Thank the Lord for Sisters : )

My poor kids. No one really gets them. It has seemed for a very long time that they didn't have many allies in their little worlds. Luke and Annabelle started off with kids for parents. Chris and I had barely known each other a year when Luke came along. We were trying to balance college, work, marriage and munchkins. My kids got so used to the answer, "We can't because we don't have the money" to anything they asked for, that they eventually started answering themselves (funny how they never quit asking though). We moved around a lot, dealt with deployments and other things the military does to separate families, changed schools, quit school to home school, etc. They were both bullied by classmates and made miserable by teachers who didn't like the fact that they were smarter than the curriculum.

Long story short, there are few people in this world that my kids can count on, but one of their biggest supporters is my little sister. Though she may have been a pain in my rear end during our teen years and regardless of whether or not she's mentally unstable (she knows I'm kidding), she has always stood up for my kids and been there for them through all the tough stuff.

One would think that family support would be unwavering, but unfortunately my kids are often treated like outsiders. They have been ridiculed by relatives when we were thousands of miles away and unable to defend them. Thankfully, my sister is not one to guard her words and never hesitates to stand up for my kids, no matter who it is that's running their mouths. The only thing my kids have ever been guilty of is living outside the circle. Well that, and they're super smart and really good looking and well behaved, too : ) They've dealt with more disappointment than any nine or ten year old should ever have to. We can't do this, have to cancel that, so and so's not coming to visit after all, Daddy's deployment is going to be a little longer than we thought. I know kids need to learn that life's not fair, but seriously. . . I think they get it.

The most recent blow came just last week. My mom had mentioned to them during her visit this past winter that she wanted to try to see them this summer. Knowing full well that plans change and things don't always work out, we didn't mention anything to the kids until we knew it was official. Lucky for me, I was able to announce to them not long after that we were going to meet G.G. in Wyoming to drop them off and they'd be going back to Texas with her to spend a couple weeks. They were over the moon! It is the only thing they've talked about for the last few months (it also gave me an awesome threat to use when they act like punks). Something like this means the world to my kids. Unlike most kids their age, they don't get to see their grandparents but once or twice a year, their aunts, uncles and cousins even less. Getting to go back to Texas for two whole weeks is a BIG deal. They even passed up summer camps and sports so they could go. To be honest, I think Annabelle's bag has been packed since March. But as it happens more often than not, plans change. I didn't say anything to them right away, and I called my mom first to let her know what had happened and to see if she had any other ideas for shipping them home other than UPS (we called . . . they won't). She tossed a few out and said she'd talk to my dad, but the future looked bleak. I decided to prepare the kids for the worst. I really hate giving them bad news. I know and they know that it's not my fault, but since I'm the one that always has to tell them, I'm the one that has to deal with the tears, and the whys, and the that's not fairs.

But a week later, when I thought all hope had been lost . . . dot da da DAAAAHHHH! Sister to the rescue! I don't know how, but my sister (who is a single mom, has a new job, and can barely make ends meet) managed to come up with some money, find a travel companion/co-driver and come up with the cash to make the trip so that my kids would get their dream summer. My rubber-made kids bounced back and are all psyched up again, counting down the days till July. So thank the Lord for the forgiving nature and resiliency of children, and for sisters who are just plain awesome : )