Exhausted...

Here is Tyler taking the kids around the park trying to find butterflies. This boy loves nature and enjoys learning as much about it as he can.
Hannah and Jaelyn after they just got out of the fridge. Jaelyn has taught the girls how to put their blankies in the fridge to get "cold". Not sure what that is all about.

Hanging out at Duck pond....without ducks...
"You wanna piece of me?" Acting just like his father.
THE teenager. She is totally a teen now and driving her mother crazy!

Tonight I sit here with children all tucked in their beds and I am just so grateful for so many things right now. It has been a long day and I am glad that it is finally over. This morning started off rough, but as the day wore on it was much better. We all are having a blast this week with the twins staying with us. Monday we went to the Jelly Belly Factory. We didn't do the tour due to a bus getting in line ahead of us by minutes, but OF COURSE we bought some Jelly Belly's. Nothing like some good ole' Jelly Bellys. Yesterday we went to the Duck Pond for a couple of hours. We are going to have to think of a new name for that place I think because there weren't any DUCKS there for us to feed. We were all very puzzled to what happened to all the ducks? I guess we will have to make another trip back there to see what is going on. Today we packed a lunch and ate at the park. It has been so beautiful the past few days here, just perfect weather. Plenty of sunshine and a nice little breeze to prevent from getting too hot.

So back to being grateful. Tonight I am overwhelmed with such a feeling of gratitude. I have to be one of the luckiest women on the face of this earth. Like I said I had a rough morning, but as the day went on I held my head up high and pushed through. Usually when I have a rough day, I have Steve to vent to when he gets home from work and somehow he makes it all better. Not now. Not with him gone and half way across the world. I don't get to feel his arms wrap around me and the have the comfort of knowing that no matter how bad my day was, he is here to make it all better at the end of the day. Even with Steve gone and having a bad day, I still have plenty to be grateful for. Tonight I just want to take the time to list some things that I am grateful for right now:

I am grateful that I have God to turn to when the going gets rough. When my husband isn't here to comfort me, it brings me closer to God and teaches me to lean on GOD more.

I am grateful for being a wife. All my life I knew that I wanted to get married and have children. There were times when I thought this wasn't going to happen. I thought I had made to many wrong choices in life and wasn't going to be the wife I pictured myself being as a child. I am blessed with the best marriage in the world and even with my husband thousands of miles away, I KNOW he loves me and wants only me. I am grateful that I get to talk to him on the phone each and every day and e-mail too. There has never been a doubt in my mind that I am the only woman for my husband. This, I am truly grateful for.

I am grateful for being a mother. There isn't any other job in the world that I would do right now. I love being at home with my children every day. I am grateful that I get to see every milestone in their childhood. I love knowing that I get to be here when they come home from school, or need a bandaide for their boo-boo. I can't even express in words how blessed I am to be the mother to the most loving and caring children.

I am grateful for my life. Things could have been very different had I not made some changes in my life when I met Steve. I cringe at the thought of where I would be right now and what I would be doing. I have always been a good person, but I made horrible choices. Sometimes I think I got delt a horrible hand in life, but I know that I wouldn't be who I am today if I hadn't went through everything I have. I am grateful for the trials and tribulations I have been through in life. I try not to sit and think about where I have been and what I have done, but sometimes we need to see where we have come from, to see how far we have made it. Which leads me to my next reason I am grateful.....

I am grateful for second chances. I was blessed to get a second chance with my life. I am so glad that I chose to turn my life around. If I hadn't by chance met my husband and him inviting me to Church, I can honestly say I don't know where I would be right now. It's a scary thought. I hope that no matter what you are going through right now, whether good or bad, that you don't take life for granted and those around you too. Remember to take time and find what you are grateful for and know that there is always someone that has had it worse than you.

All Done!!

Yesterday we had our Small group over at Heather's house so we could let the kids relax and swim and it was GREAT! The kids love swimming so much and the adults had a nice time too.
Due to so many children being in my VBS pictures, I am not going to show them on here because I don't have all their parents permission. You will just have to take my word for it.....IT WAS A BLAST!

