I need a hero......

My life has had absolutely no structure, whatsoever, since my husband arrived December 5th. I thrive off of a schedule. I do so much better when my days are planned out and have some meaning. We have stayed up late, gotten up late, eaten whatever we wanted, go where we want when we want and do whatever the heck we want to do!! My kids, however, have LOVED it. I need some type of a routine. I have not been exercising like I should, eating like a wild bear and everything I shouldn't be doing. But today was the end of all that. I went to the gym and ate healthy. Well, the healthy part is all relative! For the most part though! I need to ease myself back into my old routine! We also managed to get to the temple and that felt great!

The upside of all the mayhem is that we have had tons of quality family time. Guitar Hero, Monopoly, cookie baking, front runner to temple square, sledding and more sledding and all manner of fun stuff! I'm pretty much kid stuffed out! School starts back on Monday and I am looking forward to that. Charles leaves again on Saturday for 2 weeks and that may be a little nice too. I mean, don't get me wrong, I love the man more than words can express. But....the army took him away for nearly 14 months and gave him back to me all at once :| It's a little more than a girl can take. I have been around him 24/7 for the last month. I do love him though! I don't want anyone to misinterpret any of these statements! He's cute and the help has been amazing!

So....there we are last night at temple square trying to be religious and good! We were watching the nativity when my kids start fighting. Normally I would have embarrassed them but I had to pretend to be a good Mormon since we were standing there listening about the birth of Christ. I think a snowball is what started the quarreling. I'm not really sure. Josh, somehow, got the best of Ryan, and he not wanting to be outdone by Josh, went nutso. So Charles had to squeeze the back of Ryan's neck and we were all there acting like pure white trash. Ryan pouted a good while after that and then we went back home :) It was a fun night though. Hope we get to have more of those now that we're a real a family once again. We're in Disneyland mode with Charles not working and all.

Baby, it's cold outside

Merry Christmas! I can't believe it is already here again. I can clearly remember last Christmas when Charles was gone and how much we missed him. It was so nice to have him here today to put everything together and figure all the electronic things out. I know Christmas is only one day of the year but it is so important. It is so special to be with the ones you love most.

We had a great day! The kids were up at about 4:20, a.m. that is! Charles and I did our annual late night wrap session and didn't get to bed until 12:30-1 a.m. We told Charlie to get back to bed but we ended getting up at 5 and started our festivities. We were done with our unwrapping and our big Christmas breakfast meal and all the cleaning up by 8! It was so nice to not have to be anywhere today.

We've had 3 of our kids sick in the last 2 days! That's been fun! I have no idea where it came from but Cody started it all! We were up late Tuesday night watching a movie and Cody came downstairs crying. I thought he was upset because he couldn't find us in our room. To my surprise, when I met him on the staircase, he was covered in sweat and puke. I asked him if he threw up in his bed but he gave me another surprise and told me he puked in MY bed. After giving him a bath and changing our sheets and starting the puked up sheets in the washing machine we were in bed by 2:15 a.m. He continued to throw up every 30-40 minutes until 5:15. Then Josh woke up at 9 and he started! Charles was excited to be able to know how my last year went without him! He's also been shoveling snow like a mad man!! My life was way more exciting than his this last year!

So anyway...today was a great day and I have enjoyed every last minute of it! I love watching my kids enjoy their gifts and watching them get along. They loved having their dad here today and it's almost a distant memory that he was ever even gone in the first place. I'm so glad the year went by so fast and that we are all back together. I love my life and those that are most important to me make it good!

Merry Christmas Eve Eve:)

Man it has been snowing non stop in Utah. At least here in North Ogden. We love it though! I love it especially, since I don't have to shovel this year. That has become Charles' job :) Love that! He's so cute doing it too. We're having some pictures taken this weekend and hopefully the snow will hold off long enough to let that happen. Another hope is that the photographer has the software to shave off some of my holiday poundage! Yikes! Still have all my wrapping to do and a few more things to get. We can't seem to spend enough money this holiday season. :| Cody is dying to get a basketball for Christmas. The 6 that we have in our garage aren't good enough and he has asked Santa 3 different times for a basketball. His hope in Santa will be crushed if he wakes up Christmas morn with no b'ball. So...I gotta get one to add to our massive collection! That's how I do things since I am the perfect mom!! :) Oh and speaking of being a perfect parent, we played Clue with the kids tonight. Just FYI, it is not a small kid game. It kept Cody's attention for about 5 minutes and then he ended up being the cookie server! Charlie won the game and Charles and I are super competitive! We HATE losing, mostly if it's to each other. We're OK if we lose to our kids. It is a fun little game. Oh yeah another perfect parent thing we did tonight...well it's a long story. Charlie was telling us a story today of a time when he was ding dong ditching. (we called it something else growing up) So he rings the doorbell of a younger couple and he got caught by the wife. Apparently she was super pissed that he had done this and went berzerk. She told him that if he did it again she was going to sue his parents. She was pregnant and told him she could go into premature labor and all this ridiculous stuff. For heaven's sake woman! So we were all over that. We loaded everyone up and...you guessed it....we went to ding dong ditch their house again. Ryan was the door bell ringer and we rolled around, dropped him off and waited. He rang and ran!! We never did see if they came to the door so we aren't sure if they were home or not. We'll get 'em though!! We're mature! The kids loved that we took them to do that.

Last night was the downtown Ogden Christmas village. It was freezing and the 2 older boys were fighting! That was a good time. What cracks me up is that Charlie gets so embarrassed about the dumbest stuff but he'll get out in a public setting and put Ryan in a head lock and that's supposed to be ok. It confuses me some. Love those kids!

Laundry has been overwhelming since Charles returned. I don't know what the heck he does to cause so much laundry but I think my load has tripled. This is one thing I forget when he is gone but sure do recall when he gets back. But I'll take laundry over shoveling snow!! Plus, he's so dang good looking out there shoveling!

I'm excited for Christmas and for the eve! It's snowy and Christmasy:)

Season's Greetings

Wanna know what bugs the heck out of me? Complete lack of people skills. I can't stand this characteristic. For instance, when you say to someone..."hello, how are ya?" and all they say is "fine."Just so you folks know, when someone ask you this you need to ask them back . This is the polite thing to do. Another thing that bugs me is when you ask someone if they have heard about a particular story on the news and they tell you how they never watch the news because it is a complete waste of time and all that is ever on it is bad stuff. Well, I know there is a lot of bad news reported but obviously I watch the news or I wouldn't be asking you about it. All people have to do is tell me no they haven't heard of that story. They don't have to go into a story about all the time wasted watching the news and leave you feeling like a complete idiot. Good heavens people. Socially retarded is what I call it. When people just don't know how to not be rude to others. I know quite a few folks like this. Oh well...we all have our weaknesses! Hopefully this isn't one of mine!

Have you ever noticed when you think you're done with Christmas shopping there is always more? I always get the bulk of my shopping done early and always leave the stocking stuffers and small things till the last minute. This is so stressful because you forget about it until a day or 2 before Christmas. I had to get a few more things today and the stores were so crowded and that just overwhelms me to death and then I get in a bad mood. However, I have been domestic lately and baking up a storm. With all the baking comes the eating and the chubby feeling. Not so fun! Everything is just so darn tasty here at the holidays! Plus, you get all the crap everyone else has been baking and you have to eat that too!! I mean, you don't want anyone to get their feelings hurt, do you? Heck no! Unless, of course, you get super dry cookies and nasty, dry fruitcake muffins! Then you just throw them away and say you enjoyed the dickens out of 'em! You don't act like the social retards and tell them how bad they sucked. Just be polite people!

Feliz Navidad!

Green Acres...

is the place for me! Farm living is....Ok, so, we went to California last week and got back Tuesday morning. We visited Sacramento for 2 days to attend a wedding at the Sacramento temple and then headed off to San Francisco. Charles had planned a fun vacation for us all by himself. San Fran was like nothing I have ever seen before. We rode a ferry from Vallejo to the city and I was amazed at the hustle and bustle once we exited the boat. It was so crowded and was like being in another country altogether. We've traveled around and it was like no other city we have visited. It was fun but I am glad to be back in little North Ogden. We did get to see quite a bit. When we exited the ferry we went the wrong direction and walked right through the city. It was neat to see everyday San Francisco life. We went through parts of the city that weren't tourist spots and saw tons of homeless people, lots of weirdos, plenty of gays and Asians galore. My oh my! I could go on and on about all the crap we did and the fabulous things we saw but I'll spare the details. But I do think I came back 10 pounds heavier from all the delicious food we ate! We did have a GREAT time though. Some of the highlights, just in case you care, were going to the Point Reyes lighthouse. You had to walk down 3o2 steps plus 2 long slopes to reach the lighthouse. Only problem..... you had to walk back up those same steps to get back to your car! There was even a warning sign at the top of the steps telling you it was equivalent to walking up a 30 story building. Good gravy...that was a work out. But I made it and that's all that counts.

Doesn't look too bad from the top.... (this was taken about halfway down)

The view looking up from the bottom. You can barely see the last staircase in the center of the picture above the rocks.

