It's Over!

After 2.5 years of studying, and the past 9 months living with a husband / father who felt and seemed more like a ghost or a memory, the exams are over and he is back! He feels good about them, confident that he did as well as he possibly could have. And now begins the 3 month wait for results. (Why it takes 3 months  to grade scantrons is beyond me.)

Anyway, he's home. The kids are wild with glee. (Sometimes I feel like it's a little bit easier when he's not around, only because the kids are *so* excited to see him that they cannot contain themselves.) We've pretty much skipped Halloween this year. I took them to a pumpkin patch one day, but we did not decorate, carve pumpkins, or do anything else Halloweenish. I just couldn't. We will go trick or treating this afternoon, though Elijah already destroyed his costume at school on Friday, so I'm not sure what we'll do about that.

We've been in survival mode for so long, I feel like we could be candidates for an episode of Hoarders. I feel like I'm constantly picking up rogue toys, papers, vacuuming, etc. (and that's not even mentioning the actual *cleaning* that desperately needs to be done. Or the laundry. ugh!) The other day my children discovered their love of scissors and glue and I came downstairs to find a brilliant masterpiece, a rocket, according to them, glued to my dining room table.

Bedtimes for all of us have been iffy. I went to the doctor who prescribed Ambien. I've tried it three times now, with absolutely no effect except that I wake up even more exhausted than normal and with a headache. Then I'm groggy the next day. The kids and I have tried several new things to help with sleep: we went on a long walk one afternoon looking for y shaped sticks. Then, when we got home, we made "bad dream catchers" by winding colourful yarn around the sticks. I told them that the dream catchers wouldn't let any bad dreams get into their heads at night. They loved doing this.

We're also going to try having quiet journal time before bed. hopefully that can get any "worrisome thoughts" out and make for an easier transition. I've also begun playing music again. They always had music to fall asleep to when they were little, and after they broke their cd player, that stopped. I think the music really calms them and makes them feel a little less alone.

In other news, we're gearing up for another 30 days of (almost) nothing. I'll write another post specifically about that, but on the upside, I'm pretty much done with Christmas shopping, my holiday cards are here and ready to be stamped and addressed (don't worry I won't actually send them until after Thanksgiving!) I lost a lot of my addresses when my computer died, so please, please send me your address!

Also, in December, we're going on our first real family vacation in over 2 years! The best part? We'll finally get to meet Heather, Adam, Charlie, & Mallory! I'm getting pretty excited, both for the time away and for the time with them!