Ben Out of Town & Fun Family Time

Samantha: 65 Months, Week 4
Aedan: 30 Months, Week 2

This week was a very busy week because on Tuesday Ben went out of town on a business trip for a few days, meaning I was at home with the kids on my own. Since Ben was going to be gone for a few days, he spent Tuesday morning with Aedan and me. We actually went grocery shopping together, ate lunch together, and then I took him to the airport just before I put Aedan down for a nap. Ben's flight didn't leave for awhile, but he was just going to sit in the airport and work. We didn't want to disrupt Aedan's nap time too much. It was a bit of a struggle keeping him awake in the car on the way home, but he took a good nap for me. Once Samantha got home from school, I let the kids watch a show and then we just hung out until it was time to leave for dinner at church. They were having a chili cook-off, and I knew several other families with kids that would be there, so I figured the kids would have fun and this way I didn't have to cook and clean up at home.

Tuesday was Election Day, and we actually went to vote as a family that morning before eating breakfast and taking Samantha to school. Our voting location was just across the street, so it was easy to walk to. It was fun having the kids involved in the voting process. I think Samantha found it particularly fascinating as she watched me fill in the bubbles, asking who I was voting for and why I sometimes filled in one bubble and sometimes two bubbles in various sections of the ballot. We all left with our "I Voted" stickers, and now we just had to wait and see what the results would show that evening. After getting the kids to bed, I had NBC on the rest of the night to keep my eye on the results as they came in. It was weird not having Ben with me while watching. I found myself wanting to ask him questions about what was going on, but it's different doing it over text rather than in person. When it got to be about midnight, I just couldn't stay up any longer. From the looks of it, we could guess the outcome already, it just wasn't official.

On Tuesday night I let Samantha sleep in the bed with me since Ben was out of town. She was really excited about it, and i had never really slept in the same bed as her before, so I was interested to see how it would go. I got into bed quietly and laid down beside her, trying not to wake her up. She sat up a little, looked at her bunny clock (probably noticing that the bunny was still asleep), and then laid right back down. She had kicked off most of the blankets, so I tucked her in a little bit and then tried to go to sleep. It took me awhile to fall asleep, as it always does when Ben is out of town. Plus, I had lots of thoughts swirling around in my mind. I was thinking about the election, I was thinking about Ben's trip, and I couldn't help but smile as I looked at my sleeping little girl beside me. :) She stayed to herself for most of the night, but as the night wore on, she snuggled into me more and more, laying her head on my pillow, resting her feet on me, and snuggling her body as close to me as possible. A little after 6:30, she started rustling a lot more, so after a few minutes I asked her what what wrong, and she said she had to go potty. I told her it was fine for her to get up and go, and after she came back I told her to try and close her eyes and sleep a little more, but at that point she was too wide awake. Once it got close to 7:00, we cuddled some more and talked in bed before getting up and getting ready for school. It was fun to have this special time with my little girl.

Wednesday morning was a bit more hectic since I didn't get up any earlier than Samantha to start getting ready. Both kids were up at 6:40, and we were able to get ready and talk to Daddy while eating breakfast. Both of us were flabbergasted by the election results. We couldn't believe that Donald Trump ever actually got to be the Republican nominee in the first place, and we never thought there would be a chance he would actually be elected president. As most people stated, apparently people were very deceived about how many people would actually come out to vote for him, giving him enough electoral votes but still not winning the popular vote. As I said earlier, we voted as a family, and I was proud to tell Samantha that I was voting for Hillary, who could be the first female president in history. I explained to her how big of a deal it was that Obama was the first African-American president in history, that all our presidents have been white men. To which Samantha said, "Really? All of them" Samantha knew some of the reasons why we voted for Hillary and knew that we didn't like how Trump would say mean things to people and about people. Well, after I told her that Trump won and not Hillary, she had a concerned look on her face and said, "Will Trump say mean things about me, too?" This just broke my heart. This is not the kind of president I want for my little girl. I decided that when she got home from school that day I would share this quote with her from Hillary's concession speech: "And to all of the little girls who are watching this, never doubt that you are valuable and powerful and deserving of every chance and opportunity in the world to pursue and achieve your own dreams."

It was hard for me to stay focused as the day went on with the election on my mind and with Ben being gone, so I tried to do some fun things with Aedan to distract myself. First, we went to the library for story time and play time. He did okay with actually sitting in the story time area, but he didn't listen very well as the books were read. After the stories, he made this cute little snake hat before playing on the tablets for awhile and then doing puzzles with the librarian. He really was enjoying the puzzles, and I was glad he found something interesting to do at the library. He has really enjoyed puzzles lately.

