Recovering from Sickness & Out of Town Guests

Samantha: 65 Months, Week 1
Aedan: 29 Months, Week 4

Due to Samantha developing an ear infection and going to the walk-in clinic late on Monday night, she stayed home on Tuesday to rest and let the antibiotics begin working. We set her bunny clock for later, and she actually slept in past 8:00, which is definitely not normal for her. Ben went back out to Walgreens to pick up the rest of her antibiotics and her nasal spray, since he wasn't able to get everything the night before. And, because of the good dad that he is, he agreed to stay at home with the kids while I went grocery shopping. I didn't want to have to drag Samantha out when she wasn't feeling well, but we really needed to get some groceries. Ben is so self-sacrificing. I'm sure he had many other things he could have been getting done that morning, but he put his family first, and I was so very grateful.

Once getting back home, Ben headed off to campus, and I worked on putting the groceries away just as the plumbers showed up. We had a leak in the crawlspace in the unfinished part of our basement, and it just was getting worse. Neither of us know anything about plumbing, and it seemed to be a bigger issue than just tightening a connection, so I used a suggestion from a friend from MOPS for a plumber to come out to our house and check out the issue. They looked at it and made comments about it being complicated for it was leaking back behind the wall, plus the connection that we could see. They said they would need to reconfigure some pipes under the sink to fix the problem. They basically cut and took everything out from under the sink, drilled a new hole in the cabinet going down to the basement, and got everything much more compact under our sink, which was nice. Also, the green growth on the outside wall that we could see from our patio was because of where it was leaking in the wall, so it was a good thing we got it taken care of. All told, it ended up being around $280 for all the materials and labor, and the guys workd until about 2:15, so they were here for quite awhile. Ah, the joys of home ownership, when you have to fix all the problems on your own or through hiring someone to do the work for you.

I think Aedan really enjoyed having an unexpected day home with Samantha. He misses her a lot when she's gone at school every day, and you could tell her antibiotics were already making her feel much better because she was acting back to normal. The kids played pretty well together that morning, even though it was a little crazy with the plumbers there and lots of weird noises happening.

After eating lunch together, I put Aedan down for a nap and let Samantha play in her room until it was time for her to take a nap. She resisted me on napping, but I told her when you stay home sick from school, you have to rest so you can get better. Plus, she was up until almost 10:30 the night before and needed the extra sleep. I hoped that she wouldn't give me too much trouble going to sleep, so after a little while I peeked into her room to check on her, and she was fast asleep, snoring. I decided to peek in on Aedan as well, and even though these pictures are dark, I like seeing pictures of my children sleeping. They are so peaceful.

We took it easy the rest of the day, played at home, ate dinner with Daddy when he got home, had bath time, and then played until it was time for bed. The kids love to be silly with Daddy, and on this night, they were taking turns riding on his back. Samantha and Aedan loved every minute of it. I love the smiles on their faces and the giggles of joy. I'm so glad that Samantha was already feeling so much better.

Wednesday mornings are usually my mornings to go in to help in Samantha's class. However, I had Ben go this Wednesday so that he could see her classroom and let me know what his impression of it was, rather than just hearing stories from me. Plus, my goal for the day was to clean the house, so I needed the extra hours at home to get work done. I love our house, and it's so nice having so much space, but it definitely takes me longer to get the cleaning done than it did in previous places we've lived. Luckily, Aedan did pretty well for me while I cleaned, helped me some, but generally just played near me as I worked.

Ben's experience with Samantha's class wasn't a typical one because they had the Sault fire department visiting that morning. Here are some pictures that were posted on ClassDojo. It was a very foggy morning, but Samantha said it was cool to see the ladder on the truck go up so high, especially with a fire fighter standing all the way at the end of the ladder.

After seeing the fire truck, Samantha's class went back inside to finish calendar time. Ben got to see Samantha's turn at the calendar, which uses the promethean board. They match shapes and colors, write letters, practice counting by 5s and 10s, and many other skills. Each child gets a turn each day and then the order starts over again. Ben commented on how well Samantha did and how earnestly she was trying to reach up high on the board. They were just starting writer's workshop when he left, so he didn't get to experience as much of the classroom as I have in the past. However, I feel better about the work being done now that they've started writing workshop, math centers, and reading groups. Here are some pictures from their math centers. I'm excited to see how much Samantha will learn and grow now that they are doing more academic work, are getting settled into routines, and have more of the behavior problems figured out.

Cleaning the house on Wednesday was like an 8 hour job, but I was so glad to get it done. I feel like it had been awhile since I really got the house all clean. I even got the ladder out of the garage and cleaned the outside of the living room windows. Since the windows are older and the crank versions, they open outwards, meaning they get a lot dirtier and even had some bird poop on them. I was amazed at how much dirt I cleaned off (as well as how much brighter it looked in the living room with the windows cleaned). I felt proud of the work I did that day, and I was glad I got all the cleaning done on Wednesday before my grandma and her husband, Don, arrived for their visit on Thursday.

Thursday morning Aedan and I ran a few errands together, one being going to the Pro Shop in the Norris Center to get guards for the kids' ice skates. I also looked into trading Aedan's figure skates for hockey skates. One of Aedan's teachers recommended that to us at his last lesson because hockey skates are curved on the bottom, so if his goal is to play hockey, it may be a hard transition if he learns how to skate on figure skates. However, in talking to the man at the Pro Shop, who knows a lot about skates, he suggested just leaving Aedan in figure skates because it's important to give him confidence right off the bat as he learns to stand and be steady on the ice, and then take little steps as he learns how to skate. He said that hockey skates are a bit trickier, and he wouldn't want to frustrate Aedan when he's trying to learn and make him give up. He suggested just leaving Aedan in the figure skates and then when he's ready to go up to the next size, we can switch him over to hockey skates. So anyways, we decided to keep the figure skates, but we did get the guards. Aedan's teacher suggested that we put guards on his skates and let him practice walking around the living room on his skates, so that's what we did when we got back home before lunch. Aedan was so excited to put his skates on, and at first he wanted to hold my hands for reassurance as he walked around the coffee table, but after awhile he gained confidence and was able to do it all by himself. He got better at keeping his balance, and even figured out how to fall more gracefully to the side and how to stand back up again. It actually was a battle to get him to take his skates off so that we could do other things and eat lunch. I was glad he took to it so quickly, and if this helps him, we will definitely have to let him walk around in his skates more often.

