October 31rst

For Halloween we took the kids to white sands to go sledding. It was super sun and we had a blast. It was a perfect day with little wind, the weather was sitting about 70 degrees... perrrrffeect! The sand was surprisingly soft and we could let the kids climb a large dune and tumble down with little worry. They had so much fun and we were laughing most of the day. We were there for only about 3 hours and then had to head home for trick-or-treating but it was a good time.

Costumes for 2009 were megatron, skeleton chick, and an angry little garden gnome.. They wanted to be vampires this year but Dad convinced them to change to these scary and funny costumes instead. The little gnome was the hit of the night, he got extra candy because of how cute he was. lol.

Stories!

You guys are too funny!

Ok, so the peanut butter story goes like this...

One day while I was getting the house cleaned and spiffy (Melissa is this an acceptable word? :P)

and I was in the back of my house cleaning my room, bathrooms, kids room etc. I had been in the back for about 15 minutes when I noticed that the house seemed a little too quiet. You ladies know that type of quiet... the type of quiet that is to loud you know something it up. So I start my rounds from room to room... Aaron is no where to be found. Not in my room, not in the bathrooms, kids room, living room, dining room, garage or backyard. I begin to panic a tad because I did not know if he left the house, or what was up. I turned off the music in the living room (I clean while I am Jammin' (how bout this word?))... When I notice a small sound coming from the kitchen.. I walk into our kitchen listening hard to where this is coming from. Well, I finally pinpoint a cupboard that is making the noise. I open the door and Aaron is sitting in the way back of it with his hand in the peanut butter jar with peanut butter smears on him, and the entire cupboard. I wish I took a picture, because it was messy!

This is not part of the peanut butter story, but he LOVES the cupboards for some weird reason! (Aaron, age 2)

Another time he got into peanut butter he was thoughtful and washed it off before he put it back. (I did not know he had it until...) I opened it and there was water inside.. NASTY! He told me he cleaned it after he ate some. lol

I do have pictures that go along with this story.. Right after we moved into our house here, about 3-5 months or so after the kids were playing in the back in their room. Nothing too crazy, because I can hear them playing so I think all is well. However, Aaron comes out (and he is about 1 and a half years old at the time) looking a bit "white". Him and his big brother Justin had decided they wanted to play with the baby powder... Oh yes, it was an entire bottle all over everything. This did not happen once, or twice, but three times in the span of about a month. Yes, I replaced the baby powder every time, until the last and just stopped buying it. Good times!!!
I wish I got the room too.. There was baby powder particles EVERYWHERE! And that stuff is hard to clean!!!!

Too much!

So, this week is going to be an interesting one. Tonight was our FRG meeting, but we had a BN one, so yea, it was un-organized and sort of messy but we got it done. I do not think those are very good! I will have company level meetings from now on out! My voice is gone from all the talking, and I was not even speaking to the group, I was talking to everyone else, and I mean everyone. I feel so overwhelmed right now with stuff. Why am I doing this again? Because I care about the families? Yeah I do, but holy moly it can be ... I do not have a word right now.

While Joseph is gone, I may not have any time to miss him! I am going to be too busy and the time is just going to zip by! Good or bad, I have not decided.

I can probably ramble on and on at this point because I am so tired, I can just pass out, but I am waiting for the boys to fall asleep first. You know, so I know they are not into any food while I am not looking... If I havent shared the peanut butter story with you, I will have to some other time..

Ok, I lost my train-choo-choo of thought and that is never good. Uhhhhhhhhh...... drool........... I feel like patrick star right about now.

Well, on that note, I will say good night. I am going to take a moment and chillax before I end this day and start another busy one. -- I have decided-- I do not like being busy.

You got to Move-it, Move-it!

Thank you Melissa for the great advice the other night!

I have been looking at things differently in the last 2 days. I was sort of getting down on myself, and felt so overwhelmed! I got it off my chest, got some much needed advice and picked myself up the next morning and took off! It was slow going as I had class in the morning and it sort of hindered my energy, so I did very little, more than normal, but not enough.

