Snuggle Bugs

We had an awesome Neighbour dinner last night, the food was fabulous & conversation was great and all the little ones slept like babies as the adults talked. These monthly dinners are so great & were such a good idea.

Both girls were sound asleep at 6:30pm they were obviously pretty exhausted. I felt bad putting them to sleep that early but they needed and today's behaviour proves that. They have been good as gold and are having a great day which is so nice to see! So sometimes it pays to tweak things abit just to collect yourself. It is funny, my Mom said that by the time Tom is ready to come home we will have settled into a routine and get comfy and it is proving to be true! This weekend has been great with the girls which is awesome, I thought forsure because Friday was such a craptastic day that the weekend was going to be a total flop! But thankfully it was proved wrong!  I love when things run smoothly with them,  it makes it so much easier to work with them and deal throughout the day!

When I came in last night after our backyard dinner (please keep in mind that we are just a few steps away from our doors) & got all ready for bed. Isabelle came out to go Pee & had a little chat with me, and she said " I am so glad that you were able to enjoy your night Mommy, you need it" Which made me smile.  I kissed her and gave her a big hug and tucked her back in and she fell back to asleep! Shortly after that as I was all snuggled in bed ready to get into starfish position (It is position that requires use of the WHOLE BED for sleeping), I heard little ninga feet making their way to me room and in comes little Laila. All cuddled up with Baby Hannah and her Blankey! "Mommy can I keep you company tonight" she says, I said how come honey, " I can't sleep Mommy" so I said well I just checked on you and you were sleeping. "No I wasn't, I was pretending" she says with a big smile... LOL. It is so funny how were just talking about our kids sleeping habits tonight at our dinner, Can they hear us?? LOL I usually never let my kids in my bed but she was so cute and sweet how could you turn a face like that away? I am big ole sap when it comes to my girls, the mother guilt is brutal for me. So I ended up with a little snuggle bug companion for the night or should I say a furnace. Before she drifted off to sleep again, I told her this will not happen all the time and you are going to sleep back in your own bed tomorrow night! "Okay Mommy",  I said this is a secret, pinky swear, "Okay Mommy". She began to rub my hair and scratch my head with her little hands it so cute, then she drifted off with a glowing smile on her precious face. She is going to be such a great Mommy/Wife/Friend & Sister, this nurturing she has just comes so naturally with her.

I had to laugh this morning she was up at the crack of stupid and went off to play with Belle, I could hear her yell at Belle (not whisper), " I got to sleep in Mommy's bed last night and you didn't". LOL. So much for secrets & pinky swear

Kids can never keep a secret!

Advice for the day:  If you want someone to know how you really feel about them, tell a child they will spill the beans! If you don't want anyone to know your plans etc, then really don't tell them! LOL

OH What a Busy Day

We had so much fun yesterday or should I say my monkies did. It was a hot one out and what a better way to beat the heat but by taking out the good ole pool, bright pink might I add... Kids jumped into the bathing suits and got all lubed up and out we went!

As a Birthday gift to Laila from our lovely neighbours, she got a "Goo making Kit" that is to be done in the bathtub... So instead of doing it in the bathtub I decided I would do it outside which seemed like a great thing to do. So we filled up the pool and loaded up the pool with this Goo making powder and off they went! It definitely was gooey! The kids loved it, but only problem was because it is to be done in "warm" water the powder to add to the Goo to make it go back to liquid did not work because the water was cold so we had Gel balls the kind that are in a loaded & exploded diaper all over the place! They were stuck in their hair, the face, their legs everywhere.. All you could do was laugh, and for everyone that knows how anal I am about clean, I did rather well. The girls thought it was a great thing and have lots of fun! When you get "This is the best day ever" that makes it all worth it. I have been getting them alot the past few days, so that tells me I am doing something right as exhausted as I am.
I also mentioned to my neighbours to always remember that their little one, will have upcoming birthdays so to be kind to us in the future.. LOL I can find lots of annoying & nosiy toys that little ones just love but the parents hate!!! Just kidding! Thank you guys the girls loved it and it gave at least an hour of fun today!