Just as I started boiling the water for mac and cheese for lunch, I heard from Grandma and Don saying they were in Sault Ste. Marie and were going to stop for lunch. I asked if they wanted me to meet them, to which they agreed. I had to get dinner cooking in the crock pot, so Aedan and I worked on that quickly before leaving to meet Grandma and Don at Karl's Cuisine. I was a little nervous about taking Aedan out to eat lunch at 1:00 when he really should have been getting ready for bed, but I wanted to take advantage of seeing our out of town guests. The hardest part for Aedan, and most kids I imagine, is waiting for our food after ordering. I tried to distract him with coloring, looking at a book, or playing with a toy, but none of those things held his attention for very long. Aedan caught Samantha's cold and cough over the last day or so, so he wasn't feeling very well either which didn't help his attitude and behavior. He picked mac and cheese with applesauce, and he ate most of the applesauce and some of the mac and cheese, but then refused to eat anymore, except for the fruit of my plate, that is. It was good to see Grandma and Don, but it was pretty much impossible for me to carry on any conversation with them while I was trying to deal with amusing Aedan, keeping him quiet, and preventing him from throwing things or pushing things across the table. Eating out with a 2 1/2 year old is not the most pleasant experience, especially not when they want to be in bed napping.

After eating lunch, Grandma and Don followed me back home to see our house. I put Aedan down for his nap and then gave them a tour of our house. They really liked it and gushed over how nice it looked and how much space we had for ourselves. It made me feel proud of the life we've made for ourselves up here, and it made me feel good that they liked our house so much. We then hung out and talked for the rest of the afternoon until Samantha got home from school. Grandma and Don then left to check in to the hotel with plans to come back for dinner at 6:15.

Samantha had a pumpkin carving function at her school that I signed the kids up for, and she was super excited to participate in it. I had to wake Aedan up since he got down for such a late nap, and then we were off to school. They had all the pumpkins sitting outside for the kids to choose from, and Samantha ran into the new girl from her class and wanted to sit by her at a table. We gathered our carving tools and got to work. I helped cut around the top and then gave the kids scoopers to dig the guts out of the pumpkin. However, it is hard work for the kids to do on their own. I ended up doing Aedan's mostly for him, and for Samantha I would scoop it and loosen it up and then have her scoop it out and dump it into the plastic bag. Samantha got a little impatient while waiting for me to get their pumpkins cleaned, but she saw lots of her little friends from school that she just had to go say hello to. She's such a little social butterfly, and she loves the kids in her kindergarten class. Here are the kids working on their pumpkins.

The kids drew faces on their pumpkins, and I helped them use the cutting tool to cut out the design they drew. They both enjoyed popping out the piece when we had cut all the way around.

And here's the finished product! (I couldn't get them both to look at the camera at the same time.) I think their pumpkins turned out pretty well, especially since I was there by myself with them. It was really fun being able to do this with the kids. We all really enjoyed ourselves. It was a really fun event, and it's so nice that her school has these special events for families to attend together. I think Aedan enjoyed his first pumpkin carving experience as well, especially doing it with Sissy at her school made him feel like a really grown-up kid.

After pumpkin carving, we went back home for dinner with Daddy, Grandma, and Don. I made beef strogonaff in the crock pot, a recipe I had never tried before, and it turned out really good, even though the kids weren't too big of fans of it. The kids, Aedan in particular, have been really finicky with food lately. Sometimes things they usually like, they turn their noses up at, and it's hard to find food that everyone will eat and enjoy. We figure, if they're hungry enough, they'll eat. We're not going to make special food for them or not make things that we like because we don't think the kids will like it. Grandma brought presents for the kids, an Elmo book with interactive noises for Aedan and some Color Wonder books (one with glitter pages) and markers for Samantha, so the kids spent the rest of their evening enjoying their presents. Grandma did a good job finding things that the kids really like. Then, it was time for the kids to go to bed and Grandma and Don went back to their hotel to get settled in for the night after a long day.

Even though I could have taken a job substitute teaching on Friday, I decided it would be much nicer to spend time with Grandma and Don. Our plan was for Grandma to take it easy at the hotel because her stomach was bothering her, while I took Don to see the locks. That would be too much walking for my grandma anyways. I thought about bringing Aedan with me, but with his bad cough, I didn't want to take him out in the cold if I didn't have to. Ben was working from home, so he was fine with me leaving Aedan at home with him while I took Don. However, when I arrived at the hotel around 10:15, Don asked me if it would be okay with me to skip the locks and instead buy Grandma a birthday cake, card, and balloon so we could have a little surprise celebration that evening. So instead of the locks, we went to Walmart to get all of those things taken care of, brought the birthday items back to our house to hide, and then went back to the hotel to get grandma. They offered to take us out to lunch, so I suggested a family restaurant called Pure Country that I figured they would like. We had never been there before, but we heard good things about it and had always wanted to try it sometime. Again, Aedan isn't the most patient when sitting and waiting for his food at a restaurant, but it helped that both Ben and I were there to deal with him that day.

