Reunited! And silly family stories...

The girls came yesterday, and I couldn’t be more happy! Their little faces, their voices saying, “mommy!” oh geez, my heart about melted out of my chest.

Ladybug bounded up to me in pre-school and said, “mommy, I missed you so so so much!  I haven’t seen you for a long, long, long time!’” and she promptly jumped into my arms.  When we got home, A was also home from work, and Ladybug jumped into his arms (rather onto his shoulders) and didn’t leave for an hour. 

Then, when Squirrel got home after her late Monday night dance classes, she ran into the house yelling, “mommy!” and our sweetheart sitter said that all squirrel talked about was that she couldn’t wait to see me.  Swoon.

We spent the evening playing with our sweetheart 30 lbs puppy, snuggling up reading books, eating spaghetti (Squirrel was starving and had five bowls!  I know it’s their favorite—mom’s home made spaghetti, and Squirrel kept repeating, it’s my FAVorite).  The girls proudly gave their “step-father” belated card to A—then he had to take our puppy to puppy class, and so after bath time, we snuggled up again reading more books and then Squirrel turned off all the lights, and demanded that we cuddle under the blankets, and then Ladybug said that mommy should tell a story about when they were babies, first one about Squirrel and then one about Ladybug, and then it would be their turn.

So…a story about Squirrel:

Once upon a time, a long, long, long time ago, when Squirrel was so little she was only talking a little bit, but bigger than a baby, because she was big enough to walk around, we took her to visit my mom who lived in a very cold area of the country.  And because it was the middle of winter, it was really, really cold, and when I gave squirrel a bath, I immediately wrapped her up in a big fluffy towel and carried her over to the counter, which was in front of a huge mirror, so I could dry her really fast and get her pajamas on.  Well, squirrel looked so cute standing in front of the mirror, I said her name, Squirr—ell,  Squirr---ell, and she started swaying back and forth like she was dancing, and because Squirrel couldn’t talk just yet, she answered back:  Squirrel – shee,  Squirrel – shee, and that’s why we called Squirrel Squirrel-shee up to this day!

(Squirrel and Ladybug cackling).  Then, it was Ladybug’s turn, so I went to one of her old favorites about when she was a baby:

Once upon a time, when Ladybug was a really tiny ladybug, she slept in her crib in mommy’s room.  And because daddy had to work, he slept in another room, so when Ladybug would wake up in the middle of the night, he could still sleep.  Well, we thought ladybug was going to sleep like squirrel when she was a baby, who would drink her milk at 10:00pm and then not move again until 6:00am, and then go back to sleep until 8:00am!  Well, Ladybug would drink her milk at 10:00pm.  Then, around 1:00am, she’d wake up and say:  AAAAAAHHHHH!  (a.k.a. I need more milk!!) so mommy would get up feed her, and then we’d both go back to bed.  Well, then Ladybug would wake up again at 4:00am and say AAAAAAAHHHH!  (a.k.a. I need more milk!) and so mommy would get up and feed her again!  Then mommy and ladybug would snuggle in bed all morning until it was time for mommy to get up and go to work, and that was sooooo nice!

(More Squirrel and Ladybug cackling.)  Then, Ladybug decided it was her turn to tell the story about Squirrel:

Once upon a time, when Squirrel was little and going to my preschool, and I was in my mommy’s belly, mommy was driving up the mountain to take Squirrel to school, and Squirrel was in her big car seat and she made up a song and it went like this:  The stars in the sky, shine down on me and BOINK my eyeballs!

(Cackling interlude continues).  Then Ladybug decided to tell another story about mommy and the “cock-a-roh” (cockroach, eek!):

Once upon a time, Squirrel and I were upstairs playing the playroom and mommy was downstairs in the kitchen, then suddenly mommy screamed:  AAAAAHHHH!  And Squirrel and I came running downstairs, and Mommy said, “stay where you are!” and so we stayed on the stairs, and mommy got the fly-swatter thingie  and then she hit the cock-a-roh with it, and then she was screaming, “Ah! Ah! Ah!” every time she was trying to hit the cock-a-roh, and me and squirrel started laughing because it was so funny!!  And then I went to my school the next day, and I told my teacher, “Mommy killed a cock-a-roh, AH! Ah! Ah!.

Oh dear, I guess these stories aren’t that heartwarming or charming or internet viral worthy, but they are all ours and it was just so nice to giggle and laugh and snuggle and then get the girls tucked into their bunk beds.  I myself went to sleep smiling.

This morning, we all woke up a little early and had bonus play time with our puppy, but when it was time to drop off to summer school and preschool, Squirrel said, “is it Tuesday, already?” and I said yes, and she said, “But it came so fast?” and I said, “I know honey, but then we go back to the normal schedule starting tomorrow…”  (Tuesday is dad’s visitation day).

And even though they aren’t home tonight, I know they’re coming home tomorrow.  My heart is happy and I can’t wait to have my lovebugs home with us again.  How did I ever get through the two week summer vacation time in years past?  I can’t believe this is the third year doing this.  But I survived!  And so did they.