Happy New Year

So it's 8:30 and I'm ready for bed. I am so tired. How sad is it that I don't think I'm going to make it to 12:00! Oh well, the new year will still be here when I wake up!!! Lane is already in bed and Logan is watching the Jungle Book. I'm waiting for Aaron to get on the computer. He told me last night when he called that he was going to be starting MWR guard tonight and I thought he would already be online...but he's not. Oh well, he can wake me up when he gets on! Today was a pretty good day at work. Busy, but still good. I am ready for my off day tomorrow! Logan must have had a good day at school because when I picked him up he asked if he could come back tomorrow. Lane always has a good day because Heather spoils him rotten! But I'm off to sleep....hope you all have fun bringing in the new year!

Catch up

I haven't written in a few days mainly because when I got off work last night I was way too tired. So I ended up going to bed at 9:30! That was nice. On Sunday I didn't do much of anything. I had planned to go to Walmart but I never made it. It was just way to cold. On Monday morning as I was ready to leave for work I remembered that Logan's carseat was in Aaron's car. So I head out to get it only to find that the doors were frozen shut. Just my luck! So I strap Logan into the regular seat (he normally just uses a booster). Yes I know I probably broke the law but I didn't have a choice. While at work I remembered that the other night the hatch was frozen so I was having to pop the glass door part on the hatch so I was thinking that might still open. So I try it and no luck...everything on the Explorer is frozen shut! So again this morning I had to leave without Logan in his booster but thankfully Heather said she had an extra I could use. I was ready to go buy one at Walmart but I really didn't want to go when it was -42. Yes it was freezing today and yesterday. I heard it was going to be -60 on Friday. I will be home all day if it is! My poor car doesn't know what to think of this weather. I had it plugged in at work today but even after letting it warm up for a while it was still freezing when I went to leave. I got the boys picked up and when we got home I was going to check the mail...just then the car started to act funny so I just drove straight into the garage. I'm hoping it was just really cold and I need gas and sometimes the gas can freeze if there isn't much in the tank. So hopefully the garage will thaw it all out and I can just head straight to the gas station in the morning. I'm crossing my fingers!

Logan ended up staying at Heather's on Monday. Her kids are home from school so she asked if he could stay and play. He loved it. He went to school today though. Lane on the other hand...was blue when I picked him up. Heather said she caught him trying to eat a blue marker so his hands and mouth are shaded blue. I think this one is going to be my handful! He has already proved to be quite the demanding little one!

I got some bad news tonight. My Granny, my real Dad's mom, was in a very bad car wreck. She is in ICU and not doing good at all. I really feel helpless because I feel like I should be doing something but there is nothing I can do from here. I hate living so far away from my family. Every since my Dad died I have drifted a lot further away from his side of my family and I hate that. I can't blame anyone other than myself for that but it hurts. I think about them all a lot and I'm sure they think I'm a horrible person but I'm awful at keeping in touch with everyone. I have to admit though it is hard for me to be around my Dad's family. His brothers, especially one of them, look just like him. And when I see him it almost brings me to tears. It just makes those old wounds feel fresh again. I really do love them all and hope that when we moved closer it will make everything easier for everyone to be together. My Granny and I have managed to talk from time to time. We have written to each other and called a few times but I haven't seen them all in forever. Well since before moving here. 2 years ago! Please keep her in your prayers. She has always been the backbone of that family and they all lean on her so much.

Aaron called this morning. He was doing good. He was just calling to check in since he had not been able to call in a few days. It was really nice to hear his voice even though it was only for a few minutes. I miss him so very much...has it been a year yet?!?!?!?!

Well Lane is in the floor shredding a piece of paper that he fished out of somewhere into a million different pieces. So before it gets any worse I'm going to close. One more day of the work week!!

Productive Day!!!!!

Finally I had a day where I feel like I've made some progress. I cleaned the downstairs (still have a little to do though). And I mean cleaned...rubber gloves on and hand in the toilet making it sparkle clean! The water here is really hard so it seems like no matter how often I clean the toilet there is a ring the next day. But I found this thing at Walmart and its for toilets (and other stuff too I'm sure). It's this stone with a spoonge on the end. Well it scrubs every little stain right off! I'm going to get another one so I can use it in the kitchen...I'm thinking it's not a good idea to use the one I used on the toilet in the kitchen...hehe! But anyway, since the neighbor got the snow off Aaron's car I decided to make the most of it. I plugged it in...yes in Alaska you have to plug your car in when it's really cold. You put these heaters on your car's engine and it keeps everything from freezing. Did you know that motor oil freezes at -10. Well it was -28 for the high yesterday so you got to do something. So back to the story, I plugged the car in and let it warm up. It cranked right up but it sounded horrible. Finally after running for a while the noise went away and the car warmed up. I had to beat ice off around the windshield wipers and get carseats in there. One of Logan's old ones was in there but changing Lane's carseat is a feat in itself so I decided to just move Logan's booster into the Explorer. You would have thought I hurt the boys best friend. "No that's my carseat!" I mean come on, really? It a baby carseat...5 point harness and all. But he loves it for some reason. I wasn't caving though, my fingers had already been frozen and thrawed out way to many times and I was not going to change out that stinking carseat. So he got over it. The Explorer was almost out of gas so we all prayed to make it to the gas station. We did and then went to the car wash to get all the ice off the car. I swear the guy spent 10 minutes spraying all the ice and snow off. I mean there had just been 16 inches on it the day before! So finally the outside of the car is cleaned off so now if I can just get the inside of the car cleaned out then I can put a for sale sign in the window.

Between the cleaning and doing the car stuff I called my mom. While on the phone with her the door bell rings and it's the postman with 6 boxes from my mom and the movies I ordered way before Christmas from the Disney Movie Club. Guess they will be birthday presents! Mom was so excited but yet mad because apparently there are 4 more boxes yet to come and those are the "big" boxes with most of the toys in it. So we got on the webcam with them and opened them up. They really enjoyed watching the boys. Lane wouldn't leave the computer alone so he would get right up in the camera and smack the keyboard. The boys got a ton of clothes and they each got house shoes and gloves. Logan got a cute blanket that he loved. I got two pairs of PJs and a shirt. A pretty journal and a craft tool kit. I love that thing. Oh and this huge Alabama bag that I'm sure will get tons of use. Logan got an Alabama shirt that he put on right away along with a pair of wind pants. The kid didn't match for anything but that's what he wanted to wear to town so I let him! When we got home the four other boxes were here. And mom was right, they are huge. But company was on the way so we couldn't open them then and mom and Scotty were headed to our family Christmas this morning. So Logan is about to go crazy waiting to open these boxes. I'm sure they will be worth the wait though!!!!

We had the Curry's over for dinner last night so that the kids could exchange gifts. They all had fun running around and being loud. When they were getting ready to leave Joey was getting tired and wanted his blanket that he calls his neni (that's how it sounds anyway!). Well when he gets it he wraps it around his fingers and sucks his thumb. So Logan being the Potter boy that he is makes fun of him. He grabs his blanket (the new one from his Grammy) and copies him. Such a little turd!

