Helping our Soilders...

I received an e-mail from my girlfriend the other day talking about how she was a part of a group of spouses who went to help send off wounded soilders leaving Landstuhl Medical Hospital to go back to the USA. She said it was very humbling and sad, but something she plans on doing every month. Her and her family is currently stationed at Ramstein AFB in Germany. Ramstein is next to Landstuhl which is an Army base. The men who get injured in Iraq currently go to Landstuhl before they move on back to the States for further treatment. I actually have been to this Hospital back in 2002 to see a Cardiologist when I they thought something was wrong with my heart. It is an awesome hospital and they give great care there!!

So after reading my girlfriends e-mail, I sat and wondered what could "I" do to help these men and women over there fighting in this war. I know that not everyone agrees with the war, but everyone should ALWAYS support our men and women. Having my husband over there for six months was one of the hardest things I had been through. Taking care of three children and having no family within a 3000 mile radias was not easy at all, but I knew I had to do it. The hardest part was not complaining to my husband about what all I was going through back here. The last thing he needed was to sit over there in Iraq and worry about me and the kids. Steve is my best friend and to not have to turn to when the going got tough was rough, but I did it and I learned how to be strong and take care of everything back here. Thank goodness for my Church family that stepped in and helped me get my yard mowed for yard inspections, they helped me fix my car batteries when BOTH of them died on the same day- yes that actually happened on a Sunday morning trying to get to Church!! It was nice to have the love and support from them.

The point I am trying to get to is that there is an awesome group called Soilder's Angels. This was started by a mother whose son was stationed in Iraq. He has finished his tour in Iraq and been home, but he shared with her about men and women over there in Iraq that would go without receiving any mail the whole time there were there. This bothered the mother terribly so she decided to take it upon herself to start writing to military members over there. It has since grown and is now a huge organization. They sew blankets, send cards, and do all kinds of things. It is awesome. So I am encouraging anyone who reads this blog to PLEASE go there and find a way to contribute. You can purchase calling cards for the soilders, make a blanket for a soilder, you can adopt a soilder, there are so many possibilities to help our men and women over there serving us in Iraq. I know as this war drags on it gets further and further in our minds, but we still need to stay active and do all that we can for the men and women who put their lives on the line for our Freedom each day.

So please check out this website and do your part! The least people can do is pray each day for the men and women!

I just want to send a huge THANK YOU to all of the military and their families that sacrafice each day!!



http://soldiersangels.org/index.php?page=answer-the-call

Happy Birthday Tyler!!!!

Yesterday was Tyler's SIXTH birthday! I can't believe how fast time flies!! He is growing up so fast and turning into such a little man!! For Tyler's birthday we went to the pool to hang out in the sun and have some fun. Tyler brought his friend Aiden with us, so he could have someone to play with! They had a blast and were ready to go home after only two hours! I was still ready to stay and enjoy the pool! So, we came home and had some cake and then got ready to go to the Church. This week we are there every night getting ready for VBS. The kids love being there and ask every day if we are going to church! I took a cake to the Church with us and about 30 people there sang "Happy Birthday" to Tyler!! He was very embarrassed, but was ready for some cake!! We didn't get out of there until after ten last night, so Tyler was ready for bed when we got home!! I think he had a great birthday!! We also had taken the kids out on Saturday for their Birthdays. We went shopping so they could spend their birthday money (thank you Aunt Mindy and gang- and Boom Boom)!! They bought some new playstation games. We then went to go and see Shrek 3 and they loved it. We don't do the movies too often off base cause it is so expensive, but this was a special occasion!!
So this morning I get up and guess what I find? Ants....YIKES!! Here in California having ants (they are small tiny ones) are common, but have I ever told you that I HATE ants?? Especially in my HOUSE!! So at 7:00 this morning I was doing bug patrol!! They are very common in the summer. They are attracted to ANYTHING too! Anything with sugar in it. Our first year here in California I kept all our medicine in our linen closet in our Master Bathroom, well I woke up one morning and found ants all in our closet. So I follow that line of ants and they had came all the way from the front of the house by the Front door!! There was a trail all the way through my closet, out my bedroom door, down the long hallway and to the front door!! It was horrible. They were attracted to the sugar in some of the medicine!! I then learned to put ALL medicine in a HUGE plastic baggy! So, now I have my Raid on hand ready to fire at any time!! The nice thing about me finding ants is that I end up DETAIL cleaning just so they won't come back!!
Well, I have started my list of things to do to get ready for Ohio!! It is a LONG list too!! The hard part is that we don't know exactly when we are leaving, but that's ok! It will make our trip more interesting. We have a busy schedule once we land on the East coast and there won't be enough time to do all the things we plan, but we will have a great time regardless just because we will be seeing family. This trip is extra special for me because I finally get to meet my niece Mikayla for the very first time. It has been something that I have been looking forward to for a very long time. We will also be staying the night up in Canton to hang out with Kris, Mindy, Alec, and Mikayla!! This is something we haven't been able to do before, so it will be a blast!!!


