How are you spending your New Year's Eve??

We are spending it sitting here in New Jersey today. I can't even describe to you what kind of emotional, stressful, and tiring day it has been spent at the Passenger terminal today. We arrived at 930 AM at the terminal to wait patiently for our flight to arrive and find out if we would be on it. The roll call wasn't until 330, so we knew we had plenty of time to waste around the airport. Around noon or so, the snow started falling and the wind started picking up. The next thing I knew they were changing our roll call to 740 PM, uh oh, I knew this wasn't going to be good. They made an announcement for us telling us that the plane might not even be able to land, due to winds. My heart dropped. Here we go again. I just wasn't sure how much more my emotions could take. All we could do now was wait and watch the weather and the screen to see if the time was changed again for roll call.
Finally around 6PM they announced that they were not sure of how many seats were available, but they wanted to get us all ready so when the plane lands, we all could be bused out there and take off.....to home....Travis AFB. After taking all of our luggage, giving us tickets, purchasing a meal, and sitting down waiting to be called to the gate, they made another announcement. They flight was being delayed, yet again, for TWENTY-FOUR hours. This time my heart not only sunk down, but tears instantly welled up in my eyes. All I want is to be home, in my bed, with my dog and enjoying my last few days before I have to go back to work. That's all I want, is that so much to ask for? I had my fun, saw all my family, even seen lots of snow, so I am done with this trip and want to be home!
I knew this announcement was bad for many reasons. 1. There wasn't any billeting rooms (like we stayed in the night before) open on the base. 2. It's New Year's eve and I wasn't sure how easy it would be to find a hotel room. 3. I wasn't going to sleep in my bed yet another night.
Well, we found a room over here at an Army base connected the Air Force base. The kids have had a BLAST today. They have been wonderful and have played so hard with many new friends we have made on this leg of the trip. They are out in the hallway playing with many of them as I type away here in the room. They think this is just the best vacation ever. I wish I could say that I am enjoying it as much as they are, but at this point I am not.
So we will be spending our New Year's eve here at Fort Dix, New Jersey. I am sure we will stay up tonight until the New Year arrives. I am going to pull out my camera and start making some memories cause I know one day I am going to look back at this and just laugh and talk about how much fun we had. I know my kids will look back and remember this New Year's Day.
On another note, I found out today of a date when my husband will be arriving home! Yes, I will be hugging and loving on my husband in 13 days!! Can you believe it? I can't believe that six months has finally went by and is coming to an end. Hooray! I finally made it. I am so very proud of myself for how well I have handled this deployment. There aren't many people that can do what I do on a daily basis.
I am going to go and play with my kids now in the hallway. Can I just say there are some GREAT people in the military? I have had so many people that have helped me with my luggage, and I have LOTS of luggage, and have made sure I found a place to stay. It has been wonderful. We have met some great people. We are all in the same boat and all stranded here, but are making the best of it. We all ordered Chinese at the terminal today. I think I saw the Chinese Delivery guy about 4 times today. He made some good money today. Tonight we all went in together and got some Domino's. I hope you are enjoying your New Year's eve as much as I am.
I just hope this next year I get to spend more time with my husband than I did this year. That in itself will make it the best year ever.......

Our Wonderful Christmas

I wish I could say I was sitting in my house in California with my Yellow Lab lying at my feet, but I can't. I am sitting here looking out the window watching a KC-135 land, in sunny New Jersey. Our trip hit a little speed bump on Sunday night, after driving 9 hours in the car to Maryland. We checked into our hotel and I called to check on our flight for the next morning and they informed me the flight was canceled. I had a slight melt-down, but soon recovered and came up with another plan. I am hoping plan B works. We will find out tomorrow. Please keep us in your prayers tomorrow afternoon, that we get back home. I know this is what Space A is all about, but it still can be tough and stressful. The kids are doing great and having a blast. We have a small apartment type hotel (TLF) here and are enjoying the space. I must admit that I have wonderful kids, that are pretty flexible and well-traveled.

I hope that everyone had a great Christmas! Ours was fabulous and there was only one thing missing, my husband. I am hoping to find out something soon about his arrival home. Hopefully by next week! We had a blast in Ohio for Christmas. It was alot easier with the kids being a little older. I think we got to see everyone we wanted to this time. I took tons of pictures, but seem to be losing my memory a little. I didn't get hardly any pictures of my moms side due to me thinking I forgot my camera, it wasn't until everyone left that I found it sitting by the front door! I was so upset! I guess that's part of getting old.....not that I am. So I have tons of pictures, but not many of my mom's side. Hopefully I can steal some from my cousins wife soon and I will share them with you then.

