All I want for Christmas....

Is my two front teeth....

Just Look at her....

So, its been a rough couple months for our little princess. She has endured a staff infection (that we have no clue how she got), She has survived the chicken pox, and now my sweet precious pea has the hand, foot, and mouth disease. She is pretty miserable. She has blisters on her hands and on her sweet little feet, and the worst part of this nasty virus are the blisters that she has in her mouth. She won't eat and really won't drink much either. I just hate that my precious girl is sick again. Talk about a triple whammy!!!!

First Day of School

Today was the first day of school for the boys. We got up early and tried to work through all our first day jitters.

Caleb went to Middle school....sniff sniff. He rode the bus to school. No, I did not embarrass him like I wanted to. I guess first day of school pictures in front of the school sign are a past time with my first born. I hope he has a wonderful day!!

I took Cody and Camden to school. Cody wanted so desperately to ride the bus. But, Camden really needed me to take him so Cody had to come along for the ride as well. He DID NOT want me to take any pictures of him, especially in front of his classmates. He walked into the classroom so quickly that I didn't even get to say goodbye to him.

Camden was so cute. The teacher wanted all of his supplies separated out and put into bins. He wanted me to help him. We worked together and got everything put in the proper spot. Then it was time for me to go.

It never seems to get any easier. I always get this pain in my heart as I walk away from my kids and leave them in the hands of their teachers. I didn't cry today though, and that is a first for me. I hope that they all have a great day at school. I can't wait to hear all about it.

I won myself an award

I know, who in the world would've thunk it. I, Me, Christa.....um yep, that is MY name right? Well, I am absolutely honored to win a bloggy award from my friend Jaime.


So these are a few questions that I must address so that I may be worthy of this award. Let's give it a go.....


1. Who is the hottest Movie Star? Hmmm, lets think about this one. I very rarely get to go see movies. In fact I can't even remember what the last movie I saw was. But, if history was to prove itself....I have always been very fond of Matthew Mcconaughey. Oh come on, you know you think he is a hunk too!!!




2. Apart from your house and car, what is the most expensive item you have ever bought: Gosh, we really don't spend large amounts of money on anything fancy. Hmmmm....I guess it would have to be my computer. I really wanted a Mac, so we just went out and bought it on the spur of the moment. It was a great investment though.




3. What is your most treasured memory? My most treasured memory....that's a tough one b/c I treasure the very moment that God blessed us with each of our children equally. I Also treasure the day that I became Steve's Wife. But, I think I will go with a childhood memory that is very close to my heart. I am the second of four children and for a long time (until my parents brought my sister home through the miracle of adoption) I was the only girl and the only middle child. I was sandwiched between two brothers. They were your typical brothers and I, being a girl, was an easy target. They picked on me something awful.


On with my memory......I was a very blessed child. My parents owned a little house on a lake. We spent many a summer day out there on that lake. Anyway, one day we were out fishing and I caught a fish. It was a very small sunfish. But to me it was the greatest fish in all the world. I caught it all by myself. Immediately my brothers started picking on me telling me that it was the smallest fish that any human had ever caught and that it wasn't even big enough to keep. I was crushed. I ran into the house in tears. But, I was greeted by my Daddy....who wiped my tears away. He asked if he could see the fish and I happily said "Sure Daddy" So out we went to the waters edge, my fish was still on the end of my pole. My Daddy told me how lucky I was to catch this fish. He was so proud....so was I!! We decided to keep the fish and cook him up for dinner. I really don't even know how my Dad got any meat off that sunfish it was so small. That didn't really matter. I told myself that day that I was going to remember this day for the rest of my life. It is a moment that I realized how special I was to my Daddy.

4. What was the best gift you ever received as a child: I loved my 10 speed bike. It was so cool. I got it on my 10th birthday. It was hot pink and purple. Oh, how I was in love with my new bike.


