written a month or so ago...

A half full, cold cup of coffee waits to be microwaved yet again

A load of laundry needs to be folded

Dinner needs to be started, or at least thought of

The kids are in the backyard, dirty faces and grubby fingers...but happy. Good enough.

I was oh-so-busy, doing the jobs of at least 2

Dishwasher emptied, floor vacuumed

Homework done, bills paid, baby fed

And then I turned around and saw it

Your picture was there, one of many we have around

I pass it everyday, every hour

I like it there, your eyes get me through the day

I can hear the way you said it the last time I saw you

"Don't cry, baby. I love you...I'll be back. I'm proud of you."

But this time it makes me cry and I can't help it

I snatch the picture off the fridge and sink to the floor

holding it tight and crying as quietly as possible

I can hear you, see you, smell you...but you're not here

It's more than I can take in this moment

"MOM! What are you doing?" and I jump up and wipe the tears away

"Nothing baby, just looking for something I dropped! You hungry?"

Just another night.

oh, yes, she can!

sit up, that is!

gabe gets the good citizen award

Gabe is the most polite child in his class, according to his teacher. He is always kind hearted and never gets in to trouble because of malice. So, this was a well deserved award!

summer hair

a hero

Last week, 1LT Joseph Theinert of Bravo Troop, 1-71 Cav (only 24 years old) was killed when an IED he was disarming exploded, but not before he got the 20 soldiers under his command safely away. This is Tyrone's Squadron, although not his Troop. 1-71 Cav, or the Ghost Squadron, is pretty closely knit and this has hurt the Ghost family badly.

Please, please pray for 1LT Theinert's parents and for peace and safety for Tyrone and the entire Ghost family. We have faith, but these are scary times, and we desperately want our soldiers home, safe and sound.

1LT Theinert

All Gave Some, Some Gave All

quiet

Today was a rough day emotion-wise. But my friends really came through for me, and then the kids and I enjoyed a quiet evening playing on the lawn, blowing bubbles, and eating freezy pops.

5 months {e}

So I worked really hard to try to get a super cute picture for Emmeline's 5 month post. The problem with that is that she could care less about the camera, she was all about the rolling and playing with her big sissy. So here's what I got!

Emmeline Lily is a sweetheart! She still loves to cuddle, and be swaddled. She adores it when I wear her, and we continue to do that everywhere we go-it gets us lots of attention, who knew?! We are STILL nursing, whoo hoooo! Although I have tried to do a bottle a few times, just so I have the option of being able to go somewhere without her...it was a no go. Poor Emmeline thought I was nuts and flat refused to eat.

Emmeline LOVES to be outside, and will play happily for a long time in her jumperoo out in the yard while the big kids are running around playing. She also can pick her brothers and sister out of a crowd and will laugh hysterically at anything they do. She is still waking up several times a night, but I'm thinking (hoping) that we'll start to phase that out once we start solids next month!

But the biggest news is that Emmeline has sat up! Not for very long, but she's done it many times now! For 3-4 seconds, she'll manage on her own and then she'll start to lean. I'm so excited for her, what a big girl. But it's a little sad, too! My last baby is trying to get all grown up on me! Anyway, when I manage to catch a pic of this, I will post it!

Happy 5 months, Emmeline!