shower, my beloved Birthday Boy Noah comes up the stairs, stands in front of me, and like a geyser can erupt with little to no warning, everything he'd eaten that morning came gushing out of his mouth to land on the carpet. My reflexes must be a little slow, because he was on the third wave before I managed to get an empty cereal bowl under his mouth. By then, the majority of the damage had been done.

So, needless to say, church didn't happen. I was really disappointed--we haven't got to go nearly as much as I would have liked since moving here. Anyway, we stayed home and kept an eye on Noah for the morning, who--other than being a little cuddly, which is understandable--seemed just fine. So, we made the decision to go ahead and have his party anyway. (Although we did give the other moms the "heads-up" about Noah's little spewing trick. However, because he had seemed fine after that, I thought it must have been something he ate that just didn't agree with him. So, if your kids get sick, Serena and Amanda, I am truly sorry!)

So, when 4:00 finally rolled around, the house was decorated, the apple crisp was made, the house was vacuumed (Thanks, Honey!), the present were wrapped, the balloons were blown up, and the kids were ready. Enter the guests: Magnussons and Burdicks. Suddenly, our house was VERY full of little kids! We went from 3 to 8 in no time, plus all the accompanying parents.


<--(This is Noah's funny frowny face--caught on film!--or at least memory card!)











It was really fun, and I think all the kids had a blast. This is the first birthday party for my kids where there have been so many other KIDS there! (Jude had a few kids at his first birthday, but when you're one, you just don't appreciate it as much.) I must confess, I went a little crazy in the party aisle of the grocery store--Winnie the Pooh whirlies, WtP Bubble blowers, WtP party hats, plates, cups, napkins--even some WtP party bags to hold it all!


When the party favours came out, Darryl was like, "Wow, I want Mrs. Winters to do MY birthday!" It was a lot of fun. The kids all got along well for the most part, the apple crisp and ice cream were a hit, the rice pudding not as big of a hit, but that's okay. (Note to self: Darryl and Wes do not like rice pudding!)

I was strangely tired last night, so managed to get to bed a little "early"--which for me means that I was asleep before midnight. Or, at least, I would have been, if I didn't have the chills until 3 a.m. The rest of the night was less pretty. Seems I caught Noah's little stomach bug. Only worse.

So, this morning, Serena Burdick went above and beyond the call and agreed to take Jude and Noah for the day, since I could hardly take more than a few steps from the bathroom, I was running on about 3 hours of choppy sleep, and there's no way I could keep up with two little boys today.

When Jason brought them home tonight, I learned that although things had gone okay for the most part, Jude had thrown up while playing outside, so now he probably has this, too. Not to mention, I am sure that Serena is exhausted from keeping up with 4 preschool boys and a preschool girl all day. I hope she doesn't get a house full of sickies for her efforts.

I felt so guilty sitting at home, taking the time to recuperate. Do other moms go through this? Other than one time when Jude had a sleepover at a friend's, I don't think I have ever been HOME for that long without Jude and Noah there. In some ways, it was kind of a shame that I couldn't take advantage of the fact to do a whirlwind of catch-up activities. Anyway, it would have been nice if I could have gone and gotten the boys in the afternoon, after I was starting to feel a little fresher.

For my sake, it was probably best that I couldn't--I just felt so bad for Serena having to deal with them all day.

I am so thankful for Serena. She and I never really got to know each other very well before we moved here, although we got along fine. But she has just been so gracious to integrate me into a circle of social activity, so I don't get isolated in my house--and now she willingly took on kids from a sick house so I could recupe! What a true servant's heart. Thank you, Serena, for being a living example of Christ in this time when selfishness too often prevails.