When you come home to things like this, reality starts to set in.
When you come home to things like this, reality sits in and makes you realize what a great hubby you have. Organization for an overseas move is key and with him leaving before any movers show up, he knows the way to my heart (and the way to keep my sanity in semi tact) is through organizing as much as he can before he has to leave.
"The most important thing a father can do for his children is to love their mother".
We got a good chuckle last night as we put the girls to bed and Eric passed me in the hallway after leaving the girls room and said "Have Emily show you the trick her Mommy and Daddy Bears do". So I proceeded to walk in and tell the girls good night and ask Emily to show me whatever she had just shown her Dad. Emily takes her bears and begins to have them kiss. A lot. *insert laughter from Mom* Then she has them walk away from each other saying "Good bye". I said, "So is that what you think we do when we go say good bye?" She responded by showing me another reenactment with her bears. This time the kissing was not as long. But she smiled the entire time. Bears gave a kiss and walked away from each other. My next question to her was "So should Daddy and I kiss like that first round when we're saying good bye?" She simply giggled.
Fast forward to this morning when we were walking out the door for school and all Daddy's girls were saying goodbye to him. Little girls give Daddy a hug and kiss good bye. Mommy goes towards Daddy and says "Wait, Emily.... ready?? Like this?" and I proceed to ACT like we're making out. Trust me, I have lines I don't cross ;) Both girls laugh and we all walk out the door happily.
While the girls will one day be embarrassed of our actions around them, regardless of whether it's kissing or showing off our dance moves to their friends, for now, I'm content with knowing they know their Mommy and Daddy love each other.
So unless you've been living under a rock, you are aware of the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary back on December 14, 2012. As we spent the few days following with the tv away from the news and limiting what the girls would watch so they wouldn't be subjected to the around the clock updates, it broke my heart to think of all the parents must be going through. I've got a 7 year old. I couldn't imagine life without her even as trying as she can be some days. I've also got a 9 year old. When explaining it to the 9 year old, her response was "why would he go for the youngest kids, why not like the 5th graders?" I wasn't quite sure how to respond to that other than to say, "Well we'd hope that never happens to anyone of any age", but I understood what she meant. Why the innocence of those who don't know any better? I'll never be able to understand why someone could want to intentionally hurt children of any age and certainly not a classroom full of innocent children. As the next few weeks passed and the children tested boundaries, I found myself thinking, "this too shall pass". There are parents out there who don't get to disagree with their child on what they should or shouldn't have for a snack. They don't get to break up arguments between siblings because now they may only have one child. They don't get to hear them complain about how they don't want to eat their vegetables at dinner, or any meal for that matter. They don't get to hear them ask for "just one more kiss and hug Mommy" or "Daddy can we have a squish hug tonight?" As the weeks passed by, I also found myself listening to the radio and continuously hearing the song below. I'd heard it before, but now it spoke to me even more.
Cause it's not who you knew
And it's not what you did, it's how you live
They always say "it's not what you know, it's who you know". But this song changes that. It's how you live. Sure, who you meet will impact your life. What you do will also impact your life. But HOW you do all those things will mean the most.
And have what you want
But want what you have
What those parents wouldn't give to have 5 more minutes with their babies. I have all I could ever dream of. And then some by simply having my babies with me each day. But as I try to teach my children to be gracious for what they have, what better way to do that than to show them. We've talked about how in Korea the squadron takes a trip to the local orphanage at Christmas time to give gifts to the children. The girls have taken that and run with it wanting to start making gifts to pass on now because why should we have to wait until Christmas to do that? Makes my heart smile until the constant reminder of "mom, we need to buy fabric now to start making things for the children" is brought up. Actually, I lie, either way it makes my heart smile but I could live without the daily reminders of the lack of supplies in the house.
Don't hold in your anger or leave things unspoken
Wear your red dress, use your good dishes
Make a big mess and make lots of wishes
I was reminded of this today when at Target with the 9 year old who insisted upon new dishes. Why you ask? Because ours are simply a couple of different solid colors and she wanted to ensure everyone in the family had the exact same dish for dinner every night ("We can just wash this one set every night Mom"). So thank you Target clearance, for less than $7 total we each have one plate that matches perfectly and my child will be content knowing that at dinner time, we are that much more united as a family. Seems like a pretty silly thing to me but in her 9 year old mind, I know that the minute those plates come out, she'll feel a connection to her family that totally makes sense to her and it will be special to her. I know that as my husband walked into the playroom and grumbled about the mess left behind by 2 children who quite often forget how to pick up after themselves, it's a reminder that we have 2 little bodies to love on and adore as we watch them grow into young ladies. Man, that makes me feel a tad bit older just typing it. Or maybe it was the comment again from the 9 year old today about how excited she is to get her first ID at 10 (she's been told she has to get a military ID at that point, so it's what she wants for her birthday. Sweet.) But how she also mentioned, "Mom did you get a different picture for your ID because on yours now you don't look that young". Uh, thanks kid. Yea so I knew what she really meant and she really was wondering if they would use some school picture for her or if she'd get to take a new fancy picture just for the ID. Anyway, way off track somehow.
Either way, this song helps bring me back around to viewing life differently as so many things have the past few years.
So give to the needy and pray for the grieving
Even when you don't think that you can
'Cause all that you do is bound to come back to you
So, think of your fellow man
Or in my case, WOman. Whenever I think my life is going rough and I'm in a rut, I can think of quite a few other people right off hand, wives mostly, who have it much worse. BUT, they choose to live out the "HOW you live" part of life.
Thanks for reading my ramblings. And just a heads up, if something doesn't make sense, sorry. I don't bother going back to read all my thoughts and ensure all the wording is correct or if it makes sense because it will just keep me sitting here longer analyzing it all. You get my first/final draft. Mostly.
After a year and a half long hiatus, we're back. We'll see how this goes as life has certainly gotten busier as the girls have gotten older and I'm pretty sure I don't see it slowing down anytime soon. However, I promised a few people over the holiday break that I'd do my best to start this back up to help keep those that aren't on Facebook or that we don't get to talk with often up to speed. I will be trying to spruce up the blog a bit, but I can't make promises there either. I lack creativity in writing, computer skills for sprucing it up and time, all key in what I'd really like this to be. Oh well.
I'm not even going to try and backlog other than to let you know the reason for the blog starting back up is that the Music family is about to begin the next chapter of our lives. This time from Korea!
There are lots of emotions that go along with us moving overseas from mostly just the females in the family, but we're happy and blessed to be on this journey together as a family and not sending the head of our household on his own. We leave our comfort zone of the states and embark on this journey mid to late April once E has gotten re-qualified in the jet.
For now, we prepare ourselves the best we can and know that God has His hand in all of it. At least that's what I just need to keep in mind to keep my stress at a bearable level :) Happy 2013 to everyone! Or in Korean : 새해 복 많이 받으세요. Ha, at least I hope that's what it says. Good ol' Google.
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