For months, we've been counting days until my husband comes home from Afghanistan for R&R. We're down to 98 days today. However, I received a call today and R&R has been rescheduled.. so now.. we're down to.. get this.. THIRTY FOUR DAYS!! WOOT! In one day, we went from 98 to 34! The girls and I are thrilled! He'll be home June 29th through July 13th and I'm so excited, I just can't hide it!! :)
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Time is moving right along...
Has it really been almost a month since I last posted?! Wow.. I've got to do better than that! Let me catch you up..
May is a super busy month for us around our Crooked Kind of Perfect home! School is getting ready to be over for the summer and we've got breakfast dates, awards days, banquets, concerts, field days, field trips.. you get the idea. I can't imagine how May 2012 will be. I'll have a senior, a fourth grader and a 4K student! Time is just zooming by leaving me grasping for those moments that you always want to remember. My husband is still in Afghanistan but we did find out that he'll be home for R&R September 1st through 15th! We are SO excited and have been doing a daily countdown to get us by. Today, it's 110 days until we get to see him again! We can't wait!! Here are a few pictures of the last month, just to catch you up. I promise to TRY to do much better about posting regularly :)
Sunrise in Afghanistan
My handsome hubby (on the right) working hard for his girls
Donuts with Dad day at Baylee's school - She missed her daddy :(
Brayden's new glasses :)
Brenley so excited about her new Buzz Lightyear :)
Baylee and Brenley.. now I know how we go through Q-tips so fast!
Brayden being a chicken head :)
Our beautiful girls
I WILL get back to posting regularly. My family is just too beautiful not to show them off! :)
May is a super busy month for us around our Crooked Kind of Perfect home! School is getting ready to be over for the summer and we've got breakfast dates, awards days, banquets, concerts, field days, field trips.. you get the idea. I can't imagine how May 2012 will be. I'll have a senior, a fourth grader and a 4K student! Time is just zooming by leaving me grasping for those moments that you always want to remember. My husband is still in Afghanistan but we did find out that he'll be home for R&R September 1st through 15th! We are SO excited and have been doing a daily countdown to get us by. Today, it's 110 days until we get to see him again! We can't wait!! Here are a few pictures of the last month, just to catch you up. I promise to TRY to do much better about posting regularly :)
Sunrise in Afghanistan
My handsome hubby (on the right) working hard for his girls
Donuts with Dad day at Baylee's school - She missed her daddy :(
Brayden's new glasses :)
Brenley so excited about her new Buzz Lightyear :)
Baylee and Brenley.. now I know how we go through Q-tips so fast!
Brayden being a chicken head :)
Our beautiful girls
I WILL get back to posting regularly. My family is just too beautiful not to show them off! :)
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Missing Daddy!
Just a little video to remind the girls and I that no matter how far, he's right here in our hearts.. Always..
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Afghanistan takes my right hand..
On March 29, 2011 (the day before my birthday) I put my husband, my best friend, my right hand, on a plane to Afghanistan for a year. Yes. I said a year. My husband is a nuclear ironworker and normally travels quite a bit to different nuke stations all over the US. He can be gone from 6 to 10 weeks usually, then comes home. Nuke outages aren't running on schedule and the time between them was growing. Because we obviously have to have a roof and we have to eat, and in the current state of economy, my husband signed a contract with an international company to work in Afghanistan with the Army. First let me say, he isn't a soldier. He doesn't carry a gun. He doesn't dress in fatigues. However, to me, he is a hero. He's working for the US Army in Afghanistan.. a WAR ZONE (ugh).. to help build forward operating bases. If he didn't do what he does, the Army couldn't do what they do. He's doing well. We miss him terribly and vice versa. It's going to be a major adjustment for all of us. I hear from him now an average of once daily. Either in email or 5 minutes (literally..it's timed) on the phone. He's used to being taken care of, sleeping in a HUGE king size bed that's probably more comfortable than any cloud you could lay on, eating good homecooked meals, taking hot showers.. ALONE, and feeling his wife and kids arms wrapped around him. I know this is tough. But I also know he is tough. He will manange. In the meantime, I'm playing single mom and trying to keep those home fires burning. Last nights phone call was all about having to "hit the deck" during an attack. BUT, he said, they get a warning before a bomb is launched in. There's a small blimp of sorts that goes up in the air right before it hits so that they have time to get down. He got down twice night before last. I'm scared. I worry. I don't sleep. I'm not a soldiers wife.. but I do know how she feels..
Ben's Tent
Ben's Room
Ben's Neighborhood
"A gorgeous view of the mountains on my left.. flat, sand, desert as far as the eyes can see on my right"
And because this is one of my husbands FAVORITE things in the world.. he took me a picture of the Red Bull cans, which have the different language printed as well.
