Moments to remember

Well, I really hadn't planned on doing so many posts in one day ... guess that's what I get for not getting on here more often in the past few weeks.

Things have been going alright. I'm not sick anymore (but I am trying to keep another cold from coming on), and we are enjoying the short amount of time we have left with Brian before he leaves. Last week Brian's parents were here and we enjoyed a good visit with them.

Please enjoy the pictures and I will get on here more often so I don't have so many posts on one blog in one day. (Was that a run-on?) :-)

Moments over the past few weeks (that didn't get their "own" blog)

Karah enjoying "Thinking Day" with her troop. Each troop has a country that they research and then they all get together and look at all the countries. The countries they research have their own version of Girl Scouts, and that is what they learn about - what the girls in that country do. (Feb 24th)


We had rain one afternoon (February 26th) and the kids were enjoying it. They really liked splashing / running through the puddle on the sidewalk.

All three, wet and happy!


Part of enjoying some fun times with daddy, we roasted marshmallows to make smores after an earlier barbeque. (March 1st)

Well, it was taking too long for some people (Brian) so he decided to speed things up a bit. Don't try this at home! - oh wait, we were home

Nice fire going now so let's see how many marshmallows we can catch on fire!


Valentine wasn't missing out on the fun, he was enjoying munching on what was left on the grill!


The kids after opening up their Valentine's Day stuff from us (yes, a little late). Since Brian wasn't here to do it on Valentine's day, we did it this day (March 2nd). They liked their stuff


This little thief took my bear when he went to wake up daddy on his birthday (March 5th). Brian got me the bear when he went to staff academy so I would have something to sleep with. He even sprayed it with his body spray so it would smell like him. It's not a very small bear, as you can see, Vincent is doing a good fireman's carry with it!


Also on Brian's birthday we went to Texas Roadhouse. This first picture was after the kids heard the volume of the song go up, and they just started looking ... guess they knew what was going to happen. In case you don't know, when the volume goes up, the workers get together and line dance.

The kids also had big mouths and told the waitress that "it's daddy's birthday today!". It was pretty uneventful until the plates were cleared away, then a few of them came over and sang their birthday wish to Brian. He was so embarrassed, but the ice cream was good ;-)


When his parents got here on the 8th, we went to the commissary and got a birthday cake for Brian. We had saved the celebration for when his parents and Brian Lee would be here.

We know he loves Transformers, so we got him Monopoly and Chess, both Transformers edition. I think he liked them (they have yet to be officially opened!)

Brian's favorite band is Aerosmith, so his parents got him a 3 disc collection

Here he is showing Karah the "empty" bag. It wasn't really empty - it had another present from his parents. (He didn't wait for the picture on that one)


This picture is a pretty good one. Yes, it shows all three children together AND smiling at the same time, but take a good look at what they're wearing. I knew what Karah and Vincent were wearing earlier, but it didn't occur to me that they matched (must've been the short / long sleeve thing plus Vincent's layered shirt). We had just picked up Brian Lee earlier that afternoon (March 12th) and had no idea what he'd be wearing. They were sitting on the couch waiting to watch one of the "new" movies that Grandma & Grandpa had brought with them (a lot of Disney on VHS) when I noticed they were all pretty much wearing the same thing. I just couldn't resist getting a picture of it. (Do you have any idea how hard it is to match them when you're trying to?) Nevertheless, it turned out to be a really good picture. Definitely a moment to remember.


These pictures were taken after the Pinewood Derby. (March 15th) We had to run some errands and ended up having lunch at Arby's. Just look at what you can do with the fries!


One of the things we got when we were out were lightsabers for the kids. The boys had some but they were pretty much done for. Karah had never had one, so she was all excited. It's really nice when they can all play together - nicely!


Later that evening, there was a flashlight Easter egg hunt that we went to. Here they are before the hunt.

Here they are on the hunt for eggs. The boys stayed together and are circled in blue, but Karah listened to daddy and is circled in pink. Brian had told the kids that when it was time to go, head straight for the back part of the field since most would start from the front. When it was time to go, she went and didn't even look back. As you can see, it doesn't look quite dark enough for flashlights and the flood lights are on. It started on accident. The helpers were lining some kids along the fence and some kids were running and so other kids started running and before you knew it, everyone was running! Oops!
*Note: You can click on the picture to make it bigger for easier viewing.
As you can see, they had a good time and got a lot of eggs in their buckets.

And the contents of those three buckets of eggs fit into this pretty big bowl ... all candy!


(March 16th) Church day, can you tell? This was after the evening service. If he falls asleep, he will usually wake up at the end or right after. Not tonight, he was gone. He didn't wake up for a little while after, and even then didn't seem awake until we went in to take Brian his dinner (he was on duty). At which point he ran in and plopped himself down on the (very dirty) floor and watched TV. Although I must say he is much more manageable when asleep! :-)


(March 18th) Vincent had a bit of a clumsy moment. No biggie, happens to us all from time to time. This time it resulted in his half full cup of milk being spilled all over the table and floor. The cat really enjoyed it! Notice the puddle on the table (circled in red)? When Valentine was licking the milk in the first picture, the puddle was dripping on his head, resulting in the second picture once he moved. I tried to get a close up, but he ended up shaking it on me! lol :-)

It started off as good, "clean" fun ...

... but as you'll see from the pictures below, it didn't stay that way.

It was a nice day out (March 13th), so I let the kids play with some water guns.

They had fun trying to get each other ... Brian Lee getting Vincent

Vincent chasing Karah

Karah going after Brian Lee

But then ... I caught them! I guess they got bored with the water guns because they got the hose and proceeded to fill a little trench (which was made by water running off the edge of the house when it rains) and make mud.

And not just mud ... a gigantic mud pie! Anybody want a piece of pie?

