Time to ask for your help!

I'm no stranger to trips with small children, not just car trips but airplane ones too.....BUT.....it will be our first time doing such a long and exhausting international trip with the kids.
They are really good for the most part and they do enjoying flying but this is a treacherous flight, it's horrible enough for us adults and believe me, by the time we get to Europe I'm DONE and don't want to step foot in another airplane, so I can't even begin to imagine how this will be on the children.

I need your help, I need your advice, your tips, whatever you have to offer I'm willing to take and believe me, every single comment will be greatly appreciated.

Just to give you an idea of how long this is....we will be taking 3 flights, the first one is about 2 hours, then we have a 5 hour layover, then an 8 hour flight to Europe and then a 3 hour layover and the last flight to South Africa is 10 hours long. My eye is twitching just typing this out LOL

So I beg you, please please help a stressed mommy out????

I finally got some sleep last night, after two nights of tossing and turning and this horrible cough keeping me away, I was able to get some rest.....I won't say it was a full night's sleep or that I slept like a baby, but it was something and I already feel much better just with the small amount I got.

At least today I can smell and taste. Is there anything worse than trying to eat or drink when you're sick and everything tastes like cardboard???? For someone who loves food the way I do, it's just torture.

I was so sick yesterday, fever, chills, cough and sore throat and my voice was pretty much gone. By the time dinner rolled around I was just done in and didn't have the energy to get up and cook so we had frozen tv dinners......it bothers me. I'm serious, it really really bothers me having to serve it to the kids. They love it, they don't care but for some reason it just downright annoys me LOL I guess there comes a time when I have to say "look, you're sick and you're doing the best you can, just deal with it".

So they had kids meals and cake for dinner and they were happy....I was all proud of myself for getting through dinner time and thanking the Lord for giving me the strength for it when all I really wanted was to crawl into bed and not move an inch.......but Curt is working those weird hours which mean bedtime falls on me, sick or not, rain or sunshine.

I LOATHE bedtime. You think I'm joking but I'm dead serious, it is the one time of the night that I completely utterly LOATHE. The excuses they will come up with not to go to sleep are just ridiculous.

I'm thirsty
I need to go to the bathroom
There's a weird sound in my closet
What's that light on the ceiling
Where's my favorite teddy bear
But why didn't you read me a story tonight, I can't go to sleep without a story
Where's daddy, I want him to put me to sleep
I'm hot
I'm cold
I need another blanket
Take the covers off of me
Can I have a snack
But I'm dying of hunger
But I really need a drink of water
Can you turn on the radio
I don't like the dark
I don't like the light

I could just go on and on and on and you would think after doing this for years they would have figured out that no matter what they say they will STILL be going to bed, but no. Every night they push the envelope a step further and every night they try to come up with yet another excuse. Lord give me patience LOL

Anyway, I need to get going, we have to run to Walmart to get some last gifts for Jasmine's birthday on friday. She's actually upset because there's no school that day due to some Teacher Meeting or something, so she's insulted that on her birthday she has to stay home with us. Now I'm the one feeling insulted, are we not good enough? LOL

I tried to get her some stuff at the BX (Base Exchange) yesterday but again they were moving shelves and departments around so I headed for the toy section and ended up staring at lamps and comforters. Weird!

They had all the toys in carts and boxes so there was no way I could find anything.

Hope you're all having a great day, please keep me and the passport issue in your prayers, I am truly hoping it comes in soon, there's not much time left now until we leave.

God Bless,