Day after Christmas

So since I've always heard that the day after Christmas has some really good sales, the neighbor and I decided that we would go. Our plan was to leave the older boys, her son is 4 almost 5, with her husband and she and I would take the little ones, her daughter is one day older than Lane. But the boys decided they wanted to go so off to Walmart we all went. Her hubby took Logan and Wyatt off to look around and I did some shopping for Logan's birthday, January 18. I decided to buy him a new TV since the one that is in his play room was mine when I was like 10 and it's only a 13 inch TV. You can barely see the thing and after watching it for any length of time it makes my eyes hurt. He is prefectly happy with it but I wanted to do something special for him. I found a 19" flat screen LCD for a good price so I got it. When I told Aaron that I got it he thought I was crazy for a second but when I explained my reasoning he agreed it was a good idea. Plus we can hang this one on the wall so it will be out of way. The only other thing I am going to get him for his birthday is a bean bag chair. There is a store here where you can make your own. He has been asking me all year for a spiderman birthday so I think I'm going to get him the spiderman bean bag chair. It's really cute. And then he has a cute little chair to watch his new TV in. So after Walmart Logan begged to stay with the neighbors. They were going to another store and they said they didn't mind taking him with them. So he went with them and I came home to put Lane down for a nap. When he was napping I finally shoveled my driveway and half way knocked some snow off Aaron's Explorer. I did as much as I could until my fingers started hurting so bad that I couldn't move them so I came in and put together this new shelf that I bought, of course after my fingers thawed out! It was really cheap but I needed a small bookcase so this works wonderfully!

I haven't quite finished loading it down but I do have my Twilight Series on there!!!! After the neighbor's got home I waited for Lane to wake up before heading over. They had invited me to come over to eat left overs...that dinner they made was so tasty! I ended up waking Lane up cause he had slept for almost 3 hours. When I got over there Logan still didn't want to come home. He was having a good time and they had bought him a couple of little toys. Finally I got him to head home. As we were walking over I notice that all 16" of snow was off Aaron's Explorer a feat that I've been putting off for way to long. It was my great neighbor who was out shoveling his driveway. He told me I shouldn't have shoveled mine earlier because he was planning to do mine as well. I was so happy and I couldn't thank him enough. Now if I can just get that thing cleaned out then hopefully I can get it sold! We didn't do to much here at the house. I ended up getting on the computer with Cori (my neighbor) and talking about Logan's birthday cake. She makes these beautiful cakes and she has offered to do Logan's. With all the cake talking, now I'm wanting to learn how to do them. She says it's easy but I think she means its easy for her. Not to sure mine will turn out but I'm going to try sometime. I found some that I really like and she swears it will be pretty simple. There is one that she and I want to make this summer and have a little cookout. (I'm sure most of it will be her work!) It's super cute. However in all our talking we have decided to have Lane and her daughter's first birthday together. She already had her cakes picked out so now our hope is for me to make one for the party too. We have a ton of ideas but I'll talk more about those later. I don't want to jinks myself! But I'm super excited. I'm putting these pictures down here just because Lane is such a cutie in this picture and I'm still in awe of my flowers. Hope you all enjoy your day. We are off to brave the -29 degree weather!

My flowers are still blooming. Every morning I wake up to find another one has bloom. And they still smell soooo good! This is one that opened up Christmas morning:

Blog award!

Well I should have done this a while ago but I'm just now getting around to it. It seems like I never have a spare minute so when I write on this it's only to write what I set this blog up for...to recap my day for Aaron to read! But since starting I've found it to be a lot of fun and it proved to be a very resourceful tool to connecting with some great friends. So since some have already given me blog awards, I want to take a minute and let you all know how much I appreciate you all and all the kind words you have left for me.

#1. Brooke H. I have known who Brooke was for years but only in the past year have we really gotten to know more about each other. Brooke is above all a Christian, a wife, a mother, and a school teacher. She may not realize it but some of her writings either here or on myspace really inspire me. She is so proud of the things God has done and is doing in her life and she is not afraid to stand up and tell the world what God has done for her. Brooke has gone through a lot in life and she has always stood up for what she believed most in and followed her heart. I praise her for that and wish her all the best in life! She has such a beautiful family.

#2. Brooke T.(C.!) Brooke and I go way back to our high school church days. In fact Brooke and I share a very special moment together...we were saved and baptised on the same day! Over the years we lost touch but when she was living in Alaska where we got stationed we picked right back up where we left off. Brooke and Logan became instant buddies and Aaron and Brooke's fiance hit it off really quick! They left us last year thanks to wonderful Army relocating but we still miss them tons. Aaron has said many times, "Those are the kind of friends I want to be around. I just don't met many people like them." We always have so much fun with you guys and we love you both so very much. I can't wait til we live close again and we can all sit around laughing and watching our kiddos (including yours yet to come) run around! Miss you bunches!

#3. Aishlea. Aishlea and I are actually cousins on our mom's side. Take one look at those two and you can tell they are related! We also used to go to church together. Aishlea and I haven't talked for years thanks to me moving around all the time but she found me on here and I can't wait for us to catch up again. Aishlea is such a sweetheart and always has a smile on her face. She has recently gotten married and though I haven't met him, I'm sure he has to be a great guy to be lucky enough to be with her.

I love you all!

Christmas Morning

Christmas morning ended up being pretty nice. Every year Aaron is the first to wake up. I swear he gets more excited about Christmas morning than kids do. Even before Logan was old enough to really enjoy Christmas Aaron would have me, and who ever else was in the house with us, up and ready to open presents as early as he could get himself up. And this year turned out to be no different. The phone rang at 7:30AM and it was Aaron wanting to know if we had opened presents yet. I told him no that both boys and me were still sleeping. So he tells me to get them up! I walk into their room to find Lane standing up in bed and Logan was slowly waking up. I'm guessing the phone woke them up. Logan's first question was, "Did Santa come to my house?" I told him I didn't know but he would have to go check. Before he ran downstairs I came down and started the camcorder so that Aaron would be able to watch the whole thing later. So we all came downstairs together...with Aaron with us on the phone. We opened presents and I relayed to Aaron what was going on. It wasn't as nice as it would have been having him here but it was the best it could possibly have been considering the situation. Here a few of my favorite pictures. Neither of my boys is too sure which toy to play so they've been going back and forth all day!

Here is everything all layed out the way Santa put it!
I think Lane is trying to say thank you. As soon as I put him down he crawled straight to this...

This is when Logan opened his Nintendo DS. Can you tell he's excited! He's been waiting this for a while...One of his cheapest toy yet one of his favorite...he calls it his Stryker (which is the vehicle Aaron rides on for work)...
Lane playing with his Crazy Legs Learning Bug...this thing is pretty cute! Logan loves playing his guitar...I really hope I can find someone to teach him how to play. He loves music!!!

Hope you all have a wonderful Christmas. We are going to head over to the neighbor's house to have Christmas dinner. I can't wait, I'm starving!!!!!

Pictures from Christmas Eve

Here are some pictures from our Christmas Eve get together over at Amy's.

Logan loves on Sarah...

Lane was trying to sneak a drink of Abby's milk...

Laner bug looking cute...

Me and Lane...he was so tired...

And my favorite picture from the night...he was standing all by himself as long as he could feel my fingers touch him...when I moved them away he would sit down!