I guess you will see how much fun we had in our pictures. I wish I could say that we had a "snow" day, but there wasn't any snow falling in Ohio during our visit, of course. After all the shopping and stuff for "snow" gear and I didn't even get to use any of it! That's the way the weather works in Ohio, you never know what you're going to get.

Enjoy the slide show. Thank you to everyone that made special trips to see us, that made room in their houses for our crew, and to everyone that altered their plans for us. We appreciate it so much and loved seeing each and every one of you. I would like to say we will do it again next year, but I can't say that for sure....sorry.

The "joys" of flying Space Available!

Here I sit in front of my computer, when I am suppose to be on the plane I hear revving up out on the flight line. The kids and I attempted to leave on a flight this morning to our destination, but the attempt failed. They only had ten seats available, so obviously they had ten people ahead of us. The part I don't like is that we are bumped down a Category, due to flying without my husband. In my eyes, we should be bumped UP a Category while he is away. That just seems fair to me. There were many families that didn't get on this flight, so I know they are going to be back there this evening, along with us, fighting to get on this last flight out.
Please pray that we get on this flight tonight. It broke my heart to hear Jaelyn cry when I told her to head back out to the car. She screamed "I want to go on the airplane and see GRANDMA!!!" It's hard to explain Space Available to a four year old, but I told her that we will try again tonight. It's a bigger plane, so hopefully we have a BIGGER chance of getting on. IF we don't get on this flight out tonight, then I am not sure when we will get out. There aren't any other flights out to our destination the rest of the weekend. I am putting a cut-off day of Tuesday, as my last chance to get out of here. We'll see what happens.
I just pray we get on this one tonight and then I don't have to worry about figuring out the rest. This is the worst part about the traveling and I usually have this really smart and good looking man to help me (my husband) with all of the decisions, but right now, I am alone in this.

I hope the next time I am updating to be in the cold, snowy state of Ohio! Let's keep our fingers crossed!

Patience? What's that?

Here is a part of Steve's birthday present. I had a friend from Church take these for us to send to Steve. I think they turned out pretty good, considering the group! I hope you enjoy.....

This week is all about patience for me. It is going to be an interesting week for me. If you know me at all, then you know that I am not a very patient person. Now, I have TONS of patience with kids, but anything else.....forget it! I have this problem and I think it's called "Impulse control"....lol...if I see something, then I want it or THINK I NEED it now. It's amazing how far I have come over the years, as I progress in age, but I still have a "slight" problem with it every now and then. I am hoping I am able to get through this next week with a lot of patience. I will let you know how I do when it is all over with. There are a couple of things testing my patience this week, one I can't control, but the other one is waiting on the right flight out of here to home. I have my plan all set in place, now I just have to wait and see what flights are going out on those dates. If something comes up any earlier than my scheduled dates. then that is where I will run into trouble with my "impulse control" issue. And you were wondering where Chelsea got it from huh?

Our Christmas musical went great! I am so proud of all my preschoolers at Church. They did so fabulous and I just love each one of them for the great job they did. Each year is very stressful up to the day of the musical, but once it's all over with I just sit back and realize how well it went. This year turned out great and I know next year will be just as wonderful.

I hope everyone is enjoying the Christmas season. I know I sure am. I love this time of year and I know once it's over with, I am that much closer to seeing my wonderful husband. We are so excited about him coming home and it's all we talk about around our house. Steve received his birthday present and he LOVED it. I was very worried about if he would like the things I got him, but he did.

Well, pray for me this next week or so. I am hoping soon I will have a post full of lots of NEW happening things around here. I can't wait.....

Good Days and Bad Days...