We then moved on to painting with Chocolate and Vanilla Pudding, they had an absolute BALL! They painted each other, ate it, painted their faces, hair & legs! It was super fun an apparently super yummy! Good thing for them because we don't eat pudding at all in this house. So today was a free for all with the pudding! They were super sticky and messy but it was all outside and life was good! Only problem during clean up was the water was cold and because my girls are little princess' as am I, Cold water was not going to work so I had to get a pot of warm water to wash them up! Pool was still infested with Goo balls so that kind of defeated the whole purpose of getting Clean! Pictures are hilarious. After this was all done it was time to eat so we had a picnic outside under an umbrella where they had lunch and talked and read books.  All in all they had a fun filled day and of course after a morning of fun there is no stopping them they want to keep going and going! But after being told for the millionth time to find something to do they did and played quite nicely!

Pudding Maddness!

Our day was a good one, a busy couple of days at that. You would think they would sleep as soon as they hit the pillow (well laila does, but not my night hawk Isabelle) & the morning would a super lazy start,  but fat chance of that,  they are still up and pecking me bright and early to go play! We finished our day with a little car trip to the store (Daddy is really not going to like me having a car, I spend to much it is not al that much but it is still spending. At least I am aware of it though). Only to have a silly women putting on a sweater, in this heat & I have no idea why,  proceeded to hit my car with her door and was completely oblivious to me yelling at her through the store door with my kids, then she proceeds to kept on going about her business..  I would have gone after her, but really what was the point, what would have come out if. It would have made me feel better knowing that I had something, some poeple are so stupid I tell you. There is not a whole lot wrong, the paint is off the door slightly, but it is purely principal and the fact that she ignored my request to remove her door from my door & the face that she did not even seem to concerned with her door smacked against mine!! I swear I get this from my husband, cause I was never like that (Gotta Blame someone). I laugh because when I told Tom about the car, he says "it is just a car", but this coming from someone who gets royally pissed when someone parks too close to him~ I don't get it, well actually I do. It means that he is so relaxed and in a comfortable state and I am a frazzled stressed out mother!! LOL

Picnic in the backyard

We got home and had a yummy dinner and ice cream. We quickly followed that with our usual bath, book and bed cuddles & kisses. Now on to Mommy time, I am pooped it is time for a break for mommy! Mommy time did not start off to well as my darling Isabelle was still awake at 10pm after going to bed at 7pm! I swear these kids just don't get it at times, so needless to say I was alittle emotional as it was a long day and after entertaining children from 7am that morning and not having a real "Break", it got the better of me. It takes a alot of hard work to be a Super Mom, it really does! I don't know how I do it most days, how I stay sane. I will say it again, this has to be the hardest more exhausting job I have ever done! And when I hear people that don't have children complain how "Exhausted" and "Tired" they are... Really, you have no clue honey, I would trade your tiredness for my exhaustion for just 2 days!!

Wasn't me

I have been walking around here most of the day singing "Wasn't me" By Shaggy! LMAO My goodness what a day! These girls are the best exercise equipment ever, they certainly keep me on my toes that is forsure. Never a dull moment in this house.. My house is full of laughter, attitude, drama, cuddles, kisses and smiles, oh and did I mention attitude??  I am curious to see what it will be like when they both are tweens/teenagers. Look out! Hang on to your wallets, sanity & age!

Laila & the Fearsome 4's are brutal, I don't really recall it this bad with Belle at age 4. But I think it was because I was so busy with Laila so young getting into everything that it didn't seem so bad... LOL
But my word, if there is anyone who loves to make a mess & test patience  & throw a fit, well that would be her! If there is anyone that is the queen of mess Laila is your girl. I have been battling all day with her about cleaning up. Don't get my wrong, Belle knows how to make a mess also, but at least there is some reasoning with her to clean up! Laila is like a human tornado, she goes from room to room and trashes it as she goes, then moves on to the next... If she takes a juice box out she will throw it on the floor as if the floor is her garbage can at least if she does it outside, Isabelle gives her a huge lecture on "Littering" Have you not seen WallE she will tell her!  I always find it so funny how you ask who made this mess you get "Wasn't me".... I think I should have named a child "Wasn't me" or maybe I will call myself that because I must be "Wasn't me", seems I am the one that cleans up after the locals have been in trash mode. I clean a room or bathroom, vacuum and mop a floor. I move to the next room come back to the previous room to grab something and it has been trashed in like 2.8 seconds.... Then you ask "Who did this", in stereo you get "Wasn't me"... Like seriously! You mean to tell me a storm or a monster with very little hands came in and decided to pick this very room that I just cleaned & mess it up "Yup" is what I get! It is so hard to contain my laughter because they say it so innocent and straight faced with those big beautiful eyes it is priceless..  ARE you flipping kidding me! Then after loosing your mind silently inside & counting to 10, the little one confess' to it by turning on the big alligator tears to make you feel like the worlds worst mother "I always have to clean up" and you know it was her! She had confessed & hoping that by crying it will make "Wasn't me" feel horrible and clean up for her. Then I get down to level and explain the importance of tiding as we go & putting things back in their place & if we do that then we don't have big mess' to clean up all the time... The best part is if you put it all back where you got it from, you can find it the next time you need it so we don't have to go on a huge mission in search for it (BTW, I actually do have bins with pictures on them to show what goes in each one to make cleaning up easy & finding things wonderful). I will say do you understand lala "Yes Mommy" do you understand Isabelle, it is your job as a big sister to help her too. Then we go back to the same thing  not even 10 min later then I begin to sound like a broken record...

