Regretting our Decision??

Yesterday was G's official birthday. She's now ten, double digits, buddy! Don't call her a tween though because she'll say, "MOOOMMMM! I hate that word, don't ever say it again!" So, of course I respected her request. Ha, no I didn't, I spent the rest of the day being an immature mom and calling her a tween every chance I could. Her grandpa came up from Alabama to visit and celebrate G's birthday with us. We had a very nice day.

A's best friend mailed her a Christmas gift to her grandpa's house, so he brought the package up with him. A eagerly opened the box and inside found a super adorable penguin hat and a note. She opened the note and had me read it to her because there was a lot of writing on it. It was the sweetest note I've ever read. Basically, A's friend repeatedly said how much she missed all the good times the girls had together and how she'll remember those good times forever. She told A that she missed her very much but was happy for her. She also said she hopes to Skype all the time so they can still see each other. About half way through the letter A burst into tears. It was heartbreaking. I think everyone in this tiny RV got a little teary-eyed and sad for A.

The note made me think maybe we made the wrong choice. I'm sort of regretting taking the girls away from their friends. All three of the older kids had amazing friends back home. The girls chose excellent children to befriend. Their friends were all kind, caring, responsible and respectful. Their friends cared about school and were just good kids. I feel like taking them away from these kids was a bad idea.

I honestly hated where we lived. I loved the street we lived on, but our house was old and full of problems. We lived in the mountains and Rob had to commute over an hour and a half to work each way. Sometimes it would take him even longer, so we rarely had time with him. We would sweat to death in the summer because the mountain homes weren't built with central air. In the winter we would lose power for days due to the snow. We couldn't afford to move closer to Rob's work, unfortunately Orange County, California is extremely overpriced!

The girls were happy, though. So, now I'm left feeling like maybe I should have sucked it up and stayed on that mountain for their entire school lives, just to keep them happy! I hope that once we find a house and get the girls back in public school maybe their homesickness (and mine) will lessen. I know they will miss their friends but I think that once they have the opportunity to meet new kids they might start feeling a little better.

L has known her best friend since kindergarten and they have stayed friends through a lot of things. I think they will be lifelong friends! G has a best friend back home too, and she loves and misses her very much, I hope they stay friends forever, too. I know A will do everything she can to stay in contact with her best friend from home. Soon, they will have even more friends to add to their lists, and hopefully the kids they meet here in Tennessee will be just as good as the ones back home!

The girls with their BFFs before leaving on our trip. We are only missing one person, H, who is like family but she lives "down the hill" so she wasn't in on this crazy, spur of the moment party! But, we did spent time with H before leaving!