Getting Ready

Sweet friends from the squadron came over last week to help me prepare the yard for welcoming Brady home from deployment. We put up flags on the edge of the lawn, tied a yellow ribbon around the house, and we hung a "welcome home" sign. This was an exciting part of the week because at this point it truly felt like the deployment period was coming to a close...yay! Thank you ladies for all of your help! These are my sweet neighbors, Sue & Nan who kindly help me ALL the time! I don't know how we would have survived deployment without their visits and continual encouragement. Before Brady came home I went out and bought a new dress to wear to the airport to pick him up(a red one because he really likes red). The girls stayed with Sue and Nan while I shopped. When I got home I showed them my new dress and Kaelyn said, "Oh Mom...why don't you go model it for us? As I was walking to the room to change she added, "and what shoes do you think you will wear? and what necklace? any earrings?" I told her I hadn't really given that a lot of thought and I was up for suggestions. She took that to heart and ran upstairs while I changed. When I opened the door to walk out and show them both girls gasped. Kaelyn said, "Mommy!!! You look really beautiful!" as she handed me a wand and tiara to add to my attire. Chloe clasped both sides of her face and bent over saying, "SOOOOOO PRETTY!!" I tell you...these two really know how to make a girl feel good about herself. And in my head I kept thinking...."wow, I might want to break out of the gym clothes and consider dressing up a little more often if the change is THIS dramatic for them."