While the Cat's Away the Mice will Play

Cat = Mark

Away = Three day business trip to Indianapolis

Mice = Me, Parker, and Ben

Play = pretending to be on our own vacation- no cooking, no cleaning, no budget

My game plan of going into three days of single parenthood was to pretend we were on vacation and stay out of the house as much as possible. It worked. Mark comes home tonight, and while I missed him, I didn't go crazy like I thought I might.

I pretty much let Parker direct the activities and gave him choices of what we could do. And Ben was along for the ride.

Hanging out with good ole' Chuck E. (Chuck E Cheese is the biggest waste of money ever if you ask me.)

Arizona Museum of Natural History. Parker loved it and has been there a few times before. But I'd actually never been. I want to go back without kids so that I can actually learn and read something. Parker just kept flying thru the place wanting to find the next dinosaur. It flustered me.

Ben's first splash pad experience. He was slow to warm up, but got into it. Parker was running around like a maniac. I couldn't get a picture.

On the way to the splash pad Ben was jibbering and jabbering in the back seat. And when I stopped at a red light Parker says to Ben, "Ben, do you see that red light? That means you have to stop. Now stop talking."

We went to Chick-fil-A one day and In-n-Out the next. Parker told me he wanted to go to In-n-Out by telling me he wanted to go the place that had "chocolate showmakes with green beach trees in them". I felt like a detective trying to figure that one out. But their cups have green palm trees on the outside. How does he know palm trees are on the beach? We have them around here and there's certainly no beach around. We sat outside at In-n-out and Parker decided to "water" the bushes while I was turned away cleaning up Ben. Luckily, everyone laughed and we didn't get asked to leave or cited!

We also went to the zoo, but we're there all the time. Didn't warrant a special picture.

Mark usually gets home from work at 4:00. The first day Mark was gone, at 4:00 on the dot Parker asked where Dad was. I reminded him where he was and how long he would be gone. And Parker said, "No. Dad has to come home and push the buttons that go beep, beep, beep, and then open the door." I guess I never realized that the beep beep beep of the buttons on our keyless entry are the cue for Dad being home. But now I'm just sitting here anxiously waiting for the beep beep beep.

Turns out nothing is mundane

(this was Christmas morning)

I often use the word "mundane" to describe the tasks of stay at home mommyhood. I realized today that there is nothing mundane about my life.

In sacrament meeting Ben was toddling back and forth between us and an older gentlemen's walker. He'd scope it out, touch it, and giggle his way back to our pew. The next thing I know I look over and Ben's hanging like a monkey off the walker.

I also got to hold him while he slept during the last hour of church. That's a rare treat that's really never happened. Primary has kept me from attending to those morning naps on Sunday.

At dinner, Parker suggested we go visit his sunbeams teacher who has been out for 2 weeks. He suspects she's at home resting and thinks she needs our help to rest.

Parker spent about an hour tonight pretending to be Tarzan jumping and twirling around in nothin but his skivvies.

But he wasn't the only one... during FHE Mark asked me if I had "something to hide" because I was the only one wearing more than my skivvies.

During the closing prayer Parker thanked Heavenly Father "for having a mommy and daddy in his house" and asked Heavely Father if he could "go play at Braxton's house".

Ben joined in on our activity of Ring Around the Rosie and giggled non stop when we all fell down. He would take the opportunity to maul us while we were all down; the boy loves to wrestle.

Today, by any other account, was just a regular ole Sunday. No special dinners or occassions, but all these little things are adding up to a day straight from heaven. The 3 handsome gentlemen in the picture above keep my life from being anything but mundane.