Laila is so messy, but she is soo darn cute! LOL She almost reminds me of pig pen from Peanuts, god love her!!  I am almost positive I was messy as a child as well, I remember my room as a teenager so really why do I bitch about mess??
Everywhere she goes she makes a mess, every time you dress her pretty she makes a mess, she spills things, wears things, falls on things, trips over things, you put a nice bow in her hair she pulls it out.(One that is tasteful and in proportion to her head of course) LOL.  I have to say now that we are on the topic of hair bows, I am not a huge fan those stupid bows on elastics, I actually have a huge pet peeve with bald babies wearing these ENORMOUS bows on their heads or even as small children, so wrong! Those poor children are going to look back when they are older and be like really, why!! That would like looking back at a school picture and thinking "Really in Grade 3 why was I (not me, someone I know) wearing a cumber bun and bowtie with Adidas pants"... Parents, seriously think about the effects later on in life, god knows I have some real looker of pictures and get rather upset even as an adult but that is a whole different blog for another time! LMAO  My kids never sported those ridiculous things, EVER!! Thank goodness a very wise women who must have had the same pet peeve as I with those bow elastic thingies, came up with the large wrap with a cute flower attached to it... Now that is more like it!!
I could even put a nice new pair of tights on my little princess and by the time we get to party destination she has huge gaping hole in the knee the size of a grapefruit.. LMAO, so now I just wait till we are at location then put them on!! Even then now that I think abut it, I ask her who did it & I get "Wasn't me". But she is sooo flippen cute and lovable!!

"Wasn't ME"

Laila Laila Laila.. My little darling sweetheart, I will look back on days like this when you are older and laugh about it then. You are definitely my child that knows how to test my patience, must be because we are both Geminis! We finished off our day with yet another meltdown, she is pooped! Today was not too crazy busy, we ventured to the Greenhouse today to see the animals, went to wash the car, then went to our local Italian Bakery for some bread. Then had a nice dinner followed by bath book, cuddles & bed. She was out the minute she hit the pillow! Tomorrow we will do it all over again on a better note and strive to do better as we always do!

Me & my little messy snuggle bug!

Running on Empty

With Summer Break in full swing, it is getting harder for me to blog. But I figured I should at least try to do one a week & if I can get more in then great...

Tom left for Hong Kong yesterday and has landed safe and sound, all checked into his "Swanky" hotel.. He managed to call us when he arrived at 8am our time which is 7pm there time (I think), which was super and it was all I could but to hold back the tears~ They sound so different on the other side of the world. He sounds happy & rested although he has been awake for 24 hours!! I on the other hand am running on Empty!! I feel as though I have been on my feet all day everyday & have not stopped. As soon as my ass hits the couch or chair the kid radar goes off "She is sitting, let's ask for something". Never fails, kids totally come programed with this little device in them.. LOL

