A Most Perfect Weekend

I know I have not blogged in awhile (sorry for the withdraw symptoms Melissa!)....but I have been busy. Not normal, run around after two active kids, work two nights a week, keep up with the house, and try to be a fairly decent wife busy. But busy getting ready for the weekend I have been anxiously awaiting for a long time! I am a scrapbooker. I say this with no shame even though most of my friends and family think that it is a somewhat ridiculous hobby that is a waste of time and money. But I still love it. And when my children have amazing books documenting their lives and family history someday, you may not say I'm so crazy anymore! But I digress.

This weekend my sister Wendy and I got to attend CKU (Creating Keepsakes University). Yes, that's scrapbook college! Three days and nights of intense classes, crops, and scrapbooking heaven. We made so many amazing projects and got TONS of FREE stuff!!! We met scrapbooking celebrities (yes there is such a thing) and made a bunch of new friends. It was AMAZING!!! I could go on and on, but since most of you don't scrapbook, you would be bored and I'd like to keep my blog followers! So in case you wondered....here are some photos.

This is our new friend Margie and she is starting an awesome company called the Girl's Loft (check it out!!)
















Me busy working on an album.









Me and my Dolly!


Wendy working away!

I got home last night and after driving my sister to the airport at 5am (fun times), I got back into the Robinson family routine. Church with the kids where my amazingly talented husband kicked butt on the guitar (I don't know if you are supposed to say that about someone playing in church but hey, he ROCKS!). Then after the church I got out the Slip-n-slide and the sprinkler for the kids. Nothing screams summer like kids playing in the hose in the backyard.

So I'm back to reality. But I will be clinging to the memories of this weekend for a long, long time!

Sleep Deprivation

My babies were good sleepers. It is something that we didn't talk about too much when they were little as to avoid glares, poison darts, and murderous threats from our friends with small children. But they just slept well! John Mark slept almost 8 hours straight his first night home from the hospital. And both of them were sleeping a good 8-10 hours a night by the time they were 6 weeks old.

Besides that JP and I had a good system. Since my babies were bottle fed and he was a night owl, I would go to bed at 9pm and he would feed them around 12 or 1 am. Then they would sleep until at least 4 or 5am giving Mom a good 7 or 8 hours of straight sleep. It worked. Rarely did I feel that "New Mother Sleep Deprived Agony".

So all this to say that I thrive on sleep. I am not a naturally good sleeper and have relied on the wonders of Ambien for years. Moment of silence please for modern medicine..................Okay back to my thoughts. I "need" at least 8 hours a night, preferably 10. Kind of ironic since I work nights and often go over 24 hours without sleep. But when I do fall into that bed and it is actually nighttime, I covet those 6-8 hours of sleep that I will actually get once the Ambien kicks in. Don't bug me, don't touch me, don't snore or breathe too loudly. Just let me be and you will have a relatively happy mom, wife, and friend the next morning.

But the past three nights I have been interrupted by small children needing their mom. Saturday night John Mark came into our room at 1am crying. This is rare for him. But his ear hurt and it took me over an hour to get him calmed down and back asleep. (We found out on Sunday that he has an ear infection and bronchitis but is now on the mend). Sunday night Riley came in around 4am telling me that she was thirsty. So we went downstairs, filled her cup up with water and I put her back to bed. Of course that kept me awake for over an hour. So before bed last night I told her that if she was thirsty she could get up and get herself some water from the bathroom. I thought I was safe. I settled into my bed last night convinced that I would sleep well. But no.

3am I feel a small hand touch my foot. It immediately wakes me up and I know it is Riley. She tells me she can't find her stuffed bunny. This is one of her hundreds of excuses for waking up in the night (my favorite is that there is too much "stuff" in her bed....all of which she put there). I am way too tired to take her back downstairs so I pull her into the bed with me. I should know this is a bad plan, but at 3am I wasn't thinking rationally. She tossed and turned and stole my pillows. She threw her blanket in my face. When she finally fell asleep it was with her leg draped over my body. I had about 2 feet of the bed and a little bit of the sheet. I think I finally drifted off around 5:45. And the alarm went off at 6:15 for me to get up and get John Mark on the bus.

So here I sit with my strong cup of coffee wondering if this is payback for all of those good nights of sleep when my babies were young. I'm sure some of you other moms are laughing that devilish laugh as you say a resounding "YES"!!

I Think He Actually Gets Me

For the past 9 years of marriage, JP has lovingly discovered and pointed out many of my "quirks". Those things that are just so odd that only an adoring husband can put up with them. Like how I have to sleep with a divider pillow between us because heaven forbid that even his toe touches me in the middle of the night I might die. You know, those sort of things. We usually laugh and I try to figure out how on earth he puts up with me. He always claims that he doesn't understand me, but he loves me just the same.

When I work nights, JP usually sleeps on my side of the bed because it is closer to the alarm. But I discovered a few months ago that when he sleeps on my side of the bed, he uses my pillows! This is just not acceptable. So I admitted yet another one of my "quirks" and asked him to PLEASE not use my pillows. Because then I will have to go and get new ones.