Today however, I have been a busy little bee and got tons done! I am not done yet, and sort of sad that the day is winding down and I have to do other things like make dinner, bathe the kids, and put them to bed, but HOPEFULLY I will get back to my stuff!

Yesterday I went out and bought a protein powder mix to replace my dinners and breakfasts. I hope this will help with my diet, because to tell the truth, I am out of control with bad eating habits. It has become so easy to say "lets pick something up for dinner" rather than cook it myself. (not to mention it costs a fortune to do that!! and I would rather spend money on something else than fast food!) I haven't tried it yet, I will tonight though, it is my dinner! I am nervous about the taste but more nervous if it will keep me full so I don't eat a snack right before bed. (another bad habit)

This month is flying by, and before I know it Joseph will be home and then not. :( I have classes all next week except Friday to keep me busy. Not to mention my college classes! This block is Sociology and Philosophy! Oye! A lot of brain power going into these 2 for sure!!!

I started a new chores/rewards system with the kids. So far things are going smooth. We will see how long it lasts! I think I picked some good rewards to keep them motivated like a night out alone with mom or dad... $$$, and computer time (which is REALLY big for them right about now.)

Well, this was therapeutic! I may have to come back to blog more often about the day!!! Off to continue my chores while this energy lasts!

And the count-down begins.....

So, last night at 11pm we dropped off the Man of the house at work. He is at NTC for training, and will be back in about 4 weeks... Then we get about a month with him before he is in that big sandbox in the east.

So far things are ok. The kids seem to be ok for now.. Dad has been here and gone a lot lately, so I am hoping that when the big day arrives, they are troopers and will take it better than I expect.

I do have a headache though today. I did not get much sleep last night as you can imagine, and I have had about 1/2 liter of Dr. Pepper and I am sure I will polish it off before bed tonight, or it will be gone by tomorrow afternoon! No sleep and caffeine are a fun combination! Also, I was re-arranging furniture all day... Don't worry, Joseph knows.. it was planned! My forearms are killing me though! I guess I was using muscles I haven't used EVER before. I can hardly lift anything anymore.. looks like I will clean up my mess another day. I would say tomorrow, but I have to be realistic!

I think I am going to take a sewing class on post if they offer one. I have been wanting to learn to sew for YEARS and tried to teach myself, I even have sewing machine, but I do not know how to use it very well. I would like to add that to my hobby list! That could keep me busy during deployment and productive so I am not sitting around doing nothing.

Well, it is time to go relax, I hope. I have so much to get done around the house I feel overwhelmed. It is time to clean things out and re-organize but it is so much, I just do not know where to begin... Someone needs to come and help me!

It is 6pm, I think I will put the kids to bed at 7 tonight and have some quiet, or maybe I can pass out too! TTYL

Gila Cliff Dwellings

This weekend we spent a day in New Mexico to see some cliff dwellings from about 700 years ago. They are called the Gila Cliff Dwellings and are located just outside of Silver City New Mexico. It was a beautiful drive once we got into the mountain area. It took a lot longer than we anticipated, about 4.5 hours! But it was a great day. Here are some of the pictures we got on the digital. The kids had cameras too, but they are on film and we need to get them developed. (But they took all of their pictures before we hit the dwellings, umm like of the car, my rear end.. um and the car window.. I am sure we have about 45 pictures of those!!) We found some other cliff dwellings in southern Colorado that is about 8 hours away, and will try and take a long weekend to go there. Anyway, here are the pictures from this weekend....

Cruise to Mexico

Our trip was amazing. We had a great time and loved just about every minute of the cruise! This is our stateroom. We had a balcony, so we could go out and just sit outside and relax in our own space. On one of our "fun day at sea" days we spotted many flying fish, manta ray's, sea turtles, sharks and a bright blue fish that was huge! It was super fun!

This is a picture from our balcony of the Queen Mary. There was a concert going on over there so there was live music for our departure.

