Riley, at 11 years, has started to turn some corners, and is a real pleasant little man. He and his dad can butt heads at times, but I find him pretty easy as long as he isn't bored. He's more willing to step in and help and will do most anything as long as he's not overtired or underfed! He's starting to converse more, and if you catch him on his own and in the right mood, he'll talk your ear off. He isn't overly outgoing or confident, but he is willing to go off to the rink skating on his own, and will talk to whoever is around. He is always game to try anything new, and is hoping to skate ski this week with his aunt. I'm still praying he finds some good close friends, but for now, he hangs out with his cousins and has a blast snowboarding with his dad on weekends. There is the odd time that he and I get some one-on-one time between my work and picking up the other two boys.

Shea, on the other-hand, has been a bit of a handful. He had such a rough two months of being sick, and now has had a hard time after the Christmas break to be put back on a schedule. He is really tired after school and daycare, and I find by the time I get him at 5pm, he has no more focus or any desire to look you in the eye and actually talk or pay attention. He gets so excited for weekends and he holds two fingers up and tells the daycare staff that he gets "2 days off". Poor kid thinks he's so hard done by!!? He is a tech junkie and I find it hard to pull him off the computers and games. He loves to bug Liam to death, and the two of them are at it constantly. I think he's still doing well in school and haven't had any complaints at daycare, so I'm hoping he's only acting poorly when I'm involved!!? We do enjoy our quiet Saturdays together while the boys are up skiing. I'm sad he's growing up so fast, and can't believe he's coming up on 6.

Long time no see!!

Well I'm a week and a half into my new job. I'm surviving!! I pretty much go to work, come home, make dinner, get the kids, organize our lunches, do homework, pack all our bags and do some paperwork, and go back to bed and do it all over again the next day. It is a tad tiring, but it is also nice to have a complete change in what my normal day used to be. Greg is now taking the kids to school for me, as I start at 8am. I don't see the school at all, which feels really weird after being there 2x a day for the past 6 years! The kids are in their daycare and doing quite well. Today they took a bus to an indoor playground and were completely worn out when we picked them up. So we're all more tired around here than usual. I was happy to see the weekend, but on Saturday my sister was hit with a crisis, so it wasn't as restful as I had hoped. This week has been full of many tears, worries, phone calls and fitful nights. My family left town to visit her yesterday, and I will leave with my sister in law tomorrow and be there for the weekend. The stress of all of this on top of a new/demanding FT job is almost too much, but I'm hoping I can get through it. I'm not quite sure of God's timing in all of this...but one day it'll all make sense. In the meantime, can you just pray for my little sis, and wish her well.

We love her so much.