Friday - Free day

 Fridays have been free days with one or more kids for the past 4 years...and before that I often had a free day with the kids at least 1 day a week.  It's been a special time and I've really enjoyed these days where we can be lazy, go on a trip, have time to play games, bake, go grocery shopping etc.  I will admit there have been some Fridays where I've just really needed some quiet time at home and I've sent the boys to pre-school anyway, or I've kept with my decision and had them home and acutally been blessed with getting more energy from having the special time and doing fun things with them or on the other end  been in tears most of the day.  Regardless, it has been a wonderful opportunity and tradition. 

 That being said, I'm in the last 2 months of this phase.  Liam starts school in August, and then I won't be able to have these special weekdays with him or any of the boys.  I know we'll find alternative times to spend together, and they are done with school most days at 12.30, so I definitely still have time with the boys even though they go to school, which I'm very happy about. 

I remember asking one of my dear friends, whose youngest daughter was about to start school in 2018, if she was feeling okay with the whole situation.  I will never forget her answer.  She said "Yes, I am, I have used my time with her well, and I have no regrets."  This response made me look at my own life situation, and if I'd be able to say the same thing in 2022 when Liam was about to start school.  Some months later I made a drastic decision to stop working for 1½ years, where I had Liam home for a lot of that time,  and then only working 15 hours a week the past 1½ years.  

It can definitely be hard at times.  I miss having lots of colleagues and being able to be more social during the day.  I struggle to remain patient when all 3 kids - and now a dog - are needing me for something at the same time, or are just in bad moods and not talking very respectfully.  I get sick of doing the dishes, again again, and feeling like I'm just a cleaning up, making food, machine.   But as I reflect on the time, I find myself being grateful.  Grateful for having support to make the decision I did in 2018 to be home with my kids a lot more.  Grateful that by the grace of God, I have strength every day to stay present in the difficult situations with the kids whether it be talking about screen time usage, friends and kindness, why playing outside is necessary, EVERY DAY, or just seeing them when they need a hug or an ear to listen after a hard day at school.  I can honestly say "I have no regrets" and today I needed to remind myself of that, as the tears were rolling down my face, knowing this Friday Free dag is one of the last.   

Here are some pictures from a little adventure time with Liam last friday.

   

Weekend at Farmors

 Last weekend Søren had to work from 8am Saturday morning til 11.30pm Sunday night.  So the boys, Zoey and I went to Esbjerg to spend time with Farmor (Søren's mom).  When Søren left he said..Way to go wifey - 3 kids, a dog and a mother in law - you can do it!...But we were just joking, because I adore my 3 kids, my dog and my mother in law!  I felt so lucky that we were able to spend the time together, and we had a great time.  I really felt like I was on vacation! The weather was great, and we explored lots of places in Esbjerg including

1) The shopping street - where Farmor, as tradtion, bought Liam a school bag for when he starts school THIS fall! :-)

2) The ocean and the famous Stryhns ice cream store...where we had our first ice cream cones of the season.

3) Vognbøls park in Esbjerg, where we walked around a lake, in the forest and ended at a cool playground.

Zoey was with for all of these adventures and she did really well.  She had been getting car sick everytime we took even the shortest trips, but after all the quick trips around Esbjerg that weekend, she actually stopped throwing up every time we drive! Yay!  She loved all the new experiences as much as we did.

Otherwise we had lots of yummy food, played games, played with Søren and Faster's (Aunt Ulla's) old toys. 

Some other highlights include

1) All 3 boys and the dog sleeping until 8am Sunday morning -what?!!

2) Playing some fun games at the dinner table after dinner Saturday night....We laughed a lot and just had a great time together.

By Sunday evening we headed back to Skjern and were excited to see Søren monday morning!

Easter 2022

 Easter is my favorite time of the year.  The kids and I have 10 days off, when you count the weekends, and the weather is often quite nice.  This year was no exception.  The holidays started off with me getting to go to Århus with a friend for a whole Saturday.  We had a great time shopping and enjoying a nice peaceful lunch, just the two of us.  It was just what I needed to energize me for the week ahead.

Then Palm Sunday, my gospel choir "Joyful Gospelkor" sang 4 songs during the church service at at our church.  It was really festive and I loved hearing the whole choir sing "Hosianna!"....

We had lots of plans with friends and family the following week. Unfortunately the boys were sick on and off.  Mostly fever and pflegm coughs.  They took turns being really tired and then feeling fine again. So we were actually able to do most of our plans.  However, Benjamin had to stay home with Søren, who was working from home, the day I took the other boys, with some friends, to the Ostrich Farm and the beach.  It was a really cool experience to learn lots about Ostriches and pet them etc.  The friends we went with are hosting 2 young women from Ukraine, so they came with, and it was the first time they had seen the ocean! So they were in awe and so thankful.  It was nice to be able to give them a nice day.

Otherwise we were visiting friends and family and going to church to celebrate.  As tradition, we were in Esbjerg to visit Søren's Mom with his sister and family.  We ate great food, chatted, played games,  and had an Easter Egg hunt.  Our nephew Lukas just got his drivers license, so I got to take a short drive with him, that was really nice! He's a great driver and a great "kid"!

Maunday Thursday (Skærtorsdag) festive Tapas after church

Saturday we visited Søren's Dad and Hanne, and Easter Sunday Søren's Mom was here to celebrate Easter Day.  Everyone found their Easter baskets and we went for a nice long walk with Zoey!

Everyone got an Easter "basket" this year

In Denmark you get the monday after Easter off as well, and we have a tradition to be with our American Watermark friends who live in Denmark.  It was a great day, relaxing, enjoying the beautiful weather and speaking English.  All 9 kids had a great time together and it was fun to hear them all speaking English together, even though they can all speak Danish as well.  

Watermark adults + Benjamin + Naomi

Helping Mom

The other day we were going to have guests in the afternoon when Søren got home from work, so Søren wanted to make sure that I had some help around the house to get some of the small chores done while he was away.  He made a list for the boys and put it out in the morning.  Silas and Benjamin had 2 chores and Liam only had 1, so Søren added one more chore, just for fun...See below!!

Silas: Fold laundry + tidy up room
Benjamin: Tidy up room + empty the dishwasher
Liam: Tidy up room + kiss Mommy

When I showed the boys the list and told them what they were to help out with, Liam, was NOT happy.  He did not want to have to KISS MOMMY.  I told him that he could ask Benjamin if he wanted to trade jobs with him. Liam LOVED this idea so he asked Benjamin "Benjamin, do you want to trade jobs with me? I'll unload the dishwasher and you kiss Mommy."   Benjamin was very much on board, so Liam traded the job of giving me a kiss for unloading the dishwasher....😂😂😂 I chose not to take it personally! 😁😕                                               

Happy Easter Lego style

 Benjamin had an idea to make the story of Easter out of Legos! We spent quite a bit of time on it, and had a great time doing it.  It was nice to do together and reflect on the different parts of Easter.  When we were done, we took pictures of each piece and Silas made it into a video.  Here is the result! Happy Easter everyone!