the three little pigs

Lydia was the only one who was certain about what she wanted to be for Halloween, so I took her lead with the other two...

Trick-or-treat!

zoo

Now that we're well into fall, I was able to "check out" the high-demand 2-free-passes to the MN zoo from the library last week.  Under 3 yrs is also free, so for probably the last time, the four of us went to the zoo for the cost of parking.  We watched the dolphin show, took a ride on the monorail, and explored about a third of the animals (it's way too much ground to cover in a few hours with little ones). 

The zoo also has a really fun playground.

Indoors, there's a toddler area for the kids to learn about how bees make honey in a very tactile way!

The zoo trip was complete with a sweet treat!

and on a positive note...

School for Brett has not gone as smoothly as we had hoped this year.  He's just not getting into his groove in that setting.  So his teachers devised a plan.  Maybe MORE school would help him get into the routine and feel more confident.  That makes some sense in theory, but the protective mom in me doesn't like overwhelming him with more of something he is already overwhelmed with. 

When I really listened between the lines of what his teacher was telling me, it was either try this, or go to a different setting altogether. 

We really want this to work out for Brett.  The last thing we want is another big change for our kid who hates change.  Beyond that, our hope is that he can be successful in an integrated classroom - to develop the skills he needs for that sort of independence instead of backtracking to a place where he is heavily reliant on the adults around him.

So, we shifted our schedules around, and this is his first week of going to his preschool Mon-Thurs mornings.  They have a Mon/Wed class, and a Tues/Thurs class, and he's in both of them.  He has different classmates, but the teachers and schedule are the same, and he ends up bringing home two of each art project!  On Mondays and Wednesdays, I pick him up from school to take him to therapy.

Yesterday, when I got home from work, the babysitter was in a good mood.  It is always nice to come home to a good report from the babysitter!  (There have been a couple days I've had to talk her into coming back...)  Even better, Brett had brought home a note from his teacher - a positive one!  Even though this is just his first week going every day, his teachers say he is showing more confidence in the classroom.

Attaboy! 

when daddy's away...

It seems like Bryan's traveling for work goes in spurts.  He will go a couple months without any trips, and then he will have several at once.  This fall, he has been going out of town at least every other week. 
When Daddy's away, life goes at a different pace.  I'm not overwhelmed by it anymore, and I like to change things up a bit.  This is mostly related to meals and routines.  Bryan is a meat-and-potatoes kind of guy, but this week, our menu included cheesy quasadillas, pigs-in-a-blanket, crab rangoon, and mini-pizzas -- and those were not appetizers!

Bryan is an early-riser.  He is always off to work long before the rest of us are awake, and appreciates having the kids in bed by 8 so he can have some down time.  Me?  I like to stay up late(r) and sleep later, so when he's away, it seems it is easily after 9 when the kids go to bed.  This week, we tried out a different indoor playground and were there till it closed!

Some things don't get done.  By the end of the week, I literally had a mountain of clean laundry in our bedroom waiting to be folded.  We would have to sift through it to find a shirt or socks!  The boys didn't get their nightly lather of lotion twice, and I'm sure I missed brushing their teeth a few times!

Of the 3 nights, Bryan was gone, I only had the bed to myself once...which reminds me of when I was a kid and my daddy was out of town!

We all really miss daddy when he is gone.  I can't imagine doing parenthood by myself all the time!  But, we can take the "opportunity" to make a few memories.