We went to 3 places in Mexico. Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan, and Cabo San Lucas. Puerto Vallarta was super humid. I think it was 95* with humidity at 99%! It was all rain forest like. We walked a few miles trying to find a beach to relax on, but it took some time. When we finally found a beach, we jumped in the water and it was refreshing and warm! After swimming for about 5 minutes Joseph noticed an odd shaped and colored thing floating next to him (possible poop) and so we got out. We started our walk up the beach, and we were bombarded by people every 30 seconds trying to sell us things like hair braiding and pot! When we got to the end of the beach we started our way back to the ship and I felt like I was getting a sunburn so I started to walk faster... Big mistake when you are wearing new sandals and your feet are sweating! When we got to our room, I had bad blisters on the bottoms of each foot, and had a hard time walking for about 2 days! It was miserable, but it did not stop us. Later that night we had an excursion planned. We took a boat to a secluded island and had dinner and watched a very neat show. It was beautiful!

Our next stop was Mazatlan, but with my poor feet, we decided to stay on the boat and relax. We watched movies in our room and napped a lot. There is not much else we did other than that. When we docked in Mazatlan, we were next to a shipping yard, so it was not as pretty as we thought it would be.

My absolute, hands down favorite of the trip was Cabo. It is so beautiful there, and I would love to return sometime. We booked a snorkeling excursion later in the day so we went ahead and walked the shops for a couple of hours and looked around. It was not too bad, but it was fun looking at all the miscellaneous things people sell. Unfortunately the snorkeling is on another camera that we need to take to develop but we are not done with the film. Hopefully soon we will have those pictures. Our first stop was neat. There was many, many fish everywhere and they seemed to come right up to you. It was fun. Our second stop was not part of the snorkeling, but our guide told us that the other spot was very busy, so we could just stay in that spot so we did. (there was only about 10 of us on the boat). Our guide snorkeled too, and would dive down into the reef and find things to bring up. (oh and I dropped my mask on the 1rst stop and it went to the bottom of the ocean, but he dove down and got it!!! :)) I would have but I could not go far!! My ears hurt when I would dive.. must have been the salt? Anyway, so while we were there at our second stop, poor Joseph had been drinking a lot of sea water and made him sick, so he fed the fishes for a while... :( We had learned a LOT of lessons for the next time!! lol.

Here is a picture of a beach next to lovers beach. This one had no people on it and it looks beautiful. The next picture is from the famous arch at the very end of Baja California.

The water was so clear, warm and pretty!!!

Even with all of the "bad" things that went down, we still had a great time and are planning another trip when Joseph returns from deployment.

Been Very Busy!

I really do not have any time to post right now, but I wanted to say that I have been really busy but I am still here!

Joseph got back from Ft. Irwin and it has been VERY nice to have him home. I missed him so much!! He will be off again though on Sunday...

Have been stuggling a little with school, but it is going well. It is getting into more information and it is sometimes hard to process with the kids in the background screaming and yelling... like right now.

I will try and write again soon ...

Small Update

Things are going well here in El Paso Texas. Summer is so close I can smell it and I am really looking forward to it. Usually it is a scary time with the kids getting out of school, but I am excited this year. I cannot wait to be able to go to the pool, bike ride, go to the park with all of them. I really do not know where this excitement is coming from, but I am happy it is here.

I have been doing a lot of thinking lately and I have had some interesting revelations to my questions. It has been a positive experience. I won't go into any of it right now, but possibly in future posts I may. I am still processing the information I am seeking and have gotten.

The kids are excited to be out of school as you can imagine. However, Aaron can hardly wait to get to school. He is still too young for pre-school so he has another year at home with me, but I am enjoying it since it goes by too fast.

My schooling is still going well. I have about 8 months left until I get my degree and it is amazing to me that I have accomplished that. I am looking forward to that time, and continuing my education past that!

Joseph is still gone. He has called me twice when he is in signal range. It seems like it is an easy time out there for him. I am glad it is not so jam packed with things to do, so hopefully when he gets back here he will be refreshed and ready to go. (they start training hard next month)

Ok, well that is it for now, take care and have a good weekend!

There is a Mom here???

It is Monday and wow, today was L-O-N-G!!!!
Last week we found out Joseph had to go to Ft. Irwin for three and a half weeks for observing another unit's training. He left Sunday, which was yesterday and I swear the kids seem to think that since dad is gone, they can be however they want to be and drive mom crazy! It was like all of a sudden they had an over-flow of energy and would not/could not settle down. It took me 4 hours to get them to bed last night and I sure paid the price today! Justin did horrible in school because he was so tired. Aaron refused to take a nap only to finally pass out while Spongebob was on 15 minutes before we had to pick up the others from school! Then all night was fighting and figiting, and whining. It is so weird how they do that with me.

