It's a New Day

It's a new day today and it's beautiful. I'm guessing it's in the 60's. The guys aren't home from wrestling yet, but should be soon, then we're off to enjoy the festitivies here on post. April is the Month of the Military Child. They always do a celebration. BBQ, Jump House, Bull Riding, Arts, and Crafts, etc. So I'm ready for them to get home! Last night when Chad got home we went and released 9 balloons celebrating Jordyn's 9th birthday and had 9 flowers tied to them. Jacob picked out a Red Rose, Jack a Yellow Rose, me a Pink Rose, and Chad picked the Purple and White Carnation (purple was her favorite color). We then went out to eat at a Greek Restuarant that's just down the road from us. It was WONDERFUL. All 4 of us enjoyed our meals, the atmosphere was wonderful. We came home and I jumped in a shower, then the boys got ready for bed and Chad and I relaxed for a while.

I found this little survey over at My life as a transplanted Yankee (Traci's).

 

The Childhood Meme

1. Are you a child of the 70s, 80s, or 90s?

I was born in '77 so most of my childhood was the 80's

2. Where were you born?

Small town in Kansas

3. What kind of home did you grow up in?

My parents rented for a few years...from 2nd-5th we lived in a huge house then my parents built a house that they sold to my grandma when they built a new house when Jordyn was a baby.

4. Did you enjoy your childhood?

Yes

5. When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?

A Doctor or teacher and always a mom!

6. What do you want to be now?

A good mom, wife, and Godly woman

7. What was your first best friend's name?

Jackie 

8. Is she still your friend? 

No, when we lived in Tx and I was in Kindergarten...never kept in touch after we moved

9. Can you name all the schools you ever attended?

No, I went to 5 different kindergartens..but I can name the schools I went to once we moved home to Ks...Mayetta Elementary, Colorado and Central Ele (both in the same town..one is K-3) and the other is (K,4&5), then Hol** middle school and High school

10. Were you closer to your mom or dad as a kid?

I guess my mom.

11. What was the first record, tape or CD you remember buying?

Michael Jackson: Thriller (lol)
12. How old is a good age to have kids?

when you're READY...I was 20 when I got pg with Jordyn and was more than ready, but I've met some  late 30 early 40 yr olds who have no business being a parent.

13. Are you scared of anything? something happening to Chad or our children

14. What was your favourite class in elementary school?

in elementary

15. Did you buy school lunch or bring your own?

mostly bought although did bring sometimes

16. Broken any bones or had any freaky accidents as a kid?

just some scars from bike wrecks or taming wild cats! :)

17. Were you a mean kid?

Not at all

18. Favourite boardgame of all time?

I love monopoly
 
19. Did you play house or pretend to be a super hero?

Played house and cars with my brother
20. Seriously, are you still just a kid at heart?

about 30%, should be more!

Remember Jordyn and Thank you's

 

 

 

I want to say thank you to each one of you that's praying for my friend and her family. Once they have the caringbridge site set up I'll share it with those who'd like to continue to keep track of them and pray for them. I'm sure some wouldn't even think that just letting Jillian go would be an option, but until you're in the shoes of a parent who's child has cancer, who's been through literally hell and back you just don't know. I had a friend who doesn't read my journal here say "I just couldn't be as strong as you are or Jessica". People let me tell you something, please don't ever say that stupid statement...do you think we GOT a CHOICE? It's not a choice...it's the way it is. When you become a parent you do what you have to for your children. If you think letting your child get pumped with poison (chemo..it is poison) you're wrong, it's horrifying. If you think leaving your child in a room to have TBI (total body irraditation) was easy, let me tell you I cried the whole time she was in there by herself. To know that they're putting radiation and chemicals in those little bodies that's supposed to HELP them, but that could harm you or even kill you is horrifying. No parent should have to do it, yet every single day 330 parents are told this is the choice they will have to make, or surgery that obviously could go anyway. EVERY DAY 330 children are dx with cancer. Doesn't sound like many...let it be one of your children and you'll realize just how many kids HAVE cancer. ONE child is too many, but tell me how many of YOU are up in arms? How many of YOU arecalling your senators and congressmen and saying We MUST have more funding? EVERY YEAR it goes up on a vote on how much to give NIH and how much of THAT is given to childhood cancer: I know there are prob. a good amount of you that give to St. Jude's, but there are HUNDREDS of other hospitals out there treating children and St. Jude's as wonderful as it is will only see children if they have NOT been treated at another hospital for their cancer. Trust me, when you're thrown into this world you want the best treatment, but you also have to jump quickly, and if you think you're brain is working at full speed to make the constant best decisions it's not. It's in SHOCK. Looking back I would not have ever taken Jordyn to St. Jude's, not because they're not excellent, but because Jordyn had the best treatment she could have gotten anywhere right where she was. I BEG you as a mother who today will be releasing balloons to HEAVEN instead of throwing a birthday party for her 9 yr old daughter...do SOMETHING. There are SO MANY organizations out there that are doing research to find better drugs, so many searching desperately for a CURE, it's not JUST NIH and it's not JUST St. Jude's. There's Curesearch.org, there's the leukemia/lymphoma society. If you want to help with Childhood Cancer DO NOT give your money to American Cancer Society...they give 1% of ALL their funding towards Childhood Cancer (I dislike them greatly and think for adults they're fine, but for children they're disgraceful).

 

I'm emotional today without a doubt. I miss my daughter. I miss her so much it hurts. My heart hurts, my head hurts, I want her HERE. I wish I could have woken her up this morning singing "Happy Birthday" to her, having her room decorated with balloons. I wish so many things, but they will NEVER be. I could have 100 children but I'll NEVER have Jordyn back. I love my kids and I'm thrilled about this baby that's growing in me, but it doesn't take away the pain that's in my heart for Jordyn. I know she's safe, she's with JESUS! I wish she'd never HAD cancer, but that's not our lives. This is. She DID have cancer. She did have a bone marrow transplant, and she did die. We don't get to give her hugs and kisses anymore. I don't get to sneak into her room and watch her sleep. I don't get to feel her soft hair next to my face.

I get so disgusted when I hear people talk so negatively about girls. "Boys are easier, girls are horrible when they're preteen and teenagers", this is normally mothers and I can imagine THEY were a joy at that age. Instead of focusing on the bad they need to focus on the blessing that GOD has given them. Girls or boys they're a blessing. Every single CHILD is a blessing.

You want to do something in memory for Jordyn? I challenge each of you parents out there today no matter how ugly your child was today, how sassy they were, how dirty they got, how anything that you would view as negative...to let it go for a moment and just HUG them. Just kiss them and just DROP TO YOU KNEES and THANK GOD he gave you that child in front of you. THANK HIM, because let me tell you...you DON'T deserve them. NONE of us deserve our children...but GOD gave them to us anyways! He gave us the honor and PRIVELEGE of them. I KNOW there are days where I am at my wits end with my kids, but we all need a reminder that it doesn't matter. Take them out for ice cream, take them to the park, let them pick what you're having for dinner or doing for the weekend. Why do you need to wait for their birthday to make the day special for them? Plant purple petunia's and tell them about my little girl and how much she LOVED purple petunia's and that she'd pick them and rub them on her face because they were so soft! Tell them how she'd stand and just touch the softness of them.

Let me tell you one big fact....Tomorrow is NOT promised for any of us, including our children.

Don't go to bed tonight without your child(ren) knowing how much they're loved and cherished. Pray with your children. Make sure you're teaching them about Jesus. (There is NO better gift than telling them about Jesus and how he died for THEM and that he LOVES them and that the ONLY WAY TO HEAVEN is through HIM).