As it got close to 11:00, I suggested that we leave the library and have lunch with Sissy. I thought it might be a nice surprise for her, and I had heard that family members can come eat for free when they visit. When we walked into the cafeteria, Samantha was very excited to see us. Aedan sat next to her at the lunch table, and she couldn't help but put her arm around him and hug him all the time. The other kids thought it was interesting that a "baby" was eating lunch with them and enjoyed meeting Samantha's little brother. They had tacos for lunch that day with refried beans, chips and salsa, and mandarin oranges. The lunch was actually very good, and I was impressed with the quality of the food. It seems like Bahweting has really good school lunches, which I know is not always true of school cafeterias. It makes me feel good about letting her eat lunch at school occasionally because I know the food is well-balanced and good quality. After finishing lunch, Samantha asked if we could stay for recess, too. I asked a teacher, and they said it would be okay. Aedan was really excited to go play on the playground with Sissy. He was like a superstar that day. A lot of the kids flocked around him, wanting to play with him. Samantha escorted him around the playground, showing him different places, and introducing him to different friends on the playground, like her reading buddy, Betsy. It was really fun to go and spend this time with Samantha. Aedan and I will definitely have to do that again some day.

Since it's getting dark so early now since the time change, I've been trying to encourage the kids to play outside some before dinner since I know after dinner it will be dark. On Wednesday night I had the kids play outside for awhile while I made dinner, to get some energy out and have fun riding bikes together and playing in the front yard. The kids did really well for me that evening, which I was so grateful for since we were on our own again without Daddy. After dinner, as I was cleaning up dishes, I heard Samantha reading to Aedan, so I went out in the living room and saw them sitting on the couch together looking at books. (Samantha made a birthday hat to match Aedan's snake hat in case you're curious what is on her head.) Most of the time, Samantha is so good to her little brother, and Aedan adores Samantha. I pray that they will always love each other and remain close even as they grow up.

Just for the fun of it, I decided to include this picture Samantha drew at school. I think they did it for Social Studies, drawing how they feel. I love her progression of drawing people, and that now she is including ground, a sky and sun, as well as fingers and feet. I'm glad that she feels calm at school. :)

Thursday morning was a lot better since Samantha slept in her own bed, meaning I was able to get up and be showered and ready before she was up for the day. After dropping Samantha off at school, Aedan and I got some work done around the house before going to the playground to play for awhile. It was such a nice day, and I want to take advantage of these abnormally warm November days while we have the chance. There were quite a few other people at the playground as well, so Aedan got to play with some other kids for awhile. I was able to talk to some grandparents in visiting from Houston, as well as a couple moms there with their boys, one of which I have seen at MOPS. I love how playgrounds are such good places to just get out of the house and socialize. Especially on nice days, you can almost always run into someone to talk to. Aedan had a great time at the playground. He enjoyed running around, jumping on the bouncy bridge with me, going down slides together, swinging, and riding on the tire swing with the other boys. For some reason, Aedan's little bottom doesn't stay on the tire swing and gradually slides farther and farther down. Well, I noticed him slipping and reached out to grab him, getting him and lowering him to the ground instead of him falling. However, he just got himself so startled by the experience that he started crying anyways. He has such the cute little pouty face when he cries that it's hard to not smile and just think he is the most adorable little boy in the world.

Samantha does such a great job at school every day, earns lots of points for good behavior and excellent work, and she came home on Thursday talking about how she had something really special to show me in her folder. She pulled this certificate out, stating that Samantha was chosen as Student of the Month for October. I was bursting with pride for her, especially as you read the description on the left hand side. Samantha is such a special, smart, caring, responsible girl, and I am so glad that others are seeing those qualities in her as well. I am honored to call her my daughter.

I was so glad that Ben was coming back home on Thursday evening. My days with the kids went well, but it's amazing how much different things are when your spouse and partner is gone. It's certainly a lot more work and gives me a greater appreciation for single parents. That evening I decided to take the kids to small group on my own, which meant I got them to bed a little later than we would like. I had a babysitter come over at 9:00 so that I could leave to pick Ben up at the airport while the kids were sleeping. Here's a picture Ben took from the plane that night. It's pretty cool seeing all the lights from up in the air. I was so happy to see Ben that night, to hear about his trip, and to get back into normal life again. It was kind of nice that he was gone during the week rather than on a weekend because now we were heading into another weekend where we could spend more time together.

On Friday, November 11, I took a sub job for a kindergarten class at Brimley Elementary. I like to take as many classroom teacher positions as I can, and I figured I could handle kindergartners for the day. My day went well, for the teacher did a good job of leaving detailed plans for me to follow and having everything organized and well laid out in her classroom. Plus, there was a paraprofessional in the classroom with me for most of the day to help me with anything I didn't know. The kids were really pretty well-behaved, and we got all the work done that the teacher wanted us to accomplish. It was a good day, and I enjoyed being back in a classroom again.

