*8*

8 years of our amazing little girl.

Lucky 7

What an amazing 7 years it has been.

Tomorrow my little girl will wake up and be 8 years old.

I can't believe it.  It sounds so little and big all at once.

She really is an amazing kid.. I know all parents say this about their kids.  I would like to think that if she was who she is and was one of my friends' kid, I would still like her.

She is a great balance of tough and sweet.  She is so graceful when she dances, I love watching her do ballet, so sweet and poised.  She is such a toughie when she plays sports, loves getting dirty and has this swagger we can't explain.

She is so great at giving hugs and kisses and telling us she loves us without being prompted.  She is a great snuggler who loves to sneak extra kisses from her daddy and tease me about it.

She has her daddy's wicked sense of humor, she is so quick with a comeback it makes my head spin.

She has a quick temper.  I equate it with Donald Duck (hmmm someone I have also compared her father with) she blows hot and fast and then it's over.  I guess it's good that it's quick, but man does she get mad.

She has anxiety about school and change and moths that you think are dead but then fly out of the toilet and scare you to death. 

She loves clothes, shoes , accessories and lip gloss, which we still call "glip gloss" like she did when she was little.

We call her Lulu.  It's nothing like her given name, but it suits her. 

She was just what our family needed to be complete and I'm so happy she's ours.

Love ya Lulu!

I hope you have the best birthday ever tomorrow!

Love,
Mommy xoxoxxo

This is one of my favorite pictures of us from her first days.....

Heart And Soul

So, if you want to get the sh*t scared out of you, have the school call you and tell you that your daughter is having chest pains.

It was one of those, "I know she's fine, I know she's fine, I am 99.9% sure she's fine. Oh my god what if she's not fine!!" moments.

The school nurse was very sweet and said that she listened to her heart, took her temperature, and she seemed fine.  I told her I would call the pediatrician and be right over.

The doctor was able to fit her in this afternoon. 

Let me sidebar here for a moment.  Maybe it was my nerves, but I hated every single person in that waiting room.  The dad not paying any attention to his daughter who was being a complete menace, the lady who would not stop playing on her phone, but every time she pressed a key it went "beep beep beep".  This went on for AN HOUR.  Also , guy next to me, NOT using a tissue , but your hand, you are so lucky I didn't vomit on you. 

Ok, back to the appointment.  The doctor was very sweet and asked her all kinds of questions.  He examined her and even though he didn't think there was anything to worry about, he decided to give her an ekg.  All was going well, but for some reason, my daughter freaked out.  I guess even though we told her a million times she just had to lay there, she was convinced it would hurt her. 

This is where I become Patch Freaking Adams.  I was trying my best to distract her or make her laugh, anything so I could get some piece of mind.  She finally was calm and they were able to do it.

The results were fine and they think that she may suffer from reflux, so they want us to try some sort of Calcium Carbonate with her and see if it helps.  Easy enough , right? Oh not really because there is apparently a shortage on these.  A very nice pharmacist at Target told me that they're just not getting them in.  I guess I'll be calling the doctor back in the morning.

I am so relieved she's ok.  So freaking relieved. 

Coach's Challenge

Short blog, but thought I'd share this.

After a busy weekend, my husband and I ran out last night to do a few errands for my daughter's upcoming birthday.

We were wiped out, but knew free time would be hard to find this week.

So, as it goes, when we're tired, we bicker.

We purchased an alarm clock/docking station/speakers for my daughter's birthday and we were discussing how excited she would be.  We are actually giving her my husband's ipod.  He recently got a smart phone and has all of his music on there.  I thought since she's only going to be 8, we could give her his old one and she can upgrade when she's older (but his is pretty nice).  She also has been dying to have an alarm clock.

So, I said that it will be nice to have a smaller more useful thing on her nightstand.  On her nightstand she has a little pink boombox that she's dropped a few times, so the only thing that works on it is the radio.

My husband was like, "WHAT?" "That's not true."

I was confused, apparently he thought I was saying this about the ipod.

We then bickered a good few minutes about the order in which I said things.

Stupid tired fight that means nothing and everything, married people, am I right?

Here's what I love.  My husband says to me, "You know, when we die and get to where ever we're going, I am going to have them playback this moment and you'll see that you're wrong."

"Are you telling me that you think there's instant replay in heaven?"

