Snow in November?!!!

Last night when we went to bed it was just starting to snow......this morning we woke up to SNOW!!! And COLD!!! But school has NOT been cancelled, so we are off and running!

Everything was soo pretty this morning!!! But, VERY cold!!!

Leah was loving the cold and was busy eating snow!!!

Had to start the car nice and early this morning!!!

They do NOT like to dress in winter clothes, especially RYAN!!!

32* at the bus stop!!!

Driving With The Girls

The Dude in Cammies is coming home soon!  Time for the furry kids to get groomed!  after last experience taking all three at the same time....yep, scratch EVER doing that again unless The Dude in Cammies is with me to walk his dog in!  Jasper literally walked in on his hind legs snapping and jerking his head all over the place! There were just tooo many male dogs in one place for his liking!!! Sooo, Vicki and i took Leah and Bella in together.  Jasper will go by himself in a couple of days. The girls were crazy in the car as usual....Leah talking non stop and fogging up the windows with her heavy breathing and Bella wanting to sit on my head.....always makes for fun driving! But we made it without crashing!!! 

Lunch of Champions

Salad, pomegranates, and tapioca pudding!  That is the lunch of champions, right?! Well, it was really good!!!

Early Morning Tire Light

Lucky me! I started the car this morning and the tire light came on. Yay!!! Not! Sooo, after work i checked all the tires and they all needed air.  The light is off!  I love simple fixes!

Snow in November?!!!

Wow!!! I was putting the dogs out and snow was falling from the sky! We have NEVER had snow in November before! I wonder if any will stick during the night......

Peace On Earth

Vicki and I were listening to Hilary Duffs Christmas CD while i was making breakfast for dinner.  This is one of our favorite Christmas CD's and goes way back to our early Okinawa years......back when the kids watched her show Lizzy McGuire or however you spell it...i think that is write.....we had enough of her stuff around the house! But when her song 
What Christmas Should Be began playing we couldn't help but start dancing around the kitchen! ".....How about peace on earth, it can't be bought or sold. How about peace this Christmas and someones hand to hold. How about love in our hearts and hope for you and me. How about peace on earth. That's what Christmas should be......"
Yep, life is good at Ft Kretschmer, especially when we are having breakfast for dinner and singing Christmas songs with Duff!!!

Where's Waldo?

Vicki and i had fun taking pictures in the cotton fields today.  You can tell it is late Fall as there are pluffs of cotton everywhere in our neck of the woods. Cotton is a big crop where we live and it is sooo pretty! Vicki had ducked down in the field and asked if i could see her.  I couldn't resist making this photo collage of her from the pictures i had on my phone! 

Jump Start Lovers

It happened......we finally had our deployment vehicle breakdown! Lucky for me it happened in our driveway! I went to drive the jeep and it didn't start.  I had just driven it the day before, but probably not long enough to keep the battery alive. Cayce came over and helped us.  I was going to try jump starting it with a You Tube video, but neighbors are awesome in not letting you do things like that.  He hooked everything up and we weren't getting anything better than a click click click. So, we gave up on that and i called my road side assistance.  Our rescuer arrived 30 minutes later.  It was active duty Marine who does this on his days off. It was Veterans Day, so he was off and happy to help a military wife in a rut with a deployed husband far away. He was really nice and let me know that the battery was completely shot and needed to be replaced.  He hooked the jeep up to my car and with his added machinery my car jump started the jeep back to life! But as soon as i took my foot off the pedal it would die.  It would not hold the charge.  UGH! He offered to take it off so i could drive it to a store and get a new battery but i would have to put it on myself or he could follow me most the way to make sure i made it somewhat close to my destination before he had to turn off to his next call.  I managed to get Vicki and i to the Auto Parts store in Richlands without the jeep dying on us. This was no easy task as i could NOT take my foot off the gas pedal even at a stop sign or light! Getting across the freeway was the hardest but we made it! Vicki ran in the store to see if they had one and if they could put it in before i took my foot off the gas!!! They had one and said they would put it in! Yay! $101.00 later the jeep is running again! On a side note the guys working there were, in Vicki's words, 'HOT'! They were really nice too!  

Oreo Party

Yep, we had an Oreo Party at our house tonight, and it was delicious and fun! Love all the holiday editions of fun foods that start coming out this time of year!

Clip On Ties...

The boys wore clip on ties today.  These clip ons are like little, Ryan can get away with it, but Ty, um....not so much.  Ryan always wears his clip on tie when Daddy is away.  He claims he has forgotten how to tie it and i am not going to fight this battle while The Dude in Cammies is gone.  Today when we got in the car to drive to church Ty realized he had forgotten his tie in the house.  He usually ties it while driving to church.  Ryan had forgotten one in the car from last week and it was still sitting there and he was wearing the other one that came from the other white shirt he had outgrown.  Sooo, Ryan joked with Ty about wearing the clip on while i was pulling back into the driveway for him to run in and get it.  Ty decided to wear the clip on.  They would not let me take a picture of them together in their matching ties!  So, this is all there is of a probably once in a lifetime moment of them wearing matching clip on ties at ages 12 & 13! They looked so cute at church in their matching ties, but they of course hated that they matched.... 