Ben got to hang out with Aedan for the morning. They went over to campus and Aedan rode his bike. He likes to go over to campus so that he can get candy from the office staff. Apparently he knows exactly where to go to get to the office. Plus, he just really likes to spend time with Daddy. :)

Samantha had a half day of school on Friday, so when she got home the kids ate a little lunch together, with their lovely hats on, and then they played together for awhile before Aedan had to take a nap. Do you see how they're holding hands? Aren't they just the cutest little kids?

Friday night we had a fun evening planned because we invited the Sayer family over for dinner. We wanted to reciprocate their invitation from over the summer, but life just got in the way until now. We made our yummy lasagna, salad, and homemade bread, and they brought some cookies and cheesecake for dessert. Samantha and Aedan were so excited to have the girls over to play. They all ran downstairs to play as soon as the girls arrived. It was so nice to have friends over, both for our kids' sake and for ours. Ben and I really enjoy the friendship of Brooks and Jill, and we were glad to give them a break after a hectic and stressful week at church. They brought their folding table and chairs along with them so that we had enough seats for everyone, and we had a really good time. It's fun to be around other families and see that you are not alone in your struggle to get your kids to eat, or to clean up toys, or to want to leave somewhere to go back home. They stayed at our house until past 8:00 because we were having such a good time talking and hanging out that we didn't want the evening to end, even though we knew we needed to get our kids to bed. We will definitely have to get together with the Sayer family again.

The rest of our weekend went by in typical fashion with a more relaxed morning followed ice skating lessons for the kids. Both of the kids' confidence is growing so much more each week. They are doing well, and it's fun to see them excited about learning how to skate. Aedan always talks about wanting to be a hockey player, and Samantha used to say she wanted to be an ice dance teacher. Ice skating is such an important part of the culture up here as well, so it's important for them to learn how to skate.

That Saturday evening we thought about taking a trip to the indoor pool at the community center in Canada, and Samantha was super tired from having the Sayers over on Friday night and staying up later than she should have. So we told her we wanted her to take a nap so we could do something fun that evening. Ben tried really hard to get her to fall asleep by laying on the floor in her room for awhile, which usually helps her fall asleep faster, but she just would not let herself fall asleep, even though she was extremely tired. We told her that we wouldn't go to the pool unless she took a nap, so I was a little frustrated that we would have to cancel our fun plans and keep Aedan from going as well, just because Samantha wouldn't nap. However, I checked the website that afternoon and discovered that it actually was closed for some reason anyways. So, instead of going out, we just stayed in and played together as a family, which was still fun, too.

Sunday was another low-key day with going to church, reading books, and spending time together as a family. It's always fun to just have everyone at home together, to have Daddy home from work and Samantha home from school. As we made lunch that day, I heard Samantha talking in the other room, so I went out to see what she was doing. Samantha and Aedan were both sitting propped up on pillows on the couch, and she was telling him all about the Cinderella book, describing each page to him. Aedan loves it when Sissy is home to shower attention on him. He is a captive audience and wants to do anything she's doing, no matter what it is. I love them. They are so cute together.

On Sunday afternoon/evening, once Aedan got up from his nap, we decided to take a trip across the bridge to Canada so we could go to Once Upon a Child for some winter gear for the kids. We needed bigger, warmer coats for both the kids, new snow pants for Aedan, snow boots for both kids, and we were interested in looking for some dresses for Samantha as well. We found lots of good stuff, finding almost everything we were looking for. I was able use a twenty percent off card on our purchase as well, so with that combined with the difference in the Canadian dollar, we got all that stuff for around $50. I love Once Upon a Child because you can always get such a good deal, and kids wear things for such a short period of time that it's seems silly to pay full price for brand new stuff. After getting our shopping done, we stopped at a little Italian restaurant for dinner. We have no Italian restaurants on the Michigan side, so we figured we'd take advantage of our chance while across the border. The kids did a really good job waiting for our food and eating out that evening. So, it was a productive and fun trip together as a family.

After a good, refreshing weekend together, Monday came too quickly. I always find myself missing Samantha and Daddy a lot on Mondays. Nevertheless, Aedan I and I always have a good time together, too. Here is Aedan's look on Monday morning. He has his pirate pajamas on still, along with a Tinkerbell dress over the top. He was running around the house flying his airplane around. He gets pretty upset sometimes when I make him change out of his pajamas or take a dress off so that we can leave the house to go somewhere.

