Finally Some Photo's

On Our Way to School

Clark Feeding Sassy With DebDeb

Time Out has become a past time in our home

This is What I Slept with Last night in a KING size bed

Clarke sleeping with our Cousin Jeff (Jep) at the beach

Here are a few pictures of the little monkey man for you all to see!!!

I Got A Pocketful of SonShine (this was orginally written last week)

Hi Friends...and some Family :-)

It's been a few days since I posted, but with this stupid dial up inernet I never know from one day to another if I'll be able to log into Blogger. Today, is a good day, so here I am!

Lots to update you on:

The hubs is doing well in the "Sandbox". He is adjusting very well. He's been there over a month now and is getting the hang of his daily routine. He's finally got his internet up and running so we've been able to chat a little hear and there . We've seen several pictures of him and he's looking good. Just remember to keep him and his Batallion in your prayers daily. They need it more and more every single day!!

Clarke recieved a Build A Bear in the mail that has a voice box inside with Daddy talking and he loves it. He has started calling him "Daddy Boy". I think he really means "Daddy Bear". Oh well, either way it's still cute to see him with his bear! I'm hoping to have some pictures with "Daddy Boy" and Clarke in the next few days so I'll be sure to post them for you all to see.

Preschool has been GREAT for Clark. He is a totally different kid these days. He's listening to his Mommy somewhat better and his attention span seems to be getting a little bit longer. His teacher at school "Mrs. Rucker" or as he calls her "Mee Wooker" says that hes the youngest in his class and definately the most rambucious (spelling?) of all. He's already trying to be friendly with the little girlies in his class. He's going to be a go getter before I know it.

I started teaching at the Kelly School of Dance again last Monday after a 2 year "leave of absence" and I love every minute of it. I've got ALOT of classes this time which I thought was going to make me crazy, but believe it or not it's been alright. I'm falling in love with all the precious little ones that I am teaching. I'm sure I'll have some stories to tell as the year goes by!! Stay Tuned for More :-)

School started on Friday for ME and BOY OH BOY am I in for a long semester. After 2 years off, its going to take me a little while to get back into the swing of things. I am determined to stay on top of my classes and TRY my best for the Dean's list. I think I can do it if I just stay on top of things. I should be fine in all but one of my classes. I'm going to need the help of my Musician husband in my music appreciation class.

Tommorrow we are suppose to get our WILDBLUE internet installed here at home. If they don't show up for their appointment I'm going to loose my cool. They've missed 2 appointments already. UGH....i'll let you know how we like it after the fact.

Last but not least, we started our bible studies at PWOC this week. I choose the study "Sacred Marriage". It's going to be an amazing class. I spent 1 hour on the treadmill today reading (yes I did loose track of the time). Its most definately a book worth picking up at your local Lifeway or Christian book store. I would highly recommend it for men and women.We'll I must run...like always. Clark is in bed with a cold and I need to get ready to head to the dance studio again. I have a precious group of preschoolers today at 2:00. Pray that I have patience with them. MOST of them come from Mother's Morning out and have had NO nap!!!!!Until Next Time..Ciao!!!!P.S. My hubs has now become a reader of the blog so I'll be posting a little more about him and our family in the days to come :-) Love and miss you babe!

My Confession

Not really mine, but it was too good not to pass on :-)

Confessions of a Deployed Soldier's Wife

Dear Husband,
I have much to confess
So I can get this all off my chest!
Since you've been gone
Everything in the house has gone wrong
I can’t sleep, all I do is eat, and I cry everyday
Missing you dearly what more can I say
The house is a big wreck
But since you’re gone I figured "oh what the heck"
I haven’t been in the mood for cooking much
Our kids have been eating pop tarts & Capt. Crunch!
I hate changing light bulbs, that was always something you'd do
Along w/ washing the car & taking the garbage out too.
I've slacked on my appearance, makeup & such
I barely make it to the shower that much.
I wear my pajamas all day but that’s nothing new
Haven’t done laundry so now I’m wearing yours too
I try to keep myself busy, I sometimes read
But every time I start its time for the baby to feed
The dogs I can say miss you too
I don’t care for them much; I paid a kid to pick up their poo!!
The weekend comes, & we do the best we can
Those were our days with family plans
I see soldiers all over this place
Except when I see that uniform, I wanna see your face.
The kids wonder if you'll be home soon & if the time will fly
I don’t have the heart to tell them that only 17 days have gone by
I sleep w/both phones & wait for your call
And wait by the computer too, I recall
The only thing I can say I do right
Is hold our children & tuck them in bed each night
And tell them daddy loves them & he’s forever in our prayers
Yes he's thinking of you & of course he cares
So here are my confessions, take them in if you will
I wouldn’t be like this if you were home still
I'm doing the best I can to keep this family together
I guess it’s because I'm gonna love you forever
This is the way were gonna live our life
Since I married you & became an Army Wife

