Ode to My Family

Contribute 2009: Big help for Small Business

2009-08-24T14:59:00.000-05:00

Turning 9

2009-05-30T08:42:00.004-05:00

Brennon turns 9 in a couple of days, but we had his party before school was over for the year.

He is quite the chocolate lover.... in fact I think all my kids are ;)

Here he is playing the hot and cold game... looking for his presents. The thing I like about playing this is all the kids have a blast helping the birthday boy find his presents.

A silly family pic for daddy!

We miss you lots!

Maine~ first pitstop

2009-04-25T14:39:00.002-05:00

Here is a link to the airport James flew into yesterday. They took lots of pictures and posted them for the families to see. I found him on #27, 97, & 153.

Enjoy!

http://mainetroopgreeters.smugmug.com/gallery/8000656_QZg8r#520260343_fErSx

365 days to go... more or less who knows ;)

2009-04-24T22:06:00.008-05:00

I just got off the phone with James. He is in Bangor Maine, waiting for his next flight. He was telling me how there were people waiting for his airplane to land so they could shake all the soldiers hands. I knew they did things like when the war first started, but didn't realize it still happened. I am so grateful for those people! I am grateful that they went out of their way just to say "Thanks". It really does make a difference for the soldier and their families, to know how much people care.

Before James left, we took a family day at the Zoo. I let the boys take turns with the camera. We had a wonderful day together!

Aiden

Brennon

Conor

Finn

We had such a great time!

For anyone who wants to know James' address in Iraq, just let me know. I will email it to you once I get it.

Easter

2009-04-12T20:18:00.005-05:00

Easter has always been one of my least favorite holidays, only because of how commercialized it has become. It's like a mini Christmas in most homes it seems.

Anyway, this year with James leaving I wanted to make something for the boys that would keep "DAD" close to them. So I cut up old BDU's and made them into Sunday tote bags & filled them with items they can use while at church. Oh and of course they had chocolate bunnies and jelly beans as well.

Now I'm not the best seamstress but here is a picture of the bags. I used old Jeans for the lining, so they are reversible if the boys choose to turn them inside out.

Family Prayer

2009-03-24T22:21:00.006-05:00

We have family prayer every night and the boys are always wanting to say it. Our new thing is to pick whomever is the most reverent to say our prayer. Its amazing how quickly they get quiet, just because they want to say the prayer.

Well Conor was saying the prayer last night and he says some of the same things every time...

Bless me to be good
Bless our house to sell

Bless all the boxes to be gone (guess he is tired of his toys being packed away still)
Bless me to have good dreams

And then sometimes there are the things they pray about that totally catch you off guard!!

Bless mommy to get pregnant (this is where everyone started laughing)

Where the heck did that come from? And why does he want me to be pregnant?

His answer: I want a sister.

I am not sure I can let him pray again any time soon. And NO! I am not pregnant ;).

Spring Break!

2009-03-24T08:49:00.016-05:00

Our Spring Break started out a bit rocky but ended with a blast!

Our original plan was to do some fun stuff the first part of the week, while we waited for James to start his leave and then hit Sea World on Thursday and then camping with our Ward on Friday. However, I am sure you can guess that nothing goes as planned! Conor and Finn both came down with some 24 hour bug. So we canceled our Sea World trip for Thursday and moved it to the next week. It worked out pretty good that way too. James was still busy Thursday with his job at work and couldn't start his leave till the job was 100% done. Everyone was pretty healthy on Friday so we decided that the ward camp out was still on.

I have been very leery to do any camping here in TX, and only because it's not the GREAT NW. Central TX doesn't have too many trees and well that just doesn't make for good camping... so I thought. We had an absolute BLAST! With rain from the previous week, the area we were camping in was nice and green. There was a small pond that had a little creek flowing into it so of course all the kids were trying their best to not get muddy (haha yeah right).

Aiden and Conor helped James get our tent up and they did a great job. After set up and playing we cooked up some hot dogs for dinner and then joined the ward in a camp fire program. All the families had to do a skit of some kind and ours did the Star Wars Gangsta Rap. Aiden and Brennon were the main rappers since they know the song and after a verse or so they had a disagreement on what line was next. It was quite comical and I think the ward enjoyed it. One of my favorite's was the impression of a Rain Drop. After all the skits we headed back to our tents and had SMORES. Finn wanted a smore soo much that when he finally saw what it was, he decided that all he wanted was the chocolate.

With spring break over we are back to daily life. I am still staying up too late so 6:30 am is not my favorite hour of the day. The kids are counting the days down till we go to Sea World this week, so I should have some new pics and adventures later this weekend.

click to enlarge

Has it really been 3 months?

