Ugh. We had a long and yucky weekend ... both kids ended up with stomach viruses, and my husband was out of town. So, yeah, it was a loooooong weekend.

The good news is that everyone seems back to normal today. Enough so that this morning, Elisabeth said that she'd like to have a party for a stuffed bear.

So, this afternoon, we made a cake (using the oatmeal cake recipe from this book, substituting coconut oil for the butter, whole wheat pastry flour for most of the flour, and soy creamer for the milk in the "icing" -- but even after reducing the sugar in the actual cake by almost a third, this stuff was like eating spoonfuls of pure sugar -- I'm not sure if I'd make it again for that reason!) and got down to the business of partying.

Some days I feel so scattered and overwhelmed by all the things that I "should" be doing that I forget to play with my children. But when I take the time to do it, I think we're all better off for it.

uncommon grace