1st Car Wash of the Season

Our cars were in desperate need of washing after the long winter we had! We've had some really nice weather lately, so we took advantage of that nice weather on Saturday afternoon to get at least the mini-van washed. The kids could not be more excited to do this- they were very happy and eager to help Daddy! Daddy made sure he had extra sponges and two filled-up squirt bottles so that both kids could do their share. They sure had a good time helping and we're happy to have a clean car!

Coloring Easter Eggs

The kids were so excited to color Easter eggs this year- they had been asking for days and days. Having finally boiled eggs for them Friday night, we dyed the eggs this past Saturday morning, to their delight! We had a good time and they were so careful it was so cute! They each got to paint/color 6 eggs because I only did a dozen eggs...they were bummed not to have more eggs to dye, which made me feel bad for not having more, but we barely eat the dozen we have so more seemed silly, still, I felt bad because they were having so much fun. In the end, they just kept painting and dunking their 6 eggs in the colors again and again...resulting in some strange colors for a few eggs, but it was cute to see how they solved the problem for themselves by simply doing all the eggs again and again. I actually loved this! So, we have some colorful eggs in our fridge!

 I love Annabel's expression here!

Annabel's eggs!

 Daniel's eggs!

Annabel's eggs are in the back row of the carton and Daniel's are in the front row. So colorful!

My Little Bike Rider!

Annabel has finally figured out how to pedal her tricycle in the past few weeks! She's working very hard at it and loves to ride her bike to the parks and on our walks now. She doesn't often last the whole trip, her stamina just isn't quite enough, but bless her for trying! We figure she's gotta practice... She is just SO proud of herself! We think she's the cutest little tricycler we know!

Here are some cute pics from a few of our recent outings in the neighborhood! We are loving this Spring weather that's finally here!

And of course I have some cute videos of Annabel pedaling away, too!

Happy 3rd Birthday, Annabel!

Today's the day we've been waiting for...Annabel is THREE!!!

Our little girl is getting bigger and bigger every day! 

We had quite the weekend this past weekend, super busy! I've never been so happy to say this...but thank goodness it's Monday! And a happy fun Monday filled with celebrating and new toy fun it was!

Yesterday was our family party here at our house. Complete with a Minnie Mouse theme at Annabel's request! More on that later! We had a great little party and Annabel got some really fun new things from everybody- thank you all!

Today, Annabel woke up to streamers in front of her bedroom door, followed by a quick breakfast and a dash out the door to drop Daniel off at preschool. We then went to our music class, during which our teacher, Miss Kirsten, played two Dora (!!!) songs in honor of Annabel's birthday, which Annabel loved of course! Kirsten had asked Annabel last week what her favorite TV show was and found two songs for us to dance and play to today- Annabel kept looking around the room when the songs came on, wondering how Miss Kirsten did that! It was so cute- she was so excited and I loved her expressions when the songs were playing! After music class, we headed to the grocery store and then went to get Daniel and THEN we finally came home to enjoy the rest of the day celebrating and relaxing and doing what Annabel wanted to do!

We gave Annabel her presents from us after Daddy's afternoon meeting was over. She was excited to open more presents! Daniel was right there, hovering over her, just as excited as she was, but he actually let her do all her unwrapping. It was cute because Daniel could often figure out what the present was within seconds of Annabel starting to rip the paper off, but she did not like to announce what it was until it was fully revealed, so she kept saying to Daniel, to all of us, "NOT TELL ME!!" She liked the suspense of it all, that's for sure!

She was excited to get some new books, a new Busytown airport game, tons more MagnaTiles, and....drumroll....her long awaited and much-wished-for "Sleeping Dora"!!! Daniel gave Annabel a Dora doctor kit, at which Annabel exclaimed super excitedly- "Doctor Boots"- this was another much-wished-for toy! So, Annabel was a very happy camper. The four of us immediately played the Busytown game, Boots got doctored up, and Dora hasn't left Annabel's side! The books were such fun to explore at bedtime, too. The kids have also made such neat things with the MagnaTiles...it's SO nice to have more than 25 tiles to play with (our first set was a super lucky super cheap Goodwill score!)- they can actually both make things now!

