I Love The Summer

Now that the snot is all gone. I am having a blast with the boys on these long summer days. In fact I am sitting in the shade watching the boys and two of their friends playing baseball in the front yard. The breeze is blowing and the sun is shining. I have a tall glass of sweet tea and my flip flops on. It really doesn't get much better than this. We have been super busy as usual. We took a trip to the brookfield zoo last Tuesday. It was so much fun. We rode into work with Donte, had breakfast with him and then headed to the zoo. The boys and I had an absolute blast. We saw so much and they even got to pet sting rays and sharks. I got some great pics of them. It still amazes me just how fast they grow. At least the zoo is still fun for them....I hope that they never out grow it.
Fathers Day weekend was great. The boys actually had some Dad time on Friday night. I went out with a girlfriend and watched SATC again and then we headed off to a small little bar where there was lots of singing and some good laughs. Saturday morning we got up early and went to the boys soccer games. Their games were at the same times so Donte went to Dannies and I went to Donnies. Dannie played well but his team lost but there was a trophy at the end for him to soothe his little bruised ego. Donnie actually played awesome. His team won by 7 and he made a goal. He also received player of the week on top of the trophy so he was beaming from ear to ear. From there we headed to the movies. We saw the Hulk and I have to admit that it was really good. To end the day we came home and grilled steaks. What a great Sat. I wish that they could all be so relaxing. Sunday morning we woke Donte with his presents and got ready for the day. I had made reservations at Zeds. A Brazilian steak house.....yummmmmmmy. We ate to our hearts content and then came home and crashed. It was a great relaxing day filled with some great family time.
Yesterday we headed to the Y to swim. I was totally exhausted after we came back. Swimming takes so much out of you. I swear I felt like I ran a marathon. This morning I woke up and worked out. It had been a week or so since I had done so, so I had to push myself a little bit harder but boy was it worth it. I feel GREAT. We ran to my friends store to get a couple of webkinz. She has a special going on where the kids can get a dollar off for every A the receive. They made out like bandits and I got some good chatting time in. That brings me to know....sitting in the front relaxing and feeling ever so grateful that I am living the life I am.

Jersey Boys

Last Tuesday was the last day of school in our district. A few of us hopped onto a limobus (with an open bar) and headed into the big city to eat a great dinner and see Jersey Boys. Can I start by saying that the limo bus is awesome!! OMG what a great idea. Everyone crammed in and off we went. We ended up at a cute little place for dinner unfortunatly it took forever to get our food so we had literally 15 min to eat it and get to the theater. We get to the theater and start to get settled....so picture this 21 adults excited and ready to see Jersey Boys, up on the balcony...one of which is petrified of heights....when all of a sudden, the rudest usher in the world starts barking orders. Stating that we better be in the seats that are on the stubs....ok no shit sherlock theres 21 of us who cares if I sit in the left seat and Donte takes the right...she really didnt need to work with the public.....enough said. Any way we finally got settled in and I loved it. It was a great musical and it was the perfect way to end the school year.

SINUS

Why did God create sinus' seriously whats up with them. I totally see no need for them. I swear if there is an infection out there I seem to catch it.I am on the tail end of the worst sinus infection I have had in a while.....UGGGGGG!! There's nothing worse than a summer cold. snot, snot and more snot! EWWWWWWW!!!!!!!

SATC......and more

On April 30th I woke up and was sooooo excited because I thought that the premiere of Sex and The City would be that night....well obviously my bubble burst and I realized that I was a whole month early. When Friday night rolled around I hurried up and got my hiney to the theater....What a FABULOUS movie. OMG I wont post specifics but lets just say that it did not disappoint. If you were a fan of the HBO series or even if your not...get out there and see it....you will love it.

Here's a coupe of pics...man they are growing up...






We officially have 2 days of school left...woooohoooo. What ever will I do for 3 months of not having to use an alarm clock..... :0) SMILE :0). It is finally warming up here a bit. I think it it 81 here today...not the June that we are used to but we will take anything in the 70's and up. We went to a graduation party next door yesterday that was a blast. Amy and Reed have two foreign exchange students and they really are sweet girls. They graduated from PSHS and will be going back to their homes in a few weeks. We had a great night of friends, food and laughter.
My allergies have flared up so I stayed in for the rest of the weekend. I am finally starting to feel a little better. I tell you with it being cold for so long my body is mucho confused!!!
My Mom and Dad rescued the cutest little puppy last week his name is Winston. He looks a lot like Buster did and I know with my parents love he will flourish. He has gained 4 ounces in less than a week...not bad for a puppy that weighed less than 5 pounds. He is now up to 5.4 pounds...can I just say that he is going to be the most spoiled puppy in the world. Here's a pic of the little muffin.

TAKE TIME TO REMEMBER

Enough said.