The Pacific coast by Point Reyes

We also walked down Lombard Street and back up and I swear that had to be a 30% percent grade. My calves still hurt but it was worth it to see the world's most crooked street!! FUN! Last but not least we had to travel 5 hours out of the way on the way back home to avoid the winter storm that dumped 10-30 inches of snow in Lake Tahoe with zero visibility. On the upside, we were able to see Oakland, Bakersfield and no man's land in California. We also got to drive through Las Vegas and see all the naked women on the billboards. NOW...that was fun! Drove through the night and ended up at home around 8:30 a.m. Tuesday morning. That's a lot of the details I was gonna spare!

On the cable car!

Seeing that city and being in the middle of all that chaos made me so grateful for my simple life. I like being 5 minutes from Wal*Mart and having my kids walk to school. It's ok that I don't have a Juicy Couture down the road and my kids don't look like a Gap advertisement. I'm thankful I get to park in my garage and don't have to walk up 5 flights of stairs to get inside my home. I also don't have to struggle to get my groceries in the door. Life is good for me! Here in North Ogden we all drive normal cars, I have yet to see a Porsche or an Aston Martin but I sure do love this town.

Anyway, I'm home now and it feels so good. Even with all the decorations I have cluttering up my house! It's the most wonderful time of the year! Especially when the kids get out next week for 12 days....can't wait for that. I seriously do love the holidays and will be glad to not have to get up early for a few days!

It's so dadgum cold here!

Tis the season

Do you ever feel like Chevy Chase during the Christmas season? I LOVE Christmas but it always feels like so much work. By the time everything is up and ready you're ready for the season to be over! We FINALLY pulled our decorations out today and got the tree up. I say "we" meaning mostly Charles. He was getting all the lights out when we noticed we're gonna need new ones. Half of the bulbs on most of the strands were out and we didn't want to take the time to figure out which bulb was bad since they only cost about 2 bucks to replace. He got started trying to figure out which ones were bad and about 3 minutes into it he said screw it. I took over thinking I could do it and save us some time and money but it took me more like 30 seconds before I said heck no, we'll buy new ones. So here we sit with our tree in the middle of the living room half way wrapped with lights and no ornaments! Cody is dying to get our tree decorated. He's been begging for days to get it up. I kept telling him as soon as his dad gets home we'll get it up. Well here we are going on a week of him being home and we're still trying. Joy to the world! :| (you must say that using Chevy Chase's voice from Christmas Vacation) That movie still cracks me right up!

We leave for California on Thursday and I'm pretty excited. Traveling is one thing I have enjoyed about moving around so much. Everywhere we move has always brought us to other places that are near. My kids have been able to see lots of stuff they wouldn't have been able to see had we not been in the military. I'm sure Charlie would tell you differently right now, but they have had a good life and lots of great opportunities! Now that Charles is home from Iraq military life ain't so bad!

Tomorrow is the last night of the weight loss challenge class, thank heavens! I'm so tired of my Wednesday night being taken up by that class. The only enjoyment I get out of it is going to Kirt's afterwards to get a shake:) I'm a health nut! It's our treat for either losing OR gaining! No, really it's how we treat ourselves for making it through another one of the boring leassons.

Well...tomorrow's another day!

Happy Birthday to Charles!

33 years old! We lit the candles on his pound cake and the smoke detector went off! I'm not kidding! It was so funny! I love him. Everyone in my family gets to pick what kind of cake they want me to make for their birthday. Charles chose a cream cheese pound cake with strawberries and french vanilla ice cream. He loves my pound cake. I'm more of a chocolate kind of gal so I made a chocolate one too. It was much better than the cream cheese one. Plus we had brownie over load ice cream to go with the chocolate pound cake. YUM! that's all I'm saying. Charles had to grill his own dinner tonight. We had steaks and they were delicious. Grilling is a talent my husband possesses and I sure did miss it while he was away.

We have yet to put up our Christmas tree. We do have lights on the outside of our house but still nothing up on the inside. My sister can't believe we don't have anything up yet cuz she says her house looks like the north pole came and took a dump in it! We gotta get that tree up. I'm not much of a clutter lover and Christmas decorations make me a little nuts every year. Oh well..it'll get done!

So there we are tonight in Charlie's bedroom with both of the older kids. Charles had gotten this used laptop while he was in Iraq. It was broken and the guy that gave it to him told him if he could fix it he was more than welcome to keep it.Of course he was able to fix it and he gave it to the kids. As we were sitting there we were discussing all the clothes Charlie has that he NEVER wears. He proceeds to tell me that the Old Navy jeans, we got for free, would be worn if I had paid money for them! He doesn't like the fact we got them as hand me downs! I couldn't believe my ears. I was super PISSED that those words came out of his mouth. Well, all he managed to do by making that comment was get himself thrift store clothes until I'm not pissed about that comment anymore! So... there!!

That was my day, other than turning our cable boxes back in to Comcast and going to Wal*Mart for a few things! It is so nice to know my husband isn't going back to Iraq! I'm enjoying that thought! He's cute and it's hard to live without him and his grilled steaks :)

Life.....

is interesting. We have had a busy, wonderful weekend! Charles came home Friday night and we got to meet him at the gate, kind of! We got our pass to head back to the gate he was coming out of but his plane landed early and we had to undress to get through security. He called me as we were going through the security gates and told me he had just landed. I had to hurry off the phone so I could get the kids dressed and we booked it to the gate. We were sprinting when we
ran into him. We had almost made it to the gate though!

We arrived home earlier than expected too and our sweet Budge friends had invited all the neighbors over for a get together at 11 p.m. They had some fire pits going and doughnuts and hot chocolate. It was a lot of fun.

The scouts from Trisha's parents' ward came and filled our cul-de-sac with 85 flags and it was an amazing sight.

We also put a welcome home message up on the Kirt's marquee sign.

We had a ward breakfast on Saturday and then we headed to Charlie and Ryan's choir concert at Lee's and then off to the Forgotten Carols with the Budge's. Trisha also got us tickets for that play! Here's a picture of us with Michael Mclean (the playwrite and lead character) and his wife.

Trish, what else can you do for me? Anyway, it was a great time. We had a great weekend. We get to send the kids off to school tomorrow and have time to ourselves! Charles hasn't been around since ALL of our kids have been in school.

It's interesting how life goes. We have to endure the poop to enjoy the chocolate. We need trials to help us better appreciate how great life can be. Now that Charles is home I have reflected on the things I have endured while he was away. It feels so good to have him home and all those trials seem so far away. Our problems are always temporary and there is usually a good ending. I am thankful for my life and all the opportunities I've been given. I'm especially grateful for all the things I've learned in my life. I'm even thankful for my trials and afflictions. These are what have taught me the most. I love my life!

Charlie got ordained today and passed the sacrement for the first time. It was crazy seeing him do that. Charles passed with him and it was a nice sight. I can't believe I'm old enough to have a child that's old enough to be a deacon. But....Charles will always be older. He turns 33 tomorrow but he doesn't care that he's getting older. He always tells me he likes getting older since he gets better looking every day! Love him! He does get better looking every day though.

We leave for California on Thursday. Charles has a good friend that's getting married in Sacramento and he planned a family vacation for us since we would be there anyway. It feels good to be able to go away and enjoy myself doing something I didn't have to plan. He still has to figure out what to do with our dog! :)

So...off to another great week!

The great outdoors

I love nature, I really do! It's better when you aren't babysitting kindergartners! Cody's class had a field trip to the Ogden Nature Center today. It's a nice place but I think I can see just as much nature in my own back yard. That's how the environmental center is too. They are both beautiful places but just not a whole lot to look at. We were standing there listening to our guide ramble on about bugs and animals and all things nature when one little kindergartner pipes up and says "can we go now?" I thought I was gonna burst out in laughter. It was so funny. They were all about as interested as I was. We saw caged eagles and hawks and turkeys that were in the wild. Oh and we also saw some deer running around. The kiddos did enjoy seeing that but all the info that was given went in one ear and out the other. Sometimes I wonder if I have ADD. Oh well...

I had so much to do today and I didn't get one thing done in my house like I was supposed to. Charles gets home tomorrow night and I'm so excited I could throw up! I can't believe it's finally here. He has all of his stuff done so when he goes back to Ft. Campbell all he will have to do is outprocess. I will be so glad to be done with that place. I can't believe that will be over and we'll head back to Arizona. It seems strange to move back to AZ. This will be our 4th time to live there but I think it will be the best. All of our deployments are over and he gets to finish his degree the last year we'll be there. It's only taken about 8 years to get that done. Talk about being glad for something to be done! Good heavens. I have NEVER had a desire to go to college. I know that sounds horrible but I really can't think of anything more BOOORING! I like to learn about different things but only things I'm interested in. I don't understand why you have to take a bunch of nonsense classes that have nothing to do with your degree, therefore I say no thanks to college. :| So I am grateful Charles can set the example for our kids even though it has taken so freakin' long. Things just kept coming up and prevented him from finishing. Man, he's so close! I can't imagine life with Charles' only work responsibility being school, for an entire year!

HUMP DAY

Why is it called hump day anyway? Doesn't that sound a little provocative? I had a good day today! I finally got back into my gym routine and it feels good to be normal again! The kids got out early today and I took them to this little pond to feed the ducks. The sea gulls got most of the bread but it was still a good time. We saw a little otter and tried for a while to get a picture of him. We finally caught sight of him again, right before it was time to go, and snapped a picture!

