Last night was dance and Jujitsu for Courtney and Hunter. Grandmom was able to sit in the studio last night and watch Courtney dance, so we have some great pictures of our little tap dancing-jazz-ballerina. You might notice a HUGE hole in her tights...yes, I do buy my daughter nice, new tights, but she goes through more than I would have ever dreamed possible! Last night was only her second time to wear that particular pair; added to my Target list today: tights! Maybe I should consider buying stock in one of the companies...
While Courtney danced, Hunter and I went to Jujitsu. He had a great fight and is gaining great experience from all the new fighters in the class, two of which have a Judo background. We are sad, however, that one of his good buddies is taking a break for baseball season and will not be back until June. On the way home, we continued our new tradition and listened to "Ghostbusters" on my iPod!
And while Hunter and Courtney did their activities, Graham did his activities with Grandad (one of his favorite people in the world!). This morning, Graham left the house dressed as a cowboy for "Western Day" at school. He was the cutest little cowboy since Hunter was in pre-K, if I do say so myself. Trust me, it took some convincing to get him to wear the hat and bandanna, but he did! For some reason, he thinks cowboys are "old"...go figure!
While life goes on for us out of necessity, the kids and I find ourselves dealing with a variety of emotions while Chad is deployed. For the most part, we have adjusted to a temporary "normal" without Chad, but there are days and moments when each of feel his absence so deeply that we aren't sure we will survive. Last night was one of those times for Hunter. Hunter has been so brave about this situation and truly has been a young man any dad would be proud of. He is proud of his daddy and believes in what he does as a Navy officer and a doctor. Last night, however, he came to me and said, "When will dad be home?" It actually caught me off guard because he doesn't talk about the deployment that often. I could tell he was struggling, fighting back tears, which left me speechless for a minute and caused me to think about what might be going through his mind. He buried his head on my shoulder for a few minutes, and we talked about how much time has already passed and how we are nearing a significant portion being completed. I am thankful that he was able to bounce back quickly, because there are only so many moments of my kids feeling "lost" without their daddy that I can handle. It breaks my heart to see them hurt right now, but I am proud of how strong they are becoming, facing things most kids their ages will hopefully not have to face. I pray that this experience will teach them to consider others and what they might be going through before making judgments and casting stones...there is a lot to say about thinking about the roads people travel before you decide how they should act, feel, look, or talk. We are certainly experiencing one aspect of this now; some days, we just don't how we should act, feel, look, or talk without Chad here.
Chad, I know you worry about all you are missing, but I can assure you, the four of us have a huge place in our hearts and in our home that is waiting for you to come back and fill. Before you know it, it will be time for us to make "Welcome Home" signs to take to the airport...what a wonderful day that will be! We love you so much...
While Courtney danced, Hunter and I went to Jujitsu. He had a great fight and is gaining great experience from all the new fighters in the class, two of which have a Judo background. We are sad, however, that one of his good buddies is taking a break for baseball season and will not be back until June. On the way home, we continued our new tradition and listened to "Ghostbusters" on my iPod!
And while Hunter and Courtney did their activities, Graham did his activities with Grandad (one of his favorite people in the world!). This morning, Graham left the house dressed as a cowboy for "Western Day" at school. He was the cutest little cowboy since Hunter was in pre-K, if I do say so myself. Trust me, it took some convincing to get him to wear the hat and bandanna, but he did! For some reason, he thinks cowboys are "old"...go figure!
While life goes on for us out of necessity, the kids and I find ourselves dealing with a variety of emotions while Chad is deployed. For the most part, we have adjusted to a temporary "normal" without Chad, but there are days and moments when each of feel his absence so deeply that we aren't sure we will survive. Last night was one of those times for Hunter. Hunter has been so brave about this situation and truly has been a young man any dad would be proud of. He is proud of his daddy and believes in what he does as a Navy officer and a doctor. Last night, however, he came to me and said, "When will dad be home?" It actually caught me off guard because he doesn't talk about the deployment that often. I could tell he was struggling, fighting back tears, which left me speechless for a minute and caused me to think about what might be going through his mind. He buried his head on my shoulder for a few minutes, and we talked about how much time has already passed and how we are nearing a significant portion being completed. I am thankful that he was able to bounce back quickly, because there are only so many moments of my kids feeling "lost" without their daddy that I can handle. It breaks my heart to see them hurt right now, but I am proud of how strong they are becoming, facing things most kids their ages will hopefully not have to face. I pray that this experience will teach them to consider others and what they might be going through before making judgments and casting stones...there is a lot to say about thinking about the roads people travel before you decide how they should act, feel, look, or talk. We are certainly experiencing one aspect of this now; some days, we just don't how we should act, feel, look, or talk without Chad here.
Chad, I know you worry about all you are missing, but I can assure you, the four of us have a huge place in our hearts and in our home that is waiting for you to come back and fill. Before you know it, it will be time for us to make "Welcome Home" signs to take to the airport...what a wonderful day that will be! We love you so much...
I totally understand about Hunter. Thomas had one of those days the other day, it was actually the first day that he actually broke down and cried. He's very slowly understanding what is going on but luckily gets distracted by our day to day lives. Almost 2 months gone, we're making some good progress!
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