The Last Week of J-term

Samantha: 56 Months, Week 1

Aedan: 20 Months, Week 4 (Week 91)

The passing of this week was bittersweet to me because it was the last week before the spring semester starts at Miami, meaning Ben goes into full-time working mode again. Now, I really shouldn't complain because I am lucky that Ben has such a flexible schedule in the first place and that we get to take advantage of more family time during the breaks between semesters. Ben understands that quality time is very important to me, and I feel like my quality time meter is full to the brim from the past weeks of extra time together with Christmas, New Year's, and our trip to Puerto Rico.

That morning after breakfast Samantha wanted to read her Cinderella book to Aedan. For awhile he was sitting quietly and calmly right next to her on the couch as she described what was happening on each page. However, as soon as I got my phone out to record, he decided he wanted to get off the couch. It's still pretty cute seeing them sitting next to each other, sharing in an activity together.

Ben took Monday off since it was a holiday anyways, so on Tuesday he was back to work, working on syllabi and plans for his upcoming semester. I took the kids out in the morning, and we worked out a compromise. We went to open gym at the TRI first so that Aedan could play, run around, climb, and throw balls. This is mainly designed for younger kids, so it's not all that exciting to Samantha. However, she enjoyed meeting some new baby friends and discovered that it was still fun to ride on the plastic see-saw toy both with Aedan and with Charlotte. Aedan thought it was a blast climbing through the tunnels and riding on the see-saw with Samantha. They were both smiling from ear to ear and giggling as their side went up and down. Since Samantha is heavier than Aedan, his little bottom would pop off the seat every time he went up, which he thought was great fun. I got a chance to talk to some other moms for a few minutes which was nice as well. I feel like I haven't been around other moms much, especially with the holidays and everyone being busy. Plus, I feel like my schedule is opposite of a lot of others with Samantha being in preschool Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.

Part of our compromise was that after letting Aedan play in the gym, we would head over to the library for story time since Samantha really enjoys that and Aedan doesn't, giving them both an age appropriate activity for the morning. They were both having so much fun playing in the gym that I hated to stop them to take them somewhere else, and I offered to let Samantha just stay and play, but she wanted to go to story time. I don't know if it was because most people were at the gym or if it was because it was really cold outside, but there were not very many people at the library. In fact, there was only one other family at story time with us, making it a little awkward to sing and dance to songs. Samantha loves being read to and loves singing and dancing. Aedan enjoys the songs, but gets pretty antsy and fussy during the stories, which is ironic because at home he is constantly bringing books up to us to read to him. I think he has a hard time having to sit on the floor away from the book for he would much rather be standing right in front of the book so that he could see it better or sitting in your lap as you read the book to him individually.

Talking about going to the library reminds me to talk about Aedan's love of reading lately. He has many favorite books like the book of hymns and the Blue's Clues book. However, he also has recently discovered Samantha's Good Night Moon book that Grandpa and Grandma Toll recorded for her back when she was Aedan's age. This spurred a newfound interest in both recorded books, and he will listen to them over and over and over again. In fact, Samantha has even heard Aedan's book so much now that she has most of the words memorized. He knows how to say "book" and really enjoys pointing out pictures and having us name them or vice versa. It's amazing how much his vocabulary is expanding right now. Every day he is learning new words, and he is becoming easier to understand.

Samantha took a good nap for me on Tuesday afternoon, which made the rest of the night much better for gymnastics and our community group. There were only two other girls that showed up for gymnastics, and again, I don't know if it was because of the cold weather or what, but it made it nice for Samantha's last class to be more one-on-one attention from her teacher. We signed her up for a short J-term session of three weeks, just to give Samantha a taste of it to see what she thought. I think she enjoys it, and she was doing a good job trying hard, but I feel like the skills in this class are a little advanced for what Samantha can do with her body at this point. We have plans for other activities for Samantha throughout the spring, like art class and skating lessons. Here are some videos from gymnastics that night. You can see the obstacles courses they went through. Samantha is getting pretty good at lifting herself up into a bridge and can crawl her way up into a handstand pretty well, too. She has no clue how to do a cartwheel and doesn't have much momentum when running and jumping on things, so that part was a little tricky for her. I almost feel like Samantha would do well just having time to explore the equipment to see how it works before having to practice a particular skill in a particular way on the equipment. Nevertheless, it was a good experience for her, and I had a good time sitting there watching her run around and have fun.

Overnight Tuesday into Wednesday we had snow come through. It wasn't that much, but it happened just as buses would need to be getting out for school with more snow expected throughout the day as well as winds blowing snow back over the roads, so schools were cancelled that day. An official snow day! Normally that would be really exciting, but with having no school on Monday due to MLK Jr. Day, Samantha was ready to get back to school. Plus, it was her turn to be Star of the Day, so she was really disappointed she had to miss school. Ben and I had dentist appointments scheduled for that morning and we had a whole arrangement worked out for switching Aedan so we could both go while Samantha was at preschool. However, our plans changed due to the snow, and Ben ended up staying at home with the kids while I went to my appointment at 8:30. The roads were fairly slippery causing me to drive pretty slow and cautious, so I was glad I didn't have to drive Samantha to preschool that day. Also, Aedan ended up sleeping until past 9:30 because he wasn't feeling well and did not nap well the previous day. He was developing a cold and cough, so I was glad he got the extra sleep rather than having to wake him up so that we could take Samantha to preschool.

Aedan absolutely adores his big sister, so anything she does he wants to be a part of. Since we had nowhere to be on Wednesday, I let the kids have a lazy pajama morning, which is one of Samantha's favorite things. She loves not having to get up and get ready right away in the morning. Here she is reading another book to Aedan, describing with much detail what is going on in the pictures.

Even though it had snowed, it was actually warmer than the last time it snowed, so I decided it would be fun to go play in the snow for awhile. The kids were very excited to get ready to play outside. Samantha couldn't wait to make snow angels, and Aedan was excited to go sledding down the little hill next to our house.

After a while we made our way back to our play house where the kids knocked snow off of things, went down the slides, and even shoveled snow into buckets that I pulled out from the sandbox. Aedan has a hard time using his hands much while playing in the snow because he doesn't put his thumbs in the separate hole in his mittens, making it so that he can't really grasp anything. However, we had a great time playing out in the snow together for almost an hour.

I feel like I have to explain a little bit about this picture below because Aedan does not look like he is having much fun. However, it is just because he went down the slide and landed right on his back in the snow and couldn't figure out how to get up by himself. Poor little guy.

As Samantha continued to play in the house, Aedan decided to walk over by the grill and clean all the snow off of it. It was fun to watch the kids play and explore in the snow.

It was getting close to lunch time and Aedan's nose was running pretty bad. I didn't want him to get too cold and get more sick, so I decided to take him inside. However, Samantha was still having a wonderful time playing outside and the cold wasn't bothering her at all, so I told her that she could stay outside and play for as long as she's like, as long as she didn't mind playing by herself. She knew where she was allowed to go and that she had to stay where I could see her. As Aedan and I were inside, I peeked out at her every once in awhile and saw her building and piling snow in various places around the yard, making up her own little adventure, having a grand old time. It's great to see her independence and creativity in her play.

Since I was taking pictures of Samantha, Aedan wanted to get in on the picture taking as well. He has gotten pretty obsessed with taking pictures of himself and when we get our phone out he will say, "see, see," because he wants to see himself in our camera. However, I got these totally adorable pictures of Aedan out of it, so it's well worth it. Man, isn't he a handsome little guy?

Since this is Ben's last week before the semester starts, he decided to take Thursday off from working as well so that we could have a fun family day. We decided to take the kids to Jump and Jack's because it's one of Samantha's favorite places, and it's a great place to go when it's cold outside and you want to get some energy out. Samantha was thrilled when we told her our plans for the morning, and that Daddy was going to come along with us.

Aedan loves the interactive video screen projected onto the floor, especially when they have games where he can pretend to kick a ball around.

Samantha went right for the giant play structure, climbing right up. There weren't too many kids there when we first arrived, but more came as the morning progressed, giving her some playmates. She loves the tall, fast slides down the side and gets going pretty fast.

