Veteran's Day Program

This morning I attended a Veteran's Day program at the elementary school. I love going to assemblies at the school. Watching the kids sing and have fun while putting on a show. This morning they honored Veteran's and Active Duty members by presenting them with an American Flag pin and singing an amazing song. I thought of my family members who have served or are serving. I thought of my dad and what it was like for him in Vietnam, I thought of my Uncle who received a Purple Heart, my brothers who are currently active duty, and mostly I thought of my amazing husband. My heart swells when I think about him, and how he has served his country so proudly. I think of all the times he has to leave, but even in that sad last embrace he puts on a brave face, even though I know his heart is breaking. I also think about my children who serve in their own way. They did not choose this life but handle it like little silent hero's. They do not ask for special recognition or treatment, instead they ask for extra hugs, and to email dad as often as possible. They keep their grades high, their rooms somewhat clean, and try to be the little men of the house. So this morning as I sat there watching and taking it all in, I was honored too. One teacher placed a pin on my shirt, gave me a hug, and said we give you this in honor of your husband and you! How amazing it is to a Proud Navy Wife!

To all the Veteran's and Active Duty members in the world, THANK YOU for everything you have done for me, my family and America. It does not go unnoticed in my heart. 

To anyone reading this blog, please remember if you see a Veteran or Active Member thank them. It does not have to be done on a special day, it can be done anytime. Don't forget what they have done, and also remember the families too.

Air Show

One of my favorite things about living near a military base is the Air Show that comes to town every year! I love walking around looking at the different displays and aircraft. Now if you have never been to an air show let me give you a quick run down. It is held on the flight line, there are numerous vendors, planes on display, American Flags everywhere, and then different planes have their time to put on a show in the air. You will see wing walkers, dog fights, F-18's, WW II planes, and much more. I get this huge surge of pride when the announcer is describing the plane that is flying, telling it's history, and what it was used for. Below are a few pictures that I took.

This is a group of young and old Air Force planes.

I loved this shot.

Fat Albert! He is a part of the Blue Angels Flight Team!

Diamond Formation

Amazing!

Beautiful

This is not zoomed in. That is how close we were. They are both upside down!

This is when they split.

Here they are flying as slow as possible by the crowd.

Taxiing in!

They all get out at the same time in a beautiful formation!

I love fall!

Pumpkins, apples, pies, soups, fall ball, family, and cool weather. Those are some of my favorite things about fall. I love the new candle scents, and all the great fall decor you can find at the local store.  Here are a few shots of my fall decor......

Does anyone know how to clone yourself??

One day I thought to myself, "Self, you do not have enough to do..... how can you make your calendar fuller?" Then one of the boys came in and begged to play fall ball. Of course we said yes because we love to see them try new things but we did not think that the other 2 would want to play too! Man we really need to start thinking things through around here!! So off we went to sign up #1 for fall ball, on the way #2 & #3 asked if they could play too. "Please, it sounds like fun..... oh please, oh please, oh please can we huh huh huh?" So of course we said yes........ WHAT WERE WE THINKING! Oh wait I know...... I was thinking my aunt had 3 boys and she survived, I can too. Besides my hubby is home how hard can it be? Man, I spoke too soon. At first the practices were great, we were able to split up and take the boys with no problems. Then came the actual season, with games at the same time. It's still OK cause the hubby can be at one field and I can be at the other. So far there have only been two games at one time. Then life throws a giant wrench at you and says HA HA HA! Now the hubby is out of town and we have games at the same time but at different ends of the park. Let me try to paint you a picture.....

__________________________________________________

*                                    

*   Field 1                                                    Field 2

*

*

*

*

*Field 3                                                       Field 4

*

*    

*                          Concession     

*                              Stand

*

*

*Field 5                                                       Field 6

*

*

*

*

*                                                                                         T-Ball

_____________________________________________________

I know you must love my picture! So one child is at t-ball and one is at field 3. Now my picture is not to scale so if you have ever seen a little league field you know how big they are and also how there are fences, towers, people, and concession stands in the way.  I am very thankful that I have friends that I will call on to help but it would be much easier if I could just clone myself. I really hate missing their games and seeing their faces when they do well. I know that I will have to suck it up and remember that my sweet amazing husband misses so much so I can miss a few little things here and there........ sorry had to get my Kleenex. 

More overhaul!!

I am so grateful for my husband! I must say this because if it was not for him the yard would still look scary. I worked on it and realized that it was a huge job. I knew that I would need his assistance. Unfortunately he did it all himself! I got called away and could not help him work on the yard. He being the perfect man that he is took care of it himself, while watching the kids! Yes I know he is amazing and he is all mine! Here are some pictures. Once the flowers and bushes grow it will look even more fantastic.

Before... yikes!

After!!

P.S. Notice the new gutters in the pictures?? Yep he did that too!!! 

Too much nature?

So we recently moved from a rental that backed a busy road. I guess you would call it urban nature? Now our new house backs to a wooded area. The first night we were in the house I fell asleep for the first time to silence, no fire trucks, no speeding cars or motorcycles! I was so very happy about our new place. Then the  morning came and I was woken by a humongous, loud woodpecker. From my bed this bird was 20 feet tall and was pecking away at the worlds largest tree. In the birds defense he was a tiny little thing just having fun with his little tree. So I learned to adapt to the nature around me and really started to enjoy it, until tonight. I swear it's nature overload outside my window. The frogs have called the crickets, who called the other loud animals and they decided to throw a party outside. It is like a concert out there. They all sing, croak, yell in unison and then they stop. That is when I lay my head down to get some rest and BAM! They start again. Seriously little animals, MOMMA needs her rest and would really like it if you would shut the #($* up! Thanks and goodnight.

Normal job

The other night while out to eat with my boys, daddy's job came up in the conversation.... As you know the hubby is in the military, with that job comes the difficult times of deployments, and long work hours. There are no set hours of work, it's not a normal 9-5 job where you will be home for dinners, activities with the kids, and have every weekend off. Most people say "You make plans and God laughs" well we say "You make plans and the Military laughs" It is tough for kids to deal with the complete unknown of this job, they did not sign up for it but try to handle it with much grace. For one of mine he is a little over it.... As I was telling them that we should be so very proud of the job he does, and the sacrifice he makes this sweet little boy responded with... "Can't he get a normal job like at McDonald's?"