You Know Your Soliders Deployed When.....

You stay on the computer all night waiting for them to get on.

You haven't shaved your legs in weeks – (Sometimes you just get busy being mommy/wife/dance teacher/student/daughter and forget)

You start paying close attention in class when the words "military" or "Iraq" are mentioned.

You see someone wearing an army, navy, or USMC shirt and you get this overwhelming urge to talk to them. (Especially when Clarke gets confused and calls them DADDY)

You can't decide what to wear when you meet him when he comes home. (No I Havent't decided but my goal is a mini skirt :-) )

Your first Christmas together is.... apart. And so are many birthdays, anniversaries, more Christmases…and even births of babies.

You find yourself checking your e-mail every fifteen minutes. (ha more like every 5!!!)

You know all the time differences between Iraq, Ireland, Kuwait, Italy, Germany, Korea, and every state in the U.S.

The highlight of your day is getting a letter that was mailed a month ago.

And another highlight of your day is writing him a letter that you know he will be able to read in a month.

You realize that HOMECOMING is so much more than a football game.

You want to hit any happy couple you see together.

You get excited about "unknown" phone numbers calling you, because it could be Hubby calling from a calling card.

You've exhausted every idea a brain could have of what to put in a care package for Hubby.

You get excited when it’s only 9 months until you see your soldier instead of 15!

You can't understand girls that talk about missing their boyfriends or husbands who are gone a few hours or a few days.

You wouldn't dream of walking out of the house without the cell phone and every number you have is forwarded to that cell.

You find yourself randomly crying from just looking at a picture of the two of you together.

You find yourself randomly crying and you sometimes have no idea why.

You are reading this and smiling and nodding because you know it's so true!

You sleep with his t-shirt so often it's starting to smell less like him and more like your perfume.

You hate it so much when you miss a call from him, that you want to SCREAM!


*I borrowed this from my friend Jenn :-)*

Its Eating Us Alive

Friends,

I spent yesterday morning in the ER at Flowers Hospital with my precious little fella. The hives and what looked like blisters on his behind and all I was told was that he had an allergic reaction to something. What that something was we still do not know. He hadn't had anything different to eat or drink during the day. I can't even imagine what it was. Poor guy had my parents and I up from 12-2, 4-6 and I was at the ER by 7. He was screaming non-stop. My daddy was the only one of the 3 of us that could calm him down. He would just cry "BoBo, BoBo hold pezz"I bathed him at 8 and there were no problems, so he reacted to whatever it was in a short amount of time. Needless to say I was a nervous wreck yesterday for most of the day. Clarke is doing much better today. We're not perfect yet but we're making progress. By Saturday or Sunday we should be as good as new!

I recieved more bad news today. I mentioned a few days ago that my Aunt had been diagnosed with breast cancer for the 2nd time. Well, early this morning we recieved the news that my Uncle, her husband has been diagonsed with Prostate Cancer. He seems very positive about the entire situation. He knows he will be taking radiation and some pills. Tommorrow he will be going in for a bone scan and some other test to find out the intensity of the cancer and to determine whether surgery and chemo will be necessary.

A VERY VERY VERY dear friend of Wesley and I and his new bride of only about 5 months are in desperate need of our prayers. I'm sure that it's only a season of their marriage, but they are under the attack of the enemy. I spent about 3 hours total today talking with the 2 of them and will be meeting with the bride on Monday to talk more. The outcome will be positive I am hopeful. I feel so helpless, but I know that all I can do is pray and ask the Father to guide me in HIS wisdom in sharing with them both. I see His hand in the situation already, and know that He's already got everything under control.

