Welcome to the New Year...

...only 17 days late.

So January is flying by!  We had a big snowstorm last weekend that also kicked off the Martin Stomach Bug of 2017 (you hear that 2017?  You can't strike us again!).  I am not good with sick people, and especially sick kids who can't control their body fluids, so my anxiety normally goes through the roof when the bug passes around.  

But this time, we were in the midst of praying for Baby Joy and anytime I would start to feel really sorry for myself, Phil would remind me that the Lobodas only wished a stomach bug was their biggest problem right now.  Very true and it helped so much keeping it in perspective.  These brief illnesses are so hard but they make me value our health more and remind me to pray for those who suffer a lot longer that 24-48 hours.  

One thing Phil and I have been talking about a lot recently is how we spend our family time.  We used to get out of the house and do so many fun things with our oldest four kids - zoos, storytimes, museums, fairs, it seemed every weekend there was always something fun to do.  

But once those kids got older and started having sports/school/church events to attend and we added more littles to the mix, we stopped doing as much as a family for fun time.  We leave the house whenever we have a commitment to attend (which is all the time) but not so much to just go have fun together.  I know we are in this difficult season with a toddler and a newborn and I'm not feeling too guilty about that.  That's life.  

However, I know there are times I can make more of an effort to take the bigger kids to do something during naptime for the littles.  Or take the littles to do something age appropriate for them while the big kids have sports.  Anyway, it's just sort of an unofficial New Year's resolution.  Typing it here probably makes it more official.  I made good on it this weekend by taking the oldest five to an indoor pool with a water slide.  Maggie and Xander are members there for swimming lessons, and the sweet lady at the desk who saw me with five (gasp!) children said we could just use free guest passes for the rest of them.  That was so nice and ended up being such a fun-filled 2 hours of playtime with their cousins who met us there.  I can sleep so well at night on days like that.

As far as the dieting part of my New Year's resolution.  Well I am just not finding the gumption to make it happen.  I've lost my mojo.  At first I thought it was because I was breastfeeding - I need calories!  I'm growing a baby!  I can't eat gassy veggies or beans so obviously I can't diet! - but now that's over and still no resolve.  My excuse now (that I stole from my husband) is that we're too sleep-deprived to diet, that maybe once the baby sleeps through the night we will feel more energized and not rely on carbs to make up for lack of shut-eye.  And sometimes, it's because I just don't care enough - I had seven babies!  I'm 37!  I'm happily married!  I can be chubby!  

Oy vey.  I think when I get my cholesterol checked at the end of the month might be eye opening for me and I'm scared.  Just not scared enough to stop eating chips and chocolate.  I think what would help me would be competition, so if anyone wants to shame me into it, speak up.

We all picked our Saints for the Year (using this link) and I told the kids they could give a presentation about their saint on their saint's feast day, and help me come up with a meal to go along with their saint's story.  Maggie is first up as she has St. Anthony the Abbot whose feast day is today!  She found out he lived in Egypt on bread and water, but quickly shot down that dinner idea and looked up Egyptian foods, and we decided on a beef and veggie stew with some Naan bread.  I wanted to make falafels but the kids weren't sold.  The stew is in the crockpot and I'm looking forward to starting this new tradition tonight.   

I just hope when the kids look back at their childhood, they know they had two parents who love them very much, a fun time being with family, and the support of their siblings.  Their souls are not mine to keep and I want to cherish every borrowed minute I have with them.  In a realistic way ;)