Thank You Build-A-Bear!

I want to send a great big THANK-YOU to the Himes family and Build-A-Bear. A few days ago I sent my friend Samantha (whose husband manages a Build-A-Bear in Charlotte, NC) an email saying something like "Sammy, We have a little girl in our battalion family who has recently lost her brother and I was wondering if you have any good deals for me at Build-A-Bear ... you know free shipping, or anything like that?"
She wrote back right away and said she was going to send my email to her husband and see if there was anything he could do. Within hours I had an email from Scott at Build-A-Bear saying that he and his district manager were going to donate any bear, any clothes, any shoes, any sound to this little girl -- free, free, free! All we had to do was tell him which bear and where to ship it. On Monday he sent me an email with a tracking number and said we should expect our bear on Wednesday. We got it Tuesday and it is just absolutely adorable and better than perfect.
My kids have always been big Build-A-Bear fans, but this just makes me love the company even more. So here is my little plug for the company ... if you are looking for a good Christmas gift for someone please remember Build-A-Bear and the kindness that they have shown to us during this time. If you have a store nearby, go visit. They are tons of fun. And if you think it's too late ... well, it's not! You can send a Bear Bucks E-Gift Card!

Thank you so much Sam, Scott, and Build-A-Bear!

Wordless Wednesday -- Almost as big as Santa!

Sleepy Sunday

He went to two birthday parties on Saturday. First he went bowling from 3:00 to 5:00. Then at 6:30 we met up with the second birthday party (already in progress). He went to the movies, for a limo ride along the Concho River to see the city's Christmas lights, and then had a sleepover. I picked him up at 10:00 am on Sunday. He said that he slept one hour the night before. I wondered if he might have been exaggerating, but then he was asleep on the sofa by 10:15:

Here he is at 11:15:

And 12:15:

1:15:

2:15:

And then when I finally decided to let his brother wake him up at 3:15:

I am thinking he was right about only sleeping one hour on Saturday night. I have a feeling he would have slept several more hours if I had not let his brother wake him!

That's What I'm Talking About!!!!!!!!!

ECH 3335.010
Play Dynamics Research
A 4.000

ECH 3337.010
Creative Development in Early Childhood
A 4.000

ECO 2300.010
Economic Analysis
A 4.000

ED 2323.010
Introduction to Computer Technology
A 4.000

PS 3311.010
Physical Science Concepts
A 4.000

RDG 2307.010
Language Development and Literacy
A 4.000

Clarification

There has been a little confusion about our new cat so I want to clarify a little. Josie doesn't really belong to Amber. She just looks a lot like Amber's cat. I don't think I even knew Amber when she lived here so I don't know how close she lived to us. She is a close friend of Jennifer's and we met at her house a couple of times. Now she lives in Italy with her husband Joe and their daughter Arden. We mostly know each other through our blogs and through our mutual amusement at Jennifer's crazy life. If you want to see Amber's cat look in my last posting and click on Amber's name. Then you'll understand better.

Good News

This cat showed up in our garage about a week ago. She was cold, wet, hungry and pregnant! Because I am a sucker for animals I took her in. My dear husband doesn't know this yet. He still thinks we are just letting her visit. He doesn't know we've named her (Josie) and I've made an appointment to take her to the vet on Monday to get checked out.

But now, none of that matters any more. Apparently Amber left her here when she moved to Italy. Or Josie somehow snuck into a package that she sent Jennifer. Or she hopped through a ripple in the time-space continuum. It doesn't really matter how she got here ... she is going back. She's going to be on the next plane to Italy so that Amber can take care of the dozen baby kittens she is surely carrying inside her ever-expanding belly.

Home for the Holidays

Yesterday was my last day of finals. I was done at 8:08 AM. My plan was to sell back my books and use my fat cash to go Christmas shopping. Instead we went to the doctor's office to have my baby boy diagnosed with strep throat. He is home again today. So the first two days of my holiday break are going to be spent watching Scooby-Doo and SpongeBob instead of getting my Christmas shopping done. The Christmas shopping that I have not even started yet! On the bright side ... at least he waited until my finals were done to get sick. I don't know what I would have done if this had happened last week. I guess I shouldn't complain too much!

Wordless Wednesday -- DONE!

