I get asked often how we are doing.  I feel like now that Max has been gone about a month, we are settling into a nice rhythm and routine here, although we definitely feel his absence.  The first couple weeks weren't too bad, as we are fairly used to him being gone a few weeks at a time for training.  But now that those few weeks have gone by, this whole "Daddy being gone at work for a long time" thing has started to lose it's luster, and I can tell the kids are trying to wrap their brains around what this means and how they feel about it.  

All that to say, we are doing pretty well.  We have our routine, and most days go smoothly.  We also have our rough days tossed into the mix, but that happens regardless of Max being here or away!  The older kids get the length of time a bit more than the two little girls, especially Emmalee.  She sees Max's car in the driveway and assumes he's home, or she will cry for him at night - which just about does me in!  

We have been plenty busy - for some reason, I thought I would have extra time to blog or do projects in the evenings once Max was gone, but I have not!  School (and getting back and forth for drop-off/pick-up) takes up most of our day, and then we add household tasks, Bible studies, hanging out with friends, running errands, and doing homework - and we have plenty to do! My NLA work is picking up right now too, so that keeps me busy during nap time and after the kids go to bed!  

Now that Max has gotten to his base and settled in, we've gotten a better sense of what communication may be like.  We are able to email with him a few times a week, dependent on what he's doing for work, and he was also able to FaceTime with us for a few minutes over the Easter weekend - such a relief to see his face and hear his voice!  The kids love making him letters and pictures to include in the packages we send to him, and we put up a map to see visually where he is in relation to us.  We also put up a clock with his time on it, next to our clock, and they love checking to see what time it is for Daddy, and wondering what he may be doing!