Just got off the phone with Mark’s Mom, Mary.  I called her last night to ask for a recipe for her homemade ice cream that Mark remembered enjoying while growing up.  I’m going to buy an ice cream machine.  Madison and friends are coming home for a long 4^th of July Weekend next week and I thought it would be fun for them.  One good thing about a child leaving home for College is that when they do come home it is exciting and fun.  We are all more engaged and present to each other than when they were here day in and day out.

I admit now that Mark and I shamelessly work to make our home “the Kool-Aid house” during the holidays, etc.  We work to selfishly entice the kids to stay here and play as much as possible.  For Reference: The Kool-Aid house is the house all the kids in the neighborhood want to hang out at because it’s fun and the Mom probably is a lot more lenient that she should be.  LOL!  We work to update Video Games, Media Room DVD fun, get current Board Games, a bunch of funny wigs/glasses, of course the pool and cabana up the game quite a bit… We’ve planned cooking classes here at the house (ex. a friend in Frisco taught everyone how to make Egg Rolls and another time, we tried our hand in making homemade pasta – a riot)… And, this week I just added a Karaoke Machine to the mix…

This is Madison’s last summer of College.  She’s a super senior (5^th year in Mechanical Engineering) this next school year at Texas A&M.  We are so proud of her.  She’s interning at a refinery in Texas City and is really enjoying it.  Next year at this time, she’ll be employed and may not be able to even take a vacation for an entire year, as is the case with most 1st year hires.

Kind of sad to think about, but at least I know the value of what I have coming up next week and will revel in every minute of it.  🙂

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• Empty Nest is a Verb, Not a Noun (thisexquisitelife.com)