it's the weekly 'what's up.'

We were supposed to head up to Iowa last Friday to spend the weekend with my family, but the kids were still (still) under the weather.  A couple of the kids still had gurgly bellies, and Penelope has been dealing with some stuff that makes me wonder if she doesn't have a latent strep infection somewhere in her body, so we thought it best to stay home.

She also lost a tooth this week!

While it was a bummer, we found out later that on Sunday, the day we would have been driving home, there was a 70-car pileup accident nearby in Iowa, and a 100-car pileup accident nearby in Missouri... so apparently the roads would have been really bad on our way home.  It made me glad that we didn't have to experience any of that!

So instead of loading up the van and heading out on Friday night, we decided to rotate the living room rug.  I had asked Todd at Family Table to help me with it at some point in the future, since the wear patterns were becoming pretty noticeable.  He put it on his to-do list, and I walked into the living room as he was already moving stuff out of the way to get it done.  It has helped us in so many ways to be on the same page, with eyes on each others' goals.  Thanks, Family Table!

The weekend was pretty chill still, since everyone was still (still) recovering from illness.  We didn't go to church or really do much of anything.

Monday night, a friend of ours offered to watch the kids so Todd and I could go out on a date.  It was so appreciated - it has been a really, really long stretch of being chained to the house.  It was nice to get to dress up and go eat fancy tacos.  (And have the best margarita of my liiiiiiiiiiife.)  We stopped to grab coffee on the way home, but I've found that one of the lingering effects of being so sick was that I still can't stomach coffee.  (I also have sustained some really intense thumb/hand/wrist pain and weakness.  I think the virus has somehow set up residence there and done some damage, which is weird and unfortunate.)

The rest of the week was normal and low-key.  We got through the whole week's school work, which is a huge blessing after having missed the last week and a half.  Our van battery died last week, so while we were able to make it to the Amish (Todd jumped it before we left, and I never turned the van off from the time we left the driveway until the time we returned), there were other things we had to cancel because we weren't able to get out, like speech therapy.

SPEAKING OF SPEECH THERAPY, I have had some really, really, really wonderful news come out of the woodwork with that.  An amazing family member of mine who is a speech therapist has offered to work with Atticus via Skype, so we may not have to set aside entire mornings for all of us to go!  What an amazing answer to prayer.  I'll keep you posted on those developments.

And other than that, the best news this week involved food.  First of all, Todd's mom sent us oranges from their tree in Arizona.  THEY ARE THE BEST.  Sunshine in a box!

Second of all, I grilled.  There is very little February can offer me that's better than grilling weather.

And that was our week!

And just in case you missed any of the goings-on around here this week:

Family Table: Todd and I have started using Friday nights to sit down and get on the same page, and it's a seriously sexy time.  Better than date night.

My favorite chicken-bacon-rice soup recipe.  This is a seriously perfect soup, with some photos that don't do it justice.

Marriage Bootcamp, Episode 1: Teamwork.  Where is the center line in your marriage?  It's really one of the most important questions to ask yourself, especially in the middle of an argument.





And the best newborn advice I have to offer, after much time spent learning things the hard way.




Have a great weekend!  See you next week!