On another note, Savannah had these TAKS tests for school. It is a test that see's how much they have learned in the year, and keeps track of the school's teaching ability. Anyway, Savannah told me today that she scored the highest in reading and math in all of third grade! How cool is that? My little smarty there. That is so awesome, I am super proud of her.

Well, as for me I am POOP'd. I am headed to bed for the night, and hopefully will be charged up for tomorrow's adventures, whatever they may be. Take Care!

Is it an update or a book!?

Finals are OVER!!! At least for those two classes Math, and Nutrition. I am finished with Math!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That required many exclamation points. Math was so difficult for me, but it is over and I passed them both. Whew! I started my next block of classes Monday and I am taking a History class about the United States from 1945 to the present. It should be interesting. I am also taking psychology again! I missed it. I am diving deeper into the mind and behavior. It is so interesting to me, and helps me make sense of so much around me! :)

Savannah had a "me day" yesterday. The third, fourth and fifth grades got to walk to a near by park and spend the day out there doing all sorts of activities. She had such a good time. I forgot to get a camera for her, unfortunately but she was ok with that. Besides, when I give her a camera, she takes all the pictures as soon as she can, and runs out of film. So, I usually get 10-15 pictures of the same person, plant or car....

Justin is doing better. Last week he had an in school suspension!!! At 6!!!!!! He is still having problems with his behavior and has this "I don't have to listen to you" attitude. The principle had called me last week to come meet with her because Justin was in her office for 2 hours and still not listening. It was an embarrassing day, but Justin got his punishment. I did not know what to do with him, but my darling hubby did!!! As soon as Joseph got home, he had Justin outside in the backyard picking up dog poop, pulling weeds, sweeping etc. And in this 95 degree heat, it was NO fun for him at all. In the evening we had him writing sentences and by 9pm he was BEGGING to go to bed. We had never heard him ask to go to bed! Since then, he has come home with happy green faces (Green is good!) and no other bad things about behavior. We let him know that if he gets anything other than that green happy face, the outside chores are calling......

Aaron is still doing good. He drives me crazy (in a good way) with his cuteness!!! He says the cutest things lately and it melts me. He enjoys staying home with me but I can tell he is starting to get lonely. He is always excited when we pick the kids up from school because he cannot wait to play or hang out with his big bro. I am thinking of putting him in the pre-school program on main post, but it cost money. Or he will have to wait another year before he can start school over here. So I don't know. But he is good.

Joseph is well. He is super busy training up for war again. Unfortunately he has to go to California for 3 weeks on Sunday for some special observer thing for another unit. Then when he gets back he has to go out for 2 weeks to the field. At least we will have 10 days leave this summer, and can relax with each other. He will be very busy with training in the coming months.

Of course I am busy as well. With the kids, school, house, and FRG, I have literally no time for anything else right now. The FRG is taking a lot of time right now because I am tying to prepare families for the separations that are about to take place. It is time consuming, but I know in the end it will be worth it.

Well, that is about it for now. I need to write more often so that I am not writing a book every time I get on here.

Finals Again! (and other stuff)

This week will be a busy one as I have finals due by Sunday. The GOOD thing about that is when I submit my math final I will be DONE with math!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am actually doing better in this class than I did in my last one, so I have the potential to pass with better than a 'D', but I am not expecting it. I will be content either way.

I am headed to the DMV today to register the car and get a new license. Mine expires next month on my birthday, and I need to get it done before so I do not have to take a test!!!! Our Califonia tags expire at the end of this month, and we have not recieved anything from the DMV in California. So, i will attempt to register it here hoping that it goes smooth and I do not need anything to do it. (other than the proper stuff)

I apologize for not keeping up with the blog lately. I have had so much going on that I just have been forgetting the smallest stuff, or putting it off. So much drama sometimes..