I would LOVE to be able to do all these things with  Jordyn today...but I can't. So I'll be doing them with my little boys while we remember Jordyn.

My Heart Is Breaking....PLEASE Pray

This is from a dear friend of mine, Jessica. We met when our daughter Jordyn was alive fighting cancer. Jessica's twin girls both had AML leukemia, like Jordyn. Jillians went into remission quickly. Jade on the other hand did not go into remission and the day after Jordyn's bone marrow transplant (Jordyn's was Nov 19) Jade had her BMT. Jade relapsed in Jan. and died Feb 4, 2000, exactly 4 weeks from the day they found out she'd relapsed. I called Jessica on Feb 5 to tell her about Jordyn's relapse (not knowing Jade had died) and she broke the news to me, and THEN comforted ME! To say that Jessica is a blessing is putting it mildly.

Aprox one year after Jade died,  Jillian relapsed. She had an unrelated bmt. Remained in remission until her 1 yr and relapsed once again...again she had a BMT. She then had a partial relapse and she had a stem cell transfusion from her donor. She's been cancer free for the last 2 yrs plus. She started complaining not long ago that her knee has been hurting her so they took her into the dr. They did an XRay which led to an MRI, and said the only way to know for sure was a bone biopsy which they did on Monday. They said it was either scarred cartlidge or osteosarcoma (cancer).

Please read on in Jessica's own words.......

 

 

So it’s confirmed – it’s osteosarcoma. <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

 

We have three options –

Surgery alone with an 80 percent chance of return in same place or somewhere else…

Chemo – surgery – chemo – best odds with most side effects and risks – she will be out of school now until next year –

Do nothing and keep her comfortable

 

 

I don’t know what to do.

There are only four cases of this ever and its in some german journal. These cases were single transplants only.

Jillian is one of few cases internationally to have back to back unrelated transplants. She is, to our doctor’s knowledge, the only case of her kind to develop this form of cancer post two transplants. The underlying or obvious is that no one has survived or did not develop this form of cancer.

 

She is again in unchartered territory.

 

When do you know when to lay down the sword?

When do you say keep the fight?

How do we maintain her quality of life? That is what is most important.

Doctor said if we have enjoyed her, despite the treatments she has undergone in past 8 years, then prob worth going forward.

 

 

PLEASE, PLEASE PRAY FOR US TO HAVE CLARITY IN OUR DECISION. PLEASE ASK GOD TO GRANT HER AND <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />US MERCY.

 

Dr. Frangoul can not make this decision for us – he supports whatever we decide.

 

I will ask, and PLEASE UNDERSTAND, that you don’t try to call or email. I can not handle the task of repeating myself or even going through the mail. I know that it would only be supportive and wishing us well – but right now I can barely walk.

 

I think I will send out another email in days with a caring bridge site for people to check. I am sure I will have daily postings.

 

Although I should not be concerned about anything but my family – again I am grappling with how to deal with working, supporting myles and caring for my child. It’s always the same obstacles. Vanderbilt is the very best place I have ever worked and has been so gracious with me and our situation. I am very much a control freak and am sure this is part of why I have trouble turning over some of my workload to others. But I do feel very compelled to do my job because of the flexibility and understanding they have granted me over the past 8 years. I am very unsure if I will be able to do that – this will be our FOURTH battle and I am worn out. I hate saying that considering Jillian is the one whose body is battered.

I will stay strong. I will remain faithful. I will get through today.

But I can not say for sure what state I will be in to deal with other matters – which concerns me.

 

I am crying out for help and so desperate for a miracle. I am not ready to let her go. I am not ready for any of this.

 

Pray for us please and I am so sorry.

Love,

Jessica

Tags: Prayers, Childhood Cancer

It's beautiful here!!

It's in the 60's here in Germany, it's just so beautiful. The sun is shining the birds are singing, there are a few tree's blooming yet the rest are still baren of all leaves so I'm looking forward to them appearing over the next few weeks! Hopefully Jack will take his nap and Jacob will finish his school work and get into the playroom and get it cleaned up, (if not Chad's packing up all the toys on the floor and off they go he said! I'm usually the stickler on that and he's the one making sure I don't get to follow through...well I'm all for it so if it doesn't get done I'll be there helping pack those toys up! LOL). Anyways, I am really hoping the boys can get everything done so I can take them to the park, it's just too beautiful to be stuck indoors all day long and they need to burn energy. They have been sleeping in since the time change Sunday which is a really nice change for me ( I want and need all the sleep I can get).

Oh not sure if I mentioned but Chad's laptop had something sliding in it. When he returned from Iraq he thought it was a coin, but he just couldn't figure out how it could have possibly gotten inside of it, but we do have a 3 yr old and aren't they geniuses when it comes to sticking objects into small places? He thought it could have been a couple other things as well, but since it was still under warranty he wanted Sony to fix whatever the problem was vs him attempting to and possibly messing things up. They called today, it's fixed and it was a quarter. I'm seriously stunned at how he (Jack) got a quarter in it, but he did. He would have done it during the deployment and although I feel bad, I'm just one person and can only be in one room at a time. At least it's fixed and it's not supposed to cost us anything.

Oh on exciting other news...Jackson got a razor blade out of the bathroom. Jacob said he got it while I was cleaning the kitchen (a few hrs ago!!!) and of course he didn't bother to tell me (the kid will tattle on everything else, but if it's something possibly life threatening not a freaking peep out of him). Jack had just got done going potty and went to bed (for nap)and started crying that he was bleeding...he cut his lip! I got him cleaned up, then got after him and Jacob both. I won't even go into what could have happened, we all know what could have happened and it's terrifying. I am not sure where he got it for sure, I know I didn't have any, so my only guess is it was on Chad's side ofthe med. cabinet so I'll be talking to him and making sure all his are put up in the hall closet (linen) up on the top shelf. My guess is he climbed up on the sink cabinet (again accident waiting to happen..shudder) and got it out.

Ok last night was our anniversary. Chad had intended on taking me up to the castle for dinner. He'd talked to one of his single soldiers and she said if he could get reservations she'd watch the boys. They are closed right now though, due to construction on the very narrow road up to the castle. He said he was going to try and make reservations at another restuarant that I've been wanting to go to, it's literally in the middle of the river (a walking bridge leads to it) so if he can then we'll go there and my friend Aimee or another friend will watch the boys for us. We also decided we're going to get a joint gift....we're planning on a dvd camcorder! If we get it I'll have to make a video and try to upload it on here, I'll probably be seeking out help on how to do that, I'll let you know!

We did go out to eat last night, with the boys! We went to one of our favorite places. Half of this restuarant looks like the inside of a cave!! It has a disco ball and a small dance floor that lights up. The boys love it! The whole inside is really, really cool, the food is great and normally the service is excellent. Last night we had a waitress that was ok so it wasn't excellent, but we all have off nights! We left there all stuffed though!!

Here's a picture I took of Chad and I last night! :)

 

Christy and Chad on our 10th Wedding Anniversary!

