Quick 5 (Things that Have Made me Smile this Week)

1.  Tom is getting to call EVERY night.  I can't even tell you what a blessing it is to get to talk to him every night...we were prepared for Saturday and Sunday calls only, so this is huge!  The calls have to be short because he's at "camp" and doesn't have any way of charging his phone, so we have to make the battery last all week. 

2.  Tom's grandparents.  LOVE them.  Grampy is 92, Grammy will be 89 in September, and they're celebrating their 65th wedding anniversary in August.  They're amazing and it is so, so fun to get to spend time with them.  I love that they love doting over my children, and I was about in tears as Micah ran up (unprompted) to give great grammy a hug as soon as we walked in the door.  We had a great weekend in Dubuque.  I'm too lazy to post pictures here, but hop over to my shutterfly website for lots of pictures from the weekend.  There's a few on facebook too. 

3.  Micah has turned into a tiger this week.  Literally.  As in, he crawls across the floor as fast as he can, growling the whole way.  It's hilarious!

4.  No Work (and my new secretary who has done a great job of handling things while I'm gone, and calling only with real emergencies!!)  I haven't worked since last Thursday, I have a full day of work tomorrow, one court hearing Friday and a fully day Monday then I'm off for the rest of next week too!!  As much as I love my job, I'm loving a little break from it.  I love a break from the schedule, spending the morning in our jammies, watching cartoons, and I love having the extra time with my babies!

5.  Makenzie taking care of her brother.  Our drive home from Wahoo yesterday was crazy to say the least.  We hit terrible storms (i.e. sheets of rain and 60 mph winds) around York and it was a slow and stressful trip.  Both kids were a little stir crazy and I couldn't even talk to them over the loud rain.  At one point I took my hand off the steering wheel just long enough to throw a partial bag of goldfish at Makenzie and literally yell to tell her to share with her brother.  And she did! :)  She carefully doled out goldfish to her brother, and the two of them were totally content to share goldfish in their carseats, seemingly oblivous to the awful storm and my stress level.  So, so cute!

All in all, we're doing well even without Tom around - anxious for him to get home of course, but we've been SO, SO blessed.  My neighbor was even just over to mow our lawn. :) 

Just What I Needed.

You gain confidence through knowing that I am with you--that you face nothing alone.  Anxiety stems from asking the wrong question: "If such and such happens, can I handle it?"  The true question is not whether you can cope with whatever happens, but whether you and I together can handle anything that occurs.  It is this you-and-I together factor that gives you confidence to face the day cheerfully. 
                                                                                  --From Jesus Calling by Sarah Young

Coincidence that I read this the day Tom left?  I think not. 

Yep, I still hate saying goodbye....

So, I'm just not going to --we're saying "see you later" instead!  Tom is on his way to San Antonio....both babes are still sleeping and I'm kind of a wreck, but I'll spare you the sobbing and just post pictures!  We had a picnic at the park last night --but you don't get to see that because I forgot my camera and the picture from my phone won't post (check facebook, I'll try to upload it there!) 
Tom said his "see you laters" to the kiddos at bedtime and even Micah gave him big hugs and kisses --so, so cute!  Makenzie told him, "but I might miss you" and then she prayed for her daddy to have a safe trip to Texas and a safe trip home.  :)  I'm SO, SO glad I get the spend the next month with these two!! 

Here's the HUGE calendar Makenzie and I made to help her count down the days till Daddy gets home.  Thankfully she didn't seem to notice my inability to draw straight lines and make the squares even.  She wanted to hang it above her bed so she can color in a square each day and then she can count the empty ones and know just how many days until her daddy gets home. 

And it wouldn't be a trip without a care package -lots of candy...check, crackers just in case the meals are terrible...check, pictures of the cutest kids EVER....check, and special pictures drawn just for daddy by Miss Makenzie...check! 

Love you and miss you already Tom!! 

Feelin a little stressed

I discovered last night that I'm completely out of checks (the box I thought I had left were checks for our health savings account)....not a huge deal (thanks to online bill pay).  I don't write very many checks except that now I have to get cash to pay daycare this week. 

And then today I got an email from my credit card company saying there were fraudulent charges to my credit card, so after spending 30 minutes on the phone confirming that they were indeed fraudlent charges (no, I did not make 2- $2094.42 charges to some place called M Elle yesterday thank you very much), my credit card has been shut down and they are sending me a new one that should be here in 5 to 7 days. 

