Allie's New Ride

Today i'm pretty sure i'm saisfied with the doggie wheelchair. Its been a lot of modifications but its kept me feeling like I'm taking a chance at making this work for all of us as opposed to jumping right to option 3.

So here she is, on her first outside adventure.

My Poor Dog

Once upon a time, long ago (in 2004) a just turned 25 Mom wanted a new puppy. Her hubby was getting ready to deploy and her kids were almost 2 and 3 years old. She searched and she hunted and finally found a Cocker Spaniel/Lahsa Apso mix puppy that she just had to have! Off she went to pay $150 (even mutts are expensive in Alaska).

That mom was me, 4 1/2 years ago. The puppy grew into my foot warming, always have to be up against me, sitting with me, following me around, sometimes annoying dog Allie. She's always been a pretty good dog. Every now and then she wanders out an open an open door and I have to yell to her from the door or go get her from a random neighbors yard but she's a pretty good dog.

On Monday everything seemed fine. Allie was being her normal under-my-feet self. She whined at night when I put her to bed in the laundry room. I finally gave in and went and got her and put her into my bed where she stayed the whole night. I was a little worried because she acted kinda odd but no biggie. The next morning came and she jumped out of my bed and went outside to do her business as usual and we went on about our day.

Monday night I came home and Allie couldn't walk. She drug her back legs behind her as she tried to maneuver from one place to the next. She was trembling terribly. We went to bed intending to call a vet in the morning. We made it to 1am before I had to call the emergency vet. They wanted me to keep her still and bring her in first thing in the morning because she wasn't in any pain.

The next morning came and I was scared because I had hoped I'd wake up and Allie would be all better. She wasn't. We got to the vet and they asked us to drop her off and they'd call us when they knew something. The boys and I tried to go on with our day as normal. A couple hours passed and we ended up at the vet. We asked about her progress they said they needed another hour and they'd call us. Tayton and Korbin were not okay with that and neither was I. We decided to wait there.

When they finished with the xrays and tests they called us into the room. Bad news. Allie is paralyzed from the "waist" down. She has some discs that have become damaged over time (not trauma) and just finally cut off that nerve.

We have to make some choices. She can't go to the bathroom on her own and she can't walk. But from the waist up she's her normal self. She's alert, fairly happy, still begging for food (now she is more likely to get it too), she's still our Allie but with a broken body.

In a perfect world she'd be having back surgery right now. In our world we can't expense $3000 on our dog. Especially because this is not from an injury its something that's been happening and just finally hit that last nerve.... in the literal sense. Option 2 is to try Prednisone and hope that if some of the inflammation in her back goes down we'll be able to see some improvement. And of course, option 3, if the quality of life she's left with or forces us into isn't working or she is in pain then we might have to put her down.

I don't get it! She's 4 1/2! Our other dog, he's almost 12! I got him when I was 19. She was fine 3 days ago. There was no red flags to say "hey somethings wrong with this dog!" I cried a lot. I didn't know what choice to make and Kirke's in Iraq and that makes the decision all mine. The boys are being wonderful!

We chose to try the medications. At least if it doesn't work and she's miserable we know that we have tried. I was able to stop worrying by thinking about some future things. We came home and priced doggie wheelchairs. For only $200-$400 dollars we could have a cart for our dog. Well that's just plain nuts if ya ask me! So after looking at several designs I decided to make my own. Once I got the idea I ran with it! We used the boys old training wheels at first and we used trial and error until we came up with a wheelchair for Allie. She enjoyed her renewed sense of freedom.

I can't find my camera charger so I had to use Tayton's camera to take this little video but here

she is with her cart.

Here are some random pictures. The first one is when the kids painted her. Then a haircut and some others.

I just don't know if it's fair for her to live this way or if I have time for two minor special needs homeschoolers and a major special needs dog......

An Update on an Update On a Hero

***ANOTHER UPDATE AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS POST***

I just got this comment in my inbox and approved for this post but I wanted to make sure to share this update with all 3 of you who read my blog!

I know that I spelled his name wrong in the post but only because that's how it was in the article and I didn't want to change the article (even though the publisher obviously did), so I appologize to SPC Zimmermann and his family for that error.

Angela, SPC Zimmermann's Mom, found my blog and here's what she shared:

"Spc Zimmermann is my son and I'm thankful to all who helped him atfer he was hit, without them he probably would have not survived. he spent 4 weeks at Walter Reed in Washington DC, and is now home in Rolla, he just completed what is hopeully his last surgery #9, this past Friday, it was a skin graft and although he is in a lot of pain he is doing well".

Thanks for the update Angela! I'm so glad he's doing well and back home with you! My little boys would love to meet your son, they know that thier daddy got to help save him and want to see for themselves that he's okay!

I just got this comment from Angela today.

"Just another update about Daniel, he has a pretty bad infection and will have to have another surgery ths coming Friday at Ft. Wood."

They need prayers and good thoughts coming their way!

*Angela, if you read this could you email me privately kmtkbest@gmail.com we would like to put something together for Daniel and are interested in what he might like/need and the kids would like to write to him. Thanks so much! *

Death. Dying. What Matters Most?

My Grandpa, "Papa" as we've always called him died this week. He's been very sick with a lung disease caused from a factory where he worked a gazillion years ago. Exposure to asbestos or something of the sort. He was 73. His mother and father both lived to be in their 90's. He only has one living sibling out of four. His parents had to bury two of their children in their lifetime. I'm sure he was thankful to never have had to go through that.



Papa was a big strong, hard working man. He worked hard but he partied harder! He was a drinker and an opinionated man. Sometimes those things don't mesh so well together. This was my dads father. He was a good man.



The term Grandpa can mean so many things. They come in so many forms. This grandpa wasn't one who thrived on being a grandfather. As I said before he believed in hard work and harder play, but this wasn't meant in the way I play hard with my kids. His idea of playing was partying. Drinking, playing cards, dice or whatever the game of the year was at the time. He wasn't affectionate or compassionate. He didn't ever work to win us grand kids over. So it is what it is.



He was grandpa. I loved him. I respected him. I'll miss seeing him when I go home. My heart breaks for my dad who is burying his father today. He's stuck in the same rut as I am. He has memories, he loved his dad but the effort to be a kind hearted loving father to my dad just didn't happen. He worked hard, and taught my dad the value of hard work which was passed on to us and for that I am grateful.



I don't know where my Dad gets it from but he skipped the drinking part of the lessons Papa gave and absorbed the having fun with friends and to Dad that also means family. Thank God it didn't stop there because my dad taught me how to be a fun loving caring and affectionate parent. We worked our butts off on whatever project he was working on with Papa but then we got to cut loose and play. And it wasn't just us kids being shoved off to go play either. My dad would lead us as we played crazy games in the yard. We played a boatload of kickball and hide-n-seek as well as other very strange games but we laughed. We learned the value of getting a job done and then playing hard till the end of the day and going to bed happy with hugs and kisses and "I love you".