The boys at Bleu Gatto

Alerts Have Been Down and I Blogged :)

It seems that alerts have been down today, and well I blogged...so go check it out! ;)

Chad and I celebrate 10 yrs of Marriage

 

 

Well I wrote a REALLY long entry about me and Chad, how we met, how we started dating, etc and then stupid aol goes and well decides to be aol. grrrr

I'm in the midst of making the boys and I lunch so I'll just say...10 yrs ago I did the smartest thing I could have ever done and said "I do". I love this man and we've been through more in our short 10 yrs of marriage than most do in 50. We've so far welcomed 3 children, with one on the way. We've had our daughter dx with leukemia while living in a foreign country, moved back to the US for her to be tx at Walter Reed, been through a bone marrow transplant, and ultimately have her die in my arms. We've went through an emotional pregnancy with Jacob who was born just 8 short months after the death of Jordyn. Welcomed another son 2 yrs 9 months after Jacob's birth, moved to Germany (again), been through 4 deployments 2 of them to Iraq.

I am so thankful that God brought Chad into my life. That Chad's my best friend and that we were friends first before we ever started dating, that although we married just 4 short months after we started dating (we were friends before we started dating) I have no regrets. I've changed in many ways, Chad's changed in many ways. We've grown in our relationship together, but most important we've each grown in our relationship with Jesus!

I'm a better person because of Chad. I am so thankful for him, for his love, his devotion to me and our family. I AM blessed!

8 yrs ago today

March 24,1998 was my due date for Jordyn. From the first moment I found out I was pg with her they gave me a March 24 due date. I had ultrasounds and it always gave the same date...March 24. March 24 came and went and Jordyn wasn't born until for 6 more days. Fastforward a year. Jordyn and I join Chad in Germany. He'd been to Bosnia and was finally back, got us housing and we landed in Germany on Jordyn's 7 month birthday. We hadn't seen Chad since Jordyn was 7 weeks old. We'd definately missed him. Life was good, our family was once again together just as it should be. I took Jordyn in for her 12 month check up 7 days before her birthday and the dr told me that it sounded like Jordyn was developing croup and said "Don't worry, she can't die from it". I was a naive 22 yr old mother who hadn't ever heard of croup. Jordyn's breathing wasn't too bad that day, but the next day March 24 her breathing kept getting worse, but about 7 pm her breathing was getting bad and I was getting worried so we drove her to Landstuhl. Chad was parking the car and I ran her into the standing room only ER and the nurse listened to her for just a second and rushed us to a room, while she's yelling at me saying "don't you know your baby could die from this". I was crying and said "but the dr said she couldn't". Everyone stopped and the nurse calmed down and apologized and told me that Jordyn's windpipes were swollen closed 75%, and that if they didn't get them opened she could stop breathing. The gave her a shot of a steriod and the dr ordered for a CBC to be done (which is NOT what they normally do for croup). Before midnight they came in and told us that Jordyn had leukemia. We felt like the world was crashing down upon us. How could our little girl who was seemingly perfectly healthy except for a case of croup have cancer? The dr told us that there were 2 types she could have ALL leukemia (which is the most common form in children) or AML (most common in adults over the age of 60). He told us to PRAY for ALL. He told us we'd be flying to Walter Reed the next morning so we needed to try and get as many loose ends tied up as quickly as possible. We called a friend of ours to take care of our dogs and cat and check on our housing until we could get everything figured out. Chad called his company and told them what was going on and they were working on a couple different Special power of attorney's so our friend could ship our animals and get all our household goods and car packed up and shipped. We called our family in the states and told them the news. The night feels almost like a blur in ways, yet I feel like I can still remember every detail. It was all in slow motion yet speeding by so quickly at the same time. Jordyn was getting breathing treatments all night long. They wanted her to stay in a tent covering the bed and she was so scared and was having none of it, so her peditrician let us hold her and just hold the breathing treatment up to her face. While one of us held her and slept the other held the mask, then after a while we'd switch. At some point her ped came in and said we weren't going to fly to Walter Reed immediately, but instead would be going to a German hospital in Homburg (not Hamburg), which is about 20-30 minutes from Landstuhl. We called our families again and told them the change of plans, then before we knew it Jordyn and I were loaded into the ambulance with me holding her and both of us strapped down. Chad followed in our car. That day her new ped. Oncologist came in and told us that Jordyn unfortunately had AML leukemia and would definately need a bone marrow transplant down the road. I don't remember a lot of those first few days in Homburg University Hospital. Jordyn had developed pneumonia, she was literally fighting for her life, she was so sick. A lot of friends were in and out. The ones I clearly remember are Chad's Commander and his wife and baby boy. Their baby obviously couldn't come in, so they each came in seperately. When Matt walked in he just broke down sobbing. Just two nights before this we'd all been at Ramstein (Airforce Base) rollerskating, including Jordyn, and now here she was with all kinds of wires stuck to her, in her,and at the time he came in she was getting a breathing treatment, and she was so weak and pale. He just kept crying and saying how horrible he felt. His wife, Audrey came in and I know she cried, but not like Matt. Matt told me that what ever we needed from the company just to let him know and he'd make it happen. He told me one of the best lessons I've ever learned in the Army. If we needed something for me to call and request it, because I didn't have to go through the chain of command and keep my military barings, like Chad would have to...that if there was any issue just to call and there's nothing they can do to Chad! (I've used that knowledge a few times, most the times keeping my own barings, but there's been a few times where I've lost it..rightly so though!) We really didn't have any issue's though, the whole battalion was great and the community in general was wonderful, very supportive and caring.

It was the beginning of the last 14 months we'd have with Jordyn. Although I'm sure many think it wasn't actually all horrible. We had great Faith in God and today I have no doubts where Jordyn is. She's in Heaven with our Savior, Jesus Christ. I know she's no longer in pain, no longer having to fight to live. She's free to be healthy and happy.

I wouldn't trade those 14 months. They were some of the hardest, but some of the best months of my life. I got to see how much strength and determination my daughter had. She showed me that kids are far stronger than adults. If you visit a children's oncology unit and visit an adult one, you'd see a vast difference. We would have to sometimes go up to the 7th floor oncology unit (adults) and it was such a different atmosphere. 5th floor the kids are smiling, laughing, LIVING. Upstairs they're complaining, moaning and groaning and it feels like more are dying than trying to live.

One thing Jordyn's German oncologist told us when she first started chemo and she didn't immediately get sick was that a big portion of getting physically sick from chemo and radiation is in our  minds. We "know" we're supposed to get sick from it, so we do. Kids don't know they're supposed to get sick so quite often it takes them longer. The younger they are, the longer it takes. As adults we see people in our lives with cancer, hear about the horrors of chemo and radiation side effects, we see it on tv and movies, etc. With kids they don't know that or see it. So although they don't feel good, they're more likely to just play and do kid things.

Anyways...so today we mark 8 yrs since our world changed. We learned that day that tomorrow is not promised for any of us. That even our children are not guarenteed to live. Without Jesus our family would have no hope. Because of Jesus though, I know that one day I'll see my little girl again. I know that she's healthy in Heaven. That she's happy. Her work is done. I don't believe she's an actual Angel. Angels have jobs to do, her job was done May 8, 2000. I don't believe she "watches over us", she's done her job. I miss her more than any of you could ever imagine. Our family will never been fully complete because she is gone, but I have peace in my heart and mind.

If you want to do something to save another family from going through the heartache we have support childhood cancer organizations (NOT The American Cancer Society..they DO not support Childhood Cancer..they only give 1% of their profits to CC, but they have NO problems USING the children for their properganda). There's Curesearch (www.curesearch.org), there's St.Baldrick's (www.stbaldricks.org) they have annual head shaving fundraising events throughout the world you can shave your head or support someone who is! There's the leukemia-lymphoma society (google them). There are a lot of good organizations that give a great amount of their profits to finding a cure for CC.

