Here's Looking at You, Kid

And then there were four...

Joshua and I grew up with Tony and Becca. They were our originals and now that they're all done and gone off to pursue their dreams I can't imagine this new life. We have had six kids in the house for awhile now and you just don't get used to the difference. Its been forever since we "just" had four. Its cleaner, quieter, calmer. Most of our friends with kids have two and are "done" now. They talk about how they get "me" time and are enjoying this new phase of life. I wouldn't know...but its different all right.

I catch myself looking over at my Joshua and thinking we finally grew up, we're different people. Hopefully better parents, better partners, and we've proven we can be trusted with long term projects. For 20 years we've been building this family and watching it grow. Now the kids are starting to leave and I know that they will be bringing back more to our group, but for now it feels oddly disjointed with the paring down of my daily routine. Its a stretching and a pulling to fit into a new way of doing things. My middles are my big kids now. Onward and upward, Goodman clan.