Today when my dad gives his fathers eulogy I know that his heart will be breaking for the things he missed out on during his lifetime. The joys and warmth felt by wrestling and playing with your kids and grand kids. Laughing till it hurts because the kids are being silly and loud and not being aggravated by the noise of children laughing too loud or screaming in excitement. My children will be able to remember all of their grandparents with fond memories because the few time they see them each year or two they make the most of it and work hard to build on these memories.



I'm glad Papa doesn't hurt anymore and he passed on without regret but I highly doubt that was possible. And that makes me more sad than losing him.....

Why Won't They Sleep?

Instead of flowers or cards we sent this picture to our good friend who's battling cancer right now. He came through the surgery well and they're waiting on the pathology reports. Keep praying!

Ok so enough serious stuff lets get on with the title of this post!

THEY WON'T SLEEP!!! Seriously it's really starting to bug me! How am I supposed to play Rock Band and Mario Kart sip tea and read a good book to relax if they won't go to sleep?

I put their scrawny little butts to bed at a decent time I swear! Korbin used to be my sleeper but now since he's on concerta his naughty little butt won't sleep. Nope, I go to bed at 12 or 1 and go to tuck them in and then he pops up like a freakin Pop Tart and starts telling me some story!

The other night when I couldn't sleep I was up till about 230. I laid in bed listening to the wind howl outside my window. I was half expecting the house to fall down but I'm cool, I'll roll with it! So anyhow I just get comfy and all of the sudden I heard a sound. I wasn't sure if it was a kid, dog, chinchilla or the wind.

I lowered my cover and looked in the direction of the door. There, about 3 inches from my face was a kid! I screamed, then he screamed, then we both busted up laughing. Little snot! He came in to tell me a story about something, who knows what it was with him! Probably some humanitarian effort to save straws from restaurants to build houses for grasshoppers because then we'd be reusing our old items instead of throwing it away as well as helping grasshoppers be more comfortable. And surely the straws could be filled with dirt to insulate the grasshopper huts and I went to sleep so who knows what happened next.

The only reason I know he sleeps is because he's a pain in the a butt to wake up each day!

Speaking of which, it's 1:30 I should try the whole sleeping thing huh?

26 Things You are Dying to Know About Me...Or Not

I boosted this from Roger aka MylHiBug on twitter over at A Screed in Time.

A - Age: 29, seriously I am, 1979 baby!!

B - Bed size: Queen

C - Chore you hate: Unloading the dishwasher, put away laundry, go through paper work

D - Dad's Name: David

E- Essential start to your day item: Opening my eyes, lol! Brushing my teeth for sure!

F - Favorite actor(s): Chad Michael Murray mmmm mmmm mmmm he is soooo freakin HOT oh the things I could do............oh right, public blog not penthouse letters.....sorry. I've been alone too long people!!

G - Gold or Silver: Gold

H - Height: Super TALL 5ft 4in

I - Instruments you play(ed): Trumpet in 6th grade

J- Occupation: SAHMHSAW (stay at home mom-homeschooling-army wife!)

K- Kid(s): Tayton 7yo and Korbin 6yo

L - Living arrangements: Situationally Single Mom of two boys, two dogs and two chinchillas missing my husband in Iraq.

M - Mom's name: Paula (no really people really named their kids this can you believe that?) Love ya mom and Grandma too!

N- Nicknames: Micky, Shell, Shelly (outgrew that one phew!) Babe, Sexy, oh right those last two....

O - Overnight hospital stay other than giving birth: many

P - Pet Peeve: Brandy and Amber

Q - Quotes you like: I'm too tired to think that serious right now, sorry.

R - Right or left handed: Right

S - Siblings: Real- David Step- Sabrina, Jeremiah, Jason, Steve

T - Time you wake up: as late as possible!

U- Underwear: check

V - Vegetable you dislike: peas! Seriously food should not explode in my mouth when I bite into it IYKWIM!!

W - Ways you run late: Kids are pokey, I'm overestimate my ability to go from bed to the van in less than 10 minutes.

X - X-rays you've had: OMG

Y - Yummy food you make: EVERYTHING I make is yummy duh! Otherwise I wouldn't be feeding 12 people most nights!

Z - Zodiac: Sagittarius

Ok now i need all of you reading this to do it too because I am up at 230am and I need to be bossy, it's what I do.

Mama Kat's Assignment: Somebody I'm praying for?

Strangely enough I'm supposed to be in bed asleep. The problem is that I can't seem to get there. I laid in bed and my mind just wandered. I said my normal prayers and then I went off on a rampage on one person, one family that I'm praying my little heart out for right now.

Mama Kat has a weekly writers workshop. I've done it a time or two. So when I got out of bed and sat at my computer I looked at my google reader and there it was "Your assignment should you choose to accept "..... I clicked. Here are this weeks prompts:

The Prompts:

1.) Somebody I'm praying for....

2.) I don't believe in prayer because...

3.) What are you putting off right now?

4.) You can go back to your childhood for one day. What day and age do you choose?

5.) Your friend tells you he can pick up any girl at the bar, no matter what he says. You bet him $100 he can't. Create the world's worst pick up line and send your friend off into the crowd. What happens? (writersdigest.com)

Well easy enough for me to choose.

There's this family that meant the world to me growing up. I remember the day I met my good friend Weezy. I was playing in the yard of a neighbor when I was 12 almost 13. I was playing with my neighbors 4 year old. Weezy stopped and was talking with the neighbor and I ran over and played with the two precious girls in the coolest stroller I'd ever seen! Weezy invited me to come hang out at her house while she did chores around the house and basically trained me to be a babysitter. At first I went twice a week so she could get things done and then as time passed I found myself at their house most days of the week. Sometimes to play with the girls and sometimes to talk. Weezy was one of the best listeners I'd ever met in my life. I confided in her and she never seemed to judge me.

The following summer when I was 13 her 13 year old nephew come to stay. Not only did Weezy give me my first babysitting job she also brought me my first summer fling boyfriend. This led to my first kiss which led to my first make out sessions. I remember Blind Melons song No Rain playing a lot during these make out sessions....lmao! I know that Mark (Weezy's husband) caught us a few times but he never said a word to me about it (probably just to his nephew, maybe some high fiving going on there, MEN!)

What felt like a million years later but was really only 7 years later Weezy and her husband took my wedding pictures. Their three daughters ages 4, 7 and 10 were all in my wedding. They were incredibly beautiful and poised! I admired this family from the day I met them. They inspired me in so many ways. In fact they were the first and only homeschooling family I'd ever met! And thank God I did because she's guided me through this whole getting started with the naughty little blond boys home schooling adventures!