Cutest present moment- when we gave her the last present from us (Daniel wanted to be THE last present, so he was), she picked it up, put it in her lap, and said "Perfect." (That one was Sleeping Dora- pretty perfect.)  It was just so cute that she paused, gave it some thought, and said quite simply that it was perfect. She's so sweet. 

Annabel's choice for dinner was pancakes! We took that a step further and introduced the kids to chocolate chip pancakes- a hit, of course! Dessert was...you guessed it....chocolate cupcakes, also taken a step further...with chocolate chips in it! And of course pink frosting! Annabel loved being sung to and she loved blowing out each of her three candles, one by one. Cupcakes were gobbled up while listening to Neil Sedaka's Happy Birthday Number Three...which we played on repeat at Annabel's request! We had a fun day celebrating and exploring new toys, that's for sure! We simply can't believe our little girl is three years old now! Where has time gone?! Enjoy some pictures of Annabel's birthday day fun!

Daniel created quite the experiment for them to do after lunch today. Something about water and paper dissolving and ink bleeding... Anyway, it was fun to watch them work together and get creative with different writing mediums to see if that ink would bleed, too.

Fun playing Annabel's new Minnie Mouse bean bag toss!

I got them to sit down next to each other for two seconds and sort of smile for the camera...which is no small feat!

Unwrapping presents!

Playing "Doctor Boots!"

Chocolate-chip pancakes for dinner!

Cupcake time!

Aaaand...the day ended with snow (seriously? It's APRIL!!)...but hey, at least we have leaves coming in!

And now...
All About 3 Year Old Annabel...

Loves Dora and Curious George TV shows, though she'll actually only sit through about five minutes of TV total (can't complain about that!).

Loves the movie Lilo & Stitch...for whatever reason, this is the movie she returns to again & again. Although, she also loves Tangled and pulls that out of the cabinet pretty often, too, which always excites me because that's my favorite movie!

Loves to play on the computer- now, that she'll do for quite a while. And she is very proficient at getting to her different game sites, navigating them, and playing a variety of games involving various skills. It's so cute to watch her play! Favorite sites- Curious George, Elmo, and lately Lego! Annabel also loves the Paint program on my computer- surprise, surprise!

Loves pancakes, pasta, bread, cheese (pretty much any kind, too! she has yet to meet a cheese she does not like- my kind of girl!), vegetables and fruits, and anything sweet to eat, especially chocolate. Favorite drinks are peach juice (always her first choice; we get it at Trader Joe's) and apple juice. She is not a fan of meats, of any kind.

Favorite restaurant- Noodles & Company

And speaking of food, Annabel sits in our big chairs now, no more junior chair for her- she likes the big big girl chairs! She's quite the chin duster at the table consequently, it's so cute!

Favorite color- PINK, of course!

Sings and dances and talks ALL the time.

Loves to read. Loves to draw, paint, do anything artsy. She's a lefty (like me!), about 90% of the time (she still switches to her right hand very occasionally, but she almost always starts with her left and it's the stronger hand, too).

Favorite books- Sky Color, Dog Loves Drawing, A Day With No Crayons, If You Give A... books, Pinkalicious (I know, I know, they are actually not that bad), and of course Dora books. Pretty much she loves any book, really!

Loves soccer and being outside. Loves to play games. Loves to cook! Loves to pretend to cook and play shopping or school. Does an awesome somersault!

Cuts really well with scissors. Can actually hold a pencil/crayon pretty close to the right way. Traces really well. Can sort of write her name (she can actually write Daniel's name a tad bit better than her own name! She likes his name better because there are no duplicated letters; for her own name she's always saying "Ready did that letter! Ready did that, TOO!") and can sort of spell her name. Knows all her letters. DESPERATE to go to preschool! She literally thought she could go today because she's three now. She's quite sad she has to wait until Fall.

