Daddy to the Rescue!!!

This week has been OVERWHELMING to me.  With the kitchen project coming to a close, I had days of waiting to get into the kitchen while the contractor worked, so therefore much wasted time doing less pertinent things and being inefficient, then in the evenings or on the days the contractor wasn't here I was in a rush to get my jobs done in the kitchen.  It's been fun to reorganize and put things back where they go and finally see it all coming together, but it's been A LOT of work.  Plus, most of the time I'm trying to cram in this work the boys are around, so again, not so efficient!  One night Doug came home and I just fell apart.  Exhausted, frustrated...overwhelmed (see, told you).  He's totally risen to the occasion and been a huge help the last few days (despite the fact he's fighting a nasty cold).  He gets home from work and he's completely on with the boys, dinner prep, whatever I need him to do so I can keep working in the kitchen.  Yesterday he was able to hang out with Penn while Tav was at preschool and Koen was at school, so I got the whole morning to get things done (which included granite delivery and installation to oversee).  Here's Penn on the South Side running some errands with Daddy (and getting his first taste of hot cocoa...you can see the evidence on his lips!).

They continued to stay out of the house and get errands done and visit the library until it was time to pick Tav up.  They all came home for lunch and then Doug went right back out with Tav to Miss Christal's for speech therapy.  Then after that Tav got some down time and so did Doug, until Koen got home.  After he rested a bit, Doug took Koen out for a much needed hair cut.  Then when they got back, Doug helped get their dinner ready while I kept charging forward on the kitchen work.  So helpful!  I got so much accomplished!  

Doug left the house with the big boys today at 8:15am!  There's been traffic issues on the way to swimming lessons lately, so they hit the road early.  They made it in plenty of time thankfully and it was an exciting day at the pool.  Tavin excelled with his survival training (they don't let them move up from the first level until they can jump in, turn to their backs and float for 20 seconds and then swim back to the wall).  Check out these videos from Doug.  In the first one you can see Koen doing his back stroke as well.

In this second one, you see Tavin totally accomplish the goal of his level.

So, Tavin got to move up to the next level.  He got a ribbon and a new swim cap to wear next week.  Being the British Swim School, they have the British flag on display for such photo opportunities.  Yay, Tavin!  Congratulations!

After the exciting swim lesson morning (and eating the little lollipop treat they get every week), Doug took the boys to Home Depot for their free Kids' Workshop.  

Chick-fil-A partners with this Home Depot location on these workshops, so the Chick-fil-A cow was there all dressed up as Santa (and giving out coupons for a free lunch...perfect!).

Before leaving, the boys took a pretty silly picture in front of all the inflatable Christmas decorations.  My boys (including Doug) fit right in!

And that's not all, Doug also did a bunch of errands for me with these guys.  Gotta love this sweet husband who is also an awesome dad and can handle all that!  After their errands, the boys stopped at Chick-fil-A for their free lunch, a well-deserved treat for sure!  Then Doug drove them back to the city (and he said they both fell asleep for 20 minutes in the car!) for one more adventure...a Penguins game!  Pretty amazing day!  (And Daddy is going to be sooooo tired!).  The Penguins game just finished and my big boys are on their way home so that Doug can then head to work for the evening service.  Penn and I had a great (although undocumented-by-photos) morning.  I was able to get a few things done around the house and have some sweet one-on-one time with my little guy.  Thanks so much, Douglas, for all you do to serve me and our boys.  We are so thankful for your giftedness as a husband and father.  Love you!