I took Aedan into the play area for kids under four while Samantha was having fun playing on her own. He likes to play with the big bouncy balls, climb in the play tree house, and stack up the mats like blocks. Once I showed him how to climb up the side of the platform, he also really enjoyed the slide, going up and down over and over again.

Then after some time in the baby room, we suggested that Aedan climb around in the big play area. He really enjoys being in there and can climb up most platforms on his own, but he obviously needs one of us with him, so we were trying to hold off on going in ourselves for as long as possible. Ben and I took turns following him around, helping him climb, and going down the slide with him.

At this point Samantha had found a boy to play with, and he actually looked pretty familiar, like he may have been here the last time we came with Stephanie and Isaac. They were playing superheroes together and were getting along well. However, after some time, he started getting a little too aggressive, pushing other kids and I even saw him grab Samantha off the rings and throw her down onto the ground, causing her to cry. I told him he needed to stop, that he wasn't allowed to push or hit other kids. I had no idea who his parent was or if they even knew what he was up to, so I decided to tell an employee about his behavior. That employee found the little boy, talked to him, and brought him over to his mom to explain how he was acting. She wasn't paying too much attention to him, but was sitting in a chair reading on her iPad most of the time. We told Samantha that she could play with whoever she wanted, but that she had to play nice and was not allowed to hit, kick, or push. She went off to play by herself for a little while, but then found the boy again and started to play with him. Ben was around them when Samantha first approached him, and he heard her say, "I forgive you for pushing me." Then, they ran off to play together. From then on there were no other problems with this boy, and as a mom, I was so proud of her behavior. Most kids would have totally written that boy off, especially after getting hurt by them. Most parents would have told their child to stay away from him and not play with him anymore. Samantha, however, showed empathy beyond her years and reached out to this boy to include him in play again, giving him a second chance to behave nicely, and I imagine that made him feel really good. As a former teacher, I know what can happen to kids like him that are left out because of being a little too rough or a little too different, ultimately making the problem worse because they don't fit in and don't have any friends. I love how Samantha looks out for others. It makes me so proud of the heart that she already has.

Ben and I have known for awhile that we would like another child. We decided to start trying to conceive in June, meaning we have been trying for seven months now. This past week, on Friday, I found out that I still was not pregnant, and to say I was disappointed would be a huge understatement. I know that it can take up to a year to get pregnant and that is not uncommon. I know many women who have trouble getting pregnant at all, so I should really not be complaining, but it was hard news to swallow. With Samantha, we got pregnant the first month we tried. With our miscarriage, we got pregnant the first month we tried. With Aedan, we got pregnant the fourth month we tried. So, having it be seven months in and still no pregnancy, seems strange to me. There is nothing different about us from our previous pregnancies. The only physical factor I can think of would be feeling more stressed due to looking to our future and what position Ben might get. I know I am older and that my body may not be as good at getting pregnant any more, but I felt extremely sad and discouraged. I couldn't keep myself from crying, feeling like there is something wrong with my body, or jumping to the worse case scenario, that I won't be able to get pregnant at all anymore. Now, I know we are blessed with two beautiful, wonderful kids, and if that's what God has for us, I obviously would be more than satisfied. I think it was just a hard reality that I thought I could control when we had children, just as I seemingly did in the past. However, this is just another example of how God is in ultimate control over our lives. We can do everything "right" as far as tracking my ovulation and all the other crazy tips people may give you, but none of that matters because God is the one who ultimately creates that life inside my womb. As much as I don't like it, God is definitely teaching me to wait on his timing in desperately wanting a long-term job, a home to settle down in, and another child to add to our family. Also, while waiting, to cherish the time that I have in the situation I am placed, rather that feeling discontent and feeling like everything will be better/I will be happier once my dreams come true. It is a constant battle and became all the more real as I dealt with my emotions on Friday.

Unexpectedly, Stephanie sent a message on Friday afternoon inviting people from our community group to join them for dinner at a local Mexican restaurant. Neither Ben nor I felt like cooking that night, so we decided it was a good excuse to get out with friends. As we were driving over to the restaurant, I remarked to Ben that I think this is the only time we have ever gone out to eat with both the kids with friends. Going to a Mexican restaurant helps because they both loves Mexican food, devouring their rice, beans, and quesadillas. They both did a really good job of eating and sitting quietly for the majority of the meal, allowing us to talk and catch up with Stephanie and Jim since we hadn't really talked with them since before Christmastime. It was a fun night and made us realize that we can do things like that more often.

Samantha was invited to Daniel's 6th birthday party on Saturday afternoon, so we decided to just spend the morning mostly playing at home together. We took one errand trip to Hamilton so that I could get my hair cut and Samantha could pick out a birthday present for Daniel. I love our laidback Saturday mornings together: waking up with the kids, making pancakes, hanging out, and focusing on just spending good quality time with each other and with the kids.

Since Daniel's party was at 3:00, we knew it wasn't going to be possible for Samantha to nap, which she was pretty excited about. We let her have quiet time playing in her room for about an hour before her and I got ready to leave for the bowling alley. Samantha was a little timid for most of the party, especially since Daniel invited most of his kindergarten class, making Samantha younger than most of the kids there. Isaac came as well, so she had fun bowling in the same lane as Olivia and him. You could tell that Samantha was feeling tired since she hadn't napped that day because she was perfectly content just sitting quietly on the bench in between turns. She enjoyed going up to the snack table to help herself to crackers, cheese, grapes, and juice. I think she went up three times to get helpings of crackers and cheese. They had little favors for each kid of a coloring book with crayons, and Samantha picked a Frozen one. She wanted to open it up right away to start coloring, so then she spent the next twenty minutes or more coloring quietly in her book. This little girl loves to color and can focus on it for an extended period of time.

I want to point one thing out about Samantha's style lately because it is pretty unique. She likes to pick out her own clothes, which is fine with us, but sometimes she comes up with some pretty interesting combinations. She has gotten back into wearing dresses lately and will wear one every day if she can. Since it's cold outside, she knows she has to wear a long sleeve shirt and pants underneath it, but she very rarely chooses those that match. For example, on this day she is wearing a white dress with pink flowers, red pants, and a yellow and grey striped shirt. Sometimes Ben and I look at each other and have to hide our laughs when we see the outfits she picks out. However, it's her way to express herself and her individuality, and it's not one of those battles we feel like fighting. It's actually pretty cute and endearing to me. :)

Once most kids were done bowling, it was time to sing "Happy Birthday" to Daniel. Samantha was very excited to sing to him and to try his delicious looking chocolate cake.

After cake, Samantha had a few more turns left to bowl, so I took a couple videos of her bowling. She really did a good job and was super excited every time it was her turn. She even got a few spares and was very proud of herself when she knocked down all the pins. This was really the first birthday party she's been invited to, and she had been looking forward to it for many days. Afterwards she commented to me, "I didn't realize the birthday party was going to be so much fun!" Then there was lots of talk about what she was going to do for her birthday party this year and wanted to know how many days it was going to be until her birthday. I love how excited little kids are about everything. It's great to live vicariously through their excitement of all these "first" experiences.

Now that the semester is starting back up at Miami, OBF goes back to two services to accommodate the influx of students. We knew it was going to be a little difficult having to get up and be at church for the 9:00 service again for it was nice having a little extra time to get ready on Sundays for the 10:00 service. Plus, Ben and I both volunteered in the children's department, Ben as the leader in the 2nd-4th grade room and me as a leader in the toddler room. I was pretty nervous about leading in the toddler room because I have never done it before and was a little unsure about what I was supposed to do and how it was to be structured. Plus, how much can you get toddlers to do in the first place? That is always a challenge. Anyways, here is Aedan dressed up for church that Sunday morning. He has finally grown big enough to fit in most of his 24 month clothes, and this little suit was one of those outfits that Ben couldn't wait to put him in. Aedan thought it was great that he got to wear a clip-on tie and a vest with buttons. He looked at himself like he thought he was pretty cool stuff. He is pretty dapper, isn't he? Plus, he got lots of comments from people at church about how well-dressed he was. It's fun to dress up boys, too. :)

After being at church all morning, we were ready for a relaxing afternoon at home. The kids took good naps, we got to relax and watch some football, and we had fun playing with the kids before the start to another busy week and the start of a new semester. (Plus, I always have Downton Abbey to look forward to watching on Sunday nights.)