Christmas Eve

Tonight we went to Amy's to celebrate Christmas. We had a good time but it was sad not having the guys there making tons of noise and driving us crazy. We had so much food and all we kept saying was, "wish the guys were here to eat all this food!" We girls just sat around and talked and the kiddos all played. Mine started getting tired so we headed home. Now they are in bed and I'm giving them a little time to fall asleep so I can wrap. I dread it. Not just because I have so much to wrap but because I'm doing it alone. Not that Aaron would be helping me wrap...but that's he's not here to talk to me while I'm doing it. He's not here to help me set everything up. He not here to eat the cookies and drink the milk. I'm doing my best to not let the tears start because I'm not sure when they would stop and I owe it to my boys to get everything ready in enough time for me to get some sleep so that I'm up when they are ready to get up. The house is just so quite. The last time Aaron deployed he came home for R&R on Christmas Eve. Talk about a great present. We didn't think he was going to get here until the day after even though he was suppose to be here on the 17th. He called the night of the 23rd to tell me to pick him up at the airport the next morning! That time it had been 8 months since I had seen him. But this time around him coming home now would have just made things harder. He's only been gone 3 months and Logan is still having a hard time adjusting. So if we can just hold out til July (when we are thinking he will get his R&R) then we are thinking everything will go better. Wow, that will be 10 months without see him...I think I can do...well, I know I can do it, I just don't have to like it!

Aaron called last night around 11:30PM. I was sound asleep...so much so that for a minute I couldn't figure out how to work the phone. Thankfully I did and got to hear his wonderful voice. We talked for a little while. He didn't even realize it was already Christmas Eve for him. My 11:30PM is his 11:30AM. I had to tell him that the next time he woke up it would be Christmas morning! Guess he's pretty busy. He did say that all the guys were getting tons of packages so that's good. He made me promise not to send anymore snack food for a while. He's trying to eat better and get in better shape. He's so much better at that stuff than I am. I love eating tons of faty food and have no self discipline to eat healthy. He hates that I have a mountain dew in the morning for breakfast! :) I love it! Good thing my parents passed along good genes or I would be as big as a house! Speaking of parents, my mom is getting her webcam hooked up so we are going to open presents "with" them tomorrow. So after we do our presents from Santa we will get on the computer with Grammy and Papaw. I can't wait to see my mom's reaction to her gift. I got her this beautiful red trench coat. She's going to love it. This will be my 3rd Christmas in a row away from my family. Wish I could say it gets easier but I can't. I miss them all so much. I'm just crossing my fingers that next year we will be A LOT closer to home! Well sometime tomorrow I will load some pictures from tonight but for now I'm going to get busy here. Merry Christmas!

A Surprise for ME!!!!

While at work today...I was actually in surgery...the girl from up front walks to the door...I was doing anesthesia so I'm able to walk around a little unlike when I assist the doctor and I'm up in the patient's mouth with all my full surgery gear on...anyway...just trying to give you idea of the scene...and she holds the flowers up so that I can see them. My mouth dropped and I asked her if those were for me. She said yes and told me to come get the card and she would put the flowers on the nurses station. So I grabbed the card and sniffed the flowers. They smell soooooo good. The card was so sweet and it's was signed, "Love, Aaron!" I was almost in tears! He completely made my day. All day today when I would walk by the flowers I would have to stick my nose in them to get a good whif of them. You should have seen me driving home trying to hold on to them all while trying not to slide all over the road! I made it and the flowers look so beautiful sitting on top of my table. And the make the house smell wonderful. Logan said, "I like your flowers," and he smiled so big when I told him they were from Daddy. Such a wonderful surprise. My hunny melts my heart!!!

After work the boys and I went to Amy's so that her kids and ours could exchange present. We had gotten the boys the same gift cause they always tend to want what the other has. Well not only did they NOT fight over it...they didn't play with them except for like 2 minutes! We had gotten them the hulk mask that lights up and some cars. Well they spent most of the night running around upstairs play fighting. Those two are so funny! Lane and Abby were both completely afraid of the hulk mask. Both of them would cry when they saw it. Poor babies! Lane didn't have any interest in opening his present. Not even with the paper. Actually he played with a water bottle while I opened his gift for him. He did however chase some of the balls around at one point during the night. But it was a good night and now we are home. Lane is in bed and Logan is about to head that way. I really need to do some wrapping but I'm so tired. I just want to sleep!!!!

My Christmas present!

Aaron calls last night to tell me thanks for his PSP. I was so excited that he finally got it and that he got before Christmas. He wasn't expecting it at all. So I guess he decided that since he got his presents early then I should be able to get mine early. He said, "so do you want to open your gift now?" Of course I said yes. Even thought I knew what it was, it was still nice to try it on. It's just as great as it looked in the magazine and it fits perfectly. I LOVE it!!!!! And the back:

So I got to wear it to work today and show it off!

Last night I couldn't fall asleep for some reason. The last time I looked at the clock it said 1:30 AM. Well my alarm goes off at 5:30 AM so needless to say I didn't want to get out of bed and after working my butt off all day I can barely hold my eyes open.

Oh but I have to share this, when I was getting Lane out of the car to take him into Heather's, Logan was telling Lane bye like he does every morning and I said to Lane, "tell brother bye," and he waved for the first time. It was so cute. He was shaking his whole arm. He had the biggest smile on his face and you could tell he knew what he was doing. When I told him bye he waved at me too! I was so proud. He's growing up so fast!

Well I'm off to bed before I fall asleep setting up!

Santa Claus House

Here's a little information for those of you who don't know. There is a little town near where we live that is called North Pole. The town really plays on it's name all the way down to their street lights which are shaped like candy canes. Most of the streets have Christmasy names. And you can't have the North Pole without Santa. Santa's house is located on Santa Claus Lane. How fitting! It is a little gift shop that is open pretty much year round. They have an RV park for the summer visitors but as you can guess, Christmas is a very busy time for them. You should google the place sometime. It's pretty neat. Most letters that are addressed to "Santa" end up here at the Santa Claus House. And their workers try to answer as many as they can. I have a friend who works there answering letters and she loves her job. They definately play a big part in keeping Christmas real for a lot of children. They also have an ice park there right now but since it was -17 today we passed on that.

So since our first Christmas here we have gone there to have our picture made with Santa. The other two years Santa has looked a little different but he's still Santa! Logan has never been a big Santa fan. Oh he loves to look at him from a far but he has never wanted to sit with him or talk to him. The past two years I have told him that if he doesn't talk to Santa then Santa won't know what to bring him so I have gotten a few words out of him but nothing to really talk about. Lane is usually a very friendly baby and has never had a problem with people holding him so I thought that at least he would sit with Santa. So when our turn came Logan was covering his eyes and didn't want to sit with him. So Santa tells me to sit on the step and let Logan sit with me. I told Santa that I thought Lane would let him hold him but as soon as I put Lane in his lap he started screaming.

So Santa hands him back and we tried again. I wasn't really wanting to be in the picture but in order to get a picture of the boys even near Santa I had to. I just wish Aaron had been there to make the picture complete!

His voice makes me smile

Well Friday was pretty uneventful. Me and the boys just stayed home the whole day and did a lot of nothing. I picked the house up a little but by the end of the day it looked the same way it did in the morning! Logan and I did watch the movie Fred Claus. It was pretty cute.



Today we sat around and watched movies again. Watched Hancock...loved it! I turned on another movie but didn't really watch it. It wasn't really my kind of movie. I think it was called Tropic Thunder or something like that. Some Ben Stiller movie. Should have known! After the boys had their naps we got ready to go to Amy's. We picked up McDonald's for all of us and headed over to her house. The boys were playing and Abby and Lane were playing together. Those two are going to be a real handful when Lane starts walking. You can just tell they are scheming together. They are too cute though. The older two were playing soldiers. They were running around screaming and yelling "yes sergeant!" They had their guns and were killing the bad guys. They both want to be just like their dad. Not sure how good of a thing that is! :)



Aaron called while Amy and I were watching Hancock...yes I watched it again! He had gotten one of his Christmas presents. A blanket my friend Penny made. It's so pretty and it has pictures of me and the boys on it.


