Missing my Babies

Ok, so they aren't babies anymore but even at 11 and 13 I miss them when they aren't around for very long. I'm sure they are having fun and will be for the next month but it sure is noticeable that they aren't home. It's unusually quiet and there are a lot less chores to be done. I haven't once had to fuss about their rooms being clean. I wake up each day listening to see if one of the older kids has gotten up and started watching TV or gotten on the computer then I remember that they aren't here. I miss having conversations with them. Shawn is getting to the age where we can really talk about things. We've been enjoying playing a computer game together and have been giving each other hints and sending items in the mail to each other. Makayla spent the last week playing with Phalyn so much so he wouldn't miss her that I think he misses her even more. He's uncertain about where they are. At times he thinks they just haven't come home from church yet and at other times he knows where they went. He is too young at three to have a concept about how far away they really are. He knows he can talk to them on the phone but none of that makes up for how much he misses them. It's evident in his moments of silence where he just sits alone and stares blankly at a cartoon and sighs or when he's laying on the floor drawing in his coloring book and quietly utters his feelings: "I miss Shawn and Makayla." It's only been three days, roughly twenty-five to go.