Two days ago Justin lost his first tooth, but the tooth behind it is so big that it really doesnt look like a hole. It took forever for that tooth to come out, and when it did we knew why. That sucker was freakin long! Of course Justin cryed for a moment, until he realized it was out, then got all excited and started flicking his tongue over the hole and laughed. Kids are funny!!!

Joseph has been busy with ranges and feild time. June will be his busiest month until they head to the NTC (Ft. Irwin). Time is slipping away fast and I know before I know it, the deployment will be here. We are preparing as best we can. Not much more I can say about that..

Well, I better go get the kids lunches made, and get ready to walk the dog. I will catch up more later on. TTYL!

......

And Savannah and her boyfriend are back together..... and the drama saga continues........

Heart Broken and loose teeth...

Savannah's boyfriend broke up with her after school yesterday. It was so sad, she came out with tears dropping all over the place! She said he broke up with her because everyone wanted them to, so he did. After we got home, she went to her room and was crying so hard. I asked if she was going to be ok, and she said, "No, I have a broken heart".... As a mother, how is that not suppose to make me feel a broken heart too.. I felt so bad for her, and had to tell her that she will have to 'kiss' many frogs before she finds her prince. That made her feel a little better knowing that her boyfriend is a frog.... Poor kid, hopefully today will be ok for her. I told her to just ignore him and that will make him crazy. (she liked that idea)

Justin has a loose tooth!! His very first one. The other tooth is coming in stong and fast, so we need to get it out asap, but when we try, he freaks out and starts crying. We will try again tonight to get that tooth out....

That is all for now. I am recovering from being sick AGAIN this past weekend. I at least have my voice back, for now.....

Is it a Big Boat or a Little Boat??

We all know that kids will say the funniest, darnedest little things and it makes your eyebrow rise and thoughts roam.... Today was one of those days for me. We are in the potty training stage of the adventure with a toddler, and as I have been through this before with two other kids, I think this moment will stand out among any other bathroom day.

Aaron does not really like to poo in the potty. He will run around a corner for a couple seconds, do his business, then return and tell me that he pooped his underwear... So I ask him every morning around 10 (that is his pre-set 'poo' time) if he has to use the potty. Today was a good day, and he said yes! So off to the bathroom we go. I help him get up on the potty and get him situated, then I tell him to get his poopy out and I walk away, to give him his moment..

As I was walking away, Aaron said, "wait mommy.. stay right there". I told him I would be right back and did what I needed to do, then came to the door. I asked him if he was ok, and he said yes, and then he looked up at me, and said, "here comes the boat"...

Ups and Downs

I have had my ups and downs this week. I started off great with the "diet", and lost 2 pounds, but then... ate fast food 2x this week! So, I am still standing at 223. It is amazing at how hard it is to change your diet. Oh well, I have not beat myself up about it, and plan to just take it a day at a time. I got on the treadmill about 2 times last week, and today. I am steadily increasing my speed and time. I'm not disappointed, but I know I can do better. Like I said, one day at a time!!!!

Other than that I have had a pretty uneventful week. I had a fever through the weekend, but it was strange. I would have a slight fever for about 2 hours, then it would go away for a few hours then come back. My face would be all red and I would be out of breath going from one room to another. Monday I had the fever 2 times during the day, and then it was gone, and today it was here in the morning for about 30 minutes, but now (11am) it is gone. I do not know if I am fighting something off, or what?!! Anybody know what this could be from?

Last night we planned our cruise! Well, we booked it anyway. It is official we are going on a cruise! I cannot believe it! A REAL vacation! 7 days, no kids, just my man and me! It seems like a dream still!!! I am super excited and do not know if it will hit me until we actually are on the boat. I know we both need to get away from regular life for a while, and this is just going to be fun!

Well, I am off to get some homework done and wait for the housing repair dude to come. We have a leak in our fridge and water is coming from under it... and has been getting worse by the minute! I hope they get here soon.. ( So HAPPY that we are in housing for something like this) :)

Finally doing it!

I know about a month ago, I said that I was going to go low carb and detox.. Well, I haven't yet... Until today! It is 10:50am and I am doing fine so far. I guess it took me a while to "talk" myself into it. (shrug). Anyway, I have officially started this, and I will have positive results soon!

