Our Papa Chain

My hubby, W, is an accountant by day. And today marks the beginning of his busy, grueling time: tax season. Ten hour work weeks and eight hour Saturdays. As Elle, my girlfriend's daughter, said as she met her new baby sister at the hospital last week, "Oh, this is horrible!" It may be a cold and long winter for the Swensons {and potentially this blog too!}. To add sticks to the fire, my parents will also be in their tax season. I'll be stranded! So doom-y and gloomy, huh?

Perhaps it's because I've already had my fair share of tax seasons since both of my parents are CPAs. I remember those loooong afternoons and evenings at their office. Talk about developing self-entertainment. And I am an only child-- no siblings to play with. Countless canned soup dinners. My only trips to the snow were with friends. Are you feeling bad for me yet?!? ;)

To help buffer the pain wait, E and I made a countdown paper chain. Nothing special. Just the classic paper strips and tape. He's really been into size lately...baby, Mama, and Papa sizes. So he named our craft, "Papa Chain." Very appropriate. 

The chain has exactly one hundred links to countdown to April 17th. The last day of the season. W helped me tape it in a very 'high traffic' area of our house so we can see it often.

We decorated some of the links to beautify the chain. E's starting to get a bit more bold in his coloring. It used to be just a few dots here and there on the page.

I'm really excited about having a visual of how much time we have left. I know it'll help me immensely. E and T may be too young this year to understand, but I hope this can be a yearly tradition for us as we prepare for the busy season. And to be encouraged as Papa works hard for us. 

Hopefully, our 'Papa Chain' will help us get through!