New puppy

So it has been almost two weeks since we inherited our new puppy Chance. He is such a sweetie and we were so glad to be able to save him from the pound! He has been a miracle for Maddie, now she has someone else with four legs and fur to play with and roughhouse with . We are guessing he is between 6-8 months old, and he looks like a lab boxer mix. He is wonderful with the kids. I have been working on my xmas list, checking all the sales, and researching the black friday adds that have been released so far. I have also been working on my Thanksgiving menu, we will have two couples and one single soldier here for dinner. I really look forward to it. My friend Jon Monroy from high school found me the other day on facebook, and we talked on the phone. It was like a blast from the past! I have not seen him in 15 years and I have not talked to him since Andi was a baby. It is getting very cold here, which is unusual for this part of the south. I feel like I am back in Oregon again. Last year we were still in t-shirts and shorts!

Wow, today is election day and I find myself having a very difficult time gearing up to vote. It is going to be a close race, and for some reason I feel that this election is the most important one in our nations history. The fate of the planet rests on the shoulders of the next president, and I tell you what, I don't envy them a bit!

costumes

So we got the kids costumes the other day at party city. Samantha is Sleeping Beauty and she wears it everyday. I swear it will be worn out by the time Halloween comes around. Erik is going to be Michael Meyers, and Andi is a pirate chick. It should be fun. The weather has been turning into fall around here. It is chilly in the mornings, with frost on the car and the grass. I am so glad it is not sweltering heat! I will post some pics of the kids in they're costumes so y'all can see them all dressed up!

October 8

Wow, here we are in October alread! Not a lot of changes to report, however I did loose my best friend last month to a PCS move to Hawaii! I am so jealous, LOL! I miss her like crazy and I drove by her house the other day for the first time and boy did that make me sad!! Samantha really misses her buddie Ella, and little man Bensen. I knew that this is part of the Army life, but I still was not ready for it! I have several friends here at Benning, but no one could replace my Brandi!! She wants me and the kids to come to visit when John is deployed. Sure I would love that, but I don't really see me being able to afford it! The kids are searching the internet looking for ideas for they're Halloween costumes. I will definately be taking pics and posting them when they are all dressed up! John is doing really well at work. He is a team leader, they gave him two new soldiers to mold and shape. He has earned a lot of respect up on the Hill, and finds himself being the "dad" to more than just his two soldiers. He works long hours and his phone rings several times a night when he is home. But at least I know he will be home every night. We are still waiting to get our notice that we will be moving into our new house. I have heard a lot of different things, but I am expecting it anytime now. John is not due to deploy until the fall of next year thank goodness! My nephew Skyler is in the Marines, and he will be stationed in North Carolina, and they are due to deploy to Afghanistan at the beginning of next year. Well, that is all I have for now, love you guys!

August 22

So the kids are doin well in school. Samantha is loving it, and never give me a hard time when I take her to class. Andi had a great birthday, she had a fun party with her friends and got some nice things. We have a cold that is going thru the house, that is always fun, back to school, woohoo. We found out yesterday that we get to go to Florida for a 3 day weekend next month. We will be going to the Bay Point Marriott in Panama City, the same hotel tha we went for the spouse group retreat last year. I am very very excited, especially since the room and meals will be provided. It is a marriage retreat, thru the Chaplains from the group. I cannot wait to go to the white beaches of Fl. with the family, and John is looking forward to it too! I have been enjoying the alone time I get ever afternoon. I am sad tho, Brandi leaves us in two weeks. BooHoo! They will be going to Hawaii for three years. I hope that I will see her again soon! Well, that is all for now, I added a few pics.

First day of school!

So the kids are off to they're first day of school today! I am very excited about that as you can imagine. Samantha is in pre-k this year and feels like such a big kid going to big kid school. We went to the school yesterday for orientation, and got to meet the kids teachers and see where they're classrooms are. Both teachers seem very nice and I look forward to a good school year. Andi is in her last year of jr. high, then it is off to high school. It is so crazy, she was just in diapers and now she is a couple years from driving! How fast the time goes! John is doing well at work, he will be going to the E5 board in the next couple of months, so he will finally have the NCO position that he deserves. There are several schools that he is trying to get into for training. We will find out if he gets them in the next month or so. All of the soldiers are back from they're block leave, so now the training begins for the next deployment, even tho it is over a year away. It has been very hot here lately, lots of humidity, so we stay inside a lot. We got a badmitten set, so we go out to the backyard in the evenings to play that. Erik is getting better at it, and Andi is a natural. John and I play for 30-40 minutes each evening to get some "cardio" LOL. I will post some new pics soon.

Already July!

Wow, I cannot believe it is July already! Time is flying so fast! So we just had Sheryll and Dave here visiting us, that was a lot of fun! We stayed at the Cabins at Uuchee creek for a couple of nights and played cards, went swimming, ate a bunch, had coctails. It was a good time for all! I am adding a few new pics today, hope that you all enjoy them. The kids go back to school on the 5th of August, and I could not be more excited! Samantha starts pre-k this year, so she will go for about 2 1/2 hrs a day to Wilson, which is where Erik goes. John is back to work tomorrow and back into the swing of things. It sure has been nice having him home. Now I just have to figure out my own rutine, so we will see how that works out.

