Ahhh...7pm and both boys are asleep!

I am sorry about the long abscence from the blog scene. We have been off on the planet eternal illness. Grant put it best when he said, "we are just a bunch of sicko's." We have battled one awful bug after another, finally getting the worst bug of all a, horrible flu-bug which wiped each member of our family out for a week each. Matt and I were up for several of the nights with Spencer trying to keep him sipping on juice and in a cool tub to keep his temperature down. We were walking zombies for a long time. Once the flu-bug passed someone decided we needed one more bought with illness to round the whole experience out and sent a cold to each one of us and an ear infection to Spencer. So as we wrap up these tiring colds and try to keep Spencer happy and fed I have been putting in some long hours trying to get our house back in order. I am pleased to note that the mountains of laundry are slowly getting smaller. Matt is happily at work tonight catching up on some missed hours . After being out of it for so long it sure feels good to work.
Weeks without sleep and a very hectic life has made us stop and consider what we could do to 1.)be more prepared for future illness and 2.) how the heck can we simplify our life. As we considerred these two questions I came up with one idea as to how we could simplify. I decided to get our boys back on their old sleeping schedule. They used to be in bed and sleeping around 6 or 6:30p.m. every night. We discontinued the blissful bed-time routine for several reasons; it always seemed to conflict with family plans, ward parties, and anything in the evening really, we thought Matt should have a little time with the boys each night, and it just wasn't very normal. As a result life at bedtime for the past year has been not so good. Grant has just been way too tired each night as we tried to attend functions, have play time, read scriptures, etc. We have had little or no couple time. I rarely got any silent child-free time and everyone has been very irritable. So after a hard, sleep deprived year we have just decided just to work with the blessings nature gave us and put our boys to bed when they are tired. Tonight I feel a tremendous sense of relief since I have more time to get things done and to just relax in a peaceful quiet home for a few hours each night. Matt and I do the dishes together when he is not working--and actually had a pleasant conversation about something other than buzz-lightyear or imaginary friends named Brinton. We have found that play time on the weekends and reading our scriptures together at breakfast is just as good or better since we are all rested. LOVE IT!