walking a moment in daddy's shoes

time seems to fly by at a snail-pace as we creep through the home stretch of deployment number six. how is it that on one hand, with the girls, time seems to vanishes at the speed of light, while the same time passing in view of a deployment seems to be at a stand still? time is funny like that.

when i was thinking the other day of all the things that have changed since stan's been gone... one of the things that's hit me has been the girls' understanding of the gravity of daddy's work. not just what he does, but some of the dangers that go hand in hand with his job. we've talked about the dads that don't make it home... and pray for the safety of all the fine men and women overseas. it's all a part of the growing up process. with age you understand more, feel more, experience more and see the world with a new set of eyes every day. new eyes that are ever more grateful for the daily sacrifices that make daily life possible, and eyes that have the grace to see them as blessings... daily.

this was a little snapshot from stan's last homecoming in 2008. pioneer women issued a challenge to post homecoming moments. i shared this one, which she shared here. the moments are touching, beautiful, painful, sad and gracious all at the same time. a special thank you to all who have given so much, to those who have given all and to those who have loved them.

{a little sneak peek}

i've just started working on a design team for a new kit club called my paper treehouse. and with stan getting closer to being home i'm shockingly ahead of schedule on my projects! so i figured i'd post a little sneak peek at the layouts for the club. take a peek at the fun going on & get a piece of the action here.

while my sister was on a little trip visiting my brother in colorado last weekend, i kept watch over my sweet nephew on sunday. aaron is on the autism spectrum. he is precious. he is amazing. he is sometimes a handful. he was perfect on sunday, and the girls had a fun time with him. he recently spent some time at a feeding clinic in california which was a huge success! he's gone from eating three foods in the entire world, to adding and actually eating new foods every couple of days. we stopped at a farmers market on sunday and picked up a few apples. it was so cool to watch aaron eat a whole apple (i.e. not sliced). for a typical kid, this really wouldn't be a milestone moment, but for aaron's journey... it was amazing to watch. way to go little buddy! there's a little more on aaron's recent journey here.

thanks for letting me share my little slice of life. it helps to keep my eyes focused on all that is truly important in the grand scheme of things!

don't forget to post your comments on the stella & dot post HERE for a chance to win that beautiful necklace!