God Bless

It's a gloomy looking Saturday here in Germany. Chad just left for the gym. Jacob has a friend over for the day. His mom and I are really good friends and her dad is visiting. She let Sean choose if he wanted to stay with us or go with her. They went to where her dad used to be stationed all those years ago when he was stationed here in Germany.

The boys (and Chad) all went to wrestling practice this morning, which oh I do enjoy my 1 1/2 hr break. Jacob decided to "show off" while there and so when they got home Chad and him had a 30 minute talk! Fun times, fun times! LOL

Jacob and Jack are both going to be playing baseball this year. Jacob will be playing tball again and Jack will be in, instructionals. Chad's going to be Jack's headcoach and he's going to be the assistant coach for Jacob's team. Both boys are excited to be playing (for Jacob again). Chad went and picked up everything for them and him yesterday and the boys had to try on their shirts and caps as soon as they got home! LOL I need to download the pictures of them from last night so I can share! ;)

Spring break for the public school is the week of April 10 and Chad's unit is offering liberal leave (meaning anyone that's not completely essential can take leave) so Chad's thinking of taking some leave so we can do some traveling. We've discussed heading over to Prague. It's about a 4 hr drive so we could go over night and enjoy the sites for the first day, get up the next morning do some more sight seeing and then head home or do 2 nights. I'm also wanting to go up to Weisbaden, see friends of ours, go to the furniture store up there (like we were wanting to do last weekend). I really would like to find a shrunk or entertainment center before my parents come. I can't stand the piece of junk we have and it's time to say goodbye to it and get a nice peace of actual wood!

I have another entry I'm going to write up after this. Today is the birthday of our friend Matthew who moved back to Florida last month and it's Cindy and Jim's anniversary, but for our family it's something less joyous.

So...I'm off to work on that entry. Pray I can not cry too much.

 

Oh Monday's Chad and I's 10th anniversary! :)

ABC's of homemaking

ABC's of homemaking


Aprons- Y/N? I have a Pampered Chef one, but never remember it until I am past needing it! LOL

Baking- Favorite thing to bake? Brownies alone or cookies with the boys

Clothesline- Y/N? No not here in Germany unfortunately

Donuts- Ever made them? Eww no, I personally can't stand donuts.

Everyday- One homemaking thing you do everyday? Dishes

Freezer- Do you have a separate deep freezer? Yes and it's full!

Garbage Disposal- Y/N? Not a typical American one, I miss it!

Handbook- Y/N? No idea what this is talking about

Ironing- Love it or hate it?Hate it and avoid it at all costs!

Junk Drawer- Where is it? Kitchen and my whole desk it seems like! LOL

Kitchen- Design and decorating? Well there's not much to do in our kitchen and since we live in military housing pretty limited! I have a few things hanging in it.

Love- What is your favorite part of homemaking? Nothing really! LOL

Mop- Y/N? Nope..I swiffer

Oven- Do you use the window or open it to check? Open

Pizza- What do you put on yours? Ham & Mushroom

Quiet- What do you do during the day when you get a quiet moment? during the day, I don't get it during the day honestly...wait until night when everyone's in bed and then I'm usually on here or reading.


Recipe card box- Y/N? Yes I have 1 box and also an index card notebook.

Under the kitchen sink- bird food, vinegar, dish drainer

Vacuum- Normally 2-3 times a week, more if needed.

Wash- How many loads do you do a week? I HATE laundry and put it off too often...so normally I end up doing tons

X’s- Do you keep a list of things to do and cross them off? No not often

Yard- Who does what? we don't have to mow here, so this spring I'll be planting flowers and a couple veggie plants.

ZZZ’s- What is your last homemaking task for the day? dishes and/or picking up things around that need it before bed time.

Go wish Cindy and her husband Jim a Happy 28th anniversary! Sadly in today's world it's not common to make it past 5 yrs it seems, much less to 28 yrs. No matter how many years though...what a blessing to be with the person you love every day!!! Go wish them a wonderful Day (their anniversary is actually on Saturday)

 

http://journals.aol.com/emabecmar/CindysLife/entries/2007/03/22/my-wedding/773

Is the day over yet? The snow isn't

It's snowing here again. AGain it's not going to do anything since the ground is just too warm,  but it's definately coming down pretty good! A friend of mine reminded me that it snowed some 20 days last March, the difference is it was actually COLD last winter vs this winter it's been so, so, so mild! Now I love snow, but at this stage of the game I'm simply ready for spring. I want sunshine and flowers and temps where I can take my boys out for hours on end and wear them out so that when it's bedtime they collapse from physical exhaustion because they've played so hard! (**Note if you're a parent take or make your kids go outside for a few hours every single day...it's not just good for you, but for them too and let me tell you bedtime is much easier when they've ran around in FRESH air and played hard it's the best!!)

Anyways....I started my day off at 4:30 am. I went to bed about midnight which for those who've been reading me for a while know that's early, but joyously this pregnancy is wearing me out and I can't stay awake much past that! I normally go to bed, read for a about 10 minutes and sleep, glorious sleep. For those who don't know, I've been suffering from insomnia since our daughter died almost 7 yrs ago, many don't understand the complexity of insomnia it's not about going to bed and going to sleep, trust me if you've TRULY had insomnia (which isn't just a night here and there where you can't get to sleep it's night after night after night, month after month, etc of struggling to fall asleep...me I have averaged about 4 hrs of sleep for the last almost 7 yrs give or take short spurts here and there where I can actually fall asleep at a decent hour) so anyways...it's been a blessing the last couple of weeks that I can fall asleep shortly after midnight! So..getting a phone call at 4:30 did NOT make me happy at all. It was for Chad. The 1st Sgt called for a roster alert and since we're not newcomers to the Army it meant really one thing...a u/a (urinalysis test or as some like to put it...a pee test) they check for illegal drugs. Chad poor guy just couldn't hold it for the hour until his formation and went, thankfully not all of them had to do the u/a (Chad being one of them that didn't) and just did health and welfare (don't ask me what this involves...I'll ask Chad when he gets home). So anyways...after he hangs up with the Sgt who called him I am just laying in bed and my mind starts buzzing with thoughts of how I need to email all the ladies in our FRG with the notes from our meeting that was earlier this month...ugh it's almost 5 am at this point, I don't WANT to get up...but I can't sleep. Chad is up at this point and I come out and he's on the computer so I lay back down and finally start to drift off when he comes in to tell me he's leaving. So just as I start falling asleep AGAIN the phone rings....it's Chad. Some kids (high school) were stealing Chad and Jacob's bike. The kid that had Jacob's bike dropped it when Chad yelled, but the one on Chad's bike and the other kid that took our neighbors bike took off full speed. Now let me remind you...the bikes were locked up (with bike locks) the locks are actually missing too. Thankfully we got Jacob's bike back. Chad's no. He's going to go make a report with the MP's today. I don't think we'll get it back, but if the kids are stupid enough to ride it out in public and Chad see's them, oh they're in so much trouble! Chad's the only person we've noticed with his bike. It was given to him by a friend of ours in Kansas who had bought a new bike and knew Chad was wanting one. It's a great bike and the look of it is chrome and stands out for sure! We'll see what turns up. I did finally fall back to sleep thankfully, but I was tired. I had a briefing I had to go give at the new spouses program our post offers, I talk about PWOC and normally a little about the chapel if needed. It went really great and 2 of the ladies in the class are already very involved in PWOC (one's in my class) and quite a few seemed interested so that's ALWAYS good! To know we can spread the word of Jesus to ladies is a wonderful blessing!