Time....Time....Time

Wow it's been almost a month since I have blogged and it has been crazier than ever. I swear just when I think I am going to get some down time.....BAM.....more stuff gets piled on my plate.
Let's see....where do I start. It is finally getting warm here...Can you believe it? It's the end of May and we finally have a nice weekend. I don't think that I will ever get used to the weather here. I was still having to wear a sweater to work last week. Usually the sweaters are pushed to the back of the closet by now....gleefully gathering dust. Speaking of dust I started to go through my closet yesterday and FINALLY finished today. I have 4 1/2 bags of clothes to get rid of. It does feel good to have to get rid of clothes because they are too big now. Donte says that we should have a yard sale. I swear that man loves to have a yard sale. I don't much care as long as they are gone....outta my room....outta the house.We also cleaned out the garage yesterday. It only took about an hour. We just don't have much in there anyway. But we had to get the sand swept out from the winter. I swear they must use a ton of salt and sand here because I could have filled a little sandbox with what I took out of the garage.
Work is the same old stuff just a different day no news on that front. I really will miss it when school gets out on the 3rd but hey I am sure that I will find tons to do during the summer. Cleaning out the basement will be #1 on my list. I still have a few boxes that haven't been unpacked.....I HATE unpacking. I just read Angies blog and she has 4 boys, did the move without her hubby and has everything unpacked and in it's place......YOUR MY HERO ANGIE.....wanna come lend a hand?
As for the recruiting business......it's going. Donte is doing well but I think both he and I are ready to get back to a post. I miss my girlfriends....true girlfriends, ones that have a common thread with. It's hard to listen to the "My husband has to go to Wisconsin for the weekend...what am I going to do without him" OMG really I am the wrong one to preach to. I have no sympathy for a wife that (GASP) has to find someway to get through 48 hours without her husband when I know people that are just starting a year long deployment that have newborns or pregnant wives that aren't complaining but sucking it up and driving on. I have yet to forge the bonds that have become a life line in the past here. I guess I just don't have that much in common with the ladies around here. Don't get me wrong I have met a handful of wonderful people that I say hello to and speak with on occasion....but it's not the same. The other recruiters are mostly single or live in a completely different town. I guess what it all boils down to is just having genuine people around to share your thoughts with. siiiiiigh whats a girl to do.....hmmmmmmmm.......IM GONNA SUCK IT UP AND DRIVE ON......only 2 more years to go.
The boys are happier than ever to get summer started. I swear they have more energy that any children I have ever come across. Soccer is going great. They both scored goals last week and were happier than ever. They are both still doing great in school and I have to give credit to their teachers. Both teachers are phenomenal. I wish that they could loop with them next year. You know you have the teachers that you remember for a life time....well I am sure that these two will stick with my boys forever. I have been working on their end of year gifts but the truth is that I can never get them anything to adequately thank them for everything that they have done for the boys this year.
My parents are back in GA and are getting settled. It's great to have them back.......even if we are a 14 1/2 hour drive away. I am just glad that they are home on US soil.
Adam and Chrissy are preggo YEAH!!!!!! I couldn't be happier for them. I can't wait to meet my new Niece or Nephew. I have already started buying some baby stuff.....the stuff they have for babies these days is so darn cute.
We also took the boys to the drive in this weekend. They had a double feature the new Indiana Jones and Iron Man were playing. Unfortunately it was cold. We were prepared though we took our mink blankets and sweaters. We ended up turning the seats around in the van and cozying up in there. The boys thought that it was the coolest thing. We hit up Zeds yesterday too. The Brazilian steak house. The boys had never been and we were going to go on Mothers Day weekend but we knew it would be super crowded. Let's just say that all four of us were stuffed. Daniel ate more than I had ever seen him eat. Donnie was pacing himself but ate quite a bit as well.
As for the last few hours of our three day weekend....as soon as Donte gets home we will BBQ and then gear up for the last 6 days of school.
HAPPY SUMMER EVERYONE.

Time

I swear I can't believe how long it's been since I posted. Things are pretty hectic here with the end of the school year fastly approaching and the boys Soccer is in full swing. Have I mentioned that they practice Mon, Tues, Wed and Thurs.....oh and games are on Sat.......I am tired just typing that :0) I swear I will be back to blogging reg after 3 June. :0)

It's been a long time

It’s been awhile I know. So much has happened since I have last posted. My Grandfather passed away on St. Patrick’s Day. It wasn’t unexpected but how do you really prepare for it. He had a good, long life. He was a phenomenal Grandfather and will be greatly missed by all of us. Luckily the boys and I had flown to Pennsylvania a few weekends before and we had the chance to visit with him. All I can say is that he is with us all the time now and I thank God that he is not suffering anymore.

We left Chicago on Thursday, March 20th, to go to PA. It took us 11 hours…the drive actually wasn’t that bad. Donte and I shared the driving and the boys were plenty busy with their games in the back. Can I say I am so happy that they are older and I don’t have to worry about diaper bags and formula? My Granny, Mom, Aunt Lorraine, and Uncle Maurice were already there and I was so glad to be with all of them. My Dad, Brother, and Chrissy arrived later that night. And my Uncle Barry arrived the next day. We were all together and I was so glad that we were. The service was nice and I was glad that I was able to be there to say goodbye. We even drove by the house that my grandparents used to live in when I was a kid. It’s so funny how through the years everything looks smaller than you remember. We stayed and spent Easter morning there with everyone. My parents, Brother, Chrissy, and us got on the road around 1100 to drive down to GA. We made a pit stop in Washington D.C. Donte was named after his Uncle that was killed in Vietnam and Donnie is as well, so my brother thought that it would be cool for Donnie to do the rubbing of his name on the Vietnam Memorial Wall. I can’t even begin to put into words how special it was. We also walked up to the Lincoln Memorial and of course got some great pictures of the Washington monument and the Mall. We also did a quick drive through tour of the White House and some other great places. Have I mentioned before that I absolutely love the city…..sigh. We reached GA at some ungodly hour in the morning and were totally exhausted. We had so much fun hanging out with my parents, Adam, and Chrissy. My Parents are renovating their house so we pulled in and helped with the painting and Donte and I were able to surprise them with a new dishwasher and stove. It’s very hard to surprise them a they tend to know everything….but we did it and it was a great moment. We took a day trip into Orlando and enjoyed a day at Sea World. It was so nice to walk around in capris and have the heat just shining down on you. Of course we had to go Go-Cart racing and to the mall to get some Pralines from Savannah Sweets……YUMMY!!! Downtown was a must as well. We ended up going to this great Moroccan place. The inside looked like the inside of a Genie bottle. We gathered in around the tables that were close to the ground as were the chairs. The food was amazing and they had belly dancers…..so yes Daniel had to get up and dance with them…..and Donnie had to put the tips in their skirts…..hmmmmmm can we say they are starting really early. I swear Daniel got up and danced every single time that they allowed him to. Oh to have boys. We left on the 30th at 330 in the morning and made it home by 530 PM. We came back to yucky, rainy weather and of course its cold as ever. They say that we are supposed to hit the 60’s this weekend….lets just say I am not holding my breath!!

The boys and I went straight back to school the next day. Donte had a couple of days off so he got the pleasures of starting the laundry and getting everything unpacked. I had a girl’s night out on Wednesday. We went to a scrap-booking store and made Explosion Boxes. I will post some pictures of spring break and the explosion box as soon as I get a chance.

