The Return of Handsome and Gretel

Well, the 'three less' portion of the summer has officially ended with the return of "Number 1 Son" and "Youngest Daughter", also known as Handsome and Gretel respectively. I have sat down numerous times to write this blog and somehow couldn't get my thoughts in order.  I agonized over the title, the content and over the fact that I didn't do a one-less blog when Number 1 Son came home. So here I am almost two weeks later and I am determined to get this done - come hell or high water!
It's unbelievable how much my free time seems to dissipate even further with the return of each child - the endless loads of laundry and the grocery shopping take up so much of our time.  It also amazes me how things pick up exactly where they left off, with me wondering whose dishwasher day it is, or whose turn it is to walk the dog, who left their stuff on the kitchen table, nagging for the laundry to be put away, etc., etc. It's as if six weeks hadn't gone by!

First dinner at home - steak and roasted onion!

Why Handsome and Gretel?  Here is Handsome, but that's not Gretel - that's the wandering Jew.  Though he looks handsome here, the picture is not quite what I want to convey.  They all seem to grow and change at camp and it struck me when he got home how he was carrying himself a little differently and he seemed older.  He's always been confident, but somehow there's a little something extra, which I won't describe exactly because I don't want to embarrass him any further.  Perhaps the fact that he won the Fellowship Award at camp, has something to do with it, although he is a humble sort.  The Fellowship Award is voted on by the campers and it represents the person they feel is a friend and friendly to all, someone caring and kind and who also demonstrates good leadership skills.  I will brag a little and relay the fact that he won by a landslide that the camp director said she hasn't seen in all the years she's been at camp.  I'm not that surprised, but over the moon proud!

Visitor's Day

Then there's Gretel  - look at that face - so innocent and angelic! She had a fabulous summer and also came back with the Fellowship Award from Camp Shalom. What can I say?  I am kvelling (the yiddish word for beaming with pride) beyond measure.  She also grew in stature but like Handsome, there's more to it.  Confidence and security, she seems a little more comfortable in her own skin but I can't quite put my finger on it.  So why the nickname Gretel? It was coined by her other mother because she is constantly leaving a trail wherever she goes!  This is something that definitely didn't change. It took about 2 seconds for her to leave things lying around the house when she returned.  Let's see if they can grow just a little more and do some 'avodah' (the hebrew word for work) around the house as happily as they do at camp - lol (wishful thinking).

This is my life with children, it makes me crazy but I love them and most days I wouldn't have it any other way.

The less free kind of day....