Disgruntled Kids

I think the title of this post pretty much sums up my boys right now. They are learning some pretty harsh lessons that I would rather them learn now rather then later. They are not happy about this at all. You see I am tired of them mouthing off to me and not listening to anything I say. I am over Colin being sloppy on his homework just because he doesn't want to do it, and I am tired of Kiale being down right rude and hateful to me on a near constant basis. Colin has no excuse when I ask him about it, he knows I am right, but Kiale has one HUGE excuse that I am not going to put up with anymore. His excuse? "Because Daddy is gone." Well guess what, I get that and I understand that yes it sucks that Daddy had to leave for a year, but you know what... get over it. Every single time he does anything wrong or steps out of line he throws that excuse in my face. I will not put up with this behavior for the next year, "because Daddy left." It just isn't going to happen, all this does is show them that if they can give me a good enough excuse they can get away with anything. They were wrong. Take tonight for example, we decided yesterday that we were going to do dinner and a movie tonight. We finished homework and I told the boys to clean their rooms, that they did, but here is where it went downhill. I told Kiale to read 2 chapters from his book. He didn't do it. It wasn't until 30min later that I asked him if I needed to quiz him that he told me he couldn't find his book. This being the book he showed me 30min earlier.... he said he hid it from Cayleigh-Grace and now he couldn't find it, but amazingly enough with the threat of bed without dinner he found it right away. Isn't it funny how that happens? After finding the book it spiraled into the whole why do I have to read, I hate reading argument. I do not know how to get him to enjoy reading the way I do. Anyways, after lots of yelling at me I told him he was not allowed to watch the movie tonight. Then Colin shoved Cayleigh-Grace while she was standing on the stairs so he also lost his movie privilege tonight. I think I went back on threats too many times throughout the years and now they just don't care about my threats anymore. Now I get the lovely task of making them (Kiale in particular) respect me again. Which basically means that they hate life right now because I am following through on every single threat and punishment I make at them. Hopefully they get the point pretty soon... and if not, I just hope we are able to find a balance again. I miss balance.

Music Sunday Week 1

Here are the two songs that I have been loving this past week.

Realizations

*You never realize just how big your house is until your husband isn't in it anymore.
*You never know how you are going to handle a situation until you are finally faced with it. Sometimes you may even surprise yourself and that can be a good thing, or a bad thing. It all depends on your frame of mind when you are looking at it.
*Kids are rezelent but they still hurt and I need to remember that.
*I feel incredibly guilty for handling this so well... is there something wrong with me?  

Photo Fun

I was bored (imagine that) and messing around with some old pictures today when I got a crazy idea. Why not make some collages of the kids at the same ages. So here is what my boredom turned into. Left to Right,

Kiale, Colin, and Cayleigh-Grace

At Birth 

Six Months Old

One Year Old

 18 Months Old

 Two Years Old

What did I learn from this little exercise? Cayleigh-Grace looks so much older then her brothers at all of her different stages after the first year. I wonder why that is... its like my boys retained their baby faces longer and she developed more a little girl face at a very young age. I know one reason for that is she is so much bigger then the boys ever where at any of her ages. It was a running joke that my kids get their legs late, because that is exactly what happened. Their legs didn't start getting longer until they hit three. Did you notice how short Colin's legs were at 18 months? That right there proves my point. Then you have Cayleigh-Grace who goes and blows that theory clear to the moon. Obviously it didn't pertain to our girl only our boys. I remember when it came to buying clothes for Kiale it was super easy, whatever age he was was whatever size clothes you bought for him. For Colin his pants fit his age, but had to be rolled up, and his shirts where a year ahead of him. Cayleigh-Grace is another thing all together she already fits into size 3t pants. The boys couldn't wear that size pants until they were about three and a half. She will also be wearing size 4t shirts very soon and she will be two and a half in March. I have a feeling the girl is going to be at least as tall as my sister, and she just hit 5'11. I already have my fingers crossed that she will want to play volleyball when she is older, lets just hope she plays better then her Momma did!

Day 2, check.

Shortly after this morning began we hit the 24 hour mark since we watched his bus pull away. It was kind of nice knowing that we survived the first day and we will survive the rest of them as well. The kids went back to school today, and I managed to get fussed at for going down the school hallway by one of the teachers. I just needed to let Kiale's teacher know why he was absent yesterday since I forgot to put a note in his backpack and one of the teachers made me wait in the hallway and made Kiale's teacher walk all the way down just so I could talk to her. It wasn't a big deal, but it was just enough to annoy me.

