Those people don't live here anymore

I don't know if you noticed, but I changed the picture up top.  Some things are the same.  My hair- basically the same.  My weight, oh, I'm probably 10 lbs heavier.  Allie's dress- same one, only shorter.  This time Andie's the one with the wet hair, instead of Allie.  Colton- slightly bigger, more mischievous version of the same thing.  Casey- never changes much- how lucky am I?  I think he's even wearing the same tie.  So what's changed?  Check out the two teenagers.  They weren't in the last picture.  There were two gawky, slightly awkward kids where they now stand. As I looked at these two pictures side by side, that is what struck me the most.  I was at least a head taller than Kenny in the old picture.  Now he's only a quarter inch shorter than me.  And Susie- what can I say?  She's so pretty now!  But what's really amazing is how much I like them.  I really, really like them!  I know that raising teenagers won't be without it's challenges- but can I say how cool it is to have them around?  Lately, I've been having a really hard time getting a decent dinner on the table.  I just don't seem to have the required oomph left in me by dinnertime.  So today, I did manage to throw a little chicken in the oven in the afternoon, in the hopes that I might be ambitious enough to throw it into a salad for dinner.  5 o'clock rolls around, and Susie says "what's for dinner?"  My rather unenthusiastic reply "um, I was thinking about chicken yum-yum salad" (thinking about, but not really wanting to make).  Susie responds "Great!  Can I make it?"  What can I say- YOU BETCHA!  And Kenny- well, he actually answered me agreeably a few times today, and helped out without whining when asked.  Will wonders never cease.