After the pond, I braved taking all the kids to Ross so Charlie could buy himself a new pair of jeans. He's bugs me all the time about getting jeans. I bought him 2 pairs of jeans at the beginning of the school year and then he got some hand me down jeans, that are in perfect condition, and he refuses to wear them. Therefore, I have refused to purchase him anything new. I will not indulge that. He has gotten so picky about what he wears and it makes me NUTS! He has a closet FULL of stuff that he won't wear. If he's willing to buy it with his own money then I guess he can!

Yesterday I opened my cell phone bill to see that it was almost double what it normally is. I was in a panic thinking I had forgotten to pay the bill last month. I was scanning over the bill to see what the heck was going on and why my bill was so much. To my surprise there was over 337 incoming and outgoing text messages that had been sent and received. We have no texting plan either! So.....at 20 cents per text, we had $67.40 charged to our bill! Yeah...I was super pissed. Ryan had been texting his friends like a mad man. Needless to say, Ryan will no longer be allowed to use the cell phone. This is the 2nd time this has occurred! He'll be my slave until he earns enough to pay me back. Oh...the joy of parenthood :)

Only 2 more days until Charles is in Utah. I'm ecstatic! We have a busy Saturday planned and then his 33rd birthday will be Monday. I can't believe he's that old. I was 16 and he had just turned 18 when we started dating. It is so hard to believe where we are almost 14 years and 4 kids later! I love him. I can't wait to be a family once again. We will be getting ready to move before too long and it seems strange that we will once again start our lives anew somewhere else. The army life....we're used to it. Sad..but true.

I LOVE BABY DILL PICKLES

Today in our combined RS/Priesthood meeting I got all the parenting answers I needed. A lady from LDS social services came and spoke during the meeting. She had good advice to share and it really made me think. We have all these people in our lives that will do things that hurt us or make us mad. All we can do is control how we react. It is so hard to handle people with love after they have wronged us but this is what we are required to do. She said one of the worst things we can do is criticize and one of the best things we can do is listen and try to understand where another person is coming from. It is so overwhelming to hear stuff like this sometimes because it reminds me of all the things I need to do to be better. I'll just add that to all the other stuff I need to overcome! It was very insightful and I was glad I was able to hear her lesson. It was good insight for raising kids and building a better marriage and relationships in general.

This was my last Sunday to attend church without help! Charlie had his bishop's interview and he'll be ordained next Sunday! I can't believe he'll be old enough to pass the sacrement. He's a good kid and will hopefully be a good teenager! I'm sure he will be.

I made 5 1/2 dozen pumpkin spice cookies tonight, with icing! They were delicious. It was the last thing I needed to do though. I have missed the gym for the last 2 weeks and I get back into my routine tomorrow. I'm dreading it a little but I know it makes me feel so much better. I'm not a huge fan of working out. I've been doing it 5-6 days a week for the last 3 1/2 years and I thought by now I would love it. The love for it still hasn't come. It is so hard to go back after I have skipped out for a while. Tomorrow is the day though:) Here I go!

WHY.....

...do my kids fight all the time? Am I the only one whose kids fight incessantly? Ryan is constantly telling Charlie how fat he is and what a huge nerd Josh is. Charlie tells Ryan how he acts like a girl and tells Josh what a big baby he is. Cody likes to tell all of them how gay they are. It NEVER stops.Whenever I ask if they want to do something fun, or what I would consider fun, they never want to do it. My older kids are at the age where they would rather spend time with their friends and it makes the little ones want to do the same. They want to do whatever the big ones do and think how they think. It makes me nuts. Even the way they dress... the younger ones see the things that Charlie wants to wear and they want to do the same thing. I mean a 5 year old should not give a dang what he puts on, but Cody does. He can't wear anything that's not "cool". He can't wear gay, long sleeve shirts or stupid pants that aren't cool jeans. It makes me want to bip Charlie in the head when the younger ones act this way. As I type Josh and Cody are fighting over a quarter that was found in a basket. Cody got to it first but Josh got it after Cody put it down. Josh told Cody "finders keepers, losers weepers." Cody is pretty upset about that. Ryan had to do chores all day for calling Charlie names. I figure if he's gonna take up a lot of my time solving the issues he's creating, he can pay me back with his time. Today while Ryan had the dust spray out for dusting Charlie got the bright idea that he would spray a spot on the hardwood floors with the spray. He wanted to make it slippery for whoever walked on it! Well the good fairy has gotten him several times today. He has slipped on that spot more than anyone else in the house today!! Hilarious!! That's what he gets for making me put up with the bickering that goes on here all the dang time!

I thought it would be fun to bake with the kids today but none of them wanted to join in on the fun. They want to partake in the finished product but not help with it. I was all ready to make pumpkin chocolate chip bread today when I realized all the chocolate chips had been sucked down but not one person in the house was to blame. Hmm....interesting. They were all but gone and not one kid confessed to eating them. So, needless to say there is no pumpkin chocolate chip bread. Believe it or not I do love the holidays. I'm just always really glad when they are over!!! I know, I know I sound like the most miserable person. I swear I'm a happy girl, it's just all these mishaps in life get me discouraged at times :)

It's exercise and sunshine that I need. I have taken 2 weeks off at the gym and I need to get back. The break has been nice but I feel like a chubby slob. Come Monday morning I'll be there! I also got new dishes yesterday and I need to open them and look at them so I can get excited. Nothing says happiness like retail therapy! Just kidding...I guess...there are other things in life that make me happier than shopping, i.e.-kids :-|, husband, ooey gooeys. Shopping is up there though!

Oh, by the way, Alabama beat Auburn today! ROLL TIDE! Charles wanted Auburn to win and I'm a BAMA fan! :) We won.

Black Friday

Good heavens! Ok-I have never been shopping the day after Thanksgiving and thought how bad could it really be! Well, it was pretty bad. They had a few things at Wal*Mart that I wanted to get and had no idea the chaos I was about to step into. I walk in and head straight back to the electronic department to look for the portable dvd players. Apparently I wasn't the only one that wanted one of these at $49. There was a ton of people standing around the pallet waiting for the employee to slash open the plastic wrap that contained these suckers! Well once the plastic was off people were going nuts! I stood there in absolute astonishment! I never moved closer to the pallet. I was scared for the employee. She couldn't get out of the mob of people and was screaming for the police! It was the craziest thing I have ever seen. However, I did get the dvd player! The lady standing in front of me was somehow able to get 2 of them and handed me one. I also got the case to go with!I never even saw the pallet to see how many it contained or how fast they ran out. I walked away as soon as I had my hands on one. It was worth it to do it at least once...I guess. Won't be doing it again though! I'm sick of shopping already. It is nice to be mostly done.
After I got home from shopping I read on fox news about a Wal*Mart employee in New York that was trampled to death by shoppers looking for a good deal. Can you imagine? I mean there is nothing that's that great of deal, for heaven's sake!

We had a great Thanksgiving! All I had to make was a Sara Lee dutch apple pie! No other cooking went on at my house. Golden Corral made everything else. They have been my Ogden Thanksgiving tradition. I can't get too used to it now that Charles is home and we will celebrate the holidays like normal people again! Darn it. Glad he's home though:) Well... not actually home but in the United States at least. He'll be here on Friday! We have a fun filled December planned.

We also went to the movies to see Bolt, after our feast. It was a good movie and the kids enjoyed it as much as I did. Charlie liked the fat, little hamster as well as I did! It was cute. It's been a while since we've been to the movies. That is an expensive past time, especially when you have 6 people to pay for. I guess anything is expensive when you have a big family! Grateful to have them though!

Fart Blossoms

Who knows? I am bugged tonight. Trisha and I were on our way back from our class when this big, monstrous truck towing a HUGE trailer with 2 four wheelers cut us off. He came rushing up in a lane that was about to run out. He had his blinker on but since he had his huge trailer we couldn't let him in without having to completely stop our car so we kept going. He dang near hit us with that trailer so I told Trisha to speed up so I could flip him off. So...she did! And I flipped him off. Normally I don't do this but I just said "Hey Trisha...Look... a deer!" And up went the universal sign of you know what! It did help us to both feel a little better. Then the guy has this attitude like we were just supposed to put up with his crap and I just don't have tolerance for that attitude lately. Dadgummit! A few other words come to my mind also.

Anyhow, we were both up a pound tonight. :-| I was actually quite surprised it was only a pound for me. I ate everything I wanted to when I was on vacation! We celebrated our 1 pound gain with a cheeseburger and shake from Kirt's! Trisha even got fries! We're winners. We seriously are in the lead of everyone else so hopefully we get that money!

So I took the kids bowling today. They have fought all day long. After bowling we went to the iFly place to watch some of the flyers. That was pretty darn neat. Apparently the guys we watched are pros. iFly is a skydiving place. You get in the little flight suit and there is a giant wind gust that sweeps you up as if you were really skydiving. It was a good time. Anyway...tomorow is Thanksgiving and I do have a ton to be thankful for. First and foremost I'm thankful I ain't cooking tomorrow! :) Seriously though, I'm grateful for my life, even all the crap I have deal with. The crap reminds me of the good and there is a lot of good.

