November 10 on 10

6 a.m. Daddy's assistant

7 a.m. rockin'

8 a.m. a decadent breakfast after a long night

9 a.m. in the car, ready to go

10 a.m. the store

11 a.m. the drive home...Palouse hills and sky

12 p.m. a ridiculously stocked cupboard. yay!

1 p.m. fruit bowl, ready to go

2 p.m. a mommy moment

3 p.m. laundry...does it ever end?

Almost

sporting her new sweater and hat from Connie, the knitting goddess.
twirling in her princess/ballerina dress with her sesame street t-shirt underneath
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We are FINALLY nearing the well state around here after 3 weeks of mommy seriously dragging and tilting towards pneumonia and the kids and Daddy sick for nearly a week with who knows what scary bug. Elias has spent most nights in our bed so mommy can hear him breathe (poor Dad got kicked out one night. Luckily Sydney woke up and wanted Dad to sleep with her, so he got a bed after all.). Elias is still sporting his death-rattle cough that has taken us to the clinic twice, but he's smiling and cooing up a storm, so I think he's on his way. He has learned the "th" sound, which brings him great satisfaction and he says "HA!" in greeting. (I'm not a crazy person who thinks my 5 month old can talk, but it does sound a lot like hi. really.)
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Sydney is officially potty trained after our bout with illnesses galore, so there's something to be thankful for. We drove to Costco and back yesterday and she had no accidents and no potty trips on the outing (it's 45 minutes each way). I was trying to convince her to potty in Dairy Queen and she wasn't having it. I said, "Well, I'm going potty," to which she replied, "Well, I have to eat my dinner!" and she did.
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Soon I will post all of the knitting that happened during the last week of sickness in which I actually rested. I sat on my bum and knit for hours and hours while Sydney twirled and fell in love with another musical: The Music Man. She now wanders the house singing "Gary Indiana" and "Shipoopi" along with her usual Doe a Deer and So Long Farewell (she knows all the words to both). I'm not quite sure how I birthed a musical lover, but it is official. Watch out Broadway.

Halloween

I didn't really get to participate in Halloween this year (except for Sarah's awesome pumpkin soup that is appearing in my dreams), but Sydney did through the kindness of family and friends.

My neighbor/friend SO kindly took Sydney to her friend Mason's Halloween party on Friday and on Thursday another friend came and took her to mom's group. I feel incredibly blessed by friends who not only offer help, but show up and say, "No, really. I'm taking Sydney now. bye."

I didn't do a very good job of capturing Sydney's Halloween cuteness, but Aunt Sarah took lots of pictures for us. She had a great time and I'm so glad the sickness held off until today, so she could enjoy prancing about in her awesome orange tutu.

Elias was the 3rd Bobst-girl son to wear the ear of corn costume. Sadly, I did not get any good pictures, but he was proud to carry on the first-Halloween tradition.

scenes from the sick bay

Isn't that what they called it on Star Trek? As of this morning, the last of our family has fallen ill, so we are all on the couch together. There's something to that old addage that misery loves company, although I do not want my family to be sick for 18 days like me (yes, I'm still counting). Sydney is pink cheeked with a fever, but wearing her ballerina dress, which I'm sure will help her feel better in no time. She has just announced that she'd like a purple wand.

Elias has enjoyed all of mom's attention, since she can't do much else at this point besides lay down with him and sing songs with motions. He's picking up some new tricks and is trying very hard to roll the other way. He just gets distracted by smiling right at the very end and goes back.

Nick doesn't really have any new tricks, except resting.

when life gives you a sinus infection, make...

(Elias' spiffed up lamp base and shade. He talks to it, so I think it's a success.)

I'm on day 11 of feeling completely lousy--like I was run over by something rather large and mean. oy.
So, to distract myself from feeling awful, I've been trying to create something every day, even something small, like a burp cloth or bib for my messy boy.
Oddly, miss Sydney has decided during Mommy's illnes that she'd like to wear big girl undies again and we are on day 4? 5? of using the potty. We have accidents, but we drove to the next town successfully and have gone to the grocery store twice with no potty spills. I'm optimistic that this push will be it. My big girl in undies! (And, my grocery bill saved from two kids in diapers!)

If I didn't have such basically happy kids, I think I might have died during the past 11 days...(Okay, one of them has been quite a bit happier than the other, but still...)

A Day for Grammy

Depending on how you remember things, a year ago today, Grammy left us. I've been dreading the day's arrival for weeks and even planned not to go to my mom's group because being there would remind me of getting the dreaded call.

But, I decided to try to take a positive spin on our loss, since I know she's in a better place. Instead of focusing on being sad and writing bad poetry in my journal, the kids and I had Grammy Day. I tried to do as many things as I could that reminded me of her and it made the day kind of fun, although I inevitably checked my watch and remembered what was going on a year ago and felt some of the grief all over again.

To begin, I tried to find a chocolate croissant for breakfast, but couldn't find one in our little neck of the woods. I did buy some grapefruit, because she often had those at her breakfast table. The kids and I went for a pretty drive and listened to The Sound of Music the whole way (only the songs with "the girls" of course. Sydney doesn't understand that Julie Andrews is the star.) I wore a pretty flower pin on my coat. I made a boquet of fabric flowers (from this tutorial) in the afternoon that I thought Grammy would enjoy. Sydney and I made the no-bake cookies that Grammy used to make and that I remember her sending me in care packages while I was in college. I baked a ham for dinner and although I overcooked it, the smell in the kitchen was enough to make me think of her and her kitchen. I bought pretty fall napkins to accompany our dinner, in true Grammy fashion.

I think that next year we'll do the same thing to remember her, so I'll have a chance to talk to Sydney and Elias about her and enjoy the pretty and chocolatey things in life.

We miss you, Grammy. But, I know that the last year has been one free of pain for you. One without a bent spine and crooked hands. Even if only in spirit, you are slender and long and enjoying petit fours and tea. We love you.

my favorite accidental video ever