I'm hoping his other gift is there. I insured it so he said that it might be in another place where he has to go sign for it. He was going to go check when we got off the phone. I told him to have someone take pictures when he opens it cause I want to see his reaction. He thought this was the craziest thing he had ever heard but maybe I will get lucky. I know he's not expecting it at all. I hope he likes it as much as I think he will. He also got my stockings I put together for all his guys. I'm guessing he started handing them out for me cause when I was leaving Amy's her hubby called and said thank you for his candy. My mom sent a big box of Christmas presents that I got in the mail yesterday. There was a huge Victoria Secret box that had a card on it that said "Merry Christmas, Love Aaron." I have a pretty good idea what it is since there was only one thing that I told him I wanted for Christmas. In fact I showed him a picture of it in a magazine before he even deployed and I've made sure to drop hints in the past few months so that he wouldn't forget. In fact I think my exact words were, "there better be a beautiful coat from Victoria Secret under the tree on Christmas morning." Of course I was joking with him but he always comes through for me and he always does whatever he can to make me happy. I want to open so bad but he said I have to wait. Which I don't think is very fair. He got to open his gifts! But anyway, hearing his voice was very nice. I can't wait for him to call back so we can have a good long conversation. These little short calls are just a tease. I don't have enough time to remember all the things I want to tell him and I end up getting off the phone and THEN thinking of million things I wanted to tell him. But he said he would try to call tomorrow so I'll be waiting!

Busy week

Well yesterday morning Aaron called just a little before the alarm clock went off. He said they had been out on missions and had come in to get supplies and then they were heading back out. They have been sleeping outside :( He loves all that crazy stuff but I worry about that stuff. He was in good spirits and was laughing. It's always so nice to hear his voice. Logan woke up when the phone rang and he came and climbed in bed with me. He actually talked to Aaron on the phone for a minute which never happens. He didn't talk long but still he talked. My phone call was way to short but I'll take whatever I can get!

Work was just as crazy as the day before. I ended the day with 10 1/2 hours and no real lunch break. I managed to down a cold piece of pizza around 2 but coffee was my main meal of the day. I felt bad leaving the girls early again especially since I'm off on Thursdays and Fridays so Amy picked Logan up for me. I ended up getting off at 6:30. I picked Lane up and headed to Amy's. We stayed there til about 9. When we got home we all went straight to bed.

It was so nice to sleep in...well if you call 7:30 sleeping in. We had breakfast and we were all sitting around when the phone rang. It was work asking me if I could come in. I asked Logan if he cared and he agreed that if he got a sucker he would go to school! So we got dressed and Lane went to Heather's and Logan went to school. Work was busy but with the girls I work with we always manage to find fun in the day. So it wasn't to bad and it passed the time. My next paycheck is going to awesome!!!! I told them I had to leave no later than 4:30. So I was out the door and off to get the boys. We decided to rent some movies and pick up KFC for dinner. I finally had a chance to call my mom...she had called two days before and I still had not had a chance to call her back...I'm surprised she had not sent the police to my door to check on me! For those of you who don't know...I usually talk to my mom everyday if not twice a day! Logan was begging to start our movie so it was just a short call and then Logan and I watched The Dark Knight. It was really good and Logan enjoyed it. I was a little worried that it might scare him but it didn't. He sat and watch the whole movie. Lane went to bed right at 8. That little guy has a built in clock! So now Logan and I are about to head off to bed. When I was leaving work today they asked if I would be in tomorrow but I said no. I need to spend time with the boys and get some Christmas stuff in the mail.

So I'm off to bed...I can't hold my eyes open anymore!!!!!!!

Exhausted!

Today was just one of those days that I'm so ready to see end. It was crazy at work today and the flow never stopped. At 5:00 we still had about 4 charts up. So I grabbed one and by the time I got ready for surgery it was 5:40. If I don't get Logan by 6:00 then they charge me by the minute so since the other girls were mostly done one of them took over and I headed out. As soon as I picked Logan up he was whinny. He was mad because I wouldn't take him to McDonald's. Then he was mad cause I wouldn't let him stay and play at Heather's. I picked Lane up and he looked so cute dressed in this little Santa outfit Heather had bought him. She told me he was tired...just what I needed, another whinny little boy. I get home and start cooking dinner only to have Logan tell me it's gross and he is not going to eat it. Surprise, surprise. Lane screamed at me half the time I was getting it ready because he wanted me to hold him. So dinner was crazy and I spent most of the time begging Logan to at least try it. When he wouldn't and then asked me for a sucker I decided the best thing to do tonight is to get to bed early before I lose my mind! So at 8:00 I tucked both boys in bed and now I'm about to head to the shower and get in the bed myself. Only to do it all again tomorrow....Thursday needs to get here. I need an off day!!!!!!!!!

Christmas Shopping, Check!

Yesterday I did a little Christmas shopping for all the boy's friends. Logan was getting so mad because I kept telling him they were not for him. I would tell him the gifts were for someone else and he would say, "no, I want that!" I swear I'm working on his sharing but I don't seem to be getting anywhere!

Then today I got off work around 1:00 because the doctor had a surgery to do at the hospital so he didn't need all of us so I decided to take the opportunity to finish up my shopping for the boys. I think they are both going to have a good Christmas...considering. I know Logan is going to be sucked into his Nintendo DS so I've got a find a way to make him open that last! Guess there will be a little note from Santa on it. I got a few packages in the mail so I'm doing good. Hopefully on Thursday I will get everyone else's in the mail and then we will be ready for Christmas morning.

Logan has learned what an L looks like and he knows that his name starts with an L. So he thinks that any word that starts with an L is his name...problem is, his brother's name starts with an L. I have a few presents wrapped and under the tree and he thinks that both his and Lane's are his. I've tried explaining and showing him the difference but he just says, "that's an L my name starts with L." I'm going to have to pay close attention on Christmas morning or Logan will be ripping open every present with an L on it!

Logan got a letter from Aaron the other day. Aaron wrote his name with a lower case L on the envelope so Logan kept telling me this wasn't a letter to him because that wasn't his name. Guess I'm going to have to tell Aaron to make sure he uses his upper and lower case letters when writing to his 3 year old! Logan opened it up and was "reading" it. I told him I would read it to him and he says, "no, this is my letter, I want to read it." So I left him alone to enjoy it and then he finally brought it to me so I could read it. He loves getting mail in general and always ask if anything is for him when I check the mail. I usually toss him the junk mail and it makes him happy. But when he gets something from Daddy his little face just lights up! It's just so sweet. He doesn't even care what it says, just knowing that his Daddy is thinking about him makes him happy.

Update

Well I haven't written in almost a week. Mainly because nothing but work and the same ole routine has been going on. Last Sunday night Aaron got on the webcam...we got to see him!!!!!! First time in way to long. We talked on that for a while. He was having 4 days off and so on those days he gets MWR guard...which I like to call "computer monitor guard!" (hehe) But I love that he has it because that means he's on the computer for 4 hours at a time, twice a day. So we get to talk a little and catch up. Logan was so excited to see him and kept trying to talk to him but where Aaron is at they don't have anything for him to hear us on...but I'm not complaining...at least now they have webcams! Sunday was the first night in a while that Logan did not get sick. I guess seeing Aaron made him feel better. They even told me that he acted better at school. They said he was more like the Logan they were use to. I told Aaron we need to try to do the webcam at least once every week or two. Hopefully that will be possible.

