Hey, I'm part of the kids now too!

We got a kitten and Kevin named him Roscoe. He is very loving, yet somewhat timid. He has found a spot that he likes, which happens to be on one of the small tables in the living room, right in front of pictures of the kids. I think that is his way of making it known that we have him now too and he is part of the family!

First Time in Years

For the first time in years, Brittney's Dad and his two sisters were able to see each other in Alabama last week! The thing that keeps them apart is the distance in which they live. Britt's Dad is in Georgia, Aunt Jeanette in Arkansas, and Aunt Beverly in Washington. So, needless to say, it is hard for them to make it to where everyone is together at the same time. The bad part of this day, we could not be there to spend time with everyone! We wish we could have, as everyone knows! Merry Christmas everyone!

White Mountain Tops

We had our first snow fall this past week for this winter! It actually closed school and post. This pictures was from the very beginning of the snow fall, which of course hit the mountain tops before anything else. Britt took this picture from the motorpool that she works out of everyday.

Go Eastside Bulldogs!!!!

Personally, I think the girls look adorable in their cheeleading uniforms! Breanna has picked up on the cheers and dance moves so quickly to where it looks like she has always cheered! Amazing! Caitlin tends to get bored with it, yet has fun when she is able to cheer.

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Patiently Waiting...

Go Gator's!!!

Here we are, coming into another season of football! One of the best sports around! College ball is by far, one of the best parts of the season. Britt is a Gator fan and well, looks as though the kids have fallen into the category as well! We are still waiting on Kevin to jump on the wagon! He is slowly getting there. FL played TN yesterday...and of course won! It was a close game, but in the end, they won it 23-13. Very exciting. Britt and Nic sported their Gator Wear for the game. Nicholas ran out holding his t-shirt and growling. He looked at Britt and yelled, "I wear Ma I wear. Gator. I wear. Football" followed by another growl.... How cute!

El Paso Zoo

Jessica and I decided to take our kids to the zoo out here while her husband is away and Kevin is deployed. We both had to just get out of the house and knew the kids could use a distraction. We all ended up having a real great day and fun with the kids! The kids had a blast watching all the animals.

Cheerleading Fun Day

The cheerleaders and football players had a Fun Day today. The boys played games all day while the girls cheered. The Coaches and parents even got in on the fun! Nicholas had fun playing with other little ones on the sidelines, while I talked to one of the Mom's. Sure wish Kevin were home to spend the day with us. At the end, the football coaches gave each cheerleader a ribbon and medal to show their appreciation to the girls. This was the first time we had them all together! The girls had to wear their practice clothes for this since their uniforms are still not in.

New Look

Earlier this past week I had to make the dreaded trip to see the eye doctor. Seems my vision has slowly gotten worse when it comes to reading or sitting in front of the computer. I got the wonderful phone call on Friday afternoon letting me know my glasses were ready. Thought I would share the new look with everyone! (I only have to wear them when I am reading or driving at night)

Sleeping In

Waking up early Monday-Friday finally caught up to Nicholas! He went to bed around 8pm last night and did not wake up until around 9:00 this morning! He woke up right around the time that breakfast was ready. Nicholas usually has the house awake pretty early on the weekends, so this was one of the best things to sleep past 6:30! It is so hard to believe that only two years ago he took up such a little space in his bed!

Shopping Trip Disaster!

Whoever thinks it is a good idea to take three small kids shopping for anything has to be insane! I have never thought it to be a good idea, yet still have to take the trips out because Kevin is obviously not home. I would much rather work than face the obstacles in shopping with my three! I feel like I spend the entire time telling Caitlin to stay with me, put things down, quit fighting with Breanna, to leave Nicholas alone, to quit whining and telling me she wants everything we pass...oh how the list could just go on and on! I wish that just once she would behave so we could actually have a 15 minute trip not turn into over an hour! In the end though, we did manage to get all we needed for the hall bathroom! The girls love their "new" bathroom. It is in blues and browns. We had to get away from the cartoon characters and all the "kiddie" themes.

Poor Nicholas after a couple hours out shopping with Mom & Sisters! He was worn out!