Well last night I came to bed at 3am (after getting off of work around 1am). I looked into the bed and there was JP on my side with MY pillows. I began to hyperventilate a little, but what was I going to do? I couldn't really rip them out from under his head, although that thought did cross my mind. So as I lay down on his side of the bed and fluffed HIS pillows, he reached under his head and pulled out my pillows to give them to me. I hadn't said anything and I'm not sure he was really awake either. But after all these years, I think he just "gets" me. Ahhhh marital bliss.

I am So Proud

You know those moments when you are REALLY proud of your kids? The moments that make up for all of the dirty laundry and messy rooms and "I hate broccoli" statements? The moments that make it all worthwhile? Well I had one of those last night. And I just need to share it.

We were supposed to have small group but since no one could seem to make it (everyone was either having babies, out of town, or sick!), we decided to just cook-out at Heather's house. It was going to be our family and Heather and Tim. (For those of you who have not been following our lives, Heather is Riley's preschool teacher, a member of our small group, and a good friend!). When I got over to Heather's Riley told me that her friend Sanya was going to stay for dinner and her family was going to join us. Sanya is 6 years old and blind. She has been going to Miss Heather's school for a year and my kids have known her that whole time. She has changed a lot in one year. She used to be completely dependent on sighted adults and was very shy. She didn't talk much or play at all with the other kids. Now Sanya is independent, outgoing, friendly, and just like any other sighted kid I know! My kids love playing with her.

In the course of the evening, John Mark discovered a wheelbarrow. He started to play with it and Riley was intrigued. Sanya asked what they were playing with and when we said "a wheelbarrow" she asked what that was. I told her to go see. I watched as Riley took her hands and "showed" her the wheelbarrow. I watched as John Mark explained how it worked. Then I watched as John Mark, Riley, and Sanya took turns riding in and pushing the wheelbarrow. Then I looked at Sanya's mom. She had he biggest smile on her face.

She told me that she was so thankful for my children. She said that a lot of their friends in their community (they are Indian) have children but none of them play with Sanya. She told me they don't know how to interact with a blind child and are therefore intimidated to even talk to her. But she said that Sanya loves John Mark and Riley because they treat her like any other kid. In fact, after dinner was over Sanya asked if she could come to our house for a sleepover and we were already planning a picnic at the pool this summer.

I am so proud of my kids. I am so proud that they see past what the world may see as a hindrance and look at the heart of people. I am so proud that they love like Jesus loved.

More ER Adventures

It's been awhile since I have let you in on any of my ER adventures. So I thought I'd give you a glimpse into my life at work last night and why I needed a glass of wine when I got home at 9am.
Here are some of my "highlighted" stories:

1. 11 year old boy who fell skateboarding and landed on his wrist. Hmmmm....seems an awful lot like someone I am married to back when he was a kid. I asked the kid where his wrist guards were and he told me that wrist guards aren't cool. We proceeded to have a conversation about how my husband skates and he wears wrist guards. I threw out all my best "skater lingo" about backside grinds and dropping in at 11 feet. But alas, the kid was 11 years old and obviously knew more than I did. I texted JP and he told me that he thought wrist guards were uncool when he was 11....until he had 3 broken wrists! I showed this kid the text. When he was leaving a little while later (with cast on arm), he actually told me he asked his mom for some wrist guards! Mission accomplished! Saving lives!!!

2. The ambulance brought in an intoxicated man who had been wandering the streets after getting in a car wreck. I looked at his name and asked him, "Do you go by B**** (his real name not an obscenity people)?" He said "Either that or Catfish". I decided to address him as Catfish for the rest of the night. Catfish introduced me to a side of life that is pretty far from my life as a married mother in suburbia. In fact, as I was pushing him upstairs to his room in the hospital, he told me a story about how he was "chillaxin with his baby mama and got into it which resulted in spending a night in jail for domestic assault". Wow. I can honestly say I have never uttered these words.

3. When I finally got to sit down for a break (at 4am) I heard some screaming from out in the ER. I went out to find the nurses, 2 security guards, 2 paramedics, and 2 Metro police officers trying to wrestle a patient. He was screaming and cussing to beat the band. I jumped in to help and surprisingly he did not respond to my statement that his words were "unwholesome". I asked him what his mother would think if she heard him use those words! It seems his mother is deceased and really probably didn't care that her son was a wild crazy man in handcuffs yelling obscenities at everyone in sight. Oh well....a shot in the leg with some Geodon (sweet nectar of the crazies!) along with some more sedation and all is well. He actually looked quite angelic in his sleeping state, strapped to the bed in leather restraints and guarded by two police officers. I'm sure it is a picture his mother would cherish for Mother's Day next year!

So as I dropped Riley off at Heather's this morning she suggested I check out this video. I think the chorus sums up my night....maybe even my life.