Cantaloupe Smiles

I have three additional kids in my charge this week.  And this is how we feel about it.

 Look!  More smiles than frowns!   

Their parents come home tomorrow from an interview on the West Coast and I now confess my mixed feelings--I'm not sure I'm ready for them to go home.  Our trickiest time is predictably bedtime, and all the other time is just full of so much movement and noise and dirt being tracked into the house.

I will miss cheerful, chatty breakfasts, nonstop playtime, the novelty of new playmates, the help of the two older boys, and all the silly, creative things they have come up, including yesterday's pitch/request to have everyone stay home from school today so that they could play for one solid day.  I've been so grateful for good weather and even temperaments and the stockpile of food I had created before their arrival.  It really has been fun.