We had a very busy & fun weekend which has added to my exhaustion, not to mention 2 exhausted kids because they were up till at least midnight every night this past weekend, allergies/cold and well Mother Nature set to arrive early next week (Welcome Home Honey) which puts me in fine form the week before it starts. Urgh, being a women sometimes is a royal pain in the ass. So needless to say I am pooched!! I tried to get to bed early last night however, that was quickly disrupted when Belle came in to my room at 11:30 because she was cold, so I had to go down turn off the AC and tuck her back in bed.. Then I was awakened at 3:30am with a thud and cry so I had to haul ass to Belle's room to find her on the floor crying "She had fallen out of bed"... Laila is being a excuse me language ( I love her dearly, and have been told you get back what you give your parents & with Laila I totally have) a little witch. She is just testing it as far as she can go! She wants to snack but does not want to eat meals, she wants to do everything SHE WANTS TO DO & not follow the rules of what she is told or expected of her to do! So working with her has been a challenge so we will bath and get her snuggled in bed because she is miserable because she is tired (God forbid the child have a nap)...  Both kids have been in meltdown mode today... Belle had a huge issue with the fact that she spilt Syrup on her clothes, so I allowed her change only for her to put something on that she hated to be in the T Shirt was apparently too long!! So she had to change, suddenly her Syrup clothes were fine... I find it so difficult at times to deal with both of their issues, that by the time you deal with one issue the other comes along and there is another issue that fighting is such a challenge! You get exhausted with them so fast~  Not to mention that I dealing with friggin what at times I think is Allergies but not to sure! Is it s a bloody cold or is it allergies? I picked up some Aerius today after we made the trex to the Library to get a bundle of books to keep them busy! I took half because I hate taking stuff,  but not sure if it has done anything?? I am at a loss!!

Tom has only been gone 1 day and already I feel wore out and I have 6 more days to go! The girls have been at each other in each other faces, I took them to the mall yesterday and they were acting like caged apes! Today we did Library,  then came meltdown mode it was their way or no way! I got them to help me clean the car out, that lasted all of 5 Min's then it was back to what they wanted to do! In the pool out of the pool, gotta pee, gotta poo Mom come wipe me, I need a drink, I need a snack, I am hungry, Mommy Laila hit me, Mommy Belle said to leave it alone, Belle won't let me play with that, slam of the door, stomp up the stairs,  NO, I don't want to, NO, leave me alone.. Pick Pick Pick... Now you know why I say I feel pecked to death by ducks most days.. LOL Or why we totally understand why some animals eat their young.  Just the thinking about it all is making my head spin!! Is it bedtime yet?? LOL
Many people can say that because Tom is away you can use blackmail as an advantage for them to behalve! So when they act up you can say "if you keep it up, you get nothing from China". Honestly and Truthfully now, how many parents can actually follow through on that?? It is just like saying "Santa only comes if you are good, if you are naughty he gives you coal". Can a parent actually do that? Goodness no! So it is easy to preach, but never flys so why bother!

I give huge high fives to all single mothers out there, especially with kids so young and more then one! It is truly alot of work on any given day with 2 parents, let alone doing it alone! You know, on days like this when I feel as exhausted as I am, I would never trade a single minute of this craziness they call Parenting! Even though we have our good days and bad days I love them to pieces! I think tonight I might take a nice bubble bath, maybe rent a movie and unwind from the craziness of a day all snuggled in bed, just as my little ones are! I will be keeping in my mind that tomorrow is a new day and I will do better!

Children are like Kites

Well tomorrow is officially the last day of school & both girls are super excited. Lots of fun stuff planned for the summer & we can't wait. We have lots of day trips planned, a road trip to Nova Scotia, weekend getaways alot of good times to be had this summer. Afterall, both girls will be in school next year!  I think we may even take the good ole tent out and pitch her up at a local provincial park! The kids love that sort of thing, me not so much but anything for my monkeys.

On Graduation Day the Principal said a beautiful little poem that I thought I would share with all my fellow Blog Followers with Children of their own, who are finishing up another year of school and getting ready for new beginnings come Fall.  It is certainly very true and brought alot of tears to my eyes as we move on to new beginnings in our own home, especially with my last baby starting her first year! This poem pulled on my heart strings, I hope you enjoy it as much as I did & do!

You spend a lifetime trying to get them off the ground.
You run with them until you're both breathless.
They crash.
They hit the rooftop.
You patch and comfort, adjust and teach them.
Finally, they are airborne;
They need more string and you keep letting it out.
But with each twist of the ball of twine,
there is a sadness that goes with joy.
The kite becomes more distant,
and you know it won't be long
before that beautiful creature will snap the lifeline that binds you two together
and will soar as it is meant to soar, free and alone.
Only then do you know that you did your job.