2009-02-07T10:20:00.009-06:00

From the last time I posted till now, lots of things have been happening. So we are going to play catch up today!

When James left to get set up in TX, I pretty much did what I had to do just because I knew the kids had to eat and get to school. Oh and they needed clean clothes... ha ha! James left before Thanksgiving so we made a trip to Grandmas and Granddad's in GA. It was very nice to be with family. The boys had a great time playing with their cousin Bianca. I really wish I would have taken some pictures while we were there. :(

With Christmas we were not sure if James was going to be able to get back to AL, so we headed to Mississippi to hang out with Dave and Amy. We got lucky and James made it Christmas eve morning. The boys were very excited to see him.

Finn turned 3 January 8th.

This is Finn playing the Hot and Cold game to find is Birthday presents. James was in Texas so we had him on speakerphone.

The boys got a couple of games from Aunt Angie for Christmas. One was Scene It Disney and the other was Twister. It was hilarious watching them play twister.

Well we are now in Texas with James. Nope the house hasn't sold yet but with a deployment heading our way, we decided that being together as a family was very important. James found us a house to rent. It is a 2 story so I'm sure you can imagine the boys running up and down the stairs, and claiming this room or that room. We are living pretty close to our old house here in Killeen. The kids are in a different school but seem to like it and their teachers. The school here doesn't give out as much homework, which is something I like! We are in the same ward for church, and James has already received a calling to the Young Men's program. I am sure one will be coming my way soon.

The scout program here is great as well. Aiden and James got to go on a 2 mile hike and camp out last weekend. It got pretty cold during the night but overall they had a great time. Brennon got to build his first pinewood derby car. They had only a week to get it ready for the race but they did it... of course they were installing the wheels about 10 min before we had to leave. Brennon was pretty optimistic about his car and was hoping that it would do well in the race. To all our surprise he came in 1st place.

After we got home Brennon told James : Dad this is the best day of my life as a kid.

Moments ago

2008-11-16T17:57:00.002-06:00

.... James was singing around the house and Finn tells him to stop.
This is normal for Finn, just today in church he was covering his ears and telling me to stop. Granted he probably has reason to tell me but James has a great voice so when Finn tells him to stop it's just to boss him around I think. LOL
Lately we have been telling him that he can't say that.. blah blah blah (I am sure this is what he hears)
So when James told him "No, I'll sing all I want, cause this is my house"
pause....
Finn "No it's mom's house"

Heeeheee isn't he just the cutest?

Turkey Day

2008-11-13T12:57:00.005-06:00

This year, James will not be here on Thanksgiving so we decided to have our own little celebration on Veterans day. It turned out quite nice too. I picked up a 9 lb turkey, and let me tell you I loved cooking that thing. My oven is small and doesn't fit a large turkey very well. I stuffed it with Pepperidge farm's cubed herb seasoned stuffing (red bag), which is by far the best stuffing ever! It has great seasoning already and the cubes keep it from getting too soggy. Other items on the menu were mashed potatoes, green beans, cranberry sauce, apple pie & pumpkin pie (of course).

After talking with Jen, I am including the recipe I use for my Turkey. I originally got it from Martha Stewart, but don't follow it exactly.

Turkey:

Rinse and pat dry
stuff slices of garlic and pats of butter under skin
slather butter all over turkey skin
sprinkle with salt and pepper
tie legs together if not already done
stuff with stuffing

Basting the turkey:

2 layers of cheese cloth cut to cover breast and legs (can be found in the fabric department at walmart if not in the cooking area)
1/2 cup butter
1/2 bottle white wine (if you don't want to use wine, chicken broth can be used instead)

In a pan melt butter and add wine. Soak cheese cloth and then place over the turkey.

Put turkey in preheated oven of 350. Every 30 min use baster to wet cheese cloth. Once you use all the butter and wine mixture, baste turkey with juices from the pan. My 9 lb turkey took 3 hours to cook stuffed. Here is a great site with cooking times for your Turkey.

When the turkey is done, use juices to loosen the cheese cloth. Move turkey to your serving dish and let sit while you prepare gravy and other items.

Gravy:

The wine mixture with turkey juices make a wonderful gravy. Very flavorful. I have a measuring cup that separates the fat from the juices, if you don't have one I suggest getting one ;)

In a pan pour in turkey juices and bring to a boil. Mix 2 tablespoons of flour with 2-3 tablespoons of water. Make sure it's not clumpy. With a whisk pour in mixture till it starts to thicken, you may need to make more if you want it thicker.

Well that's pretty much it. Let me know if you try this recipe :)

Enjoy!

