How do you know Mom's been gone?

So my precious wife has been gone for her second extended trip back in WA helping her sister who is in her last days of her heroic fight with cancer. I would STRONGLY encourage you to visit her sister's blog to meet this courageous woman @ http://www.rolumpybreast.blogspot.com/ (or just click on the tag towards the bottom on the right of our blog list). It's great that Chauntel can be there with her family and serve her sister and her sister's family at this time. We have been praying for Aunt Rochelle in every one of our family prayers over the past 5 years, and the kids have great faith that the Lord hears and answers prayers. We have seen many miracles that we directly attribute to the power of a simple prayer, with simple faith, and how that simple act can change the course of life.

With all of this going on, it has been left up to me to run the Logsdon home in the way that Mom has always done. But we have learned that Dad is not Mom, and there is no one that can quite replace our Mom and how she does things. I have come up with some ways that I can tell that Mom has been gone for an extended time. Here they are:

*The magic clothes hamper must be broken, because usually I just throw stuff in there and it washes, folds itself, and makes it's way back into my closet within 48 hours.
*I can go directly to where peanut butter is in the different grocery stores without having to ask for directions.
*I now have Papa Johns Pizza in my phone under "Pizza it is"
*I find myself standing very close to, or just hugging soft things. My wife is soft.
*The kids' teachers ask, "has Mom been out of town?"
*I have learned what my priorities are. Kids' bedtime is at 8:00; unless of course I have my flag football playoffs that night. Bedtime is then at 10:13 on those nights.
*One of the lady's at the game says to her husband, "Chauntel must be out of town b/c Jackson still has the tags on his jeans."
*Jackson tells me the other morning when he wakes up, "Dad, I forgot what brownies taste like" as he's looking at the pan on the counter. I didn't want him to forget how the goodness of brownies taste, so we indulged together.
*I never realized the volume of paperwork that comes home with the kids, and in the mail. It's just all in a pile in the kitchen. I don't know where she puts it all, so in a pile it sits.
*Not as much reading is getting done at night to the kids, but they can tell you the batting order of the TX Rangers.
*Stimulating conversation consists of things like "Guess what? Chicken butt!" and stuff like that.
*The kids can actually take on responsibility and do things they otherwise may not be asked to do. Such as the other night when I didn't know what to make for dinner, so I just told Kayla that she was in charge of feeding us that night. We went to the store and she picked out dinner and made it for us: ham and cheese rolled in crescent rolls, corn on the cob, watermelon, and brownies (that she made). Picture above.
*I find myself thinking about what vegetable goes well with Italian chicken? And then I remember that I don't know how to make Italian chicken, and then we go to Sonic.
*I carry my phone around in the evening from room to room "in case she calls". It's like I'm in the 8th grade and I'm hoping that hot girl in my Science class calls me, even though she doesn't have my number.
*I'm bummed when I get a text and it's not from my wife.

These are just a few of the sure-fire signs that Mom is gone from our home. We are cetainly survivors. We can do it. When the moments do roll around of panic, I just reassure myself that Papa Johns has lots of coupons online, Carla Shields down the street has offered to fix Kayla's hair whenever she needs it, Jackson can sustain himself on cereal alone, and Isaac can actually go 4 days without a bath and still feel great about himself.

We love you Mom and are so happy that you can be with your sister at this time. We miss you a lot!!! I look forward to seeing you (all of you) really soon!