It seems to be either or lately. I either have a really great day, or I have a really bad day. This week has been full of bad days. Now I say bad days, that doesn't necessarily mean the whole day is bad. It just seems to be very difficult coming off of a four day weekend and getting back into the grove of things. I really enjoyed my time off this past weekend. I made sure to take time for myself, get some much needed deep cleaning done, and spend some quality time with my kids. I am very blessed to be able to spend alot of time with my children on a daily basis. I know it's not always easy for working parents to find alot of time with their children, so I am lucky to be able to work out of my home. Soon enough my time of working out of the home will be over, but raising my children never will be. I am grateful and blessed to have been able to be a stay at home mom. One day I will look back and be ever so grateful for the time I spent with my children. Now don't get me wrong, there are days I just would love to run out of the house screaming and the past two days have been just like that.
Today has been a much better day though and I am so glad. I am getting so excited about our vacation home. Yes, I am calling it a vacation because it's a vacation from my house, work, and life. I get to go home and spend some quality time with family. That is the greatest Christmas present ever (besides if my husband could come home early). I already have my whole trip planned out and am ready to get it started. I have been praying about my trip that it goes well and I don't have too much trouble with traveling alone, and it seems to be working out just perfectly so far. This doesn't mean that it's going to GO perfectly, but so far my planning is...LOL. I have found a base on the east coast that flies here three times a week, and they have flights from here about two to three times a week to that same base. I also found at that base, they have a car rental place right INSIDE the terminal where I will be landing! PRAISE THE LORD! This is an answered prayer! I have been stressing about how I would get to the car rental place, dragging luggage and three kids. Now it seems to be working out. It is looking like I might actually be leaving two weeks from tomorrow. Just knowing it is so close, just has me so anxious to get it started.
I think I have all the needed items for snow. We have borrowed some and purchased most. I am sure I will get there and realize that I have forgot something, so I will probably have to do some shopping while I am home...darn. I do have to finish up some Christmas shopping when I get there because I don't want to drag it on the airplane with me. I will have plenty of family members VERY willing to take my children, so I can go out and finish up my shopping...alone. That will be exciting to get away and not have to worry about leaving my kids. They will be glad to get away from me and spend time with their family.
I hope everyone enjoyed their Thanksgiving as much as we did. We did a whole lot of nothing, but sitting around and munching on food all day long. I baked two pumpkin pies (I don't know what I was thinking) and had to send one to my neighbor next door. Pumpkin pie is a HUGE weakness of mine. There is no way I am going to let a pumpkin pie get the best of me! NO WAY! I ate a couple of pieces and then got rid of the rest. Boy times sure have changed.
I will be updating hopefully this weekend with some new pictures. It will be a busy week this week due to our Christmas musical coming up this Sunday. Our rehearsal is all day Saturday and then the musical is Sunday. The kids have been practicing so hard for this and I can't wait to see the final product on Sunday.
Have a great Hump Day everyone!

Ready for Turkey Day!!!

I love this picture of my kids just having fun and being care-free. I hope they can look back on this picture one day and remember how simple life was as a child.

I have my menu ready, my ingredients all sitting on the table, and my kids ready to cook, now I just need Thanksgiving to get here! Well actually, I am thinking about doing the cooking today. I figure I don't have anyone to cook for or to be ready at a certain time, so why not? Then I can just sit and relax all day tomorrow. Something I don't get to do hardly ever anymore!

I don't have much to say on here today, but just wanted to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving. I went to the Library yesterday and got three books to read this weekend. I am hoping to get to read a little bit, can you tell? I love to read and I don't think I have got to do much of it at all since I started back to work. I miss it and can't wait to dive into a book. I didn't get anything special to read, just a romance novel this time. Good old Danielle Steel. Don't judge me please!

I hope everyone is as ready for the Holiday's as I am! Tomorrow evening the kids and I are going to put up a tree. I just can't imagine this house going without one during Christmas. It looks like my neighbor is going to take care of Samson while we are gone, so he will be staying here and I want him to have a pretty tree to look at while we are gone. Ok, again, don't judge me. Yes, I love my dog! The kids are excited about putting up the tree. I am not going to go all out and decorate the whole inside or outside this year. It will be very simple. Just the garland from the ledge upstairs and the tree. I have already bought FOUR new Christmas CD's. I know, I am pathetic and yes, we have already been listening to them. I can't help it, I just love Christmas. I can't wait for Santa to visit here this year while we are gone.The kids are going to be so surprised to see all the presents under the tree when we get back.