Went back to the Dr. today and my blood pressure was still high...YUCKY! I don't have to take any meds for it yet, he'll check me again in a month and then a month after that to see if I'm making progress. I did however loose 3 pounds which is a good start for me. About 22 more to go and I'll be at my target weight. Dr. Zacks did put me on some new medicine to help me recover quicker from my surgery. I'm healing really good but we don't need any set backs. A 2nd surgery is not an option for me, I don't have the time nor the energy to deal with it.

The hubs is doing swell. He's just worn out. I've had the oppurtunity to speak with him via the internet almost every day for the last 2 weeks which has been just great. Tommorrow he is planning to call after we get home from Clarke's first trip to Gymnastics. I can't wait to hear his voice on the other end of the line. It's become one of my most favorite things. Also something I look forward to with great anticipation each week.

I'm pooped so I'm headed to bed! Sweet Dream my dear friends!!!

Just Today...That's All

Tonight I've got a few things that I want to share with you.

1. We made it home from Maryland with NO problems whatsoever. I thought we had overslept so at 1230 a.m. I woke my mom up. Needless to say neither of us could get back to sleep. We were on the road to Dothan by 100 a.m. and home well before dark. The trip was well worth the time spentin the car with a toddler. Might I suggest the purchasing of a portable DVD player for those of you who have small kids. I'm very picky about what Clarke watches on t.v and about how much time he spends in front of the t.v. (usually only 1 hour in the morning), but this device made a world of difference. I don't think my kid cried one time. He was either watching
Dooorra or Beggie Twales or sleeping. WHOA...that made for a perfec trip there and back.

2. Clark had his first day of preschool today and went at it like a champ. Today was just
a test run for us to see if he would do ok with seperation anxiety and well he had NONE! I'm
pretty sure that I had more anxiety that he did. For those of you who know Clark you know he's pretty rough around the edges and can be a little overwhelming to other kids because of his size. I dropped him off and he jumped right in with the other kids. We got there around 8:45 and I picked him back up around 11:15. By the time we were going out the gates at Ft. Rucker he was already in the back seat sleeping. Hopefully next Tuesday when we go back to start our 2 day routine he will be just as good. Friday we start Gymnastics so that ought to be interesting as well!

3. I've mentioned before my love for the Protestant Women of the Chapel. I was very involved during my time in Germany and since being back in Dothan, I've longed deeply for something to fill that void. I've missed meetingwith my lady friends each week for fellowship and to dig into the scriptures as we studied. Well today I attended my very first meeting of the PWOC Ft. Rucker Chapter and boy was it different. The PWOC in Germany ran about 25-30 each week
there were around 65 ladies here. I felt overwhelmed as I entered the room. They are offering 8 studies on Tuesday mornings and 3 studies on Tuesday evening. WHOA....there are too many to choose from. I'm hoping that by next Tuesday that the Lord has given me some kind of direction as to where he would like me to be. I'll be sure to update you when I know :-)

4. Lastly, I am reading a pretty darn good book right now that I MUST highly recommend to you all. I would like for you all to run out to Lifeway or get on www.cbd.com and pick it up. It is called "A Wife After God's Own Heart: 12 Things That Really Matter in Your Marriage" by Elizabeth George. Wes and I are reading this book together, but he's got the "A Husband After God's Own Heart" by Jim George. This isn't a book just for newlyweds. This is a book for ALL women and men to read (even non-believers). Those that have been married 50 years or 6 months,those who's marriage is on the brink of disaster or those women who believe that their marriage just can't get any better than what it already is. I'm only into Chapter 4, but I can't wait to see what else God reveals to me through this book and through the scriptures. If any of you pick itup and decide to give it a try, be sure to let me know what you think.


VERY lastly, I am working on another blog for later this week :
My Life As A Military Wife {Communication}

Come back to see what is in store!

Sweet Dreams from my bed in Alabamy!

Kids Can Say the Cutest Things

Like I told you yesterday, I'm in Maryland visiting with my mom's side of the family. My cousin Mandy has driven up from North Carolina with her 3 children to visit with us as well. All of her children are just beautiful and each have a personality of their own.