Monday was a pretty typical day with Ben going off to campus early so that he could get parked and have time to work on campus before his classes in the afternoon. It was also back to the same schedule as last semester where Ben teaches from 4:00-5:20 on Mondays and Wednesdays, meaning he gets home later than usual on those evenings. The kids and I also had a busy day on Monday for after dropping Samantha off at preschool, I took Aedan grocery shopping for our weekly groceries, then had to get back home to put the groceries away and then go back to pick Samantha up from preschool. I originally had a check-up scheduled for Roscoe, but I changed it to another day because I felt like we already had enough going on. I had caught the cold that both Samantha and Aedan had and was not feeling well either. Then, I wanted to get home and give the kids lunch quickly so that I could get Aedan down for nap earlier than usual. We had a WIC appointment at 4:00, and Aedan is almost always asleep past 4:00, so I wanted to give him as long to nap as possible since I knew I would have to wake him up to get to the appointment on time.

The appointment went well and the kids enjoyed interacting with the nurse that measured their height, weight, and iron level. Aedan measured in at 28.4 pounds and 33 1/4 inches tall. Samantha measured in at 45 pounds and 44 inches tall. Samantha was intrigued by the little machine that measured her iron levels by having a little monitor on her finger. The nurse let her sit on her lap while they tried to count the number of fours that appeared on the screen. She tried doing the finger monitor with Aedan as well, but he was just too squirmy so she had to do the normal finger prick instead. Samantha expected Aedan to cry and right away started getting really nervous, tearing up, and covering her ears, just waiting for him to cry and scream. In fact, we actually let her leave the room while the nurse poked his finger so that she wouldn't have to be there when he cried. However, he didn't even cry one tear, just looked at the nurse like, "Hey, what did you just do to me?" Aedan thought the Band-Aid was pretty cool for awhile but then wanted her to take it off after a little bit.

We got home a little after 5:00, and I was going to start working on dinner, but since it was the first day of class, Ben didn't keep his students for the entire class time and arrived home shortly after we did, making it much easier to get on with the rest of our evening. Aedan is always hungry and fussy at this time of night, clawing at the legs of whoever is making dinner, wanting to be held, and asking for a "nack" (snack).

That evening Daddy walked out into the living room as I was reading, really more like singing, a book to the kids. He took a little video of it as they both sat next to me and listened.

Aedan was grumpy pretty much that whole evening, probably because he was woken up early from his nap when he was very comfortably sleeping in his crib, and he also was not feeling well from having a cough and cold most of the week. He was coughing quite a bit throughout the night and his voice was pretty raspy and weak throughout most of the day Thursday and into Friday. I think it's kind of fun to look back on videos of the kids talking or crying because it's so easy to forget what they sounded like. Aedan sounded particularly pathetic when he cried lately because of his hoarse voice. It wasn't quite as bad as it was a couple days before, but this video captures a good picture of Aedan when he is just tired and upset and nothing will make him happy.

Even though he was grumpy, the one thing that Aedan always enjoys is bath time with his "sissy" as he calls her now. They had a great time splashing and catching bubbles in the bath tub. I like how she took care of him near the beginning of the video by wiping off his face when he got too much water splashed on him. It's so fun to watch them play together and watch Samantha take care of her little brother.

(Blog about January 19-25, 2015)

Winter Finally Arrived in Oxford

Samantha: 55 Months, Week 5

Aedan: 20 Months, Week 3 (Week 90)

Since we got back to Oxford on Monday just before noon, I had to reschedule my eye appointment for Tuesday morning instead. (I am trying to get any necessary appointments in before the semester starts for Ben and his availability becomes a little trickier.) Because I had my appointment and we still needed to go grocery shopping for the week, Ben stayed home with the kids that morning, playing at home, and having a good morning together. The kids have really enjoyed this extra time with Daddy lately.

Then, once I got home and took over, he went to work on campus for the afternoon. He also had a second Skype interview with the Pew Research Center. It was with the whole team of people that he would be working with there, and he felt like it went well, like the people were nice and easy to talk to, and that his skill level would fit in well with the group. The next step would be a fly out, so we will see what happens. He also had a phone interview with Drake University on Wednesday afternoon, which he was a little more unsure about. He said he was a perfect fit for what classes they would need taught; however, he said they asked some strange questions that he wasn't quite sure how to answer. Ben has taken being on the job market much better than I would have. He doesn't much let on that he feels nervous or apprehensive, and I continue to pray for him each time he interviews, that he would be able to express himself clearly, that he would be himself, and that God's will would be done in our lives. Things have been so up in the air and confusing through this whole process of applying and waiting over the last several months that I have almost stopped trying to wonder or think about or plan for the future. We have no control over whether a committee will continue to pursue Ben. We have no control over the many schools that have had a phone interview with Ben but have gone with other candidates. It is a slow, frustrating process that I did not expect when I anticipated Ben finishing up his Ph.D, but I believe that makes it even more important to put all the details into God's hands. He has helped us so far in our lives apart and together, and He surely will continue to help us now.

For some reason Samantha did not take a nap on Tuesday afternoon. I didn't let her get up and play for she was laying quietly in her bed, and I figured laying down and resting was better than nothing. However, I was afraid for what that would mean about her evening for she had her gymnastics lesson and we had our community group at church. It was Daddy's turn to take her, so I stayed home with Aedan and got the salad and fruit prepared to take with us to our group. Samantha and Daddy met us at church, and apparently she was too tired to focus much during gymnastics class. He said she needed several reminders to pay attention instead of staring at the trophies or just not doing things in a timely manner. Her ability to focus and listen definitely diminishes when she doesn't nap, but what can you do? Our community group went well that evening even though we didn't have a babysitter. I contacted several high school students but none were available, so we will have to go a different route, I think. It was good for everyone to just talk and catch up with one another after many people traveling over the holidays.

Even though it had snowed over the weekend, the temperatures dropped down so much and it was so windy outside that I hadn't taken the kids outside to play yet. Samantha's preschool was on a 90 minute delay on Wednesday morning, probably due to the cold, windy weather, but I decided that I would take the kids out to play after nap time that afternoon. I had soup cooking in the crock pot so that I wouldn't have to do any dinner prep and could just focus on playing outside with the kids. The process of getting ready to go play outside in the snow always takes so long, but Samantha and Aedan were pretty cute wearing their snow gear. Aedan, in particular, was really excited about being able to wear his snow pants and boots.

Because of the bitter cold temperatures we had, some spots of snow on the driveway had turned into slick ice. I was trying to help Aedan walk, but he wanted to do it on his own, so of course, in the first minute of being outside he stepped on some ice which took his feet right out from under him and caused him to hit his head on the ice. He cried for awhile, and it took him some time to warm up to the idea of playing outside in the cold. Samantha wanted to make snow angels right away, but Aedan didn't like the idea of laying down in the snow.

I knew we weren't going to be able to play outside for too long since the sun was setting and it was getting darker and colder outside, so I decided to get the sled out and try that on the little hill next to our house. We didn't have a lot of snow, but enough to make the ground slippery. Daddy arrived home as we were sledding, and he was excited to join in the fun for awhile. Aedan thought going down the hill on the sled with Samantha was really fun, but he didn't understand that you had to get off the sled once you reached the bottom so that you could walk back up the hill and sled down again. He got upset the first couple times when I lifted him up off the sled. However, after that he got the general idea and had a great time sledding with his sister. You can even see his little tongue sticking out as they sled in this picture, and you can hear Samantha's laugh.

After awhile Aedan got tired of sledding, so Samantha continued on playing with Daddy while Aedan went over to the play house to play. He went straight for the sand box, which of course he couldn't play with in the wintertime, but then he decided it would be fun to break the icicles off the play house. It was a successful first time playing out in the snow for Aedan, and first time of the season for all. :)

I feel like with the busyness of the holidays and then our trip to Puerto Rico, we just needed a down week with not much planned or scheduled. I was feeling pretty tired and like I could just not catch up on sleep. We also had things to get done around the house, like bringing out the 24 month clothes and hanging them up in Aedan's closet. He has grown a lot lately and many of his 18 month clothes, shirts in particular, are getting too short on his arms. I didn't feel like making plans with anyone or going anywhere, so we did a lot of playing and hanging out at home. Thursday was one of those mornings. After Daddy left for campus, the kids were dancing around the kitchen to Aedan's little music player, and I was able to capture it on video. I love how he spins around in circles, lifting his right leg and stomping it on the ground. This is often how he dances, and I think it is so cute.

