Taking the time to…

I can’t remember the last time I really took some time off of work. Coming from someone who spent 15 years as a stay-at-home-mom and then went into working a 50+hour week, life has certainly been an adjustment the past few years! Throw in adding two more children to our already large family…and well…we’re kinda busy.

Apparently God had other plans for me this holiday season It started with Thanksgiving and kidney stones that kept us from taking a trip to Colorado. Instead, my parents traveled to us with their 5th Wheel and stayed an entire month. We got to enjoy spending much needed time with them. 🙂 One of the highlights of the month was my dad spending the day with me on his birthday, which was the day after my surgery. We sat on the couch nearly the entire day and just talked and laughed. Another was shopping with my mom, just talking about random stuff, enjoying each other’s company… and not losing her in the mall!

As I recover from surgery, my body has kept me down for a lot of movies and Dragon City time! ha ha But, we also had cookie baking time, and pie baking time, and special one on one time with my kids. There’s been Sunday morning breakfasts with my oldest son.

Then there was the impromptu Christmas “party” last night. I had so much fun staying up until midnight visiting with friends that I don’t get to see enough. We played silly games, ate, and talked and laughed.

By this afternoon, I was done resting. As I sat on the couch watching the little ones spend yet another day on their tummies eating junk food and ready to watch another movie, I informed them they had five minutes to put their swimsuits on. We spent the next two hours swimming at the neighborhood pool. I actually managed to swim 500 yards and do another 150 yards of lunges and stretching in the therapy pool! I’m sure I’ll regret it tomorrow, but it felt so good to get out and do something. The Roni and I spent some time working on his swimming skills and what to do if he gets into trouble in the water. I taught him how to turn over on his back and float and use his arms to get to the side of the pool. Who knew that just a while later he’d belly flop off of the high dive and get the wind knocked out of him! I got a good scare as I watched him bobble up and down in the water, but breathed a sigh of relief as he managed to roll over on his back, float for a minute and then swim on his back over to the side of the pool.

Proud mama moment when he pulled himself up out of the water, smiled at me triumphantly without a tear and then climbed the ladder to do it again!

I’ll admit that I’m back to my pj’s on the couch and watching the Princess Diaries 2, but feeling good to just be. AND….I’ve got one more week of this!

So, what are you taking the time to do during this season?