And my husband leaves tomorrow morning at 5 am....for a month.

And the kids and I leave Friday for Dubuque....with no checks and no credit card....thinking I better get some cash before we hit the road so I'm not totally dependent on my debit card! 

And Micah has some strange rash on the bottom of his right foot that the doctor suspects might be foot and mouth (watch his mouth for spots and if he develops any sores in his mouth or more spots on his feet keep him out of daycare for the rest of the week). 

In an effort to avoid a major meltown, I'm blogging and eating chocolate, and thinking of picking up a diet mountain dew (thank you $1 Runza drinks!) when I pick up Makenzie from VBS.  :) 

Forget me not Friday

I got this idea from another blog....definitely not my original idea - the gist of the other blog was that mama's should take more pics with their kids, because our excuses not to are far outweighed by the fact that kids are not going to look back and think "they were having a bad hair day in that photo." Forget me Not Friday is a reminder to post photos of me with my kids from the past and the present.  I have a hard time taking pictures of myself or even looking back on photos of myself without feeling super critical.  But for those little sweetheart's sake, I want them to remember that I sure did love to be with them, no matter the hair day!  I kinda cheated this week and started with a picture that's easy to look at....fresh coat of makeup and I got to spend an hour getting my hair done by SOMEONE else before the picture was taken!

Top Five

ONE WEEK till Tom takes off for San Antonio....for a month!  I have a whole new appreciation for military wives/moms who send their guys off to Iraq or Afghanistan for MONTHS at a time!  And just because it doesn't get said enough, THANK YOU to all the troops for your service to our country! 

I was looking at the calendar and figured out that Tom is gone for parts of 5 weeks....so here it is, my list of 5 things that I'll miss the most in those 5 weeks.  I could come up with a lot more, but I needed to stop at 5 or I was going to have myself in tears! 

1.  Laying in bed after a long day and talking about how cute are kiddos are, all the funny things Makenzie said during the day, all the naughty things Micah did, and just how blessed we are.

2.  Sleeping in  (redefined sleeping in....you know like 7:30 am) on Saturday mornings while Tom gets up with the kids (at 6 am). 

3.  Having a helper, someone to share everyday life with....talking on the phone once a week just isn't going to be the same!  I love that Tom helps out so much - and for the next month I have to cook AND clean up dinner AND keep the kids entertained while I do the cooking and cleaning up! 

4.   Having someone to rant to after a hectic day at work....someone who listens and never reacts, never gets worked up when I'm going 100 mph in circles about nothing!  There isn't anything that can take the place of a hug from my man or his shoulder to cry on when I'm in a tizzy. 

5.  My trash man.....I can't tell you how much I hate trash duty, and in over 6 years of marriage I can probably count on one hand (maybe 2 hands) the number of times I've taken out the trash and I HATE thinking about having to take out the trash myself for the next 30 days! 

And because I don't want you to think its all gloom and doom around here while Tom's gone, here are 5 things I'm really looking forward to in the next 5 weeks: 

1.)  4th of July in Dubuque - Tom's grandparents live in Dubuque and we've gone there every July 4th for the last several years.  His grandpa is 92 and they just moved to assisted living (If I'm 1/2 as sharp as his grandpa at 92, I'll consider myself amazing!!)  I think it will be a little hard to not spend the time at their house -- the house they built when Tom's mom was young and have lived in all their lives, but I'm SO excited to see them!!  Hopefully they're still up for a trip to Eagle Point Park. :) 

2.) Go Fish concert -  We LOVE Go Fish!!  We went to one with Makenzie shortly after Micah was born and I found out they are coming to Kearney in July....so we got tickets and my parents, the kids and I are going to Go Fish!  (Hope Grandma and Grandpa know what they're getting themselves in to!!)

3.)  A week away --of course this would be better if I could call it a FAMILY vacation, but I'm still looking forward to it!  Several days of no work and lots of fun with my kids!  We're headed to Lincoln/Omaha to see friends, my grandparents, go to the zoo and hopefully hit up a children's museum! 

4.)  Makenzie picking up the phone and saying, "Oh hello dad" just like she's 3 going on 16  - MELTS my heart to see her smile when she hears her daddy's voice on the other end of the phone!

5.)  July 26th - party at the Nelsen's....MY HUBBY GETS HOME!!  :)

Celebrating...

these two guys today - Happy Father's Day to my daddy and to my babies' daddy! 

(Sorry about the crazy eyes, I can't seem to get rid of the red eye!)