Update

I am sitting here waiting on Jeff to get online so I can chat with my hubby, while I wait I decided I would try to blog since its been a while. There hasn't been a lot going on with us. The boys are doing good in school. Josiah is making some good grades and some ok grades. He doesn't seem to like history class but he loves math. He will ask for extra work just because he thinks its fun. Gabe is doing good as well. He is more that half through his reading class. After we make it through this last binder he should be able to read, with the help of the marks over the letters. He doesn't love writing, that is the one thing I have we have issues with. He gets grumpy and lazy when it comes to writing. It is usually so frustrating for me but I try to think of new ways to motivate him. Tara is doing great. Her speech improves each day it seems. She can now say lola perfectly. Tonight she yelled, "LULA!" For those who don't know, that is grandma in tagalog (Philippino). She also says, at night time when she knows its time for bed, "I pay (play), no nigh nigh."
Jeff is doing pretty good too. He has been at a french base for a week or more. He is the only American there and so he's pretty lonely. I guess the french there don't care for us so they don't talk to him. He is alone all day at work and eats by himself. I'm ready for him to leave there, he is ready too, and ready for him to get back to his normal base. Please keep him in your prayers for safe traveling around there. We get to chat online in the am and pm right now. When he is at his other base we also do skype, its so nice to see him! Its also nice that Tara gets to see her daddy, since she's the only one young enough to maybe forget him. I was so worried about that, but she remembers him well! She prays for him every night and talks t him on the toy phones at church. When we talk about daddy she says, "daddy work".
I better go check to see if he's on!

Made It

The kids and I made it safely to MO and Jeff made it safely to Afghanistan. We are enjoying our time here with the family. I think my days are going by faster with all the help I have.
Jeff will finally get to start work which will help his days to go faster as well. He will be doing some traveling there, so please keep him in your prayers. But he said he is traveling in the local area where it is "safer". He has two roommates who, so far, seem to be pretty cool and they are all getting along. Our countdown has begun, I think we are at 182 until his return. He should be leaving there or getting home around May 10. One month earlier than what we were told. He said there are rumors that civilians are taking over their jobs so he may be able to come home even earlier. So pray about that one too!!!

The Important Things in Life

As I was sitting here teaching Gabe to read and write he says, "Mommy, do you know why I love you?" I start thinking of the reasons he may come up with, like, b/c I read to him, play with him, make his food, clean his laundry or even teach him to read and write. No. He says, "Because you helped me defeat Bowser's Castle that one time. Remember?" I smile and nod.
Oh, the important things in life, to a 5 year old.

Yesterday

Yesterday was a rough day for me. Getting up at 4:30 am to watch my husband pack up his vehicle to leave me and our children for 8 months is hard. Before he walked out we hugged and I didn't want to let go because I knew I wouldn't get another one until June. Of course the tears started to flow and I hated doing that because I didn't want to make anything harder on him. After he left I went back to bed, cried, and then fell asleep as some point. My sweet dog laid there watching me, she knew something was wrong. Tara woke me up around 8:30 am and I just didn't want to get going. I was wishing I could stay in bed all day but I am still a mom and I gotta keep going for my kiddos. While Tara ate breakfast I read my bible, and chose a Psalm. Of course I had some good reading there. Then I turned on my computer to get my daily devotion. I was so wowed by God's timing, here is the subject of my devo yesterday, "All Alone". Here is the 2nd paragraph in the devotion:
Oh, precious one, do you know how much you are loved by the Lord of the universe? He sees you right now where you are and is waiting for you to look at Him. He holds out His hands in love and says, "Stop crying, my child. I am here for you." He has bottled up your tears (Psalm 56:8) and desires to breathe strength into your heart. He wants you to crawl on His lap and wait for wisdom, as He holds you in His arms of love (Isaiah 40:11).
Isn't God awesome? Just something little like this devotion really helped me through the day. That day I knew would be one of the hardest days, and God knew it and had something for me, waiting for me to open it and read it. :)
I also got a lot of little messages from friends and family letting me know they were praying for me and our family which helped tremendously. I love you all!
Today is so much better, so far. I know we are already one day down! :)

