New Addition to the House...well, sort of

Plans were drawn up today for Luci's playhouse/tree house. John did the main work but Luci added what she sees as an important part. She says this is a No JT Zone "because he will play too rough and break it up."

Then they went scouting for a tree...
and marked it, Luci-style.

John has some competition

...for Luci's heart, that is.
Today we saw our favorite six-year-old boy at church.

Mr. C.

Mr. C and Luci have been planning to get married for about 2 years now. Seriously. His parents and I don't encourage this, we just listen to the talk and try to calm it down when it comes up. Part of me thinks this is so handy, getting it all planned now. Both sets of parents live here, so chances are very good that they would live in our town when they are grown up. Sounds good to me. Besides, Luci says that "after the honeymoon--you are taking us on a picnic, Mommy--you can take Mr. C home to his house and then bring me home."

Today Mr. C came up to Luci and gave her a big hug. She just stood there, with her arms at her sides. I told Mr. C, "that is enough hugging."

His response?

"I just want to give her a little sugar."

Whoa, boy! Your Daddy told you you couldn't kiss until you were 25!

"It's just on the top of her head."

Smooch!

It's Really Over!

Luci and I made this long chain, draping it around the dining room (which is also our school room, as you can see from the posters on the wall). One link for every day John was gone.

There were 179 links by the time John came home on December 23rd.

I wondered just how long we'd need to keep this chain up. It ran around the dining room and was a pretty, but in-the-way decoration. I followed Luci's lead on this, on just when to take it down. We've dealt with her fear of abandonment all through John's deployment. This was definitely Luci's chain of remembrance, of counting, of longing. So it was up to her to take it down.

I was surprised Saturday morning when Luci said it was time to take the chain down. She wanted to burn it, the way John and the boys burn boxes, as a way to say, "Good Riddance," to a difficult time in her life.

So that's what John and Luci did Saturday morning.

My Daddy is home forever!

He's Home!

It was hard to be still last night, waiting for Daddy. Luci ran right out of her shoes!
Looking down the hallway...
All ready!
Tim and his son, Britt, came out, too. That was so nice. Tim and his family go to church with us at CrossPoint. We live an hour and a half away from the airport, so this was a big deal.
First to get to Daddy!
JT keeps singing, "Reunited and it feels so good..."
John got home just in time to help Luci put the very last ornament on our Christmas countdown calendar first thing this morning.

You're Always On My Mind...

Luci has one thing on her mind most days...Daddy.

Whenever we see an airplane, she says, "They are going to the airport to see their little girl."

Whenever we see a man in military uniform, Luci thinks he is on his way to see his daughter. Today we were in Target and saw an "army guy." Luci said "He is buying something for his little girl."

Luci told the librarian today that her daddy is coming home in two weeks.

Librarian: What will you do first? Kiss him or hug him?

Luci: Hug him! Then kiss him! Then he will give me
presents!

The gingerbread house is from a kit. It was Luci's schoolwork today--following directions, sorting, counting, being creative, and licking fingers. I guess you could count architecture in there, too. I squirted most of the icing; Luci did everything else.

Luci's Heart

Luci told me this tonight...

When Daddy's not here, my heart is breaking...when Daddy is home, it's all together again.

.

Don't tell Daddy, it will make him cry.

June 15, 2008