The morning Ben left, he gave the kids a jar full of Hershey's kisses and told them that he put all his kisses in the jar and they could get one kiss a day while he was gone. We thought it was a more positive spin on counting down until he gets home. And who doesn't need a little chocolate in their day? Yesterday morning, Colin said he needed a daddy kiss (I let them choose when they have their 1 treat for the day) and came back upstairs with 4 in his mouth. Either he was really missing daddy or he missed the "only 1" rule...or he's just a stinker.
Alison and I have been making green drinks almost everyday. We've challenged ourselves to try every recipe in the Vitamix cookbook and rate the recipes. Yesterday's was the best so far; it had lime, apple, banana and spinach. We made one that was called "glowing green" and Alison was convinced it could glow in the dark :)
We spent the evening at Allison's house. Rose was there too (these 3 went to 1st grade together) and the kids had a blast reuniting. It stormed right before we got there, but that didn't stop them from playing outside in the mud. Somehow Alison and Colin came home spotless, but Eli fell off the swing and was drenched in mud. I took over a blueberry shortcake and it was a HUGE hit. Just a note for myself next year; our kids were not fans of angel food cake, but loved shortcake.
It was nice to have plans on the weekend and a little distraction from the reminder of what we would normally be doing. Plus, it's always great to see a huge smile on your kids face.
Eli slept in Ben's spot last night. He continues to be the world's quietest kid, but if you want to hear what's on his mind, just let him crawl in bed with you. Last night made me realize how selfish I was preparing for this deployment. I was anxious about the things that would be uncomfortable for me, but underestimated how the kids would feel. The hardest part has been answering the relentless questions of when daddy is coming home and hearing their pleads for him to return.
1 comment:
The jar of kisses--what an inspired idea! I'm glad you had stuff going on over the weekend to help distract everyone from missing Ben quite so much those first few days.
Post a Comment