It was just an average Monday with Aedan and I running errands and grocery shopping, Samantha at school, and Ben teaching until 8:00 that night. Since it gets dark so early now, and the kids were missing their Daddy, I suggested that we go over to campus so the kids could ride their bikes around and we could stop by Daddy's office to say hello. We surprised him by popping in unannounced, and I think he was glad to see us. It's always a long day to him as well when he's on campus all day and doesn't get to see the kids until the next day at breakfast. Plus, they enjoyed riding their bikes around and seeing the animals in the science building.

After that we made our way back home to have some leftovers for dinner and I let the kids watch a show while I was cleaning up dinner. Aedan had to bring his toolbox on the couch with him. It's one of his favorite toys right now, and he brings it everywhere with him. Cute little kids. :) I love spending my days with them.

(Blog about November 8-14, 2016)

Coming Down with Pneumonia & A Visit from Chicago Grandpa and Grandma

Samantha: 65 Months, Week 3
Aedan: 30 Months, Week 1

This week was mostly consumed with me really not feeling very well. Tuesday morning started off okay. Aedan and I played around the house, I took him to get his hair cut, we brought coffee to Daddy on campus, but by noon it really hit me. I was definitely not feeling well. I was hoping that I was getting over it, but I started to have a fever and chills. I took some ibuprofen to help lower my fever and take away the chills, but my body still felt achy for most of the afternoon.  I tried to rest as much as possible during nap time that afternoon, but of course that was one of the few days that Aedan struggled with napping. He fell asleep in my arms like he usually does when I rock him before nap time, but then he woke up as soon as I tried to lay him down. It took some effort by me to get him to nap. I eventually had to take his paci away for a few minutes and make him sad, before giving it back to him and telling him he could only have it if he went to sleep. He eventually fell asleep a little before 3:00, giving me about an hour to rest before Samantha came home from school.

I continued to feel worse and worse throughout the day and as soon as my ibuprofen wore off, my fever came back. Ben was scheduled to get home around 6:00 from teaching his class, so I tried as hard as I could to make it until that point. I was not feeling good, and Samantha was acting very disrespectful from the moment she walked in the door from school. I sent her to her room for five minutes just to decompress and get herself into a better attitude. However, that did not seem to help. She was fighting with Aedan, being mean and bratty towards both of us, and eventually I just lost it with her when she tried to hit and kick me after I put her in a time out. I told her how I had explained to her that I didn't feel good and that I needed her to be extra help for me, but she was doing the exact opposite. I explained how when she acts like that, it makes me feel like she doesn't enjoy being around me, especially since she's good at school all day and would never dream of treating her teacher like she treats me sometimes. I know she is tired from a long day, but that doesn't excuse her behavior, especially when we give her plenty of chances to change her attitude and make better choices. I told Samantha how I look forward to her coming home every day so that I can spend time with her and how much I miss her when she's gone at school all day. However, when she acts disrespectful and mean, I don't want to be around her, and that makes me really sad. We were both in tears over these negative interactions with each other, and I had her stay in her room until dinner was ready. I finished making dinner while tears streamed down my face, both because of these hard afternoons with Samantha being so tired out from school that it negatively impacts our time together at home and also because I was feeling totally crummy.

Samantha and I had a heart to heart talk where she laid her sweet little head on my lap and said I'm sorry. I expressed my heart to her, how sad I was when she treated Aedan and me meanly, and how much I love her and look forward to spending time with her every day. Both of us cried together, gave each other big hugs, and she cuddled in my lap for awhile. I was glad to be able to connect with her in this way and make things right again.

Then, as soon as Daddy got home from campus, I left for the walk-in clinic to get checked out. I was tired of feeling crummy and hoped that they could provide some insight into what was going on. I had to wait for quite awhile because they were pretty busy. In listening to my chest, the doctor suspected pneumonia, so he sent me for a chest x-ray to check it out. I was diagnosed with right lower lobe pneumonia and was given prescriptions for antibiotics and an inhaler, as well as encouraged to take Mucinex and medicine to help with any fever or pain I may have. I was glad in some ways that there was something wrong with me and that I could take medicine to help get better. I am always so hesitant to go to the doctor, especially for a cough, because I didn't want them to just tell me it was a virus and that I would just have to take cough medicine and wait it out. I couldn't believe I actually had pneumonia, though, but that explained a lot about why I had been feeling so crummy for a long time.

The worse part about having pneumonia was how much my back and ribs ached. It was pretty much a constant ache, and the only time it wouldn't hurt was when I was sitting with a heating pad on my back. On Tuesday night it was really hard for me to sleep because my back ached so bad, and I couldn't get comfortable.

