The word of the day (also the word of the month, year, and decade) is 'stabilization'. It has been so wonderful to get into a more normal routine in every facet of life -- whether it is in regard to an everyday task or an extraordinary circumstance. This weekend was a fantastic representation of what I have been working on and what Phil and I have been working on together.
After picking up the kids from school on Friday, we had a car full of smiles, random questions, and general updates on life as a child. We visited Granddad and Mom-mom, Auntie Sonia, Uncle Rob, and Adrian, then came home with enough time to snuggle and go to bed. Saturday Phil had off again, so we filled the day with as much family time as possible! We went to Dave and Esther's to enjoy some delicious waffles (the leftovers of which will be consumed tomorrow morning) and play Just Dance 4. Sure the songs were great and dances were really cool... but the best part was being able to generate a video at the end to watch yourself dance/look like a fool:
http://justdancetv.ubi.com/en-GB/xbox/channels/video/key/Y29udGVudElkPTQ4NTA0
http://justdancetv.ubi.com/en-GB/xbox/channels/video/key/Y29udGVudElkPTQ4NTAy
http://justdancetv.ubi.com/en-GB/xbox/channels/video/key/Y29udGVudElkPTQ4NDk3
After that, we went off to Auntie Sonia's to visit and play tons of video games and Pokemon cards with Adrian. (Sidenote: if Adrian were to read this he would be insulted -- you don't PLAY Pokeman cards... you BATTLE them!) Once we watched the Flyers lose and explained to Grace the concept of a Power Play, we went home, ate dinner, made food for some various causes at Church, talked about Martin Luther King, Jr., relaxed, and all had a great night sleep.
...just kidding on that last part. Poor Colin had a fever and was up all night, and naturally Grace and Christopher joined the family all-nighter. 10mL of children's Motrin, 1000mL of Monster Rehab, and 2000mL of vomit later (for Colin, for the adults, and from Colin, respectively), Phil was off to work and the kids and I were ready to experience, as Grace put it, "the most boring day ever." Oh, how wrong she was. We played, painted race cars, cleaned the house, gave Grace's bedroom walls some Bieber-Fiever, traveled to Toys-R-Us, went to the park, made dinner, watched "The Emporer's New Groove" for family movie night, and, currently, all of the children are asleep. I actually type that loosely as I just heard some coughing. Uh-oh.
One of the highlights of the weekend, though, besides the ones shown below, were the boys having a brother conversation. They had to tell each other things they liked about each other, reasons they thought the other was "cool", and ways they could be a better brother. They promised each other they would be nicer to each other, and all day long held each other to their specific promise. I never thought such a simple yet crazy idea would work, but it really did! I was questioned how long they had to keep the promise and if they could take a time-out... so promises may have to be reinstated again in the morning.
After such an awesome weekend, there are naturally tons of pictures. Enjoy!
