The Honeymoon is Over!

Yes, this is Aidan in his "Life is SO Unfair" Position. The honeymoon is over. Dad has been home for two weeks, life is back to normal--and so are the kids. The past two mornings have been huge exercises in patience with Matt back at school and all three kids trying to figure out how to readjust to being the four of us again for a few hours.

This has been the hardest on Aidan, who adores Daddy and is quite ticked off that he has to go back to work. He has reverted back to the terrible two's with a vengence. Anything Mom (or his Aunt Lisa) wants him to do is the end of the world. Even something as simple as getting in the car is a full-blown drawn out temper tantrum. He spent about 45 minutes in the corner for various offenses Tuesday morning alone. He has been hitting, biting and just downright mean at times. I love my son! =) It is Matt's turn to get a glimpse of what the first two months of his deployment were like at home.

Chloe is handling Matt's return to work quite well. She does ask when he is coming home throughout the day and can't wait for him to come home. She is a very busy girl which helps. Between homeschooling a few hours a day, speech, dance, brownies and her classes she is constantly on the go.

Brenna is still not sure about Daddy. She is fine when it is just him and the kids but as soon as Mom is in the room, or the house for that matter, forget it. She wants nothing to do with him. So him being gone during the day doesn't phase her too much. As long as she can crawl all over the house, she doesn't care.

The kids will be fine in another week or two. Mom just needs to survive the days. =)

Simple Saturday

It has been a very long past few weeks. I am left feeling emotionally, spiritually and physically exhausted. It has been a busy week of running around getting things ready for the play, my Stampin' Up! open house, fighting for Chloe's schooling and just trying to keep up in general. But as I sit here at the laptop, I am reminded (in a very LOUD way) of how very blessed I am. Aidan and Chloe are running through the house playing (quite happily, I might add) with each other. I know that they won't (and don't) always get along so it is music to my ears when they do. Brenna is crawling all over the house exploring and trying to pull herself to standing on every piece of furniture we own. She is quite happy being independent and for once this week is not screaming. =) Matt is off getting pizza for dinner (my hero!) which the kids will love. We are always so busy that it is nice just to sit back and do just that--sit.

I hope you all have a relaxing, peaceful weekend!

Conquering Bath Time Phobia

For those of you who don't know--Brenna absolutely hates the bath. She is so passionate about her hatred that as soon as her feet hit the water she immediately starts to crawl out of the bathtub. This has gone on since the day she was born. But the past week she has decided that the bath is kind of fun. Maybe it is because she sees her brother and sister enjoying the bath so much or that she began to love the water while we took her swimming. Frankly I don't care! I am just glad that she is now having a blast in the bath instead of screaming her head off.

So here are some of the first fun "bath time" pictures I have been able to take of Brenna. Since this is only the second bath that she hasn't tried to climb out of I thought I had better take the pictures before she changes her mind! =)

These Boots Were Made for Stomping!!

Daddy's stuff arrived the day after we got home. Aidan had a blast playing dress-up in Daddy's desert camouflage. He stomped around the house for quite a while in those big old boots! Aidan is so happy that Dad is finally home. We are just now starting to deal with homecoming adjustments.

Christmas With Daddy!

When we came home from our trip the kids were excited to find a pile a presents under our tree. Yes the tree is still up. I was informed by the six year old that it couldn't come down until Daddy came home. They were so excited!

Aidan got another train set, a bigger one that is a remote control train. Plus some new clothes, a semi-truck to hold his hot wheels and a giant dump truck with a bunch of little tractors to go with it. Brenna got her very first doll stroller (made for 9 month olds), her first "tea" party set, her first "cell phone and car keys" and some new clothes (needed clothes since she has just about outgrown everything in her dresser). Chloe got a Hannah Montana Disney Mix Stix which she loved!! She has enjoyed listening to her own music with her headphones just like Mommy. She also got a large stamp set, so she can stamp with Mom and use her own stuff. She got a Cuttlekid die cut machine (she loves to use Mommy's Big Shot but some of the dies can be sharp if not handled properly so I thought she'd be better off with a friendlier kid version). Daddy got a book on how to be mature =), Turtles (his favorite candy) and a Kung Fu Panda DVD. Mommy got all ten seasons of Friends (once Matt's gorilla boxes arrived through USPS).

