In training....

Today, I think that God and/or my mother are really working hard to train and test us for the coming of Olivia. I have 11 neices and nephews all of whom we dearly love, but just don't get to see as often as I'd like for various reasons, but this weekend, Jordan (10) and Isaac (8) have come to spend the weekend. I love this because it's a long weekend, it's Thanksgiving, we really didn't have much going on cuz the boys and their spouses are away, so it sounds like a really great weekend with the kids. We have plans to go swimming, skating, sailing, we'll do it all.... yeah, I don't think so.

Kids get here at 8:00 Thursday night. I am feeling good, but just took 3 extra strength tylenol for a wopper of a headache (because I now need glasses less than 5 years after paying a small fortune for laser surgery). Anyway, we visit, have a hot tub, unpack, make beds up... the usual. Isaac decides that he can't sleep and gets a little scared/homesick/overtired and doesn't want me to leave his room, so I lay down on the floor beside him. Everytime I try to leave the room, he jumps up crying and insists I stay. This goes on every 10 minutes until 1:30 am. When I finally sneak out like a burglar on my hands and knees, I approach my bedroom door only to discover that the snoring coming from inside our room is soooo loud, there's no point in going in. Off to the couch with me. Now I'm kind of awake and have to watch TV to get sleepy until 2:00. Finally, sweet sleep. At 2:15, Ron comes in and says "Where's Jordan?" to which I can only respond "in her bed". He says "no, she's not, I was just in there and she's not there". I said "where's Isaac?" He says "laying on our bedroom floor crying because he says he can't find you". I scurry down the hall wondering where the heck Jordan is and of course she's sound asleep right where I said she was. I guess he only looked under the bed instead of on top of it. Anyway, I collect Isaac off the floor, lay down with him and he finally goes to sleep at 2:30. I finally got to drift off around 3:00. At 6:15 I'm semi aware of little feet coming at me and I'm thinking 'he can't possibly be awake now'. Except that this time it's Jordan telling me she doesn't feel good and runs to the bathroom to throw up. Up I get to rub the back of a puking child and hunt down some children's gravol, which I don't have, so have to settle for 1/2 of a adult natural source gravol and some flat ginger ale. Works for about an hour, then more barfing. I finally get some childrens' gravol and doesn't really settle her stomach, but sure gets her back to sleep - she just wakes up to barf now. If nothing else, I'm at least thankful that she knows enough to get to the toilet on time. So far I haven't had to clean anything off the bed or floors. Isaac was kind enough to sleep in until 9:00 am. and kept entertained all day by the 1980 video games we've always kept and a number of the 150 tv channels we subscribe to. After a full day of this, Ron was kind enough to bring home KFC so I didn't have to cook anything, and after dinner I took Isaac out to get an ice cream and brought some extra home. Jordan hasn't kept anything down all day and still doesn't understand why she can't have a Dairy Queen blizzard (we did save her some for when she's feeling better).

It's 9:25 pm - day 1. One has managed to keep down a little gatorade and few bland noodles over the past 2 hours, and the other isn't crying. There are dirty kids clothes all over the floor in the baby's room, 8 or 10 half full kids' drinks on the counter, game boy games all over the coffee table, wet hot tub towels on the wooden furniture, but 2 cute children are peacefully sleeping down the hall (I think). Do I pass?