So on to the assignment.

This family needs prayers and it is seriously pulling at my heartstrings. (Whatever that means, cause I don't think my heart has strings but if it does it's definitely being tugged right now!) The girls are now 14, 17 and 20. And absolutely three of the most beautiful and talented, well rounded, kind hearted girls I've ever known in my life! Mark and Weezy continue to do wonderful things for other people, the girls are in school now and Mark and Weezy are very into their sports and activities.

Well a few months ago Mark had a bout with a cancerous tumor that was removed and they went on about thier lives without much of a hitch it seemed. When I was home in January toward the end of our visit Weezy informed me that Mark had a lymph node in his leg pop up over night and it was to be biopsied asap. They got the results a few weeks later. Turns out it's cancer.

It's cancer and the prognosis isn't so sunny. I know I don't have my facts all straight but I do know that without surgery to remove the nodes in his leg/legs death is certain within 2 years. With the surgery and further biopsies on all the nodes removed 5 year survival is considered good if the cancer has spread to more than the one already confirmed.

Friday is Marks surgery. There are some major risks of the surgery as they have to operate over the femoral artery. I'm scared. I'm scared for this family that I love so much. I'm scared for Mark. I'm worried about the stress on all of them and the fear they must be feeling right now. I've been praying for them, and listening when Weezy's up for a chat. But it doesn't feel like enough. Mark needs to be there to give away his little girls in their weddings. He needs to be there to throw my boys around again when we come to visit. They adored him when were home this last trip.

Cancer sucks! I hate it! I hate how it can take a seemingly healthy person and turn them into a shell of being who's just struggling to make it through another round of chemo and radiation. I'm not only praying for Mark and the rest of the family but I pray to God that there is a cure for cancer in the near future.

I'm doing Relay For Life again this year. Not as a chairperson this year, only as a team captain but I'm gonna work my butt off to raise tons of money to help support beating this horrible disease!

What do you pray for these days?

Words of a Hero

I hadn't mentioned it before but since it's all over the newspapers apparently it's ok for me to post. Kirke's platoon was hit a month ago. We got the call at 7pm Feb. 19th and were told it was our platoon but the only wounded soldier was SPC Zimmerman. At that time I didn't know where Kirke was at in all of the mess and how it had affected him emotionally. I didn't hear from him for nearly 24 hours from when I got the call. He told me what little bit he could share at that time. He was in the vehicle behind the one that got hit and he, along with two other soldiers were instrumental in saving this young soldier.

WORDS OF A HERO

What Happened to Me in Iraq

by Daniel Zimmerman

I’ve read the newspapers and I just wanted to clear up some of the stuff, but here it is:

Feb. 19, 2009, my maintenance/recovery team and I were out in support of a 3 week long mission. Which means we were off of our normal FOB and traveling to other FOBs when needed. One of the engineer groups we were supporting had a mine detonation trailer that was blown up, so we went to another FOB to pick up and new set for them to continue their mission.

On our way back to deliver the equipment, we had to stop at a check point to let our other platoon go through (Iraqi roads are small). So once they had passed, we proceeded through and I was the second vehicle in the convoy.I just happened to look out my window while I was driving and at that moment was when I got hit.I watched the explosion, and the shock from it shook my truck and opened my door at the same time. I saw my weapon, an M249, jump about a foot from where I had it positioned.Without even thinking, I slammed my door shut, but at that time it was too late.There was silence in my truck except for the air pressure alarm buzzing. I knew I had been hit, but I didn’t know how bad it was. All I could do was hold my leg as tight as I could, until my fellow soldiers cleared the area so it would be safe for me to get out.I had one other person in my truck (he is also from Missouri), and he called up on the radio that we had been hit and that we were all good, but he didn’t realize that I had been hit.When I told him that I wasn’t good, he asked how I knew. I said, “Can’t you see the blood pouring out of my boots?”So he called back up and gave the report. At that time it was clear they needed to get me out of the truck safely, so he and Pvt. Wilson helped me out the passenger side and performed our combat life saver (CLS) techniques. They had placed the tourniquet above my knee. If it would have been placed below my knee, I would have bled out and probably wouldn’t be here today. So I owe my life to Pvt. Wilson, Spc. Kerksick and Sgt. Best.

About 20 minutes later I was on a chopper on my way back to Balad, Iraq (also where I was stationed). That is where there was a vascular surgeon who saved my leg. Without him it would have been amputated.They also replaced 6 units of blood when I got there, and another two units after surgery because I was still bleeding a little.

After they got me stable, I had many people from my unit and brigade there to support me.I got a purple heart and three other coins. The purple heart meant the most to me. I will have it with me at all times, and I will never forget what happened and all my soldiers/friends who were there to support me. Soon after that they sent me to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany on Feb. 22. That was more of a pit stop to make sure that I was stable enough to fly back to the States.On Feb. 22, I was flown from Germany to where I am currently, at Walter Reed in Washington D.C.

I have had 7 surgeries as of now, and I have one more left and that will be on Sunday or Monday. Sunday or Monday I will have a skin graph done to close up the two remaining holes in my left leg. After that I hope to be out of here and back home within two weeks or so.I will still have to do some therapy to get walking again. I had to use crutches for the first time today, March 13, that’s better than what I was doing a week ago. I do have nerve damage to my left foot to where I can’t feel the bottom of my foot or my big toe. I can barely move my ankle and can put little to no weight on it when I walk.It takes time and, but I’m stubborn so I’ll be walking with in no time.

One more thing—my truck took a lot of damage but didn’t flip over. It had blown all 10 of the tires on the truck, messed up the air system, had at least three or four holes in the gas tank and had hit the trailer I was hauling. That’s all I could see while I was getting fixed up.At no time did I loose consciousness. I was alert the whole time, but the pain never really set in. I was calm to the best of my abilities and helped the best I could to speed up the process of getting me out of there and to a hospital.Well I hope this clears the story up a little bit more.

Zimmerman is a former student from Licking High School.

If you would like to write Zimmerman, send correspondence to Spc. Daniel Zimmerman, 11192 Little Oaks Road, Rolla, MO 65401

I also wanted to add that this incident was the first for our platoon and I'm proud beyond words of how quickly they were able to act. The confidence I heard in my soldiers voice after they knew Zimmerman was going to be okay was incredible. It sucks that it happened and we pray for SPC Zimmerman and his family. I'll be so glad when he's done with surgeries and back here at the Fort. Our platoon now knows we can take a hit and are able to get it together and get through it.

She Felt Sorry For Him

My little Korbin wanted his mohawk (mohog he calls it) back. He has been a good boy so I decided he deserved it. For anyone who is new to reading my blog Korbin had a mohog since last memorial day. In December he was having some real behavioral issues. I hid the clippers behind my back, called him over to me and then I grabbed him and shaved off his mohog! I told him that if he was going to ACT like a punk then he wasn't allowed to look like one. So he had to earn it back.

