Things I miss about my kids while I'm away:

Sassafras
1. How helpful/loyal/kind/generous she is.
2. The rich dark color of her hair and eyes. How pretty Sass is takes my breath away.
3. Her laugh when something is unexpectedly funny.
4. Her ideas about life.
5. Discussing books with her.

Pickles
1. His curious curious questions.
2. His round cheeks.
3. His hug-a-minute ness
4. How even when he smells like 3-day old overcooked bellybutton, I know where his still smelling good spots are.
5. How sweet he is with the Hamster

Bud
1. His freckles. Oh! His freckles!
2. You know how some kids are snuggle-bears or snuggle-bunnies? Bud is a snuggle-porcupine. The kid is all elbows and knees. And I miss that.
3. He understands and uses puns. He's 5!
4. His quest for justice for all, even though it's usually slanted a little his way. (he is 5 after all)
5. How much he loves me. I've never gotten so many I-love-you notes from anyone.

the Hamster
1. His blue eyes. I could lose an hour or so in them, if he'd let me.
2. The baby that's still in his chubby elbows, thighs, nibblelicious neck, shallow dimples, and raspberry-worthy belly.
3. How much he loves fruit. The kid could put away half a watermelon alone... and he has!
4. Watching him morph from a baby to a big boy. It's painful, beautiful, and amazing.
5. His devotion to Sassafras, his mini-mom.

and so many other things...

Hamster and Rowlf
A boy and a dog (and a half)
*the paper airplane was made by the little boy, the chewed egg carton all over the floor was hopefully done by the dog*

*PollyAnna warning*

I'm about to play the glad game, so if you've just eaten sugar, this post may put you into a diabetic coma. (Sorry too any readers who actually are in a coma, no offense)

My truck decided to stop making gasoline go to the engine when I pushed the pedal. In short, the pedal went floppy.

BUT,
I'm glad I was going downhill at the time. Can you imagine how nasty that could have been for a half-ton vehicle on ice?
I'm glad it was the gas pedal instead of the brake pedal. I don't even want to imagine that one.
I'm glad I was on my way to pick up my kids at my friend's house. She usually works on Wednesdays, so otherwise I would have been screwed. AND, we had a warm safe place to wait.
I'm glad I get AAA every Easter from my mother. Thanks again Mom.
I'm glad Hamster was at his awesome preschool so I didn't have to worry about where he was either.
I'm glad the tow-truck driver had the most awesome mullet I've ever seen. It's an image I will hold onto forever, so I can think about it in inappropriate situations and chuckle.
I'm glad said friend was willing to give me a ride to pick up Hamster, AND take me to Hertz to get a rental car.
I'm glad the Hertz guy gave me a discount on top of the AAA discount.
I'm glad the car I got seats 6, since most cars seat 5, and vans are too expensive to rent for just a few days at a time.
I'm glad I have two other friends who immediately came over to examine the problem
I'm glad it had stopped snowing before they came over.
I'm glad the problem was just the tiny clamp on the throttle cable and not a $2000 issue.

I'm glad I'm in bed next to my sweet sweet Bud while he falls asleep on my shoulder.