So I came home, we had lunch, Jack took his nap, Jacob did his school work and when he finished I just could not keep my eyes open. He asked to watch a movie and I was more than happy to let him as I dozed on the couch. I think even if I'd wanted to stay awake I couldn't. I was wiped out. I feel better, but now have that hang over type of feeling when you haven't been able to get enough sleep, I know the feeling well but haven't felt it for a couple of weeks and let me tell you I don't miss this feeling.

I have to be honest, if I thought I'd sleep all night I'd go to bed now...but well we all know that if I layed down at 5:30 pm I would NOT sleep all night long! :) So I'll push myself to stay awake. I'm sure I'll get a 2nd wind. I'm hoping Chad's in the mood to cook, but I don't have the energy and I really don't feel like fast food, although don't ask me what I am in the mood for. We had easy speghetti last night. Ok Chad just came home...darn it he is going to the bowling alley after he goes to the MP station. He's going to get me a cheese burger (which the bowling alley has the BEST..they're like a great American Diner's! ) and he's going to get him and the boys a pizza (they have the best on post...the Pizza Hut here is not very good at all). So...that problem of what's for dinner is solved. My stomach doesn't feel good.

Wow this has been full of complaints it feels like...sorry about that.

On a good note the boys have had a GREAT day. Jack's running around in his underwear! LOL He's been in his Hulk costume all day, but I guess he got tired of it! Jacob's spent his afternoon drawing, he loves to draw and he's really talented. I am going to scan some of his drawings and share them with all of you! I know I'm biased when it comes to all my children...but Jacob has a talent in art and he gets it all from Chad, not a bit of it from me. I can barely draw a stick person and he's not that good! LOL

 

Well have a great day!

 

God Bless

Hello

Good Tuesday afternoon, here in Germany it's almost evening actually! It's a chilly day here, we had sleet around noon today, but nothing sense as far as I've noticed, but we've been inside and may have missed something!

We did the childcare, only 2 kids were dropped off but the two mom's that took the opportunity both enjoyed their time out and they both said they were so glad to know their children were taken care of! The boys had a great time, then we came home and had lunch. Jacob did his school work and it was one of his best days with school work. He breezed through his math, he did very well with his handwriting, and he did so awesome with his reading. He doesn't realize how well he does when it comes to reading! He's reading 1st grade level books. We just take it one paragraph at a time and he does really well with it! :)

Chad's about 10 minutes from home! I still need to have some quiet time and work on my bible study. I've once again put it off too long and here I am the night before PWOC. It will get done. Next week I will be giving a devotional for PWOC. I need to start praying over that and seeing what God reveals to me what I want to share, actually what God wants me to share. I have a couple thoughts, but I haven't prayed over them yet.

I haven't done any laundry today like I planned on, my back is hurting so bad. I think it's from carrying up all the laundry. So when Chad gets home I'm going to have him carry a basket down and have him bring it up when it's all done. My back just can't handle the extra weight of pregnancy and laundry I guess! It's definately good that Chad's home during this pregnancy or I'd be in real trouble or I'd be doing lots and lots of little tiny loads of laundry so that the weight wouldn't hurt me! Of course once I'm caught up I'm hoping that's all I have anyways! I hope to do laundry every day or at least every other day so that I can stay on top of it!

I was going to write about something else too, but I can't remember what it was! LOL

Oh wait I remember...remembering to pray for Kelly, also many of you already know Krissy and her husband John. Definately keep them in your prayers as well, here's the link to Krissy's journal: Sometimes I Think

God Bless

My day

Well I had one of the most productive days as a "housewife" in a long time! I got tons of laundry washed, dried, folded,put away...along with all but one basket that's just been sitting there waiting to be put away, put away. The boys cleaned their bedroom, and Jackson being the ever so helpful 3 yr old that he is, pulled out clothes that the majority of were probably clean, he put into the dirty clothes...now I have tons and tons more laundry to do. He mixed them with the dirty clothes I had left to do...so more laundry that I loathe! But this is the life of a momma and wife isn't it! LOL

Tomorrow I have to go help watch kids. PWOC does an outreach as a Mom's Morning Out Program. We haven't done it for a couple of months, but with another unit here getting ready to deploy we're starting it back up. We'll do it once a month for 3 1/2 hrs so those who have a spouse deployed they can bring their kids, know they'll be safe and loved, and they can do what ever they want...go shopping, go home sleep or clean, watch tv, read...what ever they please for up to 3 1/2 hrs! So I'll be home in time to make us lunch, get Jacob started on school, put Jack down for a nap, and then I'll be taking some laundry down and started. I plan to get 3 loads washed, dried, and actually put away. Wed. will follow a similar pattern since I have PWOC in the morning. Starting Wed I'll also be watching 3 kids, while their house is being packed up and everything taken to be shipped by Friday. Friday I'll be watching 4 kids...the 4th is my friend's little 14 month old. The mom watches Jacob for me on Wed. while I'm at PWOC. She didn't want me to pay her, but instead when she needs it I'll watch her little girl! She's just the sweetest and so stinking cute, so definately no problem! Friday mom "V" will be going to the dayspa and having 2 hours of pampering!

Ok, well I need to get off of here and think about going to bed here before long!

 

Oh btw, it snowed off and on all day and evening today. They're calling for more snow throughout the week! Crazy weather, next week it'll prob. be back into the 60's! LOL

It's SNOWING!!!!!!!!!!!

It's snowing! When it first started we couldn't tell if it was really hard rain or really hard and fast snow...it was snow because the picnic tables were turning white! Now it's coming down really good, but not as crazy as earlier! I'm going to take a picture of it when I go down in about 2 minutes to get laundry switched!

Yesterday we were walking around in short sleeve shirts and today we need coats! Got to love this crazy weather!

Keep Kelly's Green Olives & Pickle Juice in your prayers. She's private but will be having something pretty big happening this week. I will not state what because it's private issue and I don't want to go beyond that without her permission, but I ask that you all keep her in your prayers.

Jacob starts Kinder German today! He'll be learning German! He's so excited and so am I! I know he'll pick it up fast! Well I better get down to the basement and finish up my laundry! There's so much to do. I HATE laundry there for I put it off until we just have no more clothes. The boys and I are out of jeans. :X I know, I know it's horrible. I have 4 loads washed, 4 in the wash now and have more to go. It's absolutely rediculous. Chad's helping me though. We have 4 laundry baskets of clothes to put up too. We really have way too many clothes, well the boys and Chad do. I guess I'm not a typical girl, b ecause I just don't have that many clothes. So be it...off to transfer everything!

I'll try to come back with pictures!!

Weather and Dinner

It was snowing here earlier! The weather is insane! The snow stopped and turned into rain, but they're calling for snow off and on all week long! I know the states is getting this same crazy weather as well! Man I'm really just ready for spring. Germany gets a lot of rain. I am ready for spring flowers, sunny skies, light jackets (or none), short sleeves, gentle breezes, kids outside playing. I love the newness that spring brings. It's personally a season that has brought our family heartache and joy all mixed up together. March 26 marks 10 yrs of marriage for Chad and I. March 24 marks 6 yrs since 8 yrs since Jordyn was dx with leukemia. March 30 would have been Jordyn's 9th birthday. April brings Chad's birthday, then May brings the 7th anniversary since Jordyn died. My parents will be coming in May as well for 12 days. So joy and sorrow. I'm so thankful Chad will be here this year. I need to see if my friend Bobbie will watch the boys so Chad and I can go out for dinner on our anniversary!

 

Now for dinner!! As I told you all I got all my Pampered Chef, well one of the items I bought was the Deep Covered Baker (See below!!)

