I'm Getting Excited...

So, obviously I haven't had a ton to post about. However, we are in prep mode for some of the things we have coming up. I am looking forward to:

1. Awana starting. They have asked me to direct Trek (the middle school group) and I am a little nervous, but mostly excited.

2. Seeing my sister! I know she thinks we are just using her as childcare so that we can get away, but I am really looking forward to being with her again. I can only go so many months without my "Robyn fix".

3. The Cavalry Ball. I get to wear a princess dress! Last time we had a ball I was pregnant- yuck!- so no pretty dress for me (in little, tiny Killeen it is hard enough to find a normal formal attire, much less maternity). I am definitely excited to get to dress up!

4. Can't forget "The Cruise". Yay for time for just me and Joel. I don't want to leave my kids but I haven't figured out how to take them with me and not actually have to care for them...:) Jocelyn would hate me, too, if I deprived her of her "baycation" at Aunt Robyn's!

5. My brother's new baby. I am sure he will be a doll! Maybe, just maybe, he will decide to arrive a wee bit early and on our way out of Louisiana after the cruise I will get to squeeze him a little bit! That would be too fun...

6. My JBF check. Definitely a twice a year highlight. It is fun to know that I get money for doing something. I love my volunteer work but every now and then it is nice to "earn" some money- even if it is just because I have an addiction to buying cute clothes for my kids.

So, in the meanwhile I have to find a pair of shoes for my dress, finish my packing list for the kids, and find someone to take care of PWOC responsibilities... well, it will just make the time go by faster as I look to all the fun that is in store!

The Start of Something...Normal

Not much to post about lately, life has been busy but I don't think anyone is really that interested in hearing about marking my kids' clothes for the JBF sale (by the way, if anyone remembers that far back, I started blogging at this same time last year and actually did post about that!) or the latest PWOC board meeting or the latest thing I have thrown out in my quest to rid my house of all clutter (going, but not great). However, life has just been, well, normal. To some, that might translate as: boring, dull, unexciting. To me it is exactly what I have been waiting for since last September.

Yesterday evening we had dinner, took the kids out to swing and then came inside and had tasty brownies. We watched reruns of "Ace of Cakes" and "Iron Chef America" and brushed teeth and went to bed. It was marvelous, every minute. I know that most of us are smart enough to enjoy a night like that. But for me it almost seems like a miracle. To have all of us together, to not be trying to force something out of every minute because we only have a few weeks, or a few days, is just so wonderful. I don't ever feel like I have taken time as a family for granted. I know that we are just as likely to be apart as together. But sometimes you get so used to not having something that when it comes along you don't even know how to behave. I guess what I am trying to say is that I am so used to crazy that now that calm is slowly returning I don't know quite what to expect. But I am willing to try...

Homecoming

If anyone is wondering why I dropped off the face of the blogosphere (AGAIN!), it is, of course, because Joel is home. He arrived in the wee hours of the morning on Friday and had the next few days off. He was supposed to be home at 10:30 pm on Thursday, then it got moved back to 11:30 pm. Jocelyn and I left the house at 11:10 pm. Carson was asleep in his bed, smart boy. (Don't worry, Jessica was still here and she stayed with him.) We weren't very far away from the Special Events center so it only took a few minutes to get there. We arrived and found literally hundreds of other people waiting. We were excited but mostly tired. We had spent the whole day cleaning and cake-baking and painting a sheet to hang on the post fence by the highway. I knew that there was a possibility that things would be running behind.

Boy, was I right! We waited, watching all the people. Who knew that there are people who come to every welcome home event? Veterans and other people from the community make sure that they are at every ceremony, no matter the time, to enthusiasticly greet each soldier. How impressive! They had a movie screen set up so that we could see all the guys departing the plane. We must have watched that video 5 times and never saw Joel! It is hard to tell who is who when they are all dressed alike. He is pretty tall, but there are a lot of really tall soldiers. (Some super-short ones, too, much to my amusement.) We waited, and waited. Everyone was trying to keep their energy up but we waited over an hour and a half! It was so noisy, they play really loud, upbeat music. That is fine at 2 pm, but a little hard to take at midnight. We kept watching the doors where the soldiers come in. Every time someone would move near the doors, you could hear people saying, "Get ready, they are coming in!" After hearing that about 15 times I finally decided I wasn't moving until I heard the announcer say something. Sure enough, she soon did. That they weren't going to be there until after 12:30 am! Well, some might say that I had already waited all those months, what is a few more minutes? A lifetime, I tell you!

