Back to One Grandparent

 I really saw the girls very little over the course of the week.

On Tuesday, I dropped Katherine off at dance, and Graysen went home with Harper to play for that little bit of time - less than an hour.  All I had was just a little time in the car.

Wednesday was a day of manipulating school schedules with home with the addition of school pictures.  Emily and Ryan handled all that, so I just had another day off!

Thursday was a normal day for drop-off and pick-up.  There wasn't much time after we got home, and I don't even remember what we did.  They did a couple of reading and math worksheets without much complaint and then just played the rest of the time.

They enjoyed the simple joys of kicking a rock up and down the alley while waiting for Emily.

Katherine is not happy unless she's picking flowers all the way home from school.

Friday Emily worked at home.  It's always obvious because they have cute little braids and hairdos when I pick them up.  And Katherine has a hard time leaving her Mama to go to school.  

Morning observations.  

This was on the sidewalk outside my dining room window when I went to pick up the mail and the girls.

It was still there when we got home from school, but the Jones twins rescued it and were examining it pretty closely.  It was just about this time two years ago when the schools had just closed, and I was taking my lonely early-morning walk and found a banana on the sidewalk.

  I don't know what any of this means.  It was just interesting.  I can remember how much my heart hurt during that time and how scared we all were.  Closing schools and businesses and isolating was unheard of for any of us, and we didn't quite know what to think.  There was almost a year of not being able to touch or hug my babies and only have contact with them from a distance.

While Millie and Al were here, Ryan had some help with the front door and got it up before they left.  It's really nice.  Once he gets up the surrounding woodwork and freshen up the porch, it's going to be a beautiful porch.

Also hanging on the living room wall was a piece of art Katherine did in art class at school.  She refuses to give it to me.  I wonder how much she would take for it.

Mary came over for a visit Friday morning, and that was so nice.  Between both our families having Covid - and her! - we haven't had a chance to get together in weeks.  

Emily gave me an Auburn tote bag and some soft socks!  Already my favorites.

The early pick-up at 1:36 leaves us plenty of time for anything we want to do.  There was sunshine, but the wind was a little chilly, so they didn't want to stop at the park.  They had lots of things to talk about on the way home.  They hardly greeted me before they had their heads together - planning!

After their snack of grapes and strawberries and one chocolate cookie, they retired to their spot behind my bed and chattered for a long time.  They didn't ask for anything from me, so I didn't offer my help.  They know where the white paper is and the tape.  I'm not exactly sure what I found after they left, but I think it had something to do with selling their art.  Making a mental note to show them where dollar signs go in prices.

The day ended with cooking up a surprise April Fool's joke for their parents.  

I put them in a plastic bag and hid them in one of the book bags.  I called Saturday morning to check on how it went, and they said they remembered just in time to surprise them!

Gathering a few last rocks for kicking,

I can't watch basketball, especially if I care about the outcome, but the Win-Bins had an exciting evening watching the Tar Heels beat Duke.  She had already reconciled a loss, because how could they beat Duke twice in a matter of weeks?  Still there was hope, and as the game went on, I would check the score.  It was always close, and the lead kept changing.  The last three minutes were unbearable.

This is the message I got afterwards from Emily about the ram she bought when she was in school there.  I can't believe it's stuck around this long!

And then Graysen rescued poor Ramses and took him back upstairs.

The Final Four will be fun now instead of so tense.  Beating Duke seems to be enough for Tar Heel fans, but winning it all would not be frowned upon.