Our first day of Preschool -  Addison was enjoying the pictures... Mya didn't want to miss out on the fun! Hard at work! We are only one week into this and I'm already changing curriculums!  Last spring I bought the  Letter of the Week .  Since I never got around to using it, I just assumed it would be fine for us this year.  I was wrong.  A lot of the activities are too young for Addison and since a lot of them repeat throughout the year, just focusing on different letters, I decided to make a change.  (Don't get me wrong, last year the activities would have been great!) I enjoy having a curriculum at this point just for the ease and organization.  Since her curriculums are only $10, upgrading to the  K4 Curriculum  wasn't a big deal.  I am excited that we will have a little reader soon! :)  Addison absolutely loves school time and asks everyday when its time to start!

Well, our countdown has been about the same for a few weeks now.  Every time I talk to Chad, the date has been pushed back a few days.  Hopefully now the date won't change too much and we can get rid of these Hershey kisses for good! If you've been through a deployment, you know what the title of this post means!  There is something about soldiers coming home from war that brings on an incredible urge to clean, organize and to do listing like crazy.  I can't really explain it.  This is always comical to me because we all do it.  I've never met one military wife who didn't care what the house looked like when her husband came home.  I mean seriously...they've been living in plywood boxes and eating the same food for a year...I'm sure they could care less if there is dust on the bookshelf or if the recipe book is organized.  I chalk it up to a couple things. While I'm pretty diligent about keeping my house clean (most days), for the past year, I ...

Please take time to watch this video.  This is an amazing story of my friend's journey through cancer. At the time I had no doubt that her sister-in-law, my friend, Krista would call me one day with funeral details.  It felt so hopeless.  Three years later I still stand in awe at something only God could do!

"Addison, will you clean the bathrooms for me when you get older?" "Sure Mommy!  When I get hair under my armpits, I will clean them for you! Yay!" After going too fast down the stairs and bumping into a wall... "Don't worry Mom, I'm ok.  I was just giving the wall a high-five." "Addison, I asked you to stop playing with your food." "But Mommy, I turned the catapult the other direction.  You mean, NO catapults at the table?  Aw man." "Mommy, look - its a combraro!"  "You mean, sombrero?"  "Oh yeah, sombrecro"  "Sombrero"  "oh yeah, sombrero.  That's the hat that people wear where they don't have anything to eat."   We may need to have Mexican culture awareness day during school this year...

Sunday morning at church the kids sang two songs they learned during VBS last week.  Addison LOVES being on stage and was excited to get to sing in "big" church.  More than anything, I was impressed that she stayed in one place the whole time!  All I had was my phone, so not great quality and not the whole song.  Still cute though!

At the beginning of each deployment, I try to make a list of things I want to accomplish.  A point "A" - where I am when he leaves and point "B" - where I want to be when he gets back.  If there were a letter before "A"...that's where I feel lately with most items on that list!  R&R toward the end of the deployment has thrown me for a bit of a loop.  I feel like the home stretch should be passing more quickly! Each time I talk to Chad, his projected homecoming date is a little further down the road.  Single parenting is very tough - especially discipline.  Somedays I think having 2 newborns would be easier to handle alone than a feisty 4 year old and a mischievous 19 month old.  My mom has had some difficult health news to deal with in the past few weeks.  My reactive hypoglycemia I battled the first deployment is back in full swing. Bottom line - I'm tired.   The Lord warmed my heart though tonight when I looked at a friend's blo...