Flag-Draped Coffin & A 21-Gun Goodbye

Last month was a hard time for Ben, and for the whole 2nd Radio Batallion family. Ben lost a much-loved friend and a Marine brother in Afghanistan. Lucas Pyeatt was only 24 years old. Vibrant, fun, caring, genuine. While Ben and many many other Marines who were close with Luke weren't able to attend the services, I was able to go.....I went to try and be of some help & comfort to the Pyeatt family. To show love and support. But it turned out that THEY were the ones who helped me. They're pillars. Pillars of Faith, Love, Kindness, Generosity, Strength. I am honored to know them. We were all blessed to have known Luke. Its now for us to try and live up to the gift that he gave.

"We sleep safely in our beds at night because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on the ones that would do us harm"

Secretariat Movie Night

Yikes! Its been a while. But, some weeks ago, I went all gung-ho crafty and hosted a movie night for my nieces and some friends. It was a lot of fun, and a cute way to have a "welcome to your new house" kind of party. They just moved into an AWESOME house, with tons of room. Which is a good thing, with two of them coming into the teen years (GASP!) and three littles who like to do a lot of running! Bless your heart, Bethany. I dunno how you do it.

Anyways, on to the movie night. I did Secretariat, mostly because that's what came out....and the girls hadn't seen yet. I did a few little decorations to "set the mood" - a fun foamie pennant banner from dollar tree materials, and then some horse silhouettes arranged in a "race" along the wall.

The treats were:

Burlap "FEED" bags - filled with popcorn

"Haystacks" - yummy no-bake goodies featuring PB, butterscotch chips, peanuts, and ChowMein noodles

IBC rootbeer - in a galvanized bucket

horseshoe chocolates

The girls were really excited, and when I asked Natalee what her favortie part of the new house was, she told me "When you did the movie for us." So sweet, and makes it worth every minute!!

Missing him...

I don't know that anyone reads this, but I just have to write. Writing brings me comfort. Its been how I've been able to just have some sort of outlet since I was young. So please don't think that I'm on the edge and need saving. I just need to get it all out......Let it all out, so that tomorrow can be a little brighter. Here goes....

Feeling sad tonight. Lonely. Alone. The one bright spot in my day is my little man. He's such a trooper and always has a smile for his mommy. I rode him around on my leg tonight for 40 minutes straight just so I could hear him laugh while I felt like crying. I had to switch up legs a few times, but I feel like I burned some calories nonetheless :)

We've been without Ben for longer.....he's only been gone a week. But this time the seperation is so prolonged, it feels interminable. Its only been a week.....and we have so many more to weather. The days ahead seem so overwhelming from this side of the mountain.

We miss him.

Tomorrow is Ben's birthday. Where he is, I doubt he'll even notice that it has gone by. Its not the first birthday we've missed together, but I didn't make him his special "birthday dessert" this year. I've made it for him every year since we've been married. Blondie brownie with white chocolate chunks and warm maple butter sauce. Its his favorite. I wish I were making it for him now. We'd be snuggling together and watching Harry Potter... or Oceans Eleven...

I miss him.

Not that he'd complain....he's excited and proud to be doing what he signed up for. He's helping keep others safe. He's serving his country. I AM proud of him. He is so brave and dedicated to doing his job and doing it well. Better than well... he does his best, and strives to push and pull others along with him. He is a great leader.

I miss him.

Each time I talk to someone on the phone, little man is excited thinking that its daddy. He walks into the house looking for him. He asks me, "eeee daddy?" everynight. We watch "the daddy show" each night before bed so Little man can see him. He blows him kisses, and kisses the computer screen. He pushes the button on "daddy bear" a few times before going down for his nap and before going down for bed....kissing the bears nose each time.

We miss him. We love him. Be safe.

Okay. I'm done. Just had to get that out.....out of my system. Continuing on....making plans for next week. Gym on Monday or Tuesday (or BOTH!).....Appointment on Wednesday.....Chinese New Year Thursday......Orlando Friday......Medieval Faire Saturday...... we're going to be Ok.

Making the Most of 2 weeks.

I wish I could have persuaded the calendar to take a "time out" over the past two weeks. Ben, Jayson, and I got to spend two weeks in Florida for the holiday, and it was just wonderful. I didn't want our time with family and friends to end. Some of my favorite things?

Caroling
Family Dinners
Junk Food
Waking up Christmas morning and the ENORMOUS pile of presents....and all the excitement which that entails for the little ones
Date Nights (we had 3!!!)
Wingstop's Lemon Pepper wings
Watching Jayson play with his Choo Choo, his "tar"(guitar) and his "Talkning" (phone)
Playing board games til 2am on New Years Eve
Seeing friends
Visiting the Wizarding World of Harry Potter
Mildred's Cakes

We've been living life in 2 week increments for the last few months....it seems like there's always something going on. And now we're down to it....This is going to be our last 2 weeks together for a little while, so we're going to try and make the most of it. Just enjoy each others company, stress a little less....put worrying aside. Read stories, play games, cuddle and fill up on hugs. Makes me wish that I'd just take a step back all the time and relish our blessings a little more.