" Absolutely"

There is nothing left to do at this point but laugh, so glad I love him.

Totally Going Insane, F'Real

TGIF

This was a long week.

Let's just say, my children's behavior this week has been spotty at best.  They've had some really great moments and some really not great moments.

I've also been helping my friend prepare for a yard sale this weekend.  It's been really fun hanging out with her and going through things, but it's exhausting work.  We've been hauling things up from her basement and cleaning them up.  I really hope her sale is a success, she's put a lot of work into it.

We've also been dealing with bus issues this week.  Basically my daughter was getting on the bus in the morning almost an hour earlier than last year.  However, she was arriving home only 5 minutes earlier than last year. 

The school has decided to move back the start and stop time for my daughter's school, pushing back by 10 minutes to eliminate the buses running late.  They announced this on Tuesday and started it today. 

The funny thing is , since they announced it, her bus has been getting here earlier in the afternoon, it's like they announced it and suddenly the bus was on schedule.  Ah well, back to the later time, but at least she gets a few extra minutes in the morning.

Anyway, I am really looking forward to the weekend, even though we're busy with the yard sale and the kids sports, it's a fun kind of busy and the weekend lends itself to the possibilities of a beer or 7.  

Keeping Vinegar In Business

So as you should know by now, I use Pinterest a lot.

I found a nice cleaning schedule on there that I use for the most part.  Lately, I've been so busy that it's been a "clean when you have one free moment, or don't" schedule, but when I buckle down and get back on track, it's a really great schedule.

There are lots of cleaning tricks I have tried on there and I thought I would share a few that I tried that work.

I am usually skeptical of any cleaning trick that seems to easy, but sometimes it is the simplest things that work.

I had read that if you rub a dryer sheet on your baseboards, it prevents dust and dirt from settling on them.  I decided to try this in my laundry room (It's a very small room, about as wide as the washer/dryer with enough room to open a door, but it's upstairs which I LOOOOVE) since that room seems to get dusty and linty (is that a word?) the fastest.

It did work, it's not a forever solution, but I did notice that they stayed cleaner longer.  I just don't know where all the lint and dust settled, I am sure a giant dust bunny will attack me one day as I am washing the delicates.

The other day I noticed the kids' bathroom sink was clogged.  I will spare you the toothpaste madness that was stuck to the drain plug, but even after cleaning that, the drain was still clogged. 

I jumped on Pinterest, knowing I had seen something about using vinegar and baking soda.  This of course interested me because I would basically get to make a school science project volcano in the sink!  Sure enough, I found it.  I poured about a quarter box of baking soda down the drain, then followed it with about the same amount of vinegar.  Then I had to immediately stuff a rag into the drain since you want the "volcano" reaction to happen in the drain and not in the sink (bummer).

I let it sit for a half hour and then boiled a kettle full of water, slowly poured the water down the drain and voila!  It is amazing how excited I get when something works.  I also loved that I didn't have to purchase drain cleaner.  I am scarred by an old CBS movie called "Aftermath: A Test of Love" where robbers break in to a hi-fi store and force characters to drink Drano.  Apparently,  this was based on a true story.  I just do not like having that stuff in the house.

The last trick is my absolute favorite.  I LOATHE cleaning the tub and shower.  Loathe it, loathe it, loathe it.  I have tried every cleaning product there is and nothing seems to get it super clean without a ton of scrubbing that leaves me so exhausted and bitter.  This usually means that I just sort of spray and clean for a month and sure enough it needs to be super scrubbed again. 

So, I saw a tip that involved mixing vinegar and Dawn detergent (the blue one) in a spray bottle, spraying it on the tub, leaving it for a half hour and wiping it away.  It was way too good to be true, it had to be.  I researched the heck out of this.  After checking into a few blogs and reviews, it seemed like heating the vinegar would be even more beneficial. 

So off I went to Wal-Mart.  Did you know they sell vinegar for cleaning?  They do!  Because it's not food grade, it's super cheap.  I grabbed me a big ol' jug, since I have discovered so many uses for it, and was on my way.  I also picked up blue Dawn and a spray bottle.  All in all I think I spent about $5.00.

Since I was heating up the vinegar, and didn't know if it worked as well at room temperature, I decided to use just a cup of vinegar and a cup of Dawn.  This way I could spray the kids' tub and my shower stall.  My biggest complaint was the spray bottle.  In the future, it's probably worth spending more than $.98 on one.  I sprayed away and crossed my fingers.

