The Oraz Bridge, chapter 3

The Shoe is quite empty this weekend. Our family is scattered to the four winds.

North: Sarah & Mason camping with my parents in Trout Lake, WA.

East: Gavin in Washington D.C. with the Boy Scouts

South: Bryan in Arizona for work

West: Mara in Beaverton at my aunt's house & Madelyn camping at the coast with friends.

That leaves me in a quieter house with only Sirena, Nolan and Evelyn. I can only say quieter because, at 2 years old, Nolan is anything but quiet. Still, there have been far more restful hours than usual: nap time is a blessed thing, good for a mother's body and soul. Do you know how much less laundry there is with only 3 children in the house? Amazing! How come it didn't feel like this when we only had 3 kids? Of course, back when we only had 3 kiddos, the eldest was 3.5! That might explain something, yes?

After the littles were in bed last night, Sirena and I had a good time watching reruns and giggling together. Tonight is a little different because Sirena has a friend staying over. They are having a grand time- eating brownies, playing games, splashing in the pool and snuggling the babies.

Nolan has most definitely been outnumbered by females, but from the following photos, it is quite evident that he doesn't mind in the least.

Nono with the green nigh-night he has claimed as his own.

(It was originally Sirena's, but she is generous to a fault and lets him sleep with it.)

Nono with Sirena's sweet friend

Just LOOK at those smiles!

Evie has been hard at work, demanding practice time for a new skill. Today she managed to stay balanced for 5, even 10 seconds before falling over.

Look, mama! I can sit all by myself!

Of course, she has a pretty short attention span and soon moved on to another favorite activity, scooting all around the floor while blowing raspberries.

I spent more than an hour talking with my husband on the phone today. Thank goodness calls between our cell phones don't count against our monthly allowance of minutes! We talked through some parenting challenges, just as we do when he is home. I played tech support and walked him through setting up his email client. We reminisced about our dating days- mostly because we have a lovesick daughter, and, in retrospect, we are grateful our parents allowed us to live. In short, just normal spouse conversational stuff until he sent me a video taken with his web cam. Gulp. How can a video simultaneously make me feel as if he is right here and on the far side of the moon? I miss him.

(Once my vision cleared I noticed that he is growing a goatee- may as well since I am not around to complain about scratchy kisses!)

For those who are wondering why these posts are called The Oraz Bridge, here is a clue:

ORegon AriZona