and just like that......

The day came, and even though we have known about it for a while, it was like is snuck up and smacked us right in the back of the head. Jason's second deployment has begun. 

The boys still don't really understand what is going on, so they just enjoyed getting pictures taken.

My friend, Kay, brought duck whistle things and little flags. That kept the kids occupied for a while.

Ethan wanted a picture with just me and the boys. I love it!

There was some time before everything got started, so Jason took the boys out to the helicopter and they got to try on the helmets. Apparently those helmets are pretty heavy. Elliott could barely hold his head up.

Ethan is so "GQ". Guess what he wants to do when he grows up. Lol. Just kidding, he wants to play hockey. 

Here they are in formation. Jason stood right behind the flag, and they guy holding it was super tall, so it was a challenge to get a picture of Jason at all. 

After a few speeches from the Governor, the General and the Captain, we got to say our final goodbyes then the bagpipes started up again, and they headed out to the Blackhawks to get ready for take off.

It was a gorgeous day. Elliott figured out how to play with his shadow while waving his flag. The flag is see-through, so the colors showed up on the ground. I love how the picture turned out.

There he goes. That is Jason hanging out of the window. That's his job, to make sure they aren't going to crash the helicopter. It's kind of a big deal. :) 

They flew off, then came back around........

and that was that. What an awesome sight. I can't even put into words how proud I am of Jason and all of the other soldiers. 

Jason and I were asked to be interviewed for the news. I'm not going to lie, it was hard to talk about the deployment without tearing up or crying, but it turned out good. Thank goodness for editing. :) Here is what the news ran. I already shared it on Facebook, but I wanted to put it on here so we have it forever. 

my mission.......a nook cover

Jason got his nook a while back, and he loves it, especially now that he has Angry Birds on it. Haha. He has been looking at the covers, and I knew I could make one if I just tried. People are selling them like crazy on Etsy, but I wanted to do it myself. I'm like that. So I took an old torn pair of Jason's ACU's and made this. YAY ME! Awesome huh? The velcro to hold it shut is from a sleeve of his uniform (yes, I'm serious, I'm that awesome). 

The back is a pocket from the pants (yeeeeeees! for real). 

And it's even functional. Go me, go me, go me. :) 

The inside is a felt material, but the hooks to hold in the nook are made from the hems on the uniform. And yes, Jaymee took that pic that is on there. One of our all-time faves!  

In between the layers is a plastic to keep water from getting into the cover, and a layer of batting for a little padding in case it's dropped. This has to be my greatest sewing masterpiece so far. It works GREAT. The hooks even hold in the nook like they should. *pat on my back* The best part, Jason loves it. Mission accomplished. 

short trip

On Monday, we headed to Billings to visit and have the FABULOUS Jaymee Foster do a photo shoot for us before Jason leaves (more to come from that later). Erica made us a fabulous dinner, and all the kids got to eat and hangout together (kind of disappointed we didn't get a pic of them all). After dinner, Erica kept Raigan, and we went with Jaymee to our photo shoot. It was a blast! By the time we got back, it was bedtime for the kids and our bedtime was shortly there after.

Elliott and I got up with Carson and Erica before they headed to gymnastics. Elliott and Carson played for a bit in the fort. It was too cute.

After they got back, Carson got out his firefighter hat and boots, and Elliott promptly took them over. He was really excited about them.  

They all were hugging here. Elliott had the giggles.  

Carson tried to pretend he hated me and that he had no clue who I was. That's ok, I still got my hugs and kisses in. I tried to get a picture of him and me together, but he still wanted no part of it. Elliott, on the other hand, wanted to be in every picture with his big goofy grin and fireman hat. 

Erica finally bribed Carson to smile with a chocolate. YES! I did bribe a toddler to pretend he liked me while I snapped a picture for proof later. :)  

The boys had a crazy game of Connect 4. It was fun to watch them. 

Their favorite part was watching the pieces fall out.  

We had a really long trip home and it rained the entire way. It was miserable, but we still had smiling faces when we arrived. :) Gotta love these boys.  

Thank you SO much Erica for lending out your downstairs to us and always making us feel so comfortable and at home. And thanks to Jaymee for your time and talent. We love you both.

just sew sew

Last week was my friend Andrea's birthday, and I made her a little ruffled zipper pouch. I didn't take any pictures of hers, but I loved the fabric and colors. It was so cute I wanted my own. :) My colors and fabric are totally different, but I love it. I was scared of the zipper, but now I'm a pro.

It even has credit card (or coffee punch card) pockets on the inside. Fancy Schmancy. 

I have been dying for a cute spring skirt. I don't know why, I rarely wear skirts and it's even more rare that I have a reason to. But with fabrics like this and the sun shining the past couple days, I couldn't wait any longer. I am SO happy with it. 

I repurposed a long sweater into a shrug. Not too bad for my first try.  

Jason wants a cover for his Nook, and I am supposed to be working on a quilt made from his cut up ACUs. Guess I better get back to it.

Happy Sunday.

window clings

I found this tutorial on this blog. She is doing a "Save Our Summer" theme, and I am LOVING it. There are so many great ideas to keep the boys busy this summer. This was fun, but more for Ethan than Elliott.

Instead of plastic shapes, I just had the boys pick out a page from a coloring book and put it under the plastic. It worked great because the pictures are just outlines, and very simple. We did them in the evening (hence the pajamas and terrible lighting).

Ethan felt so big getting to use puffy paint all by himself.  

This was my plastic mat. The big black spot in the right hand corner was Elliott's contribution to the project. He had fun with that. 

The next day, we peeled them off and hung them up. Cool huh? The names didn't work too well, next time I will put a shape around them so they don't stretch and break.  

We will definitely do this again. Maybe they could do this project when they stay at Grandma and Papa's this summer............ :)

spending time together

The weather was awesome the past couple days, Jason was home in the evenings and we took advantage.

It's so nice to be able to go to the park again. The boys have a great time. 

Elliott is getting so big, and my guess is that he will do the fire pole by himself by the end of summer. He's crazy like that.  

We are going to miss our Daddy and we are savoring every minute we have with him before he leaves.  

student of the month

Ethan's teacher nominated him for Student of the Month for April. :) When she told me that she had chosen him, she said, "Ethan has been working really hard in both reading and math, he is also a great leader and helper in the classroom. Ethan is one of those students that other kids enjoy being around and look up to. I am very proud of all his accomplishments this year!" Let me tell you that hearing this put a huge smile on my face for days. He truly is a special kid, and we could not be more proud of him.

So, on Friday afternoon, I went to the school to watch the Student of the Month Assembly. There were way too many kids in one place for me, but it was fun to see how excited they were for each other.

All the students came in and sat down, then the "Eye of the Tiger" song started blasting through the speakers and the kids who were student of the month came walking in with huge smiles on their faces, and waving while all the other students cheered and clapped. Too cool!

 This is Ethan's teacher. She's awesome! Can you pick out Ethan?? Haha.

As each kid was announced, they came from behind this wall and ran through the banner. It was fun to watch, and they loved it. I was waiting for Ethan, but wasn't sure if I would have time to grab the camera when his name was called. Luckily, I could see his hair over the wall.  

He ran out........through the streamers.......... 

Across the stage....... 

And I wasn't sure he would slow down enough to grab his certificate and treat. But he did. 

When he went back to sit down, his friends crowded around him to see what he got. I do enjoy watching him with his friends. He has lots of them.  

I really hope he never stops enjoying school and being good at it. He makes it so easy to be the mom of a 1st grade boy.