Blessings

Just a few of the blessings we will enjoy while daddy is gone....

Mommy gets to take up the WHOLE bed without worry of pushing M out of bed.  This is a nightly frustration for him.

This trip away is great for daddy's career.

We will definitely be relying on the body of Christ, that is always good for the soul.

Separations make the heart grow fonder right?  The Marine Corps. is definitely skilled at keeping up spice and excitement in the marriage.

We have a trip to Australia to look forward to when daddy gets back.  L is SOOOOOO excited about going to visit grandma and grandpa in Australia.  These children have more stamps in their passport than most adults!

Mama is independent so we should be able to survive just fine.  The thriving part is what we are shooting for.

Daddy gets to know how much we love and appreciate him!  We will most certainly be letting him know more than usual how much love in our hearts we have for him.  Between notes, letters, cards, emails, and FB, he will know we are thinking of him.

Since my goal is to upload pics each day so daddy can see what the kiddos are up to, all the grandmas get to have more frequent pics of the kids as well.

The $$$ is definitely alright.  We will hopefully be able to set aside a good amount to help towards buying a house when we get back to the states.

The boys are not old enough to really miss daddy.  They absolutely know something is up and will be asking for him, but L is the one comprehending.  So the boys adjustment should be easier.

I am so grateful that today's deployments are not like they were in WW II.  Then guys were gone for years and you never really knew where they were or what they were doing.  You might get a letter, but it would months upon months old.  Now we have FB, email and SKYPE.  We have video equipment and recordings.  The deployments are so much shorter!  So thankful to be a military family now rather than 60 years ago!

M got few extra uniform supplies at no cost to our family...that was a bonus.  Since Officers don't get a uniform allowance and the uniforms are a bit expensive, free to our family is always good.

L and Connor are very very very independent children.  They need no one and no body.  That personality will make the transition easier.  As long as Caleb has mama, he is fine.

10 hours per week of free-to-our-family child care at the Child Development Center.  I am so grateful to have a bit of free childcare!  That means I will have time to grocery shop and run errands all by myself!!!

The friends we have here in Okinawa are amazing!

Just a few of the good things to be thankful for!  Have a good day!

Bye Bye Daddy

Our Daddy chain starts on the Daddy wall.  The map of where daddy will be with his pic and the clock set to the Middle East.  One link for each day until we see our precious daddy again!

Clearly the chain wraps around the whole living room.

Grandma Reynolds requested a video of the boys walking, so here you go grandma. 

 I was attempting to take a cute photo of Caleb.  He wanted the camera so he just screamed at me instead of being cute.

Very very angry!

Connor is such a ham.  He was chasing balls all over the house, pausing for a moment to be cute.

My Mother's Day crafts from L.  Plus a few extra projects she has made.

The Birthday cards that have come in the mail already.

More walking

 M has recorded many books on video so the kids can hold the book while he reads.  He has a CD of daddy/daughter music in L's CD player.  We think we are ready for this.  Of course this deployment also hits me at odd times.

Today I was walking through the grocery store (kid-free).  I was looking for a few things M needed for packing and I starting loosing it.  I realized these were the last things he needed to pack away and also that the food I was buying he would not be here to eat it.  My heart was racing and my breathing was labored.  Maybe the beginnings of a panic attack?  I talked myself through it and calmed down with a few tears in my eyes.  He is leaving.  He will be gone for quite a while.  I have to figure out how to do 3 kids on my own.

Please continue prayers, love, cards and encouragement!

We are so blessed to have such an awesome daddy who we will miss.  Our daddy blesses us each and every day!  He loves the kids!  He loves me!  He has dedicated his life to loving, providing and protecting us!!!  Thank you God for the blessing of having a man in our life who we will miss oh so much!

