Grounded

Well, grounded is how we felt around here this week. Poor Lila had a terrible cough and cold nearly the entire week. And by the end of the week Walt has a cough too :o( We mostly stayed home, with just a couple of short outings. And today we're spending Father's Day at home together with our sweet, sniffling and coughing babes.

Here's what I was grateful for this week:

Lila likes showers now. Showers are much quicker than baths, so I'm glad she's taken a liking to them.
Darren cleaning the entire kitchen. I didn't ask him to either.
My beautiful house in a nice neighborhood. I had the opportunity to give some compassionate service this week to a newly baptized member of my ward. She and her family live in very run down trailer in a n area of my ward that's several miles from us. I was humbled to realize just how blessed I am to have such a nice home.
My sweet, sick little girl. I love her so much, it breaks my heart to see her miserable. I hugged her tight and kissed her and told her how special she is to me and how much I love her. She cuddled with me and told me she loves me too. I am thankful that my life as a mother will be filled someday with many of these sweet moments to look back on.
Darren telling me after I promised Lila I would come lay beside her on her bed, "You know her bed is really uncomfortable." I love that he knows that. He's such a good dad.
Air conditioning in my new home. I can't imagine summers in Texas without A/C! How did the settlers of the 1800's survive??
Getting all the laundry done and folded before dinner.
Getting the dishwasher unloaded and reloaded, bread made, and a workout in by the time Walt finished his morning nap.
Lila writing her name. She asked for some markers and a piece of paper that already had her name written on it, then she proceeded to practice writing her name a few times. I was so impressed because it was all her own suggestion and execution!
Doing simple addition and subtraction with Lila. Playtime is more gratifying for me when I feel like I'm helping her learn something. It's nice to be so engaged with her and her little mind thrives on learning new things.
Playing with Walt. It's amazing how I am his favorite toy right now. It makes me so happy to make him giggle and squeal with an ear to ear grin on his face. Babies just need to be played with a given a reason to smile, and this can be as easy as making a funny sound or face.
Building a blanket fort with Lila.
Making a Duplo cottage for Lila's princesses.
Posting all my drafts for blog posts from the past 3 weeks.
Darren going out at 10:30 at night to get Lila some Vicks VapoRub. We both have done all we could think of to make our sick little girl feel better.
Getting out of the house for just a few minutes.
An "early" morning run to start my day. I shaved a few seconds off my mile pace, but I still can hardly keep myself motivated for that last half mile.
Travel plans--Missouri and Utah trips are planned!
Naps with the kids.
Going to the pool with friends; and me actually swimming a couple laps while Walt was asleep in the stroller.
Lila went 3.5 years without a sunburn. Unfortunately I must not have reapplied the sun block soon enough though, and our nearly three hours at the pool resulted in a red burn on her right arm. I reapplied sun block, so I really was surprised to see her burn when she got out of the shower in the evening. (Side note--the next day it was only a little pink, so maybe taking a warm shower made it appear worse than it was!)
Walmart on a Saturday night was actually pleasant. I only go over to Walmart once or twice a month these days; they seem to be the only store around here that carries several of the regular items we buy. Anyway, since I don't frequent the place much, My tolerance for it has gone done. I was surprised at 7 on a Saturday night that they're weren't many people there but there were plenty of cashiers. And the cashier even got someone to help me out to the car and unload my stuff for me (which has never been offered to me at Walmart before!).