Here is one I found that just has Jaelyn's face in it. I am not sure who she belongs too though with that finger in her nose!!

Isn't that face just so darn cute? She is getting so big and grown up already!
She loves her new bathing suit and had to wear it yesterday.
Mr. Snorkel Tyler. He was snorkeling in the jacuzzi...ha ha.
This picture cracks me up. The "three amigos" were hanging out in their floaters all afternoon just making their way around the pool. It was so cute.

Today is such a day of relaxation! I am so tired from the past two weeks and so glad that it is over. Don't get me wrong I love VBS, but it is very very tiring! The kids did great and had a blast, as did I. It sure has made the time go by very fast and it isn't going to stop from here!

Tonight the twins come over and are staying the week. They leave on Friday for a week to go to their grandma's house, then come back and stay the following week until their mommy comes home. My kids can't wait for them to come and stay here. We have so many fun and exciting things planned to do while they are here. You will have to check back to see what all we are up to for the next few weeks!

This morning I looked at a calendar and realized the kids go back to school three weeks from this Thursday! Oh my! I need to get into gear and get some school shopping done. Tyler is the easy one to shop for cause he has an easy size. Chelsea on the other hand can be a little more difficult due to her small waist and height. It will be fun and I am sure I will find some good deals. I think I will try and go next week while the twins are at their grandparents. It is much easier shopping with fewer children to look after.

So other than VBS we haven't been up to much. I have done some reading, a lot of cleaning, and a lot of driving! I can't get over what a peace I feel this deployment. Every one's prayers are being felt and it gives me such a comfort too. Please don't misunderstand me though, I miss my husband like something crazy, but I am handling this deployment (mentally) very well. Speaking of my husband, he is doing great. He is working hard and hitting the gym pretty hard too. I am sure he is going to come back all buff and tough! I will take him back however I can get him, so it doesn't matter to me. I know it helps pass the time there and he enjoys working out a lot. He also has a good friend from his shop there with him, so they have been working out together. He really enjoys getting mail, so if anyone wants to send him anything in the mail just let me know and I will e-mail you his address (if I know you). He loves e-mails, but there is just something about getting regular mail too, you know?

One last thing! I want to send a shout-out to Vanessa. She is the daughter to my best friend Susan. Susan is the twins' mom. (This might get confusing) ANYWAY, Vanessa had her baby girl twins yesterday!!!! She is now a mommy to two very tiny, but adorable little girls. They were both around 4lbs! Can you imagine a 4lb baby? It makes me want to cry. That is why I will be having the twins, so Susan can go and see her daughter and two newborn grand-daughters. They all are doing well and now Hannah and Tess are proud Aunts too!

Be sure to check back soon......

Doing Well!

Don't I look like I belong in the pit crew??

It has been a busy week! This one is already even busier! Last week we were at the Church EVERY night decorating for VBS this week. It is an awesome "Cars" theme and turned out really well. This year I am heading up the Preschool part of VBS and enjoying it completely. I love the preschoolers and am so blessed to be working with them. Last night I had 12 preschoolers for 2 1/2 hours! 12 is a good number for a smaller Church like ours. I had lots of helpers and great teachers to help get the job done and am very excited about going back tonight. I do have to say that I was sooooo exhausted after getting home last night. I was crazy and decided to head back to the gym yesterday, so I did the elliptical for an HOUR! I felt so good after I finished. I just love working out and find it very very addicting. Well after working out yesterday and then VBS last night, my body was pooped! I crashed hard last night.

Steve is doing great. He is ready to come home already and I am ready for him to come home too. Too bad we have a long long ways to go. We are very blessed and get to talk twice a day and e-mail as much as we want. He doesn't have Internet in his room yet, but I believe they are working on it. That will make it much better so we can IM each other too. He is working six days a week, 12 hour shifts. I feel bad that he has to work so much, but he actually has some down time during work hours. Yesterday was his day off and he got to check out some shops on the base. Hopefully he is scoping out what he wants to get me for my birthday in September! The best part about him being over there is they have gold for VERY cheap. We will probably do the majority of our Christmas shopping over there this year! How fun!