Halloween

2008-11-05T22:42:00.003-06:00

This year I told the boys that they had to find stuff here at the house for costumes. Aiden used his old baseball uniform and went as an undead ball player. He had way too much fun! Brennon went as Darth Vader. Conor used Aiden's old army uniform and went as a soldier. Finn went as a fireman.

We started out at the YMCA, but with so many people there we went to one of the neighborhoods by our house and had a great time. Aiden and Conor were running from door to door faster than Finn and Brennon. Brennon stayed behind most of the time to help Finn knock on the door. Finn had such a great time. Just the way he said "Trick or Treat" would score him extra candy.

Hair Cut

2008-11-05T22:36:00.002-06:00

Toph had a special day at the groomers. I have tried to trim her myself but with a wiggly puppy, it has never turned out like this. I'm not sure she liked it too much. We got there as they were pulling hair out of her ears... ouch!! But now the hair is out of her eyes and she smells so nice.

I just love how Toph looks after her hair is all done ;)

Flight School Graduation

2008-11-01T08:19:00.003-05:00

October 30, 2008 is the day James graduated from flight school.

Here I am pinning on James' wings.

James is now an Army Aviator.

I'll get somemore pictures up of this day a bit later...

Princess for a night

2008-10-31T13:08:00.017-05:00

Wednesday was the graduation Ball. James and I had a wonderful night. If you have ever been to a military ball then you will already know how things went, if not.... let me tell you ;)

It started with me getting my hair done (James insisted). I had the hair lady do little curls all over the back. It turned out quite pretty. When school got out we took the boys to a friends for the evening. With time running out I had to hurry and get ready... thank goodness I didn't have to do anything with my hair ;) We had to be there at 5 pm for social hour, which was a new experience for me. I only knew a few people, but made it through one hour of chatting away with strangers. We also had our pictures taken and should get them back in a few weeks. I sure hope they turned out nice. So after social hour it was time to go through the receiving line. Now this is so we can meet and say hi to the guys in charge, their wives and guest speaker. I can only remember one of the wives names... Heather.

After the receiving line we waited and talked to people by our table. I guess the rule is to wait for the guy in charge to sit first. But before he sits, we paid our respects to the POW's. It was a very moving tribute. I can't help but get emotional when I hear taps. Then the soldiers did a few different toasts which ended with toasting the ladies, and finally we get to sit :) Before dinner is served though, the men presented all the wives with an honorary diploma for helping our guy get through flight school and a set of wings. James got me a beautiful necklace with wings. I remember seeing other wives with wings before and thought "oh how pretty". I am very excited to have my own now.

We finally get to eat dinner. The rolls were the favorite for everyone. James and I had the chicken cordon bleu, and cheese cake was served for dessert.

As dinner ended we watched a class video. It was nice to see some pictures of James doing his job. I was even able to pick out which chin and helmet were his.

We had a great guest speaker. I don't remember his name but he was a Colonel and he had a great sense of humor. He spoke to the graduates about how they need to be great examples, and to respect the soldiers they are in charge of. I really enjoyed his speech.

The rest of the evening was about awards for this or that. James took a few pictures with friends and when the coast was clear (the high ranking guys gone home) we decided to head home too.

1LT Booher & James

James, 1LT Wagnild & 1LT Booher

James & WO1 Avalos

Isn't James so handsome in his dress blues...

My little Punks!!

2008-10-28T14:31:00.003-05:00

All weeks is Drug free week and today is Crazy hair day. The boys had a great time doing their hair. I think

I have my very own Punk Rock band ;)

I know... I'm behind ;)

2008-10-26T21:06:00.003-05:00

So I am a little slow on getting things posted this month. As you can see it was Aiden's birthday on the 9th... which brings me full circle on my blog. I went ahead and uploaded all of my blogs for this last year and made it into a book which I will get next month.
Hmm so what else have I missed? James and I celebrated our 12th anniversary on the 12th ;) I'm not to far behind on this one, but Conor just got tubes put in on Friday. He was very brave. The Dr. asked if he was scared and he said No... He says he hears better but I guess we will see how things are in a couple of weeks.
I think that's about it for now. We have a big week ahead of us. James will be graduating from flight school and we will have lots of family in town to help celebrate.
Guess I'll cya on the flipside ;)

Arrow of Light!

2008-10-26T19:16:00.003-05:00

This last Wednesday our Scout troop had an Arrow of Light ceremony for two of our WEBELO boys. Aiden being one of them ;) Anyone ever in scouts as a boy or a leader will know that this award is hard work. I have been the WEBELO's leader for about 9 moths now and am so happy to see Aiden and Ben receive their Arrow of Light, which is one award they can keep on their uniform when they cross over to Boy scouts.

