When Daddy's Gone...

Out of the last 3 weeks, Ben's been gone for 2.  When he was at Scout Camp, the week went surprisingly well.  Evidence:

Ice cream cones at Nanni and Papa's!

But then this week happened, and it was, well, the opposite.  Ben was on another business trip in NYC.  In the meantime, we dealt with hand foot and mouth, and then croup -- just to rub it in.

The day after we had a million errands to run, we were driving down the street and I quickly discovered this:

I was beyond grateful that it happened on our street and that I wasn't abandoned who knows where with 4 kids.  Like old times, my dad drove over to help me out.  Somehow, this is the first time I've ever dealt with a flat tire and I seriously couldn't remember a thing he showed me about changing a tire when I had my first car.  :)  I felt like a teenager again as he showed me what to do and I did it at half his speed.  Ha!  He ran and got my tire fixed for me while I stayed home with my sleeping kids.  Ah, the perks of living close to parents.  This I have learned: parents never stop being parents. I am so grateful for that!

In the meantime, Thad became obsessed with pushing chairs and stools up to the kitchen sink so he could bang dishes together and get the sprayer and soak the wood floors.  During one dinner I sat in front of the sink to block him for 20 minutes as he hit me over and over and over again.  Then at one point, I saw him dive in head first into a sink full of dirty dishes soaking in water.  His legs were up in the air and I had to go save him.  

I have a constant prayer in my heart for this child who seems so naturally inclined to kill himself.

So the chairs had to go on the deck until I come up with something else that will keep him out of the sink.  

Then yesterday I was heading out to my parents house when I realized my wheel still wasn't 100% normal.  We turned around and slowly drove home.  Almost at the point of tears after a long week, my mom called to let me know she was coming over to play instead.  It was the best.  It saved me.

Then my dad went to the airport to pick up Ben and when the kids came down from their naps Ben got the great welcome back of, "Papa's here!!!!"

(Sorry, Hubs)

The kids spent the rest of the day with some of my favorite childhood toys.

I am happy and relieved to say that Ben won't be going out of town for another few months!  Yay for hubbies being home!