I believe it was Monday morning we were online before leaving for work and school. Aaron got to watch the boys eat breakfast. After they were done I started getting Logan dressed but left Lane in his highchair so Aaron could see him play. I could hear Lane screaming "daaaaaaa, daaaaaa" over and over but I couldn't see him. When I got back down to the computer Aaron said that he could tell Lane was screaming and he kept reaching out to the computer like he wanted Aaron to pick him up. That gives me tears. I really believe that little guy remembers his Dad. At least a part of him knows that's his Daddy! Every time he would see Aaron on the computer he would just smile and try to touch the screen.

We talked with Aaron Monday and Tuesday and when I got up on Wednesday thinking I would get to tell him hello before leaving for work...he wasn't on...and that night he wasn't on either. Wednesday was suppose to be his last day of guard but for some reason things didn't work out as normal. I didn't talk to him again until Friday morning on my way out the door for work...I worked all week this week...he said he has been busy but good.

Logan had his counseling appointment Friday. She said she felt he was better. She did say she could tell he had a controlling personality (which I said of course to because he is Aaron's son!) and his need to control his surrounding was a problem for him now because he can't control nor understand this situation. She said this was causing his anxiety. However she and I feel that by him seeing Aaron on the webcam it made him feel that Aaron existed as more than a voice. He could see him and see that he was ok so that gave him some sort of comfort. She does want to see him back again next week to make sure things are still good. So we will see how that goes.

The rest of the week was just the usual. Work went well and we were pretty busy. We had another doctor fill in for our doctor for 3 days so it was good to see how someone else does things. It was quite different especially since that new doctor sits to do surgery and our doctor stands. Now on Monday I have to get back in the normal groove of things!

I did get my step dad his Christmas present. So now I'm almost ready to get every ones stuff in the mail. I got Aaron's stuff mailed out Thursday so now I'm just crossing my fingers that it gets there before Christmas. I just hope I didn't wait to late but I had to wait on everything I ordered to get here. I can't wait to find out his reaction. Maybe I can get someone to do pictures for me. I also sent out stockings that I fixed up for all Aaron's guys. It wasn't much but just something to hopefully make this Christmas season a little more bearable.

Well I'm off to be lazy and watch a little TV before bedtime.

FRG and Work Christmas Parties

Yes, the boys match. All the way down to their socks! I think it's adorable and Aaron thinks it's the craziest thing he's ever heard of. He says, "they are not twins so why do you dress them like that!" I think it's cute and it makes for a great pictures!
I was so excited for the SEC Championship game to start. We didn't win but it was still a good game. 31-20. Both teams played hard but in the end Florida pulled it out. I was late for our Troop FRG Holiday Party because I was sucked into the game. Oh well it's in my blood I can't miss the big game! We had some good food and then Santa arrived. As usual Logan was terrified of him. He started hiding as soon as he walked in. I had to pull him closer to him so that he could get his present. I told him he didn't have to sit in his lap and that made him feel a little better. He went up and got his present and said thank you but I had to walk up there with him! As soon as he said thank you he turned and walked away to open his present. He got an Ants in the Pants game. He seemed to like it. He also won a big tonka truck in one of the drawings we had. It was the one drawing I was kind of hoping not to win...we don't need anymore big trucks around here...but he was excited to get it so I was glad to see him smile!

Then it was Lane's turn to get his present. He was checking out ole' Santa the whole time the other kids were getting their presents. When he got his present he acted like he didn't even notice it. I opened it and he barely looked at it and then crawled away. Sure glad I bought that! Once the presents were over I took the opportunity to sit Lane on Santa's lap. He continued to check him out.And then he finally looked at me and for a second there was a smile but by the time camera snapped this is what I got!
After we left I took the boys to Heather's so I could go to my work Christmas party. We were having an Ugly Christmas Sweater contest. I didn't win. The girl who did had made hers herself and it was complete with Christmas lights (yes the plug in kind) and bows. I was shocked to see that another girl was wearing my same sweater. Guess I'm not the only one who thought this thing was hideous!

Since when does Santa row a boat??? My secret Santa did not disappointment. She got me two books, some tree ornaments, and another bottle of wine...guess she's been paying attention when I talk about going insane! Her name is Jessica and she is a sweetheart. She had me fooled cause all week I was sure it was someone else. But the party was fun. I am going to try to get more pictures so when I do I will share. We took some group shots at the end so I'm sure those will be interesting. We are crazy fun bunch!

Sick again...

So last night Logan got sick again. It was almost like he had the stomach flu again. He woke me up around 4 this morning throwing up. Finally he stopped and slept til around 10:30AM. After that he was fine all day. I don't get it at all. Maybe he still has a touch of some virus. I called the nurse and asked what she thought. She said some people have been hanging on to this stomach virus for a week...well he got the stomach flu over a week ago so I don't know. She offered for me to bring him in but I just took him in last Tuesday for the same thing and they did nothing. Told me there was nothing they could do. So I knew today would be the same. It's so weird, he gets sick and then he's fine. Acts just like he always does. He does however have a runny nose and rough sounding cough. Lane is getting a cough too. Great, just what a need...another round of fighting a cold. Can't they both just be NOT sick for a while. Say a prayer, I know their bodies are give out and my mind feels like it's falling apart. We just need one peaceful day.
We did manage to get out and head to the toy store. I had to get gifts from Santa to give the boys at the Troop Holiday Party tomorrow night. They invite Santa and then tell us to bring the gift. How nice! But it was nice to get out of the house...except Lane screamed the whole time we were in the car. Which was unusual because he's usually happy in the car. Guess my kids are working together to drive me crazy...Logan took an off day so Lane picked up the duty! Figures...those Potter boys are out to get me!!!!!

"My Hero" purse

I ordered this purse a while back but the girl who makes them was so back up that she just now got it finished. I am so happy with it. It's so cute and just what I wanted. I added a few extra things to make it even more special. For those of you who don't speak military I'll explain what each thing means.


This is the front. I assume everyone who hasn't been living under a rock knows what the yellow ribbon means, and the Potter part is pretty self explanatory. The American flag is something that all the guys wear on their uniform meaning they are ready for whatever they are called to do...not sure why it's reversed the way it is...but it is. The "electric strawberry" that we like to call it is the unit patch for the 1-25 Infantry Brigade which is the brigade Aaron is currently in. Now that he has deployed with this brigade he will be authorized to wear this as a combat patch as well...but I doubt he will...more on that later!

This is the back. This patch is for Aaron's combat patch which he is VERY proud of...the reason I don't see him wearing the 1-25th over this one! Aaron deployed twice with the 101st Airborne Division. If you don't know some of the history of the 101st then you should take the time to check it out. Only the best wear this patch! Above that you will notice two small pins. The one on the top is called a Combat Action Badge. Aaron was awarded this during his second deployment...they were not issued during his first deployment...for, well, exactly what the name implies...Combat Action. The one under it is for Aaron's Air Assault Wings. Meaning...he has been trained to jump out and repel down a perfectly good helicopter all the while wearing about 100lbs of Army gear and carrying a gun. As for the red and white ribbon, Aaron is a Cavalry Scout and the Cav colors are red and white. So this is to show support for Aaron's current unit. The pin holding it on is a yellow ribbon but the charm hanging from it is the Blue Star Flag. This flag is only suppose to be used by immediate family of a deployed soldier. (There is also a Gold Star Flag. This is the flag that should only be owned and displayed by the family of a fallen soldier.)

And of course this is the inside. I guess I should have taken this picture before I loaded it down but I'm too lazy to empty it out! There are two ACU colored pockets on the inside...just on the other side. I love this purse!!!