He's thrilled!

He also just celebrated his 6th birthday! We had a nice little party here at home and then we went to chucky cheese with 19 of our closest friends!

He had his buddy that dropped out of public school when we did at his side! His monster truck cake was made just for him by a friend of ours! Thanks Breanna! You're awesome!



The sweet little boy and his best girl hung out playing DS after the party!

Ok so back on track, the title of this post. We were at the PX looking at bikes trying to fit the boys on the right size. We had the help of 3 associates which is amazing because normally trying to get help in there is impossible.


So this old lady with a strong German accent came over to me and Korbin and he was holding a shoe box with his new sandals inside. She said "did you get the shoes or the haircut first"? I kept my mouth shut since the shoes weren't purchased yet. Then she leans over and whispers to me "Oh I see he gets to get a new bike to make up for the haircut!"




I almost lost it laughing it was so funny. Like I gave him a horrible haircut and was trying to make it up to him by buying him new bike!

We Were Told He Wouldn't but He Did

Our youngest son Korbin has been riding without training wheels since he was 4. At the time Tayton was 5 and we asked if he wanted to learn to ride without training wheels too. His response was "ummm Mom my bike is a tricycle, it doesn't have training wheels!"

Silly me! Not only was it a trike but it was a ginormous trike he could ride until he's 10 probably. Kirke and I can often be found hitching a ride on the back of that big ole thing!

Last year came and we bought them Green Machines so the year went by and he showed no interest in learning. I asked his occupational therapist what she thought about his abilities and if it was just a dream of mine. She told me that I shouldn't get my hopes up and not to push him because she didn't think that his sense of body awareness and balance as well as strength in his core and legs would be enough to master that skill then or even in the future.

Well he sure as heck proved us all wrong! A few days ago he and I were talking and he said he thought he was ready to try to learn to ride a two wheeler. I worried that it was going to be a losing battle. I have taught 8 kids to ride without training wheels before Tate. Only one of those was mine and it was Korbin and he was super easy. Teaching Tate was a whole different thing for me. Maybe because I was emotionally invested in his success. Maybe because it's often harder to teach your own kid things than other peoples kids (says the homeschooling mom).

So enough of my rambling. It took us three days, two brand new bikes (one for each kid), a ton of patience and the promise of new boundaries and we emerge with a 7 1/2 year old kiddo who can ride a bike from the pushing off to get going to braking to stop! Woohoo! And he finally let me take pictures too!

Now he can ride with his best friend! I taught her to ride last summer! Now if we can get her off that damn tiny bike! Grrrr!

He is so proud! He knows how big of a deal this is for him and he knows he's defying the odds!

The video you've been waiting for:

The Teacher Called in Sick

Last week the teacher called in sick. She said she had strep throat and thought she was gonna die. She didn't die. She's here.

How come no one sent a sub? Don't ya think that if a homeschooling mommy is sick they should send in a sub? That sub has to perform all of the duties of the regular teacher. These include but are not limited to keeping the boys up their school work according to the lesson plan. The lesson plan we try to follow but end up veering from daily! That's totally allowed by the way but only for the regular teacher! The sub must also perform the daily home school maintenance and cleaning. Meals must also be prepared for the students.

For some strange reason the doctor wouldn't write me a prescription for a sub or an excuse note from work! Nuts! Call it a snow day cause we took 3! All better now.....for now. Strep throat sucks just so you know.

Don't Distract Me I'm Trying to Drive!

Mario Kart is an important part of our evening routine around here these days. Ever since we got the Wii and found out our kids can play together without actually having to get dressed and go to one anothers houses and make messes and clean up said messes we've been all over that!

Tonight Tayton is racing a couple friends and Korbin keeps bugging him and he said "stop distracting me I'm trying to drive!"

I immediately take this as a teaching moment. I say "I told you so! It's really hard to drive when you two are acting like fools wild monkeys in the backseat!"

Tayton then replies "Mom, if you were driving on roads with lava next to you and fire balls in the road we would be quiet!"

And then Korbin pipes up to say "yeah and if people were crashing into you when you had to go over a ramp and throwing turtle shells and bananas at you we would be quiet too. Good thing that never happens right mom?"

So there you have it....that's what it's gonna take to get a peaceful roadtrip with this bunch!

Operation Kid Comfort

UPDATE: Not only does this organization make these quilts for free they also thank the bloggers who post about it! I got this comment this afternoon and wanted to include it in this post!

Operation Kid Comfort has left a new comment on your post "Operation Kid Comfort":

Thank you so much for posting information about your Operation Kid Comfort quilts and the joy this program has brought you children. Korbin and Tayton are adorable and look so happy with their OpKid quilts.

Thousands of America's Littlest Heroes, the children of our deployed men and women, have been served since Operation Kid Comfort began more then five years ago, on Make A Difference Day, 2003. It is wonderful to see blogs such as yours recognize the efforts of hundreds of volunteers that make this award winning program so special.

Information about the program, its origins, and how to participate in and support Operation Kid Comfort, please visit www.operationkidcomfort.blogspot.com or www.asymca.org.

Best wishes to you and yours. We will keep you and all our military families in our thoughts and prayers.

Ann FlahertyFounder, Operation Kid Comfort


The Armed Services YMCA has a program called Operation Kid Comfort. They make quilts (or pillows for older kids) with pictures on them for kids of deployed soldiers. We jumped in on that offer real quick and we got our quilts today! They are so perfect!

The note on the bag reads:

Dear Korbin/Tayton,

Hello! My name is K.C. That stands for Kid Comfort. Actually, my full name is Operation Kid Comfort but you can call me K.C.

So, I am a quilt and I know I am not supposed to talk but I just wanted to let you know how special you are. I can only imagine how hard it must be for you t not be able to see your Daddy everyday.

Hopefully I can help with that; just look at me! There are pictures all over me of you and the people that love you the most. Your name is on there and the seal of your Daddy's military organization is there as well!

I want you to know that it is okay to hurt and it is okay to cry. You can drag me around as much as you like. Sleep on me, cover yourself up with me, and hug me! I promise that I'll stay with you and help you through these tough times.

You also do not have to worry about getting me dirty. I like being washed in cold water with mild detergent on the gentle cycle. I especially like to air dry!

So, get ready to enjoy me!

I also wanted to let you know that lots of other people who helped make me are also thinking special thoughts about you and your family. There is the person that cut the fabric, another that printed out all your pictures and some special people who sewed me together and got me ready so that I could belong to you and only you!

Your Buddy,

K.C.

Spouse's Retreat OR Fat Camp?