VENT

I have come to realize that non-military people are just plain different. I really miss living close to a base right now. I guess I am just having a bit of a pity party for myself. I am feeling like a fish out of water I have lived here for almost a year and have met some nice people but none that compare to my “spouse” counterparts. I tell you I really miss everyone and there is something to be said about civilians who live in a military community. I love Donte recruiting because he does come home every night but why oh why can’t he recruit closer to a base. Where I can go to the gym and see others that are going through what I am going through versus a mom that has 5 kids is 24 and is complaining because the nanny made the formula 2 degrees warmer than it should have been…..my response is are you serious???? Try being the Mom that never sees her husband and is juggling just as many kids without a nanny and doesn’t complain because she is blessed to have what she has and is grateful for the chance to have a life like she has. Now I am not saying everyone around here is walking around with their heads up their hineys…….but there are quite a few. OK I’m done….gonna put a smile back on my face and push on :0)

O Days Left

I got my surprise. I honestly thought that it was going to be the new Kodak Printer that I had been eyeing since November. It came out in March so I though oooooh how sweet of Donte to remember. As you all know I have been sick for the past two weeks battling what I call the CRUD!! Saturday after the boys’ game we came home and I went into veg out mode. The boys went next door to Americas to play with Alyssa and I took a nice warm bath, put my PJ’s on, and settled into a little bit of scrap booking. Earlier that day I received Flowers, a Teddy Bear, and some Candy….ooooh I love it but I couldn’t get a hold of Donte to say thank you. I had received a text saying that he was going to be super busy all day and would call around 830 that night. The boys ran back over to the house to get a game to play and then ran back over to Americas. Then the front door open and I thought it was the boys coming back to get another game………IT WAS DONTE. He graduated early and was home for good…..OMG can I just say that I was in complete shock….partly because it takes a lot to surprise me….at the same time the back door opens and in run Donnie and Dannie. They had seen him pull in and before my brain could register anything they were in his arms. Can I just say that, that was the best surprise ever!! It feels so good to have him home. As for the crud I went to the doctor on Monday and he said that I have a “Super Bacterial Infection”. Ummmmm OK what’s that (those are my exact words) to make a long story short I have many different bugs that are all attacking my system….ohhh the joys of working in an elementary school. But I am taking my meds and feel so much better….I am sure that having Donte home is a huge part of feeling better too. I am going private on Monday so get me your e-mails :0)

Going Private

After much though I am going private with this blog. If you are one of my readers please send me an e-mail or leave me a comment and I will add you to the list. I will be transitioning in the next week. Thanks :0)

UUUUUGGGGGGH

so I am still battling the crud. I can at least breathe today.....amazing I tell you. The boys both had a sleep over yesterday so I took full advantage and slept! I woke up this morning with the sun shining into my bedroom. After all the gloomy, snowy days it is a welcome change. Our high will be in the 40's tomorrow....I hate to admit it but that's warm here. Anything over 0 is warm here. The dogs went out and played this morning.....they are southerners too and have been couped up with all the snow. After the boys get back I will be off to SAMS and Caputos to get some grub. I hate to admit but I haven't been grocery shopping in over a month....well I've picked up milk and stuff but no real food in a while. Lets hope that the meds keep me breathing until I get back!

3 Surprises and a Nasty Bug

Surprise one started out with the boys and I rushing to the airport in Chicago. Now if you know my family you know that we travel A LOT...Planes used to excite the kids when they were little now its just a pain to them. The only people in my family that new about the surprise were Donte, my Dad, My Granny and my Uncle Maurice.....not even the boys new. They thought that we were going to the "city" for a long weekend. We boarded the plane and they soon figured out that we were going to fly to Baltimore. I must have heard "What's in Baltimore?" 100 times. I just kept saying "wait and see". When the plane landed they were about to explode. I looked at them calmly and said "Here's your surprise.....I flew you to Baltimore and now we are going to fly back to Chicago." The looks on their faces was priceless. Their little lips were saying "oooh thanks Mom" and their eyes were saying "are you kidding!" We deboarded and walked into the baggage claim. They were scanning the airport like FBI agents. Looking for a familiar face. They were looking so hard in the wrong direction that my Dad literally walked by them and stood behind them. I had them turn around and they jumped on Grandpa. They were so very happy to see him and Uncle Maurice. We then had to drive to Pennsylvania. A little after midnight we pulled up at my uncles house and snuck in through the garage. Mom and Granny were in the downstairs living room watching TV. The boys walked right up to her and she busted out in the biggest smile and there were kisses and hugs all around. We spent a great weekend there with our family and of course as all good times go it went by so very fast. The trip home was a bit bumpy because Chicago was hit by a winter storm....don't get me started. When we arrived home I felt a little icky but thought that it was just a little scratchiness of the throat....well lets just say I woke up this morning after a night of being totally sick...the boys and I all were up all night. I have been pumping us full of Robitussin and Tylenol and hopefully tomorrow we can get back to work and school. So theres two of the surprises. One for the boys one for Grandma. The third one is up to Donte so theres no telling when that will come to light. As for this Nasty Bug.....I can't wait to get rid of it!!!!

I'm leaving on a jet plane....

Theres the next hint :0)

Oh How They Have Grown

Surprise.....Surprise?

Well my husband is getting me back for making you all wait for my surprise. He told me that he got me a surprise...ooooooooh I love it......What is it? I ask. He replies with you will have to wait a couple of weeks until it comes in.......huh......what.......how dare he do that to me......make me wait......ugggg I can't stand it!!! I DONT LIKE TO WAIT!!! Now I know that I am making all of you wait....but that’s different. My friends are all very calm and collected....I AM NOT!!!! Ugggg I want to know. I must have asked him a million times what it was but he won’t tell me. He is not budging one inch. It's driving me completely nuts.

On to my surprise......you will all know in roughly a week. I'm busting at the seams and haven't really talked to anyone about it so it's driving me completely nuts too.