Hopefully the beginning to better days

So today I start my day off the best way possible these days....a phone call from Aaron. The boys of course were making it hard for us to talk but still hearing his voice is always nice. We ended up getting off the phone so I could get the boys breakfast. After that I decided to call and see about getting a professional opinion on whether or not our theories for Logan getting sick could be true. Well luckily I got him an appointment at 3:00 this afternoon. He was actually excited about it and kept asking me all day when it was going to be time for "his appointment." But while waiting we headed out to find me that ugly Christmas sweater. I found one, wasn't exactly what I wanted but ugly enough. I wouldn't be caught in this thing outside of this party so it will do. Logan kept asking me if he could get an ugly sweater!!! He settled for a little toy. We went to Micheal's, I was hoping to find some crafty stuff there to add to this ugly sweater...but I didn't find anything that I just had to have. But of course I couldn't walk out of there without something. So I bought some stuff for Logan and I get crafty with and make some candy and puppets. We will see how that goes. I always get these great ideas but they never turn out the way I hoped. Oh well, at least we will have fun trying. After that we headed to Logan's appointment. We had to wait forever and of course Lane was tired and fussy. But finally they called us back. The lady, Ms. Maggie, was a sweetheart. Logan pulled out the hungry hippo game and the two of them played. While playing she would ask him questions. She found what I already knew to be true...Logan HAS to win. He is such competitor! After they talked for a little bit she asked if I thought Logan would talk with her while I was out of the room. I asked him and he said ok. I assured him I would be back. I think she wanted to see how he acted when I left. I stayed gone about 20 minutes and when I returned the door was open and Logan ran up to me with a paper he had typed and printed out to send to his daddy. It was just a bunch of kid typing and at the bottom it said "Love, Logan." She put the letter in a sheet protector so it wouldn't get messed up. Logan wants to mail it. So we will. She told me he was very deliberate in his typing. She said it was like he was really saying something in that letter...that he knew what he saying. If only he could spell. She said she had never seen a child his age type like that. I didn't know if I should be proud of how smart he is or sad because I know his mind is experiencing things far beyond his years. Either way, Logan was happy about his "appointment" and when she asked him to come back next week he said he wanted to go. She did tell me that I don't need to refer to Aaron being "at work" which is what we have been saying. We use the words deployment and Iraq but when you ask Logan where is daddy is he will say work. She said that by using work he would get upset when Aaron comes home and then has to go to regular work. Makes since to me. And my mom brought up another thing...I tell Logan that I am going to work. So could he be thinking that one day I will go to work and not come home for a long time? Is he scared that he is going to loose both of us. She also said that Logan could have put it together that when he and I were sick with the stomach flu that we stayed home together...I didn't go to work because he was sick. So he could be thinking that if he gets sick then I will not go to work. Of course all of this is theory and hopefully we will find out in time more of what is worrying him. Just keep him in your prayers. I just want him to be the happy worry free kiddo he deserves to be.

Finally a normal day

Logan and Lane both stayed at Heather's today. Logan seemed to have a good day other than choosing not to eat. I'm starting to wonder if he is worrying himself sick. He is always fine when I pick him up and he's fine the whole time he's with me. It's almost like he's scared I won't come back for him. Which makes me sad because I want him to understand that me and his dad would never leave him. I want him to realize that even though Aaron is gone now, he didn't leave us and he will come back. I thought I was getting through to him in explaining this but maybe I'm not. I will work harder! He deserves that!

I had a good day at work. We are doing a secret Santa. My secret Santa is awesome. She even remembered that I wasn't going to be there the next two days so I got 3 gifts today. Today's gift was one of each of my favorite candy bars, tomorrow's was some sushi, and Friday's was a bottle of wine! I've been spoiled all week...wonder what the big gift on Saturday will be??? Speaking of Saturday which is both our troop and my work Christmas party, I need to do some shopping for those. We are having an ugly Christmas sweater contest for my work party so I've got to get busy on finding or making an ugly Christmas sweater. I'm going to go look tomorrow so don't worry there will be pictures! But I'm really tired so I'm going to get Logan in bed...Lane already is...and then off to bed myself!

Sick Day, again

Today started off like any normal day. Got up and got ready for work. I decided to do something a little different for breakfast so I made apple turnovers. When I told Logan that we were going to have those instead of his usual pop tart, which he is pretty set on having every morning, he says,"No, I don't think I will like those. I will just have a pop tart." Well I tell him he has no choice so he tries it and likes it. Lane didn't seem to feel the best. He did feel warm but when I took his temp it was normal. So off we go to start the day. Well all was well until around 12:30 when I get a call from Logan's school. He is sick, has a temp of 101.6 and has had diarrhea all day. Great! It starts again. When I went to change into my street clothes I checked my phone and had a text from Heather. Lane has a temp of 102 and has been sleeping all day. So I make them both appointments and head off to get them. When I picked Logan up he acted like he didn't feel good. Wanted to be held and everything. We get to the car and he falls asleep until we get to the hospital. When I picked Lane up you could just look at him and tell he didn't feel good. When we got to the doctor Logan didn't have a temp. He was acting just fine and even driving me nuts. The doctor said it looked like a 24 hr bug that has been going around. Wasn't anything she could give them. So we come home. Lane immediately went to sleep but I had to make Logan lay down and he took a 1 hr nap. He acts like he is fine, no fever and hasn't been to the bathroom since I picked him up. Lane is still pretty whinny and but he has started playing and seems to feel some what better. Thankfully Heather said she would watch them both tomorrow because Logan can't go back to school until 24 hrs after I picked him today.

I am so sick of my kids being sick. I know that work understands but I hate having to take off every other day especially when I only work 3 days a week. I know its this dang dry, cold weather. This whole place is just a breeding ground for sickness....I can't wait to leave Alaska. At least when I live in the south I don't have to deal with -30 degrees while I'm sick!!!!!

Back to work

Well before I get into my day today I want to touch on something from last night. Logan is so funny sometimes. He decided he would start calling his brother "princess." I explained to him that boys were not princesses but he didn't care...he said his brother was "his princess." So he would run around the house saying "come here princess!" I didn't realize they started picking on each other this early in life. I thought Lane would at least be able to talk and understand what Logan was saying before it all started. Guess I was way wrong. The two of them wrestle around on the floor all the time. Lane is so stinking tough...I don't think Logan even realizes that Lane has the potential to be bigger than him. Maybe he does so he's getting it all in while he's still the biggest!

Aaron called me this morning right before my alarm clock went off. It's so much nicer waking up to his voice than some stinking alarm clock! He was doing good and had gotten his packages I had sent him. Now he has his Christmas tree. It's just little one...I doubt I will get a picture of it...but maybe if he reads this he will think to snap a picture for me. It's just a little thing that I added some battery operated lights to so it's not perfect but at least he has a touch of Christmas spirt next to his bed. I'm driving him crazy with his gift. He is horrible at waiting for surprises and ended up guessing last year what his was...which was a huge disappointment because I was so excited and had tried to be super sneaky. Guess I'm not that good. So this year I'm trying hard again. I just hope the orders get here in time for me to send them out so that he can get them before Christmas. I know he won't care if it's late but I do. I really hope he gets to open something on Christmas day...but I'm completely crazy if I honestly think he will get something in the mail on one day and wait to open it when Christmas day finally arives. I don't see that happening!!! I love you honey but I don't think you can hold out!!!!!!!! (Maybe this will make him try to hold out...nah...who am I kidding!!!!)

