from the beach to the couch

Kevin started with an upper respiratory infection the day we flew home from Mexico and battled it all week. He's feeling more like himself now.

I started feeling it on Tuesday evening and woke up with a fever, body aches & coughing the next morning.

I don't get sick very often...none of us do. I was thinking it would pass quickly like my minor colds typically do.

Not the case this time....on the couch for three days. I lost my voice. I don't remember the last time I was this sick...it's been years.

It's so hard to lay there and feel so helpless when all I wanted to do was get up and take care of my family...although they took care of themselves quite well. It was easy for me to quickly feel bummed and feel sorry for myself, but I had to stop and think of other friends we know that are dealing with chronic sickness and need constant care. I have so much to be thankful for.

The kids were so sweet and patient all week. They ran errands all over the house for me at my beck and call and kept themselves occupied contentedly while I rested. So contentedly that Kaiya decided to give herself a haircut. Doesn't every child try that at some point? When I saw her hair on the floor, I almost panicked...thankfully it wasn't much and very unnoticeable.

I looked quite a site I'm sure...I took a bath every morning, but hadn't washed my hair all week. Seeing me so helpless caused the kids to have a bit of concern. Kaiya kept asking how many days I was going to lay on the couch and Caedmon told me "you look old, mom".

Kevin came home early from work a couple days and took me to the Doctor on Friday. Bronchitis...I'm on antibiotic, an inhaler & cough medicine that is supposed to make me drowsy. The Dr. said it should help me get a good nights sleep, but for some reason it had the reverse affect on my body...I laid awake for a couple hours and felt more restless than the previous nights.

Now today, Caedmon woke up with a fever and Kevin spent a good part of the day at Redimed.

My mom brought over a big pot of homemade chicken noodle soup today and took Kaiya home with her overnight. My sister also called and is bringing lunch for us tomorrow. Other friends offered to help with the kids several times. What a huge blessing...may I be quick to help others in their time of need. Great reminder for me.

Our Sweet Escape

Wish I could have brought a pocket full of sunshine back with me.

The weather was upper 80s and absolutely perfect while we were in Cabo this past week. I really felt so grateful and blessed for the opportunity to be on this trip. Kevin worked hard last year to qualify for the trip and the timing of it was perfect for us to be whisked away together. I'm not a big fan of flying at all, but certainly would not have passed up this opportunity for anything. We left Tuesday evening and drove to Indy so we could be there for our six am flight the next morning. There were 19 in our group. It was so much fun to travel with and be there with our friends from Northwestern. We arrived in Cabo around noon on Wednesday the 18th. We stayed at the RIU Palace right on the beach. Here's our room. The resort was all inclusive. 24 hour meals, snacks, drinks and room service all included. When we got to our room, I couldn't get my bathing suit on fast enough.In this picture: Julia, Jeff, Melissa, Tammy, Matt, Me & Kyle

On the first full day there, we took a taxi to downtown Cabo for some shopping at the market and to see the harbor.

Kevin's goal was to find a hat that day. Being downtown and experiencing the culture was Kevin's favorite part of the trip.

This is Tammy with an iguana on her head. It's amazing what the people will do for tips there. Back to the resort for more pool time.

My favorite time of the day there was early morning before most of the people were up. Each morning there was a different cruise ship coming in to spend the day in Cabo. Kevin and I took walks on the beach each morning to watch the sunrise. It was so peaceful at that time of day. I loved it!

A view of our resort from the beach sideMy favorite part of the trip was our two-hour boat tour out on the Pacific enjoying God's beautiful creation. I was so glad we were able to go with Jeff and Melissa on this boat trip! They really made it fun! We saw over a dozen whales. I almost hyperventilated...it was so EXCITING!! I didn't get the best pictures of the whales because I was trying to take it all in. All of a sudden a whale would pop out of the water real close to the boat then go back down underneath...so cool! They also would blow water out the top and water would spray up in the air. We also saw tons of dolphins. They would come right up to our boat and jump out of the water...I practically could have reached my hand out and touched them at times. They would swim right in front of the boat. Once again I was a snap too slow with the pictures, but it was awesome!

It's hard to see in this picture, but the dolphins are swimming right next to the boat.

more pool time after lunchpool side serviceDinner at the Krystal Restaurant - we enjoyed talking with Cisco and Amy We saw three weddings on the beach while we were there.

pictures at sunset

On our last day, we took a water taxi boat over to lover's beach with Matt & Tammy. Beautiful rock mountains and formations...we were feeling adventurous and climbed up a little... barefoot. :)Flying home

I was really hoping to see a celebrity while in Cabo and on our flight from Cabo to Phoenix, Natasha Bedingfield was sitting right across the aisle from us. She is a pop singer and sings the songs "Pocket Full of Sunshine" and "Unwritten" (both playing on my playlist). I knew her songs, but did not know her name and had not seen pictures of her before then...so I didn't recognize her. I just remember looking at her and loving her outfit and hair while thinking to myself that she would make a great movie star. :) She sat right next to another couple in our group and I noticed how friendly she was as I was listening to their conversation. She had a British accent. We didn't find out who she was until after the flight otherwise, I would have tried getting a picture. This is one from the web. Wow, what an amazing trip. One that we would not have taken on our own...so happy and blessed for the opportunity!

Christmas on Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day is my very favorite holiday of the year. I love Christmas, but I think because Valentine's Day is a little less stressful it takes the number one spot for me. I also love the focus on LOVE that it gives. Love is who God is and what He is all about.

Your love, O LORD, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies. Psalm 36:5

Love is a shelter, in a raging storm

Love is a peace, in the middle of a war

Love is worth fighting for...I will fight for you!

I LOVE having an extra excuse to show the ones that mean the most to me how much I love them.

I have made cards for my family over the past several years. I was at hallmark in January and they had so many really neat cards...so I bought three for my three favorite people.

It was fun picking out one for each one. Kaiya has been carrying hers around ever since she got it.

Caedmon's card was a Thomas one of course. The dog in the house was a gift from grandma. I told him today that he could eat some after lunch and he was pretty excited. I helped him get the dog out and he looked at me and said "Don't make any sounds, mom...OK?" He was serious. "Do you promise, mom?"

Kevin has teased him (and me too) in the past when food is made to look like an animal. When Caedmon takes a bite, Kevin makes a hurt/crying sound like it's coming from the animal. It has probably scarred him for life because he hesitates and feels sorry for the poor animal that is about to be eaten alive. :)

Here he is still contemplating whether he should eat the dog or just play with it.

Guess he didn't feel too sorry for the dog because he just bit off it's bottom.

On Saturday we had our Christmas with Kevin's family...yes I said Christmas. Kevin's sister Joyce from Alabama was originally planning to come over Christmas and then we found out that we were going to be in Florida over that time...so we decided to put it off until we got back in January so they could see the new baby. I so appreciated their flexibility so much and we had a wonderful time with them while they were here on Saturday.

Kaiya and Helen are modeling their cute little aprons made by grandma.

Board games and monster trucks for the boys from grandpa & grandma.
I need to get off this computer and get back to packing for our trip. Kevin and I are leaving tomorrow for Mexico! So excited to have some alone time with Kevin, but sad to leave the kids at the same time. Hope to post some pictures of our trip while we're there.