Aaron has been working some really long hours lately. REALLY long hours. So, it’s just the 3 of us most of the time. I’ll admit… I am totally exhausted with all that I have to do and I have a huge respect for single parents and especially my friends with a deployed spouse. I think the most exhausting is when someone is up in the middle of the night screaming… which had been pretty few and far between until the last couple of weeks. Now it is a few times a week. This morning, it was both kids, screaming. This is a good opportunity to comfort them and cuddle, but wow, it is exhausting.
We got a nice day a few days ago, so we took a trip to the lake to get out of the house. Now it’s back to the cold and I am totally missing that 60 degree weather.
I packed sandwiches… pulled chicken sandwiches, leftovers from dinner a few days ago.
Ilya wore a lot of his sandwich.
Lena had a kind of awkward relationship with her sandwich…
The dogs came too. This sums up their personalities… Josie, longing to be running around. Nina, high on life. And Cache, angry that he’s not getting a belly rub and eating cookies.
She was full of funny faces today!
And cute ones.
A boat went by on the lake and he absolutely freaked out. Near tears freak out. I told him it was okay, just wave at the people in the boat and he calmed down once it left. And then, of course, he could not stop talking about the “buy-oot”.
This is a classic Ilya conversation. His favorite game is “Where’s Papa/Mama/Ilya/Lena?”
Someone(THANK YOU!) sent us a video called “Bounce”. There are a bunch of songs meant to help children, specifically autistic children, know what to say. “Give me”, “Help me” “Hello” “Goodbye” “I need” “Let’s go” and my kid’s favorite “I want”. Ilya sings the whole thing. Lena just sings “I want an apple please”.
(I know the pictures aren’t showing up… sorry! I’ve contacted Flickr twice now and they’ve escalated the problem and I should have an answer in a few days. In the meantime, you can click on them if you want to see them.)
a moose in moscow 
Sorry for the middle of the night wake up calls. Makes for a tired mom. Love the videos super cute! Hope Aaron's schedule slows down so he can be home more.
So glad you all got some family time together. Keep on keeping on…Hugs to everyone.
😦 all the photos on my screen say flickr and "currently unavailable" but I'm certain the children are adorable. They always are.Yes, being a "single" parent, even temporarily is challenging. We have been through multiple deployments and TDY's and my 5 year old son broke his arm this week and of course my hubby is away on a TDY assignment so I had to spend the night in the hospital (he had to have surgery) and find someone to keep my other three. It was the first time we've had to leave our newest daughter, adopted from China 4 months ago, and I was totally exhausted. The first 2 nights I got NO sleep and was thinking of all the full time single parents out there! Many kudos!!Blessings,Holly
I couldn't see the pictures in the blog post either but was able to see them on your Flickr stream. I laughed out loud when I saw the picture of the dogs. Josie's face is so funny:) Having a hubby working long hours is so hard. Especially when you are soooo looking forward to him coming home at a certain time just to have a little bit of a break and to have another adult in the house…..and then it doesn't happen. I totally feel you on that one! Being a stay at home mom can be so hard some days. You are doing a great job!
That head-bopping seat-dancing singing is ADORABLE!!!!!! Oh my goodness! Could she be any cuter?
To see the pictures just click on the space where they should be. It's worth the extra effort – as always, they're adorable!