I still weigh the same, 223.4 with the same measurements. I will post weekly on my progress. This has always worked for me in the past, and I am sure it will work for me now. Just have to stay the course. I would like to post body shots to compare as the weeks go by. In July we are going on a cruise, and I would love to be about 20 pounds lighter. :)

Got to run, I have so much to do today! TTYL

Im Draggin'!!

These past couple weeks have seem to just fly right past me. As a matter of fact, the whole month of March has been a blur. We went to California for the kids spring break and we had a good time. It was nice to see most of the family. I could not get to everyone because of one thing or another, but I will try and catch them next time.

Here are some pictures from our trip...

The first one is a picture of myself, my dad, and my brother. Please excuse the pink bra that is showing through my shirt... that shirt is now in the recycling bag!!! How did I become so miniature?

We went to the discovery science center, and had a blast. The kids were so into the stuff there, we will have to go back. Unfortunately when we were there, so was about 5 school buses full of students on a field trip! Bummer!! We are so going back!

At my Mom's, we were taking family photos, and this was the only one I got to get before the photographer told me to ditch the camera!! :( I cannot wait to see the professional shots, cause this one is too cute!

Aaron 3, Justin 6, Savannah 9.

Long Week!

Last week was a L-O-N-G week. I had so much going on that much of it is a blur. Early in the week I completed my Psychology paper. I love those classes! They are too much fun!! So that was out of the way. Then I had a couple of FRG (Family Readiness Group) classes to attend. They were nice and informational. I worked on a few things with the FRG and got some things done. ( I still have WAY more to do with that... ) Aaron got to attend "school" a couple of days last week. He LOVES it. He always says, "ill miss you mommy", but once he is inside, it is all about the toys! He was there for two mornings and they wanted to try and get him used to the potty. I thought it was a lost cause because when he sits on the toilet, he tells me nothing is coming out, and wants out. So, I let them try and he did what I predicted. BUT, since last week, he has been going pee in the potty everyday and only wears a diaper when sleeping! Woot! So he is half way potty trained! Well, he still poops in his underwear, but we are working on that. I thought that it was going to be a nightmare to get him to use the potty, but it worked out on his time. Yea!

I really do not remember much about the rest of my week. I studied hard for my math final. It was a LOT of note taking and practice. I did not pass my test, I got 31.6 out of 56! However, I only needed to get 28 right to pass math class, and I DID IT! That stuff is so freakin hard, but I passed and do not have to re-take it! Today starts algebra 2.... so .. we will see. I sort of know what to expect now, so I am hoping to do better in this one. I am not as terrified as I was 9 weeks ago.

This past weekend, the boys got sick... again. Aaron has a nasty runny nose and cough, and Justin has the same with a fever. He is home with us today. Sunday we missed Church again... I think by now it is safe to say we have hit inactive stage? LOL. Not really, but it seems like that. I am catching that cold they have and I feel miserable, but it can be worse. I just have a head cold, and I am hoping it will be gone by next week for our trip.

Joseph has said that he had a surprise for me, and could only keep it a secret for 2 days, then he told me. He is just as bad as I am with holding secrets from me. I cannot do it either, I get too excited. Anyway, if he gets the time off that he thinks he is (no block leave this summer, only opportunity leave) then he wants to take me on a Cruise on the Pacific Coast down to Mexico! He said since we didn't have a honeymoon, and we did nothing for the two of us on our 10th anniversary, that he wanted to do something special for our 11th! I am excited and really hope that we can go, but I understand if we cant go. He will be gone for our 12th anniversary and be back around our 13th, so I can plan for then! :)

This week I am starting my new classes. I have algebra 2 and nutrition. Should be an interesting 9 weeks. I am sure I am going to learn a lot about my bad eating habits! Oh Joy! But I will learn more about how to change those habits for good ones.
Next week I am going home to California for spring break. Joseph has to work so he cannot come. He is starting to ask me how long I will be gone, and when I am coming back on a daily basis now. I think he is going to miss me? :P

Well, I better go. I have been hiding at the computer for a little while and the boys are fighting and crying and whining! Good Times.

