Complete Again

I do not think it will ever be possible to put into words the way it felt to have the boys gone for over two months, or even more so, the way it felt when Caleab, Rudy Mae, and I saw them again for the first time.

For about two and a half weeks now the boys have been home and things have never been better. If Caleab and I were able to get anything beneficial out of the boys being gone for so long, it’s that we both had true realizations about life with the boys. We had many a good conversation while they were away. We talked about never taking them being with us for granted. We talked about no matter what, giving our all in encouragement and support. We have always been that way, but after a while sometimes, life becomes routine, and you might forget to really take a moment and truly from the bottom of your heart talk to your children about, well, anything; making sure to tell them how proud you are of them at every opportunity. We talked about our levels of patience. We talked about remembering they are children and explaining things thoroughly when needed. We talked about ways to help them grow to be more responsible, ultimately starting a chore regiment and planning on sticking to it for once, and an allowance, which they have never had in their 13 and 10 years of living.

The moment we were reunited, our enhanced way of thinking and parenting began immediately and I am certain that it has affected the boys’ behavior. They will always have their moments, but I promise you, they are both being more responsible and more respectful than Caleab and I have yet experienced.

And this is all from the parental views. You cannot even begin to imagine how having her brothers back has affected Rudy Mae. The three of them are all more in love than ever and as a parent it just really makes your heart hurt with love.

The first moment that Rudy saw Calum. (The boys were so excited, they could not even wait for us to unload from the car; they ran out of the house as soon as we pulled up. Thank goodness I had my camera ready.)

The first moment Rudy saw Ziven.

So happy to be together. (She might be feeling a little squashed though, haha.)

We have plenty of things that frustrate me: our financial situation, our job situations, our living situation. I have not thought about a single one of them since the boys have been back. I am so in love with my life right now. I know what true joy deep in your heart is.

Pit Stop

Being one hour away from our closest living relatives, and three hours away from the majority of the rest, we do a lot of road trips. Road trips with a toddler means pit stops (ok, to be honest, it could also be due to the abnormally small bladders that my husband and boys seem to possess). Get out, stretch your legs, squeeze a few drops. And in the case of one of our more recent trips, walk around with your new Ernie you got from Grandma and Grandpa and do not let him go until we reach home.

And in case you were wondering, the boys are home! Just shy of a week now we have been back as a completed family unit and I have been filled with sheer joy. I assure you, there will be a post on all of this soon.

 

Libraries, Learning, Love

We love our local library.

Rudy does a bit more banging than puzzle-doing with the pieces, but she enjoys it. Not sure how the other library patrons feel about it, though.

Sometimes she just doesn’t know what to play with, opting for intermingling puzzles and toys and books.

Oh, I’m just sitting at a table with a polar bear doing puzzles, that’s all.

Playing with an eagle puppet.

Caleab and a bear.

Flipping through a magazine whilst a bear gives him a stare-down.

Rudy was saying “Eye…” so long and drawn out, as she pointed near the cat’s eyes.

Still flipping…

Putting one away to pull out another.

Rudy pulled some books off the shelf and made herself cozy on the ground.

Done with the reading, Rudy Mae decided to go back to the puzzle corner.

Still flipping??

Yours truly.

As I was taking some photographs of Caleab and my legs, Rudy got bored and mischievous and decided to start going through my purse. She was so into her task, she didn’t even notice I was above her taking her photograph.

When I was showing Rudy Mae this stuffed animal character from “Where the Wild Things Are”, she reached over and gave her nose a good honk.

You guessed it- he’s still flipping.

Caleab was controlling this large rabbit puppet and asked Rudy for a kiss.

Caleab and Rudelle Mae sat together and drew a picture for quite some time.

Some great artistry going on here.

An owl coming to life.

Rudy watches how Daddy does it as she prepares to have a go at it herself.

The concentration going on is intense.

These are the moments that I cherish and will hold onto forever.

Caleab holds the artwork steady as Rudy adds a few final touches.

The tools to complete the masterpiece.

Love.

Walks, Walks, Walks…

I have quite a bit of photographs lined up and waiting for their chance to star in a blog, but today we are going to revisit a common theme: Rudy Mae’s walks. She loves them. I love them. And they seem to produce some pretty decent photography.

Little legs are about the cutest thing on the planet.

Attempting stairs on her own.

Rudy holds out the flower we picked so I can see it.

Love the colors.

Raphael?

Caleab, when dealing with his own photography, enjoys editing it and making it as gorgeous as possible. Myself, for a quick fix, when throwing something up on Facebook or the likes, I enjoy a quick vintage edit on BeFunky, but I don’t want to feel like a cheater. So Caleab has been trying to teach me some of the features of Photoshop and I really enjoy changing a beautiful photograph to black and white, or changing the color curves and really enhancing the color of the captured moment. I am planning on eventually using more edited photographs for my blog, but that will take even more time, and we can all see how simply adding a quick raw photograph which does not take much time seems to be getting done a lot less than I would have liked. Until then, though, enjoy this sample of an edited photograph. It is a wonderfully adorable father/daughter moment.

It’s a bit dark; I might have eased up on that during editing, but I liked how the darks made the lights pop. I’m still learning. Either way, the photograph is precious. So there’s that.