Zone Defense

Last week we got some amazing weather.  It basically felt like we went from winter to summer in a day.  On Monday the temperature got up to 91 and we actually had to flip on the air and give the kids a bath to cool down.  Isla's cheeks were constantly flushed and so both kids slept in next to nothing to stay cool until the air kicked in enough.  I am not complaining at all though - we spent time outside when we could and I felt even more anxious for summer.  Even planned my summer vacation.  I am taking two weeks off from work and will be doing a trip to Buffalo, followed by a few days at the beach in Indiana, and then few days in Michigan.  Hoping to really disconnect from work and enjoy myself.

Sawyer has also gotten into the mood for summer.  She loves to wear shorts, as noted in the picture below.  She's rebelling a bit because so far I've gotten her to wear only one of her summer dresses - little stinker.

Isla, on the other hand, can't fight back when I put her in a dress, and looked so cute for picture day at school.  That's right, they have picture day at daycare.  I'm curious to see how the shots came out - they did each of them alone, and together.  Picture days seem to have improved over time - I get to see the proofs before deciding if I want to purchase.  So perhaps my children won't have the goofy looking shots that I have from my childhood.

 Sadly, our weather didn't last through the weekend.  It got rainy and cold real quick.  I'm not sure if I would have done much anyway because I was home alone with the kiddies while Mark was in Wilmington Delaware running his 14th marathon.  Sometimes in these situations it's just easier to plan for a quiet weekend at home than try to get out to the store or mall or something, and the weather pretty much gave me the excuse to do it.  We ran out of milk and I didn't even hit up the store to buy more of that - I know, I'm pitiful.  Regardless, after getting up to take Mark to the airport on Saturday we came home and just chilled.

This is Isla's "home alone" picture:

Not really, I think she was just surprised at where she was.  After starting out on her playmat, she rolled herself on over to the table/car area.  I don't think she could figure out to roll the other way to get back and so she kept twisting herself around the legs of the table and chairs, and putting herself right up against Sawyer's car.  I have to say, in the area of rolling, Isla is far more advanced than Sawyer ever was.  Sawyer didn't roll over from back to front till she was 7 months old and hardly ever more than once in a row.  Isla is constantly going from back to stomach, lifting herself up to see what's going on, and then rolling several feet across the room.

Sawyer was a pretty good little girl herself this weekend.  You wouldn't think so looking at this mess she made in the playroom, but she cleaned it all up on her own, without being asked, before her nap.  She couldn't get the boxes on the shelves again but all the toys were in a box.  On both days, she also spent some time reading by herself in her bedroom.  It ended up being about 90 minutes each morning she would go up and take every book out of her nightstand, page through/read every book, and then put them away.  There were about 50 books and so I was impressed it kept her attention and loved that she was good on her own.  At one point Isla went down for her nap, Sawyer was reading, and so I got to enjoy a minute on the couch myself.  Doesn't happen often when I'm single parenting...

Sawyer did eventually have me come read with her too.  I had to sit next to her on the floor and page through every book - not read outloud - just look at them.  She sat next to me and handed me my next book until we had gone through the whole pile.

I'm sure you're thinking I had it easy while Mark was away.  I would say I did on Saturday, but Sunday found both girls a little ornery.  Neither took good naps, and following Sawyer's quiet reading session, she spent the next 8 hours talking non-stop.  Literally.  I'm not sure what she said, but she had a lot to say.  She also was picking fights with her sister.  She would sit next to Isla on the floor at her feet, and when Isla kicked her, she would yell at her, saying "No, Isla" and then hit her back.  Needless to say, she was in time-out several times on Sunday and even got put up in her room for one of them.  I was definitely looking forward to picking Mark up at the airport, only when I got there I learned that his flight was more delayed than I originally thought.  We had planned for a 30 minute delay, and learned it was a 90 minute delay.  After letting Sawyer eat McDonalds for dinner in the car while we sat in the cell phone lot, and her dancing to some tunes she informed me she had to go to the bathroom.  Right...ok.  Off to Burger King this time to use the bathroom - oh wait, you need to be a customer...ok one order of fries later, Sawyer used the bathroom and we were back in the car happy to learn Mark's plane landed. 

Happily home and back to man-to-man defense, we got the kids to bed.  Mark was probably the only person in Chicago happy about the cold weather.  It was really hot and humid in Wilmington, which combined with his limited training time, made it one of the more difficult marathons he's run.  We're happy he finished, and so that's one more state ticked off in his quest for all 50.

Now we're back to the grind.  Sawyer was singing to Isla this morning and holding her hand.  Sometimes she can be a sweet sister.  Isla is so content when she is.