MIZZOU-RAH!!!

Mizzou kicks off tonight at 7:30 against illinois on ESPN. Happy watching! GO TIGERS!

---on a side note: it is going to be extremely sad to go through a football season without my honey. I love you and miss you babe!---

GO TIGERS!!!

Some Fun Photos

I GOT A PHONE CALL FROM MY SWEETIE THIS MORNING! We got to talk for all of a minute and a half! (Yes, seriously!) But it was a GLORIOUS 90 seconds! He sounded good, things are busy and going well. God bless our troops!

I don't really have much to report today but I thought I would share some random fun pics from the last few weeks.

Here's Kaden when I picked him up on the first day of school:

Josie's new favorite thing. Playing on the toddler beds, she climbs up there and has a blast!Kaden-man dancing up a storm in the kitchen, check out the tongue! So SILLY!Gabriel was being silly too. What a sweet smile he has!

Another Josie post

I can't help it! I LOVE this girl! I went through my set of girl's clothes to get out some 18 month stuff for Josie. (Thank you again Belva Jean and Sandy for all the baby clothes!) I found some of the most adorable very summer dresses in there. I know that Josie doesn't have long to wear them so she's dressing pretty special these days. On Sunday she wore this too-cute dress with many compliments I might add:Well apparently Josie didn't like the way the dress hindered her crawling ability so she had to remedy that. It's not the best video but you'll get the gist. Besides watching her is just pure joy ;)

And no, she's not walking yet but we are getting close. She has started walking along the walls so she's not just holding onto to edges to walk. She is pushing around laundry baskets and chairs in order to walk. Josie has even made a falling/dive type step from the ottoman to the couch. We are making progress here! Sooner Start (the program that sends people to your house to work with your kiddos and their developmental delays) is going to come out once every 2 weeks to work with Josie. We start on the 3rd of Sept. I will keep you updated on her progress. And you can bet there will be a video of her walking! Go ahead...watch her again, she is just so darn cute!

6 month check up

I took the boys in to the dentist yesterday for their 6 month check up. I told them before we went that if they were ALL good and good the WHOLE time that we would have Mickey D's for dinner. That was enough for them to *promise* me they would be good. Guess what? Oh ye of little faith, they were good, they were great actually. Everyone listened and obeyed. It went so smoothly I was waiting to wake up from a dream. They went a perfect 0 for 3, meaning NO cavities! Yeah! That was a blessing. Everyone was brave, everyone listened, it seemed to be an easy trip. Does it sound like there is a but coming? Because there is a but coming. All was good, but then the dental tech noticed a bump on Luke's gum. She brought me back to him to ask if I had seen it before. "Nope." Oh my gosh, did I feel terrible! I felt (again) as the world's worst mother, how did I not notice this? It looks disgusting which is why there is no picture for you to see what I am talking about. Okay so long story short, this bump is the draining of an abscess, seems one of the cavities Luke back in Feb has killed his tooth. The tech said sometimes the dentist doesn't want to go all the way to the root and so it must not have been fixed all the way. Uh, that sucks! So it needs to come out. They are going to pull it. That makes number 2, he's already had a tooth pulled. Bless his bones. Luke did get upset about this. He kept saying "I don't want any cavities." He doesn't really get the difference I guess. But because this is a baby tooth and they don't want to lose space for the adult one that is not there yet they also have to put a spacer in. So all of this will happen next week. Ugh. I just feel bad for Luke.
So after our easy (but a little sad) time at the dentist we went to Target and the boys picked out new toothbrushes. The dentist gave them Sponge Bob and Shrek, neither of which my kids watch or I like very much. Gabriel chose Hulk, Luke has Power Rangers, and Kaden chose one that looks like an orange Crayola crayon. We are all set! Then I took the kiddos to Chick-Fil-A and they all ate a great dinner and they played and played at the playpark. It was a good afternoon and evening for us. We needed it and we got it!
I promise I will be back with pics soon!

The POWER of prayer

This morning at church as we were singing an old hymn and I was hit hard by some very powerful lyrics. I wanted to share them with you. Most of you, I'm sure, have heard this song, but please try and read it with fresh eyes. From "What a Friend We Have in Jesus":

"Oh, what peace we often forfeit,

Oh, what needless pain we bear,

All because we do not carry

Everything to God in prayer!"