I am already starting to plan R&R... crazy I know.. KS wants to go home to see our family while he is back so I figure we can have him fly into Orlando instead of here and we can hit Disney World for a couple of days then drive up to see our family. Then spend the last week or so here at home. I have to clear all of this by him though of course, and since he is not interested in Disney at all it might not work out that way, but we will see. Either way the kids and I will be going to Disney World this year. I want to take advantage of the 3 day park hopper passes I can get through the Army. I just have to decide how many days we want to take advantage of. I have a feeling I know exactly what he will say... "Disney? Yea, you have fun with that." Which translates into sure you can go, but I'm not in KS speak.

The kids seem to be handling everything pretty well today. Kiale is doing a little better, he is handling it the worst which I am not surprised about since he is the oldest. He understands time a lot better then Colin and Cayleigh-Grace does. It is very lonely with him gone, and very quiet... well as quiet as it can be with three crazy children in the house. The lack of near constant adult interaction is something that I already miss very much. I spent the day yesterday reading Twilight (again) I managed to get through 390 pages and I plan of finishing it today and starting New Moon. Whenever I need an escape and a distraction these are the books I go to. It is just so easy to get sucked into them. Cayleigh-Grace ended up playing playdoh ALL day today. I don't think I have ever seen a child play with it for so long. We also managed to watch all three of the Rainbow Brite DVD's that we have, two of which are the seasons. She loves those movies, they are by far her favorite thing to watch right now. I need to pull out my She'ra DVDs for her to watch next. Gotta love 80's cartoons, they were the best!

Deployment Goals

I have seen many places where they suggest a list of goals to occupy your time during deployments. What goals have you made, what do you do to keep the time passing quickly? Is there any particular goals that you would suggest? I am hoping to compile a list very soon, but I was looking for some pointers since as of right now my list is fairly short.

Our very own D-Day; Deployment Day.

Wow, so its over. The deed is done, and the love of my life is airport bound. Our day started at 5am we had to get the kids up and ready plus our showers to pick up two of his friends and all their gear by 6. Thankfully everything went smoothly and we were where we needed to be by 6:30. Then we just hung around and enjoyed our last hour before we had to say our goodbyes as the soldiers got into formation. The ceremony was short and sweet. I am hoping that the welcome home ceremony is just as short, but I have a long time before I get to worry about that. I was so surprised with myself I really kept it together during the ceremony and even during the phone calls that I had to make afterword. I am one of the most emotional people you will ever come across. (Just ask my Mom she will confirm it, she always told me she had never experienced a child as emotional as I was.) There was no huge breakdown or scene made but don't doubt the fact that watching my husband board onto the bus was the hardest thing I have ever done. Not running after him and begging him to stay took so much self control, more then I thought I would ever possess. As he loaded the bus and took his seat I raised each of the kids up to his window (not an easy task with two 50lb boys and a 35lb daughter) so they could hold his hand and say goodbye one final time, and then the bus began to pull away and it was over; or really it has just begun. 

In the days leading up to today I was filled with so many different emotions, so many of which I am still having a hard time expressing. I always write KS a going away letter and I just couldn't get the pen to write for some reason. The words just weren't coming out the way I wanted them too; so the letter went out unfinished and jumbled with a mess of random thoughts. Not the way I wanted to send him off but at the time it was just the best I could do. I even forgot to give it to him at the last minute. There they all were in formation and I have to have Kiale run it out there to him after the Army Song had run its course and they are fixing to load onto the bus. He just gave me his usual look that is normally accompanied by some comment about how "smart" I am... although this time all I got was the look. At least it got to him even if it was late and not written as well as I would have liked.

Day one is officially over. We can mark a day off the calendar and look forward to their being one less day of this deployment to go through. I let the kids stay home from school today for a "mental health" day. I figured after just seeing their Daddy leave they would need a day to just chill out and relax. We ended up coming home and having breakfast followed by everyone taking a three hour nap between eleven and two pm. After we got up the kids and I had to make a PX run to get some poster board for their 100 day celebrations at school. It ended up taking the entire afternoon for them to create their poster boards and get caught up on the past two days worth of homework since I didn't make them do their homework yesterday. Kiale actually had one of the read and response worksheets to do, I was pretty proud he did fairly well for his first one. He kept getting frustrated that he had to reread the paragraphs constantly to find the answers though. I keep telling him the more he practices the better he is going to get, but he just doesn't have the patience for it. He wants to be good at it now not later. Thankfully we were able to talk to KS multiple times throughout the day today and even tonight. He was able to tell the kids goodnight and we were able to have a bit of a conversation before he got on his last flight. He was even able to talk to his mom, Godfather, and one of his best friends from AIT and BCT. Now begins the parts of separations that I don't like (not that there really is anything to like about them...) the nights, the weekends suck too, but I am determined to find stuff to keep us all occupied. I just cannot wait for summer to get here we will be plenty busy then; doing our usual pool every day routine.

