It's All MY Fault

This morning, I woke Ben a little after six; laid out his clothes for him; turned on the gas fireplace (his favorite place in the morning); put a blanket on the hearth; put his homework with a pencil next to the blanket; made him breakfast; packed his lunch; combed his hair; and, miraculously, got him to school on time.

Ben, for his part, got dressed; went by the fireplace; worked at a snail's pace on the homework that he ignored yesterday, despite my repeated instructions to get it done; threw a major fit, which included knocking over kitchen chairs, and looking at me with complete hatred in his eyes; refused to get out of the car at school; caused us to be late, even though we were to the school on time; caused me to go into the office in my jammies and glasses to sign him in late; and sobbed when I left him to be taken to class by an administrator.

We captured this photo during another of Ben's meltdowns.

I need a hug, a massage, and some chocolate. Ben could probably use the same.

Just a Taste of Disneyland

We had a WONDERFUL vacation to Disneyland for Spring (ha, ha, ya right!) Break! And, while we both drove out in a snow storm, and returned in one, the weather was significantly warmer on our vacation! We were blessed to be able to spend some time with James' parents both on the way to and on the way from Disneyland. They are such great examples of kindness, generosity, and hospitality.
Here are just a few of our pictures. I will try to write more about our trip later, but it's late now, and tomorrow the kids and I are off to take care of my mom for a couple of days. It seems that I gave such rave reviews about how fun it was to have my gall bladder out last summer, and then fly back east to visit my sister six days post-op, that my Mom just had to try it herself! She had surgery today, and flies out next week to visit my sis! (Seriously, mom, the surgery and recovery part really weren't that fun, but the visit will be wonderful!)