Things are coming together for my preschool. I should be licensed by the end of next week! I can't believe it! I will be a working gal again. That is so exciting for me. Especially to be back in my career field. I have the curriculum already to go and I also found a list of requirements for children starting Kindergarten. I will make sure all the children in my program reach each requirement. I already have my first child enrolled! My neighbor's little girl will be in my class! I can't wait to get started. This will also keep me very busy and pass the time quickly. We all know how Christmas sneaks up on us, so I am looking forward to that this year!

The kids are so excited to be going home for Christmas this year. We haven't seen snow in many many years. I haven't drove in snow in almost TEN years! I am a little nervous I must say. We will probably hop into Delaware or New Jersey and then drive home as we usually do, so I will be praying that there won't be much snow on the ground then! I will just have to wait and see. I also will have to buy the kids some winter gear. We don't have much use for that around here. It will be fun planning for our trip that's for sure!

I will update more after VBS is over. I will post pictures of the whole week there. My kids are having a blast there and love going every night!

He made it safely!

Our Pastor taking time out of the service to pray for Steve. I had to ferociously chew my gum and blow bubbles to keep from having a melt down!

Well, Steve finally called me today and he made it safely to his final destination! You don't know the relief that flooded me when I finally picked up the phone and heard his voice on the other end. I worry, and I worry alot. He is very tired and jet lagged, but doing well. He got there at early Thursday morning and had to report to work Thursday night! Poor guy, there wasn't time at all to get adjusted.

He said he was unpacking a bit this morning and found a letter from Tyler in his bag. It was hard for him to read it because he misses us so much already. Tyler told him in the letter to let him know if he sees any bears over there. That boy is so funny. He doesn't understand where the heck his daddy is going, but by golly he wants to hear about any bears!

We found out that we will be able to communicate pretty well and frequent while he is there. YEAH! That is good news! I am hoping that will help the time to go by faster.

Just wanted to update and let everyone know he is there safe and sound. All your prayers are very much appreciated! Now just pray for the next six months to fly by and without any problems too!

The waiting game...

Getting ready to head to the airport at 4 AM! Yes, we both are VERY tired.

I woke up this morning to my phone ringing and I was super excited cause Steve should be calling me anytime to let me know that he made it there safely, but it was my mom. I was happy to talk to my mom, but was hoping that Steve would call me to let me know he made it.

That is going to be my life for the next six months! Waiting, waiting, and more waiting. My cellphone will be glued to me for the next six months when I am not by my home phone. You never know when they might get the chance to call, so you are always ready. Yes, I will even carry the home phone with me to the bathroom, in the laundry room, and outside when I go out back! The thing you look forward to the most while they are gone is that phone call and when it comes....you don't want to miss it. I can't tell you how depressing it is when you realize you missed a call from your husband. All the trouble he has to go through to get to the phone, wait in line, and the ten million numbers he has to dial, then he gets nothing out of it, just breaks my heart. With that said, I will be home all day today waiting for the phone call that he made it there safely!

Things are going great here. I don't even have time to sit and relax or anything since Steve left! The kids and I have been at the Church every night this week helping decorate for VBS. We haven't been getting out of there until around ten every night, so we have been sleeping in a little in the mornings now. Yesterday I had another one of my inspections for my license. This time Public Health came to inspect my house to be sure we are clean and sanitized. I passed with flying colors and she LOVED my bathroom. I am so glad I decided to paint it and make it so cozy and cute. My kids totally love it and enjoy the green soap in there!

Not much else to talk about. I held a bake sale on Sunday at the church for a fundraiser for VBS. We did great and now have some extra money to make our VBS fabulous! Our Pastor's wife goes ALL out for our VBS and Christmas musicals and she does such a great job! It is amazing the amount of work this woman does in a day and she NEVER complains about a thing. She is such a great person to look up to in life and you know she truly loves the Lord with all she has.

