Lazy Days of Summer

Wow I cant believe that July is almost over. I swear this year has flown by and I have no earthly idea where it went. I still remember New Years Eve at our house with Chris, Ron, Alyssa, Jordan, Kari, Charles, Kaylee and the four of us. We had fun setting off the firecrackers in the rain LOL and Charles was making make shift mortar rounds in the ditch. Oh the joys of living in the country. I wish I would have taken pictures. I miss having them right next door. I have always been lucky enough to be friendly with my neighbors but a few times I have been even luckier to become friends with them. It was so nice last year this time.Our kids would play outside until we dragged them in to take their baths and then we would have to make them get into bed but after that it was just a few moments before they drifted off into a deep, peaceful slumber. Then it was time to hit the porch with Chris and Kari until our eyes just couldn't stay open anymore.....of course the large quantities of wine that we consumed had nothing to do with it. I really enjoyed going over to Kimmies too. Kimmie is such a dear friend and one of the sweetest people I have ever met in my life. I miss her and so do the boys. Her kids are the greatest and between them and Jordan the boys always had great babysitters at reasonable prices. Now I am a little anal about babysitters. I had NEVER let a teenager watch the kids until these three wonderful young people came around. You see I was always afraid that the boys would be plopped in front of the TV and be bored but with these teens there was no chance. They were playing board games, basketball, football, jumping on the trampoline and doing crafts. they watched the occasional show or movie but were always exhausted after a day of play. I wish I could have packed them all with me and brought them here. The summer days here have been good in a different way. This is the first summer in a long time that I have had off with the boys. I have really gotten to know what they are all about. They in turn keep asking if I am going to be off next summer too. I really hope that I am. I thought that I would go stir crazy but we have had a jam packed summer, starting off with out trip to Sri Lanka, swim, basketball, Soccer, Hip Hop and just doing things together. So here we are August starts tomorrow and we have 3 precious weeks left. I am excited in a way to get back to work and sad in another knowing that the lazy days of summer are going to be in the past until next year.

Is It Really Sunday Night?

We had a lot to do this weekend. Diggy had a vet appt on Friday and we had to find a new cell phone plan since there is no Alltel here in Chicago. I had been researching all the phone companies and narrowed it down to Verizon and T-Mobile. So Saturday Morning we got up and headed out to check them all out. First we went to T-Mobile and the guys was nice and knowledgeable but the plan and phones that we wanted were way to expensive. So we headed out to Verizon. Let me tell you....Great Salesman, Great Plan, and Great Phones. We were really happy and got a great deal. With our military discount its even better and I wish that we would have switched from Alltel a while ago. After all the cell phone shopping we decided to take the boys bowling. It had been forever since we had been and it sounded like a nice change from the usual movies that we end up at. Well we had a BLAST. The place was a little pricey but it was well worth it. They had couches for you to sit in while you waited your turn and a waiter could by and bring you pizza and drinks. The most fun part though was the Psychedelic Bowling where they turned the lights off and had strobe lights and fake smoke coming at you. We bowled for 2 hours and were completely exhausted. I had taken my camera so we played around with the settings and got some GROOOOOOOOOVY pics. Today we ran a few errands and had to update our new phones, and here we are Sunday night and Monday is right around the corner.....the only good part is that in 2 days and a wake up Donte will be getting pinned his E7.....YIPEEEEEEEE!