Well Tristan is 7 and you NEVER know what is going to come out of his mouth from one minute to the next. We were sitting on the porch Thursday evening when I proceeded to ask him "How old are you now, 8?" his response was "NO, Where have you been? On Crack?". MY BAD!!!!! His mom immediately jumped the gun and scolded him because it was an inappropriate statement for a 7 year old to be making. I laughed and laughed and laughed until I was almost crying.

To make this trip even better, let me just tell you what my beautiful baby boy said today. I was on the phone with my Papa and Clarke decided he wanted to talk. I put the phone on speaker. Clarke jabbered for a few minutes and then I heard my Papa say "Bye Buddy, BoBo loves you" Clark responded with "Bobo, lobe you". That's the very first time he's ever told anyone he loved them (whether he knows what he's saying or not). Now, we've got to work on his telling his Daddy that he loves him and then maybe his Momma too :-). Made my heart feel so good to hear him say those simple little words I've waited so long to hear.

Well, its time to shower. Its 1230 and for the 3rd day in a row I'm still in my jammies at lunch time. Yes, I've bathed every day and dressed but just not before 2 or 3. Thats what Vacation is for right?

Lots of Love from Maryland

Busy As A Bee

So the hubby has been gone for about a month now and I have done my very best to stay as busy as I possibly can. I can't tell you that it's all been easy because I would be telling you a lie, but it hasn't been as hard as I once expected it would be. Days will pass and they will each bring with them a new face. Some may be bright and sunny and some may be the dumps, but I know that my faith, my wonderful husband, my beautiful baby boy and my family will carry me through them all.

So like I said I've been pretty busy. I'm adding just a few photos from my beach trip with the girls last weekend for you guys to FINALLY see We had an amazingly good time. I actually have 172 photos on my camera. I'm also adding some photos from the trip I am currently on!

I am in Maryland visiting with my Grandparents, and my 2 Aunts. So far things have been going pretty good. Clarke has played his heart out with my cousin Mandy's daughter. Her name is Meadow but for some reason we all call her Peanut. She is just a little doll baby and only 6 weeks younger than Clark.

My Grandfather has recently been diagnosed with a very progressive form of Alzheimers Disease. He didn't know who I was when I went over to see him on Thursday, but he remembers my Solider Boy. He seems to remember anything about his days in the Navy and anyone or anything associated with the Military, but anything else its just plain obvious he has no idea. His memory has been wiped blank. Other than having no idea what going on, he seems to be in good spirits and just hanging in there pretty well for a man of 87 years of age.

I'm going to add some pictures of my aunts to show you. I want you to join me in praying for them both. During this time of seperation from the hubs I look at them both and know where my strength can come from! My Aunt Carolyn has recently be diagonsed with breast cancer for the 2nd time. Shes had cancer a total of 3 times now, Breast, Lymphoma and now Breast cancer again. Because of the Chemo she has recently experience congestive heart failure and will not be able to recieve Chemotherapy. She will be taking Radiation with the hopes that this will help her to beat this battle one last time.

My Aunt Jackie lost her husband 2 years ago next month. He was the love of her life and the father to their 4 children and 10 Grandchildren. Every day is still a struggle for her but she manages to make it. I admire her for her willingness to press on for her family because that's what Uncle Rick would want her to do. Not to mention she spends majority of her time caring for my Grandfather and Grandmother.

My momma and both of my aunts have stregth greater than anyone I know. It absolutely amazes me the trials that all 3 of these women have overcome. My mom told me recently that their motto together is "Keep On Keeping On" and I belive it. All 3 of them, they never stop. I LOVE YOU LADIES!!!

This is where we found the sleep walker :-)

Clarke and Peanut

WHOA....It was a LONG night!!!!

Meadow a.k.a Peanut and I

Clarke and Mommy in Panama City

Megan, Sarah, Rexy and Mindy

Rexy, Me and Mindy (I think it was 4 a.m. here)

My Momma, Aunt Carolyn and Aunt Jackie

Me and Aunt Carolyn (Clark was oblivious to the Camera)