Just as Samantha did at his age, Aedan has now discovered that we can flip the camera around on our phone so that he can see himself and we can take pictures of him that way. So after he saw me taking a video of them dancing, he came over so that he could "see." I don't mind though because it's the best way to get decent pictures of him. Then Samantha wanted to join in as well and I got the sweetest pictures of the two of them together. They love each other so much, and it's great to be able to spend these mornings together.

As I was hanging up the 24 month clothes in Aedan's closet that morning, I came across a Superman shirt that even had a cape attached to the back with Velcro. Samantha thought that was a pretty cool shirt and wanted me to put it on him right away. Then, she had to go get dressed into her Wonder Woman costume from Halloween so that Aedan and her could run around the house, being super heroes that fight off all the bad guys. It's nice not to have much of an agenda for the day, but just to play together and let their imaginations lead our choice of activity.

Both Samantha and Aedan love eating cucumbers dipped in Ranch dressing. The biggest problem with Aedan is that we have to stop him from just eating his Ranch dressing with a spoon. Well, as I was cleaning up lunch that afternoon, I looked back and noticed Aedan doing this. He was using his finger to scoop out any remaining Ranch dressing left in his bowl, and when that didn't work, he put the bowl up to his mouth so that he could try to lick the dressing out with his tongue, which of course resulted in a very messy face. It was just too cute.

Since I didn't have a reason to go into Oxford on Friday morning, Ben took Samantha to preschool so that I could just stay home with Aedan. In fact, he ended up sleeping in until about 9:00 anyways, so it was nice that we didn't have to wake him up. Aedan is definitely our little cuddler, and oftentimes he wants to just hang out in his bed for awhile before we get him out. Well, on Friday morning, I picked him up and he instantly laid his head down on my shoulder and snuggled into me. I just stood there rocking him and holding him, and he didn't show any signs of wanting to get down, so eventually I moved over to sit in the rocking chair, and he just stayed like that, snuggled into my shoulder for a good ten minutes or so. We had nothing we needed to do and nowhere we needed to be, so I just soaked in the snuggles. After awhile he started wiggling to get down, but he just wanted to get books to read while sitting in my lap. We were upstairs probably for close to half an hour just reading and cuddling, and it was a wonderful way to start the morning.

I took advantage of our morning at home to get some cleaning done while I just had Aedan. It still was pretty challenging trying to get things done while Aedan was being a monster and trying to be a little too involved in helping me clean, but getting a little done is better than nothing. After spending the morning at home, I made lunch and we left to meet Daddy on campus so that he could have his weekly lunch date with the kids while I went to Zumba. Then, that evening I got to go over to Maggie's house for dinner while Ben fed the kids dinner, played with them at home, and put them to bed. They got out Aedan's Vtech train set, got it set up, and played with the trains for quite awhile.

Also, ever since coming back from Puerto Rico, Aedan's vocabulary has just exploded. We had never really noticed him calling Samantha anything in particular until on Friday when Ben distinctly heard him call her "sissy." He followed her up the stairs saying, "Sissy! Sissy!" and now he calls her that all the time. It's so cute to see all the new things he says like "money," "brush" (for hairbrush like the song Larry Boy sings), "sorry," and "potty." Some day I just need to write down all the words that I hear him say throughout the day. It's interesting that now since he's mastered a lot of his gross motor skills, he is moving on to mastering vocabulary and more small motor skills.

Lately we have been enjoying a lot more time at home, maybe it was because of coming off the busyness of the holiday season, or maybe because winter keeps us indoors a lot more because of the cold weather. Either way, our Saturday was a great family day at home. Samantha always enjoys days where she can stay in her pajamas and choose any activity she wants. We had more time to fix breakfast, and Samantha requested french toast, so I made that while Ben slept in and the kids played together. After breakfast, we had a dance party together in the kitchen with dueling music players.

And after lots of separate play time, I tried to come up with a more focused activity that both kids could do together. We hadn't done Play-Doh in a while, so I busted that out for them while I finished vacuuming the floors, something I can't do while they are napping. (I got most of the house cleaning done on Friday and only had to vacuum and mop the floors on Saturday morning.) Samantha likes to make food with the special molds that came in her Play-Doh kit, and Aedan more just likes stuffing Play-Doh into different sized containers. They did a good job sharing and playing together.

It had been awhile since Daddy had taken Samantha on a date, so he decided to take her on one Saturday night since she had a good nap and was being respectful. So after dinner they went off together to go bowling and then get frozen yogurt at Orange Leaf, which is one of Samantha's favorite places. She talked the whole way to the bowling alley. They played one game of bowling and then she decided she was ready to go to Orange Leaf. She really enjoyed picking out her toppings and wanted all the fruit flavored ones like the little balls, gummy bears, sour patch kids, swedish fish, and then she threw on some mini buckeyes at the end. I think she enjoys getting to pick whatever she wants, and she always eats it all, no matter how weird of a combination she comes up with. Ben said she took almost forty minutes eating her frozen yogurt because she kept getting up and dancing. We love how she will dance wherever she is. She doesn't care about anyone around her, just about being herself and having a good time. :)

While Samantha was on her date with Daddy, Aedan and I ran an errand to Meijer to pick up a few things. He was pretty upset when Samantha and Daddy left without him. He even went to the closet and got his shoes because he assumed that we would all be going somewhere together. He seemed a little tired and fussy that evening anyways. When we got to Meijer he also got really upset when I was trying to put him in the seat in the cart. He refused to sit down and just cried for awhile until I finally convinced him it was okay. We stopped by the bakery to get him a free cookie, and that helped the rest of the shopping trip go smoothly. Then, it was time to head home for a bath and bed time. It's always nice to spend one-on-one time with the kids. It's important for Samantha to go on dates with both Ben and me, and it will be fun to start the tradition with Aedan as he gets a little older and we know more about his interests.

Aedan really enjoyed bath time that night, even though Samantha wasn't with him. However, seeing him in the bath reminded me of a funny story from a few weeks ago. There was one time that Aedan was standing up so that we could wash him off, and then when he sat down, he sat right on top of a toy, hurting his private parts. He cried really hard and felt himself like he didn't know he could get hurt like that. Well, that didn't happen on this night in the bath, but it was just a funny memory I had. We played with the stick-on ducks quite a bit and that's when I discovered how many animal noises he knows. He knows that ducks say "kak-kak," cats say "yah-yah," dogs say "oof oof," pigs say "(snort) (snort)," and cows say "oooo." I am continually impressed at how much Aedan knows and how much more he learns every day. I think he's pretty smart, but I may be a little partial. :)

Sunday morning was our last morning of one service at church, and it's going to be difficult getting used to being up and at church an hour earlier next week. We have enjoyed the more relaxed mornings together, getting ready but not being in a rush and having some time to play and hang out before going out to church, then also getting back at a decent time to still make and have lunch before the kids get too tired and begin to lose it.

It started snowing early Sunday morning, and the kids enjoyed looking out the window and watching the snow blow and cover the grass. Isn't this just a wonderful picture?

Then I got a few other pictures of the kids dressed and ready for church. Aedan has really enjoyed posing for pictures lately and will say "seese" for cheese when he wants you to take his picture. He will look and smile as long as we flip the camera around so that he can see himself on the screen.

We have two beautiful, precious little kids. I love them so much.

We had a good morning at church and Ben and I both volunteered in the children's department so we weren't able to actually attend the service. Then, we had a nice relaxing Sunday at home. The kids took good naps, we got to watch some football, and Daddy got some good cuddling in with his kiddos. Samantha came down to watch her show after her nap, sat on Ben's lap and did not move for the whole episode of Kung Fu Panda. She's been on a Kung Fu Panda kick lately, and after she watches it she wants to wrestle with Daddy so she can practice her skills that she learned while watching the show. I love how willing Ben is to wrestle and roughhouse with Samantha because she loves it and gets really into it. I think it's one of her favorite activities to do with him right now.

