Hubby's back and so am I!

Well, the blog has been pretty quiet for the last two months.  Hubby left for an Army school in AZ a couple of weeks after Christmas.  So, I found myself quite busy (understatement.understatement.understatement) :)  But, I also found myself with a computer that wouldn't let me log onto my blog.  I did manage to post a few times from my phone, and looking back through my camera it seems I didn't really take that many pictures.  Did I mention I was busy?  Ha!  We all (well, I doubt pumpkin even noticed) really missed Daddy and are so glad he is back home!  We survived though.  I'll even go as far to say that some days we even thrived!  My folks came for a long visit which was so nice.  It helped break up the time without hubby and the boys loved having Nana and Papa around.  Even more than the help with chores and the boys, I was just happy to have adults around to talk to! 

 

We're enjoying our first spring here in Texas.  I'm not sure how long this season lasts, but I'm guessing we will be welcoming the heat sooner rather than later.  We'll have to enjoy the mild spring weather while it's here.  C is on spring break this week.  We sat down today and the boys took turns picking topics to learn about each day.  I figured a few structured activities will help our days go more smoothly (and help keep the screen time down)

 

C's spring soccer season has started up.  We've gotten a lot of rain lately so there have been some cancellations but they did get their first game in.  And guess who scored the first goal of the season?  And he even refrained from doing a victory dance this time.  Glad that lesson soaked in.

 

Lil' peanut had a rough go of it with Daddy gone.  There were a lot of changes in routine during that time, and change is hard on him (and in turn hard on me).  We're settling back in now and he and I are in a good place.  Probably the best we've been since he's been home actually.  He is officially potty trained (for the second time!) so that's been great.  It didn't really take much time, or that many accidents.  A few days, one epic dump under a table at the public library which led to a missed opportunity to eat at one of his favorite restaurants and we were good to go.  He recently started speech therapy for articulation once a week through our local public school and he LOVES it.  He calls it speech class...or rather "Peech cwass"  and gets so excited when it's his day to go.

 

Pumpkin is as cute as ever.  He smiles readily when we're out and about at anyone who stops to ooh and ah over him.  He's really rolling and scooching around these days.  He never stays on his blanket when we put him on the floor.  C always says "I hope he's an early walker like me" and I'm thinking, oh please no! :)  He is just a super chill baby (I guess he figured he needed to be with all the craziness already going on in our house) ;)  I'm a little sleep deprived, but I don't even really need to complain about that.  He doesn't sleep through the night by any means, but nights aren't rough.  He's not up crying or anything...just a hungry boy.  He needs to eat to keep up with the growth curve he's got going...which is pretty much off the charts.  Ha!  He's in the 99th percentile for height and the 90th for weight.  C cannot comprehend that his younger brother might one day be taller than him.

 

I also just committed to teaching an after school theatre class at C's school.  I miss doing theatre and I enjoy teaching so I'm excited!  It will be once a week for 4th and 5th graders starting after spring break.  It's kind of a trial run for the program with the potential to expand if it goes well.  Basically I need to impress everyone so the budget gets reworked. ;)  And of course, the principal's oldest daughter is going to be in the class.  So, really, I just need to impress her.  Haha! 

 

Again, I haven't taken a lot of pictures lately, but here are a few...

 

I love this picture of them!  It was a genuine moment of happy togetherness.



C had spirit week at school while my folks were here.  We sent him off to crazy hair day with some seriously awesome crazy hair.  But, apparently it was too much for a bunch of first graders to handle because they ended up teasing him all morning until he took it down at recess.  I was so sad for him.  In the car he said, "They all laughed at me, even Stephen!"  That's his best friend at school and I could tell how much that had hurt his feelings.  I tried to conceal my anger at his classmates because, really, what good would that do?  I didn't want to fuel the fire they had already lit under him but rather model forgiveness and grace.  The next day was mismatch day and it ended up being a "snow" day.  It was just the break my boy needed for his little spirit to be bolstered back up.  We all had fun with our own mismatch day competition.  Nana and Papa did the best they could with what was in their suitcase. 

But they were no match for me and my boys!  Pumpkin got in on the act too but missed the picture.  It was so funny.  I walked out of my room all dressed up and C looked up and his eyes got huge.  Then he jumped up and ran to his room hollering "Oh it's on Mom!"  As you can see, he came up with his ensemble all on his own.  When it was time to vote my dad asked "Are we voting for who we really think should win?  Or to make someone happy?"  Ha!  Love that he wanted to clarify.  It ended up being a tie between C and lil' peanut (who both voted for themselves, obviously) and they came to a quick agreement on how they should celebrate their win, a trip to Menchie's for frozen yogurt.

My happy baby.

I'm realizing I'm lacking pictures of C!  If I find it hard to grab the camera with these two home, you can imagine how it's nowhere on my mind when all three of my boys are running (or rolling) around. :)  Should be able to capture a lot of my oldest over spring break.

Five months old.