New skills- riding her tricycle! She can finally pedal! She's quite proud of herself! AND she's doing GREAT with potty training! Annabel also recently figured out how to do "tuck jumps" (from gymnastics) which are jumps with the knees going up more and feet tucking under- she can get the knees up for sure, especially with the help of a trampoline or bouncy surface. She also loves to climb the rope at gymnastics and is getting stronger at it, too- this is now her preferred activity at gymnastics; Ms. Dawn sets this up just for her!

Annabel is the sweetest little girl I know- full of love and affection, hugs and kisses. She is always making sure people are happy. We just love getting to know our little girl more and more every day and watching her grow and learn so much! She's such a joy in our family and we love her to bits! Can't wait to see what the next year brings for Annabel!

Happy Birthday, darling girl! We love you so much!

While Daddy Was Away...

As I mentioned in our "Daddy's Home" blog post, our latest blog posts have all had one little secret behind them...we were just trying to keep busy while Daddy was in Australia...again, for the third time in his life. Without me. Again. Someday maybe I'll get to go myself, but for now Ben had to be my eyes and ears and my heart sure followed him there. Meanwhile, the three of us actually did great! I remembered how the last time he went, the third day was the charm- it was enough time to get us all past the fact that he was gone, really gone, and I was IT. Same was true this time, though things were a tad different- Annabel is not two or six months old and Daniel is not 2 1/2 or 3 years old, so the kids reacted differently of course.

Anyway, this post is for my dear husband, while you were out...here's what we've been up to, behind the scenes. The true story. The long story. :) (I told you I had a story for another day- my good camera was in Australia, thus the blurry photos these past two weeks!)

Before Daddy left: We told the kids on the Wednesday before Ben left (he left on Saturday, March 22nd) that Daddy was going to work in Australia and would be leaving Saturday. The kids handled the news fine, but, I don't think they really knew what to make of the news. Daniel's immediate reaction was "Mommy, I will come wake YOU up!" (because um, ahem, I'm a little spoiled and get to sleep a tad more while Ben gets up with the kids, then I shower and then I make my appearance- clearly I couldn't do this while Ben was gone!)- in any case, Daniel was smart to immediately realize how this particular routine of ours would change. Annabel of course didn't really know what to think of the news- and when we practiced our video chat on the computer the next afternoon, Annabel just kept telling Daddy to "Go Australla, NOW!" No offense, Daddy. But really, for her- it was: you said you were going to go, so go, why are you still here. I remember this stage in general with Daniel quite well- guests to our house would start getting ready to leave and then stall for more chatting or goodbyes or whatever while Daniel was practically pushing them out the door, ready for them to leave, because after all, they did say there were going. Well, it was like this again, this time with Annabel.

Saturday, March 22- Ben left before lunch time, having hired a car to get him to the airport. The kids and I had spent the morning doing art projects (making shapes and gluing pom poms in the center of them, then using pattern blocks to make elaborate shapes/designs which we taped together- 3-D art! Daniel has been really creative with projects like this lately.)- we gave Daddy the space to get packed and get his last minute things done. That was the beginning of pretending Daddy was already gone; I was surprised the kids weren't all over him, but maybe it was a case of reality having not sunk in yet, and besides, for them, it was just like he was still working like any other day. Anyway, he left with big hugs from all and the kids didn't bat an eye...until bedtime, when Annabel wanted Daddy snuggles and really cried for him. Otherwise, for the kids, it was just like any other day of keeping busy. Annabel kept giving me kisses every time she saw tears in my eyes and then she'd say, "Happy now?" and how I could I not be- she's so sweet. At one point Annabel said something about how Daddy was driving to Australia (after all he did leave in a car)- and I said yes he rode in a car to the airport but then he had to fly a really long time, he was stuck stuck stuck on the plane- I think it was like 26 or so hours of flying, plus another 4 in transit/layovers- and we were roaming free having fun fun fun! I tried to make it light and yet truthful. Annabel was a bit confused at the concept of how Daddy was getting there, but it didn't faze her otherwise.

