"I will visit all the time."

Well today my 4 year old tells me that she wants to "move out and move in with someone else." When I ask her who she wants to live with she really doesn't care. This neighbor, that neighbor (who she doesn't even know very well), these friends, here, there... pretty much anywhere but here. What brought this on? Was I being a "mean mommy" cause I have been told that I am a mean one! No, what brought it on the first time was when I fixed her helmet while she was riding her NEW bike. She had the helmet on the back of her head, well, it was kind of on there, I moved it to the right spot. But that was the "wrong spot" and she wanted to move out! When I said we could go start packing her things she changed her mind and all was good again. We spent more time playing and had a good dinner, I had thought that this moving out was over... boy was I wrong! We took the bigger girls to volleyball and the younger ones wanted to stay and play so we did. Volleyball ran a little long and we got home alittle later than planned and so it was time to get ready for bed. Well, that is when it started again. Her and her brother were told to go get pj's on and I was going to let the dogs in and be right up to help. When I got up there they were fighting about something and I told her that she didn't need to be in brothers room. "Fine" and it starts again. She did get her pj's on and her teeth brushed, but hair will have to wait. And all the while she is telling me this and that and that she wants to move out, I again ask her where she is going to go. I tell her that I will miss her so much, she "will visit all the time" don't you know?! I tell her that her puppies will miss her and that her brother and sisters will miss her. I tell her how sad I will be and how sad Daddy will be when he gets home. All of this does not matter you see... it does not matter because she "will visit all the time." I tell her that I don't think she will, she will be busy with this new family and we will all be missing her and so very sad. She just wants to move out. I ask her if she would like to pack her things and I get a "yes" from her. So I ask if she wants a bag or a box... she says "a box, I will need lots of them for all my stuff." I take her a box and tell her that she only gets one, she can take what fits in there and the rest stays here. If she is going to have a new family she will probably just need new stuff. By this time she is in her bed and her music is on, I tuck her in tell her that I love her and goodnight. I turn out her light and close the door and as I am down the hall she opens her door and is coming out with the box. I ask if she needs help, she says "NO" in a rather mad, mean voice and tosses the box on the floor. She says that she doesn't need it! I ask if she is going to stay and in that same mad, mean voice she says "yes" as she slams her door! I am thankful that she has decided to stay, for now, I hope that tomorrow is different and she gets over this whole moving out stage. Not sure where it came from or even why. But all in all it was kind of cute and a bit funny. If she starts with it tomorrow, I am going to tell her to take Abby (the dog) with her!

Why, doggie, why?

I let the dogs in and I smell poo... "Abby did you fart already? Man, I smell it everywhere... time to check feet. Buddy come here." As he comes to me I see that one of his front legs is covered in something... you guessed it... POO! From his toes to his elbow! YUCK... can you say "Bathtime Buddy."

And Buddy does NOT like the bath at all! So I get the little ones off to bed, yes, because I have to find this at 8:30 at night after a long, very busy day... and Buddy into the bathtub to get him cleaned up. What a upper body work out, all 49.7 pounds of him fighting to get out of the bathtub while I wet him down and shampoo him up. Not so fun, but we managed and he smells much better now!

Daddy,
I love you and miss you. Are you ok?
Josh

As I was getting Josh to bed, which he did not want to do, I asked him if there was something that he would like me to type to you tonight and above is what he said. Then he said, "well, I love you and miss you in one sentence and 'are you ok?' in another." When I asked if there was anything else, he said "No, but can I sleep over there where that blanket is?" as he points to the blanket that is on the floor on your side of the bed (the extra warm blanket that I tossed off the bed when it warmed up again). So I told him that he needed to go get his pillow and when he came back I just asked him if he would like to sleep in your spot... He jumped at that! So he is tucked in up there, hopefully when I am ready for bed there will be room for me!

This is the start of an e-mail that I just finished writing my hubby who left last Friday. One week, it seems like it has been for ever at times, then there the times that it seems like he is just at work and will be home in the morning. O he will be home, before we know it, we will look back and say "see, it wasn't that bad, really." But before that times comes we will have our ups and our downs, we will be happy and sad, we may cry, we will laugh and we will for sure miss him. But see we can do it, we can. We have done it before and we will do it again. Our love will grow stronger each and every time and we will find strength that we didn't know was there.