I love this picture of Ben and Aedan. They both have great smiles and you can see a lot of similarities between the two of them.

Monday was Martin Luther King Jr. Day, so Samantha didn't have preschool. I figured I'd try to take the kids somewhere fun and thought about trying out this new Discovery Zone at Liberty Center Mall. It was a super cold day outside, the Discovery Zone was free, and I heard good things about it from friends. Well, at the last minute Ben decided that he was in a good enough place with his work and would be able to come along with us. I was so excited that we would get an extra day hanging out as a family. With this being the last week before the Spring semester starts, we are trying to soak up as many chances as we can get. The play area was pretty fun, and free, which is always a plus. They had a large pig shaped climbing structure with a slide, buttons you could push to change the colors of the lights, several interactive games, and an area with large blue foam blocks that you could build with and climb on. The kids played for about an hour and probably would have played even longer if the ball area would have been in operation. Then, Samantha decided she wanted to walk around the mall for awhile, so we went into a few stores and let her browse with her purse hooked over her shoulder. We don't go to malls very often, so she finds the stores very interesting. Then, we got lunch in the food court before heading back home. The Discovery Zone was a fun place, and it's a good place to go for free when it's cold but we need to get out of the house for a short morning excursion. We will definitely have to come back another time.

(Blog about January 12-18, 2015)

Trip to Puerto Rico & the Kids in Upland

Samantha: 55 Months, Week 4

Aedan: 20 Months, Week 2 (Week 89)

In preparing for our trip to Puerto Rico, Tuesday was all about getting ready, doing laundry, and getting packed. We did go swimming again at the Rec Center that morning, just to take advantage of the free week one more time. Ben decided to go with us and go to campus later, which was totally unexpected and I appreciated it. I could have handled taking the kids by myself, but it was much easier having two sets of hands. The kids had a great time swimming, and this time the basketball hoop was available which made Aedan happy. He just wanted Daddy to lift him up so that he could dunk the basketball over and over again. Samantha brought toys with her this time, so she had a great time diving for her seahorses and playing with her Ariel barbie. Samantha and I even played out the Ariel story in the pool, her being Ariel and me being King Triton, of course. We had a great morning together and swimming really wore the kids out. When we got back home, I gave the kids baths since they were wet already and then we could have more time to play that evening instead of having to do bath time.

We decided not to go to our community group so that we weren't rushing around getting ready at the last minute. We wanted to be all packed up that night so that we could drop Samantha off at preschool Wednesday morning before heading off to the airport. The only obligation we had that day was Samantha's first gymnastics class. Ben got home early so that I could take Samantha, and she was pretty excited about doing gymnastics again. I signed her up for the Beginners Girls' Class just for a short J-term session and didn't really know what to expect from it. At the beginning they stretched out, and then the teachers set up an obstacle course. You can see in this video that they went through the course with a cartwheel, then a round-off on to a round mat, then a forward roll, then a backward roll, then jumping up three soft mats before hopping on one foot on some rugs. I was really surprised at the advanced level stuff they were having the kids do. Samantha really only knows how to do a forward roll and has never even been taught the steps of a cartwheel. Clearly, there were a few older girls in the class that had learned these things in the past, as they were a lot more comfortable with the movements. I was glad that Samantha was trying her best though. She wasn't giving up because it was too hard, and she wasn't worried about the other girls who could do more than her. I was proud of her effort and her willingness to try anything.

After going through the obstacle course a few times, they had time to walk on the balance beams. Again, Samantha hasn't walked on a balance beam in a long time, and many times the beams she walked on in the parent/child class in Bloomington were set on the floor so that if they lost their balance they weren't far from the ground. With these beams being so much higher, Samantha was a little unsure of herself. It took her awhile to learn how to comfortably put one foot in front of the other, and the teacher had to walk with her and help her keep her balance the whole time. They walked in different ways, like dipping feet below the beam, pointing legs straight out in front of them, and walking forwards, sideways, and backwards. Samantha got really good at jumping off the beam as she practiced more and more. At first she was afraid and the teacher helped to guide her down, but then she felt brave enough to try it on her own, eventually working up to landing on her feet and not falling over. Again, I was so proud of the effort and concentration she put into it. She kept looking over at me, smiling, and giving me a thumbs up.

After the balance beam, they went over to the uneven bars for another type of obstacle course. First, they hung on the bars, put their feet up and over, flipping over the bar. Then, they grabbed onto a bar, put their feet on a rolling cushion mat before rolling off onto the floor. Then, she walked like a bear across another mat. Again, as Samantha went around and around the obstacle course, she got better and better, which is really all that we could ask for. Towards the end, she was even able to hold herself up with her arms after spinning around and before dropping to the ground. She kept her focus and did what she was supposed to do with very little reminders.

To end the class, they did another obstacle course where they ran down a mat, jumped on a trampoline that sent them up on a mat, then jumped as far as they could off another trampoline, before doing a forward roll down a slanted mat. Samantha kept up her energy the whole hour long session, followed directions well, and she said that she had a great time and couldn't wait to go back again next week.

That evening, as we were in the middle of dinner, Grandma showed up and the kids were SO excited. Samantha knew she was coming and couldn't wait to see her. After a few minutes Grandma had to go back out to the car to get her things and Aedan got so upset that he cried really hard. I think he thought that she was already leaving. It's cute to see how loved Grandma is by our kids, but particularly by Aedan. He has a special affinity for her. Not much dinner was eaten after her arrival because the kids just wanted to get down and play with her. It was helpful having Grandma come for the night because it gave Ben and me time to gather up our things and get packed up while the kids were entertained.

Neither Ben nor I sleep very well before heading off on a trip. Ben worries about whether we have everything we need and getting to the airport on time. I am just plain excited and can't stop thinking about all the fun we will have. We were up early on Wednesday morning so that we could do last minute things and get everything ready before heading out to take Samantha to preschool. We got there before 9:00, then took her in her room to hug her good-bye. She was a little sad, giving me a longer hug than normal and telling me that she was going to miss me. When we left home, Aedan didn't really care about us leaving him because he was with Grandma, and he had her all to himself while Samantha was at preschool that morning.

Ben and I flew out of Indianapolis because the flights and prices worked out better, plus then we could pick up Samantha and Aedan in Upland on Sunday when we returned. We arrived at the airport around 11:00, got through security quickly, and were able to take both our bags on as carry-ons, saving us time from having to check and claim our luggage. We got ourselves some lunch and ate before getting on the plane. Here we are at noon, sitting on the plane before flying to Charlotte. We knew it was going to be a long day of travelling, but we were excited about our final destination: San Juan, Puerto Rico.

The flight to Charlotte was only about an hour and half, and then we had a several hour layover in Charlotte before our flight left for San Juan. We came prepared with our computers (so that Ben could work on grading and emails for his online classes and I could work on my blog and other things to keep myself occupied). I also had a couple books loaded on my Kindle so that I could read on the plane and while we were waiting. Really, even though it was long, the time passed by quickly. We had very little to complain about because we were travelling by ourselves with no kids to entertain and only ourselves to take care of. We landed in San Juan very late at night and walked out of the airport to get a taxi to our hotel. The warm, humid air hit me like a warm blanket, and I knew we were not in Ohio anymore. I was so excited about this change in climate. We made it to our hotel without much of a problem, checked in, got settled in a little bit, and then crashed. We had had a long day of travelling and were exhausted.

We woke up on Thursday refreshed and ready for a day of adventure, exploring San Juan. Now, the real reason we came to Puerto Rico was for a political science conference at which Ben was presenting two papers. He had one to present on Thursday at 11:30, so we got ready, grabbed a quick breakfast at Starbucks, and then took a taxi to the conference hotel so that Ben could get checked in and prepared for his panel.