Hoping this year passes quickly. It's tough to navigate my world with my right hand missing..
Ben's Tent
Ben's Room
Ben's Neighborhood
"A gorgeous view of the mountains on my left.. flat, sand, desert as far as the eyes can see on my right"
And because this is one of my husbands FAVORITE things in the world.. he took me a picture of the Red Bull cans, which have the different language printed as well.
Hoping this year passes quickly. It's tough to navigate my world with my right hand missing..
Friday, April 8, 2011
Brayden turns 17 on 03/15!!
Yes, I'm a little behind on blogging.. but.. Happy 17th Birthday, to my oldest daughter, Brayden! We are very proud of the beautiful, responsible, talented, loving and funny young lady you have grown into. You will always be one of the three bright lights in a dark, cold world to us. Mom and Dad love you!
Monday, March 7, 2011
All About Brenley...
This post is all about my 4 year old, Brenley Madison. Today was a big day for her! We went to have her evaluated and registered for 4K! She was SO excited!
Brenley is a little shy when it comes to people she's never met. She's been with mommy for so long now, we're co-dependent on each other... maybe even a little too much... nah. Never TOO much :) Before getting there, I decided to give her a pep talk to prepare her so she wouldn't be nervous or shy. I told her to remember that when they talked to her or asked her questions, she needed to answer and mind her manners. Her response? "Butttttttt... you told me NOT to talk to strangers... " She had a point. We spend their young lives trying to make them aware of all situations, only to have to go back on that when they are a little older.
She actually did really well. She was a little nervous, as expected. Then the first group of tests, the eyesight and hearing, was a breeze. All it took was four magical words. "Are you Baylee's sister?" She adores her sisters. More than this post could ever describe. So once that name was mentioned, she knew they must be good people. Then, they took her into a room to do more one on one testing. My husband and I had to wait in another room. Wait!!! What?? You're taking my BABY?? My last born precious?? Ummm!! WAIT!! I'm not ready!! I've changed my mind!!! I can't do thissssss!!!! I want to keep her home one more year!! She's too little!!!!! "Go ahead, Brenley. You'll do great! Mommy and Daddy will be right here waiting when you're done." My chest felt tight. I wanted to hug her one more time. We're talking a 45 minute test. Not all day. Not even an hour. But I wasn't ready. Not like I thought. I sat in the waiting area silently hoping she wouldn't get into the program this year. Does that make me a horrible person or a loving mommy who doesn't want to let go yet?
I don't want her to feel like I would ever hold her back. And truthfully, I want her to make it in. It's just so damn hard! When it comes to my babies, I'll never change another diaper. Never snap another bib. Never teach the words "Mama." Never rock to sleep. Never pat a small, hairy back for hours just to here a little burp. Those days are gone. It's not that I want to do it all over again. It's just that in that one instant, you have an internal meltdown that quickly turns into pride. Pride for the beautiful little girl she is. Pride because you overhear the teachers talking to other parents about areas they need to focus on and sheets to send home to practice with, and you didn't get that talk or those sheets. Pride because when she comes out of testing, she still wants to run to you all bright eyed and excited to tell you how she did. She still chose us. Mommy and Daddy. The ones that struggle so hard to let go for just a moment, only to push her to fly as high as possible...
Our girls are our world. Our reason for every thought, every breath, every day. No matter how old they get, how many tests they pass, how many classes they start. We will always be right there rooting them on.. even if it hurts our hearts a little..
Today was Brenley's day and she loved every minute of it. She went 100 miles per hour all day long. Then, her sisters came home from school. The oldest, Brayden, sat a little too close on the ride home. I looked back and realized that she is still my baby. All three of them are. And they always will be. And that's all that really matters anyway..
Brenley is a little shy when it comes to people she's never met. She's been with mommy for so long now, we're co-dependent on each other... maybe even a little too much... nah. Never TOO much :) Before getting there, I decided to give her a pep talk to prepare her so she wouldn't be nervous or shy. I told her to remember that when they talked to her or asked her questions, she needed to answer and mind her manners. Her response? "Butttttttt... you told me NOT to talk to strangers... " She had a point. We spend their young lives trying to make them aware of all situations, only to have to go back on that when they are a little older.