A half hour later, I was amazed!  I took a cloth and began wiping away, it was a thing of beauty.  It took the smallest of efforts for me to wipe away the mixture and the dirt it was carrying away with it.  There were a few spots that didn't get clean, but I think that was due to my spraying.  I actually had some solution left so I resprayed and decided to leave that overnight.

I had the same results in my shower stall, it was great!  Again, I had a few spots, but the difference between the spots and the new clean surface was so great to see.  Again, I sprayed and left it overnight. 

This morning when I got up, I wiped the spots clean and it was beautiful! 

If you hate scrubbing, I seriously suggest you try this, I think vinegar sales are going to skyrocket.

The Punisher

Ugh to the millionth power.

I am not a fan of punishing my kids.

This weekend they both managed to something that required a little more than a talking to.

My daughter told a lie.

A lie that was insignificant and not over anything she would have gotten in trouble for, but she told it anyway.

No matter how many times I tell my kids that they will be in more trouble if they lie, I am convinced they will take the risk now and again just in case they can get away with it. I did it, my parents have the gray hairs to prove it.  For some reason, I thought maybe I had cracked the code and my kids would totally get it.  Ah well.

I had read somewhere awhile ago that if you know your child is lying, you shouldn't repeat the question.  For instance, "Did you take the trash out?" If your child says yes and you know it hasn't been done, than asking them over and over only makes them learn to be better liars.

So, my daughter told the lie.  I gave her one more chance to tell me the truth, she didn't.  I showed her the proof I had that she lied and that's when she broke down.

I had her go to her room, because in my initial anger I wanted to hand out drastic , and let's face it, unrealistic punishments.  In the wind up, she and I were supposed to have a nice girl's day together since my husband had worked overnight and was sleeping and my son was out with friends all day, and I cancelled it.  Instead she helped me clean and organize things all day.  She also went to bed early that night.

Now, that boy of mine.  He's been on thin ice re: keeping his room clean lately.  It's mostly irritating my husband and I since we practically killed ourselves   repainting and decorating it for him.  I don't expect it to be perfect, but I refuse to send a man out into the world who thinks that 2 inches from the hamper is just as good as in the hamper.

So, I have felt really bad about all the homework he has had this year.  We even implemented a new system of working hard for a half hour and then taking a break for a few, otherwise he gets completely stressed and frustrated.  I thought we were a team, which is probably why I took what happened this afternoon so personally.

He was in his room doing homework, I knocked, looking for his flag football clothes from the day before.  When I went in he was playing a freaking computer game.  Now I know of all the things I could have walked in on, this isn't the worst, but I was....so.....mad.

It was just so sneaky, so ridiculous.  I called my husband at work, I don't like to call him and complain, but I needed to vent.  It made me feel disrespected, and yeah, my feelings were hurt.

When I was 15 or so, I kept my room a horrible mess, so my dad took my door away.  I was, of course, mortified.  Every adult we knew thought it was genius.  I get it though, it's an"appreciate what you have " lesson. 

When I called my husband, he suggested we follow in my dad's footsteps, I only hesitated to take the door off because I feel like this is the kind of thing you can only do once and I am not yet at my breaking point.

So we've decided that he will have no free time this week.  There are plenty of things to do around the house, and he will be the one doing them.  Yes, I like things done a certain way, but that's not the point of this.  It's to have him appreciate the free time he does have and to learn that he actually has it pretty easy around here. 

I am always looking for ways to make the punishment fit the crime.  I struggle with it.  What do you  think? 

Parenting is hard! 

If It Wasn't Screwed On...

So last week, I took my daughter to dance class.  Except dance class didn't start until this week.

So today, I told myself a million times that she had dance tonight.  Guess what?  I COMPLETELY FORGOT TO BRING HER!

Here's the thing, I can't accept that I just forgot and as a friend told me , she has a million more classes, it's not a big deal.  It's seriously bothering me.  It's like my brain completely betrayed me and I am in no mood to forgive it.

Now , in my defense, I had a very busy day.  I helped a good friend prepare for an upcoming yard sale.  I made it home just in time to get my daughter off the bus.  We did the usual after school stuff and I headed upstairs to shower and get ready for my daughter's open house.

We were eating dinner before heading out when my daughter suddenly said, "Oh! Dance."

