Missing my sister...

I cried as I put these pictures together. I couldn't help it. I missed her voice this morning when I got up. Connor didn't come out saying "Kimmy, I wun Cheeos". Which means that he and Felix didn't sit on the stairs sharing the cups of "cheeos" and spill them everywhere. The children didn't come bounding down the stairs like a herd of elephants. I didn't hear them whisper to each other about whether or not it was light enough to come down (the first morning they all woke up at 5:45 AM; which constituted the rule that they were not allowed to get up until they saw sunlight). There was plenty of hot water for showers this morning, and there wasn't a ton of laundry to do. There was no pre-adolescent crying over, well, everything and fewer arguments about school (I still have two here, you know). Fewer tattling, fewer messes, fewer whining... Yesterday, we didn't have to take two cars to go to Walmart and there wasn't seven children to look after. I miss it. Felix is going through Connor withdrawls; he asks about "Conna" all day. "I ride Conna's van, Momma?" "I sleep in Conna's bed, Momma?" "Where Conna go, Momma?" "I ride bikes with Conna?" My personal favorite (and the most pathetic) is where he growls and says in his demanding, scary voice, "I wan Conna!" Poor baby.

Even though it was crazy, it was so fun and I would love to do it again. I miss my sister. Maybe next month...