while he was gone...

quinn came to stay with us for a couple nights.

micah had his best friend spend the night. 

they are studying. in case you were wondering. haha

beatrix had her last day of the school year. 

what a difference from how she entered her first day just a few short months before. 

confidence to walk into the office and get the star pass by herself.

 confidence to walk into her classroom all on her own and hug her teachers.

 confidence to start her day by getting her breakfast out of her backpack and unstacking the chairs.

 i love that school has increased her confidence. 

her teachers truly loved on her and reinforced the star that she is.

 i love penelope's face as she looks at quinn. 

i was so thankful that quinn had spent the night. it was nice to have an adult around. mostly to just listen to me after the kids had gone to sleep. wednesday morning penelope decided to get her two bottom teeth and proceeded to cry for the next 24 hours as they pushed through her gums. it was one of the longest nights of my life. nothing i did seemed to ease her pain at all. we both passed out at about 5 in the morning. long enough to get a bit of a reprieve. 

 matt's ipad has remote access to our home computer. thursday evening i went into the office and turned the moniter on. a message from him was there and waiting for us. it brought tears to my eyes. it is good to miss each other once in awhile. it helps to remember how much you really do enjoy having them around.