 

I made roast today with potatoes, onion, and carrots surrounding it! I'm using the broth to make noodles. I meant to make some bread, but forgot! That's ok though, we'll all be plenty full! If there's left overs they'll probably go to lunch tomorrow!! I put it in about 1 today and by 3 the roast was pretty well done! About 2 I put the potatoes around it and by 3:30 they were already pretty soft and the carrots in right before we left for AWANA and then I turned the oven down to low. We came home to dinner pretty well done, other than now the noodles are cooking in the broth! Let me tell you it smells so, so, so good in here! I love roast! I am going to get a turkey breast soon and cook it in it too! I highly recommend this stone from PC! Yes, it is a stone!

Well I think the noodles are done...we're off to eat dinner!!

I LOVE Pampered Chef!!

Tonight I used one of my new skillets and one of my new pots! I ordered the 12 piece pots and pans set (it's ultimately the 5 and 7 piece) since I hosted a party last month I got it for an awesome price!!! When Chad and I got married, we got a very nice set of pots and pans from my grandma and a couple aunts that went in together! After now nearly 10 yrs of marriage they've served their purpose and it was time. Chad's been on me for a good year to find a new set that I wanted. I've been looking but just could not find exactly what it was I wanted...until I found the PC ones, and then it was money and deciding if I really wanted to spend that much, so when I found out that if I had a party I could get them at half price I was thrilled!! All of them showed up yesterday! I got 5 boxes of PC yesterday and oh did it make me giddy! LOL Chad was pretty excited too! Tonight I used them for dinner and oh man do they cook well! Love them! I highly recommend them if you're looking for high quality pots and pans. I  believe the sell on them is still going on, but you HAVE to have a party. You can host a party either online or have a cooking show.

I also ordered 4 stones, which I'm going to be using my new Covered Deep Dish tomorrow for a roast that I'm making! I got all new cooking utensils, at Chad's request, new wooden spoons, new measuring all in one spoons (love them!!). It felt like Christmas, shoot better than Christmas because I never get that much! LOL

Then to top it all off, the box of my scrapbooking papers and girl scout cookies that I ordered from my best friend came too!! It was a good day! I need to sit down and go through pictures now and decide which ones I'm going to scrap! :) I can not wait!

Today we ended up not going up to Weisbaden like planned. I never heard back from my friend. It's not that far so we'll make it up there. I'd really like to get our new entertainment center before my parents arrive in May, but we'll see.

Oh speaking of my parents, not sure if I talked about this yet, but I got their plane tickets and they're all payed for! They're going to be here in just less than 2 months!!! I'm really, really excited! I haven't seen them since the boys and I left the airport in Kansas City, July '05! I do love them. Distance is good! I have a much better relationship with my mom over the phone and with an ocean between us. :)

They're going to be here not nearly long enough for us to do all that I would love for us to do, but it'll still be good and enjoyable! We're planning on going to Amsterdam, Netherlands (aka for Americans Holland); The Black Forest; Garmisch; Salzburg,Austria; Coburg (Germany),Rothenburg (Germany), my mom and I will be going to Poland to get some pottery. If we have time we'll also run over to Czech Rep (it's only 1 1/2 hrs away), and possibly Strausburg, France. I have to decide what days we'll be in Amsterdam. I need to book us hotel rooms and we need to decide if we're driving or taking the train. If we drive it's about 5 1/2-6 hr drive, so if we got up early we could be there for a good half of the day. We plan on spending 2 full days up there. Our main goals are seeing all the Tulips, go to Anne Frank's House (well the house she and her family hid in), and the windmills, oh and also to see the wooden shoes made, and of course to get some chocolate that's NOT laced with substances. My mom has always wanted to go there so I'm excited that I can help make this dream come true for her! I hope it's everything she's dreamed of!!

I'm hoping to have a day where we can take them to Czech. You can get very inexpensive crystal there! If I don't get to take them Chad and I will go there ourselves! :)

I'm really excited to share with them this place that I love!

 

Well hope you're having a good weekend!

God Bless

Please go look!

I hope you'll all go look at Katie's journal, she just updated last night! Katie had her little girl, Kendall when she was only 20 or 22 weeks pregnant. Kendall is now a year old and to see what a miracle she is!! Please go show your support for this precious family! It took Katie and her husband a few years to even get pregnant so Kendall was an answer to their prayers from that first positive test to today!

Life As A Navy Wife & First Time Mother to a Preemie

 

 

 

Meme (did a little fixing with misspelled words )

Got this from Leene Life is a circus 

 

1. Name a movie that you have seen more than 10 times.

Beaches, Steal Magnolias, Gone With The Wind, Grease

2. Name a movie that you've seen multiple times in the theater. Narnia

3. Name an actor that would make you more inclined to see a movie.
no one really

4. Name an actor that would make you less likely to see a movie.
Oh the list is so long....Tom Cruise (ugh), Susan Sarrandon, Sean Penn...pretty well all those liberal jerks who think they're not just actors and we should pay an arm and a leg to watch their movies (which most stink) but also we should listen to their rediculous liberal politics

5. Name a movie that you can and do quote from.

See the list of movies I've watched over and over again from! LOL

 

6. Name a movie musical that you know all of thelyrics to all of the songs.

Grease

7. Name a movie that you have been known to sing along with.
again Grease, Sound of Music

8. Name a movie that you would recommend everyone see.

Flicka

9. Name a movie that you own.
How To Lose a Guy in Ten Days

10. Name an actor that launched his/her entertainment career in another medium but who has surprised you with his/her acting chops.
Jennifer Hudson (good answer Leene...I was blank otherwise!LOL)

11. Have you ever seen a movie in a drive-in? If so, what?
Yes.....ET

12. Ever made out in a movie?
no although I know we did a few kisses here and there

13. Name a movie that you keep meaning to see but just haven’t yet gotten around to it.
oh so many of the older classic movies

14. Ever walked out of a movie?

No, but plenty that we've rented and stopped watching because they were so bad

15. Name a movie that made you cry in the theater.
Titanic and Bridge to Terabethia

16. Popcorn?
Absolutely but I hardly ever go to the movies so when I do go I buy it

17. How often do you go to the movies (as opposed to renting them or watching them at home)?
Normally once a month, since it's so cheap here on post!

18. What’s the last movie you saw in the theater?
Bridges to Tarabethia

19. What’s your favorite/preferred genre of movie?
Chick Flicks and Musicals

20. What’s the first movie you remember seeing in the theater?
Fox and the Hound

21. What movie do you wish you had never seen?

Alex and Emma;Vanilla Sky

22. What is the weirdest movie you enjoyed?

23. What is the scariest movie you've seen?
I don't like scary movies

24. What is the funniest movie you've seen?

Something About Mary

And there you have it, everything you never wanted to know about my taste in movies but were afraid to ask!

Tags: movies

And We're Having.............

So I had my apointment and it went really well. So are you all ready to hear what we're having? Yeah, well me too! I know mean huh!! LOL Sorry the baby had it's legs closed tight, tight, tight! My next apt is April 5 and it'll be the "BIG Ultrasound" where she does all the measurements and she said she will try as hard as she can to get between those legs! LOL The baby was sleeping today. I got a really cute ultrasound picture of the baby, it's profile of the face. The little mouth was open and the arm was up by the head, you can see the elbow up against her/his face. So sweet! We got a really good look at the feet too! Just so tiny and precious!! My dr seems to have a thing for the feet! I'm going to request next apt to get a picture of the feet, hopefully the "sex" and also of the face!