The Fair

We had a great night last night at the GA national fair. Jeff and all the teens, along with another man from our church, took off to ride all the crazy spinny rides while I took my kids and two other boys and one teen (who does not like the crazy spinny rides) to all the kid rides. To my amazement, the 4 boys actually rode some pretty fast rides too! Josiah and Gabe LOVED every ride! Gaber said he liked the ride that looked like a car that went fast. Not sure but I think he's talking about the one that is kind of like a roller coaster ride. He said his second favorite was the Tornado. Josiah liked the one where you spin around sideways...again not sure which one that was. They rode so many and had so much fun! The 4 boys also "helped" me win Tara a prize at one of the booths. They had to throw the ping pong balls into the fish bowls. It was a guarantee win for kids, but they did not know that. They were so excited that they won a pink dolphin for Tara. Sadly she lost it about 1/2 an hour later. :( It was so much fun watching my boys venture out and try the more scarier rides. I was probably more nervous than they were, not that I thought they would fall out or anything like that. I was just nervous that they would be scared on it and have to finish the ride anyway. (I know I'm a worrier...but I'm a mom) As soon as they would run out of the exit gate I knew I had worried for nothing b/c the smiles on their face told me they had a great time. And usually the first words they spoke were, "Can we go on that one again!?"
After a couple hours we met up with the rest of our group for some supper. After supper I got my funnel cake (heaven) and then off we went again. Later that night we took the kids to the circus, which was actually a lot of fun for being free and the acts were funny. Josiah and Gaber laughed so much, and Tara actually watched some of the show too. She loved the little dog that was a part of the clown act. After he left she would say, "puppy gone". The next act was a guy trying to get on the trampoline. He "fell" and hit his nose on the side of it. So then she would say, "nose urt" (hurt). We had to assure her that he was ok. :)
We ended the night watching our guys trying to climb the rope ladders to the top. Sadly, they all failed. It was quite comical though watching the teen guys and the adult men trying to climb the ladders. Josiah and Gaber gave it a try too but quickly spun off of it!
Sadly, I did not take my camera, so I have no pictures. Bad, I know. What was I thinking?

29 forever

Yesterday was my 29th birthday. Blah. I love birthdays, I just don't like the fact that I am this close to 30 now. So I told Josiah and Gabe, trying to be as serious as I could, that mommy would be 29 every year now, for the rest of my life. Gaber sat there, thinking about what I just said and Josiah says, "NO!" When I'm 10 you will be 30!!! I shook my head no and said, "No, I will be 29 forever now. That is what happens to women. Just ask your grandmas, they are 29 too." Jeff is nodding his head agreeing with me, trying not to smile. :) Well, neither boy believed me, but I believe me. I will be forever 29.
We had a fun day together yesterday. Jeff got up with the kids and fed them breakfast for me. When I came out they were all sitting around the table finishing up breakfast and smiling from ear to ear because they had their home made birthday cards sitting on the table for me to look at. I love the homemade stuff from my children, I will cherish those little cards and coupons for the rest of my life. Later that morning we went on a walk and took the kids to the park. For lunch we went to Cheddars and then went home for Tara's nap. That afternoon I gave the kids the day off school so we had a nice lazy afternoon together and then went to church that evening. To finish the day up we had DQ icecream cake, so yummy! :)

Today will probably be a good day too. Jeff has to go into work for a little bit to finish up some training and paperwork before Monday. I am just tidying up around the house, doing school and laundry then we are taking the teens from church to the GA state fair. I am excited about going, even though I won't ride any of the rides. I am not a spinny twirly fair riding kind of girl. Just ask Cindee, I didn't do to well once on one ride and she was sitting by me when I lost my supper. yuck. Tonight I will just walk around with my kids and one of the teen boys who said he doesn't do the rides either. I was told there would be a circus so we will probably head that way and just enjoy the deep fried food. :) Especially funnel cake! mmm. Jeff is totally excited about running around with the teens riding every ride they can. He LOVES the rides that make you dizzy. Just thinking about it makes me sick.
So I think I am done now, since I'm feeling dizzy! :)

Tara's 2 Sentences

Tonight at church Tara told the nursery worker, "Daddy a (at) home. Mommy a (at) chuch (church)." So cute!!!! I am so proud of her! She made 2 complete sentences and spoke them clear enough that someone other than mommy or daddy could understand her! Although her word "at" doesn't have the t on the end yet. It's just the short sound a. And church is said without the r. But we will forgive her for that. :) She has come along with her speaking so much this past couple months. It is such a neat thing to watch as your child starts forming words and then sentences.

BTW, Jeff was getting over the pain from his wisdom teeth being removed when he was hit with strep throat and a nice rash to go along with it....just in case not being able to swallow isn't enough. Please pray for him to get well, like super fast so that that we can enjoy our last week together. Unless all this sickness will get him out of being deployed. If so, then I say we pray for this rash to stay for the next week! [; )