From the restaurant, Grandma and Don went back to the hotel while we went back home to put Aedan down for his nap. The cough/cold that originated with Samantha and traveled to Aedan, had now been passed to me as well, so I wasn't feeling very well that afternoon. I probably could have taken a nap myself that day, but I didn't know when Grandma and Don were coming over, and I expected them at anytime. However, Grandma actually ended up falling asleep at the hotel so they didn't come over for some time. Here is Aedan after getting up from his nap that afternoon. My grandma took this picture.

Grandma and Don were staying at the Holiday Inn Express right down the street from our house, so we had plans to go over to their hotel to go swimming on Friday night. As soon as Samantha got home from school and we got everyone dressed in swim suits and ready to go, we headed over for some swim time. The kids were really excited about swimming, and Samantha was particularly excited about trying out her new goggles that we bought for her after the last time she went swimming and turned her eyes red from opening her eyes under water too much. The water was a little chilly in the main pool, but not too bad. Samantha really enjoyed interacting with and playing with Don in the pool. And after awhile Ben and I made our way into the hot tub to warm up while Aedan sat on the edge with his feet or hands touching the water every once in awhile. It was a fun activity to do together that evening.

After getting dressed from swimming, we picked up pizza from Dominoes to eat back at the house. Then, we gave the kids quick showers since they were overdue for a bath and just were in a chlorine pool. We got Grandma's cake, balloon, and card out, and then told her we had dessert ready in the kitchen. When she walked out and saw everything, she was really surprised and touched. Don had a great idea, and I only wish I would have thought it up myself. Aedan loves it when people have birthdays because it means we can sing "Happy Birthday," blow out candles, and eat cake. However, it was already past their bedtime when we sat down to eat dessert, so for some reason Aedan got really upset and started crying. I don't know if it was because it was carrot cake and he was expecting chocolate or vanilla cake, but he just wouldn't calm down, so we just got him down from the table and put him to bed. Samantha always enjoys cake and ice cream and devoured hers before going to bed, too.

On Saturday morning, Grandma and Don decided to stay at the hotel and not join us until lunchtime. We didn't have any plans for that morning other than ice skating lessons from 11-12, so we spent the morning hanging out together. We had pancakes for breakfast, our traditional Saturday morning breakfast, and then Ben and I tried to work on installing our faux wood blinds in our bedroom downstairs. The window coverings the previous owners left behind were old looking, blocked too much light, and were unable to be pulled up and down. Until this point, we just had our sheer curtains covering the windows and that was fine with us. However, now that it is getting down into the upper 30s and lower 40s at night, we have been turning on our heat from the wall heater in our room. We can't close the curtains because they would lay right on top of the heater, so we needed something to block light from our bedroom and to also give us some privacy. It took Ben a little while to figure out how best to install the blinds, and our kids were not getting along with each other well that morning with lots of bickering and picking on each other, so we didn't get as much done as we had hoped. Because of that, Ben stayed home to finish the blinds and to work on lunch so it would be ready when we got home from ice skating lessons.

So, I took the kids by myself which was fine, but definitely not as much fun as when Ben and I go together and can sit their and talk to each other while watching our kids skate. I was amazed at how well Aedan did in comparison to his last lesson two weeks ago. He had this little walker to push around to help him keep his balance and learn how to walk with baby steps. He was much sturdier on his feet, and his teacher was amazed at how much progress he had made from the little boy who cried the entire time during the first lesson. It was so cute watching my little boy out on the ice. He even got a small treat of M&Ms for doing such a good job at his lesson. She said walking around on his skates in our living room made a huge difference in his confidence on the ice.

Samantha did really well at her lesson as well. She was getting much more speed than in the past and was trying her hardest to bend her knees, scratch out her name on the ice, weave her legs in and out, and even twist back and forth to help herself move backwards. I was proud of the effort that she was putting into her lesson.

The only issue we had was when Aedan finished his lesson and got his M&Ms. It made her jealous of him, and she pouted for awhile. I had to go down and talk to her, telling her she needed to work hard for the next half hour and how there are a lot of times that she gets special treats that Aedan doesn't get. Also, just because he gets something doesn't mean she has to get something, too. Eventually, she snapped out of her funk and started making her way around the rink. When she was concentrating on what she was doing, she got going pretty fast, pushing off on her skates more and feeling more confident in her ability to move. Then, towards the end I encouraged her to skate around the circle at the corner of the ice, just to practice more control over her turns and to get her away from the security of the wall. 

Lessons went really well that morning, and I was glad they seemed to still be enjoying it. We got back home around 12:15, and Ben was finishing making mac and cheese as an extra something to eat along with the chicken salad that we made. Aedan was really whiny and clingy and didn't want to sit in his chair to eat. He kept saying, "No like salad." I offered to just give him mac and cheese, but he didn't want that either. We just could not calm him down, so we asked him if he just wanted to go down for his nap. He wholeheartedly agreed with that, so Ben went to put him down for his nap even without eating lunch. He was just too tired to eat, probably from his cough/cold as well as having a full morning of playing and skating hard.

Grandma and Don hung out with us for the rest of the afternoon while the kids took naps. I even was able to drive them around Sault Ste. Marie to give them an idea of where we live and what places we frequent. I think they really enjoyed seeing our city and were surprised at how big it really was. It was fun to be able to show them around, especially since we couldn't really go do much of anything since my grandma can't walk long distances.

Here are the kids listening to Grandma read a story after nap time that afternoon. This is Aedan's new Elmo book, and he loves it. He wanted to take it with him everywhere.

Grandma suggested that we go out to dinner again that evening, but I was not feeling like taking our kids to a sit-down restaurant where we would be refereeing our children the whole time, so I suggested that we go to McDonald's instead, that way we can all eat and then the kids can play and get out of our hair for awhile, allowing the adults to actually sit and talk with one another. Here are the kids and Grandma while waiting for their food.