I have to tell you the sweetest thing I noticed that day: one of the first things Daniel did after Daddy left was to move a picture of him with Daddy at Daddy's office that was on my desk up to his room- it was such a sweet thing for him to do, something he needed to do, clearly. And you could tell Daniel was thinking of Daddy all day, but really he did fine. So far so good...and yet...

Sunday, March 23- I should have known that the first day went a little too well! Sunday was a much harder day. It was hard on me knowing Ben was still traveling (over 30 hours door to door, with stops in Hong Kong to change planes, and then on to Adelaide for a brief stop, and then finally to Melbourne!), literally in the air still, and that I wouldn't know he was safe and sound till later that day if I was lucky. He did manage to call me that morning to let me know he was in Hong Kong- and it was good to hear his voice, but hard at the same time, because it just reminded me how far he was and that our two weeks of him being gone were just beginning and he still wasn't at his final destination, so more worrying and waiting was ahead. So, yes, Sunday was definitely rougher in the beginning- the kids were just testing limits and really teasing each other mercilessly, and I think it was just really setting in their minds that Daddy was gone. This was the first morning it was only Mommy doing the entire morning routine and that just made Daddy's departure all the more real for the kids, for all of us. None of us slept well the night before, so that didn't help, either. Anyway, we got through the day, and I have Grandma Mary Kay and Grandpa Larry to thank since they offered to play with the kids that afternoon so I could have a mini-break (I know, I know, you're thinking- already?! but after that morning I actually did need it!) and get some errands done. The kids needed that break from me, too, and the distraction of being with grandparents was perfect. So, we had dinner there and then headed home to do garbage night before it got dark out! Annabel really missed Daddy at nighttime again- she simply wanted his snuggles and there were many tears before she fell asleep. Another day survived.

Monday, March 24- I think this was the day I felt most tired. The kids had been up several times the night before- wanting water, wanting Daddy, etc.; top that off with night time being creepy for me without Ben here (I have a hard time falling asleep and staying asleep- thanks to a creative and paranoid imagination and those creepy TV shows I watch! I hear every sound all of a sudden!), consequently, I did not feel rested at all when I woke up that morning.

BUT, we did start Monday off with a bang! I was super proud of all of us because we rocked getting up and out the door for preschool by 8:00 all on our own!! I had warned Daniel that I might be in the shower when he woke up, so he might have to get up on his own and wait for me to come in when I was done or he could come see me. Well, this boy was so awesome- I went in after I was all ready to see that he'd gotten up, gone potty, gotten all dressed, left the door open and was playing so nice and quietly. I couldn't believe my eyes! I was so proud of him for totally getting ready! We woke Annabel, ate breakfast, and off we went to start our day with preschool/music classes & grocery shopping before coming back home.

Ben called at 2:00 on this day. Now you have to remember that this would be 6:00 AM his time! Such a nice Daddy to get up early enough to call before he had to get ready for his day and before our nap/quiet times, too! Annabel LOVED talking to Daddy on the phone. She chatted his ear off about this and that, was already telling him her plans for what they would do when he got home...you could tell she missed him terribly! Talking to Daddy really helped Annabel, her face just LIT up and her smile could not be any bigger. It was the cutest thing ever. Daniel, however, was another story. He did not want to talk to Daddy, he just kept playing, looking uneasy, which was fine and understandable- besides, Annabel was perfectly happy to hog the phone in any case! But then I pushed (something I shouldn't have done, I now know) and asked if Daniel wanted to just listen to Daddy and he obliged and did end up talking a tiny bit. Then Annabel got to talk to Daddy some more- she was just so cute. I took lots of cute pictures, kicked myself for not having done a video since it was too funny to listen to her. Annabel let me talk to Ben a little bit, but not much! Then we all said goodbye to Daddy, even Daniel wanted to do that, but AFTER that, as we headed up for naptime, Daniel had a big meltdown. It was like he'd bottled everything up and it all finally had to go somewhere. It was clear then that I shouldn't have pushed for him to talk to Daddy, but I think a meltdown would have happened anyway, it was bound to really, and it needed to happen, because sometimes letting it all out is best. Annabel was wise enough to give us space and went to read in her room like such a sweet sister, while Daniel and I worked it out together. And nap time/quiet time gave us all the break we needed, some time to digest this separation from Daddy some more. I vowed not to push talking to Daddy on anyone anymore, but really, we loved hearing from Daddy. It reminded us he was thinking of us and we liked knowing that.

