Our Army Life

Dedicated to the one I love...My first documented gray hair.

Grandpa had it right when he told me that if the army wanted Nick to have a family, they would have issued him one.  I laughed it off at the time, but this stuff is no joke.  Nick's previously scheduled month-long June deployment (that I was dreading like mad) was put on hold the end of April because of business going on in the world.  Not long after we learned this development, he left for a 10 day training trip in the beginning of May.  After his return, we were in a holding pattern until he got orders for a new "trip."  After a couple of weeks sans notification, we both were starting to think it was going to be a no-go and that he'd leave as scheduled on his rotator flight to Afghanistan as previously scheduled for the month of June.  Well, the phone call finally came.  On my birthday.  I sometimes think the army is like an obnoxious person at a party that likes to steal your thunder.  Is nothing sacred?!  (My actual birthday was a rotten day, so I declared a do-over the following day-complete with a giant chocolate cake.  There's no problem too big for chocolate cake, in my humble opinion.)

So, a few days later, we said goodbye to Nick, with nary a hint of where he was off to, when he'd be home, and without any means to communicate with us.  To say that I was outside of my comfort zone, would be the understatement of the century.  The kids and I busied ourselves as best we could.  Emmy spent the first week doing Vacation Bible School, which was absolutely AMAZING (she loved it so much she begged me to find another one for her to do!)  We had a couple of playdates, a handful of outings, a whole lot of time spent playing at home and a visit from Kris and the kids!

As Army wife luck would have it, I had a run-in with a reptile and a rodent just to make life even more exciting.  I am irrationally fearful of snakes and mice, one of each decided to show up all in the same week for the first time since we moved in.  I didn't actually see the mouse, but found the hole it made in Emmy's old convertible carseat when I went to retrieve it from the attic for our growing boy.  I set a mousetrap for the first time in my life.  The trap is still ready and waiting, and I am a bit on edge until that rodent is eliminated!

As for the snake, we had arrived home from running an errand, when Emmy let the dogs out of the laundry room prematurely.  I was swamped in crying babies and lunch meal prep, when my inpatient dogs relieved themselves on the bathroom floor.  Enraged, I shooed them out of the house, to reinforce that they go potty outside (I swear they laugh at me in their heads when I lecture them about such things.)  I stood on the deck to watch and see who was responsible for the puddle in the bathroom by process of elimination, when out of the corner of my eye I see something slithering on the grass.  I panicked, yelled at the dogs to now come inside, grabbed my camera and my phone.  I called Mom, because she routinely talks me down from ledges and was armed and ready with google on her I-pad, as I described to her what identifiers I could note from the magnified photos.  Turns out it was a king snake and they are harmless to humans and good to have around because they eat the bad snakes.  Still, I was happier not knowing they were anywhere near my house.  Ignorance is absolutely bliss. 

This is when God sent me a reminder that He had it covered, as He does for me.  About half an hour after the sighting, I was still on the phone with Mom while I ran around getting my kids down for quiet time.  The dogs started barking their heads off and Sis alerted me, from the bottom of the stairs, that someone was at the door.  If I do actually hear the knock on the door, I typically don't answer it unless I'm expecting someone, because I have heard too many stories about crazy people on the news; but, for some reason, I mindlessly cracked it open.  It was our pest control technician.  He was working on a Saturday, to complete his routine appointments.  I mentioned to him that I had just seen a snake in the backyard and he, completely unfazed, told me that he had some snake repellent in his truck and he'd take care of it.  I waited to dissolve into a sobbing mess of gratitude until after I closed the door.  God is SO GOOD!  

And He showed up again...I had been feeling a little discouraged after an outing with the kids.  I've been trying to get more creative to come up with "fun" things to do that are realistically manageable and safe for me to do with all the kiddos.  But, it's not easy.  Emmy, very innocently, asked me when we ventured out on an errand why we never go anywhere fun.  Kind of hurt my heart a little.  So, the very next day at church, our babysitter, Emily, came up and said she had a question for me.  She nervously started explaining how she and her friend really wanted to go to the zoo, but they felt a little lame, at seventeen, going just the two of them and asked if they could borrow Emmy and Hannah.  Once again, I felt my eyes burning with tears of gratitude.  I arranged for another sitter to say at home with the twins and drove the big girls to the zoo yesterday morning.  When I offered to buy Emily and her girlfriend, Amber's, tickets, Emily begged me to let her spoil the girls for the day.  She had really been looking forward to making them feel extra special.  I still get goosebumps thinking about it, I'm sure she has no idea just how much her kindness impacted us.

....And then again, I felt enveloped in His love...A box with two dozen roses and a note of encouragement arrived on my doorstep from an unnamed angel.  It arrived on a particularly tough day and provided such a boost.  I kept the bouquet and card on the kitchen counter above the kitchen sink, where I spend a great deal of time, so that every time I looked at it, I couldn't help but smile.

At 1030 at night a week and a half ago, three weeks after Nick left, I heard the garage door open.  I froze, trying to figure out my plan of attack, because the thought of Nick being home was that far from my mind.  Still without a plan, I stood frozen in the kitchen when  Nick walked through the door.  I pretty much lost it.  My nervous system gave way and I was a sobbing idiot holding onto him for dear life.  Praise the Lord he was finally home...

...Until the next morning when he built up the courage to let me know that he was leaving for another month-long deployment just 6 days later.  He left again last Thursday.  I am praying hard for Nick's safety followed by patience, endurance, and, if I'm being honest, an attitude adjustment.  I do know that God is in control of my crazy life, I just have to give it to Him.

Our "selfie" at the airport, we were running really late so this was the best I could do.

Zoo pictures!

There it is.

Daddy's home!

Parking Lot selfies of 5 of our 9 deployments.