HAPPY ST. PATRICKS DAY!!!!

Just like there was lots red on V-day there will be  lots of GREEN today! Green shirts, with green bread for lunch, green eggs and ham for dinner (because it was Dr. Seuss day awhile back). If, I start feeling really brave we might do a green finger painting craft. How are you celebrating? 

Happy Leprechaun day from the Flight Crew

The letter P

      The letter P at our house is obviously, all about Stormin P! He is absolutely ALL boy.  He was a slightly unexpected addition to our family. P has added such a great personality; I don't know how we ever managed without him.
      P is the oldest and he does such a good job at it. He is very protective of Q but, he can be equally bossy to him at times. Q doesn't seem to mind though cause they still play together alot. They are truly each others buddy. Playing cars, reading stories, and exploring the park together.
      Like any kid P loves to play and rough house. He is learning quickly that the bigger boys at the park know how to really play. I'm just hoping it doesn't lead to stitches.
      He is my big helper. P already does a few chores all by himself like unloading the dishwasher, vacuuming and picking up the play room. He loves to help me cook by sprinkling in the spices and dumping in extra ingredients. The best though seems to be mixing. P has become such a good cook that we have let him make dinner pretty much on his own a couple of times now.
      P is Daddy's shadow. He loves to do and, say anything that Daddy does. (BMT has been hard for Daddy's buddy.) P and Daddy play video games, watch movies, build race tracks, dance silly, wrestle, and play rescue heroes together all the time. He loves to cuddle with Daddy. Just like Dad he has to walk around with a blanket wrapped around his shoulders all the time. When it comes to home repairs P is right there handing tools and playing with the drill. This big helper even assisted in changing the oil on the car recently.
      We love him so much and are so proud of all of P's achievements. We can't wait to see all how amazing he will be when he grows up.  With all of his awesome qualities I'm sure he'll move mountains by the time he's done.

One Week Down 7 More To Go

    He has been gone for exactly a week today. It feels SO much longer to me. However, it has been very calm and easy so far. P and Q ask multiple times a day "where is Daddy?" or "when is Daddy coming home?" At first these were really hard questions because, it would make me think of how real it was that M isn't here. It has gotten easier though. I simply answer them by saying Daddy is at work and that he'll be home really soon. Then, we normally find the nearest picture and talk about how proud we are of Daddy and all the other soldiers. We got our postcard from M in the mail yesterday. It simply repeated the same information he had told me on the phone.
    I only have three major questions at this point. The first is obvious Is M ok? I know he's not dead and that they're not beating him or anything like that but I still worry about him. The second, Will the rest of his mail arrive ok? Because, we just barely moved he screwed up the address a little on the post card. Now, I worry that any other mail will be screwed up too and might not arrive. Of course, there is no way to tell him or any one else this so I'm stuck waiting and watching. Third, when will I get a phone call? The answer I hope for is SOON.
Other than that we're doing fine.  The boys are happy and healthy. The house is warm and entertaining enough that the days pass fairly quick. We count the days and check the FB page for pictures. We miss him of course but, we'll carry on till we're together again.

The Call

I had heard from others to be prepared for his final phone call. Many warned he would sound horrible and that I'd want to cry. I'm not sure if I was just too tired or, what but when the call came it was not as bad as I had expected. At 4:20 AM my phone rang it was M on the other line informing me that he had made it safely, that I was to contact the American Red Cross in case of emergency, his flight number was such and such, goodbye. He didn't sound horrible, instead he sounded tired, angry and, like he was being watched all of which I'm sure is true. He was tired cause at BMT there is no sleeping in, angry cause he loves his sleep and I'm certain a drill sergeant was watching as he called. The only thing that bummed me out was that he didn't say I love you one last time. For all I know though that could be against the rules.

Swearing In

     The next morning the kiddos and I were up bright an early so we could be to MEPS by 10 am to watch M swear in. When we got there he had just finished eating lunch (He'd been up since 4 am) so, he got to sit with us while we waited. After an hour and half of waiting and, once the children were completely bored out of their mind 
     He was escorted back to swear in. About fifteen minutes later (long enough for them to be put into formation and such) we were led back to the room. We watched as they were all asked are you sure you want to do this and do you understand what a privilege this is? They responded in unison Yes sir.  Then they were led in the proper words to say for the swearing in to become an Airman. It was very cool to watch and gave me the chills as they swore to protect and defend our country against all else. I strongly feel this is something all Americans should have the privilege of witnessing.
     After they had finished we were given time to say our final good byes to M. I knew he'd have his cell phone for a little longer but this was the last time before he got on a plane a flew away that I could hug him. This is when it really sank in.
     After words the boys and I went to lunch with some of M's family. At about 12 pm he started texting me again. Letting me know they were headed to the airport. The next few hours were filled with messages back and forth about how much we loved each other, did the boys understand any of it, did they know Daddy loves them.I could tell reality had hit him too. We did our best to reassure one another and at about 5 he got on the plane and flew away into the snowy night air. Once he had landed he called to let me know he was safe, told me he loved me and that we'd talk soon.

Pre-Basic Training

The day before M actually left we spent most of the day together packing his stuff and just having fun. It seemed to fly by far too quickly. At about 6 pm we set out for the hotel where he would stay the night before processing and swearing in at MEPS the next day. The hotel is about an hour and half away from our new place and he had to be checked in by 8 pm. We made it at exactly 8. You see M is a great driver as long as he isn't distracted. I was trying to find out how to get to MEPS for the program the next morning so of course with me asking questions he got a little confused as to where we were really going. We ended up driving to MEPS not the hotel so, we had to back track to find where we actually needed to be. Then of course since we live in Utah it happens to be construction season. Which, only delayed us a little longer in getting to the hotel. But against all odds we arrived right on time at M's check in location. After dropping M off the boys and I proceeded to find our way home. M called that night and we talked for a bit then it was time to get some sleep and prepare for the next day.

The Basics of Basic

As I mentioned in our letter M is finally at basic training for the Air Force. So, like many other spouses I'm going to navigate as best I can our journey through this time frame. Obviously, I won't be listing any specifics i.e. his flight number, or where he is etc. I won't blog every day about this as most of it is mundane. It will probably be just once a week unless, something exciting has happened. If you've already been through this with your hubby congrats! Feel free to stop reading these posts as they might bore you. Any tips and advice on how to make it through this time are greatly appreciated.  With that said let's march on to the posts about what we've experienced so far.