We spent the rest of the night relaxing and just enjoying family!!

Science Exploration

We spent Wednesday afternoon at our local Science Center. The kids love it there (although Aidan was a bit young the last time we went) and Matt has never been there. The science center is such a fun place for the kids to run around and play. There is so much to look at and see! Here are the giant statues at the center that are usually surrounded by pools (I guess they drain them in the winter).





Next we headed to the dinosaur exhibit. Aidan loved the dinosaurs, of course. Once he realized that they moved, he was enthralled. Brenna was impressed with how big they were. Chloe wasn't that into the dinosaurs themselves but she did enjoy making the dinosaur robot move.







Here are some fun pictures of us playing at some of the displays they have there...






One of my favorite exhibits at the Science Center is the butterfly house. It is such a peaceful (although muggy) place. Beautiful tropical flowers and ponds are full of butterflies. You can even watch as butterflies come out of their cacoons.





Brenna and Chloe loved the butterflies. They couldn't stop looking around.





Here are some more pictures of us exploring the rest of the center.






I know it doesn't look like in this picture but Aidan is actually hanging onto the rope four to six inches off of the ground. He is one strong kid. He held on with everything he had. He had a blast just hanging around. =)




We had three very tired kids on our hands as we left the big city and headed for home. They all passed out in the back of the Land Yacht. The younger two didn't wake up until right before we got home. It was a great family day!

Family Swim

Since Matt's flight came in so late we decided to stay in a hotel after picking him up. The hotel where we stayed was wonderful. We stayed in the "Pool Suite", which was a big room right next to the pool. They had a complimentary breakfast and I do mean breakfast, not just bagels and fruit. The pool was by far the best part. The shallow end was 9 inches and the deepest corner of the pool was only 4 1/2 feet deep. Two fountains marked off where the water started to get deeper. The kids loved it. We swam for over an hour before we checked out. It was so much fun playing and laughing with the kids.

Airports, Need I Say More?

As you all know from Matt's post (his first venture into the blogging world that we all love), he is home safe and sound. He flew in to Sea-Tac Tuesday night, which is the day I teach, so you can all imagine how exhausted I was by the time we made it down there. So here is a quick recap of our trip to the airport...

Forgot stuff at home, so instead of leaving right after school like I wanted to do, I picked up the kids and ran home. Once I was home, Becca called, I left Brenna's blanket there. Her favorite blanket. The one that helps her sleep. Had to get it. Finally on our way out of town, realized I forgot something else. Back to the house. ARRRRGGHH! Grab what I need. Stop to feed Brenna real quick. Finally out the door. Matt calls while we are on the run. Flight is delayed--Hallelujah! We won't be late.

Praise God! Traffic was an absolute breeze (even though it was rush hour) and we made it to Sea-Tac in 2 hours. Those of you that live here understand what a miracle that is! It is pitch black in Tukwilla (Sea-Tac) and I think I am lost (I realized later I wasn't) and turn around not finding the hotel. Decide to do some quick shopping. Aidan falls head first out of the cart onto the HARD linoleum floor. He screamed for a quite a while and is lucky that he didn't crack his head open. He did manage to make Mom's heart skip a few beats.

Get turned around trying to get away from the mall and head to the airport, finally figure it out. There is so much construction down there that nothing looked the same. Drove the Land Yacht into a parking garage for the first time. Yikes! I parked into the first parking spot I find. Drag all the kids out of the car and load them into the stroller and baby carrier (which is as crazy as it sounds). Haul but to the ticket counter for Matt's airline.

Check the board and Matt's flight is now twenty minutes early. Yikes! Now we only have thirty minutes to get passes, go through security, take the train to his gate--all with three cranky kids in tow. We ran to each checkpoint. We made it to the gate with five minutes to spare. How's that for hauling butt?

This is not my usual blogging style. My grammar teacher would be appalled. But I don't care. I am sooooo tired!! So I leave you with some pictures of the kids waiting and finally seeing dad at the airport. I will post some pictures of our day today tomorrow. Right now all I want is to go to bed.