Here's a really sweet card that Samantha made for me after dinner on Tuesday night, while I was at the doctor's office. Ben said that she felt really bad about being mean to me when I didn't feel well, and Samantha worked on this card from the time dinner was over until it was time for bath. Ben had to read it to me so that I could understand what it says. Here is the translation: "Samantha Toll is sad. I'm sorry Mommy. Samantha Toll and my Mommy in my picture. I love Mommy." Notice how we both have sad faces? I love the pictures and cards my little girl makes for me. I could probably wallpaper a whole room with them by now. :) I'm glad she has such a sincere and empathetic heart.

Poor Aedan did not have a very exciting week with me since I was not feeling well and didn't feel much like playing with him. Wednesday morning I still was feeling pretty lousy, tired, and achy. I took a warm bath that morning to help my achy back, and Ben volunteered to go into Samantha's classroom to help like I usually do on Wednesdays. Aedan watched a lot more TV than he usually does, and I tried to encourage him to get toys, puzzles, and books, and bring them to me on the couch so that I could try to rest while also play with him. I felt bad for him being stuck on the couch, so for a little while before lunch, I went outside with him and sat on the front step while he rode his tricycle around the driveway and colored with chalk. I hoped that getting a little energy out would help him take a better nap that afternoon.

We go to a wonderful church, and I am part of a MOPS groups of very supportive moms. After I posted on Facebook about having pneumonia, I was contacted by another mom seeing if she could help with childcare or making a meal. She came over that morning to drop off a crock pot of food for dinner, sides, and even dessert. I was so grateful that I wouldn't have to cook dinner, especially since Wednesdays are Ben's late night on campus. It took such a load off me, and I was so appreciative of the thoughtfulness. That afternoon Aedan took a better nap, back to normal with falling asleep in my arms and staying asleep, so I was able to rest on the couch, watch some Call the Midwife, and even took a nap for a little while before Samantha got home.

Wednesday night once Ben got home from campus and got some dinner himself, we watched the final game of the World Series together. I still was not feeling the greatest, but I could tell the antibiotics were beginning to make a little bit of a difference. I didn't want to miss out on the chance to watch the Cubs win the World Series, but I also knew it wouldn't be smart for me to stay up really late to watch the whole game, so I laid down on the couch and fell asleep about 10:00, woke up in the 9th inning, and then stayed awake for the rest of the game. My excitement was more subdued than Ben's when they got that final out and won the World Series, but it was an exciting moment in history, something so many people have been waiting for for so many years. I started this video a little late, so I didn't capture Ben's full reaction to the win, for there were many times that he jumped off the couch, pumping his fist, and doing his best not to yell out loud and wake up the kids. It was an amazing series and an amazing game, and now our Chicago Cubs are World Series champions!

On Thursday morning, I slept in to help myself begin to recover more. I felt guilty sleeping in and leaving Ben to take care of everything, particularly on a school morning when things are busier. However, the kids were excited to hear that the Cubs had won the World Series the night before, and Daddy made this cute video of them in their Cubs shirts singing "Go, Cubs, Go!"

And here are a few more cute pictures/videos that Daddy took of Aedan that morning. This little boy has the cutest little facial expressions. I also love how he acts shy sometimes and will bury his head into your side because, like his sister, he really isn't shy at all. :)

On Thursday morning, my friend Jill offered to take Aedan for me so that he could get out of the house for awhile and so I could rest some without having to entertain him. He was getting pretty bored just sitting around the house with me every day, so I was glad for him to have the opportunity to play with another kid and to be at someone else's house. Before she came to get him that morning, this is what Aedan was doing to pass the time. He turned the black chair and lined up the black footstools so that he could jump from one to the other and then fall onto the couch. This little boy is so full of energy and life. He is definitely a different kid than Samantha was at his age, but I am enjoying my time at home with him so much.

Aedan was really excited to go with Miss Jill and play with her daughter, Jorja. I was glad to have a quiet house, and I took advantage of the time to do some minimal cleaning in preparation for my parents arriving on Friday night. I took it slow, listened to Christmas music on Pandora, and tried to do as much cleaning as I could while sitting down. It was a very peaceful morning, and I was so grateful to have the morning off from trying to take care of Aedan while also trying to get work done around the house and feeling guilty that I wasn't playing with him as much as I should. Here's a picture Jill sent me of the kids that morning. She said he was pretty interested in the chickens, but liked that they were all inside the coop and not wandering around the yard. He was not a fan of their dog, however, because he's so used to our dog who just sleeps on the couch all day and never tries to go up to him, sniff him, and lick him.