Hail Covered Yard

We are finally having rain come through El Paso! I know I am personally thrilled on this. Of course, we need the water, but it also means I get a break on watering the yard and with my water bill! Of course that makes for much needed good news! Today was a cloudy day but late in the afternoonn we got hit with a pretty bad thunderstorm that had the kids in tears! Our backyard ended up with hail covering it at one point. Caitlin thought it was snowing, so I had to sit down and explain to her what was really happening! Hopefully we will still continue getting rain this weekend!

He Has An Address!!!

We finally have a mailing address for where Kevin is! Very excited! On the downside, we have been told not to send anything for 30-60 days upon the unit arriving in country. They have only been there for a little less than two weeks now! We still have a little wait! We have to wait in order to give the unit they are replacing to leave the FOB as well as giving the guys a chance to get settled in. The guys need some time to get set up and organized before we are supposed to send things! Understandable. If you want to send something, wait until around the end of June! Trust me, I am really hating this wait! If I have not sent you Kev's address in Iraq, please either send me an email or leave a comment on here and I will get it to you! When sending anything, keep in mind he is living in a tent with over ten other guys so he is very limited on space during this deployment! Everyone keeps asking what to send him for his birthday and Christmas. Gift cards are the best way to go! His favorite places are GNC, Gamestop, and Amazon.com. All three of these do ship to APO. So, he can order off these sites and have the items shipped directly to him. He orders all of his vitamins and whatever for when he works out from GNC. He actually set up some membership with them last time he was overseas. He orders games for his PSP from Gamestop, as well as Amazon.com. With Amazon it gives him more to choose from as far as the games, books, movies, and more!

Please continue to keep Kevin in your thoughts and prayers as we wait for this next year to pass us by. Kev should be home sometime after next May, when this deployment comes to an end. Of course, we will not know the date until it is only a few days away. Nor do we know the exact time frame of him being there. We also are not sure when Kev will be home on R&R (mid-tour leave) since they are just getting there and we all know how it is all subject to change! I am sure it will be another example of us finding out a few days before he arrives in El Paso that he is coming home on leave! Got to love the Army! Overall, Kevin is doing pretty good. He called today. The second time he has been able to call in the month that he has been gone! He sounded good and was in a joking mood. Hearing his voice more than made my day. Now I am good for the next few weeks as far as him calling home. They are all working hard over there as they get settled and become more aware and knowledgeable of what they will be doing.

Thank you to everyone for the continuous support. You all keep us going strong!

Our Destructive Dog

What a week last week was! I have to say that I am so happy that we are currently in a new week! Dopey, our wonderful and loving Cane Corso, decided that since I did not spend as much time with him as I normally do that he would become a bit on the destructive side! My time was spent last week dealing with the kids and work. It was a busy week! One day Dopey ripped our water hose holder off the house. Okay, not too big of a deal. After all, Kevin and I have been talking about purchasing a nice water hose hideaway reel box. Why not make that purchase now? After this, Dopey decides he is going to drag our new hose into the yard and chew it into pieces. Oh, how I wish I had taken more pictures of his destruction! This past weekend I sent the girls to the backyard to help clean up his mess. One of them ran into the house telling me about Dopey "eating" the hose to the sprinklers. I was at a loss as to what they were telling me at first. Once I got out there, I was ready to choke this dog! Haha. He had chewed through the hoses that connected the faucet to the sprinkler system. Monday afternoon I had to repair the sprinkler system. Luckily there was enough hose left over from his field day of the mess he left in the middle of our yard! I was able to cut two pieces out in order to connect it all together again. And yes, it does work!!! Breanna walked in completely amazed with the fact that I could fix it because she has never seen me do that before. It was too cute! I had to explain that when Daddy is home I don't have to because he does yard work. She told me that she thought I would have to call someone to make the repairs. Nothing like the confidence a seven year old has in her mom! Of course, we told Kevin about this situation. He found humor in it all! Of course, he would have it no other way than to laugh at all that I have already gone through this past month!

This is what was left of the connection to the sprinklers!

This is to show you all that, yes, I can make household repairs! It does work! We flooded the backyard today while the kids all played in the water!

Our wonderful, loving puppy, Dopey! He is 11 months in this picture! Just turned one this month. He is such a big baby!