Here are a few pictures from yesterday!! Enjoy



Tyler was freezing after a while..he doesn't have any meat on his bones to keep him warm! The water in the baby pool was FREEZING though!!
Here is Jaelyn eating a snack. She was more worried about sitting in the sun and eating then playing in the water!!
Tyler the photographer!! He wanted to take a picture and look who ended up in it!! Good thing you can only see my face!!!

Tyler playing in the pool!! We had a great time!!!

Jaelyn wading in the water!!! She loved being at the pool!!

Just a Quick Post....

WE ARE DONE!!! I had my home inspection today and things went great!!! I am soo sooo thrilled and happy!! I have to do First Aid/CPR on Saturday and that's it!! I am so excited and can't wait to get a placement when we get back from Ohio!!!
I had to quickly post on here because it is such a HUGE relief for me right now!
I probably won't be on here much this week. We have VBS next week and I will be at the church every night this week painting and getting preparations done and ready.
Chelsea started Softball camp this week and this morning was her first day! She did great and they actually had her pitch....just like her daddy and grandpa!!!
17 MORE DAYS and I will hopefully be home on VACATION!!!!!
HOORAY!!

What an Emotional Day for me!!!

Oh my goodness!! What a day it was yesterday!! I had a great time spending the day with two of my kids on their last day of school.
Tyler's class started out with their graduation ceremony, then moved outside to the field for "Field Day", then came inside to clean up and pack up their things, after that they went to the cafeteria to practice for next year eating in there! They had pizza and cupcakes and had a blast!! I loved every minute of it! I sure will miss helping out in Tyler's class each week. I have grown to love being in the classroom and will miss it!!

Chelsea's class partied hard the whole day! She had the luxury of just hanging out with all of her friends all day! It was a sad day for me and I don't think it really has sunk in with Chelsea that she is going to a totally different school next year!!

We are very proud of both Chelsea and Tyler and can't wait to see how next year goes!! It will be a great time!!

After we left school, I went to the store and bought a pool for the backyard for Jaelyn and Tyler to play when we don't go to the base pool. The nice thing about living on base is that Chelsea is able to go places by herself now and the pool is one of them. Of course she goes with friends, but it is nice that she is able to have the freedom to do that. If we lived off base, there is NO WAY I would feel comfortable doing that. Each year at the pool the lifeguards give each of the children (older) a pool test to see how well they can swim and if they are allowed to jump off the diving board in the deep end. I think this is GREAT and of course Chelsea passed. She has been a little fish since she was a baby!!! I knew without a doubt that she would pass it!

Yesterday was a busy busy day for me. I had a Jewelry show last night after our busy day at school, so I was exhausted last night after my show!! It was a great time though and I am ready for some summer fun and relaxing!!!

Oh yeah!! Great news I got last week!! I got a GRANT for next year!! I am soooo thrilled. It is only for 2000.00 but HEY anything is better than nothing right??? I was so happy that I got it!! This is my first grant!! So I am REALLY looking forward to next semester at school! I will be a REAL College student going during the day with all the YOUNG kids!! Hooray! It will be interesting!!

