He's HOME!!!

We picked Jeremiah up on Friday afternoon, and in case you can't tell from the pictures, we are all over the moon to be together again!!!

Since he let his junior crewman fly off the ship the day before, Jeremiah and about a dozen other guys flew home from Norfolk on this little plane. We pulled on to base just as we saw the plane coming in to land. You can imagine the excitement in my car as they kids locked on eyes it. Kaiti told me to step on it- she wasn't about to be late to see her Daddy!

I apologize for the quality of the pictures. These are all from my cell phone and I had Evie in m arms, too.

Obviously baby-holding and child-wrangling is not conducive to great picture-taking.

And there he was. Man, we might need to stop having babies because I am not sure if any more can really fit in there. Though, this Daddy would find a way. Just total joy.

Love this picture.

The weekend was jam-packed. We went to the corn maze and spent about 5 hours there. It was so nice to go to a place meant for families as a FULL family. I've done my share of events and outings on my own, and it can be really hard to see all the other complete families with a daddy enjoying the festivities with the kiddos. We're just thankful we've got him for a while (and quietly dreading having to say goodbye again in 2 months.)

The boys feeding the cows, and honestly amazed at the size of this dude's tongue. Can't say as I blame them because it was monstrous. In fact, when it opened it's mouth to get more corn Jack yelled 'NO, NO!'

Our little pumpkins! About 2 seconds after I took this, Jack pushed his {big} sister off the hay bale. She never saw it coming-- look at her smiling so sweetly. Poor girl. Oh, and when after he pushed her down the bale and she wound up on her back like a turtle, Jack started laughing. Hysterically.

He's waited 2 long months to kiss his baby girl. I love watching him love her.

That's it for now. Gonna go enjoy my family!!!

Outta the mouths of babes.....

It's been a while since I have done one of these posts, and if your friends with me on The Twitter or The Schmacebook you know I tend to post funny things that come out of my kids mouths pretty regularly. I mean, this is why I have children.....kidding. But I certainly do appreciate the laughs. Kaiti supplies most of the laughs for this edition, but Tyler bookended it....

Tyler: Mom, today at school we learned about the body parts we use when we do exercise. Like when you ride a bike, you use your LONG and your SHORT legs to pedal.
Me: What? Your long and short legs? I'm confused.
Tyler: Yes, when we pedal, we use our long leg and our short leg.
Me: Tyler, our legs are the same length. There is not one that is longer. Otherwise, we'd all walk around a little weird.
Tyler: Mom, stop laughing. We have a long and short leg. We do. My teacher teacher told me.
Me: I will stop laughing, but when we get home I will you.
......about 10 minutes later from the backseat, he says quietly: "Okay, maybe I meant the top and bottom part of our leg."


Kaiti: I think we should have nine childrens in our family.
Me: Wouldn't that be so fun?
Kaiti: Yeah. We gotta tell Daddy when he gets home. And the shorter ones can just sleep under my bed.

Kaiti: Mommy, look at these tracks. They lead up to where I'm standing and are right where I just walked. And they're the same size as my cute shoes. And then they stop...... 
Me: Yep, those tracks are exactly where you just walked and then they stop completely where you are standing. I WONDER whose tracks those could be....
Kaiti: Hey!!! Wait a second!!!!  I bet they're MY TRACKS!!




While eating dinner we got from Sonic at the park, Kaiti looks down at her corndog, goes completely still, and looks at me with eyes as wide as saucers,  a terrified expression slowly transforming her face.
Kaiti: Mom, I'm eating a corndog.
Me: Yes. And I am eating tater tots. Now that we've established that......
Kaiti:I am eating a CORNDOG. Mom, what are corndogs made from? Not doggies. Right, Mom? There's no doggies in here. RIGHT??

Kaiti: I'm so excited for my field trip Mama! I get to ride on a bus, go to Asia, and see HORSIES!
Me: Asia? You're not going to Asia, honey.
(she looks at me like I just told her that corndogs are indeed made out of dogs)
Kaiti: Well, do I still get to ride the bus?


Kaiti: I wonder about when Daddy goes away if he goes to other countries and sees families and goes to their house and eats dinner with them to be their daddy for that night and then flies away in his helicopter.
Me: Yes, that is exactly what he does on deployment.


Kaiti: Tyler keeps talking to me about dinosaurs and I'm being sick of it. See-we-us-lee.


