A Mini Reunion

Edgar's first day back at work is always a little sad for me.  The Johnsons have been gone and I've been missing them--especially my sister Marianne and our several-times-a-day chats.  On Friday I went to my parents' house to borrow some things (don't worry, Big Guy, I'll take good care of them and you won't even miss them).  As I walked around their place and watered the greenhouse (We had our first cucumber!), it felt like my parents have already been gone FOREVER.  It's only been about four months, so we have fourteen to go.  I was a bit melancholy, but yesterday I got a little treat to make up for it.  This lady, my dear Thelma, my sister from faraway Washington, came to my house:

 

She held my baby and gave my toddler fruit snacks.  She told me my kids are cute and folded all of my socks (even the ones from the stray sock drawer that had been hanging over my head for months).  I should have taken a picture of the little mountain of socks she folded.  It was impressive.  

 

Her dear daughter, Emma, made Lili's day by loving cats.  The two spent hours outside laughing and talking about cats.  Lili was in heaven.  Emma was an angel.  Besides the time she spent with Liliana, Emma also was the official Crystal Light maker of the day.  We enjoyed some fine beverages thanks to Emma.

 

Meanwhile, Mark, who is just as imaginative and into playing the part as my boys, made my boys so happy.  They played Army and pirate and who-knows-what-else.  Mark is the handsome redhead, by the way.  Braeden also played with my boys--marching around with them and lending an air of sophistication to their imaginings.  

 

Later my little brother Enoch (I like calling him that since he's anything but--6' 8") came with his children Isaiah (not pictured) and Savannah.  It was Savannah Eve (the night before her fourth birthday) and we sang Happy Birthday to her in her lovely pink cowgirl hat.  The tall (taller than I!), good-looking teen in the back is my oldest nephew Braeden.  Marcos was happy to jump into the picture next to his beloved Savannah.

Speaking of Marcos, we have good news and bad news about his poddy-training progress.  The good news is, he has been doing great and wearing underwear a lot and not having (many) accidents. 

The bad news is, yesterday he had an accident on our neighbor's property.  The kids wanted to go play outside at the Johnsons' home.  Since the Johnsons are gone, we thought it was a great idea.  When Marcos came home, I asked if he needed to go to the bathroom.  He cheerfully told me he had gone "yucky" (our name for number 2) on the Johnsons' "jump-o-line" (his name for trampoline).  "What?!" I asked, hoping I'd heard wrong.  "Yep.  I went yucky on their jump-o-line, and when they come back, they're going to look at their jump-o-line and say 'What?!  Somebody went yucky on our jump-o-line!'"

We look forward to the Johnsons' return and their surprise at their altered jump-o-line.