What's a Day Off?

Today I awoke to Aliza calling to me from my bedroom door.  I was pretty groggy (going to bed at midnight wasn't treating me well), but I recognized the word TICK.  That got my attention, so I pulled Steve out of bed with me and we went to the bathroom to investigate.  Sure enough, a little tick was attached to her stomach.  I was so thankful Steve was around for this!  My tick inexperience could've stumped us, but instead Steve pulled out tweezers and took care of it.  No big deal.  Aliza went around the rest of the morning minus a shirt, paranoid and complaining about how much it hurt.  By the afternoon I think she forgot about it completely.  Good!

The rest of the morning was spent piano-practicing and cake pop-making.  It was my test run for Gracie's party.  I had promised them but didn't know what I was getting into, so decided that practice was in order.  All of the bakers online had run into snags making them, so I was tenative.  But it was a piece of cake (yeah, I'm cheesy!) and all my tutorials paid off.  30 cake pops later, and feeling like I wanted to puke at the word cake pop, they were finished!  I think Gavin ate about 10 throughout the day, plus a piece of the cake I didn't use to make the cake pops.  Gage came in at about 3 plus cake, Aliza only 1 lonely one, and Grace 3 cake pops and two slices of cake (that I was able to catch).  I think I'm gonna forget about cake pops for a week or two.  Ugh.  But they were sure cute.

Other notable Columbus Day happenings:

Aliza, Grace, and Gavin went around the neighborhood asking if people would pay them $10 to rake their leaves.  The first door said yes and had them raking/fighting/getting splinters for 3 hours while Gage napped.  Loved it!  But one house was all they had energy for.

Drove Steve to the airport with kids in tow.  He's off to Florida (I'm soo jealous!) for a manager's training during the entire week.  Gage was pouty the entire drive and cried when we drove away without him.

I finished designing and printing Grace's birthday invitations.  Searched the half-unpacked basement for ric rac, but then ended up organizing instead.  No ric rac.  Off to Walmart for ric rac and spray paint (refinishing a nightstand) tomorrow!

Back to School

As school started this week, I'm happy to announce that all of the kids' fears were allieviated.

GAVIN'S FEAR:  Having homework.  So far, none!  Yay for both of us!  I DID explain to him that the younger you are, the easier and less homework is.  Not sure if this helped him though.  We'll see in the coming weeks.

GRACE'S FEAR:  The dreaded "bad teacher".  Everyone said how her teacher yelled and was mean.  Grace came home on day #1 cheering that her teacher was "AWESOME!"  I think it's going good so far.

ALIZA'S FEAR:  Yucky middle school lunches.  Not that this should even matter, since I make her lunch every day anyhow.  But she's always the one worried about what's for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  So her first day of school reports were that the lunches are "AMAZING" and then she went on to describe them in detail.  Think hot pizza and salad bars.  This girls' dream.

Gage and I are happy with our sparkly clean home and all day to do whatever we want.  Yesterday it was lying in the grass reading books and playing in the dirt.  Can't wait for Fall!

{The crew backpacked up}

First day with no hubby

{My big and little nerds}

Today started at 4AM.  I vaguely remember Steve kissing me goodbye and then fell back asleep.  I was hammered.

8AM I hear kids watching television and playing the wii.  Usually a no-no, but I had other things on my mind.

Running.

I hurried and got ready before Gage could notice me and give me a whimper.  As I headed sneakily out the back door, I froze.  It was raining.  Yuck.  So much for my run.

I'm a wimp when it comes to unusual running scenarios.  All thanks to when I twisted my ankle twice after playing volleyball.  It was bad and involved physical therapy and huge, sore cankles.

So I tend to avoid anything that may recreate those moments.

Well, I tried to exercise.

I'm hoping this isn't a foreshadowing of things to come.  With Steve gone, I am determined to get my pre-baby body back.  Say that three times!

And I have no will power when it comes to food, so I figure the running better handle it all.

Today is a holiday from school.  Even though they just started two days ago.  Crazy, I know.  I've become too happy (already) with my new freedom.

Gage finally agreed to a nap at 1PM.  He spent the morning playing, separately, with every toy in the playroom.  When I asked him if he would help me clean up, he replied "No!" in his high-pitched little voice.  Loving how he picked up this new phrase.  Love even more when he was singing E-I-E-I-O from Old Macdonald.

{Gage looking for Steve at the roller rink}

At 2PM Gavin finally decided to change out of PJ's.  Neighbor noises swayed him (finally) into getting ready and practicing the piano.  I even got the procrastinator to clean up a bit.