Crossroads

Well it is Sunday morning and low an behold what day comes next, MONDAY! Back to the grind it is,  woo hoo. Belle's last day of school is Wednesday and she is super excited to get the summer off 2 months of fun & possibly sleeping in how awesome is that. I miss those days! But as the last day of school approaches, I am finding myself questioning alot of things & where do I go from here. Laila will start school in the fall part-time and Isabelle will be full-time, which is going to leave me 2 to 3 days a week with no kids. It has been made quite clear that I will not just be sitting at home doing "Nothing", apparently the household chores and stuff of that nature all got done on it' own right? I was not just home taking care of kids, I ran the household ship & made sure everyone was happy & fed & cleaned that stuff still needs to be done!

I will have been home with the kids full-time for 6 and half years and during that time I have feel as though I lost myself. Between being a Mother, Wife, Nurse, Event Coordinator, Trainer, Teacher, Chef, Baker, Dry Cleaner, Maid, Hostess, Referee, Entertainer, etc you loose what is most important & that is yourself! You quickly forget how & what it is you need or liked or were once interested in.  The things that I once enjoyed don't seem to be interesting anymore. I have put all my time, energy and heart & soul into the well-being of my family that suddenly you don't matter anymore & finding what it is that I enjoy is even harder. I have given up so much all for the purpose of family & I don't in way have any regrets of that, but I do need to soul search. I need to find me again, where did I go? Some people will either get it or not get it... And I really don't care if people really don't begin to understand it.

So now as September quickly approaches it is time to start thinking about what I want to do & where I want to go, but I have been told that I should have thought about this stuff way back then, not now!! But who has time to think about what you are going to do in 5 years when you are making meals, cleaning up after meals for a family of 4, changing beds & diapers, doing mountains of laundry & putting it away, playing & have the life sucked right out of you day in a day out? What is that I enjoy or want to do? Hmm,  I don't know?  Jump off a bridge, or do "mindless stuff" take time for me!! Maybe at the end of every term when the mother is ready to go back to work, maybe the Government should send her away on a nice friggin vacation to take a break, relax & unwhnyed.. Wouldn't that not be nice, god everyone on assistance gets a friggin gravy train ride by the Government, why not actually give back to the people that actually deserve it.. But we won't go there, that is an entirely different Blog Topic... LMAO
I have tossed a few things around, but because of my being submerged in "Kids" and "Family", I don't feel that I have the self-confidence to go out and tackle them, I guess it is a fear of rejection, it is easy for people to say you will be great at it, but when you struggle with it yourself then it is hard. Applying for jobs after being home for 6 years is not an easy one to do you don't realize at how much things have changed, people are not just going to hire you because you gave up your career to be at home with your kids, that does not give you a Mother of Century award & allow to you just walk in to every job you apply for. Employers don't just say "Hey she must be one hell of a person to do that, some people just don't get it. I have said this many time & will say it again, you don't truly know about something until you are in the that situation yourself.. It is so easy for everyone to say how it easy it is, but you have no clue. Every person is different there is no 2 people alike!

So I am finding that I have hit a Crossroads with job, family & most of all me. You can't have it all, you really can't. Do I want big and great things, goodness no, but I do know one thing is forsure, I just want to be comfortable! Copious amounts of money and things don't make you happy. I just want to be in a happy place, I want to be & feel grounded with no pressures in life. I want to feel at ease & finally feel happy within me! Money can never buy Happiness, the richest people in the world are miserable & their kids feel it. Money changes people! Sometimes things can be so complicated it is frustrating what happen to the simple days?

Then it goes back to the question, Do I want a Career again? Do I want to go back into Insurance? I don't know!  I don't think so, I don't want to be one of those parents that does not want to come home after a long day at the office and not be able to deal with the kids after being in the door 10mins, I have scene it happen ALOT & it is quite scary actually ~ I want to be home for dinner every night with my kids, I want to help them with their homework, I don't want to pay someone else to watch my kids,  I don't want to travel for work, I don't want them to not have a parent at home at the end of a long day,  I don't want to miss school trips, I don't want to let them feel as though they are alone at the end of the day. But at the same time.It is hard and when you have been home with them for so long it is truly hard to just let go! Mothers find it hard to let go of things only being home after 1 year, imagine almost more on top of that. I have mentioned going in to retail for a bit but that is apparent not good enough? I am selling myself short~ But going into retail provides all that I want with even more flexibility! I tell them I am available 2 to 3 days a week between the hours of 9:30-3, I am making money not a lot but more then I was being home for 6 years, I am avail when the kids need me, I am there when they get home, no one is watching them, no one is going to give a rats ass if I have been off work for 6years, they don't care & I will get some ME time back! It seems like a win win, besides I really love shopping & clothes so hey! LMAO. If I could find an office job that would accomidate my wants then it would be perfect, but the likely hood of that is slim to none! Then it boils down to, only having 1 car, If I go back to work in the fall I will need a vehicle! Taking the bus here is just not an option with 2 kids in school. I can picture it now, I get a call at work because one of the kids is sick, how on the earth to do leave early & on time to pick them up on a fucking BUS!! Like really...

