He's Home!

It's been almost a week now since Phil came home. It's been such a relief! We're getting back into our own feeling of normal. The day of his homecoming was quite a day!

We woke up at 4:30 in the morning and hustled to get ready and out the door. Once we got there we waited... and waited...

...and waited!
Finally guys started to come in. I started to cry. I couldn't help myself.
I saw all of the guys I know come in. I pointed some in the direction of their family and kept waiting. The boys were so impatient. They couldn't wait for Daddy to get there!
Finally... we saw him.

It was still so crazy with all sorts of people coming in and going out and moving all around.

I held it together perfectly fine... until I saw this:

and this:

I tried to give them time. After all, they have been missing Phil so much lately. I wanted them to have their moment.

Of course they couldn't have him all to themselves forever.

And then there was the kiss. The one and only kiss that could make almost 7 months of deployment okay.
Yep. That was one good kiss!

Then it was time to return to functioning as a 4 person family.

And that is really what we've been doing ever since!

The Package

This came in the mail for me yesterday among other things.
Be still my heart!
I know.
I'm a lucky girl.
Oh yeah!
The boys got some things too.

 I was actually a good Mom and let them open the box. It was for Jeremiah's birthday, after all.
Jeremiah found this little guy in there for him:

A while ago I sent a couple books to Phil and this box contained those couple of books being returned with a thumb drive with videos of him. So tonight Daddy did storytime with the boys.

They loved it! The questions about when Daddy is coming home came up all over again but you could tell they felt like Daddy had been around in a way they hadn't felt in a while. It was a really special treat on an evening when Mommy was struggling.
One more day is done. One more day closer to homecoming.

A Story

One of the things we've done to help the boys feel connected to Daddy when he's gone is to write a story back and forth. Each will add a bit then we'll send it along and wait to get a new piece back from Daddy. We finally decided to bring it to a close the other day. Here is their story all finished:

There once were two little boys, brothers in fact that loved to have adventures. The brother's liked to run and to play all day long. One day, a very hot and sunny day, the two boys decided to do something really, really special. And so, they built a rocket ship in their backyard.

The rocket ship was sooo big! It was bigger than both brothers together, it was bigger than a car, it was bigger than their house, it was 19 feet tall! And can you guess what the boys named the rocket ship?
They named it Cranky. They painted it blue with red, yellow and black spots. Because they loved having adventures so much they decided to take a ride in their blue, red, yellow and black rocket.


It flew high, high, high into the air when they realized they forgot to put a steering wheel in the rocket. So it went down, down, down straight into a volcano! Fortunately the boys made the rocket fire proof.

Cranky crashed into the volcano so fast that the volcano erupted shooting the rocket and the boys back high in to the air. It was then that the brother's remembered that they had made Cranky and they could make something to make the rocket steer so they made a steering wheel and were able to fly the rocket anywhere they wanted to go.

But, the boys decided that they needed to stop at home to get their dog and some ice cream so they landed the rocket right back in the back yard.

The boys ate their chocolate ice cream with M&M's on it. They put their dog in the blue, red, yellow and black rocket ship.

When they were back on the rocket they decided that it would be fun to fly in to space.
They flew so high that they met an astronaut and an alien. Actually, they met a LOT of aliens! 19 of them.
They took their seat belts off and were able to float all over inside of Cranky. They had a lot of fun doing that!

After they were done floating around, one of the aliens asked if the boys would like to come to their planet that was covered in slides and swings and stuff. Their planet was one GIANT playground.
The boys went and played and saw that there were also houses there and each house had a backyard. The aliens in the houses had horseshoes and fireplaces and kitchens with ovens and bedrooms and beds in the bedrooms and hallways and some had stairs and computers.

The boys even had fun letting their dog and the alien's dogs play together and run around.

The aliens and the boys got hungry so the aliens got out their Halloween candy and they all had a piece.

After they all had a piece of candy the boys thought that maybe they should get home before their mom started to get sad that they were gone. So, they got back in to Cranky with their dog and headed home. On the way home though, they had to find a place to get some gas for Cranky.

So they stopped at a gas station. But not a earth gas station. A space gas station. It was an outer space Quick Trip. Then they decided that they had to go home but they went a little too fast so they had to stop a second time to get gas!

After stopping to get gas one more time, the two boys and their dog finally got home where their mom had dinner waiting for them.

After they had dinner and took a bath, they sat with mommy for a story and then went off to bed. Sleep well boys. Daddy loves you both!

Soccer Clinic and Halfway Party

Saturday was a pretty busy day for us compared to normal. It started bright and early with a soccer clinic.
We switched organizations this season. We just couldn't afford what it was costing to go with the really popular one here so I started asking around. Low and behold there is a homeschool soccer organization called B.E.A.C.H. 
I was initially a little hesitant. After all, I don't want the boys completely sheltered from normal society. Our registration cost was half what it was with the other organization and from their website it seemed there is more an emphasis on helping develop the kids rather than just letting them play. So we tried it.

This Saturday was the clinic that starts off their soccer season.
Joshua is playing with a 5-7 year old boys team and Jeremiah is playing with the 4 year old soccer tots. They seem to really like it so far.

Hopefully they'll still like it when they have to get up and ready every Saturday morning!
Later the same day was the Halfway party for our squadron.

 It's technically more than halfway but it was nice to celebrate anyway!

So we should be on the downhill slope of this deployment... in theory.
Hope you all had a great weekend as well!

Getting Ready to Go

The boys and I are heading out on a road trip tomorrow. After the boys made a few comments yesterday about wishing "we could be 4" and missing Daddy I decided to bring "Daddy" along. I found this at Target around Christmas time. It's a Mighty World toy.

