Coming Home

It has been a week since this picture was snapped at the airport the morning my 3 grands took off to fly to Hawaii and spend a week with their aunt, sister, 2 half brothers and their mom. It has been pretty exciting for them and have done lots and lots of walking!

For hubby and I it has been a mixed blessing, just as it is for parents who send their children off to college or camp.

The week has been extremely quiet, no kids coming over to play the piano, ask for our grands to come out & play and no one in the front yard laughing and running around.

On a normal day, we run the dishwasher twice, do 3 loads of laundry, empty the regular trash at least twice and the recycle once, clean the litter box twice a day and make at least one gallon of kool-aid.

This week, I have done exactly 2 loads of laundry and one of those was grandsons blanket, ran the dishwasher twice, forgot to clean the litter box for the first 2 days (poor kitty), emptied the trash and recycle once and had no request to make juice or kool-aid.

I have caught up on my quilting, visited with friends I haven't seen or talked to in a very long time, peeled paint off one entire wall, napped on the couch with my hubby, made a pot of spaghetti that last 4 days and caught up on my sleep during the day.

However, it has been a difficult time as well since the kids have not even seen their mom in over 4 years, she has rarely kept in touch with them and she knows nothing about their medical issues. While the oldest took her cell phone, contact has been sporadic, but when we do talk or text, she is happy.

Yesterday she called to ask me to speak to her brother who was misbehaving and I declined since I was not there, couldn't see the behavior and told her this was her mom and aunts responsibility to correct him.

Like any child away from their parent or discliplining parent/guardian, they will try to get away with a bit more and I expect not being the baby of the bunch is having somewhat of an impact on him, long walks during the day is probaby tiring him out, but they do sound like they are having fun.

Today, I pick them up at the airport, unpack, do laundry and the oldest begins taking care of a neighbors animals while they are gone. Shortly, we will take them to camp for several days, summer school starts and we have a trip to the water park planned. Then there are Orthodontist appointments, school physicals and dental check ups.

Yes, it will be busy, busy again in our home, but I am happy we had this time to relax and recharge!