The Mini R&R

My husband came home to visit for the four day weekend that Independence Day provided.  SO good to see him.  And now that we're back into the "normal" of separation, it's SO hard to comprehend that just four days ago I was holding his hand.   The close of tomorrow marks the halfway point.  So, so thankful to be at the downhill slope of this.

I keep thinking I want time to just stop for a minute so I can get a chance to breathe.  But time stopping just delays what my heart wants most, so we'll just keep on chugging.

With the boys struggling so much with this distance, Josh and I thought it'd be nice if he could spend some quality time alone with each of them.  Friday was full of family fun at his mom's house, so Saturday Josh took Ethan to the movies and the toy store... a full 4 hour adventure.  Zach got his time the next day with a trip to the playground park for trike-riding and rock-throwing and then to the toy store.  Their hearts were happy. Are happy. Those hours are still repeating benefits now, as they fully and completely understand that Daddy doesn't WANT to be away from them but *has* to be.

I had hoped that I could get MY time with him after the kids went to bed.  But we had no babysitter. And the boys were up late the night before Josh came home since my parents were here.  And their bedtimes were all screwy. So, they kept wandering downstairs for hoooours after bedtime.  Like, we finally got to be alone at 11pm, when we were both ready for some sleep.

It was good to see him.  It was just way harder to share him than I anticipated.  We've clearly hit a new chapter in life, where kids don't just disappear into a crib at bedtime and we can sneak in our time afterward.  Life pretty much officially revolves around them if we're inside the same building.  And that's fine and good and whatever... it was just... surprising in that it was absolutely unlike any other R&R or weekend visit we've ever had before.  Clearly recruiting has blessed us with minimal separation!