Kaiti: Wouldn't it be funny if you pretended like you there were was a computer and there really wasn't?
Me: What? I don't get it.
Kaiti: You know, if you were pretending like you were working at a computer, but there really wasn't one. Like at Publix.
Me: I'm confused.
Kaiti: MOOOMMMM! I SAID, wouldn't it be funny if you pretended you were typing at the store, and you were making like there was a computer there, but there really wasn't.
Me: Still don't get it, but I guess that would be funny.
Kaiti: It would be AWESOME.
(but actually, now that I picture me walking down the aisles of Publix typing away on a make believe computer, it does seem pretty funny.)

Tyler: Mom, today after resource I argued with a kid in my class.
Mom: About what?
Tyler: Well his name is JOOO-SSSS, and so that is what I called him, but he said that is not his name.
Me: What did he say his name was?
Tyler: Well, he said it's Jose, but when I read it, it looks like JOO-SSS, so I told him that his mom probably spelled it wrong. And then he got mad. But really mom, there is no A in his name (as he is laughing), so I don't know what he's talking about that his name is Jose. It's JOO-SSSS (he said it like juice but with an O).


Okay, I am going to admit something here, so please know, I have already sought forgiveness. I know it is terrible. And honestly, I didn't think I said it THAT loud.

So, while we are driving home from Kaiti's tumbling class, I am slowing down for a red light, the car behind me shoots out into the left lane, goes around me and totally cuts me off, causing me to SLAM on my brakes hard. All because apparently I was slowing down too much for him.
As I am slamming on my brakes I said, (deep breath, here goes...) 'Thanks A LOT.  Jack ass!!'
And from the backseat I hear Tyler say
"WHO, ME?????"

-----------------------------------------

3 days.....

Three days. Three glorious days until I get my husband back!!! Oh, I am so darn excited, I can't even put it into words! In three days, my husband will be living life with us, instead of watching us live our life through pictures sent through email.

I am going to hang on to my guy tight, but I have a feeling I am going to have battle the kids for hugs. I have no problem tripping a child if it gets me some love from my man.

Kidding.

There is such relief in having another work-up wrapping to a close. I am so proud of Jeremiah, of what he does and the sacrifices he makes, but I. want. him. HOME.

If all goes as planned, he'll make it in time for Halloween, but just miss Jack's birthday by a day. No worry. We're going to celebrate our little guy with Daddy, and that is all the birthday excitement Jack wants. He's ALL about his Daddy. I totally get it. I am, too. 


So, if I'm 'absent' for a couple days, that's why. Pretty soon my husband will get to see how our kiddos have grown with his own eyes, instead of through pictures. How wonderful is that??? 


When he left, Evie was 2 months old, just starting to smile and pretty much sleeping all the time. Now, she smiles often, laughs a beautiful little laugh, sits in a Bumbo, finds me amusing (oh, God, thank you so much for that), and 'talks' a lot! And she's gotten adorably chubby! See for yourself.....

.....our little Evie, when Jeremiah left....

..and here she is now...

And Jack...well, in the past 2 months, he has been learning and saying a lot of new words, and has started stringing 3 and 4 words together to make little sentences. It amazes me. But other than, still the same happy, energetic, mischief-making little boy....

Kaiti has started taking tumbling classes since her Daddy left. She loves it! And she continues to come out of her shell more and more everyday.....we were out doing errands today, and she ran into friends from school at Wal Greens, the pumpkin patch, and Michael's. And instead of being shy and barely lifting her head, she ran over and started talking to them. Love my sweet girl!!

And then there is my little man! Since Daddy left, Tyler has traded his obsession with sharks for an obsession with dinosaurs. He has lost another tooth and talks about wanting to go fishing with his Dad more often. He is the man of the house when Daddy is gone, and he does a great job in his role!

I can't wait to have my handsome husband with us, being a part of our moments, making memories with us once again!! Happy Tuesday all!

----oh, one more quick thing. Amy, from The Idea Room, has been so sweet to feature 4 of her readers on her website! And yours truly happens to be one of those readers featured. So HOP ON OVER HERE and check her out......and while you're there, you can see 'the story of us' listed in the left hand column! There are a ton of great projects over there-- like her cinnamon swirl pancakes....I am making those bad boys for my hubby this weekend!! 

A Deeper Kind of Longing

Hi friends! I wanted to share with you all one of the wonderful connections I have made through the blog world. Summer Jo, of Believing Boldly, was looking for guest writers and asked me to write a little something for her readers. She was gracious enough to host me and give me the opportunity to share a little of my life with her friends. So please, hop on over HERE and check it out! This is my first experience 'guest writing' and I absolutely enjoyed it!

Summer Jo shares her heart, her faith, and her life through her blog, and I hope y'all take a little time to read what she writes!

Happy Monday friends!!