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We've missed you so much.

All Saints Day

The RE program at our parish had an All Saints Parade yesterday evening. So Fritter was St. Francis again. It was a very fun, and super cute evening.

In this video, Fritter's class is practicing marching in a line. They're preschoolers. They need all the practice they can get. The preschoolers led the real march, and it took all six adults in the class to keep them in line. Ever hear of herding cats? Yeah. It was like that.

Once in the parish hall, some of the "saints" were called on to tell about their saints. Fritter wanted so bad to go up, and we had practiced a little at home, so I thought it would be fine. Once up, this is what he said (he's not shy at all):

(If you can't hear him, the DRE asked him who he was and he told her Alexander (not his saint name), she then said, "Oh, Alexander the Great?" He said yes and then told her that he likes movies. So she said, "You must be the patron saint of movies!" He agreed. ;-) He is so proud of himself as he's walking back, and that's probably the cutest part of this video.

Overall, it was a very fun night. Here's a token picture of my little saint and another with him and his sister (I think she's jealous of his costume).

Happy Birthday From Far Away

My husband has been out of town for his last two birthdays. It's never fun. On a day when I want to wake him with kisses and snuggles and a loud rendition of the Happy Birthday Song, I have to settle for a phone call at 5am his time and a slightly more annoying version of the song. When my home should be smelling of homemade chocolate cake and he should be opening homemade cards from Fritter and Maggie...well, it doesn't and he's not. *sigh*


When my dear, wonderful husband should be being reminded of how much we love him and how very special he is to us, he's working over there, and we are over here.


And no matter what I tell myself, celebrating his birthday when he comes home just won't be the same. But, I'll settle for it. Because he IS coming home. On Saturday night. And I can't wait to give him enough kisses to make up for six weeks of none.


Happy Birthday, Nee. I love you.

Not That I'm Counting Or Anything

3 days, 8 hours, 33 minutes=time until my dear husband arrives home

We've got dinner with a friend tonight, a playdate tomorrow morning, a prayer group tomorrow night, babysitter's day on Friday morning, a doula's appointment Friday afternoon, and a birthday party Saturday between now and then.

I think I can, I think I can...

Feeling Festive

And loving it.

Kid Cuteness

Fritter has started testing out what it's like to call me "Mom". Not "Mama", not "Mommy" but "Mom". I don't like it much, and I keep hoping that he'll forget all about this and go back to "Mama". He watches my face to see how I'll react every time he says it. Thankfully, when he's not practicing being a little man, he reverts back to "Mama".

~~~

Yesterday I asked Fritter to pick up the toys in the playroom. He said, "But Mom! It's just too much!" I told him to do one thing at a time, and directed him to the Mr. Potato Head stuff. He then held up both hands and said, "No, I can do two things at once. I have two hands!"

~~~

Ladybug has become quite the little zealot. At Mass a few weeks ago, after Father said, "Let us pray", she (very loudly) started, "Haiw Mawy full o gwace da Lord is wif de."

Soothing the Beast

I'm used to temper tantrums. My soon to be four year old has had many, many tantrums. My soon to be two year old has already started and is well on her way to matching her brother in the Tantrum Hall of Fame. So yes, I'm used to dealing with them.

Except my own.

The past few days have been hard. I miss my dear husband terribly, and though there is only two weeks before he comes home, it feels like eternity. And today? Today was...topped off by my very own 28 year old version of a temper tantrum.

Today after lunch was great. We had a visit from a good friend, and it seemed like the time just flew by.

But this afternoon was not so much fun. Ladybug has decided it's great fun to get into everything, and Fritter has decided he must defend his toys to the nth degree whenever she is around. And though I really tried to fight it, I couldn't stop from being frustrated.

Tonight we sat down to pray our rosary after dinner (which was brought by another great friend, and I'm so thankful because I don't think I would have managed it tonight), and the kids started fighting over the rosaries, and then Ladybug was having a marvelous time tossing hers in the air, and then the rosary box spilled, and I did what any three year old would do in this situation. I cried. I sent the kids to the playroom and I cried. And then I stopped and remembered how old I was and that I was the mother, not the child. And I decided to pray instead. And when I gathered my wits about me, I called the children back in, apologized for sending them away so abruptly, and we calmly settled back in to pray.

Do you know what mystery we are supposed to reflect on today? The joyful mysteries. That's right. Joyful. And half way through the first joyful mystery (the Annunciation) I was truly calmed. And reveling in the smoothness of my children's arms next to me, and feeling our new child move inside me. By the second mystery (the Visitation) I could be joyful myself, thankful for the wonderful friends who have stepped up to help us while my husband is gone. I could smile again. I remembered how much I love my children, how much I love being home with them, and teaching them, and just how funny they really are. And I could hear my son keeping pace with the Hail Mary's with me, and I marveled in the gift of faith that God has given us.

I didn't come away with any great revelation after putting my children to bed. But I was able to finish the evening with them on a positive note; snuggles, a story, prayers, and kisses goodnight. And that's probably more important.

Changes

I have decided to turn comments for this blog off for a time. Worryiing about them makes me not want to write so much. Thus the frequent crickets heard here. And I do so have a need to write. However, I would love to receive emails from you, see the sidebar link. This may be temporary. Or it may not. We'll see how it goes. Thanks in advance for understanding.

Indulgence

I am going to sit down in front of the computer and catch up on blogs while eating the last piece of apple pie. It is 9pm, and I am tired. But I'm always tired. And I don't always have time to sit down and catch up on blogs and eat apple pie. I should go to bed and read something that is written in a book, but blog reading is valuable too. In it's own way. And I have to wait up to answer my dear husband's phone call when he gets off work, so I'd be up anyway. And I might as well do something I want to do. Not that I don't like to read books. I do. But I haven't caught up on blogs in so, so long. And I miss them. Besides, the kids are sleeping and I did sweep the kitchen floor tonight. Oh! I'd better go. It's time to indulge myself.

Laughing Ladybug

This is some game that Fritter plays with Ladybug, and tonight she picked it up. But she couldn't get through it without laughing.

Playpen Sheets

Tired of not having sheets that fit our playpen (which is what Ladybug is sleeping in currently) I decided to make some. These are inspired by my sister-in-law's playpen sheets that were given to her by a friend. Basically it is a giant pillowcase that fits over the mattress. I just sewed some receiving blankets together and walla! Cozy playpen sheets.

One side.

And the other.

Seriously? I need to return my friends sewing machine!