Today was a good day. I think all the crazies came out of the woods so it was a day full of laughs and humor. Sometimes you just can't help but chuckle at the things people say. We are doing a secret santa for this week and then we guess who it is at our Christmas party this Saturday. My secret santa brought me a frozen coffee...it was quite tasty and gave me just the boost I needed. After picking up the boys we went to the commissary and got a few things then came home to cook dinner. Surprise, surprise...Logan wanted fish sticks and macaroni. Lane fell asleep in my arms...a sweet thing that rarely ever happens. Since the day that little guy was born he has wanted to stretch out while he goes to sleep. But today he was loving on his mom! Well I'm off to get ready for bed and get some sleep. Back to work tomorrow!!!

Typical lazy Saturday

The boys decided that it would be nice to wake mom up at 6AM on Saturday. Needless to say I wasn't happy along with being half asleep. I really need one of those mornings where Aaron would let me sleep in! I just want a day where I can sleep until I just can't sleep no more! But that won't be happening anytime soon. From the moment Logan opened his eyes he started asking me to take him to play with Logan Joshua. I tried explaining that it was rude to invite yourself to someones house. Thankfully he never asked why he couldn't just come to our house...cause then I would have to explain that mom has been extremely lazy when it comes to the house cleaning and NO ONE was allowed in our house at this point! So on we go with our day with the highlight being the Alabama game. Which we did awesome as usual! The score was 36-0!!!! On and the last time we shut Auburn down, was in 1992 when we also won a National Championship....soooooo we shall see if it happens again. Gators we're coming for you next!!!!!!

After the boys napped Logan was still asking to go play and I needed, didn't want to, but needed to go to Walmart and get a few things that I didn't want to fight the crowd for the day before. So before going I finally told Logan that he could call Amy and see if it was ok to come play. He was so excited and didn't like that I told him he had to wait until after dinner and Walmart. We did the shopping and got Aaron a pillow and then we ate dinner at Subway. Then off to Amy's for playtime. The boys had a blast as usual playing with the guns and killing the bad guys. You know what they say, like father like son! When we got home I got Lane in bed and of course Logan held his eyes open as long as he could. He was acting a little funny and he told me that his belly hurt but he didn't let it slow him down. He was sleeping on the couch when he started whimpering and I could tell he was about to get sick. I woke him up and we ran for the bathroom...we almost made it all the way. I don't know why he got sick. He said he felt much better afterwards and he fell right back to sleep. I prepared for another night like Tuesday night but thankfully all was well and he slept all night only waking up to get some water. So who knows, hopefully it's nothing.

The tree is up

Well as Potter tradition the tree goes up the day after Thanksgiving and I felt the need to follow on this year as normal. Logan helped, sometimes a little too much. It was hard hanging Aaron's ornaments because I could hear him telling me to just do it..."it doesn't matter who hangs them" as I tell him that they are his and he needs to put them on the tree. But I couldn't help but smile as I added each little piece remembering just how special some of them were. Logan really enjoyed hanging all my brass ornaments that Grandmother has given me over the years. He was "ooohhhing" and "aaahhhhing" over all of them. He thought they were really pretty and was really excited to find that 3 of them were his! I decorated Lane's stocking and some of the ornaments that we had bought throughout the years but held on to a few "blanks" ones because we knew the little guy would be here one day. Lane slept through the majority of the "putting up of the tree" so when he got up he had to explore. Heather already has hers up so he had seen a Christmas tree before but with ours he was still curious. After telling him a few times to leave the lights alone he decided the best idea was for him to sit right under the tree. So I guess for now that is his new favorite spot...until the tree touches his head and tickles him! We ended up meeting Amy for a lovely dinner at Taco Bell. The boys had fun and we even got compliments on how well behaved our children were. She said we moms were doing a good job...something nice that I really needed to hear, to give me some hope that I'm not doing as awful of a job as I sometimes think!

Bama plays Auburn tomorrow!!!!!! ROLL TIDE ROLL....we ARE number 1!!!!!!

Black Friday

Wow, people are soooooo crazy. I have never in my life wanted something as bad as some of those people wanted those TVs. You would have thought there was a million dollars packaged inside! Susan and I got up way to early, what were we thinking, apparently we weren't! But Susan had to work later in the day so it worked out well. I got up at 4AM and Lane woke up himself at 4:15. I guess he's going to be my little shopping buddy! We go to Walmart just a little after 5AM. That place was a mad house! Parking was horrible. I guess when snow hits people forget that you still have to park reasonably sensible so that everyone else can park too. The place was packed and I was getting really annoyed with people running over my feet with their shopping cart...but to top it all off the two big things I was looking for were not on sale! (Sorry Aaron, your not finding out your Christmas present until it gets there for Christmas!!!! hehe!) But Old Navy had some good sales and I was able to a lot of Christmas shopping done. I was pretty pleased with the morning. I think the gift I'm most excited about is Logan's guitar. I can't wait to see him try to play it and then hopefully I will find someone who will give lessons to an almost 4 year old. He's going to love it! The boys were such troopers through the whole shopping experience, even with all the sneaking that Susan had to help me with, and we came home around 8:30 and after talking to mom we headed to bed for a nap.

Thanksgiving

So the first countdown of my many mini countdowns has finally come. I've found that's it easier to have lots of short countdowns instead of one really long seemingly never ending countdown. Thanksgiving was first, and Christmas is next! But either way, countdown number one is over!!!!! I got to talk to a lot of my family back home. I talked to Aunt Pam and she said Matthew was doing good. They had gotten him all dressed up for Thanksgiving. Mom said he was wearing one of his Jacksonville T-shrits. I miss him so much...I can't wait to finally get one of his big bear hugs! It's been way to long.

A few of us wives got together and had a wonderful dinner. We ate at the Taylor's house and all the kiddos played. Poor Lane was fussy because of his teething but other than that all was really good. We all had a lot of fun talking all kinds of girl talk. I ended up leaving around 7PM and headed home to get the kids ready for bed. Lane was out not long after getting home and Logan as usual stayed up as late as I did. I kept meaning to go to bed early because we were getting up early for Black Friday shopping but as usual good intentions get me nowhere. Aaron called a little later. He was in a good mood...which of course made me in an ever better mood. I was so glad to hear that a few of their plans had changed and he ended up being at a FOB with a chow hall so he actually got a Thanksgiving meal! But to top it all off he said he wasn't to hungry so the main part of his meal was a rootbeer float! That sure is some diet he's on. But he said he was doing good and it sounds like they are staying pretty busy. Thanksgiving wasn't as lonely as it could have been thanks to my good friends, but there was still something missing and no one short of Aaron himself could have filled it. He's my hero!!!!!!

While he's gone, Can't I have one good day???

