Loved

Translation:

I will miss
(ignore the 'i') you Mom on
my sleepover.

Kind of sad, huh? Nah! Mostly it just warms my heart. And trust me, the sad look on his face in the picture is not a true reflection of how he really felt. Sleepovers are a rarity for our kids, so you would have thought that Grayson was going to Disneyland--he was that excited to be staying at his friend's house!

Dave and I? We had reservations up in Portland for 1 night. Somewhat of a surprise, belated birthday gift to Dave. A night out sans kids spent at The Melting Pot, our favorite downtown restaurant. Yum.

But here's the thing. We are not ones who leave our kids very often. Not because we worry about them or don't trust other people to care for them, but just because...well...we miss them! And in all honesty, over the past 5 years, we just haven't had many opportunities to leave our kids overnight. Perhaps if we had set a different standard early on and left them more regularly, then maybe we'd be more used to it. But without any family in the area, there's only so much that we expect from our friends. But blessings to "Auntie" Sarri! She plays the role of a favorite, fun aunt perfectly and has, more than once, selflessly offered to keep our kids. (Thank you, Sarri.)

A night? We can do a night. In fact, Dave and I had a great time. In hindsight, it was just what we needed. Notice that I haven't been posting very much lately? Who knew that our night away was going to be a much needed break--a time to rest and relax. Because what has been going on since then? Report cards, Valentine's Day, the never ending, never shrinking mountains of laundry, and our first bout with vomit this school-year. Ugh.

Now will I be leaving my kids for a week anytime soon (even though I don't think that there is anything wrong with that)? Not a chance! I'm not there...yet.