Annabel LOVED talking to Daddy on the phone!

One of the many ways we kept busy during the long days without Daddy...looking at our school projects box!

Tuesday, March 25 and Wednesday, March 26- So we spent our days keeping busy in lots of different ways. We played bus/limo with chairs and animals. Lots of very creative role playing took place while Daddy was gone- it was so much fun to see the kids being so creative and so imaginative! Loved it. We also baked banana muffins. We had a great play date with our triplet friends Wednesday. We watched some new "toons" (from Cars and Toy Story) and movie clips (Frozen! and previews of the new Planes movie coming out this summer- yeah!) through our new TV box thing (no idea what to call it, it links to the internet and we can get our instant amazon prime videos on there)- that kept us busy for a while and the kids liked browsing and picking things to watch on there. Also notable these days was that the kids were finally sleeping through the night again for me, thankfully! I felt a tad more rested after those nights!

Curious George rides the bus!

Annabel sat with her friends at the little table for dinner- she was incredibly proud and excited to do this! It was too cute. This only happened the one night, thankfully, but on other nights the friends sat at the big table with all of us, still with their own plates of course!

The kids came up with lots of creative "projects" to do, too- coloring, cutting, making things, etc.- it was a lot of fun to watch them to these things, too.

We also painted our Easter stained glass chicks!

Annabel sang and danced to her reflection in the stove! This girl sings all the time!

Thursday, March 27- The morning started off with a bang creativity-wise. Daniel created a sawmill in our upstairs hallway: round footstool to cut logs, round footstool to smash them (or something), crib mattress ramp, laundry basket to catch them, and of course paper towel rolls galore for the logs (we sort of have a collection of them!)- he was inspired by a Mighty Machines episode. That was lots of fun- I loved how he recreated the sawmill process he'd just seen on DVD. And Daniel was so sweet with Annabel, helping her figure out how to do it, showing her the steps, and making it all accessible for her (it was a little tall for her, so he got her a stool)...I was really impressed with how sweet Daniel was with Annabel during the time Ben was gone, he really came around and stepped up for her in a lot of ways. They played together so nicely while I showered or got stuff done and they'd invite each other to play, patting each other's back, and so on. We needed this week of sweet togetherness.

Thursday was also the day we did the puddle jumping and our birthday visit to Grandma Mary Kay's school. We'd gone to her school before lunch on purpose because I knew Ben might call around 2:00 and I really wanted to be home to catch him, since I didn't think we'd talk to him again, between his weekend coming up (because when he calls us at 2:00 PM Thursday it's 6:00 AM Friday...confusing, right?) and our weekend plans and play dates coming up for the following week. Anyway, Ben called at 2 on the dot and we had a GREAT time talking to him. Got a video of Annabel chatting away this time! So cute and so sweet. She was still really missing Ben, mostly at bedtime, you could just tell she needed him in her own way. Daniel actually asked to talk to Daddy, too, but he was mostly just goofy with him, but that was his way of handling all this and it's okay. We got off the phone and did a video chat on the computer with Daddy, too. This was very interesting, especially with Annabel. Daniel continued to be goofy and then eventually disappeared, evidently needing space and I'm glad he did that for himself. He was still pretty much ignoring the fact that Ben was gone. He did not like to talk about it, so I made sure not to bring it up around him.

Annabel had fun chatting with Daddy some more on the video chat, also being silly, too. One thing of note while we chatted was that she did NOT like Daddy's headset that he was wearing so he could hear and talk to us better- Annabel's immediate reaction was "you are home, Daddy?" because he wears that headset for his meetings when he's home. Of course he was not home and this just confused and upset Annabel; she pretty emphatically told him "Take that OFF!" So he did. Daddy also gave the kids a tour of his hotel room...which prompted another fantastic reaction from Annabel- she practically spat out "You have TWO beds? Next time you take ME wif you!" followed by a big hmpf. We were cracking up! Of course she would react that way- she was basically saying yeah I could have come with, what do you mean you couldn't take me you even have a bed for me, etc. etc. I thought this was great, such a classic Annabel response! Daddy showed us the view outside his room, but being six AM it was still dark, which really confused the kids and sparked a bit of conversation. Eventually Annabel got tired of this chatting and just wanted to "play on the puter, bye bye Daddy."

