Oy

My 2 year old son just marched into the room with a 3' pool noodle and the cardboard tube from a roll of wrapping paper.

"This is me shooter gun and this is me sword. I'm going to FIGHT you."

Then he gave me a kiss and went off to fight the swings in the dining room.

I'm just sitting here shaking my head in wonder.

.:.

Homestead Mama is due back tomorrow after 5 days upstate. It has gone surprisingly smoothly. It has bee frigid, snowy and absolutely beautiful outside; not the best weather for playing outside with toddlers. They can handle snow and cold, but add -15 degree wind chill and they are a little cranky.

We spent lots of time in the house, baking cookies and gingerbread. They have painted many pictures at the easel. Pequita is enchanted by the Barbie Holiday watercolor book she got in her stocking (gack) and Monito is totally in love with 'surprise' pictures. I draw a garbage truck or digger on white paper with leftover clear wax crayons from Easter egg dying kits. He then paints over the whole sheet in great sweeping colors bringing to life the mystery picture below. So easy, such a crowd pleaser.

We have spent an embarrassing amount of time in bed, rolling around and tickling, playing airplane, and reading all our myriad stories. They are willing to wallow with me for an hour or more after waking in the morning or from naps. I KNOW this will end soon, so I am reveling in it.

We have had tubbies whenever the mood strikes us, not just. Before bed. Morning tubby has become a favorite, and a couple days ago they mostly spent the whole morning between waking and nap time in the tub, with brief interludes of eating naked in front of the fire. They spend a lot of time in the summer naked, and clearly miss it. Monito is potty training himself reliably as long as he is naked, so this served double duty.

Without the safety net of my wife coming home from work in the cards, it has been fairly refreshing to just get in my groove and deal with being the only mom here 24/7. We've fared well, I think, with a few play dates, a few forays out into the cold but mostly remaining home bound.

I had plans of completing many renovation projects to wow and amaze H-Mama when she returns. Instead, she is going to be amazed by how calm, tidy, and peaceful the house is when she finally gets back.