Oh yeah, one thing I was really excited about today....I had gotten these super cute red, snakeskin heels while I was on vacation and I bought them without trying them on and when I finally did try them on they were a little too small. I asked Charles to bring them back to Birmingham with him and see if they had a half size bigger. He called when he was at the store and told me they didn't have the size I needed and I just told him to keep the ones I already had and I would just pretend to be Cinderella's stepsister when I wore them. He called back about 5 minutes later and said he found my size! I was happy! Still am! See...I have a lot to be grateful for!

Hmmm.....

I can't seem to get back into my routine. I had a lot of business stuff to take care of today and it took up a lot of my morning. We were finally able to get our insurance claim settled and got a check for our car. Now we have to decide if we want another car. We leave for Arizona in the spring and hopefully we'll be able to live on post and save some money. If we do that then Charles can bike to work. I guess we'll see. A second car does come in handy and it's been a long time since we've been a one car family!

So... Thanksgiving is Thursday and Charles gets to spend it in Birmingham while we are all here! It's hard for him to be in the United States and not able to be here with us yet. In fact, it downright sucks. We only have 9 days to go after this night is over and then he'll be here for an entire month. We have tons planned and I can't wait! It'll be like a vacation since he hasn't been able to spend a lot of time here. Christmas will be super fun this year too! I am looking forward to getting settled in Arizona and back into my life. I have thoroughly enjoyed living here this year but I'm very ready to get settled back into my marriage and be a real family again.

Have you ever had an experience where someone has done something really horrible and then they try to turn the situation around to make themselves look like a victim and you're standing there wondering what the heck just happened? Well...I actually know quite a few people like this. I do not understand this personality but I think it may be called a sociopath or something like that. I'm not sure what it is about me that attracts people like this to me but obviously there is something these people can sniff out! I have to come to a point in my life where I can know they are not the victims and they are trying to place the blame elsewhere. I haven't always been this way though. I used to let them get to my mind and think I was somehow to blame for their misdeeds. No more though. I guess when you deal with it enough you come to learn through experience. Just some thoughts :)

Why is it when you leave your kids behind for a few days you miss them like crazy only to return and wish you had spent more time enjoying being away from them? This is where I am right now! I think my kids only fight when I'm around. I think they only enjoy making ME nuts! In fact, I KNOW this! I love those boys! Hurry home Babe!

God Bless America

I just arrived home after being gone for 9 days. It is so good to be home. I completely forgot about life for a while and enjoyed my time away! Thanks Matt and Jade and also a HUGE thanks to the Budge's for helping out! I got to Birmingham on the 14th and hung out with my sister and her kids until the 18th. I headed up to Tennessee that day and Charles arrived at around 12:45 a.m. Wednesday morning. It was so exciting! I cannot believe this deployment is over. I did not want to leave him today but we have another homecoming to look forward to when he gets home on the 5th. We did absolutely nothing but spend time together while I was there. We got to stay in a little 2 bedroom apartment in a complex that a friend of ours owns. He owed us a favor and let us stay there free of charge! It was a huge blessing and saved us some cash! It had a kitchen and washer and dryer and everything we needed. Well most everything! We could have used some measuring cups, a cutting board and a vacuum to name a few things!

Everybody survived the 9 days without me except for our little Ford Taurus! It got totaled the day after I left. Some teenager smashed into the car while everyone was headed to a pool party! Nobody was hurt thankfully and the other insurance company did take full responsibility. Poor Cody scrubbed a tattoo off of his face and took about 12 layers of skin with it. Other than those 2 minor details everything went great back in Ogden while I was gone! :) I'm pretty sure Matt and Jade were the most excited for me to be back! They weren't sure how I do it day to day but I have super powers and cat like reflexes! It is so good to be home with my kids. I am so thankful for all the experiences I have had and more than anything I am grateful this was our last deployment. I'm thankful for what I've learned and the things I have been able to accomplish. I am so glad Charles is home.

For those of you that would like to see pictures of the homecoming ceremony you can click through the link from the other blog that I am a member of. Go to my eblogger profile page and it's on there! Does that make sense?

I'm Frankful...

My day was filled to the brim! First and foremost I had to go tanning! I didn't make it to the gym because I had to wait till 9 to schedule Josh an appointment and the clinic didn't open till then. By the time I had waited till 9, I had to wait for Cody to get out of school since today is early day. I hate early days. This happens every Wednesday. So I got Cody then checked Josh out of school to get him to the doc by 11:10. Josh has had a sore on his head and then I noticed he had a lump below the sore. When I noticed this I was panicked. I had called Monday to get an appointment but they were all booked up and couldn't bring him in yesterday since it was veteran's day and our clinic is on a military base. So today was the day I was able to put an end to all my worrying. He has ringworm on his head, it's not a cancerous tumor like I was thinking! But ringworm, good heavens! The lump was a lymph node that is working hard to get rid of the crap from the ringworm. So...other than him having ringworm he's all healthy. Thank heavens. I seriously was thankful for the diagnosis.

I had to go to parent teacher conferences starting at 2. I got to listen to all my kids' teachers tell me how wonderful and smart all my kids are! Seriously though, I am glad my kids catch on quick since I hate homework. They have all been good readers and good at figuring things out. It is very hard for me when a kid is slow to catch on. I have volunteered in the class room a time or two and there are kids that just do not get it and it is very hard to try to get it into their brain. I could NEVER be a teacher.

Trisha and I are the only ones that showed up to the weight loss class this week. I lost almost 5 and Trisha lost almost 7 pounds! Only 40 more to go for me! Almost there!

I'm down to the wire before I leave and I still have a ton of stuff to do. I didn't think it would get all piled up on me like this. I should have put my shoulder to the wheel earlier in the week. I started my packing tonight and it seems surreal that I'm leaving in less than 2 days. I really will miss my kids and I'm a little nervous about being away from them for so long. I won't know what to do with myself not having to run around for them for a few days. As enticing as it sounds to leave, the fact is, they are my life pretty much. What do you do when you're away from your life for 9 days? I mean don't get me wrong, I do have an identity outside of being a wife and mother but I see them everyday and they are the largest part of my life. *sniff, sniff* I'm sure I'll find something to fill up my time. (especially when Charles gets home!)

I also had to get my recommend renewed tonight. I sat and talked with a lady who had recently gotten remarried. She had been widowed 2 years ago. She had been married to her first husband for 26 years and he died suddenly of a heart attack. It was such a sad story. She told me how they married at 19 and had 3 sons together. It made me think of Charles and me. We got married when I was 18 and he was 19. I couldn't imagine losing him at such an early age after thinking for all those years we would grow old together. I'm so glad we got married as young as we did. It hasn't been easy but it has been so worth it. I'll only be 38 when we send our oldest out on his mission!! How nice!

Little Cody gave our family prayer tonight and he always tells what all he's "frankful" for. It is so cute! It's times like that that make all the frustrating things they do easier to deal with. The frustrating things like Ryan holding Josh's legs over his head until Josh was bawling! Or Cody coloring on Ryan's nightstand table, that I finished a few months ago, with a hot pink sharpie marker. Yeah, not so frustrating when he's telling the Lord how "frankful" he is! I love those kids.

Happy Veteran's Day!

I've been a military wife my entire marriage and couldn't be more proud of my husband's profession. Yes, it's been hard at times and we miss him like crazy when he's gone. But I am so proud of the service he gives to this country. Today I was out running errands and drove down West Harrisville Road and flags were lining the street. I was so proud to be an American! I am so grateful to live in this country and for the sacrifices of all veterans AND their families. Yes, the families sacrifice too. Thanks Babe for your service! I wish I knew how to post pictures on here cuz I would post some sexy picture of you decked out in your army attire. :) Oh well... I know how good you look in that uniform and that's all that matters.

I leave in 3 days and am so excited! Still have no idea when my husband should arrive. Let's just hope and pray it's before the 23rd. That is one thing about military life I do not enjoy, last minute plans and stuff never working out the way it is supposed to. All you can do is hope things will go the way they tell you it will go. Obviously, right now things aren't going for us the way they said. What can you do though? Not a dang thing!

So there I am in kickboxing class today and the teacher is super fit and had us doing all sorts of crazy, bouncing exercises. Now, I hate bouncing around. It is just something I do not do. EVERYTHING bounces and this is what I do not like. I had to leave class 10 minutes early since she wanted us to bounce way more than I was comfortable with. Our weigh in is tomorrow and I have a dang good feeling Trisha and I are going to be the winners of that challenge. I just feel it! We're gonna get our money back! Mark my word folks.

Does anyone, besides Charles and me, feel like this week is the slowest week of their life? Trisha and Matt, what about y'all? :) 3 more days, of course that's only till I leave, who knows when I will see my lover.

What else?

Life feels crazy lately. It seems strange to me that here I am at the end of the 2nd longest year of my life and it seems to be crawling by. It seems like things keep happening and I feel like I can't take one more piece of bad news.