This being at a Crossroads with everything in my life is crazy & frustrating. These are the things I am feeling & wondering about, what to do & where to go? I need to find me & how does one go about doing it? I wish I had the answers & I wish I knew what lies ahead but I don't nor does anyone else!

Business Trip

Well in a few weeks hubby is off on a business trip for a week. Destination: Hong Kong! Leapin lizards. He seems pretty excited, it is a new experience in a different country & not the US so he is looking forward to it. Me on the other hand.. Hmm not so much. He will be missed that is for sure, but I think it will be alot harder on me with the kids being so busy all the time! It is always nice come 5pm to know that the end of the day is here and Daddy will be home for me to punch out after a long day with the little ones. We usually catch up in the evening about how our days went and sip a glass of something whether it is water or wine and just relax and unwind. But somehow I feel this week he is away will be a little different, is it acceptable to drink by yourself?? LOL Someone told me it is okay, just don't do Cheers!

Isabelle will have started in to the Summer Break and will be up at the crack of stupid, she will tease & torment excuse my language the shit out of Laila. In which it will make Laila whyne and cry like a baby, there will be total bickering back and forth about how "She did this" and "She did that".... Laila now being 4 has brought on a new personality with a boat load of drama so this should make for a very interesting week, she has certainly become a handful....Girls are such a joy!! LMAO
On any given day at our place when the girls act up, I can make one quick call to Daddy for him to put them back into the real world, I can't threaten to call daddy now because he will be on the other side of the globe! But hey, maybe they will surprise me, I am sure they will be fine! They are usually good girls I really can't complain.
This will be very hard on them as he has not been away since they were little. He was away for Laila's first birthday on a Conference in Vegas & that has been in it since then. So this time might be alittle more crazy!! They love their Daddy with all their heart so when he is away at work they always ask "When is Daddy coming home" but now they need to wait a week for his arrival.

I am alittle jealous that he gets to go, I probably could have gone but I am not a huge traveller on a 16hour flight in a very foreign country. Tom is a very adventurous person, me not so much! I always tell him you have it so easy when you travel even if it is for Business.. You have a hotel to yourself, eat what & where you want, when you want. Lay pool side when not busy, shop when not busy. Sleep early if you want. It may not be enjoyable when you are in a conference or working, but for the most part it is away time & alone time!! It is a change of scenery & a change from the same monotonous stuff that I do daily.

I swear it is so much easier when they are babies, I miss those days..  Things ran so smooth, they ate, slept and played.. Now they fight, scream, argue everything, know everything, don't share & irritate the crapola out of you. But they give the BEST HUGS & KISSES & when they really really want too they say the sweetest things. The girls & ! are researching some of the neat little treasures we would like to have brought back for us. The girls are a definite have to bring back a Snow globe each (They collect them for all over), it is the glass ones too so "Daddy needs to be extra Fragile" with those! I mentioned a cute Chinese dress ( Hmm I wonder what my size would be) and maybe some slippers! I would really love a "Coach" purse but told him to make sure it said "Coach" and not "Couch".. LMAO as Hong Kong is known for their knock offs.  I probably could just get one here, but you know when they hubby asks what you want while I am away, you gotta go big because they feel bad about leaving you alone at home with 2 kids, so make it count & it is not something that I would just run out and buy here for myself.. LOL  I thought of him also stock piling up on the liquor for our growing cabinet! I would also like a really nice tea set & maybe I can see if they have some cute little Chinese food plates for the kids there to match our chopsticks! He is allowed 3 bags so lets fill them up!! LOL

At the end of the day, we will be fine. We will break the week up and make it fun, go places and do stuff. We will miss him lots and look forward to his safe return. We can probably even skype a few times if he is not too busy working! It is good for us all. I think from time to time we all need it, to re group and re focus.. We he gets to re-focus and I get to haa, I don't know!  I think I might plan a weekend away to Vegas? LMAO ALONE! Yeah right, cause you would get me on a plane for 5 hours by myself right.. LOL