The weather was gorgeous the entire time we were in San Juan. It was in the mid-80s, sunny, often not a cloud in the sky. I was wearing a sleeveless shirt, shorts, and flip-flops. Oh man, it was such a glorious change from our dull and dreary Ohio winter. Ben and I have never been to a tropical island like this. In fact, the whole trip seemed almost like a second honeymoon for us, and I was enjoying every minute of our time there.

Ben got checked in pretty quickly and still had some time to kill, so we decided to walk around the conference hotel for awhile. They had a nice private beach area that jutted out on a peninsula into the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. The water was so blue and clear. The palm trees were wonderful, and we stood for awhile just watching the waves lap up onto the shore. I feel like these pictures just don't do it justice.

The other fun thing about being on a tropical island were the iguanas everywhere! Here they are just sunning themselves on the rocks. Some of them were huge and just walked around on the beach, not caring about all the people around one bit.

After awhile, Ben had to go inside to present his paper, leaving me with about two hours to hang out until he was done. I am glad that I decided to come with Ben to the conference hotel while he presented rather than stay back near our hotel. They had these wonderful hammocks hung up between palm trees with just enough sun and just enough shade, so my first activity of choice was laying in a hammock, reading a book on my Kindle, enjoying the warm sun, the salty ocean air, and the breathtaking view. Pretty sure this was the best place I have ever read a book, and it was so very relaxing and so unlike what I am typically doing at 11:45 on a week day.

After feeling like I should probably share the hammock with other people, I got up to walk around again, check out the views, and found a comfy spot in the shade of the hotel where I could work on my computer while waiting for Ben to finish up. Again, look at this spectacular view! Palm trees are just so cool and weird looking. I love them.

Once Ben was finished with his paper, we met back up, had a quick lunch at a Quiznos in the hotel, and then took a taxi back to our hotel so that Ben could change and drop off his briefcase. Here are some pictures Ben took of the outside of our hotel. It was just a small hotel, but it was significantly cheaper than other hotels in the area, and it still had everything we needed even though it was described as "minimalist" on its website. The hotel was all open on the inside, almost like an inner courtyard where the stairs were that led up to different floors with different rooms. It was an interesting concept, but it seemed like a lot of places were like that in San Juan. Even the conference hotel was all open air in the lobby. The driveway where the taxis dropped you off was open to the area where you checked in, that led into a lobby area with chairs and tables. It definitely gave you a more open, warm, tropical feel.

We remarked several times how nice it was that we were travelling without kids because we were heading out to explore in the afternoon, not having to worry about anyone's schedule or routine or nap time. (It's amazing how confining and limiting those things can be at times.) We decided to spend Thursday afternoon exploring the old forts that protected San Juan from approaching enemies. We took a taxi to the Castillo de San Cristobal and paid the $5 per person to get into both forts. It was fun climbing around these ancient structures, reading some of the history of how Puerto Rico was involved in various wars, particularly WWII, and of course, looking out over the magnificent views of the ocean and old San Juan.

These next two pictures are looking at the giant cruise ship in the port. It's amazing their size compared to the island and buildings of San Juan.

After we got our fill of the first fort, we walked on a sidewalk that ran along the water to the other fort called Castillo San Felipe del Morro. It continued to be a beautiful day, and it was pretty windy on this part of the island which is why you see all these families gathered together flying kites. Some of them were pretty high up in the sky as well.

We had gotten pretty warm walking all over the place that afternoon, and a man was selling sherbet from a little cart stand. It seemed like the perfect way to cool off before exploring the next fort. We both ordered pineapple and coconut flavors mixed together, and then we found this little park nearby to sit in while we ate.

From there we walked up to the fort to explore more and see some different vantage points of the ocean and the city.

A ranger at the first fort told us about this newly completed scenic walkway that went around the fort on the outside of the wall and along the ocean. He said it was beautiful and that we should definitely take the time to do that walk. So we decided to try that out. It took a while to find the correct path, but then we made our way down some steps near the water. However, there were a couple police officers at the bottom of the stairs and the gate was chained shut. In his best English, the officer explained to us that the waves were too high, splashing up over the walkway in several places, and making it too dangerous for people to walk on. We were disappointed that we couldn't walk, but we decided that we would try again the next day to see if it would be open. However, we did stop at the bottom of the stairs and just enjoy the view of the ocean water splashing up onto the rocks. We could definitely understand why they would have closed the walkway down for the day. It's amazing how powerful and strong waves can be.

Since we weren't able to go on the walkway, we decided to walk the streets of old San Juan. We passed a cathedral and stopped in to see the architecture and Christmas decorations still up. We asked an employee at Starbucks once about how they still have Christmas decorations up, and she told us about how they celebrate Christmas for a long time, celebrating something called Three King's Day, as well as another festival after our trip that would be the official end of celebrating the holiday. A taxi driver once told us that people are just lazy and like to party, so they are okay with the long, drawn out celebration.

We also walked by the governor's mansion which sits right on the coast.

We had plans to meet with some Bloomington friends that night for dinner, so after we walked around for awhile and bought a few souvenirs for our kids and Ben's parents, we met up with Kirk and Mary Beth as well as Ian and Lucy. We had plans to eat at a rooftop restaurant that served Puerto Rican food. There was a longer wait for eating outside, so we decided to just take a table inside. I know the guys really enjoyed catching up with each other and sharing funny stories. It was nice to be able to go out with friends, not worrying about feeding kids or putting kids to bed. Everyone else had just arrived in San Juan that day and were pretty tired, so at about 8:00 we decided to call it a night and head back to our hotel. Ben and I were able to Facetime with Samantha and Aedan so we could see them and talk to them and see how they were doing. It was good to see them, but they didn't care much about talking to us, which is how we want it to be because that means they are having fun.

Friday morning we had a little more time together before Ben's panel so we went out to breakfast at a highly rated place called Pinky's. It was a small little restaurant with only a few tables and a bar with stools along one wall. We ordered coffee with milk, a yummy fried egg sandwich, and pancakes with fruit. Even though it was already fairly warm, the restaurant kept the doors wide open, letting in the air from outdoors. You can tell the Puerto Ricans are used to this weather, as it didn't feel warm to them. Our food was delicious and we could tell why this was such a popular place. I also really enjoyed the Puerto Rican coffee. It was rich and creamy with the steamed milk adding some froth to the coffee. Plus, they served their coffee with brown sugar, and I'm not sure if it was a form of what we call brown sugar or if it was more like sugar in the raw. We were totally stuffed after breakfast, and it was great to be able to experience this local restaurant.

After breakfast we still had some time before we needed to head to the conference hotel, so we decided to walk down to the beach that is just a couple blocks away from our hotel. I wanted to see what it looked like and how it compared to the beach by the conference hotel to decide if I wanted to stay here and swim or go with Ben again. It was fun standing on the beach with Ben, wading into the water, watching the waves roll up and splash up our legs, enjoying our view and our company. I was having such a wonderful time with my husband, for it's very rare that we have this much time to spend one-on-one with each other.

It was a gorgeous day again with hardly a cloud in the sky, and it was even warmer out than the previous day, so I decided to bring my bathing suit with me when going with Ben to the conference hotel. Technically, I shouldn't have used the pool since we weren't staying in the hotel, but there were plenty of other people around and no one really seemed to care or check. While Ben went to his panel, I started off reading my book in the hammock. Then, I decided to change into my bathing suit and go for a swim in the hotel pool which is situated right by the beach. They had three levels of pools at various depths, and it was fun to just walk around the pools and sit on the built-in benches. However, it's not as much fun swimming by yourself, so after awhile I decided to get out and sit in a chair watching the waves in the ocean and reading occasionally. It was a great way to spend my downtime, and I was so glad that I got to come to this conference with Ben. While he was working, I got to enjoy some nice, quiet beach relaxation, not a bad bonus. :)

After Ben was finished with his panel, we had a little snack since we had a big breakfast and didn't feel like much for lunch, and then went back to our hotel to change before going back out to explore. We decided to go back to the the fort with the walkway to see if it was open, which it was, and we had a great stroll around the path full of beautiful views.

Along our walk, we saw this large grassy area in the sun and it was full of iguanas! Everywhere we looked we found another one, and I made sure to take a picture because I figured Samantha would find this interesting.