Getting kids out the door today was insane. The little ones like to take their time and it gets the older ones so ticked off because it doesn't leave them enough goof off time before school starts. Charlie and Ryan got to leave without the younger ones today though. Then, it came, my most favorite time of the day! I LOVE when all of my kids walk out the door in the morning. I love the silence for a minute. I looked down to Dixie and see a big glob of toothpaste smeared in her fur by her ear!! Poor dog. Cody loves tormenting her and she is scared to death of him. She thinks of him as her chew toy but gets scared when she sees that he has something in his hands. She doesn't feel so safe with Cody. Rightfully so, there was one time he put a rubber band around her ankle and it caused her circulation to be cut off. I had no idea what was going on so I took her to the vet after the sore wouldn't heal. The vet shaves the fur from around that part of her leg and brings in a tiny rubber band. I could tell by the "oh yeah I forgot about that" look on Cody's face he had done this and forgot to take it off. The poor dog had to wear a huge "e" collar and was on antibiotics for a week. She won't come near anyone if he is near. Cody loves to play with her though and at times she loves to play with him. I don't know what it is, but for some reason, lately my kids have been giving me a run for my money. I'm still thankful I get to leave on Friday and turn my life over to someone else. As I sit here and type this out, Charlie is farting with the lights, turning them on and off. I can't seem to ever have a minute that isn't filled with something to do. I guess that's life though, huh?

So, Thanksgiving is right around corner!! I have to admit, I am a party pooper when my husband isn't around. I don't enjoy the holidays so much when he isn't with us. So this year we are doing exactly what we did last year.... going to Golden Corral for dinner and something fun afterwards. I haven't decided yet what we'll do for the fun part. For some reason, I feel like the biggest piece of white trash when I go to Golden Corral. My kids are absolutely thrilled to be going though. They LOVE that place. The idea of getting to eat whatever the heck you want thrills them to death! Matt and Jade are going with us again this year. I have to say, it was the cheapest Thanksgiving dinner ever and no clean up and no leftovers. Not bad!

Still no definite date as to when my husband might be arriving. A little frustrating to say the least. All I know is it's supposed to be within the week. We were told it would be Saturday but it's not looking like that will be the case. I guess since I've done 2 years of this I can do another week! These last few days are crawling by though. I have a lot to do this week to keep me busy. Parent/teacher conferences, doctor appointments, grocery shopping, hair appointments, enrichment meeting, weight loss class and reccommend interview, oh.. and a presidency meeting! Plus packing and getting crap ready for Matt and Jade to take over. Can't wait for the break.

Why...

do I go to church again? I understand when you have little ones that church might be a little miserable. BUT...when you have kids as old as mine are you should be able to look back on those days with a big grin and thank the good Lord they are over. Well... today, my big, grown children reminded me of what those days were like. There we are, in the middle of the opening prayer, when Charlie and Ryan, yes you read that correctly, start pinching each other and acting up. It was ridiculous. Once the prayer was over I made Charlie walk around the back of the chapel so he could sit on the opposite end of the bench. The 5 of us took up an entire long bench so everyone could be separated. Charlie was so mad at me for making him do this. But here's my question...do kids really think that we enjoy doing things like having to separate your well old enough to know better sons during a church meeting? I mean, it wouldn't look any sillier if I was sitting there with my husband acting like that. That's the thing kids don't understand. When you are that dang old it looks so ridiculous to sit and act like that. I did get a chuckle when I looked down the bench at Charlie all slumped over trying to act mad at me.

I need to have more of a positive attitude about life. This is hard for me sometimes. I got an email from my husband this morning telling me he might not leave on the date we have anticipated all along. Now here we have these plane tickets and it's too late to change them. Even if we did change them we would have no idea what date to change them to. It is all so very frustrating and the most maddening part of it all is there isn't a dang thing I can do about it. So why do I even need to worry with something I have no control over? I can still go and enjoy the hell out of my sister, right? Yes this is right! I guess at this point I can pray that the Lord will help things to work out. I guess we will see but I need to keep a positive attitude and be thankful I didn't have to live Emma's life :)

Speaking of Emma, we talked about her and Joseph in RS today. The teacher spoke of building family relationships. Well of course this made me think of a few posts back when I completely put my brother and his sweet wife in their place. I know, I know... this was probably not the sweetest way to go about this. That was probably not what they were speaking of when telling us to build strong family ties! I'm not perfect by any means but good heavens folks...I was at my wits end and his wife was making me mad. :| Excuses, excuses. Just give me a minute.

I don't think I can handle one more thing during the rest of this deployment. I feel like it has been one thing after the next and I just really want Charles to come home when they told me he would. I am so thankful I have an end to this year. I am blessed that my kids have been healthy and safe and fairly easy to deal with. It is almost over and I can look back and know that this has all been temporary. That's the fabulous thing about trials....they are only temporary. Then we will be able to look back and say I'm thankful for what I've learned but I'm glad as hell it's all over. It WILL work out.

Saturday Night Fever

Today was a nutty day! Leaves are everywhere and my boys were in charge of raking them up. They were supposed to do it yesterday after school but Charlie talked me into letting him go to a friends's house instead of doing the yard. I told him that if I let him do this he was going to have to do the leaves today with no complaining. Well he got the leaves done but not without the complaining. Ryan got to go with Uncle Matt to the rock climbing wall today. For some reason all of my boys think that if one of them gets to do something special and fun then they all need to get to do something special and fun. Matt is taking the kids one at a time to spend time with them. Every time he takes one of them the others get a little sulky even though they know their time is coming. Charlie also got to go and do something on his own without anyone tagging along. Aunt Jade took him to a farm where he got to help kill chickens and prepare them for eating!! They got some of the nastiest pictures ever. I have never seen so much blood. Apparently chickens really do run around after their heads have been cut off! He loved watching it but I don't know that he'll be eating chicken for a while. He was amazed at how they look like "real" chickens once they had no feathers or a head! He was referring to the way they look in the grocery store!! We're city folk :)

I had to make 2 trips to Wal*Mart today. Again, I hate doing this with children. I get the same outcome every single time. I don't know why I think it may be different but that is what they call crazy. When you do the same thing over and over and expect a different result. This is me! But how do you escape this when you're a mother? Oh but I did get 2 jackets I had been eyeballing and they had been marked down to clearance. I was excited!

I have gotten my wardrobe for when my husband arrives!! I am so freakin' excited I can't stand it. I like to have a reason to get new clothes and having a husband coming home soon is a great excuse. Only 6 more days till I leave. I have a lot to do this week. Hair, nails, tanning, packing cleaning, ooh I can't wait! I was feeling a little guilty at first about the kids not getting to come with me. But now...I am so glad they aren't coming. They have been driving me insane lately and I am so looking forward to a break. I don't feel bad for saying that either. Good gosh!

So tomorrow is Sunday and I can't seem to get excited about this new calling. Normally I get pumped and motivated when I receive a new church calling but I'm just not there with this one. I was hoping for a break the entire time I was here in Utah. I was thinking there was an age requirement to be in the RS presidency in the state of Utah!! Guess not. I guess one good thing is I know it will only be for a short while.

It's gonna be a long week.

So I've been thinking.....

about life. I talked to a friend of mine yesterday. She's in the same boat as me. I knew her in Tennessee and her husband is deployed too. She also moved the heck out of Clarksville. Anyway, she was telling me about another family we knew that got out of the army and moved west. She told me they bought a big home in some trendy neighborhood. Ok, this is fine. But...she also told me the wife had to get a full time job during the day and does nails at night to be able to afford this home. Now....why would you do this? Especially when you've been a stay at home mother for so long. I mean, I get wanting to work because your kids make you nuts. I would love to do this but I never would. My kids are too important for me to do this. I also understand that there are so many women out there that would love to stay home but because of circumstances they HAVE to go and work to support their kids. So it made me think how Charles and I have been married for almost 14 years and we STILL live payday to payday. Well, I have found my answer. I think you will have in life what is the most important to you. I think if you want the big house and all the stuff your neighbors have that is exactly what you will get. You will give up everything you need to to attain this. If you want a strong family and to be able to teach your kids good values on your own then this is what you will have. You will give up everything you need to to be able to have this. You will give up the big home and the job that keeps you away from your family. So I learned yesterday that I am glad we STILL live payday to payday. I'm glad I get to see my kids everyday and be a big part of their lives. I'm glad I get to see Charles a lot, when he is actually in the country, of course. I can't wait for him to get home and to be able to eat lunch with him everyday while our kids are at school. I can't wait for the 4 day holidays we'll get to be able to spend together when he is finally home. I'm glad we've been able to make that sacrifice and have a good marriage and good kids because of it. It's not so bad being poor and living in a tiny house! Now, I know there are women out there that have to work and have no other choice. I think their kids will see this and know what good women their moms are for sticking around and making sure they always provide everything they need!

Tonight I got some energy and started cleaning my house. It's been a CrAzY mess since I've been sick and you know there isn't anyone that lives here that's going to chip in and help out without being asked. I haven't even bothered asking either. That takes more energy than cleaning. It was nice to get some things done that were long overdue.

Today was a crazy day. Charlie had a field trip after school. They went to fat cats and then we had to be at the church at 445. Of course nothing at fat cats was organized and we spent the first 30 minutes trying to figure out what the heck was going on. Charlie didn't want to get in there and find anything out until I had to get frustrated and then he tells me I'm stressing him out. Ok-here I am with 4 kids kids at fats cats and he's the one getting stressed. What's wrong with this? He was able to get about 30 minutes of bowling and a slice of pizza in before we had to get out of there. And can I just say I am so happy that I have 4 boys instead of 4 girls. I wanted to bite my fist being around so many 6th grade girls today! I wouldn't have been able to get everything done with the field trip and the youth trip had it not been for Trisha loading all of her kids plus her day care kids up and getting Charlie's church clothes ready and bringing them to us at the church! Thanks Trisha, my hero for this day! See I have good folks in my life. Not all of them want to steal my money!

