#1: FREEDOM!

Don't get me wrong, I love my kids to bits and bits, but can I just say....it felt so incredible to take a week off from being a mom?? Seven days of no dirty diapers, no bickering fights between the boys, and no endless hours of housework. Seven days of taking quiet, peaceful showers, sleeping in, and doing whatever my heart desires. Sometimes, in all the work of taking care of a husband, four boys, and a household, I forget my own identity and what it feels like to just be....me. What a treat it was to wake up whenever I wanted to wake up, eat whatever I wanted to eat, do (or not do) whatever I wanted to do....ahhh the freedom!!

 Lest you worry that the boys suffered and were neglected in our absence, have no fear, the boys equally enjoyed their vacation from us. When we broke the news to the boys that we'd be leaving for an entire week, Max became a little nervous, asking when we would come back and who would take care of him. I told Max that he would get to stay at Nana and Papa's house and threw in that Nana would let him have gum. His frown turned upside down in a milisecond and he asked how soon until we were leaving. Its touching, really....my kids find my so easily replaceable that they forget all about me at the mere suggestion of a gumball.