Homeward Bound

Today is our one-year anniversary here in Texas. I am going to use this occassion to explain what Homeward Bound means to me. I grew up in Oswego, NY. It was a great place to grow up and I had a great life there. When I was 20 I was working three jobs and only going to college part-time. I decided to join the Army and take a look around at what might be out there in the wide, wide world. I loved California and Germany, but not drill sergeants and PT. So two years, one hubby, and one baby-on-the-way later I was a civilian again. Since that time we have moved several times. We've lived in Texas (four times), Germany (three times), Maryland (twice), California (a second time around), and North Carolina. Now our little family is up to two kids, two dogs, four cats and a fish. We still enjoy moving and the adventures that await us in our new homes, but it is getting harder and harder to leave the places we love and the friends we know.

When we first moved to Fayetteville, NC we felt like we were "home" right away. We had family there and had been to Fayetteville several times to visit. We were on the east coast and it was easy to drive home to Oswego. We bought a house for the first time. We love that house. It was absolutely perfect for our family. We lived there for four years and enjoyed every day we were there. But the alure of a 1SG job and the idea of making CSM faster called to us and we packed up to move to Texas.

Selling a house alone in NC while my dear hubby bought a house alone in TX was not fun. Driving from NC to NY to AL to TX alone with the kids & pets was not fun either. Our trip was stressful and too eventful. The trip began with a tragedy and ended with our being robbed in Houston. We finally arrived here on a beautiful, warm, December day. It took months to adjust but we made it through. A lot has changed in the past year in my life and in the lives of the people I love. You know who you are. And I love you. Midway through our first year here we had a trip planned to visit our family. Although most of our vacation was very enjoyable, it too was touched by tragedy.

Now it is a year later. The boys are back in school and I am going to college. I started finals week today. I took two classes last summer and six this fall. I am taking seven in the spring so you can expect lots of complaining! I am working furiously towards my degree in teacher education...trying to get it done before the Army decides to move us again.

It has been a long year, but we are still moving forward. We are still homeward bound...

My friend Cherie has a blog and I just fell in love with being able to stay closer to her and her kids through it. The post that hooked me was a post about her son A.J. and his Halloween costume. A.J. was one of my students at the preschool where I taught in NC. If you know A.J. you would know that this post is so A.J. ... and so cute. She had convinced me to sign up for blogger a few months earlier, but I hadn't done anything with it except write comments on her blog.

As we were driving away from our friends I decided to start blogging for real. And as we were driving westward across the country I thought of the name Homeward Bound. It was so ironic that I wanted to be driving either north towards NY or at least east back to NC. And here I was, having just been robbed in Houston, driving west through Texas.

I feel like that is how my life has been for the last 13 years. We have packed up and moved so many times that it seems normal. We have lived in so many places that I have literally been driving to Wal-Mart and had to stop and think about which state I was in! (Yes, this has really happened to me and no, I am not taking any strange medications)

But always we are homeward bound. Always my heart is in the back yard at my parents' house on a warm summer day. The grass is so green it looks like a crayon. The air is clean, the sky is blue, and the lake is only a few blocks away. I am surrounded by my loved ones and blissfully happy just being there. There are no agendas, no schedules, no worries. Just my family and my home.

I don't know how many times we will move with the Army before we get there. But we'll get there. We'll get there eventually ... because we are always homeward bound.

Wordless Wednesday -- Friends

Otis

This is Otis. He is an 11-month old bulldog who is suffering from a treatable skin disease known as Demodicosis. His treatment is lengthy and very, very expensive. His mom is my mom's dog. Otis lives with his new family now, but my mom has been helping as much as she can. Those of you who know my mom know that means she is working her tail off to help pay for his treatment. My brother's girlfriend Brandi has started a couple of online fundraisers for him. If you would like to see the Custom Made suede/faux fur dog coat that they are auctioning on ebay click HERE. I know we all have a million things to spend our money on this month ... things that are not dog coats. But please pass this auction to everyone you know. Maybe there is someone out there who would love to buy a homemade dog coat for their dog and help out Otis at the same time. Otis is such a sweet guy. I should know ... we spent the weekend together once ... before he was sad and sick. (He's the one on my mom's right, his sister is in the middle, and his mom is on the left)

It's Just Like Riding a Bike

Ok, so it is riding a bike. My darling husband bought a bike for me last week. Specifically it is a Trek Equinox 9 Triathlon Road Bike. We went for a 10K bike ride this morning. It wasn't too windy but I still felt terribly slow! At one point my hubby said we were going about 20 mph, but it really didn't seem like it. I told him I felt like I was peddling under water. And maybe 20 mph isn't fast. Maybe he wasn't saying "We're going 20 mph, isn't this great?!?", but rather, "Come on, pick it up, we're only going 20 mph." I couldn't tell what his meaning was because I was so focused on deciding whether or not I could handle being a little bit fat. I was thinking exercise/sit on the couch ... skinny/fat ... bike riding/playing on my blog ... skinny/fat ... you get the idea.

