Halloween

Last weekend we went to the local farm market to buy pumpkins and fresh apples. We made applesauce, apple cake, the boys ate a gajillion apples each, and then carved our pumpkins.

For Halloween we walked around the local neighborhood. Seth (obviously) was a T-Rex and John a Block. John's daycare had a parade in the morning where local businesses down the street gave out candy and Seth's class had a party.

Firsts, Part 4.

Last weekend we went up to camp and enjoyed the beauty of the northern states in the peak of the fall season. This is what I missed SOOO much about living in CA, TX and GA. Fall is my favorite time of year. So many colors, the temperatures, the tastes..... aaaah this is home.

This morning I woke up to frost on the ground and cars and it occurred to me that it's well past time to buy winter coats. This will be John's first glimpse of snow, and Seth's first glimpse of snow that actually sticks to the ground and piles up.

Anyhow, last weekend at camp I got to take Seth 4-wheeling, and fishing, and both boys kayaking. Which of course leads me to the "First" of this post...... Seth's First Fish! We had beautiful weather and I got some beautiful pictures.

John didn't actually come fishing with us.

His feet didnt' touch the bottom of the boat and he couldn't
keep his balance with the rocking of the boat.

Seth caught a salmon.

We also got to go to a kite festival. Unfortunately we didnt' have enough wind for kiting, but Seth got to make his own kite and run with it.

I saved my favorite picture for last.... kayaking on Sunday morning with my boys. John was in my lap.

Firsts, Part 2.

I wanted to post these pictures in my last post, but I had to wait for access to Mom's camera.

First School Bus ride

First Day of School Birthday Celebration.

The girl sitting next to Seth is Sara (they're married).

He refused to smile for this picture...Mom and Dad are SO Embarrasing!!

Class B4

Here he's showing everyone he's 5!

Yesterday and Today

Yesterday we headed to the riverwalk to play in the fountain. While the fountain wasn't on, we did run into a nice mini-farmers market where John and Seth played met Tira. John says woof woof!

And...of course....swimming. Just one two-week swim lesson this year and Seth has really blossomed with his swim skills. He can hold his breath under water across the pool and loves to show it off!

Today we relaxed and slept in, rested. We took a quick trip to McDonalds for some coffee and play in the playplace, and then did some rock painting....which turned into face painting.

And of course more swimming. Our neighbor erected a zip wire from the treehouse to the fence across our back yard, which goes right directly over the pool. Here is Sethman doing his Spiderman pose.

This Week

So, this week I took off of work in anticipation of my departure. Mon and Tues I spent rearranging the house and cleaning for Mom and Dad's extended stay.

Starting on Wednesday I kept the boys home for quality time with me. Wednesday morning I called up Charity and we and our children headed out to Jump City for a while.

In the afternoon we came home and napped, cleaned, swam and waited for Mom's arrival. Yay! She's here!

Thursday we went to another jumping place.... Monkey Joes per Seth's request. Our whole family had a lot of fun!! Later on we swam in the backyard.

Yesterday was a fun time at the park, and of course swimming.

The Countdown

So we're down to less than a week now. This weekend was a lot more of the usual stuff.... shopping trip, McD's to play, swimming, trip to the park, etc.

Church was particularlly hard, as it seems to be the one place that I simply cannot hold back my emotions. I was a basketcase, but walked away feeling comforted, loved and knowing that I have friends whose prayers on my behalf will be heard. This was my last Sunday in church, so I said goodbye and Thank You to all my friends.

Today I shuffled the kids off to daycare and got to work on my paperwork. I managed to steal a spot in the afternoon with my Dr's office to get the letter from her and copies of my medical records. I finally picked up John's birth certificate (yes I know it's a year and a half later), and I talked to the Sergeant on the Delays and Exemptions board to get some information about submitting a packet to the Army for a medical exemption from mobilization. This, IMO, is my only chance at getting out of this recall. Fortunately I already have everything I need, and will be faxing the packet tomorrow morning.

This afternoon I ran to Target and picked up some sports bras (ahhhh) and shower shoes. Don't you love the feeling of a new sports bra? Makes you realize how much the elastic on your current bras has shot.

Tomorrow will be dedicated to finishing the last few household chores and stuff to get ready for Mom. Mom is coming down on Wednesday and Dad will be arriving next week after the Collyer family reunion up in NY. Tonight is Dave's last day of work this week, so the rest of the week will be devoted to family time.

For any of you who just starting reading my blog recently...... I was recalled back into the Army after being out of Active duty for a year and a half. I am reporting to Ft. Jackson on Sunday for mobilization processing. If during that time I am not medically disqualified from mobilization, I will then be sent to a refresher course for Arabic for a short time (likely about 3 months) after which I will join the reserve unit I have been assigned to and fly overseas with them. Where and when we still do not know, but we are hoping that they will not find me medically fit for mobilization.