So, I'm very glad the night has come to an end and kids are in the bed. I have only one more week until Matt and Jade get to take over my life. I can't wait! I hope they enjoy it as much as I do. I am so excited to see Charles next week. I can't believe it's getting here so fast. I'm sure next week will crawl by. I'm also excited to see my sister and her kids! I'm what I like to call sanc happy!! I'm sure there will be lots of questions about that one! Charles and Ericka will both know what that is :)

Oh yeah, I also found out I have a gas leak in my house. Thanks Matt B. for finding this for me. Isn't is ALWAYS something. I guess I can thank my Lord that none of us have died from carbon monoxide. Only one more week and I get to pass my worries onto someone else.

I have a secret....

A 6-year-old and a 4-year-old are upstairs in their bedroom. "You know what?" says the 6-year-old. "I think it's about time we start cussing." The 4-year-old nods his head in approval. The 6-year-old continues. "When we go downstairs for breakfast I'm going to say hell and you say ass."

"OK!" The 4 year old agrees with enthusiasm.

Their mother walks into the kitchen and asks the 6-year-old what he wants for breakfast. "Aw hell, Mom, I guess I'll have some Cheerios."

WHACK! He flies out of his chair, tumbles across the kitchen floor, gets up, and runs upstairs crying his eyes out, with his mother in hot pursuit, slapping his rear every step. The mom locks him in his room and shouts "You can just stay there till I let you out!"

She then comes back downstairs, looks at the 4-year-old, and asks with a stern voice, "And what do YOU want for breakfast young man?

"I don't know," he blubbers, "But you can bet your ass it won't be Cheerios!"

This joke cracked me right up! I can see my Cody doing something like this. My secret is...I say swear words! :-| I figure it's this or beat my kids so I choose the cursing. It helps with frustration. My husband absolutely hates that I do this and I know I need to work on this vice. One thing at a time though. I can't give everything up at once and right now the cursing will have to stick around for at least another week. A Relief Society 2nd counselor that says swear words...oops! I do need to stop this! There are worse things, right?

Speaking of RS, we had leadership training tonight. So, I had to make dinner at 3:30 so the kids would be able to eat before we left. I also had to rush to my weigh in so I wouldn't have to pay $5 for not showing up. Trisha and I only went to weigh and didn't stay for her boring class to listen to her read all the information word for word straight from the pages. I did lose 5 pounds though!! So... I ended up bringing the kids to my RS meeting. I feel like they get left alone quite a bit. So I loaded them all up and brought them along. They played basketball in the gym and Cody kept wandering into the room I was in so he could get rolls for everyone! They did good. They're good boys. I know they bug me a lot and I write about them bugging me a lot but I do love them. Charlie made honor roll and they are taking all the kids in the 6th grade who got A's or A's and B's to fat cats tomorrow. He made the list. Only problem is, he's supposed to go to Salt Lake City tomorrow with the YM for some youth trip thing. We'll squeeze in both but he just won't be able to stay very long at fat cats. It's pretty important he makes it to SLC. Ryan can't wait to get into YM. He is so ready to be done with cub scouts. Secretly...I'm ready for cubs to be done too but I have 2 more boys to get through so I have no end in sight anytime soon. I will have a small break after Ryan's birthday this year. Josh won't start until August!

It's freezing cold here and it's supposed to stay that way all week. I'm not a huge fan of chilly weather. I don't enjoy shivering to the bone. Charles is the complete opposite. He HATES being hot more than I hate being cold. He thinks you can layer up for cold weather but there is only so much you can take off in hot weather. I'd like to see him take it all off! Next week, babe!! 55 weeks down and only 1 to go! We got it licked......

I gave up

Yep, I finally did! I went to the doctor to get an antibiotic for this dang sinus infection. It's been lingering around for a week and I just couldn't get rid of it on my own. I suck! I feel much better though after just the first round of meds! The breaking point was waking up this morning at 4 a.m. with my teeth and face in complete pain. I haven't been able to do much other than sleep when the kids are at school. I haven't gotten a single thing done in I don't even remember how long. So....I said..... I need drugs! And...I got me some! Love 'em. Hopefully I can sleep tonight.

Have you ever noticed how kids seem to be the most annoying when you just are not in the mood? Well I am noticing it right now as Cody and Josh are going crazy in my living room. Getting Dixie all riled up and just annoying the crap right out of me. I wanna be in one of Kenny Chesney's songs right about now. Or...the last chocolate ghost cake might work as well. Dadgum, I need a minute.

So...I'm a little nervous about this presidential election going on right now. I have to admit, Obama scares the crap out of me. I'm not understanding some of his ideas. He keeps talking about spreading the wealth and paying more taxes so we can spread the wealth to all those folks that don't feel like working. Now... I'm from the south, and there is an abundance of African Amercicans and I have yet to see any of these people wearing a John McCain t-shirt or holding one of his signs. Typically, in the south, these are the people that are living off of the working citizens. It angers me some. I'm not a racist, don't get me wrong. I just believe that everyone should work for what they have because it raises your self worth when you earn what you have. I had to vote for McCain so that I can be sure my husband will still have a job in 4 years! I know this a touchy subject out there for lots of people, of course this IS my blog and those of you reading this and getting irritated can always move on to something else. :)

I leave for Birmingham in 9 days! Then off to Tennessee from there. It seems so weird that the time is that close. I remember when we moved here last November. It seemed so far away that Charles would be home and now we're down to the last few minutes and it seems cRaZy! I'm excited though. I'm gonna get a break from life for a while when he gets home. I'm gonna let Charles get a chance to be the stay at home dad for a month. I'm gonna sleep in and not cook any the entire month he's home. He'll need to get reacquainted with family life and I want to make sure he has lots of opportunities! I love you Charles!

Oh yeah, I also wanted to give my sister in law Jade a shout out for doing my laundry last night! That was nice, huh?! I thought so. I was up to my eyeballs in laundry from all the puking and diarrhea. So thanks Jade, my hero for the day. You're awesome!

So my friend Trisha just brought this poem over for me to read. It was all about the strength women have. It is so true too. Women are strong. I think about all the women in my life that I am close to and think about the things they have had to endure. I think of how they have handled some of the hardest things that can happen to a person and come out of it only stronger. I am grateful to be a woman. I'm grateful for the experiences I've had, good and bad, that have made me stronger. I'm thankful for the strength to get through the day with a terrible sinus infection and for the women who give a damn to want to help and the ones who call just because. We are important creatures. What the heck would men do without us? Probably walk around with their ding dongs in their hand asking where do I go from here. Of course I love all the men in my life too. I mean, hey, don't get me wrong they provide some things only a man can provide!

I'm feeling a little sad...

today. I haven't slept in about 36 hours and my eyelids feel as though they weigh 60 lbs a piece! Josh came upstairs last night and told me he had thrown up. It was 2 a.m. and I happened to still be up. I asked him where he threw up and of course it was all over the couch! That was a good time cleaning that up. I cleaned him up and put him in his bed and went to work on the mess. Still have the sinus infection by the way! Thankfully whatever it was he had passed as soon as he threw it up. No lingering virus! So this was good news. But the stench left in my couch is not so great. I wonder if i should just huck it and go get a new one. The kids have completely trashed the sucker anyway. Oh well I'm not really caring lately what my house looks like anyway. I guess we could let it get down to the pad and foam and it would still work.

I had to stand up in Relief Society today and talk about myself. The new president wanted all the sisters to get to know the new presidency on a personal level. This ward is awesome and always making me feel so good. We have good ladies in our ward. It was a good Sunday. I learned a lot about myself and it always feels good to be more self aware. I need to try harder and always do my best and the rest will come.

Back to the grindstone tomorrow, hopefully. I am crossing my fingers that we don't have any midnight wakings with someone vomiting on the carpet. I don't mind the vomit so much but I tell my kids to aim for something that can be thrown in the washer but this isn't always how it happens. I remember Charlie, one time, during 1st deployment of course, got sick. He was on the top bunk and instead of throwing up on his bed, he leans over the edge of the bunk and pukes ALL OVER EVERYTHING below. The bottom bunk, the carpet, walls, his brothers and all down the bed. It was spaghetti for dinner that night too. It was a teeny bit frustrating. I was up for an hour scrubbing that mess up. Loved it! I love 'em though! Anyway, I had to make an early post tonight since I will probably retire to bed early!

Oh I have a cool story for all the military families out there. So I am sitting in pack meeting on Thursday and night and look over and see this guy who has a very familiar face. It took me about 2 minutes to realize it was a guy we had been stationed with at Ft. Gordon. He and Charles had been home teaching companions and I had been his wife's visiting teacher. Pretty neat. I even recognized him on top of the 75+ lubs he has gained since getting out of the military. But hey, everybody's entitled to a few extra pounds, right? I don't mind chubby people. They're good too.

