Back home

Yes, it was very nice to spend time with Helen and William. Thursday to Thursday.
Allegiant non-stop RIC to BNA. Very reasonable. The rented car not so much. But here it is and it was easy and convenient to just pick it up and be at the house in 10 minutes. William liked the red car.

First thing on the agenda: re-arranging the guest room. I will sleep with William. Helen and William have moved into the townhouse until their house is fixed. Ben is at the farmhouse.

Good Friday

William was at the farmhouse with Ben so Helen and I went shopping. The disadvantage when you lose weight is that you need new clothes. Helen has lost a total of 80+ pounds and looks stunning. We were very successful and enjoyed lunch at a sushi place. The appetizer was an avocado salad. I think James would like it too with soy sauce etc.

Saturday

Ben brought William to the townhouse on Saturday evening. We were very happy that William was  with us on Easter Sunday. Bedtime means more reading. Btw that quilt is an "I spy..." I made for him a few years ago. The week went so fast that we never got around to play that.

Helen had given William an Easter gift which hangs on the Wall. The note says that it needs a photo with him and his dad. It was my job to help William to select a photo. He picked this one from Ben's facebook because the dog Jack had to be in it.

Easter Sunday

Service at Helen's church is at 9 am. Rather early but we made it. The service was very nice. William was very nervous to miss the easter egg hunt but we told him that that was happening after the potluck and there was plenty of time.

The church has 3 or 4 picture windows on each side. I noticed that the Sunday school children had colored the symbols in the middle and they were posted next to each of the windows. What a great idea.

I also noticed that the crosses on the entry wall were new. I love that idea too. They were all so different. You immediately wonder where they are from and what story they would tell if they could.

Potluck was very nice and over. We sat with another couple and their sun Alex which was very nice. But the egg hunt was way too quickly over for William. It's not about the candy for him. The boys took all the sweets out of the eggs and the empty eggs were left in a box in the church. 

In the afternoon William and I made the "rabbits in the grass" as I had promised him. He enjoyed that.

And later again the question came about his chocolate bunny. Well, if it's gone it's gone.

 And of course .... FaceTime with Papa.

Drifter does not seem to feel well. Helen thinks he has an ear infection and she made an appointment for Monday. In the meantime William tries to comfort him.

You can't be in two places at the same time. It would be nice if that was possible but since it is not ... the next best thing is photos. Our church has the ringing of the bells at the first and last hymns on Easter. 

Afterwards there was an egg hunt and photo taking too.

Tuesday 

Last week William had three days of third-grade testing. This week too. Helen had made a star of encouragement each day last week. Today Helen, Ben and I each added another to it. He finds them in different places and then adds them to the front door before he leaves for school.

He wanted to ride in the red car. Omi picked him up from school and we went to an ice cream place. I think it might be his favorite because cartoons are playing on several TVs. 

The test didn't seem to be a big deal to him.

He loves to read. But it's not easy to get him to bed which the school said it was especially important on these test days and there are two more to come: Wednesday and Thursday.

Wednesday

William needed something to leave his stuff (instead on the floor). I had found this shelving unit at ALDI. Helen wasn't sure whether she wanted it but decided "yes" since it was the last day when I could either return it or assemble it.

William helped me. He turned every screw. 

Adding the feet.

Decided what to put where.

Helen had errands to do. So William and I went to HomeDepot. He picked out two flower pots, dirt, plants and seeds.

Next to HomeDepot is Olive Garden. We had a nice dinner. He loves the unlimited bread sticks and salad. His spaghetti we took home in a box.

We had to hurry home. Omi needed to fill the rented car up with gas. And we needed to plant the pots. Salad seeds joined the tomato and giant sunflower seeds joined the basil. Mommy was surprised and happy. A little garden at the townhouse. 

William picking out bedtime reading.

What else? While I was there we also played games. This was a new one Papa had just ordered and I brought it from Virginia. A friend in England with two granddaughters had recommended it. I had read it on her blog. This one is the junior version of the USA. There seem to be a lot of versions. I like it a lot. This day William beat me fair and square. 

Thursday

Time to go home. The alarm rang it 4:30 am. I slept on the downstairs sofa because I didn't want to wake anybody up and sneaked out at 5. I had to return the rented car first. I did a stupid thing. I had not looked at my papers and drove into the Budget place. The attendant tried to scan the car and said "Ma'm, this is not our car". Really? I look at my papers. OMG, how can I be so silly? Wrong place. I had to find my way out again, full circle around the airport and in again. This time to Dollar. Yeah, they wanted it.

I did have plenty of time though, was the fifth in line at Allegiant and they had not even opened the counter yet. After that everything went fine.

The plane landet even a little early and James was waiting for me. When we walked towards the baggage place this picture was in front of us. Difficult taking a photo walking but I could not resist. So cute. We wondered what would happen at the escalator. The boy with his iPad just jumped off.

Helen mailed this photo to me since I missed the 6th and last day of testing. I hope William took all this encouragement to heart. He is a clever boy.

Happy to be home, with James again and close to Sarah and her bunch (by the way she went back to work two nights ago but is still very sore). Needless to say that now I miss Helen and William again very much. Sigh.