Fun Day

Can you tell she loves her Daddy? With her "I heart Dad" shirt and "I love my Daddy" hat (both of these were Rhayn's and purchased when Will went to basic training four years ago around the same time I started my blog! Whoo Hoo.) This was taken while we waited for Parent-teacher conferences. Mr.T told me that Rhayn is doing very well. She is chatty often. She has a little group of kids she loves to talk to, mainly the four that surround her. He told me that he keeps her in the front of the room so that he doesn't "lose her in class" (his words). She can be a little spacy. I talked to him about my worries, and how she once said "I hate myself." He did seemed concerned about that, but not overly. At school she is a loving and passionate child. She wants to help out and loves her class. She loves numbers, and wants to be called on in class. She has mostly stopped writing her name as a mirror image, and rarely writes her numbers like that anymore. He said some days she just seems... sad. I talked to him about how she seems to have trouble sleeping at night. But he had no help for me with that. I think she is just missing her dad and not sure how to express it. I know we are all missing him. I also forget that this isn't just hard for us. It is hard for him, as well. He is missing out on their lives, their development, their birthdays, their stories. He will miss so much and when he comes home we will all be changed if only in subtle ways.

I know I promised I would not keep playing the woe-is-me card, but I have something to say. I think that I feel anxious because Will leaves in a few days, that is leaves the country. And the last time we spoke the phone cut off because he ran out of minutes. I haven't been able to speak to him since then, and I really just want to tell him that I love him and miss him. I want him to know that just in case anything were to happen on the long flight. I hope he reads this, and knows how much he means to me.

We took this herd of kids into the movie, and other than not being able to stay seated, they were pretty good. We could not get them all to look at us for a picture (or to smile- Bethie is such my brother's daughter). Gwennie was too busy picking oleander flowers. Geesh poison. There is only one of the grandkids missing from this picture- Katy.

After a quick trip to Lowe's we stopped for a burger, mmmmm. Tasty goodness. (You East coasters have NO idea of the deliciousness of an In-N-Out burger, do you. But even Bon Appetit magazine admitted that these burgers- done animal style- are not to be missed if you are ever in California, Arizona or Nevada.They do not use heat lamps, their fries are potatoes sliced and fried then, never frozen. Just good stuff.)