Our battalion had a spouse's retreat this weekend. They always call them retreats but its more of a weekend long seminar. We have done it once for a Marriage Retreat but this time with the guys being gone we had spouses and kids. They provide childcare during our classes and then they also gave us a couple of hours on Saturday for some quiet kidless time which we used to shop of course! There is one nice restaurant at the resort and two fast food style places at a "food court". They gave us each our own room and meal passes for the weekend.

This all sounds wonderful right?

It is except that they don't tell you that the place is gigantic. It's built in the middle of some little mountains and there is not one single level road in the place! No sidewalks at all either. There are no elevators and you have to walk 17 miles to get from your room to the main building with the food/classes. There were probably 25-30 spouse there with a gazillion kids. No daddy's there to help carry luggage and little kids to and from the million places we had to be either. Oh and lets not forget the snow storm we got Saturday.

I decided that this was a Fat Camp posing as a Spouse's Retreat. The seminars were on parenting and long distance relationships during deployments as well as what to expect when the guys get home which is still a gazillion months away. I think the guys called back to the Rear Detachment unit and said that they are worried that we are all going to be enormous cows when they return and asked them to set this up for us. Between walking up and down stairs, hills and long hallways we probably all lost 10 pounds and add the yucky food to that and you bet your boots this was a plot against us!

I shall protest by devouring loads of chocolate tonight! Ha I'll show them!

Keep Holding On

Ok I don't normally do these things but I was curious what my answers would be and dang it if I'm gonna take the time to do it I might as well post it. I came across it on In Your Face Suckers. Kat's list is pretty funny!

RULES:
1. Put your iTunes, Windows Media Player, etc. on shuffle.
2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer.
3. YOU MUST WRITE THAT SONG NAME DOWN NO MATTER HOW SILLY IT SOUNDS.
4. Tag 5 friends (make me #6 so I can see your results).
5. Everyone tagged has to do the same thing.
6. Have Fun!

IF SOMEONE SAYS ‘ARE YOU OKAY’ YOU SAY?
You Live You Learn- Alanis Morissette

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOURSELF?
My Greatest Day- Bowling Soup

WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A GUY/GIRL?
Hells Bells- AC/DC lmao

DO YOU FEEL TODAY?
You Oughta know- Alanis

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE’S PURPOSE?
I didn't Steal Your Boyfiend- Ashlee Simpson

WHAT’S YOUR MOTTO?
I'm a Bitch I'm a Lover- Alanis (lmao seriously what are the freakin chances?)

WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU?
I Hate Everything About You- Ugly Kid Joe (thanks guys)

WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU?
Nobody's Home- Avril Laveigne (what the heck!!)

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT VERY OFTEN?
Feeling Way Too Damn Good- Nickelback

WHAT IS 2 + 2?
Magic-Colbie Caillat

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR BEST FRIEND?
Suspicious Minds- Daughtry

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY?
Tied Together With A Smile- Taylor Swift

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?
Princess-Matt Nathanson

WHAT DO YOU THINK WHEN YOU SEE THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
Ohio (come back to Texas)- Bowling For Soup (that is so funny since he's from Texas hehe)

WHAT WILL YOU DANCE TO AT YOUR WEDDING?
What About Now- Daughtry (actually it was Amazed by Lonestar)

WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?
Sweet Child O' Mine- Guns N' Roses

WHAT IS YOUR HOBBY/INTEREST?
Beautiful Liar (thats great)

WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST FEAR?
When I Grow Up- Pussycat Dolls

WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST SECRET?
Keeper of the Stars- Tracy Byrd (you didn't know that did ya?)

WHAT DO YOU WANT RIGHT NOW?
I Hope You Dance- LeeAnn Womack

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIENDS?
A Girl Like Me- Rhianna

WHAT WILL YOU POST THIS AS?
Keep Holding On- Avril Laveigne

I am an addict. I need help but don't want it.

No it's not something illegal. It's not even something harmful unless you consider the possibility of throwing out a hip or getting tennis elbow.

Hi, my name is Michelle and I'm a Wii Addict! (all together now "Hi Michelle")

Brandy got a Wii for her family for Christmas. Amber and I both wanted one but didn't "need" one. Well the tax returns came in and at the top of the list was a Wii! I'm pretty certain I have a form of OCD. I get so hooked on things and go buck wild with it! I will decide I need new pants and I end up with 10 new pairs of jeans but not one single shirt to match. Or I buy 4 new pairs of shoes because one had to be thrown away. Well the Wii is no exception. I couldn't just get a game or two and call it a day. Nope I had to buy out the whole selection of games and the accessories to boot! (not really but close)

I love Mario Kart and I love that the girls and I can play it online from our own houses against one another. And I never would have thought I'd be any good or even enjoy Rockband but I love love love it! It's good music and it's so fun to play!

We're going away this weekend for a spouses retreat sponsored by our husbands battalion. We'll go through some classes on marriage and what to expect with the guys coming home. And then they will set us free to enjoy some much needed chill time. They even provide childcare for the kids while we're in classes!

This sounds great but I'm a little concerned about not being able to get my Wii fix all weekend. Do you think they make a pill for this? Like a Wii supplement? Something I can mix in a bottle of water would be okay.

My name's Michelle and I'm an addict....

MaNiC MoMMy™ ... THeRe'S a MeTHoD To HeR MaNiC: SuNDaY BLooDY SuNDaY, FeB. 22

MaNiC MoMMy™ ... <br>THeRe'S a MeTHoD To HeR MaNiC: SuNDaY BLooDY SuNDaY, FeB. 22

Well I donated my blood, I entered the contest and I'm hoping to win the trip to Florida. Manic still has one more week of blood donating time to enter her contest for tons of great things including the trip to Florida. But since I'm gonna win that I'm sure you'll enjoy one of the other prizes. One pint of blood can save 3 lives or 5 babies lives. And our bodies make more all the time so why not share?

The Bitterness of Defeat

I have lost the power struggle.

They have learned to defeat me and use it to their fullest abilities!!

I put them to bed at nine. They stay in bed until I'm fully engrossed in a Wii game and then next thing I know they are circling me like vultures!! "I'm hungry, my leg hurts, my ear hurts, I'm bleeding, I'm hearing voices, I see dead people, my leg just fell off and got flushed down the toilet....."

I'm too into my game to turn it off right then. I tell them to wait a second. Seconds turn to minutes that are filled with "good job mom, get him, you're a good player, what's over there? How did you do that?" And on and on until I realized an hour has passed. They have won and now its time for us all to go to bed!

Must devise a plan! An earnings chart to trade chores and school work for Wii time! Also need to invest in some duct tape..... Brilliant!

True Story!

What's in Your Refrigerator? Bet Ya can't Beat This!

Chocolate Milk Incognito

Ugly Pants Lady

I have been so crazy busy! I had my van in the shop this week, that was interesting.