5. What is the biggest mistake you have ever made? Doesn't everyone make a ton of mistakes? The biggest mistake I remember making was back in high school. It was the summer between my junior and senior year. I went with a group of friends to the lake. Well, that is what I thought we were doing and that is where I told my parents we were. Only the group changed their minds and decided to go to the river instead. This particular river happened to be about 45 min. away....YIKES!! I didn't speak up to tell them that I wasn't allowed to go and went along for the ride anyway. Once we reached the river my friends all paired off with their boyfriends and ran off into the woods to make out and left me with a young man that I barely knew. It was very awkward. After several hours of the others being gone we decided to go looking for them. It began to rain and was getting late. We got lost in the woods and had a hard time finding our way back. The others had been drinking and needed to sober up, but I was scared and I knew I was going to be in HUGE trouble. So the young man that I was left with for all those hours grabbed the keys and made everyone get into the car and drove as fast as he could to get me home. He was driving horribly and I was so terrified as he ran through a red light at a very busy intersection in Nebraska City. We had about a 30 min drive yet ahead of us. I remember praying all the way home that God would protect us from harm. The worst part about it was that once I got home my parents were so upset with me. I told them one lie after another until I finally broke down and told the truth. To this day I am not sure if they believe me and that just tore me up inside. I had lost their trust and it took a very long time to get it back. Looking back makes me realize just how much worse the situation could have been. God had protected me in many ways that night.

6. 4 words to describe yourself: devoted, loving, impatient, passionate


7. What was your highlight or low light of 2008? In June of 2008 we traveled to South Korea and brought home our very precious little girl. It was a great year.


8. Favorite Film? Father of the Bride. It sums up my Dad and I!!


9. Tell me one thing I don’t know about you. When I was sixteen I traveled halfway around the world and served as a Student Ambassador through the People to People student ambassador program. We toured New Zealand and Australia. We got to stay with host families in both countries as well as visit many amazing sites.


10. If you were a comic book/strip or cartoon character, who would you be? Elastigirl from the Incredibles. She is just awesome!!!!

Little Miss is TWO!!!!

I can hardly believe that Catie Beth turned two this last week. She is getting so big! The drama has officially begun. I think it set in the moment she turned two.

I know it has been a few days since the big b-day bash so I guess its time to post some pictures. Well, to be perfectly honest there was no big b-day bash. Daddy is still TDY and we really don't have any friends here yet. So not much hoopla to be had. But I did manage to guilt my sister into coming. She arrived late Monday afternoon and we jumped right into partying.

Little Miss loves Tinker Bell so I bought her this cute little Tinker Bell dress up outfit.

Like I said before Daddy is gone on a TDY to TX and had to miss her birthday. But, look what he sent her. Isn't he the sweetest Daddy in the world? Her favorite part of the bouquet was the balloon.

This is her loot. I think she is one very LOVED little girl.

Opening up gifts. She had a lot of fun. She would rip open the presents one little tiny strip at a time and then hand it to her brothers to throw away before she would rip off another piece.

Blowing out her Birthday Candles.

Catie Beth Partying with Aunt Cassie

Sweet Summertime!!

Summertime is quickly slipping away.

We have been trying to hold on to these last few sweet summertime days with all our might.

Wish Daddy was here to enjoy them with us.

Barefooted feet with Dilly Bars in hand.

This is for you Daddy!!!

WE MISS YOU!!!

Somehow, most of the pictures are of little miss. The boys kept dodging the camera every time I pointed it at them.

They just don't think its cool to have their mom fussing over them in front of the entire neighborhood.

Whatever!!

I am still their momma and I will be back with more pictures of them real soon.

Like, when I walk them down to the bus stop on the first day of school and take pictures of Caleb getting on the middle school bus for the first time in front of all his new peers. Muahahah!!!

Humor Me

Please tell me that you find things like this by your kitchen sink too.

A toy snake, a frog, a broken army man, a very used baseball, a fireman, a ziplock baggy filled with some very nasty things and a magnifying glass.

Just in case you couldn't tell what was in the ziploc bag....here is a closer look. Locust shells. Can I get a collective EEEWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!

Boys!!!

What is a Military Wife?

What is a Military Wife?
By Jane Hubbard Hyde



A Military wife can be tough to describe.

She is a southern belle, a northeastern mets fan, a California 3rd generation re-cycler, a Pacific Islander.

She is short or tall

a tomboy

a fashion diva

a physician's assistant

a Republican

a Democrat (yes, even THAT!)

A Military Wife is a career gal

a home-schooler

a scrap-booker

an accomplished cellist

an auto mechanic

What is a MILITARY Wife?