As for this weekend man it's been a crazy one. Friday night the boys had two friends spend the night. I got to bed pretty late and the boys were all up at the crack of dawn. The boys had a Soccer game and directly after that we had to go and get fitted for football helmets, pads, and all that good stuff. They start early here. We had to register early, and when I say early I mean early they don’t start practice until July. We ran and got something to eat after and then went directly to Jacobs birthday party. That was a blast the kids had a really good time and then it was off to L’s Pampered Chef party. I left the boys with Brian and the boys and Jenn went with me. After that it was a quick stop by Target and Starbucks….YUMMY YUMMY Raspberry Mocha with an extra shot of raspberry and extra whipped cream. Then it was back to Jenns. The boys and I got home around 9:30 – 10:00. Needless to say that it was a very long day and I really wanted to sleep in this morning but Mr. Murphy woke me up bright and early.
The weather man had said that we were in for 10 inched of snow today but it actually warmed up to 40 today. Almost all the snow is melted and there are floods all over the place. Our pond is overflowing and we have one loud duck that made his way back. The boys and I ran all of our errands today and are planning on a very lazy day tomorrow……..well I have to do the laundry but other than that a very lazy relaxing day.

Happy Heart Day

I hope you all have a great Valentines day!!!!! As for me and my two Valentines it's going to be a blast even though we are missing Donte.....we know that time is flying. So from our family to yours share the time with each other and enjoy every moment!

78 Days to go

Wow we are in the 70's and counting down. Not much has been going on here. Just the everyday happenings. I did have a girls night out last Friday. I saw 27 dresses....I loved it. It was such a chic flick but hey I was so happy to see something that wasn't animated and didnt have super heros. The snow is still coming down hard and the days are pretty dreary. I miss the sunshine so much......I cant wait for spring time to come around!!!

The Sun and The Wind

Do you remember that story? The one where the wind blows and blows trying to make the poor man take his coat off. The sun and the wind have a competition to see who can make the man take his coat off first. The wind starts to blow, getting stronger and stronger and this makes the man hold on to his coat and snuggle deeper into it. The sun smiles and starts to beam and the temp gets warmer and warmer and the man with a smile on his face takes his coat off......well here the sun and wind are having the same competition but with it being -4 the darn wind is winning. I for one am ready for the sun to be the winner. UUGGGGGGGG

For Yvonne........

.......who is so much like me when it comes to surprises. 16 days lady you will know in 16 days. I'm busting at the seems myself.

Survivor

OMG I didn't realize that it was starting tonight. WOOOOOOHOOOOOO with the writers’ strike and TV pretty much disappointing me lately I am beside myself. I certainly hope it's all it looks like it will be. It is the little things in life. On to another note I have a huge secret....NO I AM NOT PREGGO, NOT POSSIBLE.......but you will have to wait a couple of weeks. I don't know how I'm I am going to keep this secret but I gotta. I'm zipping my lips for now. OK I will give you a hint.....I had to take a day off of work. How’s that for a hint.

85 Days

Boy oh boy what a day. For some reason today has just been busy. Work was great and we had some good laughs today but with the gym being a polling place it seemed really busy. Even though we were busy it was eerily calm. We are bracing for another storm tonight.....9 inches of snow was the last that I heard....sigh.... The boys are hoping for a snow day, I would be OK either way. I just really dont want to make up the days at the end of the year. Besides if we get a snow day I'd rather have a Friday or a Monday. Nothing like getting a nice long weekend. The boys are completely knocked out, since it is raining right now it's like they were lulled to sleep. They look so utterly content. I guess I better get to bed too....something tells me I am going to be waking up early tomorrow to do some shoveling...but I wonder with the rain first it's going to be a sheet of ice in the morning. Whats a girl to do?

What can I say but the weather here SUCKS. I have shoveled more snow since Donte left than I ever have in my whole entire life.....and what do I get for this.....the stupid street sweeper man that sends all the slush, dirt, and snow in a huge plume right back onto my driveway. To add salt to my wound the road is still a mess of caked on frozen ice and compacted snow!!! I basically iceskated to work in my car this morning. JR called the street people this morning from school and they told her well there was a lot of snow....ummmmmmm NO SHIT!!!! I am really fuming. Do you know how hard it is to shovel snow that has been rained on and refrozen into a lovely slushy mess? UUUUUUUGGGGGGGGGG We are under a severe thunderstorm watch for tonight and are due to get 6 inches tomorrow night......how I miss the south. Donte is wearing shorts and complaing that his room is warm because he has the windows open. If I click my heals together 3 times do you think it will get me there?

87 Days

Well the boys and I are hanging out watching the Gameplan. I have to admit that it's a cute movie. I am getting ready to warm up the B-dubs and get ready for kick off. Daniel is busting at the seems. Both boys got plain T-Shirts and made their own Patriots shirts. Oh to be the lone women in a house full of men. I just hope that the commercials are well worth the hours of watching sweaty men run up and down the field. Here are some recent pictures.

Our house the morning of the snow day


Donnie playing outside in the snow


Dannie playing outside in the snow

3 post in one day

I know it's a lot but had to post this. The boys and I are sitting in the livingroom and I'm tired so I say "lets go up" Daniel responds with "I'm not tired" and Donnie replies with "thats because your young" OMG HAHAHAHAHAHA I could have passed out from laughing so hard.

Google

So this is some of what people google that gets linked to my blog.

slade playing at the rocks
recruiter's wife
mean tornado
pictures of pebbles or rocks
wife of an army recruiter

That brings me to the fact that I haven't been blogging about recruiting in a bit. I suppose that when Donte comes back from school I will get back to that. He is enjoying school and all the fun info that he is learning. USAREC is a million miles away. However it is very different living in a non military town with him being gone. For the most part it's the same.....just no one that really understands that I see on a day to day basis. Famous Daves dropped in to check on us and my co workers are great. My neighbors America and Reed are the greatest. They truly are the best neighbors ever. Some people try to kick you when you’re down, I can say that they are the type that bring you up and are always honest, gracious, and caring. I love them to pieces and am dreading this fall when they plan on leaving to head back to California.

