TDT #34: The Best Night's Sleep in 7 Months!

One of the ways I have always done my countdowns when my  husband is away is by counting trash days.  Most of the time it isn't as daunting a number as the estimated number of days he'll be gone.  And it helps me remember to put the trash out, or rather encourage my boys to put the trash out since it's their job.  So this will be my new weekly post, and I'll just really post whatever, no real set theme.  Please feel free to join me on this adventure of counting down the time until your loved one comes home!

 

I love midtour leave!  We get 30 glorious days with our Soldier!  Since he's not assigned to a unit here, it will be a month of no interruption.  The week before he got here I was an emotional mess!  I was anxious and excited.  It had been 7 months since I've seen him, held him, looked straight in his face.  We've had three...yes three skype sessions in 7 months so I was so looking forward to just seeing his smiling face.  Pictures on Facebook just aren't enough to see for yourself that all is right with him.

It seemed like the weekend was the slowest EVER.  I just wanted it to be Monday already.  He would send me messages telling me he couldn't sleep either.  We were so ready to be a family together again.  I think if one more person asked me if I was excited, I might have had to hurt them.

Driving to the airport I was so excited.  The kids slept the entire way..so much for excited conversation to keep me going.  They were excited too, I love that my boys love their daddy so much.  As we waited for Kevin's plane to come in, I could tell they were all a little nervous too but didn't want to say anything.  As soon as they spotted him coming out of the gate, they all jumped up with the biggest smiles ever.  

I love that they let me me always have the first kiss and hug.  Then usually it's Daniel and then Michael and Neil get their turns.  I love how tightly they hugged their dad...no shame. 

  

 I can never get Neil to give me a real smile for pictures these days...as you can see, there is was no problem that day!

 Kevin was starving when he got home and it was late, so we found a Crackerbarrel and had our first meal together.  I loved how all the boys wanted to get 7 months of conversation in that first hour together.  I love the feeling of being complete. 

We finally got home way after midnight, but that did not stop our pups from being so excited to see Daddy too!  They love Kevin.  They were acting so crazy!

After finally getting settled and Kevin taking a shower, we all went to bed...at 3:30 in the morning!  The boys did not want to leave Kevin's side.  We did not get up until 11 a.m. and then laid around being lazy until noon.  It was so nice to feel rested and complete.  I rarely get to bed when Kevin's not home before 2 a.m. and then turn around and get up with the boys at 5 a.m.

I love how the girls didn't want to leave Kevin's side either, silly pups!

I am going to enjoy the next few weeks with my love. We are going to enjoy being together as a family.  We will cherish the moments and make memories.  Because Korea is a hardship tour and not a deployment, we had to pay for Kevin's ticket home and I will say it is worth every single penny!

Kev was surprised at how much all the boys had grown since he left.  Here is a picture from the day he left and the day he got home on leave.  Yup, the boys aren't holding back on their growth spurts!