Such a great smile- and this time Daniel WANTED to talk to Daddy- big difference! It helped that this time it was much later in the week, and that Daniel could just be his silly self, which was what he was in the mood to do, and it's how he was dealing with all this commotion in his life right now.

Here are some cute videos of the kids doing their bubble project!

This time I got videos of Annabel talking to Daddy! Love! You HAVE to listen- my heart melts when she says "I love you, I miss you, you snuggle me, Daddy!" (Also- Annabel says "yes?" because our calls dropped so often, she had to make sure Daddy was still there! The "no" stuff was inspired by Grandma's "no" button at school, lovely button that says "no" in a million different ways...")

Friday, March 28- Friday was a much awaited day around here...we were all going to spend the night at Grandma Cheryl's house! The kids could NOT wait, especially Annabel, since this was her first time sleeping over there ever. I spent the night, too, so it wasn't quite the solo trip Annabel would like to do sometime, but we all had a great time and I'm glad I was there- it was a lot of fun! I would NOT have wanted to sleep here totally alone. Anyway, Annabel had her little preschool class that morning, which Daniel sat with me during (he did not have school that day, Spring Break started that day and continued the following week, of course it would be while Ben was gone!) and then we came home and had lunch. The kids had the most fun packing for Grandma's house- they had their overnight bags filled to the brim, with both necessities and toys & books, too. Annabel thought we would get to go to Grandma's house after lunch and when I told her we were not going until much later, she cried so hard, big tears and wails- it was almost just too much for her to bear, with Daddy being gone and then having to wait even longer for something she'd been really looking forward to doing...she let it all out then! Poor little girl.

One of the cute things that happened Friday afternoon before we went to Grandma's was that Daniel played "Animal Game Night"- he set up his Rivers Roads and Rails game at the kitchen table where we play, giving each animal (sitting in their own chairs) their set of pieces, making them take turns, helping them play the right pieces or draw a piece if they couldn't play any, and so on. It was the cutest thing ever. I loved watching him. So awesome!

We headed to Grandma's house at 5:30 that night, had yummy english muffin pizzas for dinner, and then got to play with Grandma and Grandpa until bedtime, which the kids kicked me out of the room for- only Grandma could read to them! Annabel of course would not stop talking (we heard her ask Daniel "When it be morning time, Daniel?" over and over), and I could hear her getting up to get books to look at, all the while still talking to Daniel. We went in a couple times to help her along, to no avail, although Daniel did eventually clonk right out, tuning Annabel out somehow. Grandma then brought Annabel down to where she and I were watching a movie (a really good one, too, called About Time) and Annabel passed out in Grandma's arms within minutes- it was the sweetest thing ever. Grandma LOVED this snuggle with Annabel! I managed to lay Annabel back down when the movie was over and headed to bed myself, after my husband surprised me with an 11:00 PM call just to say good night since he knew we were sleeping over! So sweet!

Daniel played "Animal Game Night" with his stuffed animals. So cute!

Saturday, March 29- So the sleepover went well for the most part, aside from Annabel's super chattiness at bedtime. Annabel did wake up in the middle of the night screaming and was inconsolable- I think she was just scared and didn't know where she was. I brought her to my room and after snuggling right up to me, popping her head up to give me the sweetest kisses, and reaching out for one more hug, she fell right back asleep. The kids woke up at their usual 7:15 time. We had toast for breakfast, played some more, got dressed and headed out to lunch, taking Grandma with us. Next stop was Toys R Us to use some coupons I had that were expiring to buy some fun new things (Legos and Hot Wheels!). We said our goodbyes to Grandma, stopped at the library to pick up some books and movies and then headed home to play with our new toys, take naps, and play some more!

