While You Were Away

Dearest Ben,

Yeah for us for surviving your busy season!  Does it get worse each year or is it just worse to me because our children keep multiplying thus creating more work for me?  Anyways, I'm very happy that my life will again include you in it.

Here is a recap about what we've been up to while you've been away....

We get together for play dates a lot, several times a week lately.  It's wonderful to have adult interaction!  And Sadie really enjoys it, too.

Fisher and Sadie.  They really like each other!

 We get together a lot with Andrew!  Sadie says he's her best friend.  They really play so nicely together.

Aren't they cute?

And I'm so lucky to have Cricchio so close by.  I love our play dates together!

Jax always sits happily on the ground - watching us and eating grass.  

Sadie enjoys the slides....

and playing in the sand.

 Sometimes Leslie, Isaiah, and Lucas come and then Jax has a playmate.....

One day Sarah and Ethan joined us and we also went in the pool.  Well, mostly Ethan went in the pool.

We also go visit my mom once a week.  Last week we took the kids to the beach.  It was a beautiful day and they loved it.  Thankfully Jax has learned his lesson and no longer eats the sand.  I'm so happy we're past that phase.

Jax is sure starting to get heavy for me.  Look how huge he looks in my arms!

My mom and I also went shopping down to Ellenton.  I had several things to return and ended up making more money than I spent.  Are you proud of me?

We may have made a stop at Kilwin's for a lovely ice cream cone.  It was a wonderful experience!

The smell from this store beckons to you from miles away.

Just after eating our ice cream cones.

Jax was great all day even though he was teething.

Sadie loved the fountain.  She even tried to get in the water and partially succeeded before I could grab her.

We also went to be with my mom on her 60th birthday.  Can you believe she's that old?  I don't think she looks that old.  I'm so grateful I get to spend time with her each week.

My Mom on her 60th birthday.

When we're home I try to do educational things with Sadie.  Mostly she just wants to draw pictures of sharks and snakes.  Should I be concerned that those are her two favorite things to draw?  

I also started our spring garden.  Things have begun to come to life already.  Please don't let me forget to water them like I did last year, ok?  

I think this is the Kale.

Jax like to escape from the house and help me water the plants.  

Can you see his two new teeth here?  Sorry about the runny nose.  It's either from teething or he has your allergies.  I'm still trying to decide which it is.  

I also restarted our compost pile.  It doesn't look like much yet but this is going to be beautiful fertilizer soon. You'll see!

I even went to the bait and tackle store to buy fresh earth worms.  Sadie thinks they're snakes and does not like them at all!  Why does she love to draw snakes but she's scared of the fake-real thing?  I can't quite figure that one out.

I've also become very interested in growing spouts, as you now know.  You're right they do taste like grass but do you know how healthy they are?  More nutrients per calorie than any other food on the planet?  Plus we can grow them in 3 days without soil, sunlight, or dirt.  Amazing!

I've also been reading a lot to keep me occupied and entertained.  The Mommy Brain is especially an interesting one.  It turns out that motherhood rewires our brains and women end up even smarter after bearing children.  We do have problems during pregnancy (like when I stood in line at Gap to check out and realized at the register that I had nothing to buy) but it's only because so much energy is going into the reworking of our brains.  They say pregnancy to a woman's brain creates even bigger changes than puberty.  Amazing!  You should try it !!

Anyways, that's some of what we do to distract us from your absence.  I'll be so excited tomorrow night when you get home at 6PM.

Guess what our first project is now that you're back....potty training :)