Single Mom?

"Mom, the bird looks good! The ladder is safe, too."

Opa's Girl

Ready for bed. Schmusetuch in hand. Smiley girl. :)

"I brought Mommy both my shoes, one by one, and handed them to her to put them on me. Then I snagged her cell phone. I LOVE playing with it and opening and closing it!"

Drinking like a big girl - her favorite. Good thing Mommy only keeps water in her water bottle! We had so much fun with Daddy at the Sculpture Garden! We sure miss him though.

"I got so excited when I heard Mommy say 'Daddy,' and even rushed out to the kitchen to meet him...turns out though she was only asking me if I wanted to call him on the telephone. I was bummed, but I still had fun talking to him. Hopefully he gets home tomorrow before my bedtime, or maybe Mommy will let me stay up late just to see him...I'll have to try to twist her arm."

Since Friday, I've felt like a single mom. Matt's been up north helping his dad farm. He's been having a great time and working really hard! We miss him, but we've been doing well alone. I give all the credit to God on this, because I'm not really an 'alone' type of person. I'm good for a few hours, or even a day (we all need some alone time), but any longer and I am just dying for some company (even if just sitting on the couch together watching TV). Normally this would put me in a bad mood, which makes it not fun for Matt when he does call or come home. Yes, I am admitting my faults and now you all know me a little better than before - at least I know I need to improve. :) Well, this time it's been different - praise God! My attitude is very positive and Claire and I are doing very well on our own. (The house has even been lots neater. I'm not blaming a messy house on Matt, but he's 1/2 the mess and now that it's only me, I have taken more responsibility for keeping it tidy. I'm also trying to help Claire learn not only to 'raeum aus,' but to also 'raeum auf!' (Basically, pick up after herself.))

Here's the run down of Claire and Mommy time...

Friday we spent the whole day together. I had the day off because of conferences Tuesday and Thursday night. This extra day was thoroughly enjoyed! We picked up lunch at a coffeehouse and met Daddy at the new(er) sculpture garden downtown. It was a beautifully warm and sunny day. Claire had fun walking around in the grass and stopped for just a bit to eat her lunch. We also went to visit Daddy's colleagues and had fun rolling, holding, and 'throwing' (probably really dirty) balls that they gave Claire. :) On the way home, we stopped at the library and picked up some German books to read. They had a whopping TWO whole books to check out!

Saturday Omi and Opa came for a visit. We went to Fuddruckers - yum! Claire enjoyed Opa's burger and avacado. She even had some potato wedge fries. Then Opa babysat while we ran errands (ok, so actually it was easy - they both slept while we were gone). Claire took them on a walk and we had fun simply spending time together.

Sunday we started off the day at church. It was an awesome message about 'dreams' God gives us in our lives (not the kind you have when you're asleep). :) There were several things that hit home for me - thank you Lord for using Pastor Mike so often to speak to people and send your message! Check out www.hopewdm.org to hear the sermon or read The Dream Giver by Bruce Wilkinson. I have big dreams for our lives (Matt, Claire and I)...check back later, maybe much later, and I'll tell you more. :) All in God's timing! Sunday afternoon Claire helped roast a chicken, make two batches of delicious wheat pancakes (to freeze - convenient!), and mix cookie dough (to keep in the fridge for those "I really need a chocolate chip cookie!" times). She sat at the counter in her high chair to help, watched the chicken roasting in the oven, and even helped out by testing out the step ladder (I think OSHA hired her.)! We had lots of fun together and it felt good to be so productive! (Side Note: We also ran to to grocery store, book store, and toy store and got back home in less than an hour! I felt like super woman. I didn't even know that anyone could do it in that amount of time, let alone pokey me. Matt probably won't even believe it when he reads this. After all, in his experience I am the one who takes 15 minutes in the grocery store to purchase one item...while he's waiting in the car. Opps!)

The last few days we've also been spending lots of time outside enjoying this beautiful fall weather! We've gone to the park to swing, slide, and walk across the bridge twice. I showed Claire how to wiggle on the bridge so that it moves up and down - fun. We took a long walk around the neighborhood. We played cars with Anna yesterday. The fresh air is so nice! Last but not least, I'll leave you with some pictures from our adventures. (No time to rearrange, so they're at the top...grrr.)