Yesterday Tyler said that one of his friends in school told him Santa isn't real. He then asked me if he was. Now, I don't like lying to my children and I am doing the same thing with Tyler and Jaelyn that I did with Chelsea. I ask them "what do you think, do YOU think he is real?" and Tyler said yes, so I said then he must be real. I let my children believe until they are ready to NOT believe any longer. Why take that away from them? I feel kids grow up way to fast these days as it is, why not give them a little longer to believe in something so magical. My kids love tracking Santa on the computer every year on Christmas Eve, Even Chelsea watches and smiles as we look to see where Santa has delivered his presents to. It has been a tradition of ours for years now. I can't wait to see the twinkle in Jaelyn's eyes this year as she looks to see where Santa is heading. She is a little older this year and it is so much fun to hear her talk about Santa and how she can't wait for him to come.
I hope everyone enjoys their long weekend, those that get one. I hope I get some relaxing in mine and you take the time to relax too. I am pretty much done with my Christmas shopping, so I will not be doing any shopping this weekend. I am too old for that chaos and can't handle it anymore. I would rather shop online...lol.

Have a Happy TURKEY DAY!

How many times can you wash your hands in a day?

Until they dry, crack and bleed? That is what happened to my hands this week. Monday I woke up sick, but I toughed it out. I probably washed my hands a thousand times in one day. I am trying my best to sanitize and clean everything, so I don't pass this on to the daycare kids. It only got worse from there and by Tuesday evening I was drugged up on NyQuil and in bed by 745.
It's been a rough week for me this week. I still toughed it out and worked, but barely. I probably should have closed on Wed, but I feel bad having four sets of parents trying to scramble and find alternate care. I am a person driven on guilt, shame on me. I am slowly weaning myself off of DayQuil now. I haven't taken any since Friday morning and I am feeling it. It seems worse in the morning cause it all sits at night. It is in my chest really badly and if I am not better by mid-week this week, I am making myself an appt. I have to be sure to take care of myself, so I can take care of my kids here at home. If I can't take care of them, then I don't have anybody that will, so it's vital for me to be healthy!
I am so glad it's the weekend! I am going to get the much needed rest that my body needs. The kids and I are just going to hang out here all day today and relax and recoup. Next week is a short week for me due to the Holiday's, so I am very excited about getting a FOUR day weekend. I already have our Thanksgiving planned out and can't wait until it gets here. We will be hanging out in style that day...in our PJ's! Yep, all day long! We are all going to cook our Thanksgiving dinner together and just play games or Playstation all day long. Nothing special, but lots of fun. My children getting older has always been a scary thing for me. I can't remember having any kind of life before kids. I had Chelsea when I was 18, so it's all I have ever really known in my adult life. I can say, that it's not as bad as I thought it was going to be. I LOVE my children and their ages now. We have so much fun together and enjoy each other's company. Life with a teenager isn't always easy, but she is such a great help to me and also has been a joy getting to know as a teenager. Thanksgiving day is going to be a fun day with my kids and Samson and I am going to cherish that day as much as I can. I know deep down inside that there is going to come a day when I won't always have my children here to spend the Holiday's with me and so I am going to soak up every moment I can.
Last night I finished up Steve's birthday/Christmas presents to send out in his box. I am so excited about his box and really hope that he loves his gifts. I wish he was here so I could see his face as he opens them! I have such a hard time keeping surprises to myself, so this has just been killing me! I have been doing good so far. If I keep talking though, I might end up giving up too much information!
I hope everyone has a great weekend! At some point I am going to try and clean my headlights on my van. They have become very very dingy, I think is the word. I had to change my turn signal last night because it blew again! Did I mention that I can't wait to get my NEW car when Steve gets home?? It has been EIGHT years since we have bought me a new car and I think it's time. The poor van is about to fall apart and I can't take it any longer. Although, Steve will be driving it for a little while because I am not letting daycare kids in my brand new car! No way! My own kids will be lucky to get in it! Just kidding.
Have a great weekend and I will hopefully post a little more healthier next week!

The best day ever... almost

Do you ever wake up in the morning and just think to yourself how blessed you are? Sunday morning I woke up and looked over in my bed and saw a sweet, precious little four year old staring back at me. I looked at the end of my bed and saw a gorgeous, yellow lab wagging his tail waiting for me to get out of bed and feed him. I just smiled. I closed my eyes and said a little prayer of thanks. I had this overwhelming feeling of being the most blessed person in the world. I have three great kids, the best dog in the world, and the most caring husband ever. Although my husband is half a world away, I felt like the luckiest woman in the world to be the one he chose to marry. After almost ten years of marriage, I still feel like I don't deserve this man God gave me. I woke up just so grateful and full of thanks on Sunday morning.