Getting Ready for School

The time has come to start getting everything ready for school. You know what I am talking about the book bag, the supplies, the clothes and to my two the shoes. When I was a kid it was Nike's and Keds but that was later down the line. Not elementary I honestly can't remember caring what brand my shoes or clothes were as long as they were comfy and cool. But in today's times our kids are so very aware of brands and not just for shoes but for clothes and what seems like everything else. When I was nine I had no earthly clue who Dolce and Gabbana were (don't think they were around then but even if the were)my parents would have admitted me and my brother to the psych ward if we had ever asked for a pair of jeans that cost over $100. Because back then you could have gotten a ton of stuff for $100. Now don't get me wrong there were certain things in the 80'sand 90's that we wouldn't get caught dead in but I don't think it was half as bad as it is now. We do dress our kids nicely and trust me they earn it. Both boys were Academic All Stars, they are both excelling in sports and they get compliments all the time for their manners. I will splurge on shoes but I do hit the sale racks for jeans and shirts. So yes they get the name brand stuff but trust me when I say that I get it on sale. Why pay full price when you can get it for half. I get this trait from my Mom....in fact it's a running joke in our family...when I come home from shopping I come home with bags not a bag and I used to always say "I saved XXXXmuch money today" so now my Dad will say "soooo how much did you save today?" So Come Aug 1st we will trek out to all the lovely stores to stock up on everything. The only difference from this year to last is that the boys will probably steer away from getting the same stuff and veer towards their own sense of style....it just isn't cool to have your clothes match your brothers. Hopefully I will get some pics of all the stuff we rack up on and I will include the prices as well. I am curious to see how much getting ready for school actually costs. One last note I am giving in and ordering the boys the L.L. Bean Deluxe Book Packs (Back Packs). I have friends that have had them for years and one of my friends bought on for her son in elementary school and he still uses it in High School. So there is the first expense. 2 Book bags + Shipping and handling = $97.75

The case of the missing goggles.

Kids......oh where oh where do I start. As most of you know the boys have been taking swimming this summer and are having a blast. They are actually really good at it and are excelling in all of their classes. I am trying to teach them responsibility so I make them responsible for their swim trunks, goggles and toweles. They do pretty good but for some reason they can not keep their goggles in one place to save their lives. I tell them time after time but God only knows what they are thinking. :) I have to laugh at this because you would think that the water would turn to cement if they didn't have these goggles. I truely believe that they would swim naked or just drip dry but dive in without goggles NO WAY. So I am sitting here writing this post and they are searching franticly......wonder if they have checked on top of the washing machine yet......would make sense since thats where they stripped and put their trunks in the wash. Well I have 25 min to go I think I will let them wait it out a bit. Oh they joys of being a Mom!!! :)

Bloggers Block

For the last few days I have come to the new post screen and pretty much just looked at it. I guess I have bloggers block. Everyday life is relaxed and simple and thats just the way we like it. Hanging out, Swimming and just being with each other is the best part of the summer. I have less than a month to go before it's back to work and back to the everyday grind of the boys being in school. It's hard to believe that I will have a 3rd and a 4th grader next year. It really doesn't seem that long ago that I was jammin' along to Elmopalooza and folding tiny little clothes and those adorable baby socks. I miss those days....the days that they were so excited because they discovered that they had feet or that they could scream. They have grown fast and I know that the years to come will go even faster. I am proud of them. My two young men that drive me absolutly NUTS sometimes but who know their manners and genuinly care about other people and things. They are both smart and funny. Even though the share the same DNA they are truly day and night. One is outgoing and the other a bit shy. One likes to be the center of attention and the other likes to fold into the crowd. But the amazing thing is that they can't seem to do anything without each other. I know that the day will come when they become more independant and do their own individual things but for now I will enjoy seeing them so close and hope that they remember the closeness as they become young men.

So I guess the secret to getting over bloggers block is to just write......:)

Sergeant First Class Slade

Donte made the list for E7 back in March. We were extremely happy and began the long wait for his sequence number to come up. His number is 16 so we guesstimated (that is a word)roughly 6 months. Well on Aug 1st he will be pinned. YIPEEE, HOOOORAH and all those happy party sounds. He works really hard and is very dedicated to what he does and in my eyes no one deserves it more than him.

The weather here has cleared up and we have had the chance to enjoy the outdoors a bit. It isn't as hot as it was before the rain so it's absolutely beautiful. We have about a month left before school starts and we all go back to the grind of homework, working and all the daily joys that happen during the school year. In a way I am ready but in a way I am enjoying the summer with the boys so very much that I don't want it to end. The boys are growing up so fast that soon they will be more interested in doing their own thing instead of hanging out with Mom. So I am treasuring every moment.