Happy 238th Marine Birthday Dad

I have always been amazed by my Dad and what he went thru in Vietnam.  His injuries were severe and he spent months on end recovering in hospitals from Okinawa to Oakland, Ca. He had to work extremely hard to get back in top physical shape to be able to pass the PFT to get back into the Gun club after receiving a medical discharge with his purple heart. He wanted to be a Marine, well an active duty Marine and he did what he needed to do to pass the physical to be active duty again.  This was not easy.  The pain was excruciating over the years, but he never complained and always kept his standards high. He even ran the Mule Mountain Marathon when we were stationed at Ft. Huachuca 20 some odd years after doctors told him he would never run again. I think i owe my high pain tolerance to him as i would have felt pathetic grumbling to him who was keeping the Marine Corps standards while missing part of his leg.  I am honored to be his daughter and grateful for the service he has provided as a United States Marine. Happy 238th Birthday Dad! Love you!!!

A Year Later in Swansboro

A year ago tonight my love and i were at the Tree Lighting in Swansboro.  We were so happy that The Dude in Cammies was able to participate in some holiday festivities before he left for a year on the battlefields of Afghanistan. I love this picture of us.....i wore the same thing i wore last year and took a picture in the same spot.....when he comes home i think we will go take a picture in this same spot....

Next Banners Will Be Ours!!!

Driving down Freedom Way on my way to work today there were sooo many banners tied to the fence line leading up to the gate.  Soo wonderful to see these and know all these Service Members are returning to their families, and just in time for the holiday season!  Love reading all the different things people come up with.  My Marine insists i keep it simple and prefer that there be no banner, but too bad! It's tradition and everyone loves seeing the banners up!!!  I also couldn't help but think that the next banners going up will be for The Dude in Cammies and his team coming home!!!

No More Yard Work 'Till Spring 2014!

Sooo excited that the last cut of the season is done!!! I tease The Dude in Cammies on how he was the one that wanted a big yard, but somehow i am the one that ends up taking care of it!!!  Hmmmmmm.....i guess i would want a big yard too if i never had to do the work!!! Anyways.......the last cut has been done and he might never have to cut this grass again!  he will be gone before Spring comes and might only ever be back to just help me pack out! But the front porch is ready for when he does get back.  We will sit out there on our rockers, me with my hot chocolate and him with his hot cider.  Can't wait!!!

Trexler Football Season Is Over!

Football season is over for Ty! Just in time as it was starting to get pretty cold at those Tuesday Night Lights games! He is also VERY happy to no longer have to do homework late into the night on game nights! Here are just a few photos from the season....his games are covered in the blog 'School, Sports, & Work 2013-2014'  

Getting the equipment off the field after a winning game

Running with the ball on a play at practice

Coming off the field after a game

End of a game

Doing one of the things he does best, not letting whoever he is on
be able to do anything....

Sleeping Beauties

When i left for work this morning these 2 sleeping beauties were in my bed.  Bella did her little "emmm rrrr emmmm errrrr" and looked at me with her cute sleepy eyes.....

Halloween 2013

For the FIRST time EVER my youngest were like "whatever" in regard to Halloween!!!  I couldn't believe it!!!  Less than a week before Halloween Ty had said he wanted to be Santa Clause.....but there was no way i was going to try to get that costume in the mail in time.  We looked around, but there was nothing.....He than decided Halloween day he would go out in his Ghillie Suit and scare people.  So, i was relieved atleast one of the boys was going to dress up.  Ryan insisted he did not want to dress up and wanted to just hand out candy with me.  Than!!!  Ty sees my Tracy costume from Hairspray and decides that he is going to go as Tracy with a growth spurt and weight loss!  I laughed and told him i wished he would have thought of it yesterday as i would have gotten him a slim fast can and put a sign on his shirt that said something like 'Ask me about Slim Fast' or Weight Watchers or any of those things!!! Sooo, Vicki and Ryan handed out candy with me while Ty trick or treated the neighborhood.  He actually did NOT want to go trick or treating but Vicki was yelling at him to "Go get candy because Mom's candy sucked!!!" I laughed and told her i bought 'Mom Candy Tax' candy.  She said what?!!!  I reminder her that parents go thru their kids candy to make sure it is safe and my candy is for the Moms, that is why it is all chocolate!  I had bought 3 Musketeers, Snickers, Milkyways, and M&M's.  She laughed and saif, "ohhhhh, yeah, you always take my chocolate candy because i just want REAL candy!!!" So, that is how Ty ended up going out and trick or treating.  when he got back from our street Vicki insisted he go and bring back more.  I didn't want him going alone to the next neighborhood, so Ryan said he would go with him.  As they were leaving Vicki yells out, "Bring me back some REAL candy!!!" She is a crack up!  The boys were with some of the families from our neighborhood and they brought back some candy for their sister.  People even gave Ryan candy..... We were going to go to the haunted House on base afterwards since our street doesn't see much action, but i didn't feel right leaving Ty alone on Halloween night since he didn't want to go. So, we decided we would go Friday night. It was a fun Halloween but getting sad my kids are outgrowing this holiday.....it is also more fun when The Dude in Cammies is here.....next year he should be with us, but i think Vicki will be gone and Ty and Ryan will definately be too old to Trick or Treat!!!