The kids had fun playing in the play place together. Aedan asks to go to McDonald's sometimes because of the play place, but I don't think he'd like it as much without Sissy there to help him climb up and play with him. From McDonald's we all went back home to hang out for a little longer before the kids had to go to bed. My grandma took this picture of the kids and me. (I cut their nails because they were both getting too long.)

That evening at bedtime, Samantha gave Grandma and Don many, many hugs and kisses good night and good-bye. When Ben told Aedan to say good-bye, he said, "No want to," which usually means that he's sad to see people leave and hopes, maybe, that if he doesn't hug them good-bye, they won't actually leave. The kids had fun with our out of town visitors, and it's always hard to see people go.

On Sunday we took it pretty easy with going to church, teaching small groups for elementary kids, eating lunch together, and putting the kids down for naps. I gave the kids a bath on Sunday evening because Ben burned his hand on some bacon grease from breakfast, and I realized i hadn't taken many pictures or videos of them in the bathtub lately. They were doing this really cute thing with shaking water out of their cups and shouting, "Volcano!" It's fun to get these cute interactions on video to prove it wasn't just all bickering and correcting behavior. There are plenty of times when they get along well and are sweet with each other.

Monday was back to the grindstone, and it always feel like Mondays come too quickly. Ben had a meeting on campus at 8:00 a.m., so I was on my own to finish getting the kids ready and drive Samantha to school. I was actually prepared enough that Aedan and I just went straight to Walmart to do our grocery shopping after dropping Samantha off at school. Neither Aedan nor I were feeling very well that morning. In fact, he didn't get out of his "Captain Hook" pajamas all day. We just hung out at the house and played together. He even created a new fun game. He got a cookie sheet out of the cupboard and was jumping from it over and over again. Then, he decided to jump and go right into a somersault.  He did this motion seamlessly many times, but then there were times like his first attempt on this video where he just crashed his head into the floor. However, he just got up and tried again. I think his form on his somersaults is pretty good with how he pushes up with his arms and sometimes his head doesn't even touch the floor. He is just such a cute kid. I love to see what his little brain can come up with.

Monday nights are late nights for Ben, so the kids and I did some special things together that evening. I let them watch It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, and we also made cookies together. Samantha and Aedan were having fun playing together in the basement, and we had a good night together for which I was really grateful. It was a good end to a busy day.

(Blog about October 18-24, 2016)

Samantha's Farm Field Trip, Homecoming Weekend, and Samantha's Double Ear Infection

Samantha: 64 Months, Week 4
Aedan: 29 Months, Week 3

Tuesday was a MOPS day since it was the second Tuesday of the month. It was good to go again and to have some good food and good conversations. Sometimes it's hard for me feel comfortable with small talk, but I know it's just all a part of the process. It was a busy day for Samantha because she had picture day in the morning followed by a class field trip to Bell's Farm in the afternoon. I thought about going on the field trip with her and taking Aedan along with me, but I decided against it because I didn't know how Aedan would do being out during his nap time. I wouldn't be too much help with the class if I was trying to chase Aedan around. Plus, it seemed like they would have plenty of parents along to help. If I know about her next field trip ahead of time, hopefully I can plan for a babysitter so that I can go on the field trip with Samantha. With ClassDojo, we are able to see pictures that the teachers post during the day, so I was able to live vicariously through the pictures of Samantha and her class. She was very excited to tell me about it when she got home, and as you can see by the pictures, they got to see horses and their gear, go on a hayride, and go on a nature walk where they collected leaves, moss, acorns, and other items out in the forest. I'm so glad they got to experience this field trip to Bell's Farm, and I'm so glad the rain held off for them so they could have a good day exploring the outdoors. Here are some of pictures where she was included or where they were doing something interesting.

I haven't posted many pictures of Samantha at school from ClassDojo, so these are actually from last week, but I just wanted to include them to give a glimse into her classroom. They have recently started Writer's Workshop, and this is what they are working on this picture. They each have their own folder of stories, and from what I've seen, they gather with Ms. Cornwell on the carpet to talk about what to write and what to think about when writing, then they go back to their seats to work independently on their writing. Most of the time they draw a picture at the top of what they want to write about, and then they write in the lines below, teaching us something they know a lot about. It's great to see them working hard and practicing their writing, even though they don't know how to spell everything correctly yet.

In the front of the room, they have little squares with leaves that they decorated with their names on it, so each kid has their own spot to sit. I believe this picture was probably taken during calendar time, which they do on the promethean board. I like this picture because you can see some of the kids around Samantha that are talking or have their attention other places, but she is sitting forwards and concentrating on the board. It's amazing to me how when she's at school it's like she has blinders on. She is very good at focusing on the task at hand and doing the right thing, even if people around her are not. I'm proud of her for that. That character trait will certainly help her as she goes through her years at school.

It was a good thing that I decided to keep Aedan at home that afternoon because he was super tired from our morning at MOPS. When I put him down for his nap, he chose both Ema and Papa recorded books. After reading them, he said with a very sad expression, "Miss Ema Papa." Then, after a pause, "Miss Daddy, miss Sissy." I said, well you get to hang out with Mommy" and he said, "No, with Mommy." (Apparently I wasn't good enough for him that day.) However, I still know he loves me even when he's sad about other people being away from him. Plus, I get the benefit of putting him down for his nap every day and watching him fall asleep in my arms. It's priceless, and I soak it up. It's probably one of my favorite times of every day.

Here is funny video of Aedan from earlier Tuesday morning. He found a container with a tennis ball in it and discovered a cool way to throw the ball. I had to take a video of this because it was so cute and he did this for about 15-20 minutes in the bathroom and got a kick out of watching it bounce off the walls. In case you can't tell what he's saying, here's the translation: "Squat down, throw ball."