Grace was thrilled to have a 5 hour playdate with her friend Aidia.  Hoping that they don't destroy the freshly remodeled home that she lives in since her babysitter is watching those two.  Sorry to Aidia's mom in advance.

Aliza was bored.  All her friends had playdates with other friends.  I think the move has been hard on her.  But she doesn't tell me much.  When she couldn't find anything for lunch but told me she was hungry, I listed off a billion options.  Finally a pizza on bread was chosen, with sour cream and onion dip/chips.  Afterwards we played clue and she won in about two seconds.  Drat.  But I mentioned the neighbors out riding bikes, so she took off to join them.

I'm already thinking of what to do with 4 kids for dinner with no husband.  Right now the front-runners are Costco or smoothies in my new Blendtec.

Yep.  Real fancy.

It's not the first time...

Friday I got a surprise phone call. Not one from my best friend or a family member, but from Gavin's teacher Mrs. Brydges. She has NEVER called before, so I was nervously curious as to the nature of her call.

"Gavin was in the principal's office," she said, "for hitting a boy in the Kindergarten line." What?? This is not the kid that I would've expected a phone call about! She went on to tell me that an AM kindergartener said Gavin punched him and so he hit him back, his landing them both in with the principal :(  She also didn't think it was malicious or intentional (ok?) but that she would let us handle the punishment.

Well, having travelled a similar road before, I immediately let his teacher know that we would be writing an apology note to both the boy and the principal, to which she laughed and said that the other boy was planning on doing the same.

When Steve came home that evening, I quietly told him what I had heard and we then proceeded to talk privately with Gavin. Can I just say that this was the hardest conversation ever?? And it was because Gavin has the hardest time remembering! We asked handfuls of questions and either got "I don't know's" or one word answers. Arg! After a half hour of probing, I think we pried the whole story out of him (although I'm still not relly sure!).

Apology note was then drafted and child was put to bed.  It would be delivered the next day at school.

Fast forward:  Gavin and this little boy decided that they would become the best of friends.  I mean, they only live around the corner from each other!  A fact that we only just discovered.

Sounds like a plan.

Things to come.

Today I woke up to the sounds of kids downstairs.  No crying.  I liked it.

I could hear Gage climbing up the stairs.  Actually, I'm pretty adept at telling each kid apart thanks to a house filled with 100 year old wood floors.  Gage's upstairs crawl has it's own special thump.  One that makes me smile.

He's laboring upstairs to see me.  To snuggle in my big, California King-sized bed.

As he slammed the door open and came running to my side, I leaned over and gave him a gigantic smile.  Boy did I love this kid.  His arms reached for me and I happily lifted him up and layed him next to me.

But I wasn't his focus.

The spot next to me was.  And it was empty.  With his pout and questionable arms raised, I knew what he was asking.  Where's daddy?

Daddy is away for work.  He'll be back for a few days, but then gone for much longer.  Until we buy a house to be exact.

But how to explain this to my Gage?

Maybe I'll make daddy do it.  I don't think I can take another pout.

Don't Let Me Forget

Gage 18mo:  Running with your arms behind you, rubbing the little ties on your blanket to your nose, talking (this, that, ball, wa wa, boo, mom, dad, aliza, truck, car, yuck, yes, bird, batman), waving a sword around and saying "Hi ya!", loving to walk around in the snow (especially in the middle of the street), snuggling dad, ripping off the wallpaper and blinds, helpful cleaning (emptying clean dishes out of the dishwasher), unhelpful cleaning (taking dirty dishes OUT of the dishwasher, throwing non-garbage in the trashcan), SHY, driving and crashing cars, flying airplanes, squatting for long periods of time, lover of basketballs and shooting them in your hoop, wheels (cars, bikes, toys), tipping your head during the prayer.  LOVE YOU.

My funny kiddos

Grace's prayer (2/13): 
Help us while we're young to prepare to become old.  And to serve a mission!

Gavin (2/13): 
Mom, where do crocodiles live?
In places in the south like Louisiana or Alabama.  Places that are swampy and have rivers.
Mom, can we live in Barak-abama?
Mom, what does a crocodile look like?
Mom, do they eat whales?
Mom, do they have spikes?
Mom, what's an alligator?
Mom, can we go see them??

Gavin (2/13):
It's sad that mom's have to take care of kids, and not themselves!

Gavin (2/25):
Mom, it's scary when a dog jumps up on you. He might get hurt.

Grace (3/4):
Well, I decided that I would style my hair like a baby one last time.

Gavin (3/16):
I'm going to have 100 kids.  And I'm going to give them $100 and buy them toys.
Wow!  You're going to have to have a really good job to take care of that many kids.  What do you want to do when you grow up?
I'm going to steal it!