Sunday was the best day ever. It would have been the most "perfect" day had my husband been by my side. We woke up and headed to the Church Sunday morning to practice for our Christmas musical once again. The kids are working so hard and I can't wait to see the final product this year. It's always so good. After church we went to go eat lunch together as a family. It was just me and the kids for once, and it felt great. We chose to eat at In and Out Burger for lunch because we were in a hurry to see our "surprise." The kids had no idea we were going to The Nut Tree. They have only been once and loved every minute of it, of course Jaelyn was too little to enjoy to many of the rides. Well this time she was able to ride EVERYTHING, including the roller coaster! She loved it! We rode the thing four times. I think we would have rode it more, but we had to head back to the Church for our small group. We rode the train twice, the merry go round three times, and the spinny thingy once. Mommy could only handle the spinning thing once.

So here are lots of pictures for you to enjoy. Sorry you know me, I love to post pictures. I hope you enjoy this day through my pictures as much as I did. Try to take time this week and reflect on how blessed we all are.....

This is my favorite picture. I just wish Chelsea was in it.

My three little blessings.

This look says it all.....she did have fun though.

She enjoyed each and every ride.

This is another of my favorites. Who knows what Jaelyn is doing and Chelsea is behind the camera.

Heading out to Church

I love this picture of Chelsea

Jaelyn loves to get her picture taken.

Being silly at the Nut Tree

She takes after her daddy

and so does this one.....

Are we leaving yet for Church?

Do you really have to take my pictture again?

The leader of the pack..

I love this girl more than anything in the world. She is so full of personality, as all of my children are. I wouldn't trade these moments with them for anything in the world.

You Better Watch Out...

You better not cry, you better not pout, I am telling you why....SANTA CLAUS IS COMING TO TOWN!
Yes folks, I am talking Christmas! It's everywhere you look, it's all over tv commercials (which I can't stand) and it's all over the stores. I can't believe how quickly Christmas is sneaking up on me. I am usually a last minute shopper, but have been working hard this year to stay ahead of the game. I have done a good job of it too. Today I went out and bought one of Steve's Christmas presents. We usually don't buy for each other and mainly focus on the kids each year, but this year is special. We are not going to be having Christmas together on Christmas Day. If you know me at all I am horrible at keeping secrets, so it is killing me not to tell Steve!

I am also gearing up for our trip home to Ohio. Here in Northern California, our winters are very mild. We don't see snow, but we usually see plenty of rain. It isn't NEAR as cold as it is in Ohio, so needless to say....we don't dress for winters like they do back home. I have been getting warmer clothes for both me and the kids. We are taking a military flight home, so I am not sure where we will land. We could land in New Jersey and have to walk in the snow some. I am really nervous about this trip alone with the kids cause it's not so easy. I won't have tickets with a set date, set destination, or set time. I literally fly by the seat of my pants. When we land we don't have any method of transportation to get to Ohio, so I will be renting a car and driving in snow. I haven't drove in snow in over 5years at least, so I am pretty nervous about it. I think I have discussed this before about my trip to Ohio, but this is my blog and I can talk about things as many times as I want...lol. That's how nervous I am about this whole trip. If it was just me I wouldn't worry too much, but I will be dragging three kids around with me too in the freezing cold.
Today I checked out a kennel to put Samson in while we are away. It's just too difficult during the Holiday's to find anyone willing to stay here with him. I am so upset about putting him in a kennel, but I really don't have any other option. This is another added expense that we have for our "FREE"trip home. Many people think that it's just so easy for to come home cause we can fly for free. Not really the case at all. We have to rent cars, pay someone to watch our dog or kennel him, pay for gas for the car rentals, etc, etc. It really does add up and fast, especially around the Holiday's.
So I am done venting for now. Like I said, I have been torn about being happy about the Holiday's. It just isn't the same without my husband here. This trip would be 100% easier with him by my side, but most things usually are with him.
My weekend is going great. The kids and I are going to the Nut Tree tomorrow to enjoy some rides and spend some quality time together. I feel as though we don't get that very often with me working now. I am ready to enjoy a great day at Church and then some time with my kiddos. I hope you all are able to do the same...

Watching the game...

Go Browns!!!!

Everyone knows that I LOVE Thursday's and today is NO exception at all. Today was a gorgeous day here in Northern California. We had bright sunshine and a cool breeze. I loved it. This morning I decided to take the kids to McDonald's play land to enjoy some time out of the house. Ms. Brandy gets a little claustrophobic by the end of the week, so off we went.

