Meet Mollie...

The bane of my existence!!  Oh, sure, she looks all cute and cuddly now.  You just wait until 3am when she is rubbing her snotty nose across your lips for affection..  Her needle-like kitty claws kneading into your scalp, face, and neck with love..  I think I got more sleep when I had newborns.  But, don't despair, it is not all bad.  She IS a great help with the dishes..

Does a pretty through-all job of keeping the toilet clean as well..

...and the kids love her, as she loves them.

Miss Mollie lets them tote her around while providing a constant source of giggles.  She gets along with all of the family, 4-legged as well as 2.  Hoops absolutely adores her.  The dogs have an open-ended offer of friendship.   Mike was not even immune to her feline charms, no matter how much he tried to resist!!

 She found us when we needed her the most.  She is the perfect addition at the perfect time.  So thank you Miss Mollie, for choosing us to be your family, we adore you!!

I'm Seeing Triple!!!

...Mikes that is!  When we were pretty certain that this whole deployment thing was a go I scoured the Internet for ideas of ways to help the kids cope during the separation.  One website I stumbled upon was www.daddydolls.com.  They take any full-length photo and turn it into a doll.  Genius!!  I knew immediately that I would be ordering 3.  Even though some of my kiddos may be a little above the whole "doll" age (as they would have you believe, anyway...) I knew that these would be a hit.  What better way to give their Daddy hugs and kisses every night?  I even splurged for the recorder so whenever they squeeze their Daddy they will hear him say a pre-recorded message.  I wanted him to go all mean Daddy and leave a raging rant telling them they better behave themselves but instead Mike decided to do the whole mushy, I love you and miss you route..  I suppose the kids will like that better.

Another brilliant idea I found was a candy countdown.  It is so simple.  All you do is put one piece of candy in a jar for everyday Mike is gone, and every night the kids will get a "little sugar" from Daddy (a.k.a. one skittle).  Before they know it, all the candy will be gone and Daddy will be home!  So easy and I am sure the kids will love it.  Now that I think of it, I would really love it too, maybe I should make myself one as well, any excuse for candy!

And I would be remiss if I didn't mention the gifts the FRG gave the children.  Every deploying child got a box from Operation Gratitude (www.OperationGratitude.com) with a Battalion Buddy (teddy bear), girl scout cookies, and other treats in it.  So thank you FRG and Operation Gratitude, you put huge smiles on the kids faces on an otherwise difficult morning.  That, in itself, is priceless!

Deployment Diaries

That is what I am calling my next installation of "The Gross Life".  As most of you know, Mike is deploying to Afghanistan.  He will be gone for a year, and I thought what better time than now to try to rejuvenate this poor, neglected blog!  That way, when Mike is able, he can peek in on our daily lives back home and see what fun, exciting, Gross things are happening.  Not missing them, but sharing those moments with us from afar.

To start off this next chapter of our lives here is a pic from this morning, at the armory, saying goodbye before he left for his long 365ish day adventure.  It was early and I don't think we were all quite awake yet!

And no worries babe, I got this!