It is finished.

It may have taken us three years, but we did it.

Last night we finished the last chapter, and the girls didn't murmur one bit when we started with page one again this morning.

I love this family.

I have so much to be grateful for.

Good morning family health clinic on a Saturday, it's me again.

In February alone we have had:
4 cases of stomach flu
3 upper respiratory infections
1 lost voice
and 1 case of pink eye,
pretty much all one at a time.
Am I tempting fate?
I shouldn't have said anything, should I have?
Last year we were all healthy, all season.  Strong as rocks.
This year, not so much.  And seeing as how my immune system is junk this year (thank you fetus) I am getting everything.
Delightful.

Virginia is seriously confused.

It was 65 degrees today.  65 degrees.  I wonder if Virginia remembers that it is supposed to have four seasons, one of which is winter.  I am not complaining.  I love 65 degrees, I adore it.  But I made peace with winter a few years ago and since then I actually look forward to it (as long as we don't lose power...I don't enjoy being cold, in my house.)
Up to date this year though, we have had, no, snow.  A flurry or two has fallen once or twice.  We even had slush that stayed on the ground for about 12 hours and was enough for the girls to trapse about in their snow gear, thus making it all very, very muddy.  But that's it.
I am waiting for a blizzard somewhere around May.
I guess I will just try and enjoy it while it lasts.
Hazel just came tearing into the house and frantically communicating, on behalf of the sisters, that they needed a popsicle stick and a paper bag, immediately.
I'm not sure I need to be that worried.
The 65 degree weather can stay I suppose.  Now if I could only open up my windows that have been painted shut.  I'm pretty sure it would take chisel and maybe a saw.

Birthing is easy with Britta.

Has it seriously been 2 weeks?  Is my life really that uneventful right now?  The answer is, possibly.  Or maybe it's just full of other stuff which is OK too.  There are so many yucky little illnesses going around right now, it's like playing Russian Roulette.   My children are especially talented at getting sick, one at a time, a week or two apart, so it feels as though someone is always sick, or always on the verge.  Some years are just like this.  Other years, we stay perfectly healthy all the while.  We have been pretty lucky that the kids' sicknesses have been fairly mild cases, but enough already!

Today little Hazel is sick.  Because she is the littlest, I cannot leave her with the older girls in order to run out quickly.  It is also the kind of sickness where I can't throw her in the car with her blankie to get a few things done.  Yep, barf.  Like I said, mild case and she gets what little is coming up exactly where it needs to go, but still, is this really necessary?
The silver lining of course is that it has provided me with a full day that I cannot go anywhere or do anything, which is truly unfortunate because I actually got dressed this morning in a cute new shirt.  I have cancelled the two things on my calendar for today and now I am sitting here in the office trying to decide which big project I would like to tackle today.  Do I want to paint Haley's new table? Refinish the crib?  Get started on the monstrous home movie project that has been in the wings for years?  Finish moving around the furniture upstairs to complete the big room switches? What to do, what to do.  In all honesty, I should start with cleaning up the office.  Does it feel like I am always saying that?  It's because it's a perpetual mess, much like the rest of the house.  However, it is important for the office area to be tidy so that I can proceed with other, more fun, stuff.  I need order, to create (which usually creates a mess in and of itself but we will just deal with that mess when I have other pending projects...see how that works?)

In other news, and not so insignificant, Spo moved.  Far.  Far.  Away.

 We helped, but only a little...we wanted it to be as difficult for them to leave as possible.

They have been our East coast buddies for some time.  They moved to Japan.  I guess jobs and family can be good too.  But we would rather you be here.  In any case, thank you for all the little reminders you left for us around our house...old shoes, ugly couch blankets and various other goodies.  You'd better bring that little Japanese baby back soon.  Plus, with you gone now, what excuse do I have to drop by Chop't for a nice little lunch?

And it left me wishing desperately that I could fit all of our most worth-keeping possessions into boxes that fit on one pallet...especially with an impending move in the next year.

Valentine's Day.  I had to document simply because there has not been energy for much effort in the "fun" department lately.  With Clark out of town, I was not thinking so much about "how am I going to be loved and appreciated on this day" and more about, "maybe I should make it fun for my kids".  Snap, I'm selfish sometimes.

We spent quality time making their class valentine's.  Simple, but homemade, mostly.  As long as it includes candy, I'm  not sure that it matters.

They got heart shaped (pinkesh, though not pink enough for their liking) pancakes for breakfast.

And friends for heart shaped pizzas for dinner, since they were without a Dad too.  Cute kids.  We were glad they came to help keep us entertained and happy.
Clark sent beautiful flowers from the other side of the world for all of his valentines and they are beautiful.  It makes me happy every time I walk into the kitchen.  I am still trying to figure out how to just carry them from room to room with me all week.

Don't be scared even though this picture is more than a little frightening.  Today Mia's class is celebrating the 100th day of school by dressing like what they will look like at 100.  Not sure that gloves and sparkly faux-fur wraps will be back in style by the time she is 100, but you never know.  (I was amused at myself because in order to make her wrinkles I just looked in the mirror and smiled a few times.)

In closing, I would like to share with you why I think yoga is weird.  I love yoga.  It is the perfect thing for me right now but the only prenatal yoga video I have is run by a woman named Shiva.  Why?
Britta, Poppy and Shiva are the names of the women in the video.  Was an unconventional name requisite for being in the video or is it just coincidence, do you think?
 
Can I just be my own kind of normal without getting a tattoo of a water lily on my shoulder,  growing my hair exceptionally long, or wearing a maternity unitard?  It makes me feel uncomfortable.  The concepts are wonderful, amazing and beneficial, but why do they have to be so strange?
I know a lot of normal people that do yoga.  Why aren't they the ones making videos?
I would love to do a natural childbirth.  I figure, as long as I am going to go through this 5 times, why not try something new?  Or better yet, why not try to do it the most natural way possible?
In any case, I am pretty sure I should keep the blinds closed while doing this video, even if I choose not to wear a full length unitard.  The part where they sit in still, silence for five minutes doing kegals makes me a little uncomfortable.  I know what's going on.  I would perhaps prefer them to just suggest doing them and then playing new age music while filming a gentle waterfall for a few minutes.  It seems kind of, private.
But in conclusion, yoga is good, just don't get too into it or you may have to change your name.