Blessed Beyond Measure: A Team Week 158: The New Norm

This week was the last week in September and we are slowly settling into the norm. Life is a bit more hectic than before but we are adjusting. With the change of having Asher in school, there have been pros and cons. On the negative side, we are all more tired lately which leads to some grumpy days. My day being switched from Wednesday to Friday is also an adjustment that we are still working on. It is nice to have a long weekend but by the time we get to that point everyone is exhausted leading to foul moods. Thus, my Fridays home with the boys have not been as enjoyable as my Wednesdays were in the past. On the plus side, Asher now goes to sleep at night much easier and also the boys play together much more lately. Since they have been together daily from Avery's birth on, they have struggled a little with be separated. Avery often tells me that he misses Asher during the day and is sad to be apart. At home though they seem to take better advantage of the time that they have to play together.

Asher made this picture for Avery the first week of school of the two of them.

My own reminder to Asher of our love for him the first week of school.

So, we are adjusting to these changes and getting into the swing of things and this week life was a sample of the new norm...

Playing together...

Taking silly pictures...

Notice Emma's furry ears in the background.

Our Friday was a bit out of the ordinary however. For the boys and I it was pretty much the new norm, but for Eric it was not. He had a work function all day in downtown Chicago and he did not get home until after the boys had gone to bed that evening. Based on the fact that our previous Fridays together had been a little tough, I was a tad nervous how this day would go being alone with Asher and Avery for the entire day. Thankfully though it went really well and we had a pretty good day together...

Eric took some pictures throughout the day for the boys to enjoy...

Here he is on the train early Friday morning.

...and with a train.

...and with TALL buildings!

...and with an adorable bite-sized taco!

...another TALL building

Corn cobs! "chomp, chomp, chomp, ding!"

Gotham Bank! Where's Batman?

Chicago skyline

Millenium Park

Bean reflections

Meanwhile, Avery and I played at home for the morning and then picked up Asher from school where they played on the playground for a little while. While they were playing, the grandmother of a boy in Asher's class who lives a couple of blocks from our home invited us to come over later in the day to enjoy a bounce house that she had for a party the next day. Since we really didn't have anything better to do we headed over there to play for a while after having lunch and rest time.

Avery's gone fishing.

"I am Daddy"

Diaperman!

Avery & Asher on the bounce house

After the bounce house and a little bike riding in the nearby church parking lot, the boys and I headed to Family Video to pick out a movie for the evening and then out for dinner. Since it was getting late, I didn't want to go anywhere that would take long so I gave the boys the options of Wendy's or Culver's. Originally, they picked Culver's thinking that they would get some dessert with their meal, but when I reminded them that we were planning to have popcorn and root beer floats at home instead they decided on Wendy's. Thus, we ate our meal together and then headed back home to put on jammies, make our movie treats and settle in for a Friday night flick. The boys chose the movie Storks (with some guidance) and it was a good choice...we all enjoyed it.

Can you tell that Asher is VERY used to Mommy taking pictures? :P

Watching the movie with their popcorn and sleeping bags. Emma wasn't as interested in the movie.

When the movie was done, the boys and I headed back up stairs, read some stories together and then both Asher and Avery went to bed easily with no issues. It was a perfect end to a fun day together. After a great day dealing with both of them completely on my own, I felt like a superhero who could conquer the world!

The next day we began our weekend home with Daddy and enjoyed some simple, relaxing family fun time for the remainder of the week...