Aedan woke up right around when Samantha usually gets dropped off by the bus, so I got him out of bed quickly since he likes to run out and greet Sissy in the driveway and see the bus drive away. However, we waited and waited, and she didn't come at her normal time. After awhile I started to get worried because she always gets home around a certain time. I was just about to call the school when I got a call from them saying the bus driver didn't know Samantha was on the bus, but they were bringing her home then. She ended up being dropped off half an hour late and spent 50 minutes total on the bus. I asked Samantha what happened, and she said that she was just being really quiet so the bus driver didn't know she was there. We wondered if she fell asleep, but she said that she didn't. I was just glad she made it back home. We talked about what to do if that ever happens again, and how she needs to speak up to the bus driver if she feels like she passed our house. I'm sure now that her bus driver will be more aware of her being on the bus, and it was just a weird thing that happened and will probably never happen again.

After Samantha got home, she was warned to act nicely or she would lose her TV time for the next day. (We have started doing this to help her watch her behavior in the evenings, especially towards Aedan, because she can be kind of a brat, getting in his face, pushing him, being mean, and it's because she's had a long day, but she knows that's not okay.) The kids played very nicely while I made dinner. They both had backpacks and pretended like they were going to school, had to rush to the bus, and then came home to tell me how many points they got. We had tacos for dinner and both kids ate well, which was nice because Ben was teaching late on campus again. Since Monday was technically their fall break, all Monday classes were moved to Tuesday, meaning Ben had his night class on Tuesday and Wednesday night this week and two nights in a row where I was on my own with the kids int he evening.

We had a really pleasant evening together, and I was glad that they were doing such a good job for me. We played for a little while after dinner and did puzzles before it was time to get ready for bed. Samantha left a piece for Daddy to do when he got home, saying he had to do it wrong (meaning upside down) and even practiced like she was Daddy coming in from work and I had to tell her how to put the piece in. For how good the night was, Samantha resisted getting ready for bed some, but we did it, they were excited to use their new chapstick, and then we did bedtime together. I like having both my kids sitting on my lap and reading books to them. They are so sweet together at bedtime that it's almost more fun doing bedtime together. While we were in the middle of our last book, Daddy got home and the kids were so excited to see him. We finished reading, and then Daddy helped put Samantha to bed while I put Aedan to bed. It's always nice to sit and talk to Ben after a long day apart, and it will sure be nice when this semester is over and we don't have any more late nights.

On Wednesday morning, Samantha came into the room with me to get Aedan in the morning. She gave him Piggy, and he hugged it and cuddled it. Then, he looked at Samantha and said, "Sissy gave me animal," with a big smile. Samantha was being extra sweet with him while he slowly woke up, and while she was rubbing his back and stroking his cheek, Aedan looked at Samantha with complete love on his face and said, "She love me." Samantha said, "Yeah, I do, buddy. I'll always love you." Oh man, that just about melted my heart. Their love for each other is powerful.

Both kids were in a good mood that morning and played for awhile before taking Samantha to school. We have started dropping her off a little later in the morning since she said she didn't really want to be at school early to play outside, and that way the kids have more time together in the morning and our mornings aren't quite as rushed. Then, Daddy hung out with Aedan for a little while before dropping me off at Samantha's school to help in her classroom.

I helped put up a bulletin board and then assisted with writer's workshop. It seems like the morning was a little more organized than on Monday. The kids were working as they should be, for the most part, while the teachers circulated the room helping various kids with their writing ideas. Just before I left, I noticed Samantha putting away her paper, so I looked at it, and it said, "I love Mom." I told her how sweet that was, and that her picture was really good. She split it into three sections showing things she can do outside like going to the beach or climbing a tree. I tried to point out to her that she was supposed to write about her pictures, telling a story about her pictures, and she started to get upset, crying, and saying she didn't want to write anymore. I told her that she wasn't really doing what she was supposed to do. I tried to help her brainstorm what she could write, but lately when she gets corrected in the least bit like this, she tends to shut down, so she just said, "I don't want to tell you anything..." I had to go, so I told her I would ask her when she got home what sentence she decided to write. I'm not sure why she has gotten upset like this lately and is so sensitive to the littlest bit of correction, even when done in a gentle manner. Anyways, I enjoyed my time helping her teacher and with her class, and I was encouraged by the work I saw being done while I was there.

When Aedan was with Daddy on Wednesday morning, they ran a few errands, one of them being a stop at Walmart for a few things. One thing was to look at Halloween costumes for Aedan. Samantha has lots of princess dresses that we got her for her last birthday, but Aedan doesn't have any dress-up clothes to pull from. Ben said he gave Aedan a few choices, and Aedan chose the football player outfit. After he woke up, he wanted to try it on, so I got it out for him, and man, he was was just too cute. I love his little cheesy smile. He thought his costume was pretty awesome, and I'm sure he will love wearing it for Halloween.

And then right after taking his football costume off, he wanted to put his Cubs clothes back on with Sissy's pink dress over the top. I texted these two pictures to Ben and asked, "Which do you think he'd rather wear for Halloween, given a choice?" We obviously won't let him wear a dress, but he certainly has liked wearing Sissy's dresses lately.

That evening when I put Samantha to bed, she prayed and said, "Dear God, Thank you for this day, thank you that you came on earth to rescue us from our sins. Thank you for making me just the way I am and making me special. Thank you for Mommy, Daddy, Aedan, and Samantha. I pray that you would help my cough and stuffy nose to get better sometime soon, and that I would have a good day at school tomorrow and not get a point taken away. Amen." I love her heart and her prayers. When we read the Bible, we talked about how it will be in heaven, with no sickness, no pain, no stuffy noses. Then the next page was about the Holy Spirit, so she asked what that was. I explained how Jesus left the Holy Spirit for us when He could no longer stay on earth. I explained how the Holy Spirit guides us in following Jesus and doing the right things, comforts us, and prays for us when we don't know what to pray. Samantha will readily admit that she is Jesus' friend and that she believes in Him and has asked Him into her heart. I'm so glad that her understanding of Jesus is growing so much at such a young age, and that she has such a curiosity in learning more. I pray that this wonder will never fade away and that she will always feel comfortable discussing the Bible and spiritual questions with us. What a wonderful way to end an evening with my little girl.