We are all praying for your safe return Kevin! We love you & miss you more than words could ever say! Stay strong & focused! We are here patiently awaiting your return home in the months to come! **Always!**

~"Distance between two hearts is not an obstacle...but rather a great reminder of just how strong true love really is"~

Memorial Day

Happy Memorial Day Everyone! Thanks to those of you who have given your lives so we can continue to live ours and to those who continue to put their lives on the line every passing day. When you are cooking out today, enjoying what may seem like another day off work that is paid for, take a moment and remember the reason behind this day. This day is meant to honor those men and women we have lost protecting our freedom and country. They sacrificed so much in order for us to enjoy ours. These people are some of the most selfless people that should be thought about daily, not just a couple times a year.

Freedom is not Free! So many American's have paid for our freedom with their lives. Always remember our Fallen Veteran's and appreciate what you have while others make the sacrifice for you to enjoy it.

The link to the History on Memorial Day:
http://www.usmemorialday.org/backgrnd.html

For You, Grandpa

Caitlin has had quite a few punishments for her shoplifting attempt. No matter what I say, it does not seem to get through to her. Yesterday, while talking to Terri, David made the suggestion that she writes "I will not steal" one hundred times. We all know how she hates to sit still and write anything! Caitlin has spent a good portion of today writing it. The first time she sat at the table and wrote it all in a rush which made it hard to read. I made her sit down and start the process all over again. She is so mad, but her writing is neater! What a way to spend a Sunday afternoon!

Mama, Ice

Earlier today I heard the Ice Cream Truck outside, doing the normal drive around and make parents crazy on a Saturday afternoon. I thought nothing of it really because the girls are both grounded and knew not to even ask. Nicholas was sitting in the living room floor playing when he heard it. He looked at me with huge eyes and got all excited. This is something I have not really seen him do until now. Not like this anyways. He jumped up and while running to the door started yelling, "Mama, ice." I still cannot believe he even knows what the music indicates! He was only one last summer when we use to get him and the girls ice cream from the truck. Of course, with him finally talking and showing so much excitement I could not say no to him. I guess it is kind of an award for communicating with me more than just grunting! His speech is getting to where he can put words together in a short sentence and to where he is now understandable! It is just amazing!

"My Dada"

Since enrolling Nicholas in Daycare he has started talking more and more! He is now putting two and three words together in order to complete a short sentence. We are so amazed with how far he has come in less than two months! This weekend he got a hold of my cell phone which has a picture of me and Kevin together the day he deployed. Nic kept hitting the button to make it light up and would smile. I asked him what he was looking at and with the biggest smile he looked at me and said, "My Dada Mama". My heart just melted and tears came to my eyes. In so many ways I can tell he misses his daddy. He is becoming a miniature Kevin more and more with every passing days. From the way he acts to the looks he gives...

We cannot wait until next year is here and Kevin is home with us again! We all miss him so much!

Take care of yourself Hun! We are all thinking about you! Love you so much!

Our Tic Tac Bandit

I remembered tonight as I was pulling into the daycare that Nicholas is almost out of diapers. I knew this mission would have to be completed with all three kids in tow. Little did I realize what I was up against! Throughout our trip to the store Caitlin kept asking for candy and whatever else she saw that was of interest to her. I kept telling her "no" and that we were just buying diapers then going home. Standing in the checkout line I noticed she was acting a little on the odd side, so I decided to see what she was up to. I watched as she tried to hide something from me by placing it in her pocket. I told her to empty her pocket, of course we were right in front of quite a few people. She shows me what she has...a box of Tic Tacs! Yes, you read right. Caitlin tried to steal tic tacs! I am not even sure how to handle this! She had to apologize for her attempt in shoplifting. I have talked to her, as has her Grannie. I asked her if she has ever done this before and she turned her head from me. Only leaving me to believe she has. I never imagined having to deal with something like this. Now I have to figure out a decent punishment. Obviously she is getting too old for the corner and spankings do not always work. I need an attention grabber. Wonder if I could get a police to come out and talk to her to put some fear in her... Just a thought...

We are only a little more than two weeks into this deployment and it feels like the year should almost be over! These two weeks have been insane! And to think...it is all just starting!

