And time is passing....

Well, it has been about 3 1/2 weeks of being "hubby-less"...and I'm very sad. I am so busy here doing the whole mommy-thang and taking care of my mom and her household but I miss Ben SO MUCH! I find myself daydreaming about his homecoming and then have to make myself stop because then I feel like it's so close (and it's not:(
Okay, before I feel sorry for myself, I must say this: I have a WHOLE new appreciation for military wives. I am having a teeny tiny glimpse into what their life must be like. Take my sister-in-law, for example. She has been alone and raising two little boys for almost 15 months now! 15 months! Who am I to complain about 9 weeks!!! My brother-in-law, Andrew, is due to come home in TWO WEEKS! Oh, please pray for him to come home safely and for his adjustment home, with his family! I just have so much respect for the wives of the soldiers who carry such a big burden while their men are off fighting and living so dangerously every single day. Amazing people!
And now to what we've been doing...well, we have been working and playing! To be precise, I have been working and S and Z have been playing! (just in case you were wondering!) Tonight my sister and her hubby came over after we spent the afternoon painting in my mom's new office (she relocated closer to home) and we had burgers on the grill (oh, how I wish I had a grill!!), milkshakes (chocolate and banana...YUM) and finished the night playing a little cornhole. For those of you "city-folk", cornhole is a country game they like to play out here:) Tossing the bean bags into the holes on a wooden ramp. Yea....I'm not very good. I didn't play sports as a child:) My mom and Derek made their own cornhole game which is very nice! It was hilarious to play because my mom, who is still on crutches, has borrowed one of those scooters for elderly people (ever seen the hoverround commercial...HILARIOUS!!) and she rode it down a ramp and played cornhole with us. That is a funny sight!!
The boys have been playing, playing, playing!! It is SO nice to have a yard and a porch for them to play on! They get so dirty playing in the dirt. They play with shovels and rakes, cars and pushtoys, mini trucks and bulldozers...Boy-heaven!! They are still very intimidated by Rufus (Rufus-Dufus, as my sister calls him..) Samuel almost petted him today...almost. Rufus is just way too excited by the sight of children since he's a toddler himself:) He has leapt on them and chased them (and knocked them over) a few too many times....bad dog! My children are traumatized! Can we say time for puppy school?!
We are getting good time with family and gearing up to watch the Olympics together. Fun!!! How lonely would it be to watch it by myself at home?? I have missed out on way too many "parties" that my family has when they get together to watch fun things like Buckeye games and finally I'll be here!
Well, that's about it. I'm up way too late...but I usually get in the writing mood at night. I miss my friends at home. I know it will be good to get back. Did I mention I'm thinking of staying here an extra week?? Yeah....I'm wanted here and loved! Okay, probably mostly just the boys:)