Finals

This week will be quite busy with my finals and other "regular" things I have to get done. I will post more next week. I have a TON of studying to do! TTYL

Low Carb Detox

I am not looking forward to this but it HAS to be done. I am going low carb again. I did this a few times and had great results with it, and I know that I have to do it again if I want to drop this weight. I am not looking forward to the "detox" my body will be going through, but I am going to LOVE the results after. I am still going to exercise, because that is important, and because I know you feel great after!

It is time. My kids have been making comments the past couple days about me, and I just do not want to worry about that or embarrass them. This morning they saw a picture of me right around the time Joseph and I were married and had no kids. They both said, "Mom, you looked so pretty when you were not fat". Well, Justin said that, Savannah refuses to use the "fat" word because she does not want to hurt my feelings. Awwww.

But anyway, there have been other things, but I just don't want to say because it is embarrassing to me. So, I need to take charge and regain my body back! It is not going to be easy, and I am sure I will complain a lot, but the end result is worth it.

So, hold me accountable. You can even say motivating things! :) I would not mind that at all! hehe. So here it is... I am going to put it out there so I can read things changing, even if I don't "see" it in front of me.

2/24/2009- weight: 223.6
Measurements: 45";44";47"
I Would really like to be close to 150-160; 39";29"39" (the measurements were from when I was 18, so I would just like to be close :P)

I will weigh-in and measure once a week. Here I go....

Algebra-Smalgebra

Seriously, in the profession I will eventually be going into (not exactly sure yet) but I am sure, I am VERY sure that it will not involve math, and absolutely NOT involve algebra. I have been pleased with my mad school skillz up until this class. The last 7 weeks have been, for the lack of a better word, hell. My personal one at that! Algebra is a twisted ploy to make a person feel inferior to numbers, and that person would be me! I am not alone in this, most of my classmates are feeling the same way I do, and are probably getting the same grades as I am... I won't go into them in detail but most have been the 4th letter of the alphabet.
My loving and supportive husband is pushing me to get a tutor. Maybe I do need one. Time has told me that the answer to that is a big fat yes. He wants me to get a high school student to teach me math, since this is 'high school' math. I don't know about it yet. I have two weeks left in this class, and then another 9 weeks of 'duh-duh-duh-duh' Algebra 2!!! As if I needed more time to feel like a dunce. Nice.
Enough about that monstrosity of school...

We had an OK week. After the 911 incident, the week kinda stayed at that same tone.. Justin started shoving, kicking and hitting again at school. I do not know what to do with that boy. I will forever get those notes from school about "Justin's behavior". People will say, "oh, your Justin's mom". I am going to search the Internet for things that I can do to help him and me.

Savannah is still going strong with her boy-toy Zac. The love notes have stopped so I guess the honeymoon is over? They don't even hold hands after school anymore, but I am told that they are still an item. She has not gushed over him in a while, but tells me she has a crush on his friend.... it is like a day time drama!!

Aaron is still doing well. He is so ready for school. I try to get him in the CDC (day care) as much as I can. Whenever I do something I try to put him in there. He loves it, and loves to get his 'backpack'. He does not care that his backpack contains an extra pair of clothes and diapers! LOL. Speaking of, I have been trying to potty train him. He loves his new undies, yet does not like the toilet. He has a baby toilet, but doesn't like that either. He is so content in staying in diapers. I know he is ready though because he will pee, or poo in his diaper and come to me right away for a change.
Mom- when we get there in a couple weeks, please potty train him for me!! :) Pretty Please....

Everything else is going well. Just busy. This week should be slower than last week, but who knows. I hope you all are doing well, take care.

911 Emergency

Tonight we had a monthly FRG meeting. This is where the families of the soldiers get together and get information and all that jazz. The meeting was short and sweet, and I tried to make it not boring. It lasted about 45 minutes then everyone bolted to the door. I was cleaning up talking to a couple of people when all of a sudden Justin said, "I talked to someone on the phone!" I thought what phone, and there was Aaron talking on a phone that was on the floor. I prayed it was not plugged in, but as I got closer, yep the darn thing was. I looked at Justin and asked him who he talked to on the phone, and he simply replied, "I called 911 and talked to a real person!" I was MORTIFIED!!!!!! He thought it was all fun until the phone RANG!!!! I made the commander pick it up, and I heard him say, "yes there are kids in here, I am sorry for the calls made." CALLS MADE???!!!! Justin had called 911, 3 times while I was cleaning up. OMG!

