Flat Daddy

I received a voucher for a Flat Daddy.  Have you heard about FlatDaddy?
ONE doesn't want to have anything to do with it.  It's "so not cool" for an almost 16 yr old.
I'm pretty sure TWO and THREE will love it.

Space

Hoda and KLG had a segment on the TODAY show "Why space can be good for your Relationship"

As a MilSpouse we get to experience this first hand and often, and with longer periods of "space". I thought about this for a while and have realized with each deployment I have learned something new about myself.  I've grown stronger and developed a greater sense of self while doing things on my own, a great appreciation for my husband when he IS home, and have learned to rely more on God to help me through those times of difficulty. Each deployment has brought me greater clarity of who I am and who I'm capable of becoming.

So, although each deployment can be hard, being alone, having to deal with life/family/children as a single parent, it can also be a time of growth.

Sleepless Nights

15 days left til deployment.

He's only in training but I'm already having trouble going to bed at night. This is the time we would catch up on our days events, talk about the kids and what they're up to, and occasionally we'd talk about politics or other world events. I'm kind of left in limbo until I can come up with a new routine. Psychologically/Emotionally I'm still up waiting for that couples time.
Need to come up with a new routine in the evenings. It's summer vacation now for the kids so sleeping in til 9:30 is getting by right now. But when school starts again, staying up late and sleeping in late isn't going to work.  

Summer Camps

This year ONE is playing lacrosse on a local Starz team, hoping to get some exposure to make West Coast Starz.  That take a lot of wall ball, hitting the ball against the rebounder in the back yard.  We've already heard a complaint from a backyard neighbor asking that they don't start until 10am.  THREE also plays lacrosse and is in a clinic for younger players through beginning of July.  We'll probably try another session to keep him busy.

I just dropped off ONE with the rest of the team and they've boarded a bus to a Lax Tournament in San Diego (Coronado Island, one of our favorite places!) this weekend.  It should be fun.  He's rooming with another good kid from school and church.


Hubby is away at training for 2 weeks.  Not getting much comm time but we're making it work.  We were a bit spoiled in 2009 when he had 15 month unaccompanied assignment.  We were able to Skype twice a day.  Once in the morning when we had family prayer and then at lunch time for me- dinner time for him.
I'm not sure we'll  be so lucky this time.

12 Month Deployment Calendar

 I didn't want to tack anything to the walls, or have any marker ink to bleed through to the wall, so I took a three panel cardboard poster board and put each month.  I marked all the vacation dates, birthdays, and other holidays so the kids have things to look forward to and be able to mark off each passing day.

Don't Forget, God Bless Our Troops

Jill Biden has a new book out about her granddaughter and how she coped with her Dad's (the Biden's son) deployment. The illustration is so pretty! A great book for TWO.

AF Academy Teen Aviation Camp

ONE is one of 36 dependent teens selected world wide to attend the USAF Teen Aviation Camp this year.  Not as exciting if it were at Annapolis, but excited nonetheless to be there.  To make it work we had to get all the teachers to sign off and agree to give the review packets and the final early.  It was surprisingly smooth and I will send out an email to them tomorrow thanking them for making this work for us.  We were worried at first.