Life in our house is returning to normal after the holidays Preschool is back in session and all our regularly scheduled activities have started back up. However, normal is about to become ‘different’.
We were blessed that Rand McNally was able to have nearly 2 straight weeks of vacation over the holidays. It was AWESOME. We did some fun things out and about, but mostly we enjoyed being home together as a family.
When McNally returned to work Peanut kept saying “I miss my Daddy.” She has the sweetest voice and hearing it reminds me of what the next year will be like.
Daddy is deploying.
It wasn’t something we had on our radar but it is going to happen. When McNally recently left on a trip to prep for this Tour, I explained to the girls that Daddy is in the Army to help people, and sometimes people in the Army have to go away.
I am not the only person who has had their husband deploy. In fact, this will be a second tour for us. However, it is our first with kids and that changes things.
I have been ‘Pinning’ all kinds of ideas and getting strategies to manage the next year from my MANY experienced friends. I figure as I come up with ideas and find things for our family I will blog about them to share with other families.
For starters, we have ordered both girls Daddy Dolls. These are great for a boy or a girl! You email them a full length photo of the Dad or Mom and they Photoshop the background out and create a doll with the picture. They are going to be amazing for the girls!!!
Another fun thing my husband has been doing is recording a few of the Hallmark Recordable Story Books. You can purchase them at Walmart, Hallmark stores, even grocery stores! We bought a few of the Christmas ones on Clearance so we could record them and put them away for next year!
This is one of my favorite books and we will be getting it for the girls. Hearing McNally reading it will probably make me cry, but the words are PERFECT!
I have a bunch of other ideas I plan to share here in the next few weeks. I am sad. The girls will be sad too. We haven’t told them. No point until we get closer. The military is constantly changing dates and times. We don’t want to them to worry that every time Daddy goes to work he is ‘leaving’. We are strong family and this will strengthen us.
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