Jill brought Aedan back home a little after 1:00, and to my delight and surprise, they stopped at the store so that Aedan could pick out flowers for me. He was so excited to give the flowers to me. He just ran up to me with the bouquet in his hand saying, "Flowers for you, Mommy!" When we said thank you and good-bye to Jill and Jorja, Aedan didn't want to let go of the flowers. It took some explaining on my part to tell him we had to put the flowers in a vase so that they wouldn't die. Aedan helped me put flower food in the vase, I filled it up with water and cut the bottoms of the stems, and then Aedan plopped the flowers in the vase for me. It was so sweet of them to buy me flowers. I love the look of fresh flowers in a vase in the kitchen. It made me smile that my little man picked them out for me as well. :)

I was so grateful that the antibiotics were working, and I wasn't feeling totally back to normal, but much more like myself. I decided I was feeling like doing normal things again, so we went to get our kids' pictures taken for our MOPS Antiquities fundraiser, followed by a quick dinner out before going to small group together. It was nice to have Ben with me for all of these things, as he didn't have his 5:00 class that evening. Doing things together is so much easier and much more enjoyable.

On Friday I finished a few last minute things in getting ready for my parents' arrival that evening, like getting things picked up, vacuuming, and mopping the floors. Ben worked from home for the morning because I accepted a substitute job at Bahweting for a half-day afternoon job in 2nd grade. I want to sub as much as I can, but since I was still recovering, I didn't want to push myself too much by teaching for a full day. Plus, I can make almost as much in half a day at Bahweting than I can for a full day as a paraprofessional in other schools. I was excited to actually find a classroom teacher job, and I was excited for 2nd grade because that is an age I am familiar and comfortable with. I was able to talk with the classroom teacher for a few minutes before she left for the day, and then I had about fifteen minutes to look over the plans before the kids came back from recess. I read aloud to the students. Then, I had a math lesson to do with the class which covered counting with money following various rules, either adding or subtracting a certain number and switching back and forth. Some kids really had a hard time with this, so the paraprofessional substitute and I spent quite awhile going over the worksheet with each kid to ensure they understood how to do it on their own. We did a Social Studies lesson, passed out Friday Folders, cleaned and organized their tables and lockers, they had snack and afternoon recess, and then at the end of the day, the kids were allowed to play games on the computers in their room. I felt like the day was successful. We got the work done that the teacher left for us to do, I'm sure there was more talking than normal since I was not their normal teacher, but I was able to manage the class and handle their behavior with ease. I felt really good about the afternoon, I enjoyed my experience subbing as a classroom teacher, and I hope that I get another opportunity to sub here in the future.

Samantha just rode home with me that afternoon, and then we spent the next couple of hours playing as a family and getting dinner ready for when my parents would arrive. We actually gave the kids a bath before dinner so that way we wouldn't have to take them away from Grandpa and Grandma that evening just to bathe them. The kids are always so excited to have visitors, and they were thrilled when they pulled into the driveway. We had a fun evening playing and talking, enjoying our time together.

Ben was really tired and needed some time to sleep, so I gave him a chance to sleep in on Saturday morning. I got up with the kids and started to make breakfast for everyone. I like to take advantage of having people over to make bigger meals, so I made blueberry muffins and a breakfast casserole for us that morning. Then, we just spent the rest of the morning hanging out, reading books, and playing until ice skating lessons at 11:00.

Grandpa and Grandma were excited about watching the kids ice skate. My mom hadn't seen them yet, and my dad only saw them on the day of their first lesson when Aedan basically just sat on the ice and cried the whole time and Samantha was still trying to remember what she learned during her lessons in Oxford. As you can tell by the videos, they've improved a lot, and it's always fun to watch them improve more and more every week.

For some reason, it seems like ice skating really tires the kids out, and by the time we get home they are hungry and ready to go to sleep. Ben and Grandpa even came back to the house early to start working on lunch so we didn't have to wait for as long. After eating tacos, rice, and beans for lunch, we attempted to get the kids down for their naps. Aedan took a good nap, like normal, and we tried our best to get Samantha to nap, but she just wouldn't calm down enough to sleep.

Ben and I had plans to go out on a date on Saturday night. We had tickets to the LSSU hockey game, and we decided to go out to eat at a nicer Italian restaurant in Canada before coming back over for the game. We went to Solo Trattoria, which was a restaurant we tried to go to a while back, but it was closed for a catering event. There are no Italian restaurants in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, but there are several in Ontario that have pretty good reviews, so we figured we'd use our chance to go to out eat without kids on a nicer restaurant. When we arrived, they asked us if we had reservations, which we didn't know we had to have, but luckily they had room for us to sit at the bar. It was kind of nice sitting at the bar because we could sit next to each, and it felt more intimate. Our food and drinks were delicious, and the atmosphere of the restaurant was very nice. We were so glad we picked this place, and it was so wonderful to have a meal out with my love. I love just sitting and talking to him with no interruptions and no kids to take care of. Date nights are so important for the life of our marriage. From dinner we went back across the border, left our car back at our house, and walked over to the hockey game. It was fun to go to the game together, again, without our kids with us because it meant we were actually able to watch the game and not just entertain/corral our kids like we did the week before. Ben and I had a wonderful evening out, and we are so grateful for my parents always offering to watch the kids for us so that we can go out together like this.