Thursday was a big day for us because we planned to leave for our weekend in Upland once Samantha was done with school for the day. Ben went to work and taught his normal classes except for his 5:00, which he cancelled so that we could get out of town earlier. Aedan and I spent the morning getting everything packed up, washing his diapers, and getting the car packed and ready to go. Aedan likes to be helpful, and he doesn't really like going off and playing by himself very often, so he hung around me most of the day. At one point, while I was packing things from the bathroom downstairs, I heard him singing, jumping up and down on the bed, and watching himself in the mirror attached to the top of our dresser. He was also singing "No More Monkeys Jumping on the Bed," but as soon as I started recording, he stopped. Either way, these videos are cute to watch.

Ben came home a little before 3:00 so that I could drop Roscoe off at the boarder, we got our last things packed up, Aedan woke up from his nap, and we hit the road. Aedan and Samantha were both super excited to be going to Upland and to be able to see Ema and Papa. Our plan was to drive for a couple hours and stop for dinner. Then, drive for about an hour longer and stop for gas and to change the kids into their pajamas for bedtime. The kids did pretty well in the car. They played, watched Frozen (which was actually Aedan's choice of movie), and Ben and I were able to talk some in the front seat. Our kids do pretty well on these long car trips.

We talked a lot about what we expected from the kids on Thursday night, that they needed to sleep in the car, and if for some reason they woke up, they would just have to go back to sleep. It was after 8:00 when we started driving again. They both had their pajamas on. Samantha had her blankie, and Aedan had his paci. They had blankets to cover themselves up, and it was nice and dark outside. I read two books to them, and we sang songs and prayed just as we usually do. Samantha did an excellent job and fell asleep right away, by 8:35 she was snoring in the backseat. Aedan, on the other hand, just sat in his car seat looking around. In fact, at one point he saw wind turbines outside. Now, he associates wind turbines with Upland since there are two on Taylor's campus, so when he saw us driving by these window turbines, he got really worried. He said, "See wind turbines. Pass wind turbines!" I think he was afraid that we we were in Upland and were driving right by them. Ben was driving, since I'm not great at driving in the dark when I'm tired, so I tried my hardest to get Aedan to be quiet and not wake Samantha up. I tried telling him to close his eyes and go to sleep, I tried taking his blanket away and then giving it back to him, and I even threatened to take his paci away if he didn't go to sleep. Luckily, Samantha slept through all this, and Aedan never got very loud. He was sitting in his seat quietly at least, but he didn't make any attempt to go to sleep for quite awhile. Finally, sometime around 10:00, he finally fell asleep. Ben and I were both relieved, and we hoped the kids would stay asleep for the rest of our two hour ride to Upland. Aedan woke up crying a few times where I would have to reach back and put my hand on him to calm him down or help him find his paci. Then, around 11:30, he woke up and didn't go back to sleep. Luckily, we were getting close so it wasn't too bad. Samantha didn't wake up until we pulled into Ema and Papa's driveway.

Once we arrived, we quickly brought the kids in the house and went into high gear getting their bedrooms set up for bedtime: the monitors, Samantha's bunny clock, Aedan's sound machine, and his pack and play, too. Ema and Papa heard us come in, and even though they were both in bed, they decided to come upstairs and say hi to us, particularly the kids. Samantha and Aedan were thrilled to see them because we told them that they probably wouldn't see them until Friday morning. Then, we tucked the kids into bed, hoping that they would go right back to sleep, and then Ben and I got into bed ourselves. Samantha had developed a stuffy nose and cough, so she took a little while falling back to sleep due to her cough. We figured we'd try making the trip in one day with the kids sleeping in the car rather than stopping halfway at a hotel. We decided to try it once and if it worked, then we would consider doing it again. We hoped Aedan would have fallen asleep faster. In fact, we figured that Samantha would be the one giving us trouble falling asleep and not Aedan, but overall it worked out okay. It was nice getting there on Thursday night instead of spending all of Friday driving down to Upland. 

On Friday morning the kids got to see Ema and Papa for a little while before it was time for them to head to work. The weather was wonderful for our weekend in Upland, so we decided to go enjoy campus for awhile. We drove over to chapel and took the kids into the beginning of the chapel service to hear the music, which they thought was pretty cool. We got our registrations materials, and then we just enjoyed walking around campus and letting the kids wander and explore where they wanted. It was so fun having Samantha with us rather than at school. I forget how much I miss her sometimes.

We wanted to get Ivanhoes while in Upland, but we knew it was only going to get busier and busier, so we decided to go for lunch on Friday. However, it was already extremely busy, and we didn't feel like waiting in the long line for food. There was no line for ice cream, so we decided to have a backwards lunch: ice cream first and then sandwiches back at the house. The kids picked their ice cream flavors, rainbow sherbet for Samantha and orange sherbet for Aedan, and we ordered them Crazy the Clown sundaes. Here's Samantha's face when her ice cream finally came out. They both thought it was so cool how their ice cream looked like a face and had an Oreo, whipped cream, sprinkles, and gummy bears.

Needless to say, the kids thoroughly enjoyed their ice cream, and I think they rather enjoyed their ice cream for lunch. :)

Once we got back to the house, we made small sandwiches, just to give us a little more sustenance than ice cream, and then we put the kids down for naps. Since we got in so late on Thursday night, and it took Samantha awhile to fall asleep, we had her take a nap as well.

