The End Is Near!

What does everyone look forward to during a deployment? Yep, the homecoming!! Our homecoming will be here in no time. I can't tell you how excited we are! We started counting down the months, the weeks and now we'll be able to start counting down the days. Our "Kisses from Daddy" jar is almost empty. It's a good thing because it means our soldier is almost home, but does that mean no more Hershey kisses? (I'm sure I can find a way to included kisses in our day to day routines.)



Kisses From Daddy

One of the first ideas I came across while preparing for deployment was a deployment countdown jar. I started by filling a jar with Hershey kisses (hence the "kisses") - one kiss for each day your loved one is gone. We obviously don't have enough room to hold a piece of candy for each day (x2 because each of the boys get one) so I fill it up every couple days so they don't see the level going down. It'll be REALLY exciting once we're counting down our last few weeks because we'll actually see the candy level disappear!

Once we moved, unpacked and got situated I set up the jar. I explained the concept of the jar to our boys who nodded in excitement about the thought of getting a piece of candy every night. Considering they're only 4 and 2 years old I can't imagine they really comprehend the idea. The original plan was to get a "kiss" from daddy every night after dinner. I was surprised when we went to get their first piece of candy. I picked up our 2 yr. old so he could reach in and choose his kiss on his own. When I took the lid off, little man raised his hand to his mouth and blew a kiss into the jar before choosing his chocolaty treat. Our 4 yr. old then followed in his steps...

Hershey's was nice enough to give us milk chocolate and the NEW air delight kisses to help us get our Kisses From Daddy jar started. I've always been in love with the regular milk chocolate kisses, but was pleasantly surprised when I tried the air delights. It was like my favorite chocolate kiss, but lighter! My oldest son asked me where we got the "fun" Hershey's kisses from and all I could do was smile and laugh to myself. We all love the cute little kisses and the boys look forward to them every night after dinner (and I look forward to them when the boys are in bed).

Preparing for Deployment

I've been researching deployments lately. Not sure exactly what I'm looking for, but I welcome any little tips I can find.

I found a few nice ideas to help the boys count down the days until dad's return. One is a paper chain...one link for each day he's gone. The other (which I like better because chocolate is involved) is filling a jar/basket with Hershey kisses so they can get a kiss from dad each day.

I also found some cute deployment bracelets. I've asked my friend's daughter if she'd be willing to make a bracelet for me once I buy the beads. Of course she said "yes" so I'm excited to go bead shopping now!

I've been taking tons of pictures of the boys with dad. I can't remember off the top of my head which organization does this, but they will make a memory quilt for the boys with pictures of their dad. I also found a website that will make handbags out of military uniforms. There are several out there, but this one caught my eye. http://militaryhandbag.com I'm excited to see what the finished product will look like.