Look at that, sounds as if we choose to have excess chaos and pain in our life. God calls on us to pray to Him for anything and everything. He is always there for us. One of my favorite verses in the bible is Matthew 18:18 when Jesus says "I tell you the truth, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven." How incredibly powerful and healing is that statement?! If we hold onto it here on earth, in our hearts, in our minds, we are the ones that have to deal with the strife, the anger, the pain, the hurt. But if we just turn our hearts and mind upwards, if we just let it go, let it all to go to God, then HE is the one that deals with it, He takes our hurts. Talk about FREEDOM! So my prayer for you, for all of us today, is that whatever you are holding onto, give it away. Give it to God. Let it loosed in heaven. Unbind yourself. Don't forfeit your peace, don't hold the needless pain. EVERYTHING TO GOD IN PRAYER! After all, who couldn't use more peace in their life. God Bless!!!

YUM!

This is what happens when you mix happiness, pizza, and chocolate graham crackers!!!

Gosh, I think she is gorgeous!
*We are all doing well. Luke and Kaden are loving school, Luke seems to be enjoying the social aspect of it all mostly, that makes me kinda nervous. We will see how that goes. Kaden loves everything about school and still is bummed because he has had no homework yet.

**In my e-mails from Michael he is busy-busy all the time. He is working some 15 or so hours a day. Not getting too much sleep but he thinks it will settle down in time, well, maybe it will, hopefully it will. He can check the blog though, so yeah for that! Hi ya honey!

***I am busy cleaning my house and getting rid of all this 'stuff' we have. I figure if I haven't used it (or seen it) in 3 years it's time to go! Isn't it amazing how quickly your junk adds up? Wow. And for those of you that don't move around every 2 seconds like us military folk, I can't imagine what it is like for you. We get to go through a good purge every moving time and I still end up with way too much stuff lying around. Here's to my inspiration to hold high so I can go through this entire house! I gotta have projects while Michael is gone, it so helps pass the time. (Miss you babe!)

White, Newton, Tell, and Eve...

What do all these people have in common?
Think about it...
It'll come to you.
I'll wait...
You got it yet?
Apples. Now let's add the name Harmon to the list. Let me explain, yesterday I falsely reported that my toilet was fixed. The first time it was used, it overflowed again. I called my wonderful handy man back out and he took apart my toilet to find the source of the issue. You guessed it, an apple. An apple was lodged in my toilet drain. Have you ever heard of such a thing? It had to have been Kaden or Gabriel but as both have denied and admitted it, I don't know which one. So we have had the same conversation about 30 times today: "What goes into the toilet? Potty, poop, and toilet paper. NOTHING else!" A good lesson to pass onto all you other parents out there. Teach your kids early. I am thankful to have my bathroom back in working order. I still just can't believe it. An apple...seriously?!

Dancing machines

Thought it was about time to share my kids' skills. I caught 3 of them on video showing off their stuff. Gabriel starts it off with some dancing at Uncle Thad and Aunt Jackie's wedding, Kaden joins in the fun:

Next we have Kaden reprising his craziness at the wedding reception to one of Aunt Jackie's favs, MJ's Billie Jean:

Josie closes it with Smooth. She was really dancing but her brothers running around kinda upset her groove but she sure is cute to look at!

Aren't they just too fun?! I'll have to post one of Luke soon. I put on my IPOD in the kitchen while I "make" dinner (did you like that honey?!), it's on while we eat, and then I turn it up for clean up time. That is when we get down. GOOD STUFF!!!

By-the-way, my toilet is fixed now. :)

OK, OK, I get it already!!!