The rest of the evening was spent hanging out with family, and it was wonderful. I think it was good for all of our souls to be back in Upland again. We have been feeling the distance of living in the U.P. lately and being farther away from the people that really know us and our children. Samantha and Aedan were thrilled when Ema and Papa came home, and they just could not wait for Aunt Jeni and Alaina to come as well. We were so glad that they could make the trip down even though Jeni wasn't feeling too well. Here are Aunt Jeni and Aedan playing with silly Larry Boy after dinner. Very few people can make Aedan laugh as hard as Aunt Jeni does. :)

After dinner Ben was outside with Samantha and Alaina to watch the birds gather in the tree in the yard. They were very loud and there were just tons of them in the tree. Ben decided their mission would be to scare the birds away by running down the hill and yelling at the top of their lungs. Of course the girls thought that was a great idea. At first, they really were scaring the birds away, but then the birds got used to all their noise and didn't fly away anymore, so finally Ben had to resort to hitting a ball at the tree with a baseball bat. That definitely scared all the birds away, and then they decided to congregate in another tree so as not to be bothered again.

A lot of the times when we are in Upland, the kids pick Ema and Papa to put them to bed. On Friday night both Ben and I were off duty because Samantha picked Papa and Aedan picked Ema. For some reason his diaper leaked at nap time, so I had to wash his wrap and blanket. However, I didn't get it into the dryer in time, so we were waiting for his wrap to dry while Ema read him this book over and over again. They were just too cute together for me not to take a picture of it. Aedan LOVES his Ema. He loves Papa too, but Ema is often his favorite, and he will almost always choose her. This bond between the two of them is just so precious, and I love how he is leaning his little head up against her shoulder. He is in the best place in the world in this picture, and I know Ema thinks this little guy is pretty special as well.

Saturday was going to be a big day, but the kids slept in until past 7:30 which was a nice surprise for Ben and me. Since Jeni and Alaina came Friday night, Samantha moved into our room to sleep on an air mattress. She did really well going to sleep and only stirred slightly when we came into the room to go to sleep ourselves. In the past we have had issues with her sleeping well, getting enough sleep, and being respectful, but she did really well for us in Upland that weekend.

Ema and Papa always think of fun activities for the kids when they come to visit, usually a craft of some kind as well as making something for a special treat. Well, since it is almost Halloween, Papa cut out the shapes of pumpkins for the kids to draw faces on. Then, he used his special saw to cut the faces out just like the kids drew. Samantha and Alaina were excited to see how Papa would cut out the face, but Aedan was too afraid that it was going to be loud and decided to just play outside instead.

Sometime mid-morning, my friends and their kids started showing up at the house to hang out and commence the Homecoming activities. Rebekah, Jorge, Benaiah, and Isaac came first, followed by Brad, Melissa, and Madeline. Before the kids came over, I talked to Samantha about being a good friend to all the kids since they won't know anyone, and to make them feel welcome and included. Samantha is really good at being friendly and making people feel at ease, so the kids immediately ran off and started playing in Ema and Papa's large yard. It was so fun watching them all run around together, the kids of my friends and my kids were playing together, what a surreal and cool experience. While the kids ran around and played outside, the parents were able to talk and catch up some. Once it looked like the kids were done playing outside and were getting hungry for a snack, we went back inside to play with toys until lunchtime.

The only official Homecoming activity we registered for was our class lunch on Saturday afternoon. Brad and Melissa signed up as well, so we headed over to the gym for lunch. Samantha and Aedan decided it would be more fun to stay home with Ema and Papa, which made it easier for us. All the reunion years were set up in the same area with long tables marked with balloon numbers for what year reunion it was. It was a little strange and kind of impersonal. We saw a few people we knew and talked to for a few minutes, but it didn't seem to be very well-attended. (It was much more enjoyable just to hang out with our friends in a more comfortable environment anyways.) So then we went back to the house to get kids situated for nap time. Melissa put Madeline down in a pack and play in Ben's parents' room, Aedan slept in the play room like normal, and Rebekah tried to get Benaiah to lay down on the air mattress that Samantha slept on. We decided the girls didn't need to take naps and could just play quietly together. Benaiah didn't feel like napping, so that meant that he, Isaac, Alaina, and Samantha could play together. The parents had a good time sitting in the basement chatting and keeping enough of an eye on our children that we knew they weren't up to too much mischief. At one point I was curious about what everyone was doing, and I captured these pictures.

Once everyone was up from their naps, we decided to go on a walk around campus to get all the kids out of the house and to allow everyone to see the new buildings that have been built on campus in the last ten years. We pushed the younger kids in strollers, but most of them ended up getting out and walking around anyways. We stopped at the prayer chapel where we met up with Janell, walked around the science building, and then made our way over to the new student center.

After our walk came to an end, we made our way back to Ben's parents' house for dinner. Ben cooked out sausage patties, and Donna provided sides like chips, baked sweet potatoes, and fruit to go along with our dinner. I was so grateful that they opened their home to be invaded by so many more people. We were having a wonderful time together, and we were so glad to have this extended time with one another.

After dinner, Samantha, Alaina, and Aedan finished painting their pumpkins. I love how everyone's pumpkin turned out to reflect each individual personality. Aedan was thrilled to be included with the girls, and Ema said that he was very particular about his painting and concentrated on it very hard. They turned out very cute, and they even have a little stand to be propped up in as well as a battery-operated candle to place behind the pumpkin to make it look like a jack-o-lantern. It was such a cute idea, and they all turned out really well.