It was almost as if I could not even comprehend what she was saying and then suddenly I yelled, "For the love of RayJay, I forgot to bring her to dance!"  (This is what I yell in frustration, I never watched the show with RayJay, you know the singer Brandi's brother, who had a reality show where ladies tried to date him?  No?  Haha..I don't blame you)

A quick look at the clock revealed that there was indeed 5 minutes left of dance, I had blown it.

Ugh, I hate that.  I am such a schedule freak.  My calendar is a color coded array of activities.  I am the one who keeps this machine running, I am the COO of this family. 

I am still so mad at my brain.  I plan on putting it in a time-out by watching some useless TV and perhaps enjoying an adult beverage.  Maybe killing a few brain cells (is that a true thing?)  will get the others to straighten up and fly right.

Refreshing

Tonight was The Middle School Open House.

It was my first time in my son's new school.  Our town built a new high school, so there were some school shifts that went on and the middle school is now in the old high school and houses 7th and 8th grade.

I will admit, I don't always look forward to these things.  Flashbacks of my own school days creep in and inevitably, I always feel like I'm not paying enough attention.

I do think that the staff at the school did a nice job with the Open House.  They used a new format and it was a little easier than last year's running around to every single class.

We managed to find our way to our son's Algebra class.  As we were seated and I looked around and was astounded by the beautiful handwriting on the white boards. I am a sucker for nice penmanship. 

The teacher then spoke to us.  I was mesmerized.  This man proceeded to tell us that he loves teaching.  He has been teaching for 11 years, he didn't start teaching until he was 56 years old.  He said that each year he teaches he loves it more and more.

He told us that he wants our children to have a successful year with Algebra.  He told us that in his classroom, no one will ever feel humiliated or singled out.  There will never be a stupid question.  He demands respect from the students towards him and to each other.  

This man comes from working in business for years and he actually provides the kids with notes.  He doesn't want them sitting in the class and taking notes, he wants them to all be able to go over them and have a discussion.  He informed our children that they are all responsible and mature eighth graders.

He does expect them to study the notes, he expects homework to be done every night, he gives lots of quizzes.   However, he only wants them to work on math homework for 30 minutes a night, if they can't finish everything in that amount of time, it's okay.  He wants them to come in and say , " I couldn't figure out problem number 10."  For him, it shows that they tried, and that's all he wants.  He tells them he gives them quizzes so he knows what they're understanding, he doesn't want them to stress out about it,  no one will fail his class.  They will work together and this class will be successful for them.

As my husband and I walked to a lecture hall where we would meet all of our sons team teachers, we both remarked how much we liked this guy.  We wondered if he was the kind of teacher parents love, but kids don't appreciate.  We decided to make sure to let our son know what a privilege it was for him to have this teacher.

My son's other teachers spoke to us and it wasn't as detailed a presentation as the Algebra one was, but all in all , I think he has a great bunch of teachers.  The Algebra teacher spoke once again and informed us, that being older, without little kids to run after, he is available for extra help 5 days a week.  He arrives at the school before the custodians do and he makes himself available for help every day.   He joked that he has nothing better to do, but I would wager, he's having the time of his life and loving every minute of it.  It is so refreshing.

On a side note, this teacher put 4 algebra problems on the board and labeled it "Homework for parents, Due Friday."  The parents sort of chuckled , and I jotted them down, for kicks.  Last night, my husband and I both agreed that we should in fact do the homework along with a note saying that we really enjoyed meeting him.  This man made me want to do Algebra, need I say more?

Kids-2, Sanity-0

If anyone was driving the streets of my town today and happened to pass me driving my kids to their soccer practices, they would have thought I was a lunatic.

I could not have made it any easier for my kids to be ready for soccer.  While they were at school, I got their clothes ready.  My daughter had an orthodontist appointment that I thought could take awhile so I wanted to make sure if we were running late we wouldn't be scrambling for shin guards and soccer shorts.

I called my son from the appointment to have him get water bottles and himself ready to go.  I also told him to make sure he had all of his stuff together.

My daughter and I arrived at home, hurried to get her changed , got cleats on and everyone was out the door.

The trick of today was that my kids had to be at 2 different soccer fields at opposite sides of town, at the same time.  Our town has asked that all sports conclude 1/2 hour before dusk because of the threat of the EEE virus.  Luckily, my husband would be home in time to help with pick up (again, same time, opposite sides of town and terrified if I'm late my kid gets bit by the deadly mosquito) but it was all me to get them to the fields.