Now I know. Now I get it. My hubby is long gone and good 'ol Murphy has kicked in his law. Note the time of this post. It's 12:15 AM. Had a good night, put the kids to bed with a movie. Chilled, watched some Cards, watched a TON of Olympics. I ordered a veggie pizza for myself and life was good. Olympics actually ended kinda early and so off to bed I went. One quick stop at the potty and darn it all...the toilet flooded, after I flushed. It was done, it was quiet, and yet when I was leaving the bathroom and I heard a loud gurgling sound. Water flooded half my master bath in like half a second. Okay, so more like a quarter of my bath, but gimme a break, I am looking for sympathy points here. Well 40 minutes later and a load of 8 soaked towels in the wash and I am realizing that Michael is really gone. See unless you are a military spouse (and maybe this happens with all spouses that go away with work----I just am obviously surrounded by military families), unless you are a military spouse you might just not understand that things always happen with the guys are gone. The fridge breaks, stitches for the kiddos, whatever...trust me we will all tell you it's true. They leave and parts of our life fall apart around us. We all have plenty of stories to share on this fact. I've now had my first issue and Michael's deployment seems real enough. I told you that it hadn't hit me yet. That I believe has changed. Ugh. It's hard, I will not lie to you, I am proud, I am willing, but it's really hard. Now I realize it might seem a little silly, that some of you are thinking "why is she getting so crazy about a toilet overflow?!" It just that it reminds me I am fully into this deployment, Michael is gone and I will be the one and only running this house and making the decisions. It's a tough job. Of course that is why I thank God for my amazing family and friends that help me through these trying times. Thanks to all of you for your love, support, and prayers. Does anyone know a good plumber??

**************************

We made another paper chain to count Michael's days. The boys were really excited about doing it until we started and then they wanted to be somewhere else. But we got it done. The boys wrote out the numbers. We number every 5th chain so we can count how long Daddy has been gone. You see, you never count down because their arrival home changes only 1,000 times if you lucky. So you count up to see how far you've come.

The chain is up in my dining room and it shows me I'm in for the long haul, but more importantly it shows me that there is an end in sight!

Thanks for reading my potty time venting. I needed to write it.

Michael babe, I miss you and I love you so much. Stay safe!

TAG, I'm it!

Kellie and Jeanne both tagged me, so I guess it's my turn.
How it works:
1. Post the rules of the game at the beginning.
2. Each player answers questions about themselves
3. At the end of the post, the player then tags five people and post their names, then goes to their blogs and leave them a comment, letting them know they've been tagged and asking them to read the players blog.
4. Let the person who tagged you know when you've posted your answers

Where were you 5 years ago?
I was at home in Oklahoma City with a 2 year old and 5 month old getting set to move back to Florida for the 2nd time.

What are 5 things on your to do list for today?
1. Call cousin MELANIE to wish her a HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!
2. OLYMPICS
3. Clean the house a little
4. OLYMPICS
5. And then I think I will sit down and watch some Olympics on TV.

What are 5 snacks you enjoy?
1. Any kind of chocolate
2. Ice Cream
3. Apples
4. Pretzels/chips
5. Popcorn

What are 5 things you would do if you were a billionaire?
1. Pay off all my families debts (mine too of course).
2. Donate.
3. Annual passes to DisneyWorld
4. Travel everywhere
5. Do a lot more donating!

What are five of your bad habits ?
1. Nagging
2. Jealousy
3. Worrying
4. Eating junk food
5. Judging too quickly

What are five places you've lived?
1. St. Louis, MO
2. Columbia, MO
3. Spokane, WA
4. Panama City, FL
5. Sembach, Germany
(just 5???)

What are 5 jobs you've had?
1. Sutherlands Lumber (Ah, Kelly, the good 'ol days!)
2. Denny's (ah, where Kelly ABANDONED me!)
3. Cracker Barrel
4. Vet office
5. Warrington Bank

Five people I tag.
1. Jackie
2. Belva
3. Becky
4. Kelly
5. Brittyne

First of many

SCHOOL IS IN SESSION! Just about 20 minutes ago my 2 oldest got on the bus to go to school. They woke up today in exceptionally great moods! Kaden was all about the bus! He has been looking forward to that since the last day of school in May. Kaden's class is half day but Luke will be there until 3:30! What will I do without him all day?! I am sure that will take some getting used to. He is so thrilled about being in 1st grade.
We went to their open house on Tuesday night and met their teachers. Both seems really wonderful. Here are some pics from that night:
This morning there were many smiles for me to catch! PJ pic:Dressed alike in their school shirts, they were ready for that bus!Pretty cute boys, huh?! Have fun at school my sweethearts! (Luke is such a cheeseball!!! :)