I know many of you have requested me to post the ultra sound on here but I just really have not felt good about it. I am scanning them and for those who I know and will email them.

 

God Bless

Drs Apt today

I have my ob apt in 4 hrs today! None of you know how excited I am for this particular apt!! I'm going to make sure to let my ob know that I want to know the sex of the baby if at all possible! I'm also going to find out when she does the big ultrasound (taking all the measurements, etc) or if they really do one since they do u/s at every apt! I'm going to ask her to give me the weight and measurements also. I'll have to come home and transfer it all over into inches and ounces from the metric system.

I had a dream a few nights ago of me having the baby. For some reason Chad was not there at the birth, he'd went home and didn't come back in time. I was ticked off at him of course, but the baby came out with a full head of black straight hair, the most piercing blue eyes, and a penis! So....we'll see! I had a dream of Jordyn when I was pg with her, it WAS her too. I had a dream of a boy when I was pg with Jacob (it wasn't him, just a boy). With Jack a month before I got pg with him I had a dream of a girl...so that was obviously not correct. So we'll see on this baby what it is! I'm just praying the baby will cooperate.

Well, I have some cleaning to do around here, the boys are cleaning their bedroom, I cleaned the bathroom already and cleaned the kitchen yesterday. I need to pick up the living room and dining room, take a shower, and throw a load of blankets and sheets into the wash, and put up a basket of clothes!

My friend Miranda is coming over with her dog to watch the boys. We'll be keeping her dog tomorrow until Wed. They're clearing housing Wed. and they fly back to the states on Friday. Her husband's getting out of the Army and going back to school to become a pharmacists. I'm going to miss her. She's been a great friend. We actually met online! I'd just moved here and found a Christian Military wives board. We made plans and met at church! I'm so blessed with all our friends here! It's  hard to see friends leave. I hope I can come home and share with her what we're having!

Tags: Drs apt.

Hobbies

So a few weeks ago my best friend had a Scrapbook party, I ordered a ton of stuff and she mailed it I think it was Thursday or Friday. I can NOT wait to get it. I have tons and I mean tons of scrapbooking stuff. Some I know what to do with, other stuff I have no idea where to start. Tami is going to walk me through some of the things I'm just lost on, we have to do it via the phone, unless we can get on webcam. Any ways, I have all this scrapbooking stuff and have done very little scrapping....so Chad told me I have to scrapbook at least twice a week.

The stuff I ordered from Tami should be here this week, probably the end of the week is my guess. I'm going to sit down once it's here and sort through everything and make sure everything is stil organized and working for me. I have to say I wish so much I just had a crafts room, or even an office that I could just set everything up just the way I want. The pieces I have for organization right now are good, but well I can picture in my head what I want and I know Chad can build it for me and we can buy different things for the organization so that does make me excited about when we move back to the states and buy a house.

Anyways...once I get it going and making some pages that I'm happy with, I'll prob. take a picture of them with my camera since I do 12x12 and my scanner isn't big enough. One day I dream of having a 12 x 12 scanner and 12x12 printer. I did see a printer that was a 13 x something at the PX in Wuerzburg yesterday, but it wasn't up to 12 I think it was 13 x10...I know that Epson makes them, so maybe when we move back to the states I can get one...or maybe in a year or so I can put back some money for those! The problem will be space for them! Anyways...I'm dreaming right now! :)

So, hopefully in the next couple of weeks I'll have a page or two to share with all of you. I ordered some girl paper, in hopes of getting a lot of Jordyn's pictures scrapped. I'm thinking of taking her pictures up to Wuerzburg and scanning them and having doubles of the few I don't already have doubles of and putting them on cd, or I may just scan them here and have them printed off via Kodak or one of the online places and put onto cd's too. All my pictures are very precious to me, but Jordyn's are even more so..because I will never get any more pictures of her. What I have is all I get.

Ok...so tell me who has hobbies and what are they?

 

Oh I also LOVE to read. I always have my bible studies going, but also just love to read for pure enjoyment as well. I REALLY love nonfiction/biographies. I've read on some presidents, movie stars, everyday people who've done some extroidanary things. I think probably my favorite one at this point that I can think of off the top of  my head is Barbara Bush.She did a great job writing about her life and her and George's life. For those who don't know...their oldest daughter Robin died from leukemia when she was 2 or 3 yrs old. George W was younger than her, but was alive when she died and they were pretty close in age. To think of all the advances we've made in 60 yrs and yet haven't made. They really couldn't do much for her then. They really have lived an extroidanary life. They were both from well to do families, yet reading it she's very down to earth in so many ways, other than the fact that she can't cook much, but seriously she just never had to and I have to say if that was an opportunity for me, I prob. wouldn't cook a lot either! They had a lot of wonderful adventures in their life and you really can tell she loves her family, and really, really loves her husband. I highly recommend it, no matter what your politics...they're people, the book is well written, and it's a very enjoyable read! (I read her book over a year ago).

Well, I should go check on Chad and I need to get to bed. Oh..I'm currently reading Ingrid Bergman, it's a brand new one out. It's been really great. She was interviewed before she died and a lot of people who knew her were interviewed, her daughter Isabelle was very happy with it as well.

Good Night...God Bless

 

PRAISE GOD that new born little girl was found! She was stolen from her mother's hospital room 4 days ago. She's fine and reunited with her mother now!!
Tags: Scrapbooking...hobbies

Our Day

Well the lady we were hoping to be at the Bazaar wasn't there. I was really disappointed because man was I hoping we could order a piece of furniture...but I guess it wasn't meant to be today. We did buy though! LOL We ordered our family coat of arms, it'll have our last name as well as my maiden name on it and in the middle between the two, it has our wedding date! Then we'll also get the orgins of our names (both again). They'll all be framed with a marble matting, and framed with beautiful frames that are very high qualities! Oh and our crests and wedding date...it's all hand quilted! Chad of course would love to have the swords to go with it, but that's just not going to happen. This is expensive enough, the swords would break us! I told him maybe we could look at getting them next year if they do the layway payment too. So we'll see. I know this would be a touch of Chad for sure in our homes with the swords, I guess when I look at my home right now, swords would just not flow, but they could very easily fit fine in our home that we plan to buy when we move back to Kansas. We want an office/library and I plan on hanging all of Chad's awards, certificates, and military pictures in that room...with a few of my touches as well, but it'll mostly be a "brag" room so to speak..so having our family crest in there and the swords would go well in there. But we're a few yrs from that.

Ok so anyways...I also got some Americana items! One piece is an old sled (wooden) that was well rearranged..it has 3 shelves on it with American Flag painted on each shelf. I got a candle holder that holds 3 small candles (and glass holders which it came with), it's also Americana. I also got this cute little Americana lamp. When we move back to the states Chad will have to rewire it to 110 watage, vs the 220 that it has now.

Chad also got some cheese from the man who's from Holland who's at all the bazaars! One of the cheese is called Red HOT Cheese...Jacob's mouth was on fire he said! Jack loves hot stuff and of course so does Chad. I HATE hot stuff, so there was no way I was trying it! LOL The other one was a type of goulda cheese. I didn't try it only because I wasn't in a cheese mood today, but I'm guessing it's good because both boys and Chad ate a few samples of it! LOL

Chad also turned in his laptop to be fixed. There's something inside of it that's sliding around. It doesn't effect it working at all, it doesn't effect the wireless connection sowe're not sure. The Sony guy said he'd have the guy who comes in and fixes them to look at it this week and he'd give us a call and let us know what's up with it. We're really hopeful it can be fixed. Chad really, really likes his laptop and the PX does not carry that specific one anymore and the only one that he'd be willing to exchange it for...is $500.00 more than what we paid for it and well neither of us want to do that. Ultimately it may have to be sent back to the states for Sony to actually fix, which means not weeks, but probably months before he gets it back. He downloaded everything onto his external harddrive so if they do end up messing up his hard drive....all is not lost.