My son is 13, so logically, I would drop him off first, with his cell phone , about 15 minutes early and then hoof it across town with my daughter.

Except he forgot his cell phone.  For the second time.  This is THE WHOLE REASON he has the cell phone. 

Lots of things were said in the car, lots of threats were made, and basically I said that he had 2 1/2 hours to get ready and it was unacceptable that he forgot his phone, especially since he had forgotten it the week before and I had already given him this lecture.

He has some apps on his phone and games and I told him that as soon as he gets home from school, we get the phone and he only gets it when he is at a practice.  I wanted to take it away completely, but the worrier in me won that argument.

Then, my daughter informs me that she forgot her water bottle.  Are you kidding me?  Is what I repeated over and over and over.  I was pretty much at my wits end when I got a call from my husband ,who had just arrived home and found my daughter's water bottle in the garage.  He was not frustrated by the children at all and happily offered to bring it to her.  I was ready to let her learn her lesson for remembering the ONE THING she had to bring, but who was I to stand in the way of Daddy to the rescue?

Then sitting on the soccer field, watching my daughter run around and even try her hand at being goalie, I was less and less annoyed and actually found myself smiling and realizing that even when my kids drive me absolutely nuts, I am a lucky, lucky lady and I wouldn't change a thing.

Everybody Wins!

My kids have declared that Fridays shall be pizza for dinner and Family Game Night.

Of all the things they demand of me, this one makes me the happiest.

My son is at an age where I am sure that he would much rather be hanging out with his friends.  My daughter is usually a bear by Friday night, she's been exhausted from school and we haven't even begun dance and soccer for her.

This gives us all something to look forward to at the end of the weary week.  We try and come up with a different pizza every week.  This week, thanks to a friend , we made a Hawaiian pizza.

It's really fun playing games with the kids.  We've decided that my daughter is old enough play older games now.  We've all had our fill of Candy Land and Chutes and Ladders.  We figured we could have teams or modify the rules a little, but it was time to use ALL those games we have.

The first week, we played  Pictureka and Hangman.  My daughter actually won Pictureka, so her confidence had a nice little boost.  We teamed up for Hangman and the boys won, thanks to words like Phalanx and Babies. (a reference to my daughter and I protesting the use of a gun name that we were totally unfamiliar with).

We have a tradition of writing the names of the winners in the game box top.  It is a very coveted honor, and I get such a kick at looking back at the winners.  Friends and family have all made it onto the box tops and when we open a game , you never know what memories of past games will come up.

This past week, we played Uno Attack.  This is a big favorite for us because you really get to trash talk.  Surprisingly, my daughter is really good at it.  My son attacks like a ninja, quiet and stealthy.  Ultimately my husband won, he's very crafty at card games, very hard to beat.

I could care less if I win, I really treasure these nights, and I love that my kids insisted on it.  It makes me feel like we're not doing so bad if they want to hang out with us.  Who knows how long it will last and I am happy to oblige as long as they want it.  Now, what kind of pizza to make this week?

Sympathy For The Kings Horses And Men

I would rather try and put Humpty Dumpty back together again then continue one more day of putting my house back together after everyone leaves for school and work.

I feel like by the time I clean up after breakfast, make the beds and clean up any clutter from the night before, half my morning is gone.  I realize that my kids are old enough to do some of this themselves and they do on the weekends, but honestly I don't need another thing to delay them in the morning.  I am trying to keep the peace and not send them off to school thinking their mother is a screaming lunatic. 

Never mind the new daily tasks of figuring out what's for dinner,laundry and grocery shopping.

I think it's the repetition that gets to me, it's like "Groundhog Day" up in here.  It's also a bit of rebellion against the rigidity of the fall schedule, the care-free days of summer are over and I miss them. 

Now, to be honest, my schedule could use a little tightening up.  I'm pretty sure that cleaning when it's a commercial during "The Today Show", is not the most time efficient way to get things done.  I also tend to get a little distracted with Facebook.  I mean how can my day start without making sure I haven't missed someone's first day of school pictures?

"Now Jenn", you say, "Some people manage to do all of this AND work full time."

To that I say, "You're absolutely right and it takes a true friend to point out when you're making a big deal out of nothing, thanks."

