Welcome home?

Well, we're back home from DC! It's nice to be sleeping in my own bed again. But, I miss having my whole family together. We had so much fun! Although I wouldn't have traveled all the way to Washington DC to miss all the historical/ museum stuff, I can honestly say that wasn't my favorite part of the trip. Mt. Vernon was impressive, the Holocaust museum was overwhelming, The monuments were huge, and seeing the real Declaration of Independence was amazing. I'm glad I got to see all those things and more. But, the best part was spending time with my brothers and sisters! I'm so amazed by all of them - I can see very clearly how God has changed us all from selfish little children into adults who live to honor Him. I hope the change is as evident in me.
Getting back home has been hard in several ways. One of the first things I learned as I checked my email on Saturday night is that Dawn Marie (our pastor's daughter) died on Thursday. Maybe I'm just overly emotional - I really didn't know Dawn Marie at all - but I cried most of the way through church on Sunday. Her family was conspicuously absent (there's alot of them). And, it was mother's day. So, George Lockeyer kept saying what an essential job mother's have, and I kept thinking of Dawn Marie's kids and her husband.
On Tuesday, Ethan had the stomach flu. Then yesterday was pretty much the worst day ever. It started out pretty good. I woke up before the kids and actually had a chance to read my Bible, which doesn't happen most mornings. I felt relaxed and ready to handle the day. Then, Kylie woke up crying (which she hardly ever does), and when I went to get her, I found out why. It looked like she had thrown up in the middle of the night and then rolled in it. I know most of you don't want to know the nasty description, so I'll skip it. But, it was bad. I had to take everything off her bed and wash it. And, Kylie got a morning bath! So Kylie was cranky all day 'cuz she didn't feel good. Then, Ethan was hyper because I was rocking Kylie and couldn't pay attention to him like he thought I should. When I went to cook supper, my stove/oven died. Yes, my practically brand new oven won't get hot anymore. I was boiling water for spaghetti, and it just died. I had to cook the spaghetti in my hot pot. And, I have a half baked chocolate cake, if anyone's interested. After supper, I pulled Kylie's bumper pads out of the dryer to put them back on her crib. They're totally ruined. The filling on the inside twisted up into one giant ball in the middle. I don't know what I'm going to do about those. To top it all off, Caleb had to work late last night. Poor Caleb. By the time he got home I was totally losing it, and told him to give the kids a bath and put them to bed, so I could relax. He climbed on the roof with a hose and started cleaning out the gutters. I couldn't really blame him - especially after reading the Proverb about "better to live on the corner of a roof than with a contentious wife" just that morning. Kylie was running around the backyard screaming because she was scared of the noise he was making, and Ethan was yelling "DADDY!!!" at the top of his lungs (at 9:00 at night none the less - the neighbors were probably not happy) everytime Caleb went to the front side of the house where he couldn't see him. They finally went to bed, and I crashed. I watched CSI New York, and was surprisingly comforted because the people there seemed to be having a worse day than me.
Maybe today will be better. I think I could use another vacation, though. I guess I'll get one from cooking at least!