This is my 500th post... guess it seems fitting that it would be one that will change our lives forever. 

This is difficult... Predeployment.

Written January 2, 2011~ This part of being a military wife is hard to say the least. I don't even think the word difficult could even begin to describe the feelings and emotions that are surrounding my husband and myself right now. We are down to just a few short weeks before this deployment begins and it is hard to even describe what I am feeling. Today for instance I woke up and it was the first thing that I thought of. These days are the hardest. Its like I have this clock in the back of my mind that is a fixture in my peripheral vision. It isn't your normal everyday clock that is ticking away the minutes of the day, but it is a clock that is ticking down. Taking time away from us and it is constantly making its presence known. Every sweet moment between my kids and their daddy and even in the night when my husband and I have just finished making love the clock chimes and reminds me that the day is gone and that this is one last time that I will be able to hold my love for the next year or even see him wrestle with the boys or snuggle with our Grace. This is usually when the tears begin to fall and when the sadness sets in. This is when I feel the most vulnerable and the most transparent. It always hits me the hardest after sex, I don't know if it is just the emotion and hormones that are released that brings all of the sadness of pre-deployment to the forefront of my mind to the point where I cannot block it out or what, but as soon as we are through the tears start to fall.

Later on the 2nd~ Going about my day to day things no one could even guess that we are facing deployment. Unless you were to come into our house and see the bags and bags of Army gear packed and ready to be shipped overseas. We are not acting different and whatever emotion we are feeling is safely tucked away during any away time. Even when we are home and just doing our normal every day things it is as if this deployment is just a word and a thing we have to go through. We do not dwell on it and we do not even really discuss it. It is just there the big elephant in the room that at this point in time is staying silent in its corner just waiting and watching for when the ball finally decides to drop and become a permanent fixture in our household. The kids know and have known for quite some time. I was discussing it with the boys today while KS was at work (it is easier for me to talk about it when he isn't here) I was reiterating the fact that KS will be gone for a year, he will miss holidays, birthdays, plays, and anything else of significance trying to make sure that the boys understand what is going on and Colin flat out said the only thing he understands is that KS will be gone. I guess for a five year old that is all I can expect and really all that he needs to understand. They all know that KS loves them and wants to be here but he has to go and fight a fight to insure that people and families just like us are kept safe, and that parents can tuck their kids into bed at night without having to worry about terrible things happening. The next part will be to remind the kids day after day that KS loves them dearly and that he wants to be home but at this point in time he needs to be over there helping to protect everything that this country stands for.

Deployed; We are officially a Blue Star Family.

 November

 *Nov 2nd, By the time this posts he will already be gone and we will have officially started the Big D; our first deployment. Right now its November, 2nd to be exact and the word deployment is still leaving a sour taste in my mouth. I think it should considering I have only had 24 hours to really let it sink in that he is going to be gone for a year. When he comes home I will soon turn 27, Kiale will be 8 and a half, Colin will be soon to turn 7, and our precious Cayleigh-Grace will be 3 and a half years old. We will have spent our entire 10th year together and 70% of our 8th year of marriage apart. Welcome to the Army folks! Right now I am  handling the news better then I imagined I would. Probably because I knew what was coming and I had prepared myself to say goodbye to him before Christmas even got here, so January feels like a blessing to me right now. With two months to go before this giant year long roller coaster begins I am feeling confident, proud, and scared out of my wits. Confident, because I know that he will do great over there and because I know I can handle things back home. Proud, because of what my husband is doing; helping to protect our family, friends, and our country's way of life. Scared... yea that is an understatement, what if someone breaks a bone on my watch or what if the unthinkable happens... or what if we drift apart instead of becoming closer through the distance and time. All of the what ifs are a waste of time even thinking about at this point. I am confident that we will become closer and that everyone will be okay once this year comes to a close, even if someone breaks something along the way. If you wouldn't mind keeping the 5 of us in your prayers, and hopefully this year will pass quickly and uneventfully.