Sunday, March 30- This was our zoo day. If you've read that post, you'll recall that it was super busy that day. I felt like the only single mom there, it being a Sunday, thus quite the family outing day. Still, we had a great time. I made sure to take the kids to see the crocodiles because Ben told me he'd eaten crocodile meat, which I told the kids. They thought this was strange. And then we waved to the Australia building, but didn't go in, because of course Daddy wasn't in there! The kids told me I was tricking them and they weren't falling for it! It was fun to finally be a little silly and relaxed about Daddy being gone. We all had a good laugh!

Sunday night I gave Annabel a recorded book that Daddy had made for her before he left...(Daniel got one last time Daddy went- a Cars one; Annabel's was a Berenstain Bears book) and she had the biggest smile on her face. It was the sweetest thing. Her eyes were even shiny- she was this close to tears, but still, she loved her book. She read it at least a dozen times straight right then. She really missed her Daddy and of course this book prompted lots more of "I miss Daddy" and "When Daddy be home?" which was why I waited this long to give it to her- she still missed him, but we were past the initial shock of Daddy's departure at this point. I have to say, though, it was interesting to note that Annabel did NOT want to read this book again the rest of the week- it was deemed "Daddy's book" and only to be read with Daddy when he got home, which was fine.

Monday March 31- Wednesday April 2- Daniel was on Spring Break this week, so I booked us up with lots of play dates to keep us busy in the home stretch until Daddy's return on Thursday (which the kids did NOT know about!). Monday we had a great play date with Daniel's preschool friend Cole (which Annabel pronounces "Cold")- Cole was a great playmate. The boys hit it right off and had a ball playing together all over the house, while Annabel hung out with Debbie, 1-year-old Vanessa, and me, and then eventually Annabel joined the boys in their role playing and even got Cole to play a game with her (she taught him how to play and everything), which he was such an awesome kid to do. I was so happy to see that Cole would play with both of them so nicely. (Cole will also be in Annabel's class next year, so another familiar face for her!) They stayed a long time! We just really had a great time with them! Everybody was out cold very early that night- we were worn out from all that playing, especially after our busy weekend!

Tuesday we had a play date with Jack and Charlotte. We met up with them at "Old McDonald's" for lunch and play time there (the kids LOVED this location's play area- it had a "tree" and fun slides)- we played for over an hour there, before heading to Jack's house to play some more. Came home for some much needed quiet time, a quick dinner, lots of tickle attacks, and some lap running in the basement- all that energy had to go somewhere!

Wednesday was the beginning of the home stretch as Ben headed homeward bound! He called that morning at 8:00 AM our time to say he was at the airport in Melbourne, checked in with a flight delay of an hour and a half, which meant his flight would leave at 2:10 AM his time- lovely, huh?! Glad that wasn't me, sorry honey. Annabel and I headed to her gymnastics class, while Daniel played at home with Grandma Cheryl. We kept busy that afternoon, somehow, even did a little quiet time (Annabel actually slept this time- like I keep saying, it was a busy couple weeks emotionally and physically!). We had a super early dinner and then Daniel had his first (spontaneously planned) soccer practice! He was SO excited. It was cold, but we were bundled up, and we weren't there long- we were mostly there just to meet some of our team members and run around a little. I let Annabel run along and participate this time since it was unofficial and she LOVED it! It was super cute to watch her and she was keeping up pretty well, too! When practice was over, I let the kids play for five minutes on the play ground there and then treated them to Starbucks hot chocolate! Daniel didn't waste a second saying "Mommy. Every other time it's cold at practice, we need to go to Starbucks again!" Bedtime followed soon after...again, very tired kids!

