And now back to our regularly scheduled program...

Passover is over, Aba is back at work, and our house guests have all returned home, and the children are back to their happy, playful, destructive selves.

Now don't get me wrong, I love the holidays, with the special activities at shul, the big gatherings at friends and families homes (especially when they are at my home!), and teaching the children why it is such a special day. But I also love when the holidays are over, especially the long ones like Passover. 8 days. 8 days of no breakfast cereal, no sandwiches, and no cookies; make it hard on the lunch packer (me), hard on the dinner chef (me), and hard on the grocery shopper (again me). I am so happy we are back to our daily favorites, like cheerios.

I also love when Aba is home with us. The kids get extra play time, we have 3 family meals a day, and go on impromptu outings, like hikes, fishing trips, and family walks to the grocery store. But, the laundry gets behind (even when he helps), the kitchen is a sight, and the floors are not vacuumed as often as they should be. But he has returned to work. The kitchen is sparkling, the floors have vacuum marks, and the laundry is waiting to be put into dressers and closets. Hey, I might even get to pre-iron his work clothes!

House guests...
I love them, I truly do, in fact I ask them to come, and to stay longer, and in a few days time we will be back to asking them when they will return since we miss them so much. House guests play with the kids and tell them stories, make meal times livelier, and afternoon walks something to look forward to. The kids love to see their family, and as J asked as Auntie LaLa was saying Bye and giving him one last kiss, "Bye?Why?Bye?Why?" (Try to explain to a 2 year old why their new favorite person is leaving, and you get an upset little boy crying and saying NO!!!) but it is nice to have the house back to ourselves, not wondering what to make due to dietary restrictions, if there will be enough hot water for every ones shower, and hoping the kids stay on there best manners through the whole visit (which never happens).

So, it is nice, to be back to our daily habits. Morning routines, breakfast and lunches, housework and all. Yes I will miss the extra hands to hold Baby B while cooking dinner, extra hands folding laundry, gossip on afternoon walks, and dueling blogs. But I am enjoying my morning tea, about to leave for ballet class for B and then off to Costco. We will return later, and while the whole house naps I would be getting the laundry put in its place. And when Aba arrives home form a hard days work (I think they said they were doing bubble blowing today), dinner will be hot and ready on the table to greet him. Who knows we might even get back to story time at night!