Let's all jump in the mud now (they kept refilling the trench when it was getting too dry)

Jumping just wasn't good enough ... everybody sit in the mud now (and yes, Brian Lee was wearing practically white shorts - before the mud)

The kids with their mud pie - and dirty hands!

They've all got a hand on it

All in all, they had a pretty fun time ... until it was time to go inside. Y'all know what that much dirt could do to a washer, so I thought I'd help with the cleaning process. I used the hose to spray them down and get as much mud off of them as I could. The boys weren't too bad. They ran because of the cold water but were pretty much okay. Karah, on the other hand, was very upset that I wouldn't let her go inside until she dried off a bit. I tried to get her to run in the sun and enjoy the breeze but she wouldn't have it. After a while I let her go inside to strip and wait for her turn in the shower.

Maybe they'll think (and ask) next time before they do - maybe!

My Latest Creation

A couple of months ago, we found out the date for Brian to leave for Iraq. It has since changed (of course), but at the time his boss was trying to see about flying out with a different unit. You see, the day were to leave was the earliest his wife could be induced. Granted, this isn't their first child ... they have a 12 or 13 yr old boy, and an 8 yr old boy. They are having a girl this time, after thinking they would never have one.


Well, when they went to Louisiana for their training, I thought I would make something for the baby. Some of you that know me know that I like to make personalized blankets. (Some of you have even received one :-) Since I didn't have a name, I just did a pretty, girly design. Here is the finished product.


Here is a close-up of the border and design. I went in with Brian last week to deliver it, and the boss was really excited about it. (They hadn't gotten any blankets yet). I was so glad he liked it. I always get nervous about it because I am always afraid they won't like it. I'm glad he (and his wife too, I found out later) liked it and I hope they get a lot of use out of it.

Boy Scout Fun

Since my last post, we have had a couple of special Boy Scout events that went on.


This first one was the Blue & Gold Banquet which was on February 28th. Brian took the pictures as I was sitting in the back (this was when I was sick and I didn't want to pass it on). We had pizza for dinner, the awards ceremony, followed by a magician that was very funny. He was entertaining and had quite a bit of crowd involvement. The kids enjoyed it.

Here is Vincent with his good friend, Carson. They were having a great time, can't you tell? ;-)

Vincent getting his Tiger Cub patch

Vincent being silly while the other cub scouts were getting their awards.




This was for a regular den meeting, but I had to get a picture of his face. It was from school. Since it was Dr. Suess day, they painted the kids' faces, and it just so happened it went really well for being a "Tiger" cub!

Ahh, yes, preparing for the Pinewood Derby, which was March 15th. Mind you, this picture was taken March 15th. By the day of the race, Brian had been back from Louisiana for about 3 weeks. He didn't get the car cut out until Thursday, and then painted it Friday. So Saturday morning wheels were being hammered on, stickers placed for decoration, buttons glued for headlights, and some change grabbed to add/use for weights.

We had a little trouble keeping some of the weights on it, as during one of the races, the dollar coin fell off :-s Vincent had fun, which is good, even if his car didn't win any races. (I circled his car so you can see his)

As you can see in this pic, he got 3rd place! (The best he did all day)

Here's Vincent getting his ribbon. (They all got one ... really important for the little ones)

Vincent proudly showing us his car, with ribbon dangling off his finger.

This next set was taken just this past Monday (the 17th of March) at a regular den meeting. I wasn't there so I get to interpret the pictures Brian took. This first one is just Vincent, but notice the non-uniform green pin? It was St. Patrick's Day, so I figured a little pin would look better than the green derby hat he wore earlier :-)

On the hunt for the perfect pinecone ... and he found it!

Now to put some peanut butter on it. (I found out later from Brian that after putting the pb on the pinecone, Vincent proceeded to lick the popsicle stick ... :-s )

After being rolled in birdseed and hung in a tree, we have a nice, little bird feeder!

Also at this meeting they planted seeds.

I don't know what kind, but he planted them. :-)

Here he is with the finished product. Now if it would only start growing ...

Just gotta say it ...

I really dislike being sick.

Granted, I'm used to getting colds, but what I had this past week was just terrible. Wednesday I didn't feel so great, Thursday was worse. I took some Tylenol and hoped I'd feel better. Nope. Thank God Brian was home to be able to take care of me. I was so sick. I felt like I was freezing, so I was wearing sweats & socks, under the sheets, comforter, & another thick blanket folded in half. Brian laid on top of me to give me a hug and he could feel me shivering .... mind you I had a temperature of 104! That was the highest it got (and that was with Tylenol) and then I ran out of medicine. I went to the doctor's office on Friday for a walk in and finally got seen. After taking my vitals, the nurse said that the doctor would be in to see me in a few minutes so I texted Brian and I guess my symptoms caught the doctor's attention because all of a sudden he was in the room. I was expecting more like 10 - 15 minutes as opposed to 1. He checked my ears (no major comment other than that I was really hot, as if the 102.7 temp hadn't given that away), throat (said it didn't look so good), lungs (couldn't believe I could hardly take a breath - my chest was really tight). He diagnosed me with a not-so-mild case of Upper Respiritory Infection (URI). He prescribed me some antibiotics, cough suppressant & expectorant, & sudafed. He left so I texted Brian about it and then the doctor came back with 1000mg Tylenol and a cup of really cold water. It helped a lot and I was feeling a little better by evening time, but my fever didn't really break until yesterday. I was going to go to church, but I didn't really want to risk getting other sick, plus the medicine I was taking (the cough suppressant) has codine in it, and I didn't really want to be falling asleep in the service! ;-)

While I still have a cough and slightly runny nose left, the majority of the symptoms are gone, thank God! Now to get rid of the rest and I'll be myself again!