T.G.I.M.....Weekend Woes

Weekends are so rough for me. James works the night shift EVERY weekend & sleeps days. So....the kids & I are pretty much trapped in our house for 2 days with nothing to do. I could attempt to take all 3 kids out but it's too much work to make anything fun. I get exhausted & the kids get frustrated because they either have to help with Autumn or mad that I am distracted by taking care of Autumn so it's best to not even attempt leaving the house. This means for 2 days I am on complete Autumn care except when my night nurses comes in the evening, I have a 12 year old girl whose mood can change with each breath, & then I have a hyper-active 7 year old boy chatting to me all day (while trying to be quiet so daddy can sleep). I use the weekend to start my house cleaning, work on couponing and making my grocery list, & meal planning for the week. I try to spend more time with the kids but also try to make myself relax a little bit & focus on me some. I then torture myself by getting on facebook & seeing all the fun things everyone is doing over the weekend. Some weekends it actually makes me cry because I do miss the days when we could just get up & go. I miss hanging with friends or being able to take the kids to do something fun or even drive them to a friends house to play. The weekend is not all bad though, we get to attend church on Saturday evenings & I do get to spend more time hanging out with my kids (even though it can drive me crazy some days). I hate only getting to see my husband for about 4 hours each day & getting to go on date nights or getting with other couples/families. It's been the hardest part of our move & by Sunday evening I am so ready for Monday. The week brings help so I can leave the house, the kids can go to school & see their friends, & I get to see my SIL & have an actual adult to talk to. James is off so he gets to spend the entire evening with us & then I can have someone to talk to after the kids go to bed. It's sacrifices we made to give Autumn more of the care she deserves. even though it gets tough for me the minute I walk in her room & see her HUGE smile I realize we all do it because God has called us for more in this life. We may miss out on fun weekend gatherings/activities but it does not compare to the lessons God is showing us in being selfless, obedient, & faithful. Each week I start to get wrapped up in the "I wants" or "me" attitude & the weekends give me the reality check for how He wants me to live my life. He wants me to slow down, disconnect from the worldly ways to refocus, spend quality time with my children (not just carting them from place to place), have family worship time, cherish my husband more, and to care for that child who depends on me for her every little need just like I depend on Him. I get frustrated how He chooses to speak to my heart at times but so thankful He loves and cares for me enough to speak to me the way He does. Love my God.