I walked into the shop to give Dave my keys and let them get started and I had to wait in line behind this woman. This woman who had short spikey hair one big earring in one ear and one stud in the other. She also had on huge, baggy, stone washed jeans with the hideous ugly white bleached out looking areas all down the front. And of course her shirt was tucked in. I hate tucked in shirts just to put that out there. Not that her outfit and lack of any sense of style had to do with anything but it was ..... interesting.



I stood there and lost about 10 minutes of my life that I will never get back. I feel cheated out of valuable time as I listened to her talk. She was quite concerned that she didn't know how long the car had to idle before she could drive it. She must have asked the same thing over and over just in different ways. Eventually the manager, Dave sent her off with Kenny who I assume drew the short straw and got stuck with this assignment.



"So you're telling me I can just get right in and drive?" She exclaimed in her most astonished voice, I'm certain. I cracked up laughing. Kenny tells her that she can let it run to let the oil circulate through the engine for a minute or two if she feels she must. She then replied "so if I get in, start it up, listen to one song on the radio, then I can drive it?" Kenny just let it go at that.



I walked up to Dave and asked if I get a discount if I promise not to ask stupid questions. He laughed and said I definately should. When she finally took her ugly ass jeans and stupid questions out the door I had to talk to Kenny.



"Hey if I let my van run for 45 minutes will that be long enough and it will be ready to drive?" I asked.



Kenny caught on quick and said "you're going to need to let that run for at least an hour because it's bigger!"



From then on I referred to her as ugly jeans lady. When I picked up my van I asked them how long it needed to run now that it was all fixed up and Kenny told me he saw her at the gas station. She was coming out as he was going in. He got two hot dogs and a drink and came out and she was still sitting there obviously listening to her one song on the radio before she'd drive even though she had only turned it off to go into the gas station.



This puzzles me. I know that I'm always in a rush to get no where fast but I don't have time for that! I can't waste 5 or 10 or even 3 minutes every single time I start my car up waiting for the oil to warm up through the engine! What the heck did she learn to drive in? An old crank up car? Geesh! Now if it's cold out that's a different story. Then I'll give it 10 minutes but only so that the engine will be warm enough to blow hot air out the heater for my own comfort!



Too many minutes of my life lost to stupid questions being asked repeatedly. I'm mean I know. I'm okay with that....

The Skinny on the Flat

We're home from our visit in Michigan. It was a great time with a few flaws. There wasn't enough time to see everyone I would have liked to see and spend time with. It was cold as all get out! We arrived and it was -15 degrees and wind chills of -35! My boys ended up sick and now we brought it home with us. I spent too much money but I'm okay with that.

We had a great time getting to know my three year old nephew who is absolutely adorable and I am pretty sure everyone who meets him falls in love immediately!

My younger sister loaned me her raised twin size air bed with a pump built in. It was super comfy until that one night. The one night that I woke up with my butt sagging down to the floor as I was sucked inside the vinyl and nearly suffocated! I spent the rest of the night turning on the pump to air it back up every hour or two! We got a patch kit and patched it up and I went to sleep that night feeling confident that I have mad rubber patching skillz!

I slept fine right up until I started to sink and nearly rolled off the heap-of-rubber-hatred onto the floor below which was covered in hot wheels cars and rescue heroes. It was then that I heard it. The evil hissing sound! It was not the air coming out of my bed but the muffled laughter of my brother! He was standing there slowly letting the air out of my bed and waiting for me to fall off and plunge to the depths of the toys below!

Very funny David!

I'm so grateful that my brother and sister in law let us stay with them and have our belongings strewn from one end to the other of their home for so long. Love you guys!

Planning For His Future

Korbin has had a really difficult day. He got to talk to his daddy on the phone today and ever since then he started acting a little on the crazy, sad, and whiny side.

He's having a hard time falling asleep so I went to lay down with him for a few minutes. He heard my brother and sister in law playing video games in the living room and said that he wanted to play too. I told him that only grown ups were playing because kids needed to go to bed. Korbin said "but you're a kid and so are they." I asked him why I was a kid and he said "because you have a mom and dad! Remember? I met them!" It was as if all this time I'd been pretending to not have parents and he just discovered something new.

Then we had a conversation in which he informed me that he doesn't want to have kids ever, just dogs. And then he decided he would have cats too.

I asked him why he didn't want to have kids. He said "because they will act crazy!" I guess he doesn't want kids that are just like him!

He then went on to tell me that he would have one boy kid. That way whenever he felt like wrestling he would be able to!

He has a plan....

He Didn't Know Who I Was

I haven't seen the man in just over a year.

It's only been a year.

I haven't changed that much.

In fact the only thing different is my hair color is a bit darker. No big deal right. You'd think that someone who'd known me for 29 years would know who I was right?

We decided to surprise him at work. We showed up and he was gone. Go figure! Men! We got drinks and decided to go do some other errands. The man at the counter shouted "he just pulled in hold on a second".

We waited. I ran over to the door that he was going to come in. He walked in and shouted to the man at the counter "hey my apron is frozen!" I was about 6 foot from him and I replied "then throw it in the dryer!" He looked at me. He thought I was waiting on him to go by so I could get to the door. He said "I'm going this way and started to walk past.

I was amused. Shocked. I said "Dad!"

He looked puzzled! Then it was like you see a little light come on as he realized this his daughter was standing in front of him.

Then he said "you colored your hair!" Yeah like that's his excuse. It could be that he didn't know I was in town yet and thought I was in Missouri still.

My Dad didn't know who I was and I thought it was funny!

Freezing in Michigan

Just thought I'd let all three of my regular readers know that I might not be around much the next couple weeks.

I've been planning a trip to Michigan for about three months now. First I was going to head home for Thanksgiving. Instead I had a much better November when my husband came home for his two week visit!

So I decided that I would go ahead and go home for Christmas instead. Well that plan got shuffled around and I decided to wait until January. I wanted to come last week because it was my WAY older brothers birthday. Then I got my oil changed. Those jerks decided my tires sucks because, well, they did. They sucked so bad I had to get new ones because mine didn't meet state minimum requirements and I had to sign an "I Suck" acknowledgement stating that I knew they sucked and therefore I suck and if I crash it's my own damn fault.

I decided to get tires. They of course had to be ordered because no one carries my size! Grrrr! Then I got my tires put on and realized I am a complete moron and lost my damn debit card! I had to go to the bank, cancel the one I lost, order a new one that will take 7-10 days to arrive at my house in Missouri and THEN get a temporary ATM card until I get my new debit card!

I was pretty sure the stars were not lining up for this trip but I left anyhow. We drove almost 500 miles today to arrive safe and sound in about 8.5 hours. We only stopped two times which is a major accomplishment considering it was just me, two dogs and a five and seven year old! Woohoo! Both of our stops were during daylight hours.

I rock! Go ahead and tell me!