You could tell that he knew that calling 911 was not a good thing, yet he smiled like it was a joke!! We got home and he got to go to bed. How embarrassing, but I am glad the commander picked up the phone! I am so grateful we do not have house phones, only cell phones. What a little booger he is.


Update:
We are better! YEAH! Joseph took the last of his meds last weekend he had the beginning stages of pneumonia, but we are well, and pretty much back to normal. I am SO HAPPY! It was rough for a while there. I have much to catch up on with pictures and stories. I thought you would enjoy the latest "Justin-fun".
I am going to be "spring cleaning" the next couple weeks to get rid of stuff we just do not need, or haven't used in a LONG while. I have been noticing we have a lot of little things all over the place with no place to go but cluttered in the corner. There has to be a better way of storing things in a neat manner. I enjoy the de-cluttering. It is soothing to me, weird... Thanks for that Mom, you clean freak! That rubbed off on me a little. I guess that is not a bad thing though.

Ugh, Still Sick!

OMGosh, This has been a LONG and horrible month for me. As soon as we got back from vacation, and I mean the very next day, I started having body aches and massive headaches. About a week later, I lost my voice with a terrible sore throat, and a bad cough. Now I have a nasty runny nose and a slight cough, it is getting better. This month has been yucky for me. Just when I think I am getting better and start getting back into my normal routine, I get sicker for another day or two.. ridiculous!! I am starting to feel better now, but I am still taking it easy for fear that I will take one step forward but two steps back.

I just wanted to update you, and let you know why I am a slacker with the blog. Well, I also started an algebra class this month and well, it is kicking my rear! So I spend a LOT of time with that during the week as well.

I hope you are all well, and healthy. I will post pictures of the kids' birthdays and whatnot here in the next week or so. TTYL

Ok, Ok, I know!!!!! It has been too long....

Ok, Yes, I know that I promised to write a while ago, but you see many things have happened when we got back. Ok, not much has happened, BUT I have been under the weather since we have been home. I am just now getting over a flu that had me couch bound for the weekend, and now I just have the lingering bronchitis.

Our trip to visit the family went well. Our drive was nice considering we had 3 kids and a stressed out dog with us. (Scout does not do well in the car)

Scout drools and sheds like crazy when we are traveling, poor thing. This time though she was drooling all over out traveling food! Yuck!

The scenery was BEAUTIFUL on the way up to Colorado, Idaho and through Utah!

The kids had a great time with cousins, grandparents, aunts and uncles! It was nice to sit and enjoy everyone's company. I was VERY lazy and I forgot to get pictures with everyone, so there are no pictures that I personally have to post with the family or the visit.. I know.. shame on me!

When we got back Justin had a wrestling meet that we decided not to attend. I was feeling yucky, and getting back in the car for a couple hours did not seem appealing after driving almost 17 hours just 5 days prior. So we stayed home. However, this past weekend there was another wrestling meet that we did attend in New Mexico, and Justin did well. He won his first matchwith points 14 to 4. We were excited since this was his first victory.

The next kid he wrestled, pinned him in about 45 seconds and the third kid pinned him in 30 seconds. He did well though and tried his hardest. He was excited no matter what and did not cry when he lost.

Well, that catches us up. This weekend is another wrestling meet, and next week is my baby's birthday.. she will be 9. Technically not a baby... but you know. More posts with more pictures later on!

We are Back!

We are back from our trip. It was nice to visit most of the family. We enjoyed every moment of it, and look forward to seeing them again soon. It was a l-o-n-g drive though and that is something I am not looking forward to.. lol. The kids were good in the car and really did not complain too much.. I think I was the complainer most of the time... I'm the Mom, I'm allowed to :).

I will post more about our trip in a couple days. Today is still a recovery day for us, and that means takin it easy.