Treasure...

All day I've just been feeling this need to write.  If feels good to finally carve out a little time to let it flow...

Today was an awesome day!  The kids and I were up, dressed and out the door by 9:30 this morning.  We had a few errands to run, and thought it would be fun to hit a few yard sales along the way.  Hailey and Zach took turns staying in the van with the boys.  We got some great deals and even managed to find Josh a framed Ghostbusters poster for the movie room (only $3!!)  woohoo!  Zach was so sweet, when it was his turn to go with me, he insisted on buying his sister a stuffed animal that he knew she would love.  At the next yard sale she returned the favor by buying him an M&M dispenser.  I love how generous they are.  We swung through a drivethru so I could get my sugar free vanilla iced coffee (yum!) and get the kids each a cookie for their stellar behaviour, though the  person on the other end of the speaker kept insisting that I was saying "sweet tea" and not "cookie."  I had to finally say, "dessert, cookie, chocolate chip, you know...COOKIE!"  The kids thought this was hilarious.  Eventually speaker dude figured out what I was saying, and we were on the road again.  Errands complete, we had one more stop to make.  We had to replace Zachary's recently deceased fish.  Go figure..we've had a pair of tetras for over 5 years now!  They have survived 2 house moves, but didn't survive the move from sitting room to Zach's bedroom yesterday. 

By the time we got home, we felt very accomplished!  We ate a little lunch, Hailey changed a few diapers (I knew her baby doll fascination would one day pay off!), and it was off to sleepy town for the twins. 

Zach and I got his new fish, Bob, all set up in his tank, got in a little video game time ('Worms, A Space Oddity' is out new obsession!) and then I got in a quick nap.  I startled awake, unrefreshed and sporting a bracelet indentation on my face.  Hailey's fish had also died (apparently this was a seriously rough move on both the fish) so off to Walmart we went again.  The dogs escaped as we tried to leave and after chasing them down, reprimanding them and locking them in the backyard, we were on the road again.  Hailey was bummed that all the pretty Betas were male, but settled on a beautiful shimmery blue one, that she named Treasure. 

Again we unloaded and headed inside.  Josh has been sick the last few days, so we were glad to find him up and feeling a little more alert.  He had fun playing with the babies while the big kids and I made a dinner of pigs in a blanket and baked beans.  Isaiah has been trying a few different stage 1 baby foods and for the most part, has just played with them.  But yesterday and today he has really been eating them, and well!!  He seems to loooove green beans and be on the fence about carrots and peas.  We'll keep working with him.  This is exciting progress! 

After everyone had been cleaned up, jammied and snuggled, we put the boys to bed.  Through his I-don't-want-to-go-to-bed-yet-tears, Isaiah clapped for me after my nightly rendition of "You Are My Sunshine."  He makes me smile right down to my soul.  

In honor of Josh's new poster (and the fact that Nick @ Night bleeped out all the curse words) the rest of us cuddled up to watch Ghostbusters.  In true Zach fashion, he fell asleep about ten minutes in.  Hailey was riveted, claiming this was the best movie she's ever seen and wondering when part 2 would air.  (On a side note, Zach crawled into my bed so he could watch his little brothers sleep on the video monitor <3  he's sooo good with them.)

And now they are all in bed, sleeping off the day's adventures and gearing up for new ones tomorrow.  Soon, I'll do the same.  But before then, I'm going to snuggle up to my best friend/love of my life and watch a movie with him.  I'll hold his hand, he'll play with my hair, and for just a moment, we'll give each other our most valuable treasure -our undivided attention.