A few days before Ryan left to go in the Army I had my annual doctor's exam.  The doctor was asking me about how I'd been, about the kids, etc and I guess could tell I was pretty emotional about Ryan leaving us, so he asked if I'd like something to help me sleep for a few days while we get through all this.  I told him that'd be great since I hadn't slept in days - been too worried about the Army sending Ryan straight to Iraq once he's out of bootcamp so I said sure, give me something.  He gave me five Ambien pills just for when I really need them, and I figured they'd be gone pretty quick.  Thing is, since he's been gone I've just been running that much harder (an extra set of hands sure goes a long way with five young'ns) that I've been dropping off to sleep in my chair before the day is "officially" over, the last few nights in a row.  Haven't even needed one pill!  I'll bet poor Ryan is having some long days too, probably dropping off to sleep just as easy as I've been  

Now if we could just get the kids settled down - they don't realize yet that he's not coming back, but they're starting to settle into a new routine.  Our next project is going to be a photo book for Ryan, with pix of him and the kids, maybe throw in some of their "artwork" to send him in a care package.  The kids will get a kick out of making it for him, and hopefully Ryan will enjoy getting it :o)