Its been two months

I wanted to post a quick message to those that may be interested in our endeavors as a deployed family.  Two months has now passed since Keith has left.  My two year old has stopped asking for dada every time he wakes up and goes to bed.  My six year old has grown accustomed to all of Moms dinners and sometimes very short temper.  We have been lucky enough this fourth of July weekend to have him home for a short liberty before he heads over to the middle east.  We have planned to plan nothing and have done nothing so far.  I know this weekend will go all to fast and be over before we know it.  Hudson woke up this morning and I surprised him with his daddy home!  He was so happy and loved him for the longest time.  Faith can't get off We have had many trials, and many mountains and each storm that we encounter seems impossible to pass through.   I want to be better at documenting this journey again.  Unfortunately my time seems so very limited while home alone.  Being the sole caregiver for all owies, hunger pains and monters under the bed, really cuts into all "me" time.  I have managed to continue to scrapbook but not nearly as much as I would like. 

The kids and I just got back from our second trip of our summer plans.  First one was to our great great bestest friends in Northern WA.  We went to help celebrate a birthday and hang with friends for a few days.  Then headed home for a couple days to turn around and head to Northern California for nearly a week of camping, horseback riding and swimming at a friends Ranch.  The kids just loved the horses and Faith found a new love for riding, and appreciation for those massive animals.  They can be very intimidating but I am very proud of her getting on that horse and letting it know who was boss. 

We headed home for a few days to visit with Keith to turn around and soon will be taking off for our road trip for two weeks to southern CA. 

I am totally looking forward to all of our upcoming summer trips.  We still have our trip to the beach with my mother and father in law and our trip to Canada with a friend and her children to site see and faith is enrolled in a horseback riding camp for her birthday. 

So we have some traveling coming up and a lot of adventures in line for the kiddos.  I am so grateful to keep our schedules full so we will not be sitting around wondering about Keith and what he is doing and when we will talk next.  I know that the next year will surely fly by, but of course as we go through it, the world seems to turn so slowly.  I try to remember to cherish each moment and that they will not stay little for so long yet somewhere deep inside I can't wait to have my family back together for good and not have to worry and or wonder what the next day holds for our family. 

Shortly after Keith deployed we recieved a $500 grant from this fantastic foundation called Our military kids that provides grant money to children of deployed reservists and national guard to allow them to participate in extracurricular activities while loved ones are gone.  We have been very blessed before Faiths cheerleading season even begins to have put that $500 down and a few weeks later to receive another $250 from Faiths dentist.  Now before practice has begun we are half way to paying her whole season. 

Around father day, I entered a photo of Keith with Faith walking down a peir at Whidbey Island WA, and won 3rd place!  That 3rd place deliverd a $50 Target Gift Card!  I plan to use that  for activities for the kids while we are driving to CA to see Keith off before he heads over seas.  So if you have a chance run over to their website, Our Military Kids, and see just how awesome this organization is.

So with that said, I am up to date minus a few storms we have had to wither that I won't bother getting into.  We miss having Keith around daily and almost every moment however each day passes and we grow stronger and closer to seeing him again!

Here are a few photos from Operation deployment 2010-2011!

  

Smile Bright by Melissa Daniel Designs at Polka Dot Plum

I've had these pages completed for a while and feel awful about having not posted before now. But for all the reasons I have in my book, I'll spare you the excuses and just let you know where you can find this fab kit! Run over to Melissa Daniel's blog and/or over to polka dot plum and grab it! She also created a pastel colored one that is not as bright but I just loved this bright one and I had no time to play with the other one so here is what you get and the four pages I was able to accomplish from our last trip to disney!