RAIN, RAIN GOOOO AWWWWWWAY!

Yuk!!!! Thats the best way to describe it. Its pouring rain yucky cold, dark and LOUD rain. But I guess it's OK since I went to Michaels and picked out some scrapbooking stuff. If it's still raining tomorrow at least I will have something else to do......MOOD FOR THE EVENING BLAAAAAAAAAAH

Reconnecting

In my lifetime, my all 31 years of it I have moved 9 times...wow I had never counted it up before but theres that number......9. Now this is not house to house or dorm room to parents house but real moved like packed up everything that I owned and moved. It hasn't really bothered me especially in the last few years with email and messenger and all the joys of our super technical world that we so joyously cohabitate in. I mean really what I ever did before my cell I don't know...(well I do? Anyway getting back to my post....I am horrible at staying in touch. It's not that I don't care or that I forget about the friends that I had, it's just that I really SUCK at it. Well I had a girlfriend in Germany, Gabi. I love this woman like a sister and her hubby is a hoot and her kids were always so polite. We went on many a day trip together to Nuremberg and Poland. We had dinners and get togethers and phone calls. And through the years I have thought of her often and in my mind said I have got to call or email her and then life happened and it was another 6 months gone. Well after I decided to start this blog up again I emailed my friends and her email came back returned.....WHAT OMG I could have passed out!! You see even though I hadn't talked to her I took for granted that she was right there...just an email away....so what did I do I looked her hubby up in the AKO white pages (Thanks AKO) and swiftly emailed him and he passed on her email. So I emailed her this morning and she emailed me back and even though it has been literally years since we have spoken her email started out like this......

"Shanez, old Girlfriend"

and just like that I felt like no time had passed. That's the greatest part of the military no matter how far, how long or how hard it is for one to keep in touch, we are all connected. So with the promise from both of us to be better at keeping in touch and my heart feeling good and full I will continue to enjoy my rainy day that is just a little brighter with the words from an old friend.

Rainy Days

I woke up this morning expecting to see sunshine and lo and behold what do I see but RAIN,RAIN and more RAIN. I can now hear the thunder and see the lightning (since I opened the blinds). I so dislike rainy dreary days when I have 1001 things to do.......why?.....you ask well because days like this have an effect on me. It sends me to that lazy state of mind that I just can't afford to have, especially today. Well I guess I gotta get my hiney in gear and start the day......Maybe just 5 more min.....naaaa I gotta get this rainy day started!!!

Doggy Training

We have had the dogs in Puppy training at pet smart for three weeks. Let me you tell you its worth every little red penny. It was $109.00 for 8 weeks. Now we have two Jack Russells, they are very smart and easily trainable dogs, even though that is true a puppy is a puppy and potty training is potty training. We have them baby gated in the kitchen and nook so if there are any accidents they are easy to clean up with an enzamatic cleaner (Kills any residue of the accidents). Well the trainer told us to hang a bell by the back door and everytime we take them out to ding the bell with their paw and take em out....after three days of this he got it. Diggy would let you know by crying at the door but Murphy would be hit and miss well now he dings the bell and sits by the door and waits for you to take him out. I am so proud of our little farts. And on another note Diggy is doing much better with trying to kill other dogs. He is fine with Murphy but would get irate at the sight of any other animals. He seriously went after the ducks in the pond at first but now they can walk by him and he doesnt care. He is ok with most dogs but has problems with shaggy dogs for some reason. Anyway I just wanted to share the bell secret with you. We tied it with fishing wire and found the bell in the bird section of PetSmart.

Doggy Trials

Well Diggy got neutered on Friday and did really well. He actually lost 7 ounces before the surgery and now is close to what his weight should be. The doc said that hes nothing but muscle and a very healthy dog. So we did his paperwork and went on to get Murphys shots done. Well did that and got everything we needed and headed to the car.

