You're in the Army now.

 Yup he's in the Army now and by extension, so are we. I do know I can't share much about where he goes or what he does, so this is more about me and to some extent the rest of the family and what we go through while waiting to hear from our Soldier. I didn't blog in the beginning because, well this mom was just too emotional and I didn't think I wanted to read back on those early days.


   I have some people to thank. First my dear friend Dawn (and her hubby too for answering my questions) she's been an Army wife for while a long while now, so she's been my sounding board, my shoulder to cry on and my "keep calm and carry on" when I just felt lost. So big hugs to you my friend.

     Also my group of internet moms (most of whom I've never met) and yet they surrounded me with love and read my sad words and reassured me we'd get through those first couple weeks of Basic training. (a couple of them had hubbies in the service and one even was in the service herself). 

   And most importantly I thank my Heavenly Father. I worried so often about how our Soldier was doing and all the while God was putting him right where he needed to be. (oh you of little faith).


  
    For those who don't know, Basic Combat Training (BCT) shuts down for Christmas/New Years so the Drill Sargent can spend time with their loved ones as well. Which means we got to spend time with our Soldier over the holidays as well. Which also meant this Army mama, got to hear it from the horse's mouth that the Army was treating him ok and his training is going well. That was a true blessing to our family. 

   So that's my little update on Son#2. Hopefully I'll be able to keep up with my blog a little more. 

We'll try this again...

  Well I still haven't learned to disable the shortcuts on the lap top and the desk top has gone to that great cloud in computer Heaven, so I guess I'll just try to muddle through and see how it all goes.

   Some big changes at our house on the hill. Son # 1 has moved out on his own (renting from a friend). Son #2 has joined the Army, so this is an interesting journey as well. Baby Girl is now in school full time (big 1st grader) which means mommy is working in a new department during the day. (getting back to my roots and working the deli) So big changes all around.

   Maybe I'll even tinker with the blog and change it up some.

I've been away for a while

 However.... I'm going to blame my laptop. ( I know big surprise me blaming technology, but whatever) For some reason, laptops are installed with all these great little shortcuts. I'm sure it's a great idea for some people, but not for me, because 1) I don't know what the shortcuts are and 2) I'm just typing away minding my own bee's wax and boom, my page is empty. Yeah total frustration. I will be working on my desk top though, because I really do miss blogging, so.... in the very near future.... Baby Girl's birthday party and things I make with "Precious" (my Kitchaid Mixer)

A little Christmas treat

   So Baby Girl wanted to be a little elf to her classmates and give them each a little gift. We've been trying to instill more the giving side of Christmas, instead of just the "what's under the tree for me" side, so I couldn't really say no. But with Christmas less then a week away and the budget tight, what's a mom to do? Oh just recycle an old bridal shower party favor idea.

   I got some plastic spoons for under $2. A bag of Hershey Kisses for less then $4 and a roll of  Christmas cellophane for $1 for the roll. I put three kisses in the spoon then wrapped the spoon and Kisses with the cellophane and tied it all up with some curly ribbon from the Christmas wrapping bag.  My writing isn't something to brag about about so I went to the computer to print out a little saying to attach, well you know it can't be that easy, of course the printer isn't working. Up to visit my parents and borrow Pop's computer and printer. After I figured out how to make columns again (man I need to keep a little more up to date on Word) I was good to go. 

    So this is the final project, under $10 and a little treat for all 14 classmates...

This is a close up of the tag

  Baby Girl was thrilled to be a little elf to her friends and I hope they like their little gift. 

  Oh and just