Days 27-28

The last 2 days have been so bittersweet! Sunday I found a black widow hanging out on my couch in the basement…literally suspended between the back of the couch and the cushions. Gwynn found it, screamed and Connor came and told me. I just thought it was a big black Spider. I killed it and as I was going to send it to its watery grave, I noticed some orange markings. I put it in a plastic bag and got on google. I found out that it was a black widow…they can have red, orange or yellow marks! I had no idea. The back side wasn’t rounded and it was much bigger than widows I had seen before. Anyway…I called in the Pest Experts! Sadly, they couldn’t come until yesterday; Tuesday.

It was the night before Connor’s first day of school and I was torn. I didn’t want to put the kiddos to bed down stairs, but we don’t all sleep well in my bed and Connor needed a good night’s rest. I decided to just put them to bed down there. It was probably a fluke.

Connor was up at 6:30 and ready for school! He took a shower, got dressed with socks and shoes, had breakfast, brushed his teeth, had his back pack on and ready to go at 7!! The bus doesn’t pick up until 7:57 :0) It was really hard to keep him busy enough that he didn’t lose his mind until it was time to go.

As we were leaving, our neighbor, Mia ran out and gave Connor a huge hug! They are in the same class :0) They held hands the whole way to the bus. It was so sweet. We all waited anxiously for the bus to come and I knew it was coming when both Connor and Mia started jumping up and down with sheer joy. Mrs T., the bus driver came out to explain the rules and tell us the girls get on the bus first :0) It was too cute. I snapped SO many pictures. I did really good and didn’t cry at all! It did help that I was walking home with my neighbor and Gwynn. I did get really choked up when I was looking at pictures and happened to catch Connor sitting on the bus with the biggest smile on his face!

All day I would look at the clock and wonder what he was doing. I seriously expected a call from the school about him…saying he was crying too much, or was acting up or, accidentally ingested eggs…I don’t know…nervous first time mom I guess! Gwynn was SO excited to go and pick up Connor. We talked the whole way home about his day. He had a really great time.

It’s so hard to not get to share these moments with Dustin too; our first kiddo going off to Kindergarten. He will most likely be gone for the entire first year of school. We are trying to get R&R towards the end of the deployment because it’s just easier for us that way. One thing that is super hard is Dustin having to miss all the firsts! He missed Connor’s first birthday, Gwynn’s first birthday, Connor’s first year of sports, Gwynn’s first year of sports (starting Thursday she’ll be in soccer!!) and of course, Connor’s first year of school.

The last two days have been so hard on Gwynn. She really misses Connor. She has been so mean to him when he comes home. I think it’s her way of punishing him for leaving her. He has been really grumpy too…so tired!! He gets easily overwhelmed and so I think he really needs a break when he gets home and an earlier bed time?!? He enjoys the bus, but he said the kiddos are always screaming and it hurts his sensitive ears…so he’s had a few headaches. He told me he cried at school on Tuesday because he missed me :0( It’s so hard to let him go like this. 8 hours is a long time to be away from my little sweetie.

Grandpa Russ called Connor on his first morning of school. He was pretty excited about that. Grandma Lisa called to see how his first day of school went. He told her, “Okay, well I better get back to my homework now. I was doing it when you called.” Tuesday night, he said homework was boring…and it is for him…it is stuff he’s been doing for a few years now. Grandpa Russ and Grandma Glenda called to see how his second day of school went. He really enjoys it!

The Pest Professionals came and sprayed everything down. He told me that the spider I had was a BABY widow!! WHAT??? He said they are usually bigger than that! GROSS!!!! He also informed me that he found some mouse droppings in my utility closet (water heater, furnace…) so he put down some glue traps and told me if I heard squealing, I got him. That was just too gross to me and I can’t imagine having to take care of that! I went and got some traps that will kill and conceal! Hopefully… This is the stuff that I just hate to have to deal with! I will do it because I have to, but I am not going to do it joyfully!!

I haven’t heard from Dustin in a while. We got an email saying there was a commo blackout. My heart sank! That usually means there as a causality. She told us that if there was, it wasn’t from our unit, but probably in that general area…it still makes it hard. I can’t wait to talk to him again!! We had been talking every day, at least once. It could get overwhelming at times because I felt like I was sitting at the computer all day…but now that I don’t have it, I REALLY miss it. I’ll just have to keep myself busy until I hear from him again, which shouldn’t be a problem at all :0)

Everything around me is changing…it is good to remember this passage…God never changes!

Bible Verse: Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. (James 1:17)

Silver Linings :
♥Watching my little bug grow up
♥Terminix
♥special calls from Grandparents