Back To Normal

Things I love about having my husband back at home:

- Not having to be the sole night-time tooth-brusher. I really don't enjoy the bedtime routine, and I especially hate the tooth-brushing part.

- Someone to change all the lightbulbs that burnt out in the last 3 weeks.

- Me having a leisurely morning at home with Silas and Keziah while Erik does the drop-off portion of the daily school runs.

- Making 2 cups of coffee in the morning instead of just 1.

- Being able to slowly debrief about the little things in my day without the pressure of trying to "say it all" in a phone conversation.

- Having someone to welcome home for supper time :)

- The kids fighting less. Or maybe it just feels like they're fighting less because I don't have to be the only one to deal with it!

(This is me not caring anymore - the day before Erik got home)

(Silas warmed up quickly to Erik after the long separation - something to be thankful for!)

Another bonus of having Erik home? Leaving the house and the kids behind for a day of pampering - hair cut/colour and Life Group girls spa/massage night!

(Here's my new haircut - haven't had in this short in awhile. But I'm loving it!)

The thing I don't love about having my husband back? How our house suddenly feels WAY too small for our family. Crazy how one extra person makes it feel more crowded.

Stay tuned for the solution to that dilemma...

Blankie

Silas is a blankie baby.

Somewhere between 6 and 12 months old he adopted this soft blue Winnie-The-Pooh blanket that was one of Micah's baby blankets back in the day. I probably put it in his crib with him a few times and slowly it became a favourite.

And it was soft and cuddly when he first started using it. A chenille blanket, I think. When I see it in this picture (back in June) it actually still resembles it's original texture (though I was already thinking it was getting a bit threadbare at this point...)

But after a few hundred miles of snuggling in the van and a few throw-ups, food spills and many, many washings later, it was looking less and less like a soft chenille baby blanket and more like a collection of loosely woven strings.

The blanket tag is probably the most favourite part of blankie.

And when Silas is tired, he can be most commonly found holding the tiniest edge of blankie up to his nose - inhaling it like a sleep-inducing drug...

(The other blanket beside him in the last picture was the one I was hoping he would adopt as his favourite - the super-cute, not-falling-apart one.)

These days, blankie is becoming a permanent fixture - with Silas never leaving it too far out of reach. It's a little obsessive. And I do plan on implementing some blankie boundaries soon... But, did I mention that I've been a single mom for 3 weeks?

Yeah, blankie boundaries are not high on my priority list right now.

I'm just not sure what to do about the actual blanket. It's literally falling apart a little more each day. Strings get caught on toys as he drags it around the house. And Silas likes to help it along by poking his fingers and toes through holes in the fabric.

I would love to make it smaller - maybe cut it in half a couple of times and create a new edge, but I'm not sure it will survive blanket surgery. One person suggested putting a backing on one side, but I don't think that Silas would go for that.

And I thought Keziah's "deedee" was well worn.

This Winnie-The-Pooh blankie has sure seen better days...

Done

That one word describes how I'm feeling about this single-mommin'-it time. Erik has been gone for 2 1/2 weeks now. Week 1 was pretty good. I was enjoying being back in my own space after sharing a house with family for the summer, and we had the excitement of those first few days of school to look forward to. But by week 2, those feelings were starting to wear off... and so was my patience.

Now we're in week 3.

Micah asked me the other day why I was allowed to yell and he wasn't. Ummm.... yeah.

To sum up, I don't feel like I'm having my best mom moments these days. But, even though I hate how I feel like I'm doing more "refereeing" than parenting and that the TV seems to be on for more hours than I care to count up, I'm choosing not to feel too guilty about it. And I'm counting down the sleeps until Erik gets back!

I think this time away from Daddy has been wearing on the kids too. Or maybe they're just sick of me. But I feel like they have been EXTRA fighty this week. And yes. I just made up the word fighty.

In other news, tonight was "Meet the Teacher" night at Micah's school. I dropped Silas off with Grandma and me and the older 2 kids went to Micah's Kindergarten classroom.

This is where Micah sits - he was showing me how he practices writing his name every day in his "name book".

Showing Keziah what "circle time" is all about:

I'm pleasantly surprised to see how social Micah is with his classmates. There's one boy in particular that Micah talks about every day and I'm pleased to know he's already made a good friend. Here is Micah and his classmate Jade playing with some alphabet blocks tonight:

Micah is LOVING school - especially gym and recess. But he's also shown a sudden interest in learning to read. They've been reading "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom" this week at school and tonight Micah borrowed the book from Grandma's house and was sounding out the words all the way home. His small successes with reading seem to be motivating him right now, and hopefully that will continue.

Anyway, now it's off to sleep (only 3 more until Erik gets home!)

Keziah-Bear

I have documented a few moments of girly 3-year-old cuteness in recent days...

Keziah is one very proud big-girl cousin. She can't get seem to get close enough to her newest little-girl cousin, Emerson Lily.