Donte realized that there was a sports store right next door to PetSmart and wanted to check out the flippers they had so Donnie and I decided to hang in the car with the dogs while Dannie and Donte went into the store. Suddenly Murphy started crying and heaving, I got him out of the car in the nick of time and he started getting sick all over the place and crying by this time Donte was coming back to the car and I told him to get Murphy and take him right back in. Donnie and I stayed in the car with Diggy and Donte and Daniel ran back into the vet. well long story short, 2 steroid shots, a couple of hits of benadryl, and a few hours later Murphy was OK to go home. He had an allergic reaction to the Distemper vaccination. Thank God he was OK. Both puppies are home now and doing fine.

Diggy however does have one of those cones on his head and it is comedic relief in itself. Poor baby is knocking into everything and anything and is ready to take it off now but he has 12 days left before he is fully healed and we don't want him messing with his stitches.

The humans in the family are doing fine and are enjoying a nice and lazy weekend. The only thing that we have really done is go swimming. I love lazy weekends like these and wish they would never end.

Speaking of Lyrics

The boys and I were watching "Singing Bee" tonight on TV. It is truly funny how you think you know a song and then someone comes along and bursts your little bubble of happiness. You see I know that I can sing.....hahaha OK well I didn't say sing well, I just said sing. Now if you live in my house you know that I do this when I clean, cook, do laundry and if you have ever worked with me you know that I sing along to the radio. This is just my way of making work fun. Now my loving husband puts up with it for the most part until I get stuck on a song. when I do this I press that tiny little button, what button you ask......the Repeat button. And yes I go to town. But back to the Lyrics. I was speaking to my friend Shannon who has four little munchkins of her own and she had watched the Singing Bee with her oldest daughter as well and we both agreed that some of the words that we had thought for years were the words to the songs were actually not. When I was about 13 or 14 I really like Aerosmiths song "Dude Looks Like a Lady" but I only caught it when it was on the radio and never paid much attention to the name of the song. Well I would sing along because at that age well we all know that we can sing and I used to run around the house singing "Do the Funky Lady" until one of my friends was like "Uhhhhhh Shanez, it's Dude Looks Like a Lady". Now 18 years later I still remember that like it was yesterday. So I suppose I know deep down inside that I probably sing many songs with words that are to my own making but really whats worse my interpretations of the words or my singing?

Moving....I orginally posted this on my MySpace in April

Well here it is Friday the 13th, our beautiful house that was once filled with all of our little treasures from near and far now sits empty......awaiting the painters that are coming bright and early tomorrow morning. It was sad these last three days packing everything up and watching the packing and moving crews taking everything and putting it all in that huge moving truck. Its funny how you kinda forget all the emotions that hit you like a ton of bricks. You have the excitement of moving and by the way I feel pretty lucky that we are going to Chicago....never in a million years did I imagine that we would be going there, after all theres no Army post there. But then you have the sadness of leaving the familiar,cozy, safe place that you have called home for the last three and a half years. I will miss so much as I know that Donte and the boys will as well. Donte will miss coaching here the most. His face always lights up when he heard that familiar ring of "Coach Slaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaade". I told him that he could always get into coaching in Chicago too but he says it just wouldn't be the same. He truly does have calling for it and I know that he made an impression on all the kids and parents as they did on him. The boys will miss everything that kids usually do. There school, friends, sports teams, I could fill this page up with tons of things that they wish that they could pack into a bag and take with them. But I honestly think that they will miss the endless summer nights in the neighborhood playing with Kaylee and Alyssa. If you heard them you would swear that they were siblings. They play all day and argue all day too...but God forbid if they couldn't get together for one reason or another. I took Alyssa with me one day to a jewelry party and mind you I had Alyssa and both the boys and the lady hosting it asked me where my daughter got her blond hair......I think I actually stuttered on that on :). I will miss a lot too. I have made dear friends in the short time that I have been here Kimmie, Tracy and Vokie have been there since the start...my good old ITT days. Then you have the tried and true sports Moms, both Jenn's, Alexis, Michelle, Becky (Ok so shes the Grandma but trust me she didn't miss a thing, she screamed with all the rest of us:)) and Janay. I know that I have only known Jenn and Janay for a short while but I had a blast with both of them....that included some awesome appletinis. I cant believe that I am going to miss the birth of Jenn and Toms son, after all I was one of the first to know I never imagined that I would move before little Jaysik Boston would be born. Then theres Kari and Chris. Never did I think that I would be lucky to have two great neighbors that have become my close friends. In fact I am sitting on Chris' couch writing this, since she and her hubby graciously let us use their home for the week that the packers would be tearing mine apart. I have enjoyed all the endless nights sipping wine on the front porch and talking for hours about everything and absolutely nothing. What will I do without the two of you. We have seen each other through alot and I have tons of precious memories. All in all I will miss so very much but cant wait to make more memories in our new home!!!