It reminded me so much of Phil I bought it for his stocking. I bought another one the other day on sale at Target so we're going to take him with us. The boys are excited! Hopefully we'll get some cute pictures along the way.

Maybe it will feel a little more like Daddy is getting to enjoy the adventure along with us.

Phil Being Awesome

I thought you'd like to know a bit about what Phil has accomplished this deployment.
Phil earned 2 new ensignias for his uniform. He already had 2 from his first command. They symbolize a specialty in a certain area. He already earned a Surface Warfare Pin (ESWS) and an Air Warfare pin (EAWS) while he was on his first ship. It was an aircraft carrier.

Now he's at a different kind of command and so eligible for different specialist pins. He earned his Boat Captain pin first. It's something he's always wanted but was afraid he wouldn't have the opportunity to get it, so it's pretty cool. In it's metal form it looks like this:

His is the silver one. He couldn't put that one on, though, until he earned his Expeditionary Warfare pin. For this one you have a "board" as well as a test where you're asked a bunch of questions orally. He thought he'd have a few more weeks to study for the board after he passed the test but they surprised him and a couple others by scheduling him for the next day. He passed! I'm so proud of him! Now he gets to wear this one as well:

The picture at the top and below you can see these new patches in their embroidered version on his desert uniform.

I'm so proud of how Phil has been handling this deployment. He's been keeping his chin up and continuing to push himself even in difficult circumstances. I can't wait for him to come home!

Riverines in the News

This isn't Phil specifically but I thought you would enjoy it anyway.

What a Day!

Yesterday there was another knock at my door. I'm starting to get used to this!
This time it was another super special delivery! I opened the door to a white styrofoam box from Omaha Steaks.

Can a girl get any more spoiled??

Jeremiah couldn't help himself. He opened it right up! We found steaks and chicken and burger and potatoes... and the crowd favorite around here: Hot dogs!!
The person who sent this amazing gift to me I have known my entire life. I miss seeing her quite a bit.
She passed along through my Mom that she had sent this to let me know that she's thinking about me and the sacrifices I am making.
Now here is where I try not to cry (even though you wouldn't see me even if I did). It's so easy to feel like you become invisible during times like this. There are a lot of organizations out there doing what they can to help families back home and that's great. For me, though, it is a whole different animal when someone I know personally recognizes the struggle we're going through as a family.
I'm not sure what else to say other than Thank you, Mary, for this amazing gift. It means so much more than just help with figuring out what's for dinner. I'll be thinking of you every time we eat something you sent... and I can't wait to start because I hear this stuff is delicious! You are amazing!
Oh and P.S.

The dry ice that came in the box was a lot of fun too!

Where's Stanley?

The boys have been really into Look and Find Books lately. So with that in mind, Stanley decided to play a game with the boys. Your job is to find Stanley in these pictures (some will be easier than others).

Stanley says, "Drink lots of water! It's HOT!"

G.I. Joe

Yep. That's my husband. How is it he gets about 40x more attractive in uniform? I mean, I'm lucky enough to be married to a ruggedly handsome and strong silent type anyway... but then you put him in uniform and wow!

 

*sigh* Can anyone blame me now for wanting to follow this man all over God's green earth??
No? Didn't think so.

How about this?
God bless America!
That's all I have to say about that.
That and sorry for the guy in front who's getting in the way... and the creepy guy in the back.

This man right here needs to hurry up and come home! I have a need to make him some cookies and brownies.

A Picture from the Sandbox

We got this picture from Phil just the other day in an email. Isn't modern technology wonderful?!

Boy do I ever miss this man!

Skype

Tonight we had a date. Phil was going to call about 6 o'clock so I could open the gifts he had ordered before he left while on the phone with him. That didn't exactly work out. We talked for maybe a few minutes and were disconnected probably a half dozen times. Not our idea of a good time.
So Phil decided to bite the bullet and pay for his own internet connection. So what happens then? Skype. That's what! We got to video "chat" with Phil. I use these "" because we did most of the talking. Phil had the other guys who were asleep in his tent to consider.
This picture makes me really really happy.
The end.

Saying Goodbye

Why do I have time to start catching up? Because we've finally reached D-day (deployment day).
This morning we dropped Phil off to catch a bus that would lead to a flight out of our country and onto another.
He'll be gone about 7 months, give or take. We're all handling it well so far but we have a long way to go, of course. We're taking it day by day. Right now is the end of day one. Tomorrow is another day.
For now... here are our pictures from this morning!

The Impending Deployment

I couldn't figure out why I wasn't as excited about Christmas as I usually get during the holidays. I did whatever I could to try and help but I just wasn't feeling it. One day I was finally able to own up to what was keeping me down and it had nothing to do with the holidays and everything to do with what came after them.
Phil will be deploying later this year for a while. We've known it was coming but since it was in the next year it was easy to put off thinking about it. Whenever the thought crossed my mind I told myself I'd deal with it after the holidays. I didn't really want the holidays to come this year because I knew after they were over there would be so little between us and another longer separation. Once this realization finally hit me I was able to cope with it and enjoy the season a little more. Now that the season has passed, I'm feeling a bit more prepared to handle the mental preparation that has already begun.
After Christmas I picked up a copy of Jane Eyre. It's a book I've been meaning to read for a while now. Several chapters in I ran across a quote that has definitely stuck with me.
" I, that evening, shut my eyes resolutely against the future: I stopped my ears against the voice that kept warning me of near separation and coming grief."
I could never have put it so eloquently but that is exactly what I had done and what I continue to do in part. We deal with what needs to be dealt with and process it all a little bit at a time. But for the most part, that flood of emotions gets held at bay by exactly that: "shutting my eyes resolutely to the future." Well, at least for now.