A Week Alone

Well this is the beginning of what could become a very long and hard week. Stephen is one of the chaperon's for the senior trip at the school he teaches at. Needless to say, that means I am home alone from Monday late morning until Friday late afternoon with all three children. Not that this is a problem, but it could become one. So far the girls have been handling it well (they do not like when either of us is gone for any length of time.) Audrie has asked several times already (like 10 or 12) "When will daddy be back home?" "Why did he have to leave us?" "Why can't we go too?" At least we know he is loved. We were also blessed today because we originally thought Stephen would have to be at the school ready to leave by 10am and he got word he didn't need to be there until 11:30a. So this extra time allowed us to all have a leisurely breakfast together and for the girls to make those last minute pictures so daddy could take them with him and for all the hugs and kisses to make it through the week. We'll see how it goes tonight around bedtime. Usually one of us takes care of the girls and the other takes care of Seanan, since they are generally ready for bed around the same time. Also bedtime is the time they get cryified and will probably be asking when daddy will come home, etc., etc. I will miss Stephen too - don't get me wrong. We have really never spent this long without each other. Until this year, we hadn't been one evening without each other since we were married back in 2000. So this is not usual for us. I know for some married couples this is normalcy, but this is definitely not normal for us. We are used to doing a majority of things together - even grocery shopping and such. He will be sorely missed. (And Stephen if you are reading this - I love you and miss you already.) I'll probably post again mid-week to see how we're all holding up.
One good thing is that my mother-in-law is trying to check-in more to help out. Thank God for family. The other good thing is that I am trying to plan some fun things this week to keep our minds off of daddy being gone like going strawberry picking; finishing the painting and rearranging of Seanan's room (moving him out of his closet area into what was the office now library/his room; switching Audrie's dresser to the new one and giving Seanan her old one (which is always for the youngest); start my garden (if weather permits) in the ground - we already planted seeds off of our deck for herbs, onions, and lettuces; as well as the normal everyday chores and homeschooling. We'll see how it goes ...