Sweltering Hot Days and Rainy Nights

I swear the days here are getting just as hot as the ones down south and for the last couple of days the thunderstorms have been rolling in right around dinner time. I know I should be glad for sunny days.....I am, I promise but they spoiled me here with the picture perfect days and the cool nights with the breeze blowing in through the windows. It reminded me of Germany.....those of you that have lived there know what I am talking about. When we were in Vilseck we lived in front of Big Mike (Big Lake) we had a two story three bedroom and there were those nights that you could open all the windows upstairs and it would feel down right GOOD. The breeze would blow through the house and almost lull you to sleep. Well that's what I was enjoying here, we do after all have the huge pond in our back yard. But BOOOOOO on the rain Gods I actually had to turn my air-conditioning on due to the fact that my windows have to stay tightly shut.

And yes I do feel blessed that the weather is the only thing that I have to gripe about :)

Pictures from last Saturday

As promised....

7 July 2007 Grant Park, Chicago Illinois

Yesterday Donte had to work the taste of Chicago so the boys and I decided to tag along and make a day of it. It was a blast. We got up pretty early and met with another Army family and took the train. I was only 5 little bucks per adult for a train pass that lasted the whole weekend. Yup that's right folks you could go back and forth 5000 times as long as you did it Sat and Sun and it will only cost you .....5 bucks.....and to top that off kids under 13 are FREE. Now you know that FREE is one of my favorite words. We got off at Union station and walked a couple of blocks over to Grant park and hung out. I personally think that the Taste is over rated you have a bunch of restaurants that will sell you little portions for a HUGE price. We ate lunch there and hung out while Donte did his recruiting thing. The boys had a blast!! They did everything from playing Football to pulling up on the chin up bar. They were soooooo happy. The atmosphere was great, there were people riding bikes, and hanging out on the lawn. We found ourselves a bench right by where Donte had to work and relaxed and took it all in. They had a few street performers and bands going, the energy was awesome. Now the weather here has been pretty mild but yesterday it was down right hot. We were dressed for it but after about 6 hours in the sun you start to feel it. At around three thirty Donte was off and we decided to go to the cheesecake factory. Well we decided to walk because come on how far can it be....ummm...we walk for about 40 min through the crowds, past the Sears Tower, the Burberry Store, La Perla, NBC Studios Chicago, The Chicago Tribune and mind you the suns beating on your head and the crowds are thick. Since it was 7-7-07 we saw about five weddings taking place. By now my head is pounding!!! Thank God for Walgreens.....Tylenol and Gatorade and we are on our way again. We walk for about 10 more min and lo and behold theres our beloved Cheesecake factory. We found the family we were with and ate. Now if your familiar with the Cheesecake Factory you know that there portions are huge. Donnie and I split a Burger and the four of us split one piece of Cheesecake and were STUFFED. By then my headache is gone and we are down right pooped!! So instead of walking back we decide to take a Cab. Donte found one that was big enough to fit 8 and we loaded in....Now I have never ridden in a cab other than in Europe so all I know is what I've seen on Sex and the City and other programs like that. Well I'm sitting behind the cabbie and guess what his name was....Ahmed Aljazera.....I had to stiffle my laughter as he made his way through the traffic. Now let me tell you he was good at this. NOT just kinda good but extremely good. We get to Union Station and we just missed the 6:30 train so we hung out until the 8:30 one came along. We enjoyed our train ride back and after a nice hot shower we all crashed for the night.