EXHAUSTED...

is the word that describes how I feel after being a single mom for what feels like 3 years. I know for sure, all my friends out there with deployed spouses or other single moms know exactly how I feel. Do you ever get to the point where you couldn't care less what your house looks like or how long your grass is or that you have nothing in the refrigerator? This is the stage I am at right now. I am so TIRED. I feel like I am about to have a mental breakdown. I am the only one that has to worry about EVERYTHING there is to worry about. Such as...doctor appts., parent-teacher conferences, callings, laundry, lawn mowing, visiting teaching, homework, housework, grocery shopping and all that that entales, sports, sick kids, bills, the dog and her vet visits, abusive grandmothers, irritating relatives,birthdays, Christmas, and the list goes on and on. I don't think a man will ever get this or understand how it feels. I don't think they get the mental part of it. I get a lot of offers from people asking me if I want them to help with my kids, but the thing folks just don't understand is it isn't the kids I really need a break from. It's the giant mental list that is constantly filled up with the things I mentioned a few sentences back. So, ladies, after all the crap we have to deal with don't you think we deserve a crazy minute from time to time. I mean can't we just at least go out of our element and act a little nuts and do something we wouldn't normally do without being chastised for it? I defintely think we should be able to do this. I mean it's either act out or end up in prison, right? I sure think so! I don't think a man would ever be able to grasp that mental overload and what it can drive you to do or say! Does anyone else feel this way? Or am I the only nutty broad out there that goes in-frigging-sane? Please feel free to comment on this matter! I am seriously at my wits end and I feel like I am supposed to be feeling guilty about this but I just DO NOT feel guilty. I think I am completely justified in feeling a little like a person that needs to be institutionalized.

I do have people that are more than willing to make me feel less overwhelmed. I went to my friend's (Collette) wedding tonight. She was a war widow that I had met in Clarksville. Her first husband was killed almost 3 years ago. They had 4 kids and it was a devastating time. It was so good to see her happy again! How awesome she finally gets some help and a new partner! After Trisha and I had returned home from the event I pulled up to my house and Uncle Matt had all the kids out there raking up the leaves that covered my yard. It was a little weight lifted. Then I asked my kids if they had seen the Budge family and Ryan told me they had already left my house and that Matt Budge had fixed a portion of my fence that wasn't closed in. Now we will be able to let our dog out in the yard without worrying about her getting out and having to chase her down! These 2 things were HUGE for me! I am so very grateful to these good men! Two checks off that list I was talking about earlier! Thanks guys, from the bottom of my heart.

Is anyone else as glad as I am that Halloween is over? We had our little party last night with all our Halloween edibles. We then went trick or treating. Me doing all of this with the worst sinus infection ever. One of those where it is so bad that my teeth hurt. I was so tired and sick. We got home and I went straight to bed. Cody came to bed with me and about 3 hours later he was up throwing up! What a great night! Then about 5 a.m. he had diarrhea all in my bed. I had to get up with the same sinus infection to bathe him and change the sheets! Yes I deserve the right to go crazy and do something out of character, right?!! I do believe so :)

Sounding Board.....

....isn't that what a blog is? Well at least that's how I use mine! I'm may lose my religion on this post and I just feel like I need to give anyone reading this fair warning! Has anyone else noticed how my sister-in-law Amanda claims that she was dragged into everything and how exhausted she was by it all but then she was there posting on my blog minutes after others would post? For those of you reading this you're probably wondering what in the world is going on and why we are acting like white trash. Well, let me just fill everyone in. My mother came last week to "help" with my kids while I was in Montana. Well by Thursday all my kids are calling crying to me. Apparently Ryan and Charlie were hit with a flute and slapped in the face by my mother. Ryan went to school the next day and his teacher asked him what was going on and why he was so sad and she took him out into the hall where he proceeded to tell her what was going on at home. She walked him to the principal's office where he had to tell the vice principal what had happened. The VP then contacted my sister-in-law, Jade, to see if she could come get the boys from school because they weren't going to be able to send my kids home to my mother. She told Jade that if she couldn't come get them she was going to have to call CPS. Jade had to leave work and go get my kids. Ryan had the bruise to prove her abuse. Well apparently my brother David and his wife Amanda thought this was warranted. So Amanda posts on her blog how disrespectful kids are and how folks use their blog to complain. Well anyone that reads it can clearly see that is was directed towards me. But when she was called on it of course the denial comes out! It just seems so strange to me that for someone who cries all this southern baptist forgiveness crap that she rambles about that she would continue to keep things stirring. Now I am all for forgiveness but doesn't that mean you leave it alone after a time? For her to be so exhausted from it all she sure was right in the middle of it very willingly. You can tell that for yourself as you read the comments she made so quickly after other comments had been posted. She loves being in the middle of the crap although she will deny that. Another funny thing is how she wants society to better teach children respect as her kids tell their dad what a fatso he is and how they so freely tell him they hate him! HMMMM! Interesting! But as my sister and I pondered on why they were so quick to believe my mother we both realized it was because they got nervous that I kept $360 that my mother had given me to put into my account. I kept this money because I had purchased my mother's plane ticket for her to help with my kids and not to abuse them. So, since she decided to be abusive I decided I would get refunded! This has made David and Amanda very nervous since they are ultra greedy and like to get something for nothing! The way they did when they rummaged through my mother's last apartment to sell her things for pennies on the dollar at a yard sale to all the african americans in their neighborhood. Instead what they should have done was give the things back to my dad who had bought all of the stuff. But this isn't the way selfish, greedy folks who live on credit cards do things! :) Instead they keep the earnings for themselves and this is exaclty what they did. So my sister called Amanda today and she was a usual prideful person not thinking she or David had done anything wrong by being accusatory. She has no idea the crap my mother has put us through and that's ok. I am just thankful for good friends and for a sister that knows exactly how it feels to have a mother like we have. I am thankful everyday for that relationship. So anyway, I know this is not the most Christ-like thing to do by blabbing all of this but it sure has helped me get things off my chest. :) I feel so much better! Y'all have a good night now! Holla.

What's it all about?

I don't know why I let things bug me. Normally I can let things go but lately I have been a little bugged about certain things. My mom did some pretty mean things to my kids while she was here, thus meriting an early return from my trip to Montana. She then goes home and makes people think she is a victim. This is what she normally does. I guess the thing that bugs me the most is not only did she hurt my kids physically and emotionally but she makes other people think that my kids were the ones in the wrong. Now I'm not saying by any means that my kids are perfect but they for sure do not act the way she has portrayed. We have taught our kids well and yes they do act up from time to time but please show me some kids that don't. I guess it's more hurtful than anything. Then there are others in the family that love to see the crap hit the fan and like to get things stirred up and love to always be in the middle of things. This is fine with me, I'm just so glad I don't have to live my life this way. I am thankful that I can say I tried to reach out to my mom at a time when I thought she might need it and that I had no strings attached when I did it. That being said, if you don't like my blog then DON'T READ IT! But I do say thank you to all my faithful followers!

I can't seem to snap out of the crappy way that I feel. I may need to go shopping soon. Oh and yes the biggest loser class was tonight. I had to pay a dollar since I gained a pound, dang it! Of course Trisha lost more weight. That woman is up to 10 pounds gone! What the heck is my problem? The woman teaching is super sweet but the poor woman knows nothing about "real" nutrition. It's ok though, she's trying to help.

I had my first RS presidency meeting tonight and it made me feel less overwhelmed. This ward really has it together and has things planned far in advance. I am so thankful for this. It will make my job so much easier. The new president is so sweet and sincere. I love this characteristic in a person. I really do have a hard time with folks being something they aren't when they are around others. Especially when you know someone's true character.

So, the trouble making girls came around today. This time it was my little 60 year old neighbor blessing them out. Apparently, one of the girls called her little 6 year old granddaughter a b word. This did not sit well with little Kay Hadley. She has the sweetest, well mannered grandkids too. So, Taylor, (granddaughter) went and told Grandma what they had called her and Kay came out and said some words to them and called them white trash which she told my son she had gotten that term from me! I thought that was hilarious!! Folks dig the southern accent around here. I guess it just sounds better! Kay is this little 60 year old Grandma who takes care of her severely handicapped son and also cares for grandchildren on a daily basis. She is the sweetest thing you could ever meet and always willing to help me out. But that woman does not take crap off ANYONE. She will tell you how it is! I love her! I like that trait in a person as well. I mean just be nice to people and you won't have to worry about getting blessed out. People DO NOT like you messing with their kids or grandkids for that matter. Just be nice, it's as easy as that. Let that sink in folks.

A weight lifted....

I need to thank the Lord everyday that I know how to be nice. I am thankful that I have such great kids that have learned to stand up for themselves. And I am mostly grateful that my mom is out of my house as of this morning!! YEEHAW!! Yep, I dumped her off at 9:20. :) I am so glad that's over. Now on to the next little milestone.

I'm excited about Halloween this week! We're gonna have a little Halloween dinner and then go trick or treating. I'm going to be domestic and make all sorts of cute Halloweeny edibles! I'm excited. I had to go to Zurchers today and get spider rings for Cody's party on Thursday. They happened to have all their Halloween crap 50% off and I got lots of good stuff. I love a bargain!