*Nov 5th, I just woke up. KS is at PT and all I can think about is him being gone for a year. KS is fixing to hit his 1 year anniversary with the Army in just a couple of weeks and I was laying in bed thinking about all that has happened within this past year.... it just makes being able to wrap my head around him missing from our lives for that same amount of time unfathomable. I just cant wrap my head around it... We still haven't told the kids yet, I don't think either of us are ready for it to be quite that final.

*Nov 12th, We told the kids and KS's Mom last night. She took the news better then I had expected, but we both think she lost it on the way home. The kids just don't get it, they have no idea whats coming. I think it has been too long since KS was away at BCT and they don't remember what it was like to be away from him with no contact for so long. I was really hoping to be able to prepare them for this but its obvious now that they are still too young and cannot grasp the concept of a year away from their Daddy.

*Nov 14th, I asked Kiale why he wasn't upset that KS was leaving for so long. He said "Its so far away I'm not going to worry about it right now. I will be sad when it gets closer and when he is gone." That is so my son, glad to know at least one of the kids has adopted my way of thinking.

*Nov  27th, lost it at the hunting club tonight. Our buddy Scott was ragging on me for pouting, I just couldn't help it. It is so hard not telling any of our family and friends what is going on. No one except for our parents, and our sisters know about this deployment... I have a feeling it is going to hit the rest of my family like a ton of bricks when they find out, and I know for sure certain people are going to be livid with us for not telling them but we had no real choice. So, if this is how you are finding out sorry.

December

*Dec 1st, I hate to see it be December, because I know that January is right around the corner and so few days of January will be spent together... I just hope we can make it though Christmas without letting the cat out of the bag so to speak.... It is so hard having so much I want to talk about and share through this blog and not being able to sucks.

*Dec 27nd, woke up crying this morning. KS will only be gone on a 5 day hunting trip and it is already affecting me. It just made everything that is going to happen within the next month seem so real. I guess it was a wake up call so to speak. I have decided one thing, we are going to be staying BUSY during the length of this deployment. The first thing I need to do after the new year is find out what sports I can get the boys into and if the indoor swimming pool is opened back up again so the kids can restart their swimming lessons. Not to mention I STILL have to get all three of them setup with CYS so I can take advantage of those 16 free daycare hours per kid once this deployment actually begins.

*Dec 31st, The kids Daddy Dolls came in!! I cannot for KS to give them to them. We are waiting until the day he leaves. It will be their present to make the day go a little easier. I even got the recordable inserts for them, I hope they love them.

January

*Time A- Well we told the last of our family today, well the family we are telling at least. Hopefully everyone will keep their mouths shut and not spread the news around until after he is out of the country. Everyone took the news well and I swear some people could care less, although I think they never really cared about KS anyway. Not that it matters its just more annoying to me then anything else.
 

*Time B- KS is on night shift and I found myself just staring at his picture on my computer. It is going to be so hard not seeing his face around here anymore. Sure we will have pictures, but that is nothing compared to the living breathing version that I love so much. I am going to be bored out of my mind with no one to pick on me and drive me crazy. I know I have the kids, but that just isn't the same. I cant play fight and wrestle with them the way KS and I do on a regular basis, who am I gone to spar with? Its going to be a long hard year without my husband and love here.

*Time C- Went to bed before KS last night, which is nothing new. I swear the man must be part owl, but as I laid down without him an overwhelming feeling of loneliness swept over me. It was a feeling I have never experienced to that depth before, but I guess it is one that I will grow accustomed to feeling very soon. Every time I think about how close we are to his departure date I feel like I just got the wind knocked out of me. Literally my stomach lurches and I loose my breath for a couple of seconds, not to mention the tears that I fight back if I let the thought linger in my head for more then 30 seconds.

*Time D- Well it finally hit Colin last night. KS was repacking all of the bags that have been taking up my dinning room for the past month and Colin asked him where he was going. We explained where and when again and Colin just ran up the stairs crying. I guess it finally hit him when we said KS was leaving in a week for a year.

*Time E- It is so close now, and I feel like the walls are literally closing in on me. I haven't had a total breakdown yet, but it is coming. It is getting harder and harder to fight them off and my stomach feels like it has found a new permanent home in my throat. I don't want him to see me cry, and I don't want him to see the hole that is forming within me, but it is going to happen. Hopefully I can make it through these next couple of days and I can let the emotions of the past three months take over and I can loose it alone. Without him  going through the pain of seeing me in the condition I know I will be in.

