Two weeks are almost over

Two weeks ago, through tears, I hugged my husband goodbye as he was leaving for a two week trip to Europe with four other pastors.  It was so hard to see him go and at that time I was thinking of how happy I would be on March 24 when he would come back.  Hello, March 24!!  I just talked to Troy after he had just landed in the Philadelphia airport and I kept telling him how happy I am that he is in America. 

The two weeks of separation are almost over....there is going to be a big time reunion in our house tonight!  We made it through and God helped us so much, but we got off to a rough start.  The morning Troy left, Kyla was running a fever and I could tell that Ashlyn was starting to not feel good either.  That night I found myself at urgent care with two really sick girls and a husband half way across the world.  I called my friend Tracy before we left in tears and cried to my sister as we were driving there.  Rough start, but the days were made easier along the way.  Things started getting easier the next day as soon as I pulled up to the Indy airport and saw my sisters face.  She spent a weekend with us and much of it included her helping me care for two coughing, fevered girls.  There is nothing like a sister....you can relax and calm down and know that she loves your kids just as much as you do.  And in the middle of all of it, we had such a blast together. I am so grateful she was here. 

Here are the two sick girls not all the way better, but on their way after a visit from Aunt Kara

The days continued to pass and we missed daddy so much. We got through the time by.....

Wearing green on St. Patrick's Day and looking as darling as can be

We headed over to Springfield, IL where we spent a weekend with Grandma and Grandpa.....it helped us so much to be with people we really love.  Kyla and Ashlyn were very happy playing, hunting for Easter eggs and having a blast with Grandma, Grandpa and Aunt Heidi.

My sister in law, Heidi, was kind of enough to come over and spend a couple of days with us.  There are a couple of things you should know about Heidi.....she is a really fun aunt and she is awesome at organizational/decorating projects.  She knows how to use a drill and everything....seriously impressive.  Before she came out she asked me if there were any projects that I could use help with.....a definite yes to that.  When you have two small kids, there just isn't always a lot of extra time for projects, that is why I was so blessed by Heidi while she was here.  Some of the results of all of her help are....

new decorative plates hung above the plain open space above our kitchen cabinets

and neatly re-organized kitchen cabinets.  At one point in the project, things looked like this.  It is usually at this point in projects like this that I start to feel like I can't breathe and get so overwhelmed by where everything should go that I just want to quit.  Heidi helped me forge ahead and now when I open my cabinets I feel much more calm.

We enjoyed some really pretty first days of Spring.....

sisters loving each other and some fresh Spring air

Big girl standing!  These days whenever she does this she yells out, "Big!" She wants us all to know how big she is :)

Daffodils blooming....hello, Spring.  Too bad it is like 42 degrees today...

We made it through two weeks without daddy and limited phone conversations.  We made it through a week of sickness and we were blessed by the company of our family.  Now, we are ready to have the man in our lives back home.....counting the minutes and getting ready for the big time reunion.