The other animal we saw a lot of were stray cats. However, there were these plastic bins with holes cut in the side that obviously had food in them, as well as tubs of water for them to drink. Many cats congregated around these areas and were pretty wary of any stranger that approached them. It was interesting because there were so many stray cats wandering around the streets of San Juan, but the people didn't seem to mind since they were helping them survive by feeding them and giving them water down along the walkway.

Ben and I had plans to go to a local Italian restaurant in old San Juan that had good reviews that evening for dinner. We thought it was a little strange going to an Italian restaurant while in Puerto Rico, but we walked past it at 5:30 and a line was already forming, so we knew that couldn't be a bad sign. Plus, most of the people in line were speaking Spanish, so it certainly wasn't a total tourist trap. Most people were ordering pizzas, so we decided we would order a small five cheese pizza along with a chicken parmesan type thing. I really loved the pizza. If only we had good, fresh, non-greasy pizza like that in Oxford. Coming from Chicago, I am a pizza lover and am pretty sad about the lack of good options in our town. Ben asked the waitress at the Italian restaurant for recommendations of a good local coffee shop, so we decided to stop there for a latte before taking a taxi back to our hotel for the night. This coffee shop used beans grown right on the island, and they had a little courtyard area to sit in which we definitely thought was better than sitting inside. Once Ben brought the latte out to me, I just had to take a picture of it because the design they made with the milk was so beautiful. It made me feel fancy drinking a fancy coffee out of a big mug. Their coffee is so smooth and creamy and not bitter at all. I definitely prefer it to the coffee that you can order on the mainland. It was delicious, and we enjoyed our Puerto Rican lattes.

After our coffee, we walked around old San Juan for awhile, knowing it would be our last night there. We came to this open square and stopped to look at all the Christmas decorations illuminated in the dark. There was a stage set up in front of the Christmas tree, and it looked like there would be some type of concert, but we wanted to get back to talk to Samantha and Aedan before they went to bed. There were several times I commented to Ben about how I would like living in Puerto Rico since their celebration of Christmas lasts so much longer than ours. By now, even shortly after Christmas, most people on the mainland have their Christmas decorations taken down.

On Saturday we had plans that we were looking forward to for a long time. Our Christmas present to ourselves was a sail and snorkeling excursion. This was a little out of our comfort zone because we don't typically choose to do beach related activities. However, we decided this was a once in a lifetime opportunity and we shouldn't use our excursion to just go hiking, even though that would have been beautiful as well. We had a quick breakfast at the Starbucks across the street from where we were to be picked up. It was about a forty-five minute bus ride to city where the catamaran left from, then about a forty-five minute ride to the island where we made our first stop. Again, we were blessed with beautiful weather, a warm sunny day, and no obligations except to enjoy ourselves. The boat ride out was fun, looking out at the vast ocean stretching in front of us and the city behind us.

They served drinks on the boat while we road out to the island, and we enjoyed our time soaking up the sun.

When we got to the small island where they dropped anchor, one of the crew offered beginner snorkeling lessons to anyone who had never snorkeled before. Ben and I were in that group, and it didn't seem too difficult to figure out. They said this is a good area to snorkel if you never have before because it's not as deep and the current is not as strong. We walked on the beach to the area they said to swim from and took off with our snorkeling gear. It's a bit weird putting your face under water but knowing that you actually can breathe and see without getting water in your eyes and nose. I was worried about getting salt water in my mouth, and it made my lips feel a bit raw around the mouthpiece, but I never had any difficulty. The coral reef we snorkeled in was so cool. We got to see sea urchins and lots of fish swimming right underneath us. It was like being inside an aquarium, and Ben and I kept pointing out different fish we noticed as we swam along in the water. We left with a larger group of people from our catamaran, but they dwindled, and Ben and I went out the farthest into the water. It was just too fascinating to turn around. We had no way to tell what time it was, so finally decided we better turn back around and get back to our catamaran for lunch. Everyone else had already started eating the picnic lunch of sandwiches and salads, but there was still plenty left.

After lunch we had more time to hang out in this location, so we took some pictures before playing more in the water. Ben joined some other guys in tossing around a football, while I just floated around and swam in the water. Do you see how beautiful and clear the water is? It was just perfect. A wonderful way to spend our last day in Puerto Rico.

After our time there, we rode in the catamaran to a different area where the water was deeper and we could go snorkeling again. This time, we were given flippers and life jackets to get around in the water better. I don't know if it was the deeper water or the stronger current, but this time it was a lot harder for Ben and me to snorkel. My goggles kept fogging up, and they kept slipping down my face. Ben was having a hard time with getting water in his mouth. Since the water was deeper, we weren't able to see as many fish swimming around, so we didn't snorkel as long as we did the first time. Instead, we went back on the boat to just relax more and take in the sights and sounds around us.

As our excursion came to a close, the catamaran crew cut up some fresh, tropical fruit to enjoy on the boat ride back. Ben and I were so glad that we chose to do this excursion together. Who knows if we will ever have a chance to do something like that again. And even though we applied sunscreen several times while out on the ocean, we both got sunburns, Ben worse than me. We were both pretty tired from being out in the sun and water all day, so we showered and relaxed at the hotel for awhile before heading out for dinner. We ate at a crepe restaurant, and I think we enjoyed the dessert crepes more than the crepes for our meal. We thought about walking around the Condado area for a while or even checking out the beach, but we were pretty wiped out and we knew we had an early morning the next day so that we could catch our flight back home.

Ben felt worse and worse as the evening went on, probably due to his sunburn. He had the chills and was even beginning to feel sick to his stomach. We packed ourselves up and went to bed early. Our alarm went off at 5:15, we left for the airport at 6:00, and then we arrived at about 6:15 to print our boarding passes and start going through security. However, the airport was packed and the security line took way longer than we expected. We got in the line at 6:23 and didn't make it through security until 7:10 when our flight was at 7:35. We hadn't had breakfast yet and thought we would have plenty of time to pick something up at the airport to eat on the plane. I don't think we've ever been in a security line that took that long. We rushed through the airport, stopping only for a few minutes at a Starbucks for some coffee and a breakfast sandwich so that we wouldn't have to pay outrageous prices for food on the plane. We made it in enough time, but it was very stressful. Since we arrived at the gate about ten minutes before it was scheduled to depart, they made us check our bags even though they were the right size for a carry-on. At that point we didn't care, we were just glad we made it onto our flight.

The rest of the day went smoothly. We just had a lot of waiting to do as we had a four hour layover in Charlotte before our flight to Indianapolis. There were a couple flights leaving before ours that we checked to see if they, by chance, had any space, which they didn't, so we just had to wait longer before we could get home and get our kids.

Here is a picture Ben took of the souvenirs we got for the kids. The dress was for Samantha, of course, and the maracas were for Aedan.

Just last week Samantha was talking about what it would be like to touch a cloud, so I was trying to describe to her what a cloud is made out of, but you could tell she didn't really understand. So on the descent into Indianapolis, Ben took this picture and video for Samantha so she could see what it was like to fly through a cloud.

We arrived to a cold, icy, snowy Indianapolis. When we landed we got messages from Ben's dad saying that 69 was closed down for part of the day due to accidents and the conditions of the roads were not great. Driving on icy roads makes me nervous, so Ben lovingly volunteered to drive to Upland even though I was nervous the entire time. It took us longer to get out of the airport due to having to check our bags all the way through and then driving more slowly due to the weather and road conditions, so we didn't arrive in Upland until 7:30. Our original plan was to drive home that night so that we could get back in our own beds and get Samantha to preschool on Monday morning. However, as we drove, I became more and more uncomfortable with that idea. If 69 was that bad, and it was a major interstate, what would some of the little country roads be like that we take to get back to Oxford? Plus, it was already approaching the kids' bedtime and it would take us longer to drive on the roads in order to be careful enough. We would have to hope that they would just fall asleep in the car, but that seemed unlikely, especially after being gone from them for so many days. Also, Ben and I were just plain tired. We had been up since 5:15 which is 4:15 Indiana time. We had been travelling all day, and all I wanted was to collapse into a bed. So, after much going back and forth, we decided to stay in Upland for the night and leave in the morning after getting a good night's rest, hoping that the roads would be better, and at least knowing we would be travelling in the daylight. We decided it wasn't worth it getting back super late and possibly putting ourselves in danger by driving on icy roads, just to get back for Samantha to go to preschool.