So, thank you all for your prayers and well wishes. We are in a tough time right now, and not just me but my entire extended family.

Recap

Our 4th of July was a little extended this year. Friday night we had a fun bar-b-que-ish dinner (minus the actual grill) and the usual fixings. Then we waited and wondered if the rain would let up long enough for fireworks....but it did!!! So we headed out with a couple blankets and some bug spray to downtown Augusta.
They had a huge display off the 5th st bridge between SC and GA. So we found a spot along the river where the boys could admire the boats.















Once the fireworks finally started, John went into panic mode... not even the "oh no Mommy protect me!" mode but the "lets get the hell out of here!" mode. He didn't want me to hold him, he wanted to run away!! I had to chase him down a few times, after which he sat in his stroller and looked a me like..... are we leaving yet? Seth (after missing the first half of the fireworks while Dave took him all around to find a potty) sat looking mostly like the picure below... asking to go home.




I on the other hand thoroughly enjoyed the display, and greatly underestimated Augusta in my expectations of what kind of fireworks they would have. We have been going to Ft. Gordon for the last 4 years, and August definitely outdid the Army this year.

Weekend and John

So this Friday I finally got paid!!! Yay! As one can imagine, I was quite excited. On Jan 1st I was hired permanant at work from being a temp. Along with that came an entire month to get paid, as they only pay bi-monthly and they hold your first paycheck (ie, I got paid on the 1st of Feb for the 1st-15th of Jan). Well, we made it! It was really tough, and drained most of what little savings we had, but we survived. I felt like a rich woman when I went to walmart yesterday.....whats this? we can afford crackers? and kleenex? and I can get some contact solution? Oh my! God is good! We celebrated with McDonalds and I bought myself a nail polish.

This weekend was kinda tough. We all woke up on the wrong side of the bed on Saturday and everyone was bumping heads with everyone. Normally I would've forgone the Walmart shopping till after naptime but it had to be done. We didn't even have butter for toast....it was that bad. Suprisingly we made it through without too much drama, until the very end when Seth stopped listening to me, and lost his cookies. I had to take them out of the bag and hand them back to the cashier! So...of course the usual crying fit scene erupted and I walked away quickly with my head down muttering prayers for patience. Once we all got a short snooze our attitudes were much better. We went and rented a few movies and then made a night of it. The boys watched Cinderella 2 and I watched Amazing Grace (with my eyes half open).

Sunday was a much better day. Off to church in the morning to work in the nursery. Then I took Seth to a birthday party at Adventure Crossing where he got to ride on his first rides ever! He went on the roller coaster about 5 times in a row, the carusel, the planes, the mini-twister, and then we went indoors for some skeeball and games. Seth was sooo good and had a great time.

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I can't believe it's been almost a year now since John entered our little family. The day he was born is still so fresh in my memory and makes me nostalgic for his infancy. One year ago yesterday was my due date. My husband took me out for wings, and I ordered the hottest I could possibly stand, hoping that the spicy-ness would force me into labor....... It just gave me heartburn. So, the next day I spent the day outdoors. I friend of a friend told me she got her labor started by communing with the earth. So... I pulled weeds in what was once my flowerbed. I knew I would be moving in a few weeks and would have to clean it up anyhow, so that's what I did.....and it worked. Around 4ish it occurred to me that my cramps were stronger and by 8ish by contractions were about 4 minutes apart. We dropped Seth off at Amie's for the night and headed to the hospital. He was born the next morning at 3am....on Superbowl Sunday. 9lbs 14ozs and 21 inches long. God is sooo good! Look was a joy and a gift He has given us!

This was actually taken the Christmas before John was born....... I didn't think I could get much bigger, but I did.

Here is John just a few moments after he was born. Daddy took pictures while they cleaned him up and Mommy sat anxiously waiting to hold her new blessing.

One year later.... no longer a baby..... a toddler for sure!

A Nice Surprise

Yesterday out of the blue some flowers arrived for me at work. I couldn't imagine who would be sending them. Turns out a customer I helped fix a SIM card problem on Monday was so appreciative that he sent me flowers! How often does that happen? It sure made my day! And makes me feel a lot better about my boring job. Turns out the guy had traveled to London over the weekend and his phone stopped working. His wife had just had a premature baby and having his cell phone working was extremely important. I didn't do anything out of the ordinary for them, but it's nice to know that I've really helped someone out in a bind.

New Years

We had a great New Years Eve weekend with friends Nick and Ashley and their kids Hayden, just turned 4 and Brenya, almost 2. It was great to have them all here to celebrate with us. They drove back to Tennessee yesterday, and we will miss them!