Relief

Relief. That's what I feel now that football season is officially over. I felt as though I was hanging by a thin thread during football season as I tried to be a single parent to my children. Brent's schedule was such that he would only see the children for 45 minutes to an hour a night before it was bedtime. My two active preschoolers and needy newborn were almost more than I could handle some days. I am SO glad to have him back. So glad. He gets home every day before 5 o'clock and enjoys having dinner with us. It has been wonderful. We can even do activities in the afternoon before or after dinner. One sunny fall day, we all decided to go out and rake leaves so the kids could enjoy some leaf jumping. The kids had a blast running through, throwing and kicking the leaves.
Yet another reason I'm glad he's home and was able to come with us--I didn't want to rake up that big pile of leaves! He had to keep on raking too as the kids scattered the pile. So much fun! I remember doing a lot of leaf pile jumping as a kid. I just don't remember the ground under the leaves being so hard!

Tristan had a ball. Maura kept wanting to bury him in the leaves and he kept letting her, but I knew that he was getting leaves in his hair, eyes and mouth. Maura posed for me in her pile--in between throwing handfuls of leaves in the air. I thank God for these strong, healthy kids and for the fact that we had this gorgeous fall day to enjoy.

Maura and Tristan are playing together very well these days. We do have the occasional spat, generally when Maura is getting too bossy, but for the most part they love each other so much and love playing together. They tend to get really crazy when they play together, so I often have to intervene and direct them towards less rambunctious games!

Below: Three little sweeties, or two sweeties and one sourpuss. Can you guess which one is which? I'll give you a clue...he's not holding Bennett, which was why he was mad.

Sometimes he just has to wait his turn, something he's not great at!

Below: He's great at borrowing his sister's dress up clothes, though, much to his father's dismay! That's a hefty little princess...er, prince!

Bennett Boo is getting so big these days! At four months, he's just the sweetest thing. He's super smiley and will smile at anyone who speaks to him. He's found his voice and loves singing and he'll talk back when you talk to him. The other day, I looked over at him on the changing table and realized that he'd found his feet. So cute!

Not a great photo because of the lighting, but he was SO excited about those feet! Four months is my favorite age. They love everyone, are interactive, are on some type of schedule and they can't move around! Love it! I could eat this little chubbo up!