Really, it wasn't that bad. The wind was only about 10 mph today, which is pretty good for a December day around here. And it was a fun way to spend a little time together. Of course, now he's gone for a 20K bike ride on his own since he didn't even break a sweat on our ride. But that's ok ... it gives me time to play on my blog!

It's Too Early For This!

It is not even 8:00 yet and this day sucks. We already lost power once. We have no water in the entire house. I have my first final today. (Finals week doesn't start until the 10th, but this class has TWO final exams...TWO!) My check engine light came on. I have to call the dentist to schedule a cleaning. And I have to call the clinic on post to schedule my yearly.

I'd like to think there's something to be happy about b/c Brian bought me a fancy new road bike so that we could go riding together, but the damn thing came without any pedals. I guess you don't get pedals when you spend $!!!! on a bicycle.

Yeah, it's going to be one of those days!

Wordless Wednesday -- My Sky

Yummy!

Yesterday the boys wanted belgian waffles for dinner. I obliged, but didn't feel like eating waffles and was too lazy to cook anything else. Instead I opened a bag of Blue Aztec Chips and made a dish of Fiesta Party Dip. I am telling you ... heaven on earth! You have got to try this. I promise this is not a shameless plug to help my sister-in-law Lisa get more business. This is a yummy, yummy treat that rivals a good margarita without the alcohol and it's side effects. So, head on over to Tastefully Simple and buy yourself an early Christmas gifts. It'll be worth it, I promise!

Sew, Cook, Clean, Sew

That was my Thanksgiving day. 12 hours of it anyway. We have a tablecloth that we only use on Thanksgiving. Each year after dinner we sign it with a fabric pen. Then I use embroidery floss to make the signatures permanent. Each year gets a different color and I sew the city, state, and year along the edge of the tablecloth in the matching color. Last year on Thanksgiving Day we were moving. We spent the entire day packing the truck. (Then we went to Fire Mountain for dinner.)

The next day hubby left for Texas and the boys and I were in an empty house just waiting for our closing date to approach. I sewed the tablecloth and packed it to go to NY to visit family. We decided to have another Thanksgiving dinner while we were in NY. My tablecloth was signed and packed just in time to make the long trip to Texas. (Thank goodness it wasn't in the car top carrier that was stolen in Houston!) I had plenty of time to sew the signatures from our 2nd Thanksgiving dinner, but I never did it. I thought about it several times over the last few weeks but I never actually did it. So on Thursday morning I sewed the signatures from 2006, washed it, dried it, put it on the table, we ate, signed it, and I sat down to sew it right away. Now I can't decide if I should do that again next year (sew it right after dinner), or give myself a year off and sew it on Thanksgiving morning 2009. Anyway, here are some pictures of our past years' signatures. This is probably my favorite holiday decoration of all time.

Topsey

On Wednesday we went to Tospey Exotic Ranch & Drive Thru Safari. We found this place when we were stationed at Fort Hood during the late 90's and it's been a favorite family outing ever since. It's not a bad drive (just a few hours) and is a fun way to spend the afternoon. They have a petting zoo and all kinds of animals that will stick their heads right into your car window for a handful of food.

I don't mind the horses, zebras, goats, llamas, rams, buffalo, deer, antelope, donkeys, or long horn cattle. It's the ostriches that scare the heck out of me. Oh, and the emus. There is just something creepy about the way they look at you with those huge eyes just before they stick their long neck all the way into your car to peck one morsel of food out of your hand at warp speed. When I see them coming I roll up my window. This time around I was brave enough to take a video of the rest of my family being tortured by the ostrich.

Albert the camel was always the most entertaining animal at the ranch. He would follow us around the entire route, eating at least 5 of the 10 bags of food we had. Sadly, he not with us any more.

RIP ALBERT

Puppy Fever

My mom and I share a weakness for cute little animals. If my hubby and I were settled in our forever home I'd probably bring home a puppy or kitten a couple of times a year. If you've been reading my mom's comments over the last couple of days you might be confused. They don't have anything to do with the postings. They are all about ...

These beautiful baby girls are from Penelope's breeder. They have the same mommy as PJ does and a different daddy. Here's their mom, Alison:

And here is their dad, Toby:

This is PJ's dad, Joshua:

Aren't they adorable? And oh-so-hard to resist? Mom wants the little liver colored one and I'd take the black one. That is, if anyone has an extra $1800 they want to spend on us for Christmas!