I have told my kids that when they turn 12 they can no longer go trick or treating. Well, Charlie turned 12 two weeks ago and he told me he didn't want to go because he felt too old!! I am so glad my kids are like that and have boundaries! One Halloween night my sister got a knock on her door at about 9:30, well after trick or treaters had stopped coming. She opens the door and there stands 2 grown teenagers. No costume or even a mask! Why do parents allow this? Anyway, my sister had a tone in her voice that made them feel a little, shall I say, awkward and they hurried on their way. So anyway, this will be Charlie's first year of no trick or treating. I think he gets excited about getting older and doing big kid things. He's a good kid!

Well Charles' homecoming has still not sunk into my brain. I cannot imagine having a husband around again and having help. I leave in about 2 1/2 weeks and I haven't gotten super excited yet because it just doesn't seem real. I am super elated about it but I just can't wrap my brain around the fact that he's coming home that soon! I will be glad for him to get home so he can get all the yard work done! :) He has a list waiting for him. I love him!

I HATE the blogs out there that try to make people think their life is so perfect when folks know dang good and well they aren't. I can't stand when people try to act like something they aren't. Just a thought!

Do you ever feel like.....

slapping someone real hard? I do! Today was a pretty good day! No gym or makeup or fixed hair for me today! I really should start dressing up more. I know it would make me feel better. I just feel like there's no point since there is nobody here to appreciate my cuteness when I am fixed up. Only 2 1/2 weeks though and then I'll start dressing up everyday. Instead of dressing up today I cleaned all day! I've feel like I've been all out of order since I returned home and I needed to regain it today. I did laundry and cleaned floors and the kitchen and my room and put laundry away. I HATE putting laundry away. I hate laundry period. I would rather do that than grocery shop though!

Tomorrow I take my mom to the airport! This is the day I have been looking forward to for the last 3 weeks. I kept telling myself if I could just make it to this day I would be good. That was before I got my new calling though! :) I like to use little milestones to countdown the days until my husband returns and tomorrow was one of them. Halloween is another and the next one will be ward temple night on the 7th of November. Once these things take place I will have only one week until I fly to Birmingham to see my sister and her cute toe heads. I am very excited about seeing all of them. My sister and I have a great relationship and we talk every single day. I am lucky to have her especially since my mother is a complete......(you can finish that sentence!)

So anyway, not much else to report. I did find some cute clothes at Wal-Mart tonight. I'm not ashamed to admit I shop there. About 90% of my wardrobe comes from this place. I love it! What would we do without it? Maybe shop at Target more??!!!

A day in the life.......

Of a crazy lady! Ok so I got back from Montana late Friday night. It was technically Saturday morning. It was around 1 a.m. when we rolled in. We were supposed to be home earlier than that but we missed a turn somewhere in Yellowstone. I was distracted by all the animals that were within 20 feet of our car. Obviously all the people out west are used to the things you see in Yellowstone because nobody seemed to be too impressed of the pictures I had taken of the pack of buffalo that was in the middle of the road or the elk that was ALL OVER the park. I also got some pictures of big horned sheep. It was amazing if I do say so myself!! So we missed our turn and ended up having to go through Jackson Hole, Wyoming. What a cute town! That was fun! Except for having to drive a 2 lane highway the ENTIRE way back. :) Why did I come back so early you might ask yourself.....let's just say I probably won't be talking to my mother any time within the next 10-15 years! We'll leave it at that.

Anyway, I did get my certification and it feels so good to be done with that course. I'm excited that I was able to accomplish that during this deployment!

So here I am cruising along in life with my super easy calling and loving every minute of having to only teach Relief Society every other month. Clarksville did me in with the callings. So when I got here and they called me to be a teacher I was elated.....until today! I was out in the hall when the clerk came and said "hey, can you step in the bishop's office for a minute?" So I was thinking I was going to be released from my teaching calling. And I was....I was calling-less for about 5 seconds!! So now I'm in the Relief Society presidency....again! (you have to say again with the Forrest Gump accent!) I was very much enjoying the break. It was nice while it lasted. It'll be good though. I feel a little inadequate since all the ladies in our ward seem to have it together. We do have a great ward! I will miss it when we leave. It has been a nice break from Tennessee!

We went to a haunted forest last night and it was pretty fun. We also went bowling and all my kids beat me. I came in dead last! We went with Matt and Jade (bro and sis in law) and Matt and Cody had a great time slipping as they threw the ball down the lane. It was so funny! For some reason they both had a hard time staying on their feet! Bowling is a fun activity. I don't know why we don't do it more often. I guess cuz it cost me 30 freakin bucks for my family to bowl.

I'm starting to feel a little like a neglectful parent. I went out of town for 2 days this last week and now I will leave again in about 3 weeks for a week. Of course I am leaving for good reason, I just feel bad since it seems like I've had to do it so much. Too bad I don't have a mom I can rely on to help out and know that my kids would be taken super good care of. I wonder what that would be like. If anyone cares to comment on that feel free to fill me in. Dang it!

Oh...I don't know

I did kickboxing class today and I love it! I think I'm the fattest chick in there though. I don't care because it is super fun. Maybe if I do it enough I won't be so fat! There was this adorable pregnant girl in there bouncing all over the place while I was thinking what the heck is wrong with me. Anyway, it's a fun thing to do to break up a monotonous workout. I like it a lot. I also went tanning. I need to darken some of this fat up before my husband gets home. My motto has always been dark fat looks so much better than white fat. I sound like one of those boob girls I'm always ranting about. Tanning and kickboxing...WOW. I swear I'm not really like that.....at all. I just want to be cute when my hubby gets home!

So every last one of my boys is doing a wrestling camp this week and I just have to say that Cody, my 5 year old, looks absolutely adorable out there on the mats wrestling around. He lowers down into his wrestling stance and it is hilarious! It is the cutest thing. Josh is pretty darn cute out there too. Now I know I'm biased, and I know my kids make me nuts daily, but they are super good looking kids. Charlie and Ryan say wrestling is by far their favorite sport now. Ironic too since their dad was a wrestler. I would have liked to have seen him in a singlet!! I didn't know him when he wrestled.

So tomorrow is the big day!! I leave for Montana. I am so ready for this course to be over. I'm ready to have a normal life again. That won't really happen until around April when we will hopefully be settled in Arizona. I am for real taking a trip to Vegas with my sister when my life is settled again. Can't wait. Can you imagine.....me in Vegas with no children!! I like that thought. I know I rant and rave about life sometimes but I really do have a great life. I have great kids and a fabulous, good looking husband. We've been able to travel all over through the military and I have enjoyed it. Just know that when I complain I'm just being a whiner. I know there are tons of people out there that have it a lot worse than I do. Maybe I will take my kids to Vegas one day, it just won't be when I go with my sister! I seriously will miss my kids when I leave tomorrow. Josh was crying tonight telling me he didn't want me to leave. It broke my heart and then as I was telling Charles about it he tells me he was probably just stalling having to go to bed. Thanks babe. Josh actually did go to bed just fine when I told him he could sleep in my bed. But he seriously might have anxiety about me leaving, dang it! I'm a good mom to miss!

Oh I soooo do not want to get up at 430 tomorrow morning. I AM NOT a morning person.

Proud Army Wife

So there I was talking to my husband on the computer when he says "hey you wanna see my tent?" He's now out of his trailer and living in a 40 man tent. He wanted to show me around since we have web cams and all. So he turns the camera around to show me and there it was....another man's butt. There was a guy standing in the background changing his clothes and his butt was just a shinin'! So I say to Charles "Did I just see a guy's butt?" Meanwhile my husband is completely oblivious to the fact that I am seeing this man's buns! You know, I have been an army wife for almost 14 years and I have heard my husband talk about having to shower around other soldiers and all that and I just do not get it. I mean, men will walk around naked in front of each other, fart in front of each other and shower in front of each other, change their clothes and all that stuff. They don't care who sees them. I have NEVER done any of that stuff in front of any other female, and I wouldn't dare! One day Charles comes home and tells me he saw a guy from our ward in the showers. So, I ask him, was he naked? And he tells me he was. Now how awkward would that be? Take my little friend Trisha for instance, I see her everyday, we walk every night and I spend tons of time with her. I would NEVER let her see me naked. STRANGE! This is one aspect of army life I will never understand.

So my kids were up to their crap again today. I can't wait for my husband to get home to take over the kid raising for a while. Well, here's how it went today....We had to eat dinner early because everyone had wrestling at 6. My mom, who is visiting, didn't get a chance to eat her dinner before we had to leave so she put it away to have it after we got back. Well, she was doing something else when Charlie and Ryan took her food out and poured hot sauce on her steak. Now when I say hot sauce I mean miserably hot. This stuff is so potent it could probably kill someone. So she takes a bite and is immediately on fire. The woman is dang near 60 and it could have killed her. So I am seriously pissed since we had an incident last too. I had no idea how to punish them so I told them they were going to have to reimburse me for the steak and I pulled some Texas Pete's hot sauce out of the cabinet and said "come on over here!" I made them open their mouth and gave them a dab or 2!! I know I get pissed at my kids on a daily basis and there is probably someone reading this thinking I am a terrible mother but they will be the one that ends up with a kid in prison because they had a lack of discipline. I am sick of this deployment already. I need my husband to help raise these boys. I do love my kids.... but does anyone else look forward to retirement years like I do? I just need an off day!! Any of you girls up for chippendales? Just kidding Charles!! You can be my Chippendale!!