Hope you all have a great weekend!

God Bless

New Journal

I'm sure there are few of you out there that know about The Journal Jar, well Miss Kelly over at: Kelly's Green Olives & Pickle Juice shared with me and told me I should do it...so I am....Christy's Journal Jar...I hope you'll join me and well many others! I'm going to try to go back to the beginning of when Promise started and get all caught up. So I'll probably do a couple entries a day (one in order and one from the beginning to get caught up!). I'm going to plan on printing them off (yep stealing your idea Kelly...that's one of the reasons you love me!!), so that my children can one day read them and get to know me in another way besides only being their mom!

God Bless another entry to come btw! :)

 

Tags: Journal Jars

Update

I had my glucose test yesterday, I'd requested it done early...and it all came back fine!! I go back on Monday for my regular ob visit and am going to tell her that if the baby is cooperating when she does the u/s (ultrasound) I want to know what the sex of the baby is!!!

I'm praying the baby cooperates! I will share WHAT we're having, but will NOT...WILL NOT share the names we're discussing..so do not ask. I do NOT want any unsolicitated suggestions, if so I'll delete your comment. Yes I'm so serious on that. I think the ONLY people who should get a say at all are the parents bringing that baby into the world. I think busy body grandparents need to keep their nose out of it! Yeah, it's a slight issue for me! LOL My mother felt she should add her two cents aka her not fondness for Jordyn's name or Jacob's. Me being the quiet and demure woman I am (rofl) just kept my mouth shut...ok reality is I told her it wasn't her choice and if she didn't like it to keep her opinions to herself. She had her chance at picking names, that MY children she had NO say so in...from their names, to discipline. to the way we raise them. Trust me...I do so much so differently than my parents. When I got pregnant with Jackson we decided to not tell anyone the names we were discussing. Although a few people had guesses, no one knew what his name was going to be....including Chad and I! We had it narrowed down to Jackson and Nathaniel. Jackson obviously is what we chose...well actually Chad chose it! Amusingly enough, he was the one that LOVED Nathaniel...I LOVED Jack. Jack had fluid on his lungs and so while I was recovering from surgery I hadn't seen him other than the few moments in the OR and then via camera...so I told Chad to name him. What's really funny is that when we were discussing names early on I had suggested Jonah and Chad said "no". On our way to the hospital that morning I brought it up again (we had middle names picked for Nathaniel and Jackson) and he said "oh I like Jonah, why didn't you suggest that before". I wanted to cause him physical harm, and if it hadn't been for my sciactic nerve acting up I probably would have! LOL When Chad told him he choose Jackson, I started crying when he went back up to Jack, because I decided he didn't look like a Jackson...he looked like a Jonah! ROFL! Jackson fits him, although I can say with no doubt...Jonah would have. He's stubborn as you can get!

Oh and don't get any wild idea's that if we are having a boy the name will be Jonah or Nathaniel...good chance it will not be.

Ok, I'm feeling tired and we're planning on going to the Bazaar in Wuerzburg tomorrow!! There's a lady who was at our bazaar who makes furniture, so we're going to see if she's there and get prices for a few pieces that we want!!!

Soldier Gets his JUST...Guilty of Desertion

Top News- Army Medic Is Found Guilty of Desertion - AOL News

 

I have absolutely no sympathy for this soldier. He is getting his just rewards. He's a coward. He disgusts me and those like him. This soldier was stationed just 30 minutes down the road from us. The unit he was assigned to, has I think they should have given him the max prison time, so I think the Military Justice System failed there. This man is a disgrace. He joined the Army after 9-11. He can claim he didn't think he'd ever go to war all he wants, but that only proves he's an utter and complete moron who only wanted the military to pay his way through college vs actually having to EARN that.

I have absolutely no compassion for these soldiers who desert. I think they should be in Prison for the absolute max time. If it causes hardship for their families, well it's something they should have thought about before they chose their cowardly actions.

As you can tell, this is one of my big issues. It disgusts me.

Check out this link

Tara Lynn Grant

This is about the mother who was murdered by her husband.

Disturbing

Top News- Michigan Man Says He Killed Wife, Police Say - AOL News

 

My best friend lives about an hour from where this happened. She said they've been breaking in on tv all ay long with new information (of course it's always the same...but anyways). Let us all pray for Tara's family (parents, siblings, etc) and of course those precious children. I pray they will not learn what happened to Mommy for many more years, they're so young and diserve to have a childhood that their dad has ripped away from them. I pray that they'll grow up with love from their maternal family and that they know their Momma from beautiful memories that they will instill in them. At 4 and 6 they should still hold onto some memories over the years, but the realities are that some things that are "their" memories will not stay with them so easily.

I'm literally sickened by this and while reading this had to stop and actually got sick.

This man is obviously a sick individual. I pray he gets his just "reward". I know one way or another he will, but I think as humans we want to see that punishment happen here on Earth. He'll have all eternity to spend in hell.

It's everywhere

I went to the clinic at 11 today, as I have been lately for my blood pressure to be taken. It's still good, actually it's great! But man, you should have seen the clinic it was jam packed. There was maybe 1 free seat. We have a small clinic and the large military hospital we did have 1 hr away closed down last summer when 1st ID  moved back to Fort Riley. The Ped. here does not like to give out referrals (it's a control issue...I know the man personally and it's so a control issue). So any ways, we have a pharmacy as well. The pharmacists is an American Civilian and he's GREAT! No one ever says a negative thing about him, because he does his job well, and he's just a really nice man as well. The pharmacy is usually so fast, it's usually the most pleasant part of your visit there! Today he was handing out numbers!!! My friend Carrie was no. 51 and she said he'd handed out slips up to 60 at least! Insanity! She'd been there for over 3 hrs. She got her son's medication 10 minutes before she had to leave to pick up her son from preschool! The triage nurse who I saw, she was sick and said that once she was finished with the person after me, she was going home. She said she has asthma and that she also has a cold and so she's having breathing issues. I told her that I thought I might have strep and she said to not even bother trying to be seen today unless I had all afternoon to just wait! So I'm going to see if I can be seen tomorrow! We'll see. I'm not going to hold my breath.

I did gargle salt water last night before going to bed and it did help and my throat actually feels better today than it has in WEEKS! I'm going to gargle some more after lunch and then again before bed, so hopefully that will clear this all up.

Now I'm just praying that since the boys and I were exposed to a room of about 40 people who were all sick, that we will not get sick. Say a prayer for us ok!!

Cell Phones and Bibles

 I wonder what would happen if we treated our Bible like we
 treat our cell phones?
 
What if we carried it around in our purses or pockets?
 
What if we turned back to go get it if we forgot it?
 
What if we flipped through it several times a day?
 
What if we used it to receive messages from the text?
 
What if we treated it like we couldn't live without it?
 
What if we gave it to kids as gifts?
 
What if we used it as we traveled?
 
What if we used it in case of an emergency?
 
This is something to make you go ...hmm...where is my Bible?
 
Oh, and one more thing. Unlike our cell phone, we don't ever
 have to worry about our Bible being disconnected because Jesus
 already paid the bill!
 
 Makes you stop & think "where are my priorities?"