FaceTime.

I'm still deployed.  So we talk a lot on the phone and especially Facebook.  Indeed for Christmas I watched the whole thing from a computer monitor set up in the living room.  It was pretty great to still be able to take part in some distant way.  I guess Marty McFly wasn't so far off after all.

Today I called, just like normal.  We didn't talk about anything in particular but these are the things I saw.  Brigham was outside shooting hoops.  He kept coming over to me and asking for challenges.  "Hit three in a row...great, now do two lay ups. Dribble twice and then shoot while running. ... Hit three bank shots...now three from behind that line...and now from behind the Jimmer line." (Which is silly if you think about it because there is no line that can contain Jimmer). He was really getting into it.  Brigham has always been a soccer kid but I think this basketball thing may have piqued his interest a bit.

David had an allergic reaction to a friends cat yesterday.  His eyes were all puffy and still kind of red. That didnt stop him from engaging however.  He laid on the bed 'taking s tiny nap' with his mom when Brigham offered to help D clean up the kitchen, a genuine and kind offer no less.  But just to be a contrarian, David flipped out and physically forced Brigham from the work space because it was his job and he was going to do it alone.  We may need to work on common sense with this boy.

I talked to Mackay for about 13 seconds.  The entire rest of the time he was curled up on a soft chair reading another Harry Potter book.  I think it's #7 but I really don't know.  He goes through those things like aunt KK used to go through boyfriends.  Seriously, that's a pretty similar time scale, he's fast.  His reading skills are really remarkable.  This afternoon I went through a bunch of letters I got from kids in the primary back home, and cousins and such and as I read them I noticed that there was a notable difference in CMBs ability to construct sentences, build paragraph structure, develope ideas and use a surprisingly complex vernacular. E.g.: "Signed your one and truly, Mackay". Also of note it was a second draft.  The first stated something to the effect of: 'I really hope you don't crash your airplane or get shot down and die in a fiery ball of gas and explosives.'  So do I Mack, so do I.  His mother kindly asked him to rewrite the opening stanza before sending it to me out here.

Yesterday Michelle met up with a friend whose husband very graciously took all three boys for the evening and they went out for dinner and some light shopping.  I very much appreciated that.  I also said light shopping because Michelle took care of the heavy stuff today when she dropped the boys off at the base's "Give Mom a Break" daycare for deployed spouses.  I suppose that bill is my fault for being gone on her birthday.  ... Oh crap, I really did realize just now that tomorrow is my beautiful brides birthday.  Despite her showing me the shoes she bought (both pair) and the necklace that Connie bought for her in my stead, I forgot to mention Happy Birthday to her tonight.  It's ok, the actual birthday is not until tomorrow and I can probably even use the old, "I'm sorry honey is was just a really hard day of flying" excuse one more time this rotation.  I think, though that one is admittedly probably getting old.  Anybody got any ideas?  Or some flowers I could borrow? I heart you Chelle.