Tooth Fairy

My kids are loosing teeth like there is no tomorrow. Daniel started off the streak a couple of weeks ago and Donte was soon to follow. I think he lost it either the day after or the 2nd day after Daniel lost his. Then he lost another one a few days later and today at their Soccer game I see Donnie on the field blood pouring out of his mouth. My first instinct was to run out there but I stayed put.....hardest thing I have had to do in a while. Finally he makes his way to me and proudly hands me his tooth. A baby one....THANK GOD!!! Unfortunatly his Jersey is white and there was blood on the front of it. Of course today was the day that I didn't take my camera. Thank God for the Clorox Bleach Pen that got everything out. If you dont have one run out and get one they come in handy for EVERYTHING. Clothing, grout, you name it. Well with all that tooth fairy money the boys were more than ready to go shopping. They pooled their money and bought another Wii game. They have been content for hours playing it. I am so glad that God blessed me with such great boys. They listen and love each other and their parents. Of course they act up every once in awhile but for the most part they really are great. They always get complimented on their manners and I have one straight A and one A, B student. They do their sports, afterschool clubs, keep great grades, help me around the house with everything, and of course get into everything and anything that they can. I may be biased but they are also the most handsome kids out there. They have big hearts too......they still give me a kiss in front of all of their friends!!! I love those little farts and thank God for them everyday!! So heres to the tooth fairy.....I'm off to play the Wii with my little darlings.

90 Days

Well time seems to be flying now. I swear it was just Monday morning and now here we are Thursday afternoon. We are in the midst of yet another lovely winter storm....check out the map above. It started snowing here at around 6 AM and is due to keep snowing until 7 pm tomorow. I have heard that we may get anywhere fom 4 inches to a foot!!!! Wow I should be in swimsuit shape by the end of the weekend because of all the shoveling that I am going to have in front of me. Wishfull thinking I know but hey I have to motivate mself somehow. When I talked to Donte he said it was nice weather in GA......Gee thanks hon thats just what I want to hear......you enjoy the lovely weather and I will start shoveling the million mile driveway....OK well it's not a million miles long but I need sympathy darn it. It's cold and yucky out there!!!! :0) Well Daniel is hoping for a snow day and Donnie wants to go to school so he wont have to make it up in the summer....I have to say that I can go either way. If it's a snow day I will snuggle deeper into my big fluffy bed for a few more hours......if we have to go in at least it's Friday!!

95 Days To Go

Well We have almost made it through the first week. The first week is always the hardest so I was glad to put it behind us because the first week is always the hardest. Donnie was gloomy for the first few days but has settled into his new role as the "Man of the House". This is a job that he takes very seriously. He even tried to mop the kitchen floor yesterday when I was upstairs putting the clothes away. He knows how much I hate doing the floors and even though I had to redo them after he was out of sight it was the sweetest bit of help that I have ever had. Dannie isn't gloomy but he sure is sensitive. I suppose it effects us all differently when 1/4 of the family is gone.
I let them have a buddy spend the night last night and they took full advantage. I made a huge pot of Chicken and Dumplings and some sweet tea. The boys tore into it and spent the night drawing and playing Wii. They even camped out in the game room. At 2 AM I had to tell them to go to sleep. I fell asleep on the couch and woke up at 7. They were up 20 min later.......READY TO GO. Man I wish that I had their energy. They filled up with waffles and jumped straight into round 2 of playing the Wii. Their buddy went home and now they are vegging out in the living room, watching "We are Marshall".
I on the other hand have 1001 things that I should be doing but am blogging instead. I'm dreading 6 AM.....it comes so fast!!! This week should fly by. I swear I have full days just about everyday this week. I think I'll join the boys with the whole vegging out program!

BRRRRRRrrrrrrrrrrrr

With the windchill we hit -30. Now I like the Midwest and all but the cold is awful. I have shoveled snow everyday this week. Long johns and my big fuzzy boots are my new favorite things.....yes even more than Twix......and my dogs look at me like I have 1001 heads when I open the door for them to go out. I literally just let them out for them to do their business and let them back in. Murphy dives into his big blue pillow like he is parachuting from a million feet above. Then the topper, this morning Donnie, Dannie, and I walk into school......I give Donnie a kiss and go to give Dannie loving and he looks a bit weird......luckily I was carrying my big green cup......and all of a sudden I see him lurch......I automatically put the cup to his mouth as he hurls. I get him to the nurse and he washes his mouth out and she takes his temp. Perfectly normal......????? We agree that he can lay down for a couple of minutes to see what happens. He swears that he is fine and is practically begging me to go to class. I tell him that I can take him home and that he can rest. Nope he says he haaaaaas to go to class. So 15 min later with the nurses blessing he gets his backpack and trudges off to class. I settle into a day of work. Around 1100 L tells me to go down to Dannies class. I just about took off in a sprint......no easy task in heels on a slick floor. When I get there Dannies buddy says "SHHHHHHHH he's sleeping" There was my baby fast asleep at his desk. His teacher says that they were in the middle of reading and she looked back and Daniel was knocked out. I gathered all his things and got his report card. Woke him up to take him home and he says....very groggily.....I have to stay in school. Then puts his head back down. I finally got him home and found out why he was so adamant on going to school today. Report Cards. The little button wanted his report card....well I would too if I got straight A's. My neighbor America took Dannie in and he slept the rest of the afternoon. He never got sick again but he slept the rest of the day until 30 min before I got home. He ate and apple and was content in front of the TV. He ate pizza and chicken soup and drank a ton of water and went to bed. Thank goodness he feels better!!! Donnie did great on his report card too all A's and a couple of B's. I am so very proud of my to young men.

Counting Down

Well Donte left yesterday for ANOC and made it to GA last night. It was harder this time to see him go. It's funny how you get used to them being home. I think that the last two years we were at Bragg he was only home for maybe 6 months. Between Iraq and all the schools he was always gone. Now it was nice that he came home on the weekends when he was at school and the boys and I only had to count down the weekdays.......this time he's roughly 888 miles away so there will be no driving home for the weekends. Donnie always takes it really hard when Donte leaves. He is truly such a loving child and his Daddy is his world. I was just the incubater that child eats, sleeps, and walks like his Dad. Dannie looks at it as Dad will be home soon and as long as he's not in Iraq and can talk to him everyday then it's OK. I am so used to Donte being home now.....heck for the past eight months he has been home. Sure the days are long sometimes but he comes home every night and we have had so much fun as a family. It's nice not to have to rush everything into one weekend because he is leaving again. I am grateful that he is not overseas and that we will be going to visit during spring break.....it's something that has to be done and at least we are counting down now...1 day down......100 to go! It's nice that we will go down to two digits. I will take 101 days over 365 anyday!! Oh and by the way my Old Man turned 34 the day before he left :0) We were all so glad that we were able to spend it together.