And with Ben en route all day long Wednesday, I kept checking on his flight to Hong Kong now and then. He did call after the kids went to bed at 9:00 PM to say he was there and ready for the next loooong flight home; it was good to hear his voice again and chat, sans kid noise! Big side note here: Ben was giving some thought to going to Hong Kong Disneyland- we joked about it before he even left for Australia, but he figured the layover wouldn't be long enough, it would be more hassle than it was worth, he worried about being gone longer- I was actually the one pushing for him to go. When would he get another chance like that? When he arrived in Hong Kong the first time, on his way out there, he learned that Hong Kong Disneyland is actually very close to the airport, like a half hour train ride away. So, later in the week, while in Australia he looked into what it would take to change his flight. His company's travel agency priced it out at a high cost, so he dismissed the idea quickly. Well, when he got into Hong Kong on Wednesday, he checked with the airline just to see what they said and they said it wouldn't hardly cost anything to change his ticket, they were actually surprised he wanted to stay longer (most people at those desks want to leave earlier!), but direct flights home were booked for the next day and he would have had to either go indirect (adding something like another 10 hours of flying to the already 15 hour flight!) or wait another whole day to try to catch the next direct flight (which, again, I said would be fine- to us, what's another few days?! We were doing fine!)...again, it was more hassle than it was worth and in the end, he said it was pouring rain there that day anyway, not the way to enjoy a new place. Well, maybe some other time! So...he boarded his final flight and headed home!

Annabel LOVES to play on the computer and is very independent on it. She can get to all her favorite games and activities by herself- and since she doesn't really watch much TV, this is her screen time, and it's okay with me, I love the skills she's developing and improving. She plays Curious George games the most, but still enjoys her Christmas Advent Calendar, too. Elmo games and Busytown games are fun for her, too. Occasionally the kids try out the Lego games, too, but those are trickier.

Starbucks hot chocolate treats after a chilly soccer practice on Wednesday night!

Thursday April 3- Whew! We made it! Thursday was the day Ben was coming home! The waiting just about killed me, though- 6 hours, 5 hours, 4 hours, he's over California probably!, 3 hours, eeek! 2, 1, landed! And through all that silent screeching, the kids had no clue! I kept them busy with lots of fun things- these velcro sticks I made for them to make pictures with, we baked chocolate chip cookies to welcome Daddy home with, I kept myself busy with loads of laundry, cleaning up the house, and well, before I knew it, Ben texted me to say he'd landed. He made it in one piece (YAY!), the suitcase did not (GRR!)- zipper totally shot, suitcase unusable, and that was our new one. Grr. Deep breath- my husband was home safe.

Ben had a hired car waiting to bring him home and then he kept texting me what streets he was on and man it was hard to keep a straight face for the kids as the streets got closer to home! Then, we were in the basement coloring and drawing with some new art materials, when I asked the kids if they heard something...Annabel said, "yeah, ding dong" so I said that I wondered who it could be. They love to help answer the door, when I let them, and were upstairs faster than lightning...

Daniel literally threw open the door and WAS SHOCKED SPEECHLESS!!!! His reaction was awesome- priceless! He really just couldn't. believe. his. eyes, I think.

Annabel, my little sweetheart, ran at Daddy with THE biggest hug you can imagine. And for the next few hours, she literally kissed Daddy every two seconds- it was the sweetest thing ever. It was like she was thinking it's you, you're here, you're really here and I'm going to keep doing this over and over just because I finally can. Seriously. Loved it.

And Daddy- he was a good sport. Because of course it was like he was never gone. (Really- all of a sudden, it was seriously like he was never gone, like the previous two weeks never happened, time just disappeared, and I couldn't think how we'd spent our days- such a weird feeling.) The kids were all over Daddy- Come play with me Daddy, Daddy this Daddy that. I had a really yummy dinner going in the crockpot; best idea ever- we could just relax and enjoy Daddy and then just dish dinner up and eat- no prep! All I could think was WE DID IT! Couldn't stop smiling- we were together again!

Colorful sticks with velcro affixed and made into fun shapes! The kids had a good time with this. Easiest DIY ever. The one on the bottom (red, orange and blue) is Daniel's- tilt your head to the left and you can see it's a crane, the red part the hook, the orange the thing it's picking up. Annabel I think had a tree going (green) and maybe a house. It kept them busy for a while!

We're SO happy you're home Daddy!