After the Arrow of Light ceremony, it was time to watch Aiden cross over into the Boy Scouts. James and I got to walk him to the middle of a bridge where the boy scouts were waiting for him and they walked him to the other side and welcomed him to the Boy Scouts. Unfortunately we didn't get any pictures of this part lol oh well.

Here are all our Cub scout boys reciting the oath and law of the pack

Here is Ben pinning his mother and receiving his Arrow of Light

Here is Aiden pinning me and receiving his Arrow of Light.

So 1 down and 3 more to get through cub scouts... 9 more pine wood derby cars to make LOL!!

He's home

2008-10-06T08:49:00.005-05:00

Can I say Woooo Hooo!!! The boys are just as excited. James had a long 3 weeks at SERE school but says that it's the best military training he's been to so far.
Anyway, I wanted to just let everyone know that we are almost done with our stay here in Alabama. It's been a great 2yrs and I will be excited for the time we can come back.
Right now Jame's Graduation date is October 30th. He is going in this morning to make sure he is starting his last class this week. If for some reason he isn't in this week's class I will let everyone know the new graduation date.
Oh and for those who haven't heard, we are on our way back to FT HOOD TX. It gets us a few days closer to the NW and we already have friends there. The kids are excited to see some old friends (if they are still there). We aren't sure when we will be headed that way, mostly because of our un-sold house here but thinking mid Nov. early Dec.

Oh let me know if you are coming to the Graduation so I can send out emails about times and stuff.

#8

2008-10-02T16:59:00.004-05:00

I didn't get much done today other than organizing...

Before:

After:

I really do like those space bags. I was able to get rid of the sizes my boys don't wear any more then put the rest into the bags. I just love to see them squish down as the air is sucked out.

#6&7

2008-10-01T23:17:00.008-05:00

Well today I cleaned out the shed... unfortunately the garbage won't be put out till next Tuesday. But hey I got all the spider webs all swept out.

As for this guy..... our resident banana spider

I am tooo afraid to get rid of him. He is hanging above the shed. I hope James gets home before the open house.

So I guess my count goes up by 2 today with:

#6 donating to goodwill. Finn prefers to walk anyway.

#7 we replaced almost all the light fixtures when we moved in, so these have been taking up space in the garage...

Declutter #1-5

2008-09-30T18:51:00.006-05:00

Well my friend Amy really started something.... and it was Dana who said I should blog my progress.

With moving in the near future and an open house even closer I need to get rid of some things. I started with the garage yesterday. I had some Laundry soap containers (full of soap) melt on the wire shelving and leek soap all over the garage. So after I cleaned the mess up I got rid of all the other containers (they were free and i wasn't using them). This would be my #1

#2 & 3 are an old swiffer that hasn't been used the whole 2yrs we have lived here and a car seat that Finn has grown out of.

#4 & 5 are clothes that Finn no longer wears. The box is going to my Sister in Law and one pile to goodwill and other to garbage due to stains or holes.

Tomorrow is the shed and the toys if I can bring myself to go through those LOL

Getting out

2008-09-26T16:19:00.003-05:00

James' flight buddies had a get together a couple of weeks ago. We got to go without the kids, which was a first for us in a long time.

However, before we left for out date, I was desperate for something to wear. Due to my hair all wet, I asked James to go buy me something. A little worried while he was out I finished my hair and makeup. On his way home he called and ask "will you please have an open mind?" A bit hesitant I said yes. I mean you can't beg your husband to go buy you something and get a upset after he does.... right?

OK, so instead of just one he bought me 3 new shirts. SCORE!! And they were actually very nice. The one I wore out that nigh actually made me laugh at first. It was straight out of the 80's. Maybe something Cybill Shepard would have worn in Moonlighting. After trying it on and liking how it looked, James made me pose for a picture.

So, I just wanted to let you see what my husband bought me. I think I will have him buy all my clothes from now on. LOL

KIDS

2008-09-22T17:49:00.003-05:00

...really do say the darnedest things!

So I am just sitting at my computer when I hear this conversation:

Brennon: you know George Lucas is really old. He was born in the nineteen's.

I was completely amazed at how old I felt after that. LOL

Happy Birthday

2008-09-17T09:26:00.007-05:00

I have been remembering and thinking of Billy lots lately. I am sure all who care for him are doing the same today.
Just this morning I was thinking of a time when the kids and I visited California. I didn't get to see much of Billy while I was there, but what I remember was his crazy hair.

I didn't get a chance to see all these hair styles in person, but I think Billy enjoyed standing out in a crowd.

Happy Birthday Billy
Love you lots <3

On the market

2008-09-05T08:28:00.003-05:00

Just wanted to share our excitement with the house being on the market. Haven't had any lookers yet but what do you expect in the first 12 hours. lol
Anyway take a look at our house