ANOC

Well with becoming an Sergeant First Class comes ANOC. ANOC = Advanced Noncommissioned Officers Course. So for the first time Donte is leaving for almost four months and the boys and I will be here......in a non military surrounding. Now dont get me wrong Donte has gone many places in the past where we are home without him but we always had a huge military surrounding. The Hospital on post, an FRG (Family Readiness Group)that was always at hand, plenty of other wives and kids that were going through the exact same thing. I am sure that everything will be fine and that we will cope I'm just a little nervous I guess. It should be interesting to say the least. The boys have made great friends here and so have I. The boys are also playing indoor Soccer so we will be extremly busy with that. In fact they had their first game today. They tied 2 / 2 and had a blast. The coach is nice and the kids are great. I also met some really nice parents. The Soccer facility is nice. It sure beats having to play in the freezing rain on a fied outside. It's nice and comfy and........no stains. Thank God for astroturf!!!

Happy New Year

I still can't believe that it's 2008. Time is already flying by. We are back to school on Monday and boy is it going to be hard. The boys and I have been staying up late and sleeping in. I am going to set my alarm for tomorrow morning so we can get used to getting up and back on a normal schedule again. I am excited to go back and see everyone and knowing that the sooner we go back the sooner summer comes helps. We had a really good snow storm come through a few days back and it was so pretty outside. There s just something about everything glistening that makes it magical even when you are in your 30's. The dogs of course have another perspective on it.....they like to eat the snow......that equals letting them out every 5 seconds. Whats a girl to do?

The boys had a sleepover night before last and they requested hot wings and pizza. The pizza was store bought but I decided to make the hot wings at home. I figured while I was at it I might as well make plenty and few some for later nights. I was making hot wings for three hours......but on the plus side I have three huge baggies of hot wings in the freezer. Anyway the kids tore into the 4th bag and needless to say those are all history. In fact I did a lot of cooking over the holidays and was able to make extra of just about everything to freeze for a later date. Thank goodness because I have those lazy days that I just don't want to cook so I can just defrost and serve it up. I am supposed to make some Tilapia tonight but I am having trouble getting motivated.....speaking of fish......We are watching Happy Feet for the 50 millionth time. That movie just doesn't get old. It has to be one of the cutest movies ever. Even though the boys are getting older they still love to watch it.

Well I better get off my hiney and get to cooking......oh the joys :0)

One smal victory for WOMANKIND

First of all can I say that working at a school has its perks. My last day of work was December 21st and I return on January 7th. It is so nice not to have to dread going back to work. Everyone was so excited as the school day creeped to an end and we all wished each other a great Christmas and a safe New Year....boy what a change from "not everyone gets to take leave".....I have to admit that every time I took leave at my last job I cringed because I knew that I would get the cold shoulder when I returned and the not so discrete.....we are soooooo behind comments. Even though I earned the leave I never got to completely relax. Thank you God for giving us orders here and helping me land the perfect job that lets me balance being a Mom and going to work.
The days before Christmas were spent with Jenn, Brian and the boys. I am so glad that our families mesh so well. We did some shopping, a little cooking and a whole lot of laughing. Jenn and I even got Donte and Brian the same shirts that said "your roof or mine?" The kids of course had a blast together doing a whole lot of everything. We also got to spend some time with Jenn's Dad Ron who is just as sweet as he wants to be....makes me super excited for the day that My parents will be back to spend time with all of us.
Christmas was a blast. It was just the four of us this year and we totally took advantage of a PJ day. Donte and I did most of the cooking the day before so we had minimal cooking and cleaning to do. The boys were totally spoiled and haven't given the Wii a rest yet.....I have to admit that I like Guitar hero......ummm yup I've been playing right along with them as has Donte. If you have a Wii I suggest the game called playground. Dodge ball is a great game and you will be falling dowm laughing while playing it. It was really nice having Donte home this year too. We have spent many Christmas' without him. Once in Kosovo and another in Iraq. It was a blessing to say the least to have him home safe with us.
So on to my one small victory......Donte no longer has a game room....since he has taken over the plasma he never uses it....soooooo I now have a craft room. I am in heaven I tell you. I am almost done getting it together. We bought a 6 foot table and some storage drawers and I cannot wait to get started. I will take pictures when its done and show you all. I feel like a kid in a candy store.
As for the snow it's been coming down and in fact it is snowing right now. The kids and the dogs have been having a blast in it.

Pictures.....Posts to follow later

Oh the weather outside is frightful….

It was 5 degrees outside this morning. I park in the garage so I knew by the chill that it was chillier than usual but when we got to the school and had to go from the car to the door I could have died!!!! My eyes even started to tear.
It has been years since we lived in Germany and I have a feeling that I am going to take longer than I thought to get used to It. However the boys are just waiting for the snow.....what they don't realize is that it will take about 10 feet to make the schools close for a snow day. Oh to be a kid again.
Usually I have my tree up and decorated on Thanksgiving Day. I feel like I need a whole month to have it up because I am the type of person that needs to have it taken down no later than the 2nd of January. Well I guess I have been bitten by the lazy bug!! We put the tree itself up and it has been sitting in that lovely corner in my living room totally bare except for the lights…..only because it is pre lit for a week now. I had Donte bring up the decorations and they are sitting pretty in the formal living room completely untouched. Well now it’s Thursday and Donnies birthday party is tomorrow so I have all of a few hours tonight to go to the store, bake brownies, and make some pico for his party. Did I tell ya’ll that he wants Mexican food….yummy yummy!! Donte is going to pick up these huge burritos at this authentic Mexican place and I am going to make some home made pico and get some of those addictive lime tortilla chips. He also would rather have brownies than a cake.
Most of the Christmas shopping is completed. I need to get a few last minute things and get the boxes off. Which I am planning on doing tomorrow during my lunch. I am dreading the shipping bill. Boy do I miss MPS. For those of you that don’t know it’s the Military Postal System and if you were sending stuff from an overseas address to another it was free. It took a little longer but I would rather spend he money on the gifts rather than the postage.
I have started a bit of baking. Donte and the kids are loving it because I don’t bake any other time of the year. I do enjoy it however it is way too tempting to nibble here and there. I just made a batch of butterscotch, white chocolate, milk chocolate chip cookies. I have to say I love them…..I make them chewy because none of us are crispy cookie people…..nope nice and chewy and perfect if you warm em up for about 5 seconds in the microwave.
In fact that’s what I am gonna do……eat a nice warm, gooey cookie!!

