Great day and rough night

Yesterday, the kids and I attended our first gym class with our local homeschooling group. We LOVED it!! They are starting out with a football unit - which of course they boys all love. David and Zack were able to find several boys around their ages and had a blast. In fact, they continued to play football for another 40 minutes after the class ended! Abby and Gabe were in the younger group of kids. They also had a great time playing red light green light, kicking a soccer ball, playing duck duck goose and in general running around to get energy out.

Meanwhile, the moms who were not involved in teaching were able to just chat and watch the kids. I can't begin to describe how encouraging it was just to get out and have adult conversation! I hadn't realized how much I was missing it until I stood talking with complete strangers for an hour and a half! I think this group will end up being as much for my sanity as it will be for the kids to get some energy out.

We were especially looking forward to a field trip tomorrow to a pumpkin farm with the homeschool group. However, my youngest began throwing up last night around 2 am. Unfortunately, I had not yet fallen asleep, so instead of just a late night, it became an all-nighter. Yup, he didn't fall asleep again until 6 - which meant that I didn't either. I try to take care of the kids at night because I know Josh has to get up and work the next day. He is usually very good about shouldering his share of the nighttime ordeals, but right now he's got a sprained ankle. It's swollen to about double in size and is bruised all over. Needless to say, he's not walking well and I didn't want him to do have to do the stairs. So, the joy of cleaning puke fell to me. The thing that bothers me the most though (aside from seeing my little boy sick) is that we'll miss the field trip tomorrow. I think we may have to plan a Monday trip just as a family since the kids would really enjoy it.

On the upside, despite only two hours of sleep, we have accomplished a days worth of school today. I decided to let Abby have the day off since she's so far ahead on everything and we are pushing art off to another day. But, I must say, I'm proud of myself for patiently working with the kids despite being tired. That's something I wouldn't have been able to do (at least not graciously) a few weeks ago. I guess we are all learning and growing through the homeschool experience!

And, another great thing ... Josh and I got to go on a date last night. Obviously, this was before we knew any kids were sick. But we had a delightful evening talking over dinner and laughing together at a movie. What a wonderful midweek treat!