Any advice on this situation is more than welcomed!

**Keeping you in our thoughts & prayers Kev! We love you & miss you more than words could ever say! Always baby!**

Tonsillitis Strikes Again!

Nicholas once again has tonsillitis! I cannot even tell you how many times this poor kid has had to go through this. The girls and I spent Monday night with him in the ER due to him being fine one minute then out of nowhere having a fever that spiked to over 103 degrees. He tonsils are so swollen right now! The doctor in the ER put him on an antibiotic and told me to monitor him. Which, of course I have done. We have had to rotate Motrin every 8 hours and Tylenol in between to keep his fever down. It stayed around 102 for a little over 24 hours...even with the medication. His fever finally broke very early this morning. Of course, that was after I made him an appointment with his doctor. We saw his pediatrician this morning. She said about the same thing as the ER doctor. There is not much we can do right now. They have added another medication to what he is already on to see if they can get the inflammation down and see if this is going to be an ongoing issue. His tonsils may have to be removed within the next couple of months. We will know more as he starts to feel better and the doctor does another examination, which will be soon. If his tonsils are still enlarged at that point, he will then be referred to an ENT specialist. As we know more we will update everyone!

Bre's New Look

I decided to take the girls to get their hair cut and ended up doing something different with Breanna's. She now has short bangs and shorter hair. It looks so cute on her! Great look with her face!

In the Motorpool

Work has started to get so busy since we now have over 4,000 pieces of equipment from 4/1 AD! We took on this equipment a few weeks before they deployed and are now in the stages of having the maintenance performed on our vehicles. We have a wide variety of vehicles. The picture below this is me sitting in a PLS. I climbed up in it to get it started before one of the drivers took off in it. Wonderful day spent in the motorpool!

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day!

We hope all the Mom's had a wonderful Mother's Day this year! On Friday when I picked the kids up from Daycare I was given Nic's present to me. (See the picture below). On the back on it is a real cute poem. It all made me tear up! Breanna made me two real cute bookmarks (one with her picture) and a book with a poem. All very cute! She did such a good job. Caitlin's class put together a cookbook to all the moms. They did an amazing job with it. The drew pictures with every recipe and her teacher wrote a note in the back about Caitlin. All in all it was a pretty good day. Only thing missing was having Kevin home with us!

Thank You

Thank you to everyone for all the birthday wishes today. It all meant so much. It was hard to have another birthday come and go with Kevin once again not being home. Seems that every year since he enlisted the Army has had him away on this day. However, my cell phone did ring at midnight with an unknown number. It woke me up and I was close to sending the call to voicemail. Thankfully I didn't because when I answered it, I heard "Happy Birthday Baby". At that moment I knew no matter what the day had in store for me Kevin had just made my day! We talked for a little over a minute before we were disconnected. He said he just wanted to call and wish me a happy birthday before anyone else did because he could not be here. I miss him so much with every passing day, but am so thankful for the phone calls and emails I receive. It all helps out so much through deployments. I think we live on the few and far between calls and emails.

Kevin is doing fine over there. As you all know he flew straight into Iraq over a week ago on a mission ahead of his company. He left here with a small group of guys from the battalion he is with. He will be heading to another FOB soon, which is where his guys will catch up with him. They should all reunite sometime in the next two weeks. This past week has given him a chance to get through the jetlag of flying over there. It has given him a chance to get situated and more prepared for this deployment. I have been able to hear from him almost daily, which is about to change now that he will start getting busy. Once again, I ask everyone to please keep him and everyone he is with in their thoughts and prayers. We all just want him and everyone home safe next year! Deployments are very hard and at times seem unbearable, but in 12-15 months this will all just be a memory. Something we can look back on and begin cherishing all moments we have together before another one comes up.

Thanks again for the calls, cards, and messages for my birthday!

What I Want to Be

Breanna was assigned her first real project recently! It is for Career Day and she had to write a report on what she wants to be when she grows up. Breanna and I made a special trip to Wal-Mart in order for her to find somethings for her project. She has decided she wants to be a Vet. Bre did an amazing job and worked extremely hard in completing her assignment. She said the teacher gave her a 100% and enjoyed presenting it to her class.

