Minus one kid

We were minus one kid today.  Earlier this week Gigi approached me with the idea to have each of the girls spend the night individually with her and Papa this weekend.  When I first mentioned the idea to the girls they both started sobbing, but for for different reasons.  Handley was very concerned that she would be too bored at home when Harper was gone and that she wouldn't have anyone to count when she wanted to to play hide-n-seek.  Harper started crying because she heard Handley saying she didn't want Harper to go to Gigi's and so she was crying, "me wuv (love) Gigi...me want to go to Gigi's house."  After we talked about it a little more I think they understood that they would both get a turn to spend then night and have some one-on-one time with Gigi and Papa.

Today was Harper's turn.  This morning Gigi came to watch her gymnastics class and after that they went on their way for a fun sleepover.  I had a surprise planned for Handley this afternoon.  I arranged for her BFF, Avery, to come with me to pick Handley up from school and come over for a playdate this afternoon.  Handley was SO excited and surprised when she saw Avery with me and they couldn't stop hugging each other.  After pre-school pick-up I took them to get frozen yogurt.  We all enjoyed our yummy treat and Hudson enjoyed all of the attention the big girls were giving him, including songs they made up on the car ride home.

At home they attempted to have a rest and watched a show, but they were too excited to sit still and enjoyed playing dress-up, building forts, and putting on a dancing show instead.

After Avery left this afternoon Handley told me at least 10 times that she missed Harper, wished she was here, and thought that next time they should both spend the night together.  I know she will probably be changing her tune tomorrow when she gets her one-on-one time.  We all missed her though and it felt really weird to just have two kiddos at home.  I did enjoy getting to have some special time with Handley though.

And another little story about Handley...when my parents were here last weekend I kept trying to get Handley to wipe her nose because of her little cold.  Every time she would tell me that she didn't like tissues so my mom told her about handkerchiefs and how ladies used to use them instead of kleenex.  Handley was baffled by the idea of not throwing it away so my mom told her that she would send her a few that had belonged to my grandmother.  When the package arrived yesterday Handley was very excited.

I was happy that she had something so special that used to belong to my grandmother.  Handley wiped her nose with one of them once (although she didn't need to) and then asked if I could help her fold it back up so she could put it in her jewelry box (where she keeps all of her special things).