On another note the people of Chicago are so Pro Military. I can't begin to tell you how many times people have stopped Donte and said thank you. It's funny how a hand shake or a hug can make such a difference but it does.

I will post pictures as soon as I charge my camera so I can transfer the pics.

Missing Germany

I know I havent posted in months and now 2 posts in one day. I was catching up on reading my usual blogs and I came across some pictures of Vilseck. I really miss it. so here are a few pics that I have borrowed from a couple of other sites. I wish I had taken more pictures while we were there.

My first Slideshow......Im finally starting to get this.

Back again

Why do I find it oh so hard to keep this site up????? My Space is definitely easier and well just more fun. But it is hard to write about the going ons in life in the blog there because lets face it....MySpace is mostly an email application....well for me at least.

I may as well fill you in.....Boy where in the world do I start.

The boys and I went to Sri Lanka in May. My not so little Brother Adam married Chrissy in a beautiful ceremony over looking the beach.....and of course with my luck as soon as they vows were exchanged I had enough time to get back to my hotel room before I was SICK and I don't mean just sick but SICK. They even called the hotel doc and after a shot, antibiotics and a God awful re hydration drink I was OK. The wedding was great though the boys enjoyed it and everything was perfect and that's all that counts. We then toured the country for 10 days. We saw so much and it was all so beautiful. If you ever get the chance to go I would advise it. Except for the flight....which lasted daysssssssssssss...it was great. I only wish that Donte could have gone with us. Unfortunately with Donte coming to a new unit it was impossible for him to come.

The boys have been busier than ever. The completed Basketball camp and are halfway through the summer swim lessons. They started out as Guppys and Daniel is now a Minnow and Donnie has completed Minnow and gone on to Fish. They are doing great to say the least and I have met some really nice people in the process. They will start Soccer camp at the end of July and Hip Hop isn't too far away either.

Donte is waist deep into recruiting and is doing great. He really excels in it....him being a people person and all. Now if only DFAS could own up to the fact and get our pay right.....Now I am used to our LES being wrong the first pay period but here we are in July and they still haven't straightened it out. Never mind the endless trips and emails that Donte has had to make to light the so called fire under their hind ends. Other than that its actually pretty great.

I am enjoying my summer off with the boys. I have to admit that at first I thought that I would go crazy with all the time off. I however have been having a blast with the awesome twosome. We stay pretty busy and have really bonded and done alot so far this summer.

And on another note Max and Diggy were with my brother while we got settled and right before we left for Sri Lanka I got a call from Adam saying that Max was missing. My heart dropped as I knew then that something bad must have happened, you see Diggy running off would be normal but Max NO WAY....so all I can pray for is that whatever happened that it happened fast or if someone stole him that they are showering him with love and that as soon as they take him to a vet he will be returned because as with all of our animals he is micro chipped!!! Diggy Butt is now home with a brand new little brother Murphy who is as cute as a button. You see Jack Russells are a two dog breed. They need a companion, a playmate and Murphy and Diggy are doing great together.

Well as with any move we are all making new friends but we are all missing the heck out of our old friends. It's hard but we make the most of it. I wonder if I will ever find some wine sipping (Chris and Kari), Cappuccino drinking (Melody) porch hanging out buddies here.....who knows....I have never had trouble meeting new people but I really wish that I could bring my girlfriends here to live by me again. I miss you all!!!!!