A post that should probably be full of Valentine's Day cheer

I'm in a little bit of a sluggish, melancholy mood today...I've been feeling a little weird all week since my mom left. With them here, I was plesantly distracted, but now it's very real again that Greg is gone. I am very glad to have the children here though. The challenging and cheerful moments alike make the days fly by, and certainly make life interesting (although of course sometimes more interesting than I'd like).

Yesterday we went out for a lunch date with my friend Becky and her 3-year-old daughter to a place called Brit Cafe at Ramstein AFB for fish and chips, and to visit and knit together. Unfortunately, my children all seemed to have their own agenda, which didn't include "quiet", "visiting" or "eating". Jonah and Lavella both had dirty diapers (just as the food arrived, of course), Jonah had to nurse as soon as we got there, and Andrew and Elijah though it was a good idea to fool around, be wild, and very nearly break the toys in the little children's corner in the restaurant. Everything else was managable, but when the boys began to behave like that, I should probably have just gathered them all and left. It was as though I was in one of those terrible dreams where I'm screaming, but I can't even hear myself, and certainly no one else can. No matter what I said to them, they acted as though they couldn't hear me, and of course it was generally during a time when I was wrestling Lavella to take a bite or in the middle of nursing Jonah.

Anyway, yesterday is over, and the best remedy for a day like that is dedicating the next to cuddling, immediate discipline to any kind of trouble, and careful, specific attention paid to each of them. I know that they suffer emotionally from all of the changes in their lives the same as I do, and I'm responsible to help them through it and guide them loveingly, firmly, and with great patience.

Here is a little face that's making me smile today:

Unbelievable as it may seem, two days ago he turned 8 weeks old.

Lavella has recently discovered dresses. She got this one from Grandma Claire, sent with my mom when she first arrived here:




And this one from Pete and Jill for Christmas:

(She's putting away a bib that she was just wearing -- she thinks that's the thing to do with one after it's been worn, so I have to remember to take them back out when she's not looking .)



Lavella has decided that she likes the dresses so much, that she never wants to take them off. This makes bedtime difficult. As you can see in the above picture, she has little yoga pants and a t-shirt underneath the pink courderoy jumper. This is because she started screaming and flipping out when I attempted to dress her for bed, so I decided there were better things to fight about, and put it back on over the pajamas. Goodness. (The pants were necessary not only to keep her warm during the night, but also because she has a new obsession with removing her own diaper when left to her own devices.)

If I had more time and energy, I'd whip up a few dresses for her on my sewing machine, but as it stands, the thing is gathering dust in what is now the "Wool Room". Perhaps this spring.

Happy Valentine's day to all of you! Many hugs and kisses from our family to yours.