Ok. Here are some pics from yesterday!! I hope you enjoy and the videos too!!






Tyler and Mommy!! I am so very proud of my kids and what they have accomplished this year!! They have grown not only physically, but mentally and academically too!!
Daddy got to make it for the graduation part this morning...Thank goodness! He is now a busy man running his shop and it's harder for him to get away now!!

This is Tyler and Mrs.Lawvey!! She is another awesome teacher we were blessed to get this year. She has a heart for the kids and cried most of the day yesterday!! Tyler adored her and learned so much from her this year. He also did GREAT on his report card, but he is still young and fresh in school, so we expected him to do well. One thing his teacher says about Tyler is that he is GREAT in Math....he must get that from his father cause I am NOT!!! We are very proud of Tyler and how hard he worked this year on learning his letters and learning how to read!!! YEAH TYLER!!!

Tyler and kids from his class playing tug of war. As you can see in their faces, they LOVED it!!!

This is Chelsea and one of her friends from this year. Hopefully most of Chelsea's friends will be going to the same Jr. High next year. It will make going to a new school a little easier. Chelsea had a smile on her face all day yesterday because she got ALL B's on her report card!!!!! We are SOOOOOO VERY proud of her. She has been struggling most of the year this year with her grades, but has worked very very hard this last semester to bring all of her grades up!! WAY TO GO CHELSEA!!!!

This is Chelsea and her teacher Mrs. Seames. She is an awesome teacher and sure know how to deal with sixth graders!! She use to work in a detention center with kid and is perfect for this job!! I love her style of teaching and dealing with the kids. Her and Chelsea had a great relationship!!

Today we got a pool, it's small but it will serve it's purpose on the days we don't go to the base pool!! This was the one and only time Jaelyn got in it. She doesn't like the water too much unless it's a bath tub!! This is what her hair looks like when she pulls her ponytails out too!! The joys of a three year old....ha ha!!

Tyler's graduation!! It was the cutest thing I ever saw and could cry thinking about it again!!!










Tyler doing the sack races!! It was cute!! He did a great job!!

Happy Birthday Chelsea!!

Today is Chelsea's 12th birthday and I can't believe it....where did the time go? She had school today, so we didn't really do much today. I did bake her a cake today and we had some cake...I even made her favorite!!! We didn't plan anything here cause we are leaving in three weeks for Ohio and hopefully can have a little get-together with all of our family and friends for her and Tyler's birthday!

So today was a great day here!! The sun was shinning and so I turned on the sprinklers! They love going out and enjoying having fun in the sun! Next week we plan on going to the pool all week...as long as the weather stays nice!!
Here are some pictures from our day. More to come tomorrow. My little boy graduates from Kindergarten tomorrow!! I can't believe it! I just finished making the graduation hats and they are adorable! They having "field day" after their graduation and then they are going to the cafeteria for a practice lunch...for the first grade!! It should be a fun day and I am excited!!


Happy Birthday to my baby girl..!!.well not such a baby anymore! I can't believe how much she has grown in just this past year. I am excited about the little lady she is becoming and I couldn't be prouder of her.....We love you Chelsea Renee'

We put trick candles on Chelsea's cake tonight and I thought we were going to burn down the house...those things are scary, but we do it every year!!
Jaelyn calling daddy to tattle on Tyler...

Here's Jaelyn trying to stay dry...but not with much luck with Big brother around the hose!!

Tyler playing on the sprinkler.... isn't he cute?

Uh Oh....It's time....