*Time F- Totally lost it this morning, you know the cry. The ugly one where you are hyperventilating and shaking so bad you can barely stand. Yea, that was me first thing this morning. Mornings are the hardest for me now that we are so close. By 11 o'clock I was fine, but before that I was a mess... in fact I don't think mess accurately describes it.  Just a little over 48 hours now. God give us the strength to get through these next couple of days. I will need it and so will the kids. There is no amount of preparing that we can do to really get prepared for this. It is what it is, and it is hard.

*Time G-  Less then 18 hours now... I am just ready to get the goodbyes over with and start marking the days off until I see him again. I think both of us are very much ready to begin this journey. 

A picture of something that has made a huge impact on my life recently

A picture of something I'm afraid of

If their was a phobia for alligators I would have it! I have had two encounters with alligators... We were having dinner with friends one evening at a restaurant that is on the river. There is a fence going around the outdoor dining area where we were eating to literally keep the gators out. KS thought he would be funny and point out a 3 foot gator that was about 4 feet if even that far way from where we were sitting... I screamed and jumped up on the table... not one of my best moments. The second encounter I don't even remember thanks to me having had a few drinks and KS waking me up while at my grandparents lake house to see this alligator that he and his friend caught. (yes they caught it) Supposedly I even touched it but since I don't remember anything about it and their are no pictures to prove it I say it didn't happen... (don't worry they released it back into the lake)

A picture of myself and a family member

Cayleigh-Grace, Holly, KS, Colin, Dylan, Dixie, and I!

A picture of someone I could never imagine myself without

How about 7 awesome women who I could never imagine myself without, these are some of the most amazingly strong and supportive women I have ever met. We all went through the trials of BCT and AIT together and now we are all enjoying the Army life. Many of us are separated by land and sea but we are all still as close as were were this time last year when we would stay up until the wee hours of the morning talking and enjoying a few glasses of wine together, and managing to get banned from Facebook a couple of times... lol, love you girls!!!

Top row, Lesley, Mari, and Jess. Middle row, Kelli, Tricia, Me, Amanda, and Kimmy.
Bottom row, Colin, Cayleigh-Grace, Kiale, and Niran.

Strength

I don't make New Year resolutions, but I do have a word for the year. Strength. This upcoming year is going to take a lot of strength on my part so I figured it would be a good word and a good thing to remember as the year progresses. Another word that I have for this year is, determination. There are many reasons why I have picked these two words for this upcoming year, and really too many to go into right now, but hopefully if I am able to stay focused on the present then these two words will enable this year to run its course smoothly and eventually dissolve into 2012 without incident.

The Army Wife

One of my best friend's Teri sent this to me and I thought I would share.

Click here to getImages &

Army Wife Quote Pictures - Pictures

A picture of my favorite band

By far my favorite band would have to be The Judds, it always has been. My parents took me to their final concert and that is one memory that I have always cherished. I just wish I could have gone to their 2010 tour, they have three more dates in 2011 but none of them are close to me. You would think that this question would be an easy one to answer but it wasn't I listen to SO much music and all different genres that it really was hard to pick a favorite so I just decided on the group I have liked for the longest amount of time.

A picture of the person who has got me through the most.

While my friends and family have been there to support me through thick and then, the most important person in my life has as well and he has done a good job doing it too; my husband KS.

A picture of something I love

Following along with the food theme from yesterday here is something I love. My favorite food, SUSHI!!  You cant get any better food then this, in my opinion that is.

(source)

My Day

Its 10:30am, KS and Cayleigh-Grace are still sound asleep. I have already got the boys up, went to the commissary, came back home unloaded groceries and then took them to their art class. Now I am enjoying a quiet breakfast alone before I leave to pick the boys back up.

5:42pm, just finished a three hour nap on the couch with KS. It was so nice, I don't even remember the last time we did that. Now I need to go figure out what I am going to make for dinner tonight...

A picture of something I hate.

English peas... or as I commonly refer to them; little round green things! I have always hated these, and I only make them when KS requests them. I don't even like the smell of them. I really don't see what the point is in peas... they are just NASTY!! What foods do you detest?

(source)

A picture of the person (or persons) I do the craziest stuff with...

This was very easy... My sisters and I, but we haven't done anything crazy in what seems like FOREVER... So maybe it would be...

Holly, Dixie, and I.

 These awesome girls from our days at AIT. Man do I miss them all.

Savanna, Teri, me, and Kalee.

Or, maybe this bunch of crazy people; who I end up doing crazy stuff with every day, from food fights to sledding down hills on metal cookie sheets. 