Then after the kids left, I ran upstairs to throw on my husband's Brady Quinn jersey and my husband's sweat pants. I use to be able to wear them (they were a little baggy before), but now I have to roll them alot just to keep them on my hips. I didn't care though. I was so excited for Brady to be playing tonight. I am sitting here watching the game now and relaxing for the first time this week. I am enjoying knowing that I am watching the same exact thing as my husband too. Yes, he is watching the game right now too. It kind of makes me feel close to him, even if it is something silly as watching the game.

Here are a few pictures of me in the baggy jersey and shirt. I think I will have to get my own, so I don't look like I am wearing a dress. I must say though, I am really comfortable.

Hope you all are enjoying your Thursday evening as much as I am.....

I got MAIL and a BUNCH of pictures...

These pictures are all out of order, but you should be use to it by now. I am just not a blogger expert....sorry

Here is a picture of me working with the preschoolers at Church, practicing for our Christmas musical. This year we are a part of the BIG Children's Church musical. Now, don't go thinking that I can carry a note or anything, I am just trying to get them to make some kind of noise!
This is a picture from Saturday. Man did it pour down rain and I loved every minute of it. Too bad I can't clear my calendar to sit long enough by the front window to enjoy it this day.

My children did though. Tyler loves to make beds on the floor and he always uses ALL of my cushions from my couches. It drives me insane, but they have fun.

This picture is from Friday at our Harvest Festival at Church. The pictures are taken by Chelsea cause I was busy running around like a mad woman to make sure everything went according to schedule. It was a great time and I am glad there is a whole year until the next one!

Here is my sweet girl Tessie. This is one of the twins, Jaelyn's best friends. They all three had a great time Friday night together. I think between the three of them they ate a dozen cupcakes at the Cupcake walk.

Here is a picture of the twins' dad. Don't let the hair fool ya.

My little Tinkerbell! She was dressed all day in her costume and by the time we got to the Harvest festival the shoes were off and her little crown she had too.

Tess again. She was SUPER GIRL. The cutest little Super Girl I ever did see.

Little Ms. Hannah. I think she was a snow princess, but I could be wrong. I didn't get the official name of her costume that night. She made the perfect Snow princess ever.

A picture of some of the early bird kids. Notice my crazy son. He totally got into part. I am telling you these kids had such a great time. They went home with sooo much candy. I actually had to hide it in my car and plan on throwing it away soon.

Here are a few pictures taken around the house last week. Jaelyn loves to pose for pictures.

Here is Jaelyn building a tall tower during daycare.

Jaelyn at her friend's bowling party a few weeks ago. She loves to bowl and is actually pretty good at it too.

A big "cheese."

Three best friends! They love being together. *I wrote this the other day*

Yesterday was a great day around here. Yes I know it was Monday, but it was chilly, rainy, and just a perfect day with the kids. It got even better when I opened my front door and there sat a BOX! I don't get boxes too often, so I was wondering what it could be. As I opened it, I realized it was from my Aunt Linda in Ohio! I was so excited to tear into it and find a new FUZZY, SOFT, pink robe! It was the perfect day to receive such a fabulous gift! I was so excited for the kids to leave, so I could put my sweats on and cuddle up in my soft fuzzy robe and that's just what I did too! It poured down rain here last night and was pretty cold out. I just sat by my front window watching and listening to the rain tap the window. It was wonderful. You know what would have made it more perfect? My husband by my side! Until he gets home though, Samson is filling in for him and he doesn't mind a bit.

So I started this post yesterday and am just now able to finish it. Life is busy for me. I have moments where I am lucky to grab a bite to eat, or lucky to sit down AT ALL during the whole day, but I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world right now. I am so blessed to be able to stay at home with my children and watch them grow each moment. I know one day I will look back and miss them so terribly and I don't want to have any regrets. "I" want to be the one to raise my children. "I" want to be the one they run to when they are hurt, or sad, or have a broken heart (Chelsea is a teenager now). I want that to be me, always. I love my children so much that sometimes I can't imagine my house without any of them. I don't want them to grow up and move out and have an adult life. Steve on the other hand is ready to celebrate when it's that time. Not me!

