Shawn had the great opportunity to go salmon fishing with his parents and brother Jake. His trip is a week long - so I've had to gear up for this. The kids and I look forward to and rely upon Shawn's arrival home each day, so not having him here is an adjustment. There are no pictures of our survival, but let me reassure you that both the kids and I are still alive!) I have woken up each morning with a fresh determination to be patient, loving, and FUN! We've been to the movie, had friends over, been out exploring and playing to our hearts content. I even took them to Toys R Us for crying out loud....however, the fun mom usually retires around dinner time and she is replaced by the regular, get to bed right now, pick up your toys, "I've had it!", pulling my hair out mom! Besides a few nights of Lyv waking up and seeing our nasty neighbor the 5 foot rat snake (pictures will be coming) we've been good. What this survival has shown me is that my kids are really great, and I need to remember that and show more gratitude to them for the good things they do. Also is has reaffirmed to me the importance of parents - plural. I trust in his co-parenting more than anything to get me through each and everyday. I'm not good at doing things on my own, especially when I have to attend events like Sam's baseball games and kindergarten celebration on my own - trying to video, take photos, balance Lyv on my knee, open a fruit snack with my third hand (AKA my teeth) and try to cheer for Sam all at the same time. We've had a lot of fun, ate simply, read a good book, and are anxiously looking forward to eating the 50 lb. salmon that Shawn caught and having our daddy back!
Also Jack's humor helps.... here's a little taste as of late.
He woke up 2 nights in a row with nightmares. What are they about? He dreams that he's a girl! That is scary. Poor guy.
He has a really hard time with he's and she's, and calls everyone he. So he the other day he told me, "Mom, some of my brothers are girls!" He didn't specify who was who... so Sam's gender is still in question.
He still loves his ant babies, but the love is fading. After several nasty bites from the ant who are struggling for their lives as he suffocates them in his sweaty palm, he has started to stomp on them. I asked him why he was killing his babies... "They are bad babies mom. They don't do what I tell them."
That title is for you mom! The kids got busy yesterday and Sam engineered a dam in the creek that runs in the front of our house. The kids had a great time playing in the mud, toting big rocks, and eventually getting filthy! Jack tried to "swim" in it goggles and all, Lyv waded through the water with her chubby little legs, and Sam persistently tried to stop the leaks that kept coming through the dam wall. I love this time of year, they spend so much time outside, exploring the creek, catching frogs, building bridges, throwing rocks, and wading through the murky water. It was a great day to be a little kid.
A highlight for Sam and for all the boys really is being able to gear in the catcher's gear and play catcher. Honestly Sam thinks its awesome that he has to use a cup, so this only adds to the appeal! I just had to post some pictures of him in action. The gear is so big and bulky, he can barely walk out to the plate.
Since Sam has a summer birthday, we decided to through his party before school let out. We planned a water party outside, and prayed for nice weather. On the day of the party, we woke up to drizzling rain! YUCK! Shawn and I quickly tried to through together some indoor party games, and prayed a little harder for a break in the weather. At party time, the rain had stopped and luckily the temperature was warm. We started out inside and worked our way outside starting with water balloon games. The kids had a great time, and I'm so glad we had them over. Sam has made some great buddies here, and we loved getting to spend time with them. Sam is OBSESSED with beyblades right now, and requested a beyblade cake. This is the only thing I could think of - Sam was happy so it was a winner. I wish I would have taken more pictures but both Shawn and I were manning the water games, piñata, and waterside, so this is all I have! While the kids were standing in line to do the slip and slide, they noticed a HUGE (5 feet) black, nasty snake coming out of the rock wall behind them. Shawn ran over and got a picture, and the kids tried to squirt it with a water gun. I have vowed to stay away from the wall from now on! The snake only added to the "cool" factor of the party, so Sam's birthday was a hit. I hope that he remembers all this fun when his actual birthday comes around in July!)