Christmas Giveaway

Lisa is soooo into this blogging thing. She knows way more than I do and her blog is always so creative. She has a new post today about a Christmas Giveaway at one of her favorite blogs, 5 Minutes for Mom. I have a little extra time today so I am going to enter a couple of the drawings. Why do I have extra time, you ask? Because the boys have the entire week off from school and their dad is home with them. This morning while I was in class he cleaned the house, washed the dishes and finished the laundry. Then he took the boys out to play football and ride bikes. Now they are cleaning the garage. I have homework to do, but I am allowing myself a little break and enjoying the free time. Ok, anyway ... so I have gotten a little off the subject. Most of the stuff is baby stuff so I am not going to just go on their site and enter every little thing. But I am going to enter a couple of them. And who knows?!? ... maybe I'll win. The last time Lisa did one of these things on her blog she won three prizes and had 208 people sign up to win the prize she offered!

So, if you want to enter the contest, or if you want to look so you can have a tiny inkling of a clue about what all of this means, click HERE.

Are We There Yet?

Are we even half way there yet? I'm not. I am at 45 miles .... 55 to go. Looking at the calendar, we are a little more than half way through the challenge. These people need to send a comment so we can see how everyone is doing. Don't give up yet! This is still do-able. Just think how good you'll feel when you can say you walked 100 miles.

The Science Fair

The Science Fair was last week at the boys' school. The 2nd graders complete projects as a class, but were not judged like the 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders are. The teachers encourage them to do something extra at home with their families. My younger redneck in training's class did an experiment to find out what size battery would make the best electromagnet. Our boy was the only kid in his class that did anything extra at home.

Our older redneck in training's experiment was about recycling. He recycled computer paper and newspaper then tested them to judge which one was more durable. His recycled paper looked great, his display board was awesome, his newspaper tree was a great touch, and the free papers he handed out only helped his case ;)

He was judged by three different judges throughout the morning. They looked at his recycled paper, his display, his journal, and asked him various questions about his experiment.

There were several different categories. His project was in the Earth Science category. He won 1st place -- "Best in Category"

They have already started trying to figure out what to do next year. Both boys will be judged next year and our soon-to-be 6th grader will be eligible to go to a district competition. So they'll need to come up with good ideas! If anyone has any ideas feel free to send them our way.

November!

I was just adding pictures to my computer from my camera when I realized it is November! I have been putting pictures into my October folder all month. For 18 days! How did this happen?!? I am either too busy or exhibiting signs of early Alzheimer's. Sadly I think it may be a combination of both. UGH!!

My Tolerance

Or should I say my lack of tolerance? My friend Mandy used to tease me about how low my tolerance for alcohol is. But more than tease me, she did her best to help me conquer this particular problem. Every chance we got (you know, kids' birthday parties, trick-or-treating, etc) we'd throw back a few and work on my problem. She's a true friend!

Well, we've been here in Texas almost a year now. And my problem is back. One time in August we had a few people over and I had two margaritas. Two. I didn't get out of bed until 4:00 the next afternoon.

It has been a heck of a couple of weeks with my projects and the boys projects and we have been very busy. Last night was the end of it. My learning centers were presented last week and their science fair is today. So I asked my darling husband to drop me off and pick me up at the spouse's dinner I went to so that I could enjoy a margarita. I had two. The magic number. After I mentioned something about sneaking alcohol into the Battalion Christmas Party (in front of the colonel's wife by the way) Jennifer started kicking me under the table.

Mandy, what are you going to do about this? Start packing! And you know what kind of packing I mean.

My Learning Centers

I had to create 8 learning centers for one of my classes. I had to think up the ideas, write the lesson plans, and make the centers. On Wednesday we displayed our centers at the college. I am so glad that assignment is behind me. Only 5 weeks to go in the semester!

Wordless Wednesday --Science Fair Project

Classifieds

This ad was in the FOUND section of the classifieds in my local paper. I could not make this stuff up if I tried.

FOUND OCT 28th, 2007 in the 1900 blk. of E. 21st.
One Holstein Bull calf.
Call Animal Services at 657-4225

Before and After

Penelope desperately needed a good grooming. We have been to a groomer here and I was pleased enough with the job they did, but I needed to go to Abilene today so I decided to call Amy Green, PJ's breeder to ask if she could groom her. They live in Tuscola which is on the way to Abilene. Amy came to my rescue today and made PJ look gorgeous again. Here are before and after pictures:

PS. Go here to see PJ's half-brother, Grant. He is so adorable! I met him today and would have taken him home if I had the time to care for another puppy. He was soooooooooooooo sweet!

Trick-or-Treat

Wordless Wednesday