LMC

Do you ever have those memories that you try to keep away the ones that hurt you like nothing can? I lost my Best Friend today, 7 years ago. I truly miss her more and more and even though time has passed and closure has come it’s still a very hard day for me. It tore me into pieces when it happened and the circumstances were awful. I always light a candle for her on the 27th and remember the good times that we had, the secrets, the parties and even the tears. She was the closest thing that I had to a sister and I forever will miss our 3 am phone calls and inside jokes. RIP L I love ya and one day….hopefully a long time from now…..I know that she will be there to welcome me when my time comes.

ATC Cont.

After coming back from the outlets it was time to get ready for the ball. The boys were already over with the older kids and having a blast. They could care less about the ball. I was totally excited because it has been so long since we bothered with a ball. I had found a new dress and Donte looked mighty fine in his blues. We walked downstairs in the hopes that we could get our pictures done early and enjoy the rest of the evening. We got in line and we were about the 5th couple in line…..I thought how wonderful. This should go fast…WRONG!!!! There was one lonely photographer and no assistant. The poor guy was obviously wearing three hats and having a bit of trouble getting it all done. We waited for about an hour…..and yes I kicked my shoes off. …..no way was I going to suffer. We got our pics done and met up with the rest of the station. The guys had to go in early because they were doing the arch with the sabers. So we had to wait and wait and wait……finally one of the other guys escorted me through the receiving line and we finally got in. We tried to get a table that would seat all of us. Since we are such a small station we thought that it would be really easy but we were one short so T had to sit at the table next to us. Never the less the night was spent laughing and talking. Donte even met a guy that went to basic with him. Said that he had gotten out of the ARMY and was a civilian now. What a small world that was 14 years ago. Donte’s station won another award and his station commander won the station commander award. It was more than well deserved; he is a great team builder and has some great values to his practices. The awards took hours and after it was said and done we all went back up to change.
The resort had a club in it and we decided to meet up there. Now I used to love going to the club……heck Donte and I met at the club…….I was so ready to leave because the smoke was so thick you could barely see through it. So we went back down to where the ball was. The DJ was there but they closed the bar so there were literally 4 people there. Common sense should tell you that if the equation reads (soldiers + their spouses) + a formal ball + a full bar= FUN if you take away the full bar it ='s over. What a mess. They should have hired the DJ from the night before. He was great the DJ for the ball……for lack of better words sucked!!!! There were 6 of us so we went in and sat and talked we even danced a little. By then it was approaching 2 AM and time to settle in.
After getting back to the room and getting the kids settled in we crashed! We had to leave the next morning and hadn’t packed a stitch.
The next morning we got up and packed. Donte went downstairs for yet another meeting. We loaded the car and all headed down to the conference room. They had many speakers that came in and we all sat patiently and listened to them……OK not really Donnie and I played the make the squares game for what seemed like hours. Donte and Daniel sat right in front of us so Donnie and I were covered. I saw that one of the speakers was the nice guy from the university that I had gotten info from for DONTE. He was a great speaker and imagine my surprise when he says that he has even known SFC Slade for 14 years…….OMG how funny... I had spoken to him about Donte and that he and Donte had spoken and he was Dontes friend from basic. Not only did they have to go all the way to Wisconsin to meet but he lives right by where we do and attends the same YMCA. Boy life is strange at times.
After all was said and done we settled into the ride back home. I slept. I think I was out for a good 2 of the 3 hours. We got home, unloaded the car and headed off to pick up Diggy and Murphy. Pet smart is only about 15 min away and I was ready to see my little stinkers.
The dogs had a blast and were very happy to see us. They had been groomed and Murphy had been shaved. They were so cuddly and were jumping all over the place.
After tons of laundry and putting everything away I had just enough time to catch a few hours of sleep until I had to wake up and go back to the grind of everyday life.

Happy 10th Birthday Donte Jr. (Thanksgiving)

It is so hard for me to believe that my sweet little angel is now 10 years old. He came into our lives just as sweet and peaceful as could be. Always happy and content. He was such a joy as a baby. So cuddly and sweet. He has grown into such a great human being. His manners are impeccable and he is always there to lend a helping hand whenever anyone needs it. From picking up something that someone may drop to taking up for his friend, our neighbor who was the new kid in class last year. Now here he is 10 years old. His feet are the same size as mine and I know it wont be long until he is taller than me. I know that soon he wont be able to fit in my lap and that he wont run to me when he gets a boo boo, but I also know that if I have a boo boo or need a hug he's the kind of kid that will be there for me....even when his friends are around. He is doing great in school and has joined many of the clubs that are offered. He is content with what he has and is headed down the right path. He is the greatest older brother and is always there to help Daniel in any way that he can....but he also picks on him a little....that's the perks of being the older brother right. I thank God for him everyday! HAPPY BIRTHDAY MY SON. I LOVE YOU

ATC

Wow what a weekend. We had a BLAST!

