Sick day

The stomach bug is going around the kids school for the last couple weeks. Gavin got hit first last Wednesday followed by Ella on Thursday night. I thought the rest of us were in clear until Grace got sick on Sunday morning and Ava that night. 

So today is a lazy Monday. 

Lots of Mickey Mouse Club House and some 

Harry Potter (the kids new obsession) 

during Ella's nap time. 

I had some big expectations of doing fun crafts with the girls since they were home from school. Ava was having none of it, she barely moved all day. I was not going to give up so easy, I found a list of questions from this blog and thought it would be easy enough to do with the kids not feeling the greatest. Some of the answers were a little surprising. Singing for one is NOT a talent I was blessed with, I wish I was though. And apparently I am bad at cleaning, thanks guys! 

Grace's answers:

1. What is something Mommy always says to you?  Clean your room. 
2. What makes Mommy happy?  Doing things she doesn’t have to ask to do.
3. What makes Mommy sad?  Doing bad things.
4. How does Mommy make you laugh?  Make funny faces.
5. What was Mommy like as a child?  She was like me. 
6. How old is Mommy?  29.
7. How tall is Mommy?  3 feet.
8. What is Mommy’s favorite color?  Blue.
9. What does Mommy do when you’re not around?  Clean my stuff.
10. If Mommy becomes famous what will it be for?  A great artist.
11. What is Mommy really good at?  Taking pictures.
12. What is Mommy not very good at?  Cleaning.
13. What does Mommy do for her job?  Clean, cook, and work.
14. What is Mommy’s favorite food?  Ice cream.
15. What makes you proud of Mommy?  Making beautiful pictures. 
16. If Mommy was a cartoon character who would she be?  Mom the awesome.
17. What do you and Mommy do together?  Shop, eat, and talk
18. How are you and Mommy the same?  We look the same.
19. How are you and Mommy different?  She’s good and I’m bad. (!?!?)
20. How do you know that Mommy loves you?  She gives me hugs and kisses.
21. Where is Mommy’s favorite place to go?  The beach.

Ava's answers:

1. What is something Mommy always says to you?   I love you.
2. What makes Mommy happy?  Hugs and kisses.
3. What makes Mommy sad?  Getting hurt.
4. How does Mommy make you laugh?  Tickling me.
5. What was Mommy like as a child?  ?
6. How old is Mommy?  29.
7. How tall is Mommy?  Kind of tall.
8. What is Mommy’s favorite color?  Blue.
9. What does Mommy do when you’re not around?  Clean.
10. If Mommy becomes famous what will it be for?  Singing good. (yeah, no.)
11. What is Mommy really good at?  Art
12. What is Mommy not very good at?  Daddy's job.
13. What does Mommy do for her job?  Photography.
14. What is Mommy’s favorite food?  
15. What makes you proud of Mommy?  Loving me.
16. If Mommy was a cartoon character who would she be?  Phineas and Ferb's mom.
17. What do you and Mommy do together?  Play
18. How are you and Mommy the same?  We both love each other.
19. How are you and Mommy different?  I am a kid and she is a parent.
20. How do you know that Mommy loves you?  She gives me hugs and kisses.
21. Where is Mommy’s favorite place to go?  The beach, Watercolor.

I couldn't do this without Gavin filling out one as well. 
Here are his answers.

1. What is something Mommy always says to you?  No. 
2. What makes Mommy happy?   When I am being good.
3. What makes Mommy sad?   When something bad happens to us. 
4. How does Mommy make you laugh?  Tickling me.
5. What was Mommy like as a child?  Good.
6. How old is Mommy?  35.
7. How tall is Mommy?   7-8 feet tall.
8. What is Mommy’s favorite color?  Blue.
9. What does Mommy do when you’re not around?  Sleep.
10. If Mommy becomes famous what will it be for?  Singing.
11. What is Mommy really good at?  Cooking.
12. What is Mommy not very good at?  Singing bad.
13. What does Mommy do for her job?  Sit on the couch.
14. What is Mommy’s favorite food?  Eggs.
15. What makes you proud of Mommy?  Cuddling.
16. If Mommy was a cartoon character who would she be?  Mom 
17. What do you and Mommy do together?   Cuddle.
18. How are you and Mommy the same?  We are both people.
19. How are you and Mommy different?  Mommy is a parent.
20. How do you know that Mommy loves you?  She gives me hugs and kisses.
21. Where is Mommy’s favorite place to go?  The store.

