understanding the concept of "boo"

Peek-a-boo is one of Ronin's favorite things, but now it has transformed into a game that is more like hide-and-seek. He likes to hide behind the chair, sneak around the corner, then pop his little head out and say, "Boo!" He likes to do this in the morning when he wakes up too: I will peek my head around the door and when he sees me, he says, "Boo!"

This morning, I was sitting in the chair that Ronin likes to hide behind, so he must have been a little frustrated that he wasn't finding me when he peeked around the corner. From the chair I hear him yell, "Mommy! Mommy!" Once I looked down, he smiled, extremely pleased I had found him and then said, "Boo!" Not quite how it works, but he's getting there.

and then...the disconnect

First of all, I want to publicly say thank you to the friends and family who have been so intentional in caring for me (for us) in this past week. It has been challenging in many ways, but we are slowly adjusting to the "everyday" of deployment yet again.

Davis is doing his typical form of adjusting and that means lots of discipline, several spankings, sneaking downstairs after bedtime, testing his limits and my authority, blatant disobedience, stealing toys from Ronin, and the list goes on. However, in the midst of all his rebellion, Davis has moments of poignant sensitivity; when he detects that I am sad, he is quick to comfort me. Ronin is still his typical self: laid back, always seeking adventure (without caution), but now he is ecstatic to see Kevin on TV reading a story.

At 4:43am, Kevin called. He will be heading out soon to start patrolling again. We had a wonderful conversation, and it wasn't until after we hung up that I realized it is exactly that: the disconnect, that creates the ache for all of us. Eighteen days was enough. Enough to settle into what is normal: waking up together, eating together, talking together, laughing together, playing together, sleeping together, everything together. And in a moment at the airport, it's just like hanging up the phone. Family (and even more so, marriage) is so much like a constant conversation that separation breaks apart. There is still union and cohesion, but it is strained and a challenge to maintain.

So, we pick up the journey again of staying connected despite the disconnect.

creativity even kids can love

I have been trying to think of things that I (or we) could make for Christmas that are still good gifts (or additions to gifts). I came across Martha Stewart's holiday magazine while in Borders and it has a lot of fun things to make, even cookies! My favorite were the beaded letters and stars. I made some of them yesterday and Davis made a star and had fun doing it! Here are some pictures of the turnout:

Ronin misses Da-da

Someone asked me if I had noticed a change in Ronin since Kevin has been gone (it's been three days). And I was honest with the friend and myself when I answered that I really hadn't. I explained to myself that it's because he's still so little, etc., etc.

Today, when he woke up, he quickly let me know he wanted down by leaning over to the point he almost falls out of my grasp and saying, "Down, down, down." I usually shut all the upstairs doors as we head downstairs, so they were all still open. Ronin rushed into our room, looked at the bed, and said, "Da-da?" A brief pause, then again, "Da-da?" That's where he had met Kevin most mornings that we were home, but not this one.

In that moment, my heart swelled, how can sorrow and joy mingle so easily? I miss my husband, and the boys miss their Daddy, yet in the same breath, I am overjoyed to know even our littlest is aware of his absence.

biased media coverage

I am not usually a political post-er, however, a friend recommended this article to me and I thought it was brilliant. It's called "Media's Presidential Bias and Decline". It might be a little long for the average internet reader, but it's worth it.

a blog invasion

I checked my email this morning to find I had 49 new comments on my blog, I was shocked, who would comment that many times in one night? nbalike, that's who, and they weren't commenting, they were invading my blog for their own purposes, to post links to some video games or something like it. This person posted around 45 comments on separate entries to post links to different gaming sites. So, I'm in the process of removing his/her comments and trying to find out what to do to report them. If you have insight on this issue, please let me know.

my favorite (little) boys

One of the days that Kevin was here, we went to America the Beautiful Park. Since he was there, I was able to sneak around and take some pictures of the boys, these are some of my favorites.