[doozer22boys]

We left our children home for trip one (they're 5 and 8). We also plan to leave them home for trip 2....and we'll be gone 3-4 weeks. That will be tough.

I would recommend bringing a webcam with you for your computer and having one at home. Then you can talk via internet time which is much cheaper. And you can see each other too! It's fun. Sending emails during the day is great as well.

We will also make a videotape of us giving a message, singing a song, or some other silly stuff. We did this when we went on a cruise a few years ago and the kids loved it. They watched it over and over. I made a slideshow of family photos on Shutterfly for Christmas gifts and will leave that for the kids to watch on DVD. They seem to enjoy that.

I'm also big into the "Kissing Hand". We read the book and give each other kissing hands (you kiss each others' palms and then you pretend the kiss is always on there).

Oh, and there is a good book about adoption for siblings at home. I think it's called "Seeds of Love". You can have your parents read it to the child(ren) while you're gone. It gives some cute ways to count down the time.

It will be very tough to be away from them for such a long time, but I have alot of friends and family who will step in here to help out. I was planning on coming home early and leaving my husband over there alone, but when we accepted a sibling group I knew I needed to stay with him. I am looking forward to it alot, but will miss the boys immensely.

Good luck!