I know where I stand...

...with my kids.

After 5 days away from my monkeys, I was missing them terribly. Every year, I am required to attend continuing education courses. Now that I am a mom, this week away is anticipated with relish. Imagine, sleeping alone and uninterrupted. Having dinner at an establishment where television sets are not hanging from every wall, crayons on the table are nowhere to be seen, and french fries do not accompany every entree. Nights where one can read a book, uninterrupted.
The reality is of course, that the week away s never as good as it seems. The beds are tiny and uncomfortable. While I may sleeping alone, the sleep is far from restful. The accommodations are far from stellar. The one highlight of the week are the evening meals where we linger over a coffee and dessert with friends. There's also the twinge of guilt from leaving the spouse to deal with everything else on the homefront. Although, in my mate's case, he also had the assistance of the much-loved and much requested Uncle Billy.
By Friday, I was missing my bed, the comforts of home, and mostly my kids. Ever the dutiful and doting mother, I did spend some time shopping for presents too.
When I arrived home, having made the drive in record time, my monkeys were partaking in their afternoon siesta. I quietly unpacked, dealt with some laundry, and waited patiently for the munchkins to awaken.
First Aisling blinked her eyes open, hearing a floor board creak. "Mama? Mama! You're here!" she exclaimed while clamouring off the bed. Devlin and Ceilidh also quickly opened their eyes. Devlin rushed over to give me a hug. Ceilidh?
"What'd you bring me?" were the first words out of her mouth upon catching a glimpse of me.

Ceilidh's First Crush on an ...Older Man!

While Ceilidh has selected certain male playmates to be her special friend at various times, she has mostly stuck to boys around her own age group. But a few weeks ago, she developed her first crush on an older man. Much to her father's dismay.
Both Devlin and Ceilidh attended Vacation Bible School this summer at our church. It was a week filled with learning new songs, making lots of crafts, meeting new friends and partaking in new games. On the last day of Vacation Bible School, the kids were invited to bring swimsuits and towels for "wet day". After picking them up, I asked how "wet day" went. "So much fun!" they enthused. I inquired as to what exactly occurred on "wet day". Devlin described water balloon fights and throwing wet sponges at friends. He was dramatic in relaying how he managed to aim and hit his friend who took a large wet sponge to the side. The story was enthusiastically relayed with actions and sound effects, as only little boys can.
Ceilidh was also eager to tell me how much she also had. I asked if she had hit any of her friends. "No, but I got to hit Brett!" came a suddenly shy response.
"Who's Brett?" I asked, my female instincts or perhaps, it was my mother radar perking up.
"He's one of the leaders, and he has hair like this," she motioned with her hands a mohawk over her head, or hopefully, just a faux-hawk.
Ceilidh's face became pink and a goofy smile overtook her face. When I asked some more questions about Brett, she clammed up and buried her face in my lap.
I switched topics to what songs and cheers they learned that day. While Devlin recited his team's cheer, Ceilidh excitedly relayed not her team's cheer, but the leader's group cheer. Hmmm, wonder where her attention was!
Later that evening, after being clued in by Mommy, Daddy asked Ceilidh about her day at Bible school. Her answer was a simple "good". But when Daddy asked about Brett, she buried her flushed face into my lap once again and refused to answer her father. But not before Daddy caught a glimpse of the goofy grin on his daughter's face.
This same scenario was replayed for Auntie Shunaha on Skype.
Poor Daddy, his little girl is discovering the world of boys.
Luckily for him, Ceilidh's first crush on an older boy also coincided with Aisling stomping around the house, arms crossed, stating emphatically, "I quit boys!" While we're not sure what brought that on, Daddy is certainly not questioning it.

Reno vacation

We're renovating our kitchen. New floors, new cabinets, more cabinets, more storage space, more counter space, new sink - I am incredibly excited. It took me almost two years to come up with the will power to live through the hassles of a renovation, but it's going to be worth it. After months of research, visiting kitchen and home improvement stores, haggling over designs and the budget, trying to schedule and re-schedule the contractors, arguing and communicating our extreme upset with the delivery people, we are going to have a new kitchen soon.
Most folks take a mini-vacation while a kitchen is being renovated. That wasn't a realistic option for us. But we needed to find a live-able solution to the lack of a kitchen, which is a necessity when you have young children. Fortunately, we were able to convince the grandparents to have the monkeys for the worst of the renovations. Our wonderful nanny also agreed to help out the grandparents in Windsor. 
So, the monkeys are having a vacation in Windsor. And mommy and daddy are enjoying a vacation from the kids, albeit in a cramped living room, surrounded by boxes and boxes of kitchen items, eating lots of toast, and enjoying dinners out. We've had the opportunity to sleep in one morning, go shopping at Ikea one evening, attend to minor household repairs on another night, and finally get caught up on Glee.
It's been a pleasant respite from parenthood, but we're ready to be reunited with the rugrats. Daddy more so than Mommy. It's been tough on Daddy not being able to even chat over the phone with his darling tots. The first session of Skype ended badly with Aisling sobbing for Mama all evening. Even Devlin who was teary-eyed when we left was crying. Ceilidh didn't seem to be bothered by our absence though. I think that bothered Daddy the most - that he wasn't first and foremost on her mind. Grandma suggested, or rather directed, that there were to be no more communication with the kids since it upset them even more. Grandma did report on a daily basis, though, that the troops were thriving. They were eating well, even consuming almost two pints of strawberries in one sitting. There was lots of hours spent at the park and on their bikes. The children were learning Korean from Grandma too. In fact, the kids were doing so well, I was tempted to leave them in Windsor longer. An idea quickly shot down by Daddy who missed being greeted at the door by his adoring fans.
Our kitchen is coming together quickly. New floors have been put in. The cabinets arrived and they're being installed now. By the end of next week, we'll have all the cabinets in. Hopefully, we'll be able to move the stove and fridges back in too. The countertop will be the last to arrive. In the meantime, we're heading to Windsor to relieve the grandparents and Uncle Billy.
Did I miss my rugrats? While I enjoyed uninterrupted sleep, and the opportunity to read a book or two in peace and quiet, I know I did miss the following:
- being greeted at the door by a little girl dressed in a princess gown and tiara
- having to read "Barbie: a Fairy Secret" every night
- having a new installment of a comic book to read, one created by our budding comic writer, Devlin
- having a little body snuggle up to me in bed, and mostly,
- being showered with kisses