While we were gone, Grandpa and Grandma took Samantha and Aedan to McDonald's for dinner and for some play time afterwards. They both ate well and had a good time playing together on the Play Place. They said that bedtime went well, too, but my dad had a message to pass on to us from Samantha. She now has her first loose tooth! He said that it was pretty wiggly, and Samantha wanted to be sure that we knew about it. She was so jealous of Alaina when she lost her first teeth, and we tried to encourage her by saying it would happen sometime, but we had no idea it would be so soon.

Overnight from Saturday into Sunday was when we fell back an hour due to Daylight Savings Time ending. Time change is always the worst for parents of young kids because they don't understand that by falling back you can actually get an extra hour of sleep. Kids don't care about getting extra sleep. Their bodies naturally wake up at the same time, regardless of the time change, so we prepared ourselves for the worst, thinking that our kids be up at 6:00 a.m. With Samantha's bunny clock, it's easier to control when she gets up. She may be awake, but she's at least laying in her bed until her bunny clock changes. Aedan, on the other hand, Ben had to wake up at 7:50, which really would be like 8:50 according to our old time. He very rarely sleeps in like that, so he must have been very tired that morning. We knew our kids would be up early, so we planned on going to the 9:00 service and then out to eat afterwards.

Going out to eat with our kids is always an experience. Aedan doesn't like to sit still for very long, so waiting for food is always a challenge for him. Samantha normally does okay, but she was really tired due to the time change messing with her sleep. Plus, her tooth was bothering her, and it hurt her when she would bite and chew, so she wasn't really in the mood to eat much lunch. It wasn't the most relaxing experience for Ben and me, but we figured my parents would enjoy the good food and large portions at the family restaurant, Pure Country.

When we got home, it was still too early for a nap, even though it felt like nap time to the kids, so Grandma and Grandpa had a chance to sit on the couch and read to the kids. They were so cute all sitting on the couch together.

Samantha was tired and went right to sleep, sleeping for close to two hours that afternoon. Aedan, on the other hand, did not fall asleep with Ben, and he actually stayed awake all afternoon, regardless of us going in his room and talking to him or even taking his paci away for awhile. This was the first time ever that Aedan was in his bed for a couple hours and never ended up falling asleep. I figured it was just another way that the time change was messing with him, plus he probably was not as tired due to sleeping so long that morning. I was a little worried about how the rest of the day would go if he didn't nap, but there was nothing we could do to make him sleep.

The weather on Sunday afternoon was beautiful, warm, and sunny. I know this is unusual for this time of the year in the U.P., so I wanted to take advantage of a chance to get outside. We decided to go over to Project Playground to let the kids play for awhile before dinner. Especially with the time change now, it gets dark at dinnertime, meaning if we want to play outside, we have to play outside before dinner. We all had a pretty big lunch out that day and weren't incredibly hungry anyways. There were a lot of other people that had the same idea so there were quite a few people at the park that afternoon. Samantha and Aedan had a great time running around, climbing, swinging, and pretending with us. It's amazing how happy Aedan is when he has Samantha around to play with and to follow around.

Then, it was time to come back home so that we could have a quick dinner of some leftovers before bath time and getting Samantha to bed at a decent time in preparation for another week of school to start the next day. In order to pass some time before bed, Ben put GoNoodle on his phone and connected it to the TV for the kids to sing to and dance to for awhile. GoNoodle is a website that Samantha uses in her class at school as a way to have a brain break and get the wiggles out before getting back to work, so she was pretty excited that we could do it at home as well. Aedan liked it too, but he was so tired from not napping that he was practically begging to go to sleep at 6:30, so we were doing as much as we could to delay bedtime to a more normal time. Since he was so tired, he mostly just zoned out and stared at the television screen.

On Monday morning Samantha said good bye to Grandpa and Grandma before Ben dropped her off at school, and the rest of us got ready to head to Tahquamenon Falls for a fun morning in nature. It was going to get up to the mid-60s on Monday afternoon, and there was no way I was going to spend the day sitting in the house on a gorgeous day like that. I suggested going to falls to my parents since they had never been there before, and they thought that sounded like a good idea. I packed a lunch to eat there, and my parents had all their stuff with them so they could head back to Chicago when we were done at the falls. My mom rode in the car with me on the way there, and Aedan didn't quite understand what we were doing in the car for so long as we drove there, but he was super excited to get out once we pulled up in the parking lot. It was amazing to me how deserted the place was in comparison to how busy it was when we visited over the summer. However, the quiet tranquility was quite refreshing. The weather was perfect, the sun was shining bright, and the leaves covered the ground like a yellow blanket.