I think its a three way tie, or a nine way tie, however you want to look at it.

A picture that makes me laugh...

Kiale and I are notorious for having food fights in the house but this one happened to be a coke fight a few years back at the hunting club. This was at least 4 if not 5 years ago.

 

 

 

 

 

You can tell it was a long time ago; before Kiale made us cut his curls off.

 

 

 

 

 

 

A picture of my favorite memory...

This is a really easy one, it is three memories actually...

Kiale's birth in 2003

Colin's birth in 2005

and Cayleigh-Grace's birth in 2008.

Sledding!!

School ended up being closed both Monday and today which has been wonderful. KS didn't even have to work Monday and only had to go in for a short time today. Here are our pictures from Monday's fun in the snow. All the kids enjoyed another first together, sledding! With kids so far apart in ages it is rare that they get to experience a first together, but this one happened to be a super fun one to have! We were all really disappointed going to bed Sunday night. We all assumed that the snow would be gone by morning... we couldn't have been more wrong. Here it is almost 4 o'clock Tuesday afternoon and there is still enough snow to go sledding on outside. Being from the south we do not own sleds, but we do own metal cookie sheets!! They worked wonderfully! The kids had so much fun out there and we ended up going outside three times throughout the day to enjoy the snow. I will be posting videos tomorrow of all the fun they had!!

Kiale

Cayleigh-Grace

Colin

The boys were even there to help Cayleigh-Grace slide down the hill. They had to keep hold of her until it was time to let her go.

They were so pretty I had to take a picture.

Snow Day!!

10:15 PM, 1/9/11

7:00AM, 1/10/11

Favorite Show...

Day 03 - A picture of the cast from your favorite show this one is really hard for me since I don't really watch TV that much and I tend to just leave the TV on music stations, but if I had to choose one I would have to pick Guy Fieri from Diners Drive-ins and Dives.I love that show, whenever he comes on the boys always start yelling, "Mom your favorite guy is on!!!"

The One He Fights For (military girlfriends/spouse tribute)

"This is not a world for weak women!!" I LOVE THIS VIDEO!!!!!!!! I could not have said it myself!! Fast forward to about 4 min in to hear all the awesome truths 98% of us military wives all all too polite to actual say.

It has been 10 years since fate stepped in.

10 years ago today... I was a nervous wreck standing in front of my closet not knowing what to wear. Our Humanities class was taking a field trip to a museum and we were told to wear dressy clothes; I finally decided on a purple 3/4 length v-neck shirt that I had bought in Paris and a black knee length skirt with a slit on the lower thigh. I was so nervous that you wouldn't be there, I didn't even know if you were going to go or not. We had only begun talking for about a month or so prior but I knew this day would change everything, little did I know just how much this day would change my life, our lives. I was 15, you were 18. I had mentioned you to my parents around Thanksgiving break and then again in December. Somehow my Mom knew this was going to be different then any other relationship I had been in, or hoped at that time to be in. I remember she was so excited that I might be dating a Senior during my Sophomore year, I think she had already begun to dream about prom... I got on the bus and waited with some of the worst butterflies I had ever felt. I got to Mrs. Shannon's class where everyone was waiting, it was almost time for the bell to ring and you still weren't there. At this point my heart sank, you were late to school and we were fixing to leave in ten minutes when you finally walked in the door. I can still remember the way you looked when you walked in, tan slacks and a blue polo shirt with a squarish pattern on it. You came and sat down next to me with your best friends behind us. I couldn't believe you finally made it. It was time to go to the bus, I remember walking behind you wondering where I was going to sit. I wanted so badly to sit with you but I was to scared to ask you. Finally you asked me if I was sitting anywhere and when I answered no, you asked me to sit with you. So there we were on the bus. Nathan was sitting across from us and Howie was behind him. I don't really remember what all we were talking about but at one point we began to hold hands, I remember Nathan looking at you and then teasing you. You didn't even care. You had to hold one of your hands over your eyes to talk to me because the sun was coming in right through my window. We talked and laughed the entire way to the museum. After arriving at the museum we took in the sights, including the Mona Lisa, and just enjoyed each others company. Eventually you left my side to hang out with your friends. I remember my heart sank, that was it I thought. "What would he see in some boring 15 year old anyway" I remember walking around alone not really paying any attention in particular to what I was seeing, what seemed like hours passed by as minutes and you found my side again. We resumed our conversation, picking back up right where we left off. Soon it was time to load back up into the bus and head to lunch at Ci Ci's Pizza. We got a table to ourselves and started to get our pizza from the buffet. I remember being so nervous the entire time, I don't think my heart ever took a break from racing the entire day. Lunch was wonderful and interesting. I was so nervous and having never been to Ci Ci's before I just picked up some pizza that looked harmless enough. Cheese and sausage, or so I thought. It was the most disgusting pizza I had ever tasted, all I remember was that it was nasty and had some sort of bacon and ranch on it. I was so scared you would think badly of me if I didn't eat what I had got I managed to finish it, I still don't know how I ate it. It was that bad. After we ate we went into the arcade portion and watched your friends play the games and then just like it started we were getting on the bus to go, hand in hand once again. When we arrived back at school you didn't grab my hand and I was too afraid to grab yours, I was too afraid to mess up a good thing. The bell rang for dismissal just a few short minutes after we arrived back at school. We had just enough time for you to write you cell phone number down on a ripped piece of paper. (Oh how I wish I still had it...) Our first day together had ended, and I had no idea the journey we would go on together or how just a simple field trip had the ability to make our two worlds collide in such a way that we would never let go of one another.