Here We Go Again...

Our time of goodbyes came yet again tonight. The kids and I had to see Kevin off for another deployment to Iraq. In many ways, I really think this one was harder than the last one! We are more aware of what we are about to go through for the next 12-18 months. Yet, we also know how strong we all are and that we will tackle this one just as we did the last one! It's a long road, but one that we are so proud of Kevin for. Busy days and long nights back here on the homefront are about to begin. The hardest part was having to drive away knowing the amount of time before we are back in his arms again.

***Stay safe Kevin and know that we are here waiting on you! We love you so much!***

Fishing & Camping

We took the kids to Hideaway Lake about 25 miles outside of east El Paso for the weekend. We left home Saturday around noon and headed to the lake. Took us a little longer than planned to get the tent up due to the winds. We spent all afternoon and evening fishing and letting the kids play. That night we set up a campfire, grilled hotdogs for dinner and made smores after that! The girls loved it! Once we got the kids settled in, the two of us were able to sit by the fire and fish, finally giving us some time together. It got pretty windy and cold that night, but it was fun! The next morning we loaded up and took our time getting home!

Weekend Away...

aaaaaWe finally did it! We took an extended weekend break away from El Paso! Easter Weekend was spent in San Antonio and it was fabulous! We left our house on Friday morning around 4AM. The worst part was trying to get out of El Paso! We loaded our SUV the night before so all we had to do was wake the kids, change, and get going. Sounds easy, right? Well, we made it about 40 miles within the first (almost) two hours! I have never seen a family that had to stop so many times in such a short distance. One of the tires was low on air, so it took three gas stations to find one that had air that worked. Then Kevin had to find one with cigarettes. We then got on the interstate only to hear the girls arguing. Kevin pulled over to break that one up. We started to driving again to hear Caitlin yell out she needs to potty. Of all the gas stations, why she did not tell us then is beyond us! Once we got going Kevin realized he needed to smoke. So we made one more stop before getting out of El Paso! We did not stop again until breakfast. Our 7.5 hour drive turned into more like 12 hours! We did however, stop at a couple of stores before finding our hotel. So, not quite 12 hours. Thankfully the drive back was a lot easier on Monday! Once we got to our hotel and unloaded we took a walk to the River Walk, which was only a little more than a block from our room. We took Nic's stroller and realized once we got down there that it would not work for us. We headed back to the hotel for our car and went to Target. We finally broke down and bought a jogging stroller. It was the best money spent on the whole trip! It made all of our lives so much easier! That evening we went back to the river and noticed it was not very kid friendly at night so we decided to turn in at that point!

On Saturday morning we got up and ready and took the girls to the room next to ours and had them knock on the door. They thought we had lost our minds! They were more than surprised when before they could even knock the door opened and there stood Grannie! Granpa and Grannie met us in SA for the weekend! The girls were more than thrilled and we were excited to spend time with them before Kevin deploys! We all went to Sea World during the day and the River Walk that evening for dinner right on the river. We ate at Laundry's, which was actually pretty good.

Sunday morning and early afternoon was spent at the Zoo. Following that and lunch we headed back to our rooms to let all the guys get in a nap. Yes, Granpa, Kevin, and Nicholas all needed one! While they were napping all the girls headed to the river. We took a ride on the river cruise, which was pretty cool, shopped around at River Walk, and got on the carriage ride through downtown before meeting up with the guys for dinner! Of course, during this, we all forgot our cameras! No pictures of our girls afternoon out. We met the guys by the river and ate dinner at some Mexican Restraunt. Mom and Brittney decided to have a Daquiri after a crazy afternoon with the kids! Once we were done there and walked around it was late and time to retire for the night!

On Monday we all spent more time at the River Walk, touring shops and a small villiage. We ate lunch at a BBQ place, once again sitting right on the river. It was so relaxing right there! We then headed back to the hotel to say the goodbyes that none of us wanted to say! It was definitely a nonstop weekend that we all needed to relax from, but it was such a wonderful one! A great way to spend the weekend before Kevin leaves again for awhile! It was great to spend so much time with Dad and Mom!

Thanks for a wonderful weekend full of memories! We cannot wait to do it again!