She actually did really well. She was a little nervous, as expected. Then the first group of tests, the eyesight and hearing, was a breeze. All it took was four magical words. "Are you Baylee's sister?" She adores her sisters. More than this post could ever describe. So once that name was mentioned, she knew they must be good people. Then, they took her into a room to do more one on one testing. My husband and I had to wait in another room. Wait!!! What?? You're taking my BABY?? My last born precious?? Ummm!! WAIT!! I'm not ready!! I've changed my mind!!! I can't do thissssss!!!! I want to keep her home one more year!! She's too little!!!!! "Go ahead, Brenley. You'll do great! Mommy and Daddy will be right here waiting when you're done." My chest felt tight. I wanted to hug her one more time. We're talking a 45 minute test. Not all day. Not even an hour. But I wasn't ready. Not like I thought. I sat in the waiting area silently hoping she wouldn't get into the program this year. Does that make me a horrible person or a loving mommy who doesn't want to let go yet?
I don't want her to feel like I would ever hold her back. And truthfully, I want her to make it in. It's just so damn hard! When it comes to my babies, I'll never change another diaper. Never snap another bib. Never teach the words "Mama." Never rock to sleep. Never pat a small, hairy back for hours just to here a little burp. Those days are gone. It's not that I want to do it all over again. It's just that in that one instant, you have an internal meltdown that quickly turns into pride. Pride for the beautiful little girl she is. Pride because you overhear the teachers talking to other parents about areas they need to focus on and sheets to send home to practice with, and you didn't get that talk or those sheets. Pride because when she comes out of testing, she still wants to run to you all bright eyed and excited to tell you how she did. She still chose us. Mommy and Daddy. The ones that struggle so hard to let go for just a moment, only to push her to fly as high as possible...
Our girls are our world. Our reason for every thought, every breath, every day. No matter how old they get, how many tests they pass, how many classes they start. We will always be right there rooting them on.. even if it hurts our hearts a little..
Today was Brenley's day and she loved every minute of it. She went 100 miles per hour all day long. Then, her sisters came home from school. The oldest, Brayden, sat a little too close on the ride home. I looked back and realized that she is still my baby. All three of them are. And they always will be. And that's all that really matters anyway..
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Welcome to My Crooked, Perfect World...
It's currently 10:30 in the morning. It's pouring rain... for the second day in a row... which means the two youngest bouncing balls of energy that are currently standing with their stubborn little noses in the corner because they can't stop screaming and fighting with each other... can't go outside to play. It's just water, right? As soon as the temperature warms up a little, out they go. Mud? So what? We have a hose! My house needs to be cleaned and it's pointless to even try when every single time I turn around, I bruise my arch on a Polly Pocket.
Speaking of which, WHO THE HELL INVENTED POLLY POCKETS??? Micro sized dolls with rubber clothes that any person under the age of 40 can't get on. And thanks to their Nana, who loves a good deal, we have about 1,972 dolls and 8,633 outfits. They also came with 10,421 accessories. Shoes the size of a grain of rice. I wouldn't joke about that. I'm sure the inventor is sitting quietly in his/her perfect home, kids playing nicely with their Farrari's and there probably isn't a damn Polly Pocket in the place. I bet they aren't even allowed!
My children are now out of the corner. I hear them whispering hateful words to each other because they were warned that I better not hear anymore fighting. Smart little monsters. But then.. listen.. there it is.. "I'm sorry." "Me too."
I may not have invented Polly Pockets and my house may not be spotless, but I wouldn't trade "all this" for perfection. How boring and cold would that be? I'll keep my arguing trio of tears, pouts, poops, snotty nosed, cat scratched kids. Because with all that also comes smiles, laughter, hugs and kisses. And although I hear "MOM!!!" at least ten thousand times a day, a few of those are always followed with "I love you." That makes it all worth it. A crooked kind of perfect is perfect for me.
Now, I have to go. They are at it again. :)
Speaking of which, WHO THE HELL INVENTED POLLY POCKETS??? Micro sized dolls with rubber clothes that any person under the age of 40 can't get on. And thanks to their Nana, who loves a good deal, we have about 1,972 dolls and 8,633 outfits. They also came with 10,421 accessories. Shoes the size of a grain of rice. I wouldn't joke about that. I'm sure the inventor is sitting quietly in his/her perfect home, kids playing nicely with their Farrari's and there probably isn't a damn Polly Pocket in the place. I bet they aren't even allowed!
My children are now out of the corner. I hear them whispering hateful words to each other because they were warned that I better not hear anymore fighting. Smart little monsters. But then.. listen.. there it is.. "I'm sorry." "Me too."
I may not have invented Polly Pockets and my house may not be spotless, but I wouldn't trade "all this" for perfection. How boring and cold would that be? I'll keep my arguing trio of tears, pouts, poops, snotty nosed, cat scratched kids. Because with all that also comes smiles, laughter, hugs and kisses. And although I hear "MOM!!!" at least ten thousand times a day, a few of those are always followed with "I love you." That makes it all worth it. A crooked kind of perfect is perfect for me.
Now, I have to go. They are at it again. :)
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