My heart has been torn about the Holiday season approaching. I want it here and I want it here fast, so my husband can hurry up and come home afterwards. I just don't want to think about the Holiday's without him here though. I haven't had to spend a Christmas without my husband in a LONG time...since I was pregnant with Tyler, he is now 7 in case you didn't know that. I am also sad that I am going home for Christmas (let me finish) and I probably won't decorate my house for it since we won't be here. It just doesn't make any sense to do it and then not be here to enjoy it. Oh well, I guess there could be worse things in life right? Like I said, I have been torn about Christmas for a while now, but I will make it through. I feel worse for the kids more than anything, not to have their daddy here on Christmas day. The good thing is that we plan on having a Christmas AFTER Christmas. Since Steve will be home a few weeks after Christmas,I am holding out the kids' presents until daddy comes home. Steve has a few presents waiting here for him too, so it will be a GREAT day when he gets home because we will have Steve back AND get to open more presents.

I better get going. I need to go and jump on the treadmill and clean up my house from the day. I can't get over how quickly this week is going. There just aren't enough hours in they day sometimes.

Did I ever tell you?

That I NEVER win anything? Well today was my lucky day! I was so shocked to see that I have won something. This doesn't happen to me everyday, so I am thrilled.

Christian passed on an award to me and I just thought that was awesome! I only know her through blog world, but she has been such a great inspiration to me as a fellow military wife!

Go check out her blog if you get the chance.

http://whowouldvethoughtit.blogspot.com/

I am tagging the only other blogs I know! So here it goes.

I am tagging Melissa- she has been a long time blogger buddy. I met her through my sister n law.

http://nuessefamily.blogspot.com/

I am tagging my sister n law Mindy- cause she is a great mom and is the one who turned me onto blogging.

http://theousleyfamily.blogspot.com/

I am tagging Liz- she is Melissa's sister and has a HUGE heart!
http://alandliz.blogspot.com/



I tag Elissa- cause she is my sister and today is her birthday! Happy Birthday Elissa!

http://ourmaloneyfamily.blogspot.com/

I tag Shannon- she is my great friend in real life! I sure do miss her though. Her family retired from the military and they moved up to Washington .

http://chagnon6.blogspot.com/

I tag Kylene- she is one of my FIRST married couple friends! We were all stationed in England together. It's been too long Kylene!

http://nuessefamily.blogspot.com/

I think that's it! I hope you all accept this award and feel as special as I did!
Have a great Halloween everyone! I will be posting pics soon.

Some pictures from my husband!!!

Saturday Steve got to switch his days around and go downtown off the base. He was really excited to put on civilian clothes and get "away" a little bit. From the looks of the pictures he shared and our conversation, it sounds like he had a great time. I am so glad that he got away and felt normal again. He needed it after working 6 days a week, 12 hour shifts. Unfortunately since switching his days around, he now has to work 8 days in a row. I guess there could be worse things huh?
On their trip to town, they ate at TGIF's and passed a Cold Stone Creamery.....YUM...my favorite ice cream in the whole wide world. If you haven't been to a Cold Stone's, find one now! It is a must have! Anyway, Steve did a little shopping while he was there and worked on our Christmas gifts. It's nice that he can help out while so far away! Of course I am doing most of it, but he is helping some.

Things have improved from last week around here. I try to put a smile on my face and be as positive as I can everyday, but I am going to have my tough days too. I just pick myself up and move on, which is exactly what I did. I will be so happy when I can say that it has been six months and my husband is COMING HOME! Won't be too long now, but I still have many days to go.

I hope you enjoy the pictures as much as I did. I sure do miss my handsome husband! Seeing him in these pictures just puts the biggest smile on my face. I have to say that he has lost some weight while he has been over there. We'll see if he can tough it out and keep it off when he gets back to his wife's good cookin....oh yeah and IN and OUT Burger too!

This is the Mall that they went to, looks very nice!

This is a picture of the city. I believe it's while they were driving. Kind of reminds me of San Fransisco.

Here is Cold Stone! You know you are missing the USA when you take pictures of signs.....lol. We use to do it in England all the time.

Here is the inside of the mall. Steve said he couldn't ever take me shopping here cause it all was VERY expensive.

Here is Steve (on the left) and Mike together at the Mall. Mike has been a family friend of ours pretty much since we got here. He is a great guy and has been a good friend to Steve. He likes to compete with my husband and STILL hasn't learned that my husband always wins. Trust me Mike, I learned a long time ago. It's just easier to admit it and move on....lol.

Another picture of the guys.

Here is my husband sitting in front of some statue of an Oyster. Now the funny part is that my husband would NEVER eat or go near an oyster at a restaurant! Now me on the other hand.....yum!

An outdoor picture of the Mall.

Have a great week everyone!