A Business Trip, a Bee, and 5 Bushes

This past week felt a bit like running a marathon.  It wasn't pretty.  There were some euphoric moments, and there were many times I wanted to throw in the towel.  But I kept going--mostly because I didn't have a choice.  And yesterday, I dragged my tired and weary body across the finish line.  And then I took a nap.  :)

Last Sunday Dakota flew to South America for a business trip.  It was the first time he's had to travel for business.  And I got to experience what life as a single parent is like.  Quite honestly, it stinks.  I don't know how single parents out there do it.  To those of you out there who are single parents--you're superheros!

The girls were on an emotional roller coaster throughout the week, wanting their daddy to come home and not understanding why he had to go and we couldn't all be together.

We faced our fair share of struggles during the week.  We had plumbing problems, health problems, bee problems, and attitude problems.

But we also had more than our share of blessings.  A friend referred us to a plumber he works with, saving us at least $200.  Another friend helped watch the kids on very short notice while I went to a doctor appointment.  Yet another friend brought us dinner one night.  And a neighbor came to help take care of our bee problem.

(Early in the week I discovered we had a carpenter bee drilling holes in our upstairs deck.  Below is a picture of one of its holes.  Since I'm allergic to bee stings, I had to find someone else to come do battle with the bee.)

All week, the girls kept busy in the mornings at VBS.  The timing of VBS week couldn't have been better!  It gave me time to run errands with just one kid, which goes a whole lot faster than doing it with three kids!

We prepared a couple of surprises for Dakota while he was gone.  The biggest one was getting some bushes planted in front of our house.  Dakota has had it on his to-do list for about three years now.  I thought it would be nice to get that done for him--one less project on his to-do list when he returned.

Here's a before and after picture.

I picked out the bushes we wanted (which just happened to be on sale the day I went there--almost $15 off each).  And the store was able to recommend a young man trying to start up his own planting business, for getting them installed.  He worked amazingly fast and hardly charged me anything for an hour's work. 

The girls and I spread mulch around them one afternoon.  Emma was more of a let-the-chips-fall-where-they-may kind of spreader.

Whereas Ashlyn was a more calculating and meticulous spreader.

The girls also made a welcome-home poster, as well as a paper chain to decorate the kitchen.  The kids were very excited when Dakota arrived home yesterday--a day they thought would never come. 

I don't have much else to show for the week.  It felt busier than usual, with having to pick up more of the slack around here, so there wasn't a lot of time for extras.  I'll be glad to get back to our "normal" family of five this week.