While the Kids are Away...

Papa and Tandy gave us the most wonderful gift.  They took our boys to Lubbock for a WHOLE WEEK and left us...

All by ourselves....

In our house...

A few of the boys were a little sad when they left.  Jopie was so sad when it was time to get in the van, it nearly made my Mommy heart break.  Nathan was supposed to stay with me... because, of course, I thought he would be a heap of tears without me, but he came to me, sobbing, as the boys were loading in the van, and asked me, "Who will play with me?"  And when I responded, "I will,"  he said, "Then I won't have any BOYS to play with."  So I promptly threw his stuff in a backpack and away they all went.  It was a good choice.  He would NOT have had much fun with me.

So they left and I went and sat on my bed and listened to the quiet.  I was a bit sad and sentimental as I picked up all the mess they left behind.  I thought about the days that they would leave for college.

But I was totally over it by the next morning when I woke up in my own house, with nothing to do but whatever I wanted.  It was the strangest and most amazing feeling.

And now for a photographic journey of what I did all week...

We hung these curtains a year ago, and I've been meaning to hem them ever since.

They went from being this long.

To being a bit more manageable.  If you come over, don't look too close because I'm so not a perfectionist.

I picked up some fun fabrics to make the curtain in my laundry room.  I feel like the laundry room is MY room and I can make it as girly as I want it to be :)  The strawberry fabric I picked up at Craft Weekend last year and it felt good to finally use it for something.

I also made a headband with it.  Sorry about the close-up of my face.

And I made a little curtain for our closet window.  It was a tablecloth so I only had to hem the top and the sides, so it was super simple.

I made mini bunting for a sweet girl named Violet who just arrived home from Ethiopia.  I got to meet her and I cried because her family is beautiful, and she is beautiful.  It's just all beautiful.

We got bookshelves in our playroom.  We still need to paint them, but I had to start some organizing.

Having the space to "rainbowitize" childrens' books made me absolutely giddy.

And a place for photo albums.  I'm still so excited about these shelves a week later.  I get much more excited about organization than design.  I think that's why we have about two things hanging on our walls :)

We looked at a really big van.  Am I crazy?  My three boys in the back row of our minivan drive me bonkers on a longer trip.  This van has a 4th row.  What do you think?  Should we take the plunge to the larger van or just stick to the mini?

I hit the antique mall and found some treasures.

I loved this one but it was too pricey.

I got this one.  It's large and it was $12.  Should I paint the frame?

I love this one but too much $$.

I wanted to find some use for this but couldn't think of one.  

I almost bought this one because it reminded me so much of Nathan.  But I resisted because I have a print from my grandmother's house that is similar.  

I also came away with some vintage tablecloths.  Aren't they lovely?

I exercised every day and took some pics of my running trails.

I also did some home school planning.   I spent time in the Word each day.  We went on dates by ourselves and with friends.  We got rid of some stuff in the garage.  So many things you can get done without distraction.  It was wonderful.

I loved getting photo updates from Papa and Tandy.  These sweet faces having a blast without us.

One spoiled boy :)  Shrimp cocktail is his favorite.

At Daddy's favorite Lubbock restaurant.  Where homemade buttermilk dressing comes in a plastic bottle on the table just like ketchup and mustard, and you dip all your food in it.  Chris said the same people worked there 25 years ago.  Same cook.  Some of the same servers.

This is Chris's childhood house.  They planted this tree when Chris was in grade school and now look how it's grown.

The Westerners have missed Chris, I'm sure.

Golf camp cuties.

Golf cart cutie

Even the drive to go and get the boys was relaxing and wonderful.  We planned some vacations for this next year and talked about ways we wanted to be more intentional as a family this fall.

On the way home, we were back to our crazy life.

Thankful for the noise in this season of my life.  At some point, I may be ready for the quiet, but not yet.  But having a week of it here and there is fine with me :)

Thanks Papa and Tandy for our wonderful {quiet} week!