We chatted with the people around us, Jocelyn slept off and on. We took a few pictures.

Then they started the smoke machines (I'm telling you, they make it a really big deal). We started to get a little more excited. Then, after about 10 more minutes (a toe-tapping eternity!) the announcer had everyone stand. And they all marched in! If everyone in the crowd was excited, I can't imagine how excited the soldiers were! They had spent the last two hours filling out paperwork and listening to lectures. The chaplain prayed and the commander said a few words. Then both sides collided, a huge wave of family on one side and soldiers on the other. It reminded me of that Life photo from World War II. People were screaming and crying and hugging. Josie and I just stood in the middle, waiting. I knew Joel would find us. And he did! I would love to say that we laughed and cried, but after a kiss we just hurried to leave behind the craziness. We had to run collect his bags from huge piles of Army green duffel bags and backpacks. I have no idea how he knew which ones were his, besides the dull spray-painted letters everyone has on the bottoms. But finally we were on our way home. It was too late to do anything more than glance at the posters and cake we had made. But, of course, none of that was important. Joel was finally home!

Worse for the Waiting

We are getting closer now, and in some ways it was worse than it was a month ago. I have been trying to stay busy so that I am not counting the minutes (even though since we don't have an "official" date I don't even know how many minutes there are!) but even that is not working so well! Jocelyn asks me about 5 times a day, "Is it August yet, when my daddy will be home for real?" Just so you know, "for real" differentiates between him coming home to stay, and just to visit for R & R. I have done so much recently you would think that I would just want to relax but, no, I just don't want to relax until it is with Joel!

I just got home from my parents last Wednesday and have had two lunch dates, a board meeting (I was asked to be childcare liaison for PWOC and if you don't know what means suffice it to say A LOT of work!) a baby shower, and company that arrived on Saturday. My friend Ruth and her cousin Rachel drove down from Illinois to spend their vacation touring Southern Colorado.

Yesterday, we went to the Denver Botanic Gardens. It was fun, not too hot. Jocelyn was so cute, she loved petting the "tickly" lambs' ears (of course, the plant variety). I loved the zen Japenese garden. Carson did too, but that mostly had to do with his deep desire to swim with the koi! We also stopped by the 16th Street Mall (a first for me). We didn't really do any shopping but we did have lunch at a cool place called "Mad Greens" that made terrific salads. We also got to ride the light rail bus which both the kids loved. Then on the way home we stopped at the Castle Rock outlets to take advantage of some great deals at the Children's Place. I got some steals on summer things for the kids next year.

However, even with all that fun I am still just itching with anticipation. A year (even one short by few weeks) is still a really, really, loooong time to be without your honey. I guess I will just keep plugging away... And it doesn't hurt that I have doctor's appointments, another baby shower, PWOC duties, more company coming and lots of "chores" to take care of between now and then. I guess I better get cracking!

Stop and See the Rocks

So, I'm driving today (seriously, I have all my best epiphanies while I am driving) and I am thinking about where my friends and I are going to lunch, that the driver in front of me is going too slow, that Josie should be sleeping so she won't be such a crab later and a bunch of other miscellaneous things. I am looking at the car in front of me, obeying all the traffic signs and staying in my lane. Good, right? Yeah. Except for that I was driving through the Garden of the Gods.

I had met Ruth and Rachel there after church so that we could go to lunch. I have been there several times (if you have lived in, or even visited Colorado Springs you have been there multiple times.)but not really recently. I finally look up as I am about to exit the park and realize that I have missed all the amazing scenery that makes that place such an attraction. Sure, I wasn't doing anything wrong, I was just going about my business. I was doing all the "right" things. But, I had missed all the God things that were surrounding me.

When I finally stopped to look around me I saw those beautiful rock formations that only my awesome God could have made and I felt ashamed. I had been so caught up in the "everydayness" of living that I couldn't take five minutes to appreciate His creativity and thoughtfulness. I guess that probably happens more than I care to admit, and probably a lot more often than I realize. I think that the joy is in the journey. Focusing on the end result (of heaven) is important, but God didn't make us robots. I am sure that it must make Him happy when we take time to appreciate the little things like a child's laugh,a pretty weed or a free coffee. And especially when we take time for the big, huge things like a husband's safe return from Iraq, or a baby being born or enormous rock formations. :)