While Daddy's Away, Part 3

So I just had to finish up this mini-series I've created here by thanking you all for prayers.  Today went more smoothly than yesterday and it helped a lot to know that C will be home TOMORROW!

Two kids are now sick with some kind of cold virus thing that involves sore throats and a lot of congestion, but I'm hoping I don't get it.  My Paleo diet has been helping me feel healthier and with all these fruits and veggies, I imagine my immune system is stronger than usual.

I felt all bold on Monday about trying to find out what's wrong with our dishwasher, but as the days went on, it was just easier to let it be and do the hand wash till C returns.  Sure, it's the chicken's way out, but I already had a full load doing the job of two parents without a single breather for four days.

In addition, I was still watching E, driving N to school, picking up L and K from school and on several nights tried helping them with homework when their mom was stumped.  L even had a big video project to do for school and she and her friend were over for a couple hours on Wednesday so I could help them edit that and put it together.

Besides that stuff, I really do try to plan some fun things for the kids to keep their minds off the obvious elephant in the room (we all miss Daddy).

Today, for instance, we visited the Galloping Grace Christmas Corral.  I love that it's free and it provided a lot of hands-on fun for the younger kids, especially.  E had a great time with this large checkers board created on the ground with checkers made from little chunks of pine tree trunks that were probably sliced off the bottoms as they were putting the trees up for sale.  Mostly she just stacked them up in one tall stack, but almost licking them was fun, too, ("No, E!  Not in your mouth!").

So all in all, even with all the extra challenges along the way, I think we did okay.  But I did tell C on the phone this evening that he'd better not miss his flight home!

He'll be home around lunchtime tomorrow.  Woo and Hoo!  He said he's more than ready to be back.  I think it's killing him to hear me trying to cook things here and knowing that he'd do 100x better at the job.

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P.S. I made Chicken Parmesan this evening -- more like Chicken Marinara since we couldn't do breading or Parmesan -- as well as the kids' favorite "Daddy's away" dish, Taco soup.  I did a regular one and a Paleo version.  I overcooked the chicken, but it was still highly edible and the taco soups were devoured.  A nice mixed green salad to accompany everything and I feel like it was a pretty healthy meal.  So the fact that the kids got to have a doughnut when they were finished (dairy-free, soy-free, naturally sweetened ice cream for the Paleo's in the crowd), it barely even counts, right?

Sleep tight.