Sooooo,  how about that weather?

She's Crafty

I'm on a craft kick.

I think it's the time of year.  I feel like now that the kids are back in school, I have all this free time (which amazingly enough used to drag, but now seems to fly by!) and I can really get some projects done.

Luckily I have a friend who is as equally in love with crafts as I am, so we are planning on getting together once a week to work on whatever.

We decided to keep the planning to a minimum since you never quite know what you're going to be inspired by.  We are both Pinterest (seriously, they should pay me for all this free advertising) addicts and "the best craft idea ever" can change in the blink of an eye.

This week we did some sewing.  I had made an anniversary pillow out of some burlap I had purchased at a fabric store.  It seemed to be a big hit and I ended up with a few requests to make some more.  I finally got around to it today and can't wait to deliver the finished product to my friends.

My friend G had bought some drapes at our local flea market and wanted to cut and hem them to fit the windows in her house.

It was a lot of fun, we had the TV on one of our favorite shows, "Flipping Out" on Bravo.  We were cracking up, sewing, chatting about our lives during the commercials.

Sure enough, time flew by and we were off to get ready for our kids to come home and begin "real life " again.

I can't wait until next week!

Here are the pillows I finished today along with the one I made for myself.

Labor Of Love Day

Ouch.

Every ache aches.

Who knew marathon painting would be such a good workout?

Saturday we were busy.  My daughter had a playdate at the playground with a friend in the morning and my son went over to his friend's house in the afternoon for a birthday party.

Saturday afternoon, my parents came to our house and picked up the kids for a weekend sleepover.

My husband and I had decided earlier in the week that we would be painting the upstairs hallway.

In the interest of being honest, we haven't painted it since we moved in 7 years ago.  The urgency to paint it comes from my obsession with Pinterest.  I saw an idea of  hanging old frames up but removing the glass and replacing it with cork.  My kids have always loved having their artwork on display and this idea seemed genius for my household.  This way they can change it up and I love the idea of having a little museum in our home.

We live in a condo that has lots of continuing walls and open space, so we were lucky that we had already made the grueling color choice years ago when we painted our foyer which included part of our wall to the stairs.

We were unlucky in the fact that our color had been discontinued.  Luckily the associate at the paint store did a great job getting us the closest possible match.

When we went to pick up the paint we had a few minutes to look around.  That's when I started looking at swatches.  I found a color gray that I thought would look really great in my son's room.

The kids' rooms were the first thing we painted when we moved in.  For some crazy reason, we painted their rooms in a flat paint.  Something about the builder saying the house would settle, it would be easier to touch up, it was all hooey and the kids rooms are just completely marked up and in need of some eggshell paint.

A quick call to the boy to see if gray was still his favorite choice for his room, it was, so we told him that we would probably pick up the paint since they were offering a rebate and then at some point in the near future we would repaint his room.

Cut to finishing the hallway, having a few drinks to celebrate and deciding that we can indeed go ahead and surprise our son and paint his room for him.  This is why alcohol and paint fumes don't mix.

We managed to get through it.  I was only slightly panicked when I realized that we had packed our daughter's room with all the furniture from the hallway and her brother's room and that our kids would indeed, need to have access to their rooms in order to sleep and get ready for school and the week ahead.

A quick call to my parents begging them to bring the kids to us instead of us going to get them, every minute was precious and necessary, and we were in a race against time to get things done.  We managed to get enough done so that we could function and I now have the lovely task of getting the rest of it done today.

Let me say this, painting is hard work.  Every room that is painted in our house has been done by us.(the only exception being a wall that was repaired through our insurance company and repainted by painters)  I think in the back of my mind, it's going to be all overalls, painters hats and some sort of crazy paint fight. It's patching, sanding, taping , trimming and dismantling.  Despite my begging, my husband refuses to buy matching overalls and a paint fight?  That's just insanely messy and only  fun if I'm not the one who has to clean it up.  It is usually really fun and exciting adding the new color, but the second coat, come on, there's just no thrill in that.

      My vision of painting may or may not be influenced by this scene in "She's Having A Baby."

In the wind-up.  I am really glad we did it.  Everything hurts, I am so sore and exhausted and I feel bad that after two days away, my kids came home to tired and grumpy parents instead of refreshed ones.   Luckily a weekend of getting spoiled by my parents took the sting out of it.