They may look different and each is wonderfully unique

But this they have in common.

lots of moving---

moving, moving, moving far from home

moving two cars, three kids and one dog----all riding with HER of course

moving sofas to basements because they won't go in THIS house

moving curtains that won't fit

moving jobs and certifications and professional development hours

moving away from friends moving toward new friends

moving her most important luggage; her trunkful of memories

often waiting-

waiting, waiting, waiting for housing; waiting for orders; waiting
for deployment; waiting for reunion; waiting for phones calls;
waiting for the new curtains to arrive; waiting for him to come home
for dinner----AGAIN!

They call her "military dependent", but she knows better

she can balance a checkbook

handle the yard work

fix a noisy toilet.

She is intimately familiar with drywall anchors, and toggle bolts.

She can file the taxes, sell a house, buy a car, or set up a move, --
--all with ONE Power of Attorney.

She welcomes neighbors that don't welcome her.

Reinvents her career with every PCS; locates a house in the desert,
the arctic, or the deep south and learns to call them all "home".

She MAKES them all home.

She is fiercely IN-dependent

Military Wives are somewhat hasty

They leap into decorating, leadership, volunteering, career
alternatives, churches and friendships.

They don't have 15 years to get to know people.

Their roots are short but flexible.

They plant annuals for themselves and
perennials for those who come after them.

Military Wives quickly learn to value each other.

They connect over
coffee, rely on the spouse-network and accept offers of friendship
and favors and record addresses in pencil.

Military Wives have a common bond.

The Military Wife has a husband unlike other husbands his commitment
is unique He doesn't have a job, he has a "mission" he can't just
decide to quit he's on-call for his country 24/7 but for you, he's
the most

Unreliable guy in town!

His language is foreign

TDY

PCS

OPR

ACC

BDU

And so, a Military Wife is a translator for her family and his.

She is the long-distance link to keep them informed, the glue that
holds them together.

Military Wife has her moments----

She wants to wring his neck, dye his uniform pink, and refuse to
move to Siberia.

But she pulls herself together.

Give her a few days, a travel brochure, a long hot bath, a pledge to
the flag, and a wedding picture.

And she goes.

She packs.

She moves.

She follows.

Why?
What for?

How come?

You may think it is because she has lost her mind.

But actually it is because she has lost her heart.

It was stolen from her by a man

who puts duty first

who longs to deploy

who salutes the flag

and whose boots in the doorway remind her that as long as he is her
Military husband,

She will remain his Military wife.

Wordless Wednesday

Mishaps Galore

I know I have been a little on the negative side lately, so while I am already down I might as well add to it.

Monday~nearly electrocuted along with all four of my precious children.

Tuesday~Catie Beth crammed several DVD's into the TV/DVD player causing it to go haywire.

Wednesday~Catie Beth wrote all over my beautiful red couch with a ballpoint pen while I was on the phone with the Collision repair guy.

Thursday~found out that the Windshield, and both passenger door windows need to be replaced as well as a little work on the roof of the van. Totaling $2000 in damage to my van due to the near electrocution on Monday.

Saturday~Steve went to mow the backyard and finished off the cord on the mower. The mower wouldn't even start. He bought the new part but wasn't able to fix it in the rain. I guess our back yard will get very high over the next three weeks.

Sunday~

This morning~Steve left for a three week TDY to Texas. Boo Hooo!!

This afternoon~Caleb broke his only pair of glasses.

Please, Please, Please, no more mishaps....I need a break!!!

Follow Me

I know that there are a few new blogettes out there. I can see you visiting on my sitemeter.

Welcome, I am glad you are here. Grab a cup of coffee and join in the fun and start following blogs. All you have to do is set up a profile with Google or if you are already a blogger then scroll down to the bottom of my blog and click on the join this site button. Viola!! You will be following me. You can also follow other blogs this way. Then when you enter your dashboard you will be able to see all the recent blog updates from all the blogs you are following.

Trust me, its fun and it will save you a ton of time.

Happy Blog Following!!

Just Because....She's so CUTE!!!

Catie Beth was in a good GREAT mood the other day. So, I chased her around the house with the camera. She rarely smiles for the camera and I was determined to capture a happy face for once.

Who could resist such a beautiful face?

So what, if she broke the TV/DVD player by cramming several DVD's in the machine all at once.

The ballpoint pen art on the couch while I was talking with the collision repair guy about the damage to the van......Whatever!!

It's all Good with one of these precious smiles!!!