NOOO! Winter break cannot be over!

We had such a lovely break - the trip to Evanston, some quick home improvements before the big first birthday party for Matthew, the Kay family visited, the birthday party itself, and then tonight we went to a fun 18th birthday party for my nephew David. Sadly, though, I was moving so fast I did not expect this break to be over so soon! It's a good feeling when you are not sick of your kids, and they aren't sick of each other, at the end of 9 days off.

Not to say we didn't have our moments... but I have realized I am more immune to those moments than I ever thought I would be. 9 years of motherhood (and three kids) have really taught me to just let some things slide...and then there was breast cancer to teach me more big lessons in that way.

I could really tell the difference in pre-breast cancer Pam and post-cancer Pam when I was painting over the past week. I decided at 3pm on Saturday that I would paint the entire main level - about 1000 square feet, but no ceilings, and not the heinous kitchen cabinets, which take up a lot of those square feet. Still, it was a fair amount of work, but I finished the job Sunday around dinner time. (Just don't look too closely, because I am not a painting perfectionist!) I was about 10 hours into my painting weekend when I realized I had not yet had one single fit or tantrum. I could hardly believe it! Pre-cancer, it would only take about 4 hours of painting to set me off...and here I did a whole weekend without losing it.

So...maybe it is the 9 years of motherhood, or the fact that the kids are getting older and easier, or maybe it is the nice way my breast cancer experience colors things - but something has weathered me in a rather nice way. Because here I sit, after 9 days of crazy home improvement projects, a trip with 3 kids in tow, preparations for a party at my house, more busyness than I normally like, and trying to control the craziness at my house so that my 3 kids and too many pets (including puppy) did not disrupt every minute of sleep my nephew/sister/brother-in-law may have been trying to have at our house - and I don't want it to end!

Good thing the Luckens are going on vacation together in only 4 days...