He's Back...for now

I am happy to say that my hubby got back home last night.  We were all very happy to see him.  I am not sure how much I will be posting in the next few weeks while he is home, but just know that this blog will be my outlet while he is away.  Thank you for reading.

Stress for the kids

My DH has been gone for about a month now and emotions have been all over the place for all of us.  It became crystal clear to me last night thought that this emotional roller coaster is not just effecting me in the stress department! 

My little precious Buggy was doing her homework last night and just started crying.  Nobody was bothering her, there were no distractions, as a matter of a fact, I was the only other one in the room with her.  Anyway, I asked her what was wrong and she just shut down.  I asked her to come over and sit in my lap and I hugged her and asked her again what was wrong.  All Buggy could say was Dad and that was all it took for both of us to start balling.  I continued to hug her and assure her that God will take care of Daddy and we have to trust in God.  I tried to call him, but I had to leave a message.  He did call back later, but the connection was so bad that the call did not last long. 

I have tried to keep the kids busy to keep their minds off of things.  I have tried to spend every available minute with them, but I feel like I am ready to explode.  I have to get some time to myself.  I am just struggling to balance it all.  I know that with God beside me I am going to make it through, but man this is hard! 

A SURPRISE for my DH!

Today was a busy day for me.  I traded vehicles with the hubby a couple of weeks ago so that I could take the lawn mower in for repair.  It was time for me to take back the truck, since the hubby is coming home on Monday.  Anyway, I thought I would surprise him by cleaning up his truck for him.  Before I cut the engine on the truck, I put the wipers on high, turned the radio up, tuned into a Latino station, cut on the blinkers and let's not forget writing on his windows with some window chalk.  I know he will be surprised.  My teenager helped me.  It was a lot of fun. 

I guess I forgot to mention the fact that his birthday was last week while he was gone, so we wrote birthday wishes on you and put some birthday presents in his truck.  I hope he is happy!

Army Reserve pay while deployed?

Am I am the only one that is utterly confused by the Army Reserve pay while my DH will be deployed?  This deployment is sneaking up on me so quickly and I still have not been able to figure out all this pay stuff.  What pay does he really qualify for?  I know that he gets regular pay, BAH, hazard pay, and blah,blah and I cannot forget about that blah pay.  It is a well know fact that the Military lives and dies by acronyms, USMC, BAH, LES, USAR, DTS, etc.  I really could go on and on and on.  As the spouse of a Military man we do not always get educated about what all of this means.  Reserve families just do not have the option to go to their neighbor for advise when it comes to things like this.  Most of us do not live near a base and it can be really hard to find hard numbers concerning all of this jargon online.

I do understand that this is where you would lean on your Unit or the FRG, however as I have stated before our FRG has fell apart and the Unit is not receptive to any of us.  They put the dys in dysfunction.  We did recently get a new Commander and I am really hoping that there will be some changes for the better.  Only time will tell.

Update...My DH will be coming home from training on Monday and we are all very excited to see him.  We spent the weekend getting his honey do list done for him so that when he comes home all he will have to do is spend time with me and his children.  We have not told him, so I hope he is happy and relieved.  We are taking a mini family vacation next weekend and taking the kids to Busch Gardens.  I may post some pics.     

Pre-deployment Training

My DH is still at pre-deployment training.  We are all missing him, however one good thing about being so busy at home is the fact that I do not have time to really pine over him while I am at home.  At work, however, is another story.  I seem to have less distractions at work, so I have more time to think and more time to miss him. 

So I thought I would post about some of the things I have been doing at home to get me busy.  My DH and I have been married for 16 years and we have only had one family picture taken and I honestly do not even know where it is.  Anyway, I let the teen pick out some material and patterns and I have been working on making outfits for the girls so we can get pictures made before my DH deploys. 

Here are Buggy and Squishy with their new dresses on over their night gowns.  Squishy's dress is not finished, but it is getting there.  My friend wanted pictures so I thought I would take a few for her and so I am sharing with you as well.   


Now please understand, I am a novice at best with sewing.  I really enjoy it and the kids love all the new stuff.  Squishy wears dresses pretty much everyday.  She loves them.  She is definitely my girly, girl.

Buggy has to wear uniforms, so I have found it so much less expensive to make her pants, shorts or jumpers to wear with her polo shirts.  So far, it seems to be working out well. 

Buggy's Dress

Squishy's Dress

Small emotional break down...

My DH is still away at training.  Only 15 days left and I cannot be happier.  This past weekend was insane.  All three of my children had to be in 3 different places at pretty much the same time.  How does this happen?  I am just not sure how to balance it all.  Who is going to suffer in all of this?  I just feel like there is not enough of me to go around and yet I am still not finding any time to be by myself.  Any suggestions would be helpful...is there anyone out there?

Daddy is at Army Work

So this morning was insane at our house.  We were running behind and it just drives me batty to be late.  Anyway we got out the door and I got Buggy to school.  On the way out of the school parking lot my Squishy asked me a question that I was just not prepared for.  She asked me, "Why does daddy have to go away for Army work?"  I was speechless.  How do you explain that to a 4 year old?  I just did not know what to say.  How do I explain to a 4 year old that your daddy is defending our country?  To be honest, I am not emotionally able to discuss it with her.  I do not want my kids to see how broken I am right now.  He has not even been gone a week and I am already falling apart. 

I know that this is not what anyone wants to read if they are getting ready for a deployment, but I am trying to be as honest as I can be here.  I am not handling things well and I need support.  I guess part of the problem is that I am such a private person and to be honest again I do not have many close friends.  Our lives are so crazy that I, like more women, do not take time for myself.  I am open to suggestions if anyone has any?