   

Happily Off To School....NOT!

I asked the boys to give me a quick smile for Dad before they walked out the door to school....this is what I got!

Undercover M&M

Ryan handed me one of his M&M's. I couldn't help but laugh when I looked at it.....than I brought my giggly thought to life in a photo....

I had sent this picture of the green M&M to The Dude in Cammies awhile ago for a giggle and so seeing the blue M&M I just had to laugh and bring her life!

Ending Tradition

Getting our tags for the jeep every year is a pain!!!  It has California plates.  The tags are due in July.  I pay in July, EVERY year!  The check always clears in July. But, tags take forever to come.....This year they arrived in October. I happened to remember to put the tags on the jeep the day they arrived.  I usually forget this step and just put in the glove box and every year The Dude in Cammies gets pulled over for expired tags.  NOT this year!  That tradition has ended and tags are on the jeep!!!

Stop Talking

Ever have one of those days where your guy tells you to just stop talking?  I have.....unorfunately it has happened a LOT!  Mr. Hottie will tell me to just stop before he really starts to worry.   

Pancakes With Sprinkles

Vicki wrote this on her Facebook wall today.....Moms love moments like these.....

I literally have the best mom in the world. When I'm sick she will do anything to try and make me feel better. This morning she told me "I made the pancakes you like with the sprinkles in them" before she left to work. 

I Want HER Hair!!!

Vicki was standing in the backyard and i was quite envious of her hair....i took a picture....  

Falcons Football Finished!

Ryan had a fun football season.  He does great on the line and can fill in for any player when they go down injured.  His funnest moment this season was catching the ball from a kick return.  He didn't have really anywhere to go but he atleast ran forward instead of doing what so many other of his team mates do and run backwards!  Usually we loose a good 15 yards on kick returns with his team mates running backwards before getting tackled!  He caught it, paused to look or maybe just surprised the ball was in his arms, and than ran straight forward and actually gained some yards! Here are a few pictures from the season.  The rest are on the School, Sports, & Work 2013-2014 blog.

Always whistling....

  

Last Evening Colors With Youth Sports

As I stood for evening colors and the sound of the bugle began I realized this might be the last practice I'm ever at with my kids where we stop for the lowering of the flag....in just that tiny moment I remembered countless, like literally in the hundreds if not more beginning on Camp Pendleton in the 90's with Jorden and Miramar Air Station in the early 2000's with Jorden. and than with Ty, Victoria, and Ryan on Okinawa to here at New River Air Station.....watching Ed with all the many little ones he's coached gathered around him on the football, soccer, and baseball fields....all the friends I have stood with at practices all over the globe....and yes, I'm not going to lie, a little tear or two might have fallen....

Late Night Homework

Another late night of homework.....it was chemistry.....it was NOT fun......but we had some giggles while utilizing Google.  Ty is looking forward to football season being done and not having to stay up late after game night doing all of his homework.  These moments remind me that the day is getting closer when i won't have a child with me on the couch or lounging across my bed or sitting at the kitchen table working on homework..... yes, i am going to miss this.....

Bella Wicked

The kids said I looked like my Whitch and Bella was wearing her Wicked shirt. We were quite the pair today

I Can See Clearly Now....

We finally made it in to pick up Ty's glasses. He puts them on, looks around, and starts singing, "I can see clearly now the rain is gone. I can see all obstacles in my way....."

Than he says, "Mom, maybe I will be more observant now" and just cracks up laughing! We have had many discussions on being more observant....

Saturday Morning Lights

We had Friday Night Lights last night at Lejeune's Homecoming Game and Saturday Morning Lights today at Ryan's game.  Ryan did fabulous.  The Falcons lost in overtime and it started to rain.....but Ryan was awesome as always and wishing his brother Ty still played on his team!

Vicki would NOT let me take a picture of her! This was all i was allowed to capture....