Hall Kids News

Monday, November 1, 2010

The loooong and the short of it all.

I am in the mood to count my blessings. I know that I have many and the heavy Christmas marketing that is already starting is making me start to feel merry and emotional. I thin.k that this desire to sit here and catalogue all of the positive things in my life is a reaction to a small (okay maybe not so small) freakout I had today.

I thought about what it's been like since Chris has been gone, and I did the thing that you should never, ever do. I counted. I realized that he has only been gone less than two weeks, and that there is so much more to go. I know that he is going to be home for a short period here soon, but then the year doesn't even start until after that. And that is just such a long time.

I think that maybe these separations are a little like walking a tightrope over the Grand Canyon. You just need to put one foot in front of the other and take it one step at a time. If you stop to look down or at how far you have left to go, you are just plain screwed. And I think that I did that today.

But I have a lot to be proud of so far in how I am handling this deployment. I think that the most important thing for me to remember is that life doesn't end when he is gone. I can't spend the next year just waiting for him to come back, because one year is a long time. It is 1/30th of my life, 1/5th of Zoe's, 1/2 of Abby's. And so we are all going to do things and truly live and enjoy the next year.

Yes, there is a hole. There will always be that hole. But we fill it. We talk to him daily. He watched the kids play from hotel rooms far away. Heck, he even watched Zoe while I jumped in the shower the other day! And I miss him. Oh, do I miss him. I guess the best thing about deployments is that the distance really makes you stop and realize just how much of an important role that someone plays in your life. Chris is my rock. He makes sense even when nothing makes sense.

But I am handling this very well. I am proud of myself. I have amazing friends who fly from across the country to be with me. I have a mom who is coming to man the troops at Christmas. I have a sister in law who came to make the weekend less lonely. I took initiative and made a new friend who is in a very similiar situation who has been just great for me and the kids. I am doing things, teaching the kids, reading to them, reading to myself and living life. I am going to be okay. We are all going to be okay.

And that is the biggest blessing of all.

Thursday, October 28, 2010

Make your own oatmeal bar

-
I started with the base recipe oatmeal from www.katheats.com

Boil 1/3 cup oats with 1/3 cup soy milk and 1/3 cup water. Add an entire thinly sliced banana once it starts to boil.

Then give your kids a choice of toppings and let them design away!

She added a blob of no sugar added apple sauce, a blob of Marion berry preserves and 8 chocolate chips.

She had a ton of fun and is getting all her soluble fiber (she hates oatmeal normally!)

Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Suprises of the best kind.

Thursday afternoon, while I was cleaning the house trying to distract myself from the whole deployment thing, the dog suddenly started barking out the window. I peeked out the window, only to discover my best friend Jessica waking across my driveway. I nearly propelled myself out barefoot on sharp rocks and probably scared the heck out of my neighbors with my screaming! What an amazing friend, she came to be here for Zoe's birthday!

We had a whirlwind weekend of activities, restaurants and scenery. We covered all the way North to Bainbridge Island and across the sound on the ferry into Seattle. We also worked in a Harvest Dance and dinner at a Thai restaurant. I have some wonderful memories to take away from the weekend, there was a lot of laughing and reminiscing. Truly great for the soul.

But oh the rain, rain rain! It has been nonstop and doens't show any signs of letting up. We lost power yesterday in our town, including the school. Apparently this is a common occurence. I am learning all about living through a winter on an acre of land with a hundred trees, and a (electrically powered) well pump and a septic tank. It is actually really enpwering for me to be able to trek in the wood and build fires!