Our most relaxing weekend in the ATL...

So it's 9:30 pm on Sunday night, and I'm sitting here trying to think of what to tell y'all about our weekend. Nothing special happened, and we didn't go anywhere extra cool or have any exciting adventures to report. We've had no company, as all of my helpers were busy doing other things...Gogi and Alana are on vacation, and Hannah and Delanie have been at their dad's house. It's been just me and my boys all weekend. We've run errands, made art projects, taken daily rests, did a little shopping, and had a very nice lunch AT A RESTAURANT! We've been to the pool, watched a little TV, gotten tons of cards and pictures ready to mail, and have all gone to bed on time these last two nights. Pretty mundane. And then it hit me - pretty NORMAL!! Brain Balance is truly AMAZING!

Now I'm not going to try to get you to believe that all three of my kids have been perfect little angels all weekend long, because that certainly wouldn't be true. But they are kids, and kids aren't supposed to be perfect. Aeson is a big-time drama king, and Ash is still smacking people in the face for no reason, just playing - NOT cool! In fact, Aidan had a couple of rather intense moments on Saturday, causing us to scrap early afternoon pool time, and to leave the pool a little earlier than planned in the evening. But Saturday night, after the kids had all been bathed and were getting settled for the night, Aidan climbed up in my lap and apologized for his outburst at the pool. The next words out of his mouth literally had my jaw on the floor. He said, "Mom, I didn't like having to leave the pool early tonight. Tomorrow, I'm gonna try to keep my head screwed on straight so we can do fun stuff and not have to leave early." HOLY COW! Know what's even more amazing than that? He did it. We had a GREAT day today, doing totally normal, every day things, and he was AWESOME! Ta-da!

So here's the rundown of our very mellow weekend...

Saturday morning, we hung out at the condo and stayed in our PJ's until around 10 am. The kids watched a little TV, did some coloring, and made some cards and drawings to put in the mail. Check out my little budding artist!

This one is for Lydia - apparently, their love is already a roller coaster!

That is snow you see falling in PawPaw's picture, because "he lives in Virginia, Mom, and sometimes it snows there." Duh!

We decided to venture out to the post office, as we desperately needed stamps and wanted to mail Daddy his surprise package. We also planned to hit the CVS for some diapers, and other household supplies. In and out at CVS, no problem. (!) Finding a post office with Saturday hours? No so much. At the third post office we tried, there was a sign on the door that listed the handful of locations with Saturday hours. Most of them appeared to be IN Atlanta, and we had already agreed that we weren't venturing into the big city for anything this weekend. (Sorry Daddy - we already have a plan to hit the post office on the way to Brain Balance tomorrow!) So we headed home for lunch and a swim. Well, Aidan had a little moment, so no swim. Instead, a nap and we ALL fell asleep! (HEAVEN!) We headed to the pool when everyone woke up, and had the pool to ourselves. We had a great time swimming and playing for an hour or so, and then Aidan had another little moment. He couldn't get it together, so we left. We checked the mail (for the second time that day) on the way home, and had a nice surprise - cards from Aunt Cassie and Kayley, and Uncle Skip, Aunt Pamela, Colleen and Daniel! It is really astounding how excited my boys get when they get MAIL!

And you WILL get an immediate response in return. See? This one is for Cassie (she never reads my blog, so I doubt I'll spoil the surprise...;)

Aidan even made a special surfing picture for Uncle Kyle - even though, ahem, we haven't yet gotten a card from our favorite monkey...I'm SURE it's in the mail, though!

We had baths and dinner when we got home, and worked on putting together the puzzles that the boys received earlier in the week from Screptock/Sheffield/Greene clan. Aidan did a great job on his puzzle, and was very proud of his efforts! The boys wondered how they could keep their puzzles forever and ever, and I let them in on a little secret - puzzle glue! In fact, if they were good in the morning, we would go to a craft store for puzzle glue! I officially became the smartest, coolest mom in the world - I knew about puzzle glue AND I would take them to get some! YAY! (This lasted for about 5 seconds) Shortly before bedtime, Aidan had his A-HA! moment. It's really amazing, watching the lightbulb turn on when something really sinks in! Bad behavior = loss of fun, and I don't like THAT! I can't wait to put his Brain Balance behavior system into place - I think it is REALLY going to make a difference!

Sunday morning, the big boys woke up around 7:30 am, and we let Ash sleep for another hour or so. We had breakfast, and hit the road to Alpharetta around 10 am, in search of puzzle glue. We also needed some new markers and Toys R Us was having a sale, so we started there. We found the North Point (I think) shopping center, complete with Toys R Us, Office Max AND Michael's craft store. Oh boy! We went to all three places, and everyone was good as gold. It was truly amazing. No drama, no whining - well, Aeson had a little moment in Office Max, but it was short lived. We got new markers, lots of note cards, most of Aidan's school supplies, a few other odds and ends, and of course, PUZZLE GLUE! When we were done shopping, everyone was hungry. I found a California Pizza Kitchen restaurant nearby, and amazingly enough, when I called, they told me that the DID have gluten free pizza! Score! As I pulled into the parking lot, I thought to myself, "Am I crazy?" We have had such an awesome morning, do I really want to attempt to take them all three, by myself, into a RESTAURANT? I decided to roll the dice, and we all headed in to the restaurant. The place was packed (uh-oh) but we were seated immediately. The kids were entertained with their crayons and little coloring books. Our waiter was great, the food was super fast and delicious, and the kids were practically perfect.

It was almost a totally surreal experience. When I think of our (very few) past restaurant experiences, even with only 2 kids, it makes today seem even more unreal! (I should also mention as a side note that Aeson spent the entire day today in big boy underwear, and did not have a single accident until we were at the pool this evening - thank goodness for swim diapers!)
After lunch, we headed home for a little downtime. The little boys slept, and Aidan just chilled and read a few books. After rest, the boys colored the wooden masks we found at Michael's today for a dollar! Ok, so they are Halloween masks, but who cares? It was good, cheap fun!

We ate dinner a little early tonight, and headed to the pool. I was just getting ready to back out of our parking space, when Aeson shouted "STOP Mama! See the bootiful buttafly?" I looked up, and right in front of my car was a gorgeous butterfly dancing around some flowers. Ace asked me to take a picture, and I managed to get a pretty good one, I think.

We all sat in the car and watched the butterfly dart around the flowers for a minute or two, before it fluttered up and away. A glimpse into the mind of a child is a beautiful thing, and sometimes we all need to take a moment or two to watch the butterflies dance. Thanks Ace!

Much love,

Allie