Leaving On A Jet Plane

The dreaded day finally arrived.  Lots of kisses, lots of tears.

Some Day 1 excerpts:
   
       *"How many days do you think you're going to cry like this?" (Caleb to  
       Janet)  
      "I am at least a 10 - 15 day cry" (Clay to Caleb)
      "I bet you $20 I don't cry" (Clay to Caleb)
      "Easy bet!" (Caleb to Clay as they shake on it)
                  ...  And Caleb pocketed the $20 quickly.
     
      *"Saying "Goodbye" to your family for a year SUCKS!"  (Clay's Facebook  
        post as he waited for his flight.)

      *Finally got boys in bed for the evening and Collin comes in and says 
        "Caden is crying causes he wants Dad to kiss him goodnight."  I go lay 
         down with him and ask if I can kiss on him and he responds with a 
         shrug and an "I guess so."

      * Getting in our bed by myself was a sad experience.  I got back up 
         immediately and decided to sleep on the couch.  

Day 2:   We all did well getting up and getting ready for school.  Everyone took their jobs seriously.  Caden fed Cricket, Caleb fixed water bottles and turned off all electrical items, and Collin fixed breakfast for everyone.  As we were gathering our things, Caden dropped his new US ARMY water bottle and the top broke.  A huge wail came out of the kitchen, but was soon soothed when I found the super glue.  School went well for us all.  Dinner was McDonalds.  (Not proud of that one.)

Day 3:  Morning routine went well again.  I had the Kinder field trip (fun but tiring) and the two little boys went home with the Watsons to do homework and so I could get a few things done in my classroom.  Found out report cards are due Friday.  Nice.  Gotta get to work on those.  Dinner was Taco Bell.  We got to Facetime with Clay cause he woke up at 3:45am and couldn't sleep.  He was able to get an internet connection!!!!  He looked great and we got to see his room and things. Gotta get the pictures developed for him and sent to him quickly!!!

(So now I am all caught up. I promised Nana I would write/blog about our time, so here goes.) 

The Deployment News

We spent a weekend lying in the sun, swimming in the lake, listening to music, fishing (not me), and just generally having a relaxing time.  Sunday evening was coming to a close and the boys were starting to scatter for a little screen time and Clay asked them to come back that we needed to have a family meeting.  We all look at him like he had three heads but everyone came back and took a seat around the campfire.  Clay began to explain about his new job and then landed his bombshell of announcement:  "I am moving to my new job at the beginning of October and they are sending me to Kuwait for a year."  No one moved for about 10 seconds and then Collin burst out in tears and tried to curl up on his chair, Caleb got up and went in the camper and slammed the door, and Caden got up and walked down to the water and started to throw rocks.  And that was the good part.  The evening turned emotionally worse for all of us.  Many hugs later and promises that everyone was going to be ok and we all decided to turn in for the night.  Clay and I did not sleep at all. 
We managed to move on and alternated between bliss (forgetfulness) and sadness (remembering).  Clay worked a final week at JTF-North and then went on leave for two weeks.  The boys each had a special day with Clay.  He checked them out of school and took them to lunch and then what ever they wanted to do.  Caden wanted IHOP and then Adventure Zone, Caleb wanted Red Lobster and then Bowling, and Collin wanted Buffalo Wild Wings and then the movies.  I also took off a day and got to spend Clay's birthday with him, including watching him get his PCS award - A Defense Meritorious Service Medal.  We moved into survival mode and enjoyed spending lots of quality time with Clay.  On October 9 we found out Clay would be leaving on the 14th.  Sad, sad day.  

Caden's special day was IHOP and go-carts. 

Collin's special day was BWW and at the movies.

Caleb's special day included Red Lobster Cheese Biscuits and bowling.