KS and I never "officially" went out, he never asked me to be his girlfriend. We just were, it was an unspoken thing between us. We didn't need the high school will you "go out" with me stuff. We were what we were; a couple. A month after the field trip we had our first kiss, which was completely unheard of at the time. To wait a month before kissing, everyone thought it was crazy, but you see I was KS's first and only girlfriend and he wanted to make sure I was the right one. Shortly after our first kiss we told each other that we loved one another and then by three months into our relationship we were talking about marriage. That is right, I was barely a month or so into being 16 and we were already talking about getting married. We knew we were it for each other. There was no one else out there for us, we had met our soul-mates.

Eight years ago today we went on a date that would once again change our lives. It started off at a steak house and a romantic dinner for two. I was a nervous wreck once again, but that is because I knew what was coming I just had no idea when or where. After dinner, which I barely ate, we were on the road. KS was trying to take me back to the place where our lives changed forever, the museum, but it wasn't meant to be. He couldn't find it and finally in frustration broke down and asked me if I could remember where it was. Needless to say I could not, so we ended up pulling over into the parking lot of the city paper. It was right on the river and although it wasn't the beautiful gardens of the museum it was still beautiful to look at, and will forever hold a special place in my heart. I could tell KS was nervous, and he isn't the nervous type. Finally he walked over to me, looked down into my eyes and said "Charity, will you marry me?" of course I said yes. That was a given but it was wonderfully sweet. When we got back into the car we drove three more blocks and there it was, the museum. So you see, this was the first thing KS ever asked me. It was never "will you go out" with me, but "Will you marry me?" Really it says a lot about our relationship, we always knew that we would marry. It was never a question of yes or no, but of when.

Back to School and Work

Today was nice, the kids were back in school from Christmas break and KS didn't have to go into work until after lunch. I had a hard time getting Kiale to go back to class, he was very nervous after being gone for so long. Colin didn't care, he was ready and willing to start school again. A lot of Kiale's problem is that they are doing "work" now. It isn't all the fun arts and craft stuff like they did in Kindergarten he is having to do really school work now and he repeatedly calls it boring and not fun. I was exhausted today for some odd reason and I ended up taking a nap first thing this morning, which really helped since KS was here to take care of Cayleigh-Grace. Heck, I didn't even get my shower until 2:15, it was just one of those days... After I picked the kids up from school we headed over to old navy to pick up a couple of shirts for our photo shoot we are having in a few days. I cannot wait to see how the pictures are going to turn out, cross your fingers for the best b/c these shots are going to mean so much to us. I was so happy, out of the four shirts I bought today all but one were on sale and two of them were only $5 each. Plus my local Old Navy gives a 10% discount on the 1st-4th of every month to all military. Next time you are in ask, maybe they give a discount as well. Homework today went really well, they did it in the truck on the way to and from the store so by the time we got home they only had a little bit left to finish. Hopefully the rest of the week goes this smoothly and I actually have some energy in the morning. I was great after my nap but before that I was just plain useless.

*Tomorrow is a HUGE day in our household, can anyone guess why??? I will give you a hint, its a good thing!!

Lindsay and I

Day 02 - A picture of you and the person you have been closest with the longest

 This is my cousin Lindsay. We are five months apart and when we were little we were either fighting like cats and dogs or getting along wonderfully. There never was any real middle ground with us. Thankfully there never were too many years where we were not really close, mainly just during high school because we were so different and she hated my taste in boys... well until KS came along that is ;-) We only had one year where we were in the same class during elementary school, 2nd grade, I have a feeling they put notes in our files not to keep us together. We tended to argue A LOT back then.