We started at the upper falls, and Aedan was so excited to get out of the car and run down the sidewalk. He would run for awhile, stop and let us catch up, and then start running again. Man, was he cute, too. He kept saying, "My fast runner!"

The falls were beautiful, and I really enjoyed seeing them in the fall in comparison to how we saw them over the summer. I think Grandpa and Grandma really enjoyed seeing the falls as well. It is amazing how much water comes rushing over the edge and the power and noise this rushing water creates.

After seeing the upper falls, we drove back to the lower falls, had our picnic lunch, and then started walking on a path that led to a look-out for the lower falls. Aedan found two sticks which made him very happy, and he did a great job walking along with us.

I know I may be partial, but isn't he just the cutest little guy? I love these pictures of him. He is so happy and his smile is so indicative of his personality.

The lower falls were even more amazing to me than the upper falls because the water was rushing so much faster than when we visited the two times over the summer. This whole area you can see in the pictures and video below was much calmer in the summertime, so much so that this was the area where we waded around in the water with the kids with ease. We climbed up the rocks of falls to the left, and it was not dangerous. The only thing you had to be aware of was the slippery rocks. I love how nature is ever-changing, and I love how God works through nature, keeping everything in a delicate balance, and allowing us to enjoy the beauty of His Creation as well.

It was such a lovely afternoon that I almost hated to get back in the car and go home. I brought the Ergo carrier and thought about putting Aedan in it and going on a longer hike, but it was a little unclear whether the path went anywhere except for the four miles back to the upper falls, and I didn't want to hike four miles there and then back again. It was getting close to nap time, and Aedan was getting sleepy, so I figured it was best for us to just hit the road. We said good-bye to Grandpa and Grandma and parted ways. I gave Aedan his paci so that he could nap in the car, but he dropped it on the floor almost immediately where I couldn't reach it since I was driving, so I decided to teach him a lesson and let him fall asleep without it. I was slightly worried that he wouldn't actually fall asleep without it, but he gave into his tiredness pretty quickly, and slept for a little over an hour on our way back home.

I tried laying Aedan down again when we got back home, but he was not interested in sleeping any longer. That was okay though because we had to go pick Sissy up from school so that I could take the kids to the doctor. I scheduled appointments for both of them back to back so that they could have their physicals done for our foster parent application. They did a fairly good job at the doctor's office, even though they were bored while I was filling out all the paperwork. They both got a clean bill of health, and I enjoyed our new pediatrician, Dr. Newhouse. Then, it was time to come home for dinner and time to play together before bed. Ben had his late class, but they were just taking a test, so he planned to be home earlier to help put the kids to bed.

One of the most exciting events of the day was that Samantha lost her tooth while at school that day. She was so proud to tell me all about it when I picked her up after school, and she told every person she encountered from then on. She even kept asking me, "Did you know I lost my tooth today?" I think she couldn't believe that it actually happened. She came home from school with her little baby tooth in a tooth shaped box and a little sticker. I couldn't believe that Samantha lost her first tooth, just another step on her way to growing up, and now I have to get used to seeing a little hole in my little girl's smile.

We don't usually give into much of the pretending that comes with kids, like we don't do the Easter Bunny of Santa Clause, mostly because of the fact that we want to focus on Jesus at those times of the year. However, when it came to the tooth fairy, we decided to do it with Samantha. We had her hang her little tooth box on the bedpost right next to her pillow so that way the tooth fairy could reach it better. That night, after the kids were in bed, I spent quite awhile using stamps to write a little letter for Samantha from the tooth fairy. I made a little envelope to seal the letter in, along with $1 and peanut M&Ms. We never go in Samantha's room to check on her during the night, so she is not used to us ever coming into her room. Sometimes she is a really heavy sleeper and doesn't even hear Aedan crying, but other times she seems to rustle with the slightest noise or movement. So, I was a bit nervous about going into her room that night and having her catch me, already breaking the idea of the tooth fairy actually existing. I waited until Ben and I were going down to bed so that way the house was dark and quiet. I opened her door quietly and waited to see if I heard any noise. I heard her rustle and her blankie jingle, so I left the door cracked open and just waited for a few minutes until I heard her breathing deeply again. I tiptoed across her room, slid the little tooth necklace off her bedpost, and exchanged it for the envelope that was hanging on a string. It was a success! She didn't notice me, and I couldn't wait to hear what she thought about it the next morning.

(Blog about November 1-7, 2016)