Time is flying by so fast lately. I can't believe that the kids will be going back to school soon! Tyler is so excited about going to 2nd grade. I have some news about my schooling too! I will be going back to school next fall (2009) FULL-TIME! I can't wait. If we are still here, I will be transferring to Sac State. We found out some information about Steve's GI bill and I am just thrilled. Jaelyn will be starting kindergarten, so that means that I will only have to pay part-time care for her and I am free to go to school! I will talk more on that later though. Plus, with the military, things ALWAYS change, so we might not even be here next year and I will have to find a new school to go to.

Enjoy what's left of your summer. I know we have more hot days to come....

Heat Wave anyone?

So today is our third day of our heatwave we are having and boy is it HOT! It's times like these that I appreciate having an AC. Ours has been running 24/7 the past three days. Today our temps are topping around 110 degrees. Needless to say we haven't been doing much outside the past few days.

Last night we had a group of people over from Steve's work to play "Call of Duty" on PlayStation 3. It was a fun time with pizza, drinks and fun. Steve wanted to hang out with some guys before he goes. I ended up joining in the fun and playing a different game with the guys, but sucked at it. These guys are professionals on there let me tell ya! Oh well, sometimes we do anything to be with our husbands huh?

Well, I only have five more days with my hubby and we have been scrambling to get last minute things done around here. It's the little things you don't really think about until you don't have anyone to help you with them. Moving the washer and dryer to clean behind it, showing your wife how to change the filter in the AC unit, moving the dining room table to make room for the Pre-school table, just little things like that have been going on in our home. Now don't get me wrong these are all things I can do myself, but it is much easier when you have someone to help you do it. Steve is so funny when he gets deployed because he leaves me a list on the computer of what to do if "this" happens. Like "Here's what to do if the Internet quits working", things like that. It really is sweet and does come in handy while he's away. I am almost positive something will break down or die on me while he is away, so I am already mentally prepared for that. About two months into our last deployment both vehicles batteries were dead when I tried to go to Church. It was a very frustrating thing, but it is to be expected.

I just wanted to check in for the week. I won't be on here until Monday night again. We are enjoying our last few days the best we can. Steve officially got orders today, so the realization is setting in for me. I have still been in denial, but it is slowly wearing off today. I have to get up really early Monday morning to get Steve to the airport and then rush back here to get ready for the ocean. To take our minds off of Steve leaving, the kids and I are heading to the ocean with the twins and Susan. Then we are coming back here and watching some chic flicks and hanging out for a while. It will be a fun time and my girlfriend Susan knows how to keep a smile on my face. I am very blessed to have a great friend.

Please remember Steve on Monday as he travels. He will be traveling Monday to the east coast and then leaves out from there and will be traveling two whole days straight to his base. I hate that he has to fly so much, but it is REALLY far away. I was looking at my globe the other day and he was LITERALLY be about HALF way across the world from us! He will be 11 hours ahead of us....a whole day practically. Anyways, just keep him in your prayers please. I know he will appreciate it!

Hope all is well with everyone! Enjoy your summer, it's almost half way over!

Happy 4th of July everyone!

What a busy day we had yesterday! I woke up at 6:30 AM (because of big mouth tootsie) and got busy making cupcakes. I had to hurry up and get them done because I needed my ribs to go in the oven, so I was rushing to get them done. After finally getting the ribs in the oven, I made a cream cheese american flag spread. It was so cute and pretty yummy. I didn't eat much of it though because I was saving room for my banana split cake I made! After spending the morning baking and cooking, we finally headed over to our friends house to spend the day. We had such a great time with all of our friends! We hung out by their pool ALL DAY long. The kids had a blast and so did the adults. All we did was eat and swim all day. Finally about 8:00 we packed up wagons and kids and walked over to the park (in Dixon) to wait for the fireworks. The kids played games and threw balls around, while the adults relaxed. It was a very nice and relaxing day once I got done with all of the preprations!

It was nice to spend the day as a family and just not have any worries at all. We truly have great friends here and enjoy spending time with them.

