So glad when Daddy comes home

Yesterday I was texting my sister and she was like, "How are you doing?" because that's a fairly normal thing to ask people when you're conversing. I told her that I was doing well, that Andrew had been out of town at a conference, and that I was excited for tomorrow (which is now today) because Andrew would be coming home. 

"So tonight is the last night I have to do dinner and bedtime on my own!" I said. 

Not that it's been terribly difficult. The kids have been fabulous and area typically good helpers. They cook, they clean, they play together. I mean, sure, it takes a little nagging sometimes and we've been known to experience conflict and sometimes devolve in to absolute and utter chaos, but they're altogether good kids. 

Still, it's nice to know there's a second parent around to usher kids off to bed while I'm nursing the baby (still nursing, yes...we're working on stopping but this week (when Andrew was leaving for a conference) was not the week to go cold turkey), or whatever. And...I'm really not great with dinners. 

Last night we had macaroni and cheese (from a box!) with peas and strawberries and chicken nuggets. 

"You really girl-dinner'ed us all, didn't you?" Rachel joked when she saw dinner.

She was busy finishing up all her school assignments, so didn't help much with dinner preparation (though Miriam was a huge help). 

Anyway, I texted my sister that last night would be my last night flying solo because Andrew would be coming home on Saturday, and as I sat there eating dinner with my kids I realized that while it's true Andrew would be coming home on Saturday...it would not be until well after bedtime. So I have another dinner and bedtime ahead of me. 

But this will be the last one on my own. For a while.

Not that it's been terribly difficult! Not only are my bigger kids helping out with the littler kids, we also have Grandpa! He had Benjamin, Zoë, and Alexander over for movie nights on both Thursday and Friday evenings, and then this morning he picked Zoë and Benjamin up on the tail end of his bike ride and they all rode down to the park together. 

Alexander desperately wanted to ride with them, but he's still pretty fresh and new on his wheels, so I drove him down to the park, where we met up with everyone else, and then he got to ride around the pond with Grandpa five times before we stopped to play for a bit.

Here he is zipping along, with Zoë (in orange) and Grandpa (in yellow) and a random jogger (in black) behind him (sorry, random jogger):

Here's a less-random jogger:

Here's Benjamin, who was zooming around everyone (he was not content to go Alexander's speed...which is why Alexander merely met them at the park, rather than riding to the park with them):

Here's Phoebe having a little break in a sand pit:

And here are Alexander, Zoë, and Grandpa again (without any random passersby in the photograph this time):

He's doing such a great job on his bike! He can't wait for Daddy to come home so he can show him his biking skills in person (and so Daddy can pull out his tooth).

On the night of the ward Halloween party (October 28), we let the kids go hog wild on their candy...because sometimes natural consequences are the best teacher. Oh, you got a tummy ache? Well, darn...let's ponder about why that might have happened...

Anyway, Alexander came to me privately and whispered that he thought he may have eaten too much candy because one of his teeth really hurt, and that maybe he had developed a cavity or something.

"Too much candy isn't good for you," I agreed. "And we'll have to brush our teeth extra well tonight, but I doubt your tooth ache is a cavity. You know what I think?"

"What?" he sniffed. 

"I'll have to look in your mouth to make sure—come here and open your mouth—but...yup! Just as I suspected! You have a loose tooth!"

"I have a...loose...tooth?!"

"You have a loose tooth."

"I HAVE A LOOSE TOOTH!"

We're still waiting on it to come out, but he does, indeed have a loose tooth. It's very exciting (and a little anxiety inducing for Alexander), so we're excited for Daddy to come home and share in the joy of...ripping Alexander's first tooth out of his mouth.