Getting Back to 'Normal'

R&R was wonderful! Michael was still "daddy's boy" and Lydia and Shawn bonded really well, something we were both unsure of before he came home since she was younger when he left. Mostly we just enjoyed being home together & playing with the kids, that is what Shawn had missed the most. Some things out of the house around the area we did were take the kids to the park a couple times, Michael got his first haircut at a barber shop, Shawn got new patches to prepare for his recent promotion, took the kids bowling, and Shawn & I went out on our anniversary. We also went camping for 3 days to a great campground about an hour away. We had a cute one room cabin that was about 50 feet away from a pond and within walking distance of a lake & playground. The weather was perfect, only rained one night and the kids had a blast. Shawn loves to fish and this was the first time he & Michael fished together. They caught quite a few fish & even left with a great fish 'tale' - Michael caught a blue gill and when he was reeling it in a big bass (about 7lbs by Shawn's guess) ate the blue gill off the hook! Shawn did try to reel it in but lost the 15 minute fight with the bass. The playground by the lake was nice because when Lydia would get restless and make me nervous by the dock I took her up there to play. One day we took a long walk around the other side of the lake and found some very pretty spots to fish. Next year I'm going to get a fishing license so the girls can join in on the fun too!

Saturday night before Shawn had to go we were both up later than we should have been with his flight leaving so early and there was a thunderstorm {complete with hail} that woke us up throughout the couple hours of sleep we got. Fortunately the power turned on minutes before we had to start getting ready so I didn't have to attempt applying makeup by light of cell phone or candle at 4:30am. We got to the airport with time to go to the gate with Shawn to say our goodbyes and take a few last photos. I was doing okay until Michael broke down crying as Shawn walked to board the plane. He turned around and came back to give him one last hug. It was harder on Michael this time around; he kept saying that he wanted to play with daddy and that he wanted to say goodbye one more time. The rest of the day I hugged on the kids a little bit more than usual and relaxed, even caught a nap.

Yesterday I started tackling the messes that had accumulated during his visit - laundry & dishes didn't sound like much fun compared to spending time with hubby so I did the very bare minimum while he was home and had A LOT to catch up on. I'm still working on cleaning the house but it's 10 times better than what it was. I had heard that taking them back the second time was much harder than the first time. I had the opposite experience though. Saying goodbye was still sad and I miss him already but I had a different perspective and different situations this time. I already have established friendships - something I didn't have 9 mos ago and I've made it through over half the deployment already so 6 mos doesn't sound so scary. During the time he was gone I had developed a new 'normal' so while I was getting used to him being home & LOVING it - it wasn't 'normal' for me. We have enough going on outside of the house between Michael being in pre-k, my business, good friends to hang out with and regular weekly errands we do.

Well it's about time to get the kids ready for bed and I'm going to get some cleaning done after that. Thanks to all for your well wishes & prayers over R&R and your continued prayers and support for my husband and the rest of our troops that serve.