Today was even better though! We all slept in as a family and for the first time in I don't know how long, Steve and I got to hang out in bed this morning and relax! The kids were so tired from the busy day yesterday and slept in later than us. That is amazing! After finally getting out of bed, we just finished up last minute touches on the house for my inspections next week. I have three of them to get through and it is alot of work getting ready for them. Hopefully by next Tuesday I will be ready for the board to get my license. I will be doing drop-in care until I open next month. I can't believe how close it is to the kids going back to school! This summer is just flying by!



I hope you enjoy all the pictures. We had such a great time yesterday and with Steve leaving, I wanted to get as many pictures as I could. I might be MIA this week due to a hectic schedule and preparing for Steve to leave, but I will be back soon.....



Getting ready to go!

A random picture of Jaelyn last Sunday
A day by the pool during the 4th of July

Chelsea and Daddy
Hanging out by the pool....trying to keep cool.
Tyler not getting out of the pool all day long..

He was like a little fish in the water.
Does this look like a normal teenage look or what?
Waiting patiently for my food!
My crazy, drowing husband. He wanted to be like the kids!
Jaelyn eating some ice cream

Mr. Lifeguard....
Jaelyn loves swimming now too. She just floated around all day long.
Chelsea and Jaelyn
What?
Waiting for the fireworks to start.

Are you talking to me? Now you see where Chelsea gets it from.....
Jaelyn and mommy freezing and waiting....

My cute little handsome boy!
Chelsea and Tessie...
Jaelyn and Tessie.....
The future Mr. and Mrs. Ousley...
Jaelyn and Daddy
The Peet's. These guys are our good friends and we had a blast at their house today!
The Ousley's.
Me and my hubby. Boy am I gonna miss this guy!

A little change...

I have decided to change my blog today, since Steve will be leaving in less than two weeks. I have now decided to blog about life during a deployment and hope that people can kind of relate to what I am going through. Most likely you won't, but at least it will give you an idea of what goes on with families left behind.

It still hasn't clicked that my husband will be leaving for six months in less than two weeks, but I am trying to tell myself in my head that it IS going to happen. It is so hard to fathom Steve being gone for six months out of my life. Being stationed here in California we are 3000 miles away from all of our family, so Steve is my ONLY family I have here besides our kids. He is my best friend, my comedian, my cheerleader, and my confidant. I don't know what I am going to do without him. It's kind of like my dog Samson. He follows me around the house all day long. When I go to bed, he goes to bed. He knows that at any given moment I might turn around and talk to him, pet him, or even feed him. If I go into my bedroom and shut my door and an hour later open it, he will be sitting there waiting. That will be me while Steve is gone. I will be like Samson sitting on the other side of the door waiting for it to be opened again, so I can see him. I will be lost without Steve here and will be looking forward to the day we are reunited again.

The last time Steve left I went into a depression and actually started taking anti-depressants while he was gone. Not too many people know that fact about me, but I thought I would put it out there. This time I have vowed that it is going to be different. I am a strong woman and can overcome anything, in fact I already have overcome more than most people do in a lifetime. I want to be strong and confident for my children this time. I want them to know that life is going to be the same while daddy is away. They need this stability to make it through the deployment themselves. We all know children are resilient, but I have seen how my children are while their daddy is away. Tyler is an internalizes everything. He keeps it all inside and acts out in anger over minor things. He knows his dad is gone, but doesn't understand the "why" yet. He knows his dad is coming back, but doesn't understand the exact "when" yet. This is hard on him, so he gets angry and acts out some. Chelsea is my emotional child. She is on an emotional roller coaster while her dad is away. She understands too much and knows the dangers that can pose a threat to her dad. Jaelyn was too young the last time, so it's hard to say how she will act this time. I am hoping she will do well, but she is a true daddy's girl.

So today I will go on with my day and cherish every moment I have with my husband, even though I don't "feel" like he is going anywhere. One moment I will be sad and thinking about him leaving, and the next I am treating him like he isn't go anywhere. It's just as hard on him and I know that. I try to make the best of it and ease his pain the best I can. It's just a lose-lose situation at this point. Nobody really gets through this deployment happily.