Our beautiful daughter just brought to my attention the fact that I haven't posted anything on my blog since we visited Mt. St. Helens.

Yup, she's right.

I could plead exhaustion or overwhelming demands on my time or I could even tell a white lie and say our internet connection was down - but, alas, none of these are true. (Well, the exhaustion is almost true - and the overwhelming demands on my time is almost true too - and actually, our internet connection has been sporadically down over the last few days also - but none of these things have really stopped me from writing.)

The truth of the matter is that I was abducted by aliens and just returned from a very quick trip to the planet Boing-Boing. :O}

We had such a wonderful time at Mt. St. Helens, and getting away for a couple of days was rejuvenating. Since returning, we've been plunged into life as we know it - work, elder care, NCIS binge fests, laundry, etc. Seems like time passes so quickly with everything we do, but when I think of our babies being away, the time just crawls along - and Papa and I keep talking about what we'll do with our babies when they come back. Our little Belle will turn 3 while they're traveling, so we'll never see 2-year-old Belle again - we'll see 3-year-old Belle when she comes back. And Alex lost a front top tooth. We saw a picture of his sweet face with a gap in the front, but we haven't been able to be with him when any of his teeth have fallen out. That's still a hope in the back of our minds.

It's been 3 very long, lonely days since we've had contact with our sweet little cookie crumblers. When I spoke to little Asher, he said, "Mama, PLEASE can you come meet us? We're staying at a motel - and it has a POOL! Oh, please come NOW." I told him that I really, really wanted to be with him, but we had to stay here to take care of Grandma and Grandpa. He said, "Papa could stay with them. PLEASE come, Mama. Oh, Mama, I love you soooooo much."

That sweet little voice. It made me cry because he was pleading with me, and I couldn't say "OK! I'm leaving right now, and I'll see you as soon as I can get there!" I always want to say yes to our babies. The older I get, the more my priorities keep shifting toward our wonderful grandchildren (although they've been about as shifted as they could be toward our grandchildren ever since they were born.)

Being Mama is what I want to be for the rest of my life - and God willing, I want to do it close to our grandchildren. I think being Mama and Papa has been one of the greatest gifts we've ever received. And being separated from our babies is one of the hardest adjustments we've ever had to make. Everything we do or see or experience is filtered through our grandchildren. (Oh, Alex would just love this! And Asher would squeal and jump up and down if he could see this! And Belle would pick up this baby and hug her if she were here. Everything is seen through our Mama and Papa eyes.)

On Sunday, Emily and Elias came to visit. It's the first time I've seen Elias - I've seen pictures, of course, but not the actual E-Man in person. He is so adorable. Completely white hair, big blue eyes, chubby little legs - he reminds me of Alex when he was that age (although Alex had reddish blond hair, his big blue eyes and chubby little legs are the same). Papa and I would take Alex out on the back deck, one of us at one end of the deck, and the other one at the other end - and we'd count, "1 - 2- 3 - GO!!!" and Alex would run from Papa at one end of the deck to Mama at the other end, his chubby little legs just racing along - and his giggle floating through the air while he raced into our arms. It was so much fun!!

And now we await the return of the Super Trio! Alex - Asher - Belle. Superheroes to Papa and Mama. Always and Forever.