Last night was another bad night. After getting the boys out of the bath I started feeling really sick. I get Lane in bed and then it hits. I had the full blown stomach flu. I'll save you all the details as I guess you can imagine but I was just praying over and over for it to be over. Then to top it all off, Logan gets it and starts throwing up around 2AM. So on top of feeling like I can't hold my head up I have to figure out how I am going to clean him and the bed up. I manage to do it and spend the rest of my night trying to sleep as best I could and listen for him so that I can wake up him before he gets sick on the bed. Then morning came and Lane was up and ready to play at 6:30AM and I of course can't hardly move. My whole body hurt. I was completely dehydrated but I had finally started to be able to keep some water down. I get Lane some breakfast and realize that there is no way I can take care of him the way he should be taken care of. So I call Heather and ask her if she can come get him so that I can rest and get myself better. So being the great friend that she is, she comes to get him and me and Logan go back to bed of course after calling into to work for the second time this week. Have I mentioned what a great place I work for! I think I slept all day except for the times that Logan woke me up because he had a question or something. He seemed to feel pretty good. We picked Lane up around 4:30PM and came back home. I had finally started to feel the life come back into my body. I got things started for the deserts I am making tomorrow. So at least I feel like I accomplished something today. Aaron called to tell me Happy Thanksgiving. He said they were getting ready to head out. Poor guy doesn't even get a Thanksgiving meal. Man, I can't wait until this deployment is over. It seems like the boys and I haven't been perfectly healthy since the day he left. And we all never seemed to get sick before. I have enough stress without adding sickness to it! Oh well, we will manage!

Northern Lights

So I just happened to notice that the Northern Lights were out tonight. It's unusal that I get to see them since we live in town and usually you can't see them to well unless your away from the city lights. But tonight they were out and dancing all over the place. Heres a few pictures that I took.

Wow, I'm amazed

Today didn't start off to well. At 1AM I woke to Lane crying. He had thrown up all over his bed. So in my sleepy haze I cleaned him up and stripped his bed. Put him in my bed and hoped it was a one time thing. Well it wasn't and before the washing machine had finished washing his sheets the threw up on my bed. So up again, cleaning up the baby and doing laundry at about 2AM. After this time he seemed to feel better. So much better that he didn't want to sleep. He sat up and clapped and talked to me for about an hour. About the time I got him to settle back down, Logan gets up and tells me he "had a good nap." His saying for when hes up and ready to not go back to bed. Well I had to explain that it's still night and this time of year in Alaska you can't just say "look it's dark out so it's still bedtime" because it's dark out until about 9:30AM right now. So I finally convince him to go back to bed. Lane is finally falling to sleep again and as I finally start to drift back to sleep, he starts throwing up again...except this time there is nothing left to throw up. I felt so bad for him. He cries for a bit and finally goes back to sleep. At this point I had decided I was not going to go to work. So I check the clock which was now nearing 5AM...the time I would normally wake up for work...and changed the alarm to 7:30 so that I could get up to call in. Lane slept most of this time unless he was waking up because he felt he needed to throw up again but couldn't. I called in and tried to go back to sleep only to have Logan crawl in my bed and beg to watch cartoons. After trying to fall back to sleep over and over I finally manage to drag myself out of bed around 9AM when Lane starts smacking me in the face. I got breakfast ready and only let Lane have a little just to see how he would do. Well he did fine and didn't have anymore sickness for the day. He seemed to feel fine all day, which is great. We went to the Commissary and PX this afternoon to get some stuff for holiday cooking and then back home to be lazy before bed. I put Lane in bed and 30 minutes later took Logan to bed. Surprisingly, Logan went to his bed and went right to sleep. No crying at all!!!! I'm so excited. So now it's 8:32 PM and I have had 30 minutes of alone time so far!!!!! Now I'm going to eat some of those browies we made and get myself ready for bed, hope for a phone call, and pray that tonight is much better! I really want to go work...I need a break! :)

My mind is drained

So tonight was quiet possibly the worse night since Aaron left. Logan was is normal hyperactive self throughout the day but as night came it got worse. It started with dinner and he as usual didn't want to eat. "I don't like vegetables." Well since he chose not to eat he didn't get to have one of the brownies that we had made earlier. So he was really mad about that. Aaron got on the computer and we tried to use the web cam but the connection was horrible and everything kept freezing up. He called instead and since Logan was mad so he wouldn't talk to his Daddy. The whole time Aaron and I were trying to talk Logan was picking on Lane and just aggravating him. So while I was trying to talk to Aaron, Logan was making it impossible to concentrate on a conversation. Not to mention Aaron had to listen to me, "Logan stop," "Get off Lane your going to hurt him," "Stop throwing that towel at your brother." When we got off the phone, feeling like he had not even called, I put the boys in the tub. After they were done I told them it was time for bed. Well that's when the downhill slide came crashing down. Logan has been scared to be upstairs by himself since Aaron left. I have been unwilling to fight the battle to get him back in his own bed which I know wasn't good for either of us. But tonight I had had enough and put my foot down. I told him he could lay down in my bed but he cried and got up after about 5 minutes. So I told him he could sleep in his bed. After an hour of crying and getting up and down and me putting him back in bed more times than I can count...he is sleeping in his own bed and he fell asleep there by himself. Even though I feel like I've made a bit of an accomplishment, I feel like a horrible mom. He went to bed crying and that breaks my heart. Lane on the other hand found the whole thing funny and laughed at Logan the whole time. He didn't go to sleep until Logan did but yet he stayed in his bed during the whole crying fiasco. I just hope that this will be a turning point. I don't want him to be scared in his own house.

This pictures was taken after I ask him if he was eatting the uncooked brownies and he said no! Little did he know...the proof was right there!

And my night is complete...

So after the movie and after picking up the kiddos, Amy and I decided to brave the cold and take the boys out to eat. They were begging for ice cream and neither of us wanted to cook. So off we go, two mommies and 4 kids, to Denny's. This is always an adventure that makes us question our sanity of why we went in the first place. Not only are both Logans (Amy oldest is named Logan as well) complete boys in ever sense of the word, they both seem to be having a hard time with Daddy being gone and they feel the need to rebel against mom. It never fails that when one is being good the other is having a fit. And tonight was no exception to the rule. I was so proud of my Logan when we got there. He sat so nicely and colored and when his food came he even ate...usually a fight in itself...and so we ordered desert. I guess this put him over the top because his loudness got louder and then that sweet little boy I brought in became this wild crazy kid I'm embarrassed to have in public. He was running around...which he knows is unacceptable...and acting like he was a monster. Lane was sleeping in my arms so he knew I couldn't do much about it at the moment. I gave him my best "I'm going to tear your butt up" look but it did nothing to help. So I got him and Lane bundled up as best I could and took off running for the door feeling like I should have apologized to the other people around us but they had found him humorous which just added to his behavior. Thankfully on the way home Aaron called. I love it when he calls when I'm at my wits end. At least then I can vent to him. Not that it always helps because he thinks it funny and says "that's my boy!" or "he's a boy, he's suppose to act like that." But no matter what, talking to him always makes me feel better and puts a smile on my face. He was doing good and had just woke up and was on his way to eat breakfast. Right now he is at a place where he has a little more access to the "normal" things in life...like hot showers and toilets...so I feel a little better when he's there even if it is for only for a few days. Too bad he can't be there for Thanksgiving. Guess the snacks I sent and an MRE will have to be good enough for a Thanksgiving meal. Poor guy. But he doesn't mind. He has a much better attitude about it than I would. He said it was raining so that was putting a damper on their plans for the day. But even though he hates being bored...I kind of smile at the thought...just because if he's bored...I kind of feel like he's safe. At least that's the justification I give it in my head. But overall he is doing good. I told him the other day that we had hit the 2 month mark and his reply was "really, that's all, it's feels longer." Which makes me sad because I know that even though I like it when he gets bored it makes his time go that much slower and I know how bad he would like to be home with us. But we will get through...he's strong and an amazing soldier...and I love him so much so it wouldn't matter how long he had to be gone...I would be here waiting when he got back. I found this great quote that has kind of become my motto: "You never know how strong you are, until being strong in the only choice you have." Thankfully, God is there and listens to my never ending prayers...and he pulls us through one day at a time!