Just hangin

So today is June the 20th, can you believe it? It seems like just yesterday I was doing this all on my own. Things are going well, we have really been enjoying spending time as a family. John has about 9 days left on his block leave and then it is back to work as usual. His mom is going to be here on Tuesday night, she will stay with us until his dad gets here next Sunday. They will be here until the 2nd of July. We are looking forward to seeing them. We have been doing a lot of fishing, that has been fun for all of us. Last night we went to a Columbus Catfish game, they are the minor league team for the Tampa Bay devilrays. The stadium is really nice, and the fans are great. Much better than at the ball park in Bend. We have gone to see a couple movies together, The Hulk and Iron Man. They were fun and I loved both of them. So did baby girl. I quit smoking again, lol 4 days ago and have been doing really well with it, better than I thought I would seeing as how John still smokes. I reallly want him to quit, not only for his health, but things are getting so expensive! We have been working on our back yard, and I really need to take some pics of it. I will do that this weekend, so keep checking back, I will post them. Love y'all!

Time goes by so fast

So tomorrow will be 4 weeks since John came home. I cannot believe how fast time flies! We have been having a great time, hanging out, playing. Our back yard is really shaping up, we have put a lot of time and money into it, I will be posting new pics of that soon. Our new obsession is a t.v. series called "The Unit". I love, love, love it!!! It is a great show, and I can relate to it so much! The kids will be getting out of school next week and they are very excited. The final soldier from John's squad will be coming home tomorrow, WOOHOO!! They will be complete once again. He is very excited about that, they are all like brothers and I swear you would think they were married, LOL! Samantha is doing really well in her pre-school, and she was accepted into full day pre-k starting in August here on post. Yay for me, it will be the first time that I will have days with no children. Love that! So that is a little update of the family, we love all of you!

HE"S HOME!!!!!!

Praise God, he made it home safe to us! The re-deployment was so amazing and something that I never thought I would experience. His plane landed at 11:30pm on the 23rd of April. In the terminal at the airport on post where they flew into, there are huge screens everywhere, and i had chills when I looked up and saw those lights, and the plane touching down on the runway. Finally, it was over. The fear, the long lonely nights, being mom and dad, all of that was over, my heart was finally home. The crowd cheered and screamed it was awesome. Then came the waiting part, ugh. I think that was the longest hour and a half of my life. The soldiers, all 250 of them had to turn in they're weapons, go to briefings and watch videos. There they were behind that big wall, and we were out in the waiting area. Finally we saw them enter thru the side door, and the cheering was deafening. They marched out in formation, and the Commander felt he needed to say a few words. It seemed like he talked for an hour, but it was probably only 10 minutes. Then he released them, and this huge mass of women and children, moms and dads went rushing towards them. The kids and I stood where we were, and we looked and looked. And then there he was, all three of them ran to him and jumped on him, yelling and smiling. I waited patiently, for him to come to me, and he did. His arms have never felt so good around me his kiss never felt so wonderful. The releif I felt is indescribable. Now we are waiting for the rest of our boys to come home, and I will be down there for every flight. We have 9 days until the next group comes down, and then another week after that till the second part of the main body comes. The final soldiers should be home by the end of May. What a wonderful day that will be.

WOW!

I cannot believe that this past year has gone by so fast. I never thought I would make it thru, and yet here I am on the other end of this deployment, counting down the days until my heart is home. I have 25 days until I can hold him again. 25 days until the kids can jump on him and hug they're daddy. 25 days until I can look into his eyes, and know that he is safe, at least for now. 25 days until that place at the dinner table is no longer empty. My emotions are so jumbled right now, the end is definably the hardest. I am more scared than I have been for the last year. I find myself wanting to fall apart, and yet somehow I pull myself together, and keep plugging along. I know that there are going to be a lot of things that won't be the same, it won't be like he just left and came home over a weeks time. We have both had lives apart, that is something that is hard to come to grips with when you have shared everything with that person for so many years. But I know in my heart that it wont be long until we fall back into our routine, we will learn how to dance together once again. I am posting a few new pics, I'm afraid I have been slacking in the pic department. Sorry! Soon I will be posting reunion pics! YaY!

WOW! I have been a real slacker with updating the blog. Sorry about that. Things are going pretty well. The kids got shots yesterday. They were troopers. Samantha is going to have to go next month for her 4 year checkup and she will need some too. I have been trying to stay busy, re organizing the house. I am working on redecorating a bit too. New curtains and such. We finally recieved "official" orders for the redeployment. They entire brigade will be back home by mid May! A full month early. I am so excited! There is a good chance that John will even be back by late April! Lets all keep our fingers crossed. Georgia got snow yesterday! It was north of us so we didn't get to see any much to the disappointment of the children. Well, I guess that is all for now, I will be better about updating on a regular basis, and taking pictures! Love y'all!