Sick Days and Football

McKay woke up with a sore throat and a little fever this morning.  I'm hoping we're not starting another round of strep.  He slept until 10 and then dragged himself out to the living room wrapped in a giant blanket.  While I showered and got ready for the day, he watched all of the NFL playoff games…yep, the ones from last month that he's already seen.  He is deeply entrenched in football these days.  He made me sit with him and watch the end of the Cincinnati game because he really loves the Bengals???  I really don't know what determines his loyalty.  

And then when we could endure no more TV, he went into his room and played with his Legos.  McKay has always been a Lego kid.  He can sit  for hours and work on some elaborate construction.  After a few minutes, he came out looking for the iPad.  He said he needed it for the details.  

The afternoon went on while he continued working on his Lego project.  He kept the doors closed until it was completely finished and a proper unveiling could take place.  I cleaned a closet, filed some stuff, worked on a RS talk, made dinner, picked up two different girls from two different schools, and still he worked…

Finally, late into the night, after I came home from Enrichment, he was ready to show us his masterpiece…

Do you recognize it?  Maybe this will help...

It's MetLife Stadium (where the Super Bowl is being played this weekend)

Let me give you a closer tour of McKay's replica…

the Press Box 

 that's Peyton Manning in the helmet

 and Pete Carroll in the blue and black 

this is a retractable net behind the goal post that actually works!

 and that thing suspended in the air is an aerial camera…of course it is.  

Let me just mention that I didn't know who any of those people were last night during McKay's tour of the field, and he named ALL the players!  I thought Peyton Manning still played for Indianapolis!  But after listening to all the stats and McKay's predictions for the game on Sunday, I definitely feel much more prepared to watch.  Did you know that if the Broncos win, Peyton Manning will be the second oldest quarterback to win a Super Bowl?  Well, I didn't.  And I don't know who the first oldest quarterback was but I'm sure McKay does.  He talked himself to sleep giving me the stats about all the past Super Bowls.  He was shocked at how much I don't know.

I'll leave you with an aerial shot of McKay's MetLife Stadium…

It's amazing to me that THAT stadium up there came from this pile of bricks…and one very creative little mind.

And one more funny thing…

Just before I went to sleep, I woke McKay up to make sure he went to the bathroom, and in his half asleep state he said, "It's not halftime yet."  

Yep, we're eating, breathing, and sleeping football around here these days.  

Interrupted Days

Megan spent most of last week at home with strep throat.  

This morning, after a busy weekend, after taking Craig to the airport, after making breakfast and lunches for four kids and getting them all out the door, I thought I deserved to have a couch day.  It's one of those cold, blustery days today and Downton Abbey on my DVR called to me more loudly than driving all the way to Plano for Institute.  So I snuggled up in my jammies with a blanket and slippers and happily planned to spend my day with just a remote control and a good book.  

And then Megan texted that she felt terrible and needed to come home.  

The day did not belong to me after that.  I forced myself to get up, get dressed and get in the car in 30 degree weather that felt like 19 degrees.  

Megan came home and slept and snuggled with me for a little while before the after school rush started.  Savannah came home at 2:30 and McKay at 3:00.  Emma texted at 3:15 that she did not have rehearsal today after school, so I picked her up.  At 3:55 when I thought the coast was clear to slip back into bed with that book I've been trying to read all day, Emma came in and said that she actually DID have rehearsal and would need a ride back to school.  I tried again a few more times to sneak back into my bed, but the colder weather meant that little boys were inside my house instead of outside of it, that missionaries were looking for warm refuge, and that children would be looking for a hot dinner.  

So, my plans for a quiet day with a book and a blanket didn't come to pass, but tonight when I tucked them all in early at 8:45 and finally got back into my warm bed that had been waiting for me all day, I didn't regret one bit the way that my day had unfolded.  

This is where I'm supposed to be.  It is not my JOB to be their mother.  It is my calling, my joy, my fulfillment.  And even though I think sometimes at 8:00am that the day would be better spent relaxing in some way, it's always better to spend it with them.  Sick or not sick.  Grateful or not grateful.  Happy or unhappy.  These children are the reason I'm home in the first place, and the days that they'll need me are numbered.  There will be plenty of days in the future that will belong to me…just not this week perhaps.