On Saturday evening we planned to have a girls' night out, so all the husband's put the kids to bed while we went out together, and I'm SO glad that we did. We went over to Payne's to get some dessert and talk, staying until 11:00 when they closed. It's amazing how we can be apart for so long yet still get together and connect so personally with each other. I hadn't seen or talked to Rebekah since her wedding, but it was wonderful reconnecting with her, hearing about her children, and learning more about their ministry with sex trafficking in Miami. I've kept up with Janell and Melissa a little more over the past ten years, but it's not like we talk all the time. Despite time and distance, it's like we were right back in college again: talking, laughing, and sharing. In fact, my cheeks hurt because I was smiling and laughing so much that night. I was so glad to be able to spend time with my friends, and I'm so glad we can keep up these dear, true college friendships. I hope they will continue into the future as well. We weren't ready to part ways at 11:00, so we made our way back to campus and sat in the student center to talk some more. I don't think any of us wanted to be the ones to declare it was time to part ways. We even managed to get someone to take a picture of the four of us together. :)

Once it got to be 12:15, I decided it was time to call it a night, even though I didn't want our night to end. However, I still had to drive Melissa back to Berne and then drive back to Upland, and we had a big day of driving the next day as we made our way back home to Sault Ste. Marie. Even though it was late, it was nice to have more time to talk with Melissa. I don't think I realized how much I have missed these deep connections with friends where I can just be myself. With all the moving we have done over the past ten years since college, we haven't had many opportunities to make and keep friendships. I was truly blessed by our time spent with friends, and I hope it can happen again sooner than in ten more years.

Sunday was our day to head home, so after spending some time with Ema, Papa, Jeni, and Alaina before they left for church, we hit the road around 10:30. Both kids were so sad about leaving that it broke my heart. Samantha was sitting at the kitchen table just crying because she was so sad to leave. She just loves coming to Upland, and particularly loves spending time with Alaina, who Samantha and Alaina affectionately call "cuzy." I had never seen Samantha so sad before. She doesn't normally cry unless she is hurt or mad, so this was a rare show of her emotions that we don't see very often. Ema reassured her that we would all see each other again soon, but Samantha continued to have tears trickle down her little cheeks. I came up to give her a hug and console her, but it was hard for me not to cry as well. We had a wonderful weekend surrounded by wonderful time with family and friends, and we were all sad to see it end. As we drove away, we tried to talk to Samantha about how she was feeling, but she just needed some time to sit quietly and cry, which I understand. I feel like I have been feeling the distance a lot more lately. Living in Sault Ste. Marie is just so far away from family, and it will take some getting used to for all of us.

Our trip home on Sunday was uneventful. We stopped in Lansing for lunch at Chipotle and arrived home between 6:00 and 6:30. We picked up pizza for dinner, got ourselves unpacked a little, gave the kids baths, and got everyone in bed before the start of another week of school.

We had a very busy Monday, really with way too many things going on for one day. Ben and I had fingerprint appointments at 9:10 and 9:20 for our criminal background check to be foster parents. I had to go grocery shopping, finish getting unpacked, and do laundry. Ben and I had an appointment with the urologist at 4:15, so I had to wake Aedan up from his nap so that we could go pick Samantha up from school and then drop them off at another mom's house so we could go to our appointment without dragging the kids along with us. We had to wait for awhile to see the doctor, making Ben have to cancel his 5:00 class. The doctor again reiterated that Ben's results came back fine; even though his motility number was low, his sperm count was high enough that she is confident we will conceive at some point. However, she did give him a prescription for medicine that can improve his sperm count. He is to take that on certain days of my cycle, and then he has another appointment in January to see how it has affected his sperm count. We figured we might as well try something that might help us and see how it goes.

Then, we rushed back to pick up the kids, quickly pick up some food for dinner, drop Ben off on campus for his night class, and then rush to our small group meeting. It was too much for us to agree to do this after having such a crazy day, but since we missed group last week due to totally forgetting about, I figured we should try to make it that night. The small group was good, but the kids didn't do a great job of staying in the basement to play and kept coming upstairs and interrupting the adults. This is always a hard time of night for our kids because they are getting tired and "done" for the night, and when it was time to leave everyone was having a meltdown. Samantha didn't want to leave and wasn't listening. Aedan was copying her behavior, and then pinched his hand in the closet door. Then, Samantha started complaining about her ear hurting. Both kids were crying as we were trying to get shoes on and get out the door. I was slightly embarrassed by our "first impression" and just wanted to get out of there.

As we drove home, I tried to get Samantha to calm down so she could explain to me more about how she felt. She said, "It feels like I have an ear infection." When we got home, Ben was already home from his class so he was able to help me get the kids ready for bed. Samantha could not stop crying and holding her left ear, complaining about it hurting. I tried to get her ready for bed, but with how she was acting, I knew she wasn't going to get any sleep. I found a walk-in clinic that was still open until 8:30 and decided it was more important to get her to the doctor and hopefully get her on some antibiotics than to try to get her to bed right then. Ben volunteered to take her, and the doctor didn't have to do much to decide she had an ear infection: a slight ear infection in her right ear and a really bad one in her left ear. Even though she had a cough and cold, her chest was clear, and she was sent on her way with a prescription for amoxicillin. Ben took her to Walgreens to fill the prescription since the pharmacy was open until 10:00, but the computer system was down, and they had to wait for a really long time for the medicine to be ready. Samantha felt terrible and just curled up on her Daddy's lap. She was so tired and was begging to just go home and go to sleep. Eventually, she gave in and sleep overtook her. Ben sent me this picture with the text "me=melting." It was so sad that she was sick, but we were so glad she told us that her ear was hurting so that we could take her to get antibiotics and help her feel better faster. It was almost 10:30 before she got home and was tucked into bed after her first dose of medicine. We had already decided she wouldn't be going to school on Tuesday and encouraged her to sleep in as long as her body needed. Poor girl, it's so hard when your kids are sick.

(Blog about October 11-17, 2016)