A day in photos

Dinner conversations

We had a very interesting talk at dinner tonight. Mostly the kids talked and I listened.

Conversation 1

Grace looks at me and says, "I really can't wait until college so I don't have to take care of these 3 kids anymore." 

Me- First of all I am happy that my kids know that they will be going to college and they are already planning on it.

 Second, thinking we really need to have a talk.

Conversation 2

Gavin, "So I asked Lilly to marry me and she said no, she said she is never getting married."

Ava, "Yeah, I told Sara who asked Lilly about it and Lilly goes like this (Ava makes a open mouth surprised face)."

The dialog exchanged between two 5 year olds about what happens in Kindergarten is always funny to me. 

A Realization...

Today we went over to our friend Tara and Brian's house for a tupperware party and to hang out.  Brian just returned home from Afghanistan a few weeks ago and Aaron's team was the one who took over for them. They were able to hang out for a week during the transition, and I am sure it was nice for Aaron to see a friendly face.  

Brian came over to say hi to me and I was holding Ella. Ella froze, looked at me and very hesitantly leaned towards Brian. He took her and she just stared at him for a few minutes, then she slowly laid her head down on his shoulder. He held her like that for a long time. It was heart breaking. I never realized until that moment how much she must miss Aaron. 

Wordless Wednesday- Skype

1st package

Goodbyes

These days are always the hardest. No matter what I do to prepare it never helps, I am always a mess. 

The kids wanted a picture with Aaron all by themselves so I sat Aaron down on the couch and each of the kids had their own turns.

This is my favorite picture along with the group shot. I love Ava's face and Aaron's smile. She is extremely goofy and no one really gets to see that side of her because she is so guarded. 

 In the afternoon we went with Aaron to the airfield so he could load the plane.  He had to drive one of these, I am not even sure what it is, over from the loading dock to the airplane. I added a little heart smilie, cheesy I know. 

We followed him in the ATV (?) over to the plane. While Aaron was busy getting everything together we just sat outside the gate and tried to look for him. After about 15 min he came over and had us go with him to the terminal. 

Once we parked and went to green ramp we had about an hour to spend with Aaron. There were a lot of kids running around but most of the wives sat attached to their husbands. Surprisingly it was pretty upbeat for the most part, lots of pictures and hugs until they gave the 10 minute warning. Then it seemed that reality all hit us at once, this is it. If we were lucky, 7-8 months of just letters, phone calls and hopefully Skype. That was the easy part, separation is normal for the Army and you kind of get used to it. It is the what ifs that torment you.  

  

The last family pictures before Aaron had to leave. 

Ella being only 1 had no clue what was going on. Gavin was OK until he got into the car and realized Aaron would not be coming back with us. As many times as we talked to him about what was going to happen he never understood until that moment.

Poor Grace, she took it the hardest. She held onto Aaron for at least 5 min and wouldn't let him go. When she got into the truck and we saw Aaron's bus pull away she started sobbing uncontrollably. The only way I could calm her down is telling her we would go watch daddy take off and wave goodbye. 

I don't have any pictures of Ava hugging Aaron goodbye, I was putting Ella in her car seat. I am really bummed about it. 

We parked the truck right on the other side of the gate, we were about 50 feet from the plane and the kids just stared. We sat there for about 45 minutes before the plane started taxiing. We watched it take off as the kids waved and yelled "I love you daddy!" The crying started again so I said we would follow daddy until the plane got out of sight. We drove for about 15 minutes until the lights got very dim in the sky. Ava asked me if I could see the plane, I said yes. She then replied "I need to start eating more carrots." I thought that was really cute and it was a laugh I really needed.