It's time for my home inspection!! And it's almost time to get ready to go to Ohio!! Also, it time for SCHOOL TO BE OUT!! Yeah!!!! I am so excited. It's the kids last week of school this week and I am ready for them to be out as much as they are ready! I am looking forward to hopefully a few days of being lazy! We will be hitting the pool next week and working on our tans for trip to Ohio!
So, our case worker called today and set up a time for our Home Inspection...it will be this Monday at 10:00 am! I am so excited, yet so nervous at the same time! We don't have much to do around, so it won't be too much work. Yesterday I had a feeling that we would be getting a call soon for our home inspection, so I totally cleaned and re-arranged Tyler and Jaelyn's room....soon to be Tyler and our Foster son's room! That sounds so cool!! Jaelyn will be moving in with Chelsea, which isn't a big deal because neither one of them are in their room too often! After I got that done, I moved on to the grout in between our tiles in our entry way....yes, that's what I said grout. The grout was so dirty and driving me crazy, so I took bleach and water, and a toothbrush and started scrubbing away! It took me two hours to get it done!! Now it is and I love the way it looks! Now, I am on the hunt for some kind of sealer so it can't get dirty again!!!
So we will be little busy bees this weekend getting everything ready for our inspection. Then after that is done all I have to do is get my First Aid and CPR done and we will be done!! We will then take our trip to Ohio and when we get back we should get a referral!! YEAH!!! It is exciting to see the "light at the end of the tunnel"!!! Finally!!


Here are some pictures from the other morning, everyone getting ready for school and work! It will be nice to not worry about getting three kids ready each morning for school. Well, Jaelyn doesn't go to school yet, but I still get her ready cause we drive Chelsea and Tyler each morning!!



Jaelyn working on her "Cars" puzzle she got for her birthday! She loves working on puzzles and is actually pretty good at it! Her brother and sister usually join in at some point and help her!

Here is my cute husband getting ready for his day too! I couldn't leave him out of this post! He wasn't too happy about getting his picture taken so early in the morning... and he doesn't know that I took it to put it on here...he he!!!

Chelsea reading before school...she takes after me and reads all the time. I still can't believe she will be in Jr High in September!

My crazy boy...he is so ready for school to be over. Every morning this week he has cried to stay home! I know how he feels...

My sweet girl...she is such a great toddler! Well....most days!!! She is full of spirit, that is for sure..

My beautiful kids working on a puzzle together. Since we were ready for school early, they all sat down on the floor together to work on the puzzle.

A lazy Saturday Morning...

just hanging out and watching tv!! I am not sure what is going on with our California weather cause we are usually in the 100's or at least 90's by now, but the past week it has barely hit 80! It is really weird, the wind has been blowing and making it feel even colder than what it is. Hopefully that will change soon so we can start enjoying the pool that opened last weekend on base. Yes, we have a pool right here on base and they offer family season passes for a VERY reasonable price!

So here are some pictures from this morning. Kind of corny, but just wanted to share. The kids are still in their jammies and the house is a mess, but we are hanging out and enjoying each other's company. Notice Steve is missing? He had a meeting at the Church this morning, so it was just me and the kids hanging out. When he gets back, we will probably take the dogs for a walk.

Enjoy the pics and I hope everyone has a nice relaxing weekend... I know I plan to!!!

This is what we watched this morning.... Mulan II! The kids always enjoy watching a good Disney movie and this morning was a perfect morning to do that!

Chelsea all comfy on the couch!! It was nice to be able to sit and relax for once on a weekend!

This is my son watching TV. He has so much energy and doesn't know how to sit still!!! He has his wallet attached to his jammy shorts! I brought this home for a surprise from Marineworld on Thursday and he hasn't put it down since.

What do you think of Jaelyn's wild hair?? This is what she looks like when she gets up in the morning!! I love her long hair, but wish it was easier to take care of sometimes!!

This is what I start my day out with. I found this drink and LOVE it. I am not sure how healthy it is, but it isn't unhealthy so that is all that counts. After drinking eight glasses of water a day, water starts tasting bland!!! It is suppose to Revive you (which is probably in my head) but I do feel a little refreshed after drinking this.....

Here are some pics from our field trip. I didn't take a whole lot of pictures because I had FIVE boys in my group and they were very busy. We had a great time on our field trip and I cherish any time I get to spend with Tyler. He is growing up so fast and I know he will be graduating before I know it....not really, but you know what I mean right?

Old Mc Donald Had a Farm......

and on his farm he had some pigs....The pigs are one of my favorites...but I love the horses more!!

The kids had a blast feeding all of the animals on the farm.

Mommy and Tyler hanging out by the horses....my favorite!!