Night Away

M and I got to go away last Friday night.  We stayed at the Kafuu Resort which was amazing.  The Japanese bed was of course too short for M, his feet were hanging of of the bed.  However, the bed was wide enough that M could sleep diagonally and still we had plenty of room.  We checked into our fabulous room and went to dinner.  After dinner we had a couple's massage and then back to the room we disappeared for the night.  We enjoyed an ocean view and room service.  We slept late and enjoyed the huge tub.  We are so grateful to our friend who made this night possible by watching our 3 little monsters.  It was a perfect way to have time to say our goodbyes.  We now have this beautiful memory of our time together to carry us through his time away.

Double Walkers

I have a silly little song that goes something like this:

"Double the love, double the joy
Double the smiles and double the trouble.
Double the love and double the giggles.
Double, double, double, double double the love"

It's a goofy song I made up and sing to the boys.  Well, now we double walkers.  The boys hardly crawl anymore at all.  They are walking and toddling all over the place.  We still use the stroller to get in and out of the apartment building since the boys are easily distracted when left to their own devices.

Things have been very very busy here lately.  The kids all got lice (mama included).  We are so good at sharing!  So it was several weeks of looking through L's hair several times per day.  You know Caleb was shaved bald and about 25 loads of laundry later we are clear.  That is not an insect I would wish on someone I dislike.  I would wish it on my worst enemy, but only the worst.

L, daddy and I did Easter eggs while the boys napped.  Lots of fun decorating!

Of course we are also getting daddy ready to go.  He has been working many hours --- at work by 4 am every day this week!  His time is very precious so we have been attempting to get in as much family time as possible. M has been so great at putting in long and sometimes stressful days and then coming home and making sure to give our family focused attention.  He doesn't have much to spare by the time his head hits the pillow.  But we certainly appreciate him making sure we have lots of good memories before he goes.

The boys are talking lots...mama, dada, ball, and so on.  They love being tortured playing with big sister.  She gives them many hours of smiles while she dances around.  She can be very entertaining and she LOVES an audience so this works out well for all 3 kids.

L has been having a rough time with the idea of daddy going.  She keeps trying to figure out when he is going, if mommy is going, how long he'll be gone, and what are we doing while daddy is gone.  She has had quite a few accidents and crying.  So please pray that as head into our time without daddy, that I have patience for her and for her to have peace of mind and heart.  One week ago she spent 6 hours crying and screaming because she was so frustrated.  After some chatting with family members we figured out some better ways to support her.  She has been even keel (sp) since.  Though I know tough days will come for both of us.

Our plan to thrive while daddy is away includes:

We do have a 180 constructions paper link chain all over the living room.  Each night we will rip one link off of the chain.

We have a Daddy wall where the chain starts.  A map is up with a picture of daddy taped to where he will be with a clock set to his time zone.  On the wall I am hanging up all of the encouraging cards we get (thank you Sharon for sending the first card) around the map.  My house is starting to look like a preschool classroom with the chain and L's Mother's Day art work up also, but what can I do.  This is who I am!

Each kid has a "Daddy Doll."  It has a full picture of M on the pillow with a voice recorder of daddy talking to them.

Daddy has read into the Hallmark recordable books so the kids will get to hear him lots.

Anytime we get sad about daddy being away, we shout "MUSIC!", turn the music on very loudly, and then dance around the house.  All 3 kids seem to really enjoy this one.

Mommy and L are planning to get pedicures once per month together to celebrate our time together.

A few pic to share with you...

Totally random pic of Connor.  He and his brother like to pick up a phone or remote and "call daddy."

I am sure you can figure out this is L and I coloring the Easter eggs.  After days upon days of quizzing asking her what Easter is about, she finally answers with "When Jesus died."  

So maybe we are getting through? 

Never mind the white trash bra straps sticking out -- I always try to look my worst when I know we are doing a "photo worthy" activity.  Not sure how I plan that out, but you know...I have twins...which is my answer for anything unimpressive about my appearance ;).  

She is a little expressive.  Think she gets that from M?

 Finished project.

Alright, my kids have been watching Little Einstiens while I tip this out, so time to be a mama again.