Horrible sickness to Happy St. Patrick's Day

So we've had quite an exciting month. Right after all the travels in February we returned back home and schedules only to be slammed by an onslaught of sicknesses.  Just to give you an idea of how life was going, I posted this on Facebook one night:

I am sooo ready for this week to be over. In the last 7 days I had the flu, my 6 yr. Old had the flu, my newborn and 2 year old got bronchiolitis and are alternating on the nebulizer every few hours and are on 5 prescriptions between the two of them, my house is a wreck, my daughter unintentionally started a small fire at my friend's house, I burned the carrots I was cooking for dinner, I didn't get nearly enough sleep, my husband had to work longer hours because of pending deadlines, and I didn't get anything on my "to-do" list done...thank goodness for my amazing wonderful friends and family who have helped me come through sane. You know who you are and I love you!
 

Emma asleep in swing when she was sick

That pretty much sums up the horribleness(is that a word?) of that week.  I didn't get a picture of poor Emma on the nebulizer because it was too much to balance holding her and the nebulizer and the camera, so here's Jonas at least...

Jonas on Nebulizer

 However, we did have a lot of good things follow that horrible week...My friend Sarita (that I grew up with) happened to be in the country for a little while and we were so glad that she came for an overnight visit with her adorable family.  She came again for another day trip later that week so we could let all the kids run around wild while my mom, Sarita and I had a fabulous time catching up!  We only wish they lived closer.  They spoiled us with gifts and good food and it was such fun to see the two little stinkers run around together and the two babies side by side.

Emma & Miles

Watching Saturday Morning Cartoons

The two little stinkers thought it was hilarious to turn on the "automatic hand dryer" in the bathroom

Library Story time

 We have been on the lookout on Craigslist for a swing set to put up in our backyard.  We did end up getting one that Jared says is "nothing to write home about" and we have to keep reminding the kids when they tell people "We got a new swing set!!"  that it is NEW to US, but not necessarily new.  Jared is hoping to paint it with some stain and fix it up a bit, but the price was right and with such great weather we need more of an incentive for the kids to go play out back.  So, it has certainly served that purpose.  As I mentioned, nothing too notable, but the kids and their friends have had a lot of fun with it.

My friend Tami and I also started teaching a dance class for the girls and some of their friends each week.  I made Jocelyn a deal back in the fall (at her request) that if she played soccer, then I would sign her up for a dance class in the spring.  After looking around again at costs and schedules for dance classes, I realized that in order to find an affordable option that would work in our schedule, I would just need to provide one.  I took years of ballet growing up and my friend Tami took years of Tap and other types of dance so we have been alternating every week teaching the girls a dance class at the church.
With the friends that have agreed to come, we have about 8 girls which ends up being a little bit of crowd control (especially since they range in age from 2 1/2 to 6 1/2), mixed with a little bit of fun and dance.  I've really enjoyed teaching it even though I'm not fabulous at it, but it seems to serve everyone well in terms of price and convenience!  My friend agreed to watch Jonas during that time so I drop Jonas off for a play date with his friend Liam and pick up his older sister to go to dance with us.  Jonas was so proud the first week telling the girls in the car: "No Jocelyn, No Lilly, just play date for Jonas!" and didn't think it lasted long enough!  Of course there are several willing moms to hold Emma while we have class so it's all worked out pretty well.

The girls before dance one day

We had a fun St. Patrick's day and the girls made sure we "accessorized!"  We came across some green nail polish while grocery shopping one day, so they talked me into buying it and we all painted our nails green, but they didn't want to leave Emma out...So we painted her toes :)

We had a few families over for a traditional "corned beef & cabbage" dinner and had everyone bring some green side dishes. It was fun to visit with everyone and then Jared put on some Celtic music at my request and the kids had a "dance off" after we showed them some clips of "Lord of the Dance." Good times.

I also hosted book club at our house later that week and had should have taken pictures of the food (thanks to Tami for the chocolate dipped strawberries :) or the friends or something.  I have really enjoyed being part of this book club for the past couple years and really enjoy stretching myself to read things I normally wouldn't.