Anyways, it was wonderful to see the kids again. For however much it was great to be away and spend time together just the two of us, it was exciting to see our kids again. Aedan looked at us almost like he didn't believe we were there, but then he lit up and gave me a huge hug. Samantha was excited to see the presents we got for them, even though she was hoping for a toy and was a little disappointed that we just got her a dress. She warmed up to the idea after awhile, tried it on, and then decided that she really did like it, even putting on a dance performance for us.

Ben and I slept like logs that night, and I was so glad we decided to stay in Upland. We got up before the kids on Monday morning so we could shower and be ready. We had thoughts of maybe trying to get Samantha to preschool for a little while, but Ben's mom called and said the roads were still pretty rough and that we shouldn't be in a hurry to leave, so we decided that Samantha would just miss the day and that would be okay. So, we had breakfast, got our stuff and the kids loaded up, and then hit the road. The road conditions were worse up north around Upland and greatly improved as we crossed into Ohio. It took us a little longer to get home, but not much at all. Then, the rest of the day was spent unpacking, putting things away, and having time for the whole family to nap that afternoon. It was great to be back home and start getting settled back into a normal routine again.

Now, after telling the tale of our week in Puerto Rico from the perspective of Ben and me; I now switch to telling about Samantha and Aedan's week with Papa and Grandma (Mamaw). Grandma lovingly typed out some words for me, so I will copy them here. Her words are the paragraphs in quotations.

"I arrived in Oxford on Tuesday evening so I could be ready to take over when Ben and Jenny left on Wednesday morning. It was nice to be able to play with Aedan and Samantha before they went to bed. I feel like a real “loved Grandma” when I am around them since they love to have us play with them."

"On Wednesday morning Ben and Jenny left with my car and dropped Samantha off at her pre-school for the morning. We traded cars since the car seats, travel books and toys were already in Ben and Jenny’s car. They had the car packed so I only needed to add my items and the last minute items such the diaper bag and sippy cup. I had a significant amount of trouble buckling Aedan in his car seat so we were the last ones to pick up a child from the preschool at noon. I had decided to have us eat at Wendy’s in Oxford before we left for Upland. When I got there I could not find Aedan’s sippy cup so it was lost somewhere between the living room and Wendy’s. I got water in my cup and had Aedan use my cup at dinner and for the rest of the week he used one of Samantha’s sippy cups."  

"On Wednesday evening Bill had a meeting at church at 5:30 and then stayed there to lead Bible study. Because of that he came home a little early so he could play with the kids before he left for his meeting. Our evening was fairly uneventful but I put Aedan to bed early since he had a very poor nap in the car on the way to Upland earlier in the day."

"On Thursday, the weather was sunny so after playing in the house earlier in the morning, we played outside later in the morning. We have a plethora of balls of various types and sizes as well as a big wheel, wagon and small tricycle. Both Samantha and Aedan had fun playing with those items as well as just walking through the yard and going on a bear hunt. Thursday evening was exciting since Jeni and Alaina were coming to spend some time with everyone. Samantha and Alaina love to play with each other so much. In fact, Samantha decided to not watch her movie after nap and wait for Alaina to come so they could watch part of Frozen together. Our house was filled Thursday evening with the sing-along the girls had with the movie. Aedan continued to play with his favorite toys which were the Veggie Tale stuffed characters and the Menards bear. Each of those would have a song they would play and that, by far, was Aedan’s favorite activity."

Here is a video of Aedan playing with his favorite toys: the Veggie Tales characters.

Aunt Jeni did a good job of taking pictures and posting them on Facebook so that we could see what the kids were up to while we were in Puerto Rico. Here's what she said when posting these pictures: "Since our arrival, I have been "frozen" multiple times by 2 Elsas, fired (from being a mom, I think) by my daughter, and loved on by Aedan...I'm a busy girl."

In this picture the kids are sitting under a card table draped in a blanket. It was their special fort, and we heard all about it when we talked to them on the phone that night.

"On Friday morning Jeni made some finger paint and set the kids up to painting pictures. They all preferred to use a brush instead of their fingers. All of the kids, including Aedan, spent quite a bit of time painting. After the painting was cleaned up, Jeni had Alaina and Samantha make cookies from a Christmas cookie mix she was able to buy on clearance. The mix was for candy cane cookies but she had the girls use the dough to make any kind of shape they wanted for their cookies."

"After nap time, Jeni took Alaina and Samantha to a movie and to Wendy’s after the movie. The girls really enjoyed their outing."

"On Saturday we were able to play outside again since it was even warmer than it was earlier in the week. All of the kids enjoy getting out to play with the balls and bats, basketball goal, wagon, and just going on walks. Alaina and Jeni left after lunch so it was sad to see them go but we knew that all of us would try to get together again soon. I was putting Aedan to bed for his nap when Alaina and Jeni got ready to leave. After changing Aedan’s diaper and giving him his pacifier, I rocked him in the rocker next to his pack-and-play. Alaina came into the room to tell me “goodbye” as I was rocking Aedan and he did not stir at all, although he was not asleep. I don’t know if he enjoys the cuddle time before nap as much as I do but I hope he does. It is very precious to hold him for a few minutes, sing to him and pray over him."

This video is of the girls playing the piano very loudly on Saturday morning. Aunt Jeni described it well by saying, "I am still pretty sure there is no word in the English language to describe the volume of that duet."

At some point on Saturday morning, Aunt Jeni put some washable hair dye in the kids' hair. Of course Aedan had to try it along with the girls. Here is Jeni's comment that went along with the pictures: "This is what happens when I'm trusted with your kids, Ben Toll."

Besides for the hair dye, Aunt Jeni also painted the girls' nails. I love these pictures of Samantha because she is so happy and having a great time in Upland.

And here is another random video of Samantha and Aedan playing with Papa and Mamaw on Saturday night once Jeni and Alaina were gone. Once again, you can see Aedan's favorite toys spread all around the living room.

"On Sunday morning we went to church with the children. Samantha has always done so well when we drop her off to her class. Aedan did not enjoy being dropped off and apparently he cried off and on for the whole service. Bill and I took the kids to McDonalds after church for lunch since Samantha wanted to try McDonalds. She could not remember ever going to a McDonalds and she wanted to see if she liked it. Apparently she did since she ate all her food except her fries."

"The weather kept getting worse all day on Sunday with very icy conditions. We were concerned about Ben and Jenny’s arrival back home. Several times the interstate was closed because of accidents so we tried to make sure Ben and Jenny were aware of the situation as they arrived at the Indy airport. Thankfully they made it to our house although it was later than they had planned. Both children were very excited to see them. I thought the look on Aedan’s face was priceless as he turned around and saw them standing in the room on Sunday evening.  His giggles and laughs were much happier after they arrived than the giggles and laughs we heard earlier in the week."

"Since this is the end of my story for the week I will close with a few gems from the children:

• Samantha said when watching Daniel Tiger on the TV:  I think Daniel Tiger is older than I am since sometimes he goes places by himself.
• Samantha said when we were pretending I was in time out and she was talking to me as a parent:  She wanted to know why I did a bad thing and I said it was because Satan made me do it. She told me that Satan doesn’t make us do bad things and that Satan was the same as the Serpent that talked to Adam and Eve. The Serpent tells us to do good things too since he told Eve to eat the apple. (Ben and Jenny, I tried to straighten her out on that theological point but you might want to work on it.)
• To Aedan, cleanliness must be next to Godliness or at least it is necessary after a meal. Every meal after eating, Aedan would run to get the broom and try to sweep up under the table. After a few swipes he would be happy enough to put the broom away and let me finish the job. He is also very insistent to help clean up the trash after eating out at a fast food restaurant. I couldn’t understand why he was so upset at the end of our meal at McDonalds until I realized he wanted down so he could throw away the trash with Bill."

"It was such a tremendous blessing to be trusted with our grandchildren for several days. We want to be an integral part of their lives and hope that our influence is a positive one that they will treasure for all of their lives."

(Blog about January 5-11, 2015)