All Too Soon

For those of you that don't already know, yesterday Michael deployed again. He left for a 4-ish month deployment over to the Middle East. This came too quickly for me. He hasn't been home a year yet (remember he returned in Sept of last year) We all are doing okay right now but check back with me this weekend! The situation doesn't feel real to me yet. Michael didn't leave with his squadron at the bast like last year. Yesterday we drove and dropped him off at the airport, just like we have done when he's left for 3 or 4 days. This summer we have been totally obsessed with my brother's wedding (WHICH WAS AWESOME!!!!!!) and our trip to California that the fact Michael was leaving in early August kinda slipped by us all. I have a feeling though it will catch up to me soon. It's so hard when you husband is gone. There are so many emotions you have to fight through. There are good days and bad days, for me and for the kids. I am just now starting to realize that these things are in store for my family once again. The one thing I hold onto is how proud I am of Michael. He is an incredible officer and is so committed and amazing at his job. He 100% believes in what our military, our country is doing now. He has such an important job and I know that he will do everything he can to help protect us here at home. Michael does not like to miss out on his family, he does not enjoy being away from us but he does understand the importance of his sacrifice. He knows that he can help, support, and love us through what he does to support the mission across the world. I am so proud of you Michael! I am in awe of our military and what they proudly sacrifice to go and do what is right. Please say a prayer for all those deployed and those getting ready to go. I know that many of your probably don't have much contact with military families because of where you live. Just remember we have been fighting these wars since 2002, families are separated and united many times, please lift them up today. Thank you.

Alrighty, PICTURE time. I wanted to get a good photo of Daddy with his kiddos, here are my attempts:

What cute kids are those!!! Next I wanted a picture of my hubby and I. The boys helped with this. Here is Luke's pic: (yes, I cropped a bit...)Not too shabby. Here is Kaden's try:Next, was Gabriel's shot:He tried! Mom made the picture at least! He was so proud of himself.

Michael saying good-bye to the kiddos. I cannot explain to you how precious these hugging pictures are to me. They are such a comfort when Michael is gone. Josie just smiled and laughed at her Daddy, she loves him so.

One last shot of Daddy saying good-bye when we got to the airport. Fitting that it was raining...I did a pretty good job of holding it together, of course I cried but I didn't bawl. That was a huge step for me. Luke had a hard time and REALLY cried all the way home. "But I don't want my Daddy to leave." "Why does his work need him to be somewhere else?" I was pretty teary and Kaden kept saying "Don't cry Mom. Please don't cry. I don't want to cry, please don't cry." Gabriel didn't say much of anything, just watched Luke. And Josie, sweet baby, just "DaDa DaDa"-ed ALL THE WAY HOME. We love you and miss you already Daddy. Stay safe! We'll be praying!

WEDDING!!!

They did it! It's done! Jackie and Thad are married!!! It was an absolutely gorgeous ceremony and the view was breathtaking. We had such a wonderful time on our visit out to California. It was pure joy to be a part of their special day! Love you both! Now onto pics, I can fill you in on all the details on a later date! I know you want to see the photos...

REHEARSAL DINNER. THAD'S AWESOME CARDINALS CAKE FROM JACKIE:

GETTING BEAUTIFUL BEFORE THE WEDDING, READ THE SHIRT :)
THE WEDDING. MOM WALKED THAD DOWN THE AISLE:WAITING FOR MY BOYS AND JACKIE:

KADEN AND GABRIEL DELIVERED THE RINGS:

JACKIE AND HER DAD:

THE BEAUTIFUL WEDDING OFFICIATED BY OUR UNCLE DON:

A BEAUTIFUL READING FROM OUR COUSIN MEL:
THE RINGS:
THE SMOOCH:THE FIRST DANCE:

Thank you Jackie and Thaddeus for letting us be part of your wedding. Thank you for including us in your happiness! I am so overjoyed at having you as my sister-in-law Jackie. And Thaddeus you know I love you more then words can say. Thank you for loving my family as you do. I wish you nothing but happiness, peace, and LOVE!!!