Happy Tears

I'm trying for happy tears, anyhow - drove Mike to the airport this morning. 21 more weeks, and he will be done with the school year and headed home.

The day he arrived almost a month ago - total bliss!


Mike was amazing with the boys - he went to Andrew's basketball games and was one of the proudest there! Matthew is a wonderful little brother, sitting for the entire hour and a half without complaining once!


Here's our basketball star (on the far left with the black wristband...the girl to the right of him was another star - the two of them pretty much ran the game!)


In action! I love watching this boy play - he's so great! On this particular Saturday, he started at 10, got done at 11:30 - came home and shot hoops outside until I begged him to have some lunch, then back out until 5 pm! He was WIPED out that night! And that's pretty much how Andrew plays basketball. ALL the time! :)

Mike and I went to see Avatar in 3D and gave the boys our glasses after. They just looked so cute :)

Mike did so much to help me - with cars, computers, chores, children. SUCH a keeper! :)

My handsome guy :)

Here are the pictures that bring tears. Mike requested that he have his picture taken with each boy individually so that they had something to hang onto while he finishes his time in China. I snapped a bunch...and looking at them today creates instant tears! Tears of joy, of course. We are so lucky!

Trixie and her daddy :) She totally remembered him!

See what I mean? He's precious. Jumped right in to help with the kids, the house, the dog and anything else I needed to do. He just helped me out SO much - being a single mom for a year has helped me to appreciate the little things SO much more!

Waiting for their dad to arrive, we plugged in a Chipmunks movie. Matthew snuggled for a quick nap, then woke up to finish the movie.

Those airport goodbyes are brutal. So nice to know that it's our last one! 21 weeks. It sounds better than 5 months to me. How about 146 days? 3512 hours? What's the easiest way to count this down? I don't know....it's just hard.

So tonight I cooked something special for myself. As much as I would have loved to share this with someone, it was nice to do something for me. I made homemade crust topped with pesto, spinach, roasted garlic, feta, mushrooms, roasted red peppers, mushrooms, mozzerella and parmesean cheese. YUM! :)

I've found that the first 24 hours after he leaves are the hardest - his pillow still smells like him, his towel is still damp and hanging in the bathroom, his coffee mug is in the sink.... It's just difficult to see him all over, but can't see HIM. This separation has cemented our bond in unbelieveable ways - I am so excited to see what the next few months bring our way.

Happy Kids

Mike's brother Glenn and his family came down from Seattle to visit this week. We spent lots of time over there, so the kiddos could catch up :)

Matthew and Noah are best friends...and this is their chair...good for watching movies and having snacks...


Sometimes little brothers can hang out with them, too...

When we picked Andrew up from school the other day, we hung out for awhile to play...

Matthew got to do his favorite thing in the world...

Puddle jumping!

After getting soaked in muddy water from the waist down (we just then figured out that the boots need replacing), Matthew found a rock wall to climb...click HERE for video.

The next morning, back at NanaDee's...breakfast, jammies, cartoons, best friends...life doesn't get better than this for a 4 year old!

And then dinner with the family at Grandma June's...hanging out with Kev and Teresa, reading books...

We came home from dinner and had a few packages waiting...the boys tried our new boots and jackets on...ha ha! I even caught some video of their special song and dance: Click HERE.

Life is good right now. We are complete and THEN some...having Mike home is such a blessing. Having Kevin and Teresa living here is a huge bonus!

Fun, Fun, Fun

We've been having such a wonderful time with Mike since he's been home. It'll be tough to say goodbye again, but it'll be the last time we have to do it. :)

Here are a few things we've done in the last few days...

Sugar cube construction...sticky, slimy, gooey fun!



Mike and Jen even got in on the action! We've got some serious architechture going on here...


Even the cleanup was fun with this project!

Yesterday, we took the boys bowling with Mike's brother, sister in law and nephews...so much fun!

Matthew hitches a ride with Mikey...

A video: Click HERE.

The little one gets an assist from the big guy...

5 minutes later...ha ha!

Andrew is a great bowler! :) Noah and Glenn in the next lane...

Video of Andrew and Glenn bowling together: Click HERE.

Noah and Matthew...

Noah and Matthew dance: Click HERE.

Matthew ended up bowling with a ramp...made things move a little quicker!

Click HERE for video.

The gang hanging out...

Matthew got kinda tired...but didn't want to stop! He just rested inbetween turns...

And a sweet picture from this morning - actually, as I was uploading the bowling pictures, I looked down and saw Trixie relaxing with her bone on TOP of Matthew, while he watched a movie...again, SO glad we have this dog (even if she DOES cause trouble from time to time)...