Did I mention it was 2 degrees in Missouri? And did I mention it's quite below zero here. As a matter of fact it currently says -15 and "feels like" -36.

When I said I was going home to visit I meant my hometown of Coldwater, MI. Not the boys hometown of Fort Wainwright, Alaska. Holy freezing my ass off in Michigan!

We Discovered the Center

First of all this girl and I decided we'd meet up with this family to go to this place.

We left an hour later than we planned....ok we left two hours later than we planned. Who's counting? This girl said they opened at 10am. They opened at 1. We got there at 1:15 thanks to me thinking I saw the route on the map on Brandy's iPhone sure I can remember how to get there how hard can it be so I said "nah let's just go with it"! (after my crappy navigator offered to program my navigation system)

We drove and we drove and we turned around a couple times. We attempted to find directions from my google map in my cell phone. That was super......not so much. Then we tried to program Maggie, my navigation system. I figured she would have learned to do the right thing after being tossed out last time but I guess not. She was so off on her GPS locating it wasn't even funny. She has us 212 miles to our destination but we were in Springfield!! It was actually less than 10. We found it and here's some of what we did.

Korbin built his own Arch and stood under it. I guess I was supposed to take a picture from the front not the side, oops. Thanks for pointing that out Damama!

The kids dug for dinosaur bones and actually found some! We hung out of a giant nose. That's me and Korbin the little bugger!

Korbin learned how to float!


Brandys favorite soldier can float too!


The kids hung out in some tornado's!

Korbin had the puppy in most of his pictures! He loves his stuffed dogs!

My little Tayton who couldn't stand to touch other kids or stand younger kids is here touching and helping Cassidy to make sure that she is safe! It was a huge moment for him!

We got to run in a giant hamster wheel! The boys kept running up the front side!

Amber stopped and the wheel kept going!

It was so much fun! In fact if I had one of these in the house I might just get off my butt and exercise! Maybe...

The boys did some work. They used pulleys to lift, pull and push weighted blocks.

They worked really well together!

(see the puppy)

Korbin did some reading and of course the puppy was nearby.

Then we go to the good stuff. I got felt up by a college guy named Chris. It was great but had nothing on Max!

This is the High Wire Bike from the bottom floor. You're supposed to rock back and forth and stuff. He's not falling.

Here was my turn after getting felt up by the college kid! I tried and I tried

and I could not get the bike to lean far enough to reach the wire with my hand.

I had a good time trying but I used muscles I never thought I'd use riding a bike. Shifting your

weight against the 250 pound counter weight is tough.And more bad pictures from my cell phone.

Seriously Someone Tell Me Why

Why? Does this go back to the fishing pole tenth anniversary thing?

And who knew that a five year old boy could fit into a tiny "up to 25 pound" dog carrier? Cassidy and Korbin of course!

I hate Blogger!

Now that I've said that my whole blog is probably gonna disappear and I'll lose everything I've ever posted. Not that it matters because the first 150 pictures ever to be seen on my blog are now GONE!

That's right, gone forever. Stupid Picasa web albums said that I didnt have room for my Relay For Life album that I needed to upload for my friend who has been waiting to see the 150 pictures that were taken with my Camera last Relay. I thought I'd be nice and upload them to picasa so that she could get them all at one time instead of trying to send them by email handfulls at a time.

I decided to go ahead and delete an album cause I didn't need to have it on Picasa. I started to delete pictures large groups a time. Then I caught a glimpse of the "warning deleting these items can not be reversed". It was followed with "these pictures will no longer appear on your blog".

I thought it was just your normal "do you really want to do this" warning. I didn't realize that Picasa had jack to do with my damn blog. Stupid stupid stupid blogger!

I'm so mad!

Just thought you should know this.

Today Was A Sad Day

Today we took our good friends hubby back to the airport so he could return to duty in Iraq after his 18 days of R&R. We were supposed to be leaving at 6:30am to make the drive. It was just over 2 hours and I knew we'd be pushing it on their timeline but I went with it because, well it wasn't my decision to make.

I DO NOT LOVE MORNINGS!

I hope that's clear. But I will do pretty much everything for these two girls I spend most days with. She wanted me to go along and that was okay with me. I set my 3 alarm clocks, because as I said before mornings aren't my best friend. I was determined not to let my friend down by over sleeping and making her and her two girls through the day on their own.

My first alarm went off and I popped up out of bed and headed off to brush my teeth and get ready. The two blonde boys were in my room because we had a rough night. I didn't even flinch when the second alarm sounded. I turned it off and got dressed before waking the boys. The third alarm went off and I would normally be smashing it into wall by this point but I was proud to be up and ready to get the boys up. I woke them up, had them dressed and ready to go by 6:20am.

We sat downstairs waiting for our friends to pick us up with jackets on and shoes tied and bags in our laps. We waited. And waited. And waited some more. I tried to text message the friend. I sent her some IM's and tried to call her cell phone. No answers. It was 7am before I decided to call her house phone and risk waking up her mother who lives with her to find out what was going on.

Now we are a group of 3 girlfriends who are all in this damn deployment boat together and we do everything together. This particular friend is "the responsible one". The other girl and I are the often late and always impulsive ones.

Ok back to the story, I called the house phone and the mom answers. I asked her if my friend was still home because I thought maybe she decided to brave this horrible day on her own in bad judgement (I can say that because it was a bad choice two months ago when I made that bad choice). The mom tells me that the van is still there so they haven't left. She asked me if she should wake her up. I explain that we were supposed to be leaving a half hour ago so she woke up my friend who had "over slept".

They jumped up rushed around then they decided to call and switch his flight. They got it moved back an hour and a half and I quote "we'll be there to get you guys in a little bit". This meant no going back to sleep for me. So we waited, and waited, and waited. Around 830-845am they showed up to get us. (I sooo could have gotten a good hours sleep in!) It was around 9 by the time we finally got on the road to St Louis.

The soldier had to call to re-reschedule his flight because we were still not going to make it on time. I wish I had been that smart when my soldier had to go back after R&R to get a couple extra hours! Brilliant! Next time tell your friend who doesn't love mornings to go ahead and sleep another, okay?

Good!

I'm glad I got to go with and be supportive of my friend her family and keep them moving to make the day go by smoothly!

The pictures from our afternoon at the The St Louis Science Center tomorrow!

**I chose not to give the names of my friend in the post because I don't want to make her look bad or anything, hehehe!**

**It's not my fault if you click on the linky name thingys right? LMAO**

Let Me Tell You A Little Story

Part I:

Let me tell you a little story.

Once upon a time there was this Mom who had two bratty naughty little blond boys that insisted on making their Mom crazy. One night the mom read the boys a very long book (a Spiderwick mini book, LOVED IT) and tucked them into bed in their very own loft beds complete with rope lights. It was around 9pm that the boys were kissed, hugged and tucked into bed with threats on their life if they were caught out of bed sweet words of love and happiness.