There is a definite tendency to smother things that she loves (i.e. Lazarus the cat and Charlie the dog this past summer) but it really is all well-intentioned.

Keziah also started ballet this year. We decided against preschool for now, but I knew she needed a little something that was just for her. She's been talking about ballet all summer and counting down the sleeps. We had to quickly go out shopping to track down all the requirements for her class - pink tights, pink body suit, pink ballet slippers and the optional pink tutu. But who wouldn't spring for the tutu when you see how cute it looks with everything else...

With her friend Taeya after her first class (you can tell who's done ballet before :)

And my favourite thing about Keziah - something that reminds me so much of myself as a kid - is how much she loves to sing! I'm always hearing her making up new songs or belting out familiar ones. I wanted to capture her singing one of her favourites on video - and I did, but a much more timid version:

Hey Daddy...

We miss you! Come home soon!

Kindergarten

After a short parents meeting and a teacher-child interview this week, Micah started his first "official" day at Kindergarten yesterday (Friday), even though it was only a 1/2 morning.

Having the brief glimpses of his classroom earlier in the week was perfect - he was excited to go back, meet his teacher again and sit in his special seat with his name on it. However, I could sense his nerves as we waited on the playground the first morning for school to start - even though he wouldn't admit to it :) I watched his intensity as the buzzer went off and he made a bee-line for the place where he had been instructed to line up, a serious, focused look on his 5-year-old face.

(After I reminded him to smile)

I feel totally fine with this new season of Micah going off to school. Maybe the fact that he could've been in Kindergarten last year makes it seem like it's "time"! He's totally ready for this. And I'm glad we waited, because I don't think an every-day Kindergarten entry last year would've been this easy for either of us.

The adjustment for me is going to be the drive. We chose a school that is on the opposite end of the city and I knew that there would be a commute for as long as we remained in our current house, but I also knew I could take the freeway and get there in 15 minutes. Now the freeway is under major construction and is like a parking lot most mornings. I don't plan to risk taking it anytime soon. So, it means driving through the city - trying out different routes to find the best one. It just feels like a LONG drive. My thought yesterday morning as I drove was, "why am I doing this??" But I really do love the school and the teacher and I've already had such a good impression of it in a short time. There are just other factors that have made me wish we would've done things differently this year (factors that I will blog about another day...)

In the meantime, we will embrace this new season with all of its busy-ness, knowing that it won't be like this forever :)

Edmonton

After our time in Saskatoon, we were off to Edmonton. Erik gave me full permission to book a cheap hotel online, which I did.

I think Erik regretted it a bit when we showed up in Edmonton... They upgraded us to a "renovated" room b/c the elevators were broken, and let's just say that I wouldn't have wanted to see an UN-renovated room. And the surrounding neighbourhood was more than a little bit sketchy.... but I had a good attitude about it and figured that the room was really just for sleeping...

All the fun stuff was going to happen at the mall!

Watching skaters at the ice rink:

Taking the train ride at Galaxy Land:

Wish I could bottle the affection in this picture and save it for less-affectionate days...

Micah let me take him on his first roller coaster. And once he got his first taste of the thrill of amusement rides, he was hooked!

Our 2nd day there was our designated water park day. However, just moments before we headed out the door we had un unfortunate accident. Silas was pushed off the bed by his *adoring* big sister and hit the back of his head on the edge of the bed frame. It immediately started bleeding a lot and we decided to take him to a nearby walk-in clinic. The bleeding had mostly stopped by the time we arrived but Erik was brilliant enough to bring in the blood covered towel. One look at the towel and the crying baby and we were "fast-tracked" to a quick appointment. Erik overhead the receptionists talking about the baby with the "head laceration" and we were in and out of there in less than 15 minutes! In the end, the doctor decided it would be too tricky to stitch up a squirmy 17-month-old's head (even though he said it could've used 2 or 3 stitches) and recommended that we let nature do the healing. He will definitely have a scar, but thankfully it should be hidden in his hair.

As for the waterpark, the doctor understood our family's dilemma in only being in Edmonton for a short time. He said that going to the waterpark wouldn't be the worst thing we could do. So, we went. We took a little extra care with Silas' head and still had a great day.

(You can kind of see the wound here - on the lower left portion of his head.)

Micah and Keziah had so much fun. There was a new (to us) kids area that had an amazing splash park - er, make that a no-way-you-can-stay-dry park - with a big climbing structure and some really great kid-sized slides. So perfect! And as much as the kids would've been content to stay in that area all day, Erik decided to take Micah down some of the "grown-up" slides. The roller coaster at Galaxy Land was just a warm-up for the adventures Micah embarked on at the waterpark. He surprised us by loving all the big slides - even if he had to ride down alone in the pitch dark! He definitely has his daddy's love for thrills!

And the pool was a big hit too. When the horn signals that the waves are starting and all the kids scream, Micah and Keziah were right in there :)

We saw the sea lion show for free from up on the second floor. It was really good!

And that is the conclusion of our amazing summer adventure! I have no doubt that there are many more adventures to come...