We started out at Dennys where we all met up. Breakfast was full of laughs and eagerness to get on the road. The boys were so excited that they could barely contain themselves.
The whole journey took about 3 hours and we were more than ready to get there. Dontes section were going to be presented with Sabers so we were all there a day ahead. Some other folks were there as well and we ALL had the IMPRESSION that the rooms were going to be paid for. At east that's the info that was given out. Imagine our surprise when the rooms were not paid for and on top of that our lovely battalion didn't update my hubbys Government card info so we couldn't use that. He submitted the changes as soon as we got here ......over 6 months ago. Thankfully the lady at the resort was fabulous. We paid for our room and one of the other soldiers rooms and Faye made sure that we were all near each other on the same floor. It took a while but it was well worth the wait. Not only did she get our rooms together but we were all upgraded, we didn't have rooms we had suites. Whirlpool tubs, full kitchens, living rooms with fireplaces, and a huge king size bed. A little slice of heaven!
The first night we unpacked and P (Famous Daves wife) and I headed out to Wally World and stocked up on frozen pizza, drinks, snacks for the kids, and some fried chicken dinners for the room. Dinner was held in our room and was a blast. It was nice just to hang out and spend some time with some of the people that Donte had been working with for the past 6 months.
The kids were ecstatic because Gary (Famous Daves(FD) son) was there for the weekend as well......all three of the boys share a deep love for anything that has to do with a gaming system. FD has two daughters as well that were there and bless them both for putting up with three boys that love to drive everyone a little nuts.
The next morning Donte was off early to do some training and the boys and I were up getting ready for the day. The boys went across the hall to hang with Gary and the girls while P and I headed off to "sign in and get our packets". Donte had warned me but it was still annoying to see that they had misspelled my name. In fact they had misspelled a lot of names....hmmmmmmmm don't these people have access to DEERS?.....isn't it quite simple to see the correct spelling of names? Whats a girl to do. My badge read Sahnez Slade....sooooo Donte found this the prime opportunity to pick on me......my new IRAQI name is SAAAAAAAAAAAAAAhhhhhhhnez. HA HA Donte very funny :0).
P and I gathered lots of info about Tricare, Dental, and all that good stuff. They even had different colleges set up so I decide that I would pick up some info for Donte. I spoke to the college guy for awhile and found out that he actually attends the same YMCA that we go to and that he lives in the same town as us. Small world isn't it.....keep that in mind.....you will see why later. We also found the room that the guys were having their Sabre ceremony that was all very hush hush and we couldn't attend. They didn't account for the peep hole in the door....too bad the ceremony was over and we didn't see a thing....DARN...my timing just sucks :0)
We then met up with D (Mere's very preggo wife) and took all the kids down to the worlds largest indoor water park.....OMG what a blast we did the lazy river, the boys had the time of their lives on the slides and I settled in nicely to the huge hot tub with the waterfall. We had a SPLASH!!! We were not quite ready to go but we had the company party to go to.
We went back to the room and to tell you the truth I really could have used a nap but no such luck we had to get ready. We got dressed and everyone met back in our room again. It was nice to share a few drinks and a tom of laughs before the party even began. I got some great pics of everyone. It's so nice to see that our little station was so well bonded. It actually reminded me of the units in Germany where everybody got along so well. It was like family.
Our company party theme was a luau. We went in and grabbed a table for us and a table for the kids. How nice that they are all old enough to be at their own table.....for them and for us. They started out with the awards and Donte had a clean sweep. The first award that he received was an AAM for getting a 319 on his PT test (they grade on a sliding scale so you can go far beyond what the norm is) you know how physically fit Donte is so this was an achievement that had been a long time coming, he also received an Eagle statue for the best PT score, then he received the MVP award and statue for everything that he has done since he has been here and finally his whole station received the top station award for being as good as they are.....can you tell I'm bursting with pride. We then ate and danced the night away. Daniel as usual was the first one on the dance floor and shook his groove thing until he couldn't anymore. He even dance with his Mama. Donnie had nothing to do with all of that except for the cha cha slide, then it was off to play with the other kids. One of the soldiers that work with Donte....we will call him M had us laughing all night long. I swear this guy should be a comedian. He had us rolling.
The next morning we woke up to snow. Oh glorious snow. It had been so long since we had seen that. I hurriedly started the fireplace and started breakfast. It was so nice and cozy. Donte had to run off to training again so P and I made sure that the kids were settled and headed off to the Tanger outlets. I love to shop and just don't get to it often enough these days. After shopping we headed back to the hotel to get ready for the Ball..........

I will finish later that was a lot to post and I have one more post to do....about something so much more precious to me. Here are a few pics in random order...ENJOY

Our ATC Adventure is About to Begin.

We are busy getting the last minute things together. One last minute trip to the mall, dinner out......who wants left overs when I have four glorious days of not cooking ahead of me.....and two young boys haircuts behind us......we are on our way. I am tired but excited. I still have a little bit of packing to do....OK a lot of packing to do but I think that it can wait until the morning and we are off. I will fill you in when we get back. :0)

Dinner Date....Recruiting Style

Last Thursday my husband calls me at around lunch time and says "can you get Jenn to watch the boys? ....and can you go home as soon as the last bell rings?...Make sure to get ready to go out....you know shave your legs and all that fun stuff you do." I was mute for a min because uhhhhhhhh where are we going? We have a dinner to say bye to the commander is my husbands response. We have to leave at 5....does he not realize that I get home at 4 and that I just took my nail polish off this morning because it chipped and that alone would take 30 min to redo? So I hurry and call Jenn about the boys and inform my co-workers that I will be running out as fast as I can this afternoon. They by the way are great and say go home now if you want...but the boys don't release until 1530 so I may as well wait for them.

I finally get home the boys let the dogs out and feed them as I rush to get ready and I think I am doing pretty good. I am dressed, hair done, make up done and its 445. Donte is home getting ready himself. I start to repaint my nails and realize that they will have to dry in the car. I run the boys over to Jenns at 1700 and bless her, she says they can just spend the night if your going to run late. I run back home....in heels and holler up to Donte that I am ready and he says "we can leave at 1730"......are you kidding me? Does he realize how much I rushed?

We finally get in the car and get going. We get to the restauant and go in and there are all of 4 other people there....everyone else is late. WOW I am so used to the military being sticklers about time....I guess in the recruiting world on time is showing up a hour late. That was actually OK with me since we were 15 minutes late anyway.

We had a blast. It was so much fun. It was actually the first of these functions that I didn't leave feeling as if I wanted to never go back. It was at a little cozy chop house that served great drinks. Even though the food left a lot to be desired it didn't make much of a difference at all. We got home a bit late and I had a lttle bit of trouble getting up the next morning but oh was it worth it.

I only hope that ATC goes as well.