kidless

As the door shut, and the kids walked away (without looking back)- holding Oma's hand. Brett and I stopped, listened and thought about the last time this happened- well, it hasn't, not since we have had kids. We listened to the sound of silence for a little bit, and then decided to take full advantage of something that may not last (if they got too homesick), or may not happen for awhile again (if they drove Oma and Papa crazy, or we missed them too much, or they didn't want to do it again)- btw- none of which happened- they didn't get homesick, they didn't drive Oma and Papa crazy (or so we are told), and they already want to go back!
So- by about 4 on Sunday, about a half hour after they left, we were gone- we went to some fish stores, and actually got to look at things, without being pulled a million directions. So, we slowly took our time around there, enjoyed the peacefulness, and then headed home- we stopped at Sobeys and grabbed some stuff for dinner. Came home- and made a whole tray of nachos, poured Salsa in bowls, and set up the table in the LIVING ROOM! We picked a movie- and turned it up load- load enough where we could hear it- and not worry that we were waking someone up!
Monday- well Brett slept in, I still couldn't. But that is okay- I enjoyed my quiet time! Once Brett got up, we had a few things on our list for that day- one was to get ready for a surprise we had for the kids when they got home- so we did that first, and then went to a few more stores that we haven't been too in months! We came home and got started on cleaning and organizing the house. I got all the toy bins organized and cleaned out- threw some out, and put some on a local sell your stuff type site. (all of which sold within 24 hours thankfully!). We also took some of our old wall unit from the old house, and put them into the kitchen for a "pantry" type thing- with more storage. We were going to go for dinner- but had to go finish up with the kids surprise at 7:30- and we were still working on the house at 6- so we decided to pick up KFC on our way home. We stopped working to just relax for a bit before moving on- and decided to finish the cleaning on Tuesday. (Yes, we are losers, but remember, I wasn't here when we moved in- so I had to tell Brett to the best of my knowledge where to put things- and I misjudged some areas. It is also hard to do all of this with the kids around- so we took advantage).
Tuesday- we finished up our cleaning and then sat- we enjoyed the rest of our silence- knowing that it was going to end later that night. After sitting for a bit, we decided to go for a late lunch/early dinner- which was great. Then again- came home and relaxed. The kids pulled up at about 8:10, and were sleeping in Oma's truck- so Brett went out to get them. When they all came in the house we got to show them their surprise...
There surprise- well- there surprise was a new family member- who they LOVE. Their surprise was our new kitty. I use kitty very loosely, she is a 3 year old, long black haired cat- who is 18 pounds! She is a big girl. She is VERY cuddly- and so far- even with a 1 and 3 year old always following her around- she is loving our house, and loves them- and me- but especially Brett! That night- well we couldn't get Danika to bed!
Since then, we have done a few more things around the house- that we can do with them here. Danika and I went to a play date today- and then by 5 she was so tired- she actually went to bed- herself. And it has been 3 hours- and we haven't heard from her- I just wonder when she is going to get up in the "morning"!
Here are some pictures of what we did while the kids were gone...