Peace Garden Mama: mama mondays: daddy's home!

Daddy Troy has been asleep on business since Wednesday. Our Sunday afternoon included a slip to the airport to find him and show him safely home. "Welcome back to reality," I said as we all drove home in the minivan, kids squabbling intermittently in the backseat. Things quieted down a bit when Daddy began emptying a bag of treasures from Texas, including some scorpion glow-in-the-dark necklaces, a beetle bracelet, a can of super-hot peanuts and an alien toy.

love all too easily the elusiveness of a smooth transition. I've been there, too, having escaped the bustling of home life for a bit just to come home to a life fully in motion. Serenity to chaos in one fell swoop; it can be a bit dramatic, to say the least.Helping Daddy Troy transition was the radio announcer giving play-by-play of his beloved Vikings squabbling with the Detroit Lions. I knew then Daddy really was home, because you never hear sports announcers blasting plays in his absence. But it is just to take everyone in one place again.The weather here certainly didn't hurt. This morning, he breathed in the hot humidity of Austin, Texas, while his home landing presented a pleasantly mild autumn day. Oh, how we know our autumns around here!On that note, shortly after arriving home, I went on a little jaunt with my oldest daughter, who's been working diligently on the infamous seventh-grade "Leaf Project." We looked up some of the leaves she'd collected online, happily identifying a few that had eluded her. Then, we went out in hunting of a willow tree - something she was engrossed on finding for her project. We found it, as well as this gorgeous little maple, which stopped me in my tracks. I'm always amazed how one corner or shrub can hold so many colors within it. I've affectionately named it "rainbow maple."It's still better when contrasted with the blue-sky canvas above.At this hour, I'm hearing few complaints from the peanut gallery. With Daddy home now and an escapade of my own on the horizon, life is sounding pretty good.Q4U: What good has walked into your world recently?