All about Food!

Happy New Years everyone!! Today in an effort to start the new year out on a good foot I managed to cook all three of our meals today!! I know it sounds weird, I cooked all three meals? Well instead of the kids usual oatmeal or cereal for breakfast I cooked a quiche a Boudin and Green Pepper Quiche, well minus the boudin. Our commissary does not carry boudin so I opted for a beer brats sausage. It was a total success! Normally I do not like quiches because I am really weird about how my eggs are cooked. I cannot stand cooked yoke, but this I loved!! The only person how didn't like it was Colin, but that is normal around this house. He doesn't like half of what I cook. He is our resident picky eater. For lunch instead of sandwich meat or corn dogs I made Mini Meatball Sandwiches, and instead of buying the meatballs I made them! I had never made meatballs before, but they were super easy and fun to do. For dinner we are having a typical holiday dinner for our house, just will a New Years twist, you cannot have New Years dinner without black eyed peas for good luck! In about an hour we will be eating, New Year's Black-Eyed Peas, slightly updated, ham, baked potatoes, and corn bread. Hopefully they turn out great, I know they smell good! The only thing that would make dinner better would be if we had some salad, but I always have to forget something.

All of these recipes came from the Pioneer Woman's recipe website Tasty Kitchen. I have heard rave reviews about her and her cooking but I had never really ventured over there to explore and try out her website until yesterday. I will have to admit I will be using her again and again in the future. The food is wonderful and easy to make! The only thing is that I feel like I have been in my kitchen all day! Its not such a bad thing just something I will have to get used to.    

10 facts + a picture of me.

Day 1, A pictures of me with 10 facts.... hmmm... 

Fact 1- I married my husband when I was 17 and three months pregnant. 

Fact 2- Sushi is my all time FAVORITE food!

Fact 3- My family has lived in the same town for over 100+ years now.

Fact 4- I had my first son when I was 18 and my second son when I was 19.

Fact 5- When I was attending collage a few years ago I changed my major 3 times from dance to nursing, and then to studio art. 

Fact 6- I am the oldest as well as the shortest of 3 sisters.

Fact 7- I refuse to "grow up" as they say by having at least monthly food fights with my husband and constantly playing around with him like we are still in high school.

Fact 8- I have 9 piercings all of which are in my ears.

Fact 9- Summer is by far my FAVORITE season of the year, I could live in a summer climate year round and thrive in it. 

Fact 10- My favorite flowers are hydrangeas, to the point that I told KS that if I died I wanted them on my casket. Morbid I know, but true.

My Goal for the new year is to attempt to blog every day and when I saw that Mrs. P from A Little Pink in a World of Camo had started this one  I figured I would join in the fun. Not to mention that by starting off with this fun 31 day challenge it would get me started off on the right foot and help me accomplish my blogging goal for one month at least. Here is the 31 day list if you would like to join in the fun:

Day 01 - A picture of yourself with ten facts
Day 02 - A picture of you and the person you have been closest with the longest
Day 03 - A picture of the cast from your favorite show
Day 04 - A picture of your night
Day 05 - A picture of your favorite memory
Day 06 - A picture of a person you'd love to trade places with for a day
Day 07 - A picture of your most treasured item
Day 08 - A picture that makes you laugh
Day 09 - A picture of the person who has gotten you through the most
Day 10 - A picture of the person you do the craziest things with
Day 11 - A picture of something you hate
Day 12 - A picture of something you love
Day 13 - A picture of your favorite band or artist
Day 14 - A picture of someone you could never imagine your life without
Day 15 - A picture of something you want to do before you die
Day 16 - A picture of someone who inspires you
Day 17 - A picture of something that has made a huge impact on your life recently
Day 18 - A picture of your biggest insecurity
Day 19 - A picture and a letter
Day 20 - A picture of somewhere you'd love to travel
Day 21 - A picture of something you wish you could forget
Day 22 - A picture of something you wish you were better at
Day 23 - A picture of your favorite book
Day 24 - A picture of something you wish you could change
Day 25 - A picture of your day
Day 26 - A picture of something that means a lot to you
Day 27 - A picture of yourself and a family member
Day 28 - A picture of something you're afraid of
Day 29 - A picture that can always make you smile
Day 30 - A picture of someone you miss
Day 31 - A picture of yourself