Around 11pm the Mom of these two rotten little boys decides to go to bed since it was going to be an early morning. When she rounded the corner to head up the stairs she heard it! The sound was enough to make the mom want to jump out the window except that she was still on the first floor so there was no point.

The lights were on at the top of the stairs in the first little blonde boys room. They were in there. Both of them. Laughing. The sound that the mom had hoped to hear was far from laughter with the lights on! The mom tip-toed into the room to catch them in the act before they threw themselves onto the lump of blankets and pretended to be sleeping!

The oldest boy said to the little boy "Korbin get out of my room and turn my light back off". Like the mom was going to believe that tale! This mom was crafty though. No spankings and yelling this time. No demanding they get back in bed. Not.this.time! Too easy!

She ordered the boys into her room and placed them each in a time out area to stand. The mom went ahead with her bedtime routine of brushing her teeth, washing her face and taking her medication. She probably needs a higher dose! The mom climbed into bed and was going to send her hubby, the daddy of previously mentioned naughty little blonde boys, an email. When suddenly the tables had turned.

One little blonde boys starts to beg the mom to let him please go to his bed. By this time they had been standing there for maybe 5 minutes. "Mom can we please go to bed now?" says one. "I'm so tired mommy", says another!

The mom typed a real fast email and then turned the volume way up on her phone and started to play bejewelled as she told the boys "you're the ones who didn't want to sleep so I'm letting you stay up". Cruel? So be it! Funny.....I think so!

Then I the mom turned off the light and pretended like she was going to go to sleep. Little blonde boys did not love that one bit! The mom felt as though her point was made so she let the little boys go to bed.

That mom won! This time......... Maybe she'll get a night or two without protest at bedtime.......maybe.

Part II coming soon.......

So Much For That Plan

I have always had to kid proof my house because I have two of the grabby-hand-having-est kids of all time! They have always been into everything! Most traditional kid proofing only worked until they were mobile then I was screwed. The boys were masters at figuring out child locks and helping our adult visitors figure them out as well.

Lately I just try to hide the things they shouldn't have and go on about my business. Until today. I went to get something off the top of the fridge and found that the boys also like my hiding spot. They had stashed a couple of "least likely to share" toys and some candy on top of the fridge.

Now what?

Sunshine and Lemonade: Weekend Winners: Greatest Hits

Sunshine and Lemonade: Weekend Winners: Greatest Hits

This is the giveaway of all giveaways! Seriously she's giving away tons of stuff to this weeks winner. I think she had too much eggnog? Or she's just super generous. Either way check it out. You have until Friday, January 9th to enter!

But if you win because I sent you over you have to let me pick one item from you winnings.....sounds fair to me!

Did I Really Hear That?

***Please note that what you're about to read was not said about or to me he was just chatting to himself and I overheard and here's what happened!***

I heard Tayton say something but I knew I must be mistaken. He was standing in the laundry room doorway right off of the living room when he said it. I was shocked, confused and even speechless for a minute.





I called him over to me. I said "what did you just say?" He laughed and said "I was just being funny mom".





I asked him to say it again and in his best fake deep voice my 7 year old said:





"Hey you sexy lady!"





I tried not to laugh as I explained that it's not really appropriate for a 7 yr old to run around saying......

Tayton's Question of the Day

Tayton just asked:

"Mom can people who have been married for ten years have a fishing pole hung on any wall in their house and not just the bathroom walls?"

I'm not sure what this means. I believe he wants to hang up his first fishing pole in his bedroom. He says Brandy had one hanging in her bathroom two years ago when we met her. We have no fishing poles hung anywhere in our house. Strange.

I'm really disappointed because I thought the ten year anniversary brought more than a fishing pole hung on my walls....

Korbin is so Korbin

Korbin is so overdramatic. He should take up acting!

Sunshine and Lemonade: Weekend Winners: Games people play

Every week Kat gives great stuff away. The only reason I'm telling you is because I want an extra entry I am a sharer of good things!

Sunshine and Lemonade: Weekend Winners: Games people play

It Came, It Went, Let's Get On With the New Year!

Two little blond boys would not go to sleep last night. Finally around 10:30 I was walking up the stairs and I got a phone call. I answered it and guess who it was? Santa. He was mad as can be! I had to beg him not to pass up our house because of the boys. I stood in the hallway outside their rooms and talked and begged and pleaded and even faked shed a few tears. He eventually agreed to give them a second chance and would be back in about thirty minutes but that was the longest he could hold off.





They went right to sleep.


I was shocked to see that one of Santa's cookies was missing. I forgot that I have a ginormous dog hanging out for a few days and things need to be up a little higher out of her reach. At least she was generous enough to leave the other two for Santa. Who by the way didn't eat them. I guess I missed the verse that said "he sees you when you're sleeping, he knows when the dog eats off that plate". Who could blame him really?





We started out hour morning at 7am with a call from Iraq! Unfortunately I was still very tired because I was up till about 2. He insisted I wake the boys up so I did. They were very happy to hear from Daddy first thing in the morning. He talked to Tayton when they walked down the stairs to find the Christmas tree surrounded by presents from Santa. We finished talking to Kirke and then they started in on the presents.


They made out very well this year. They didn't get 100 hot wheels cars or 120 Pokemon figures like last year, individually wrapped. I guess those elves wised up this year! There was a shortage of elves as well considering last year we had the two main elves as well as two temporary elder elves aka grandparents here to help out and this year due to cut backs in the company due to the economic slump there was only one lone elf. The cutest one of course!



Here are some pictures of our day:

They had lots to open and Tayton was in a lot bigger rush than Korbin who still wanted to play in between gifts!

My Pokemon Freak got his share of Pokemon books, cards, games and even his own battledome!

**note to consumers: do not buy this it is junk and won't stay together!**

As always Korbin had to act goofy!

After the presents were opened Kirke got online so here he is trying to enjoy a bit of Christmas with us! We missed you so much love!

This is how we wrapped up the day. The boys on their new laptops and me on my very jealous, tempermental PC that displayed its jealousy of me working on the boys XO's for so long! Don't worry little laptop, you're the one for me!

I hope your day was great too and lets get on with this ending this year and moving on to the last part of this damn deployment, I'm ready to have my soldier home!

He Doesn't Want Me

I was chatting with Kirke's cousin Kelli today on the computer. She told me the greatest news! She said that her boyfriend asked her to marry him last night! Woohoo! Congratulations Kelli!

So anyhow I wanted to make little video with the boys telling her how happy they were for her. I told them we had to tell her congratulations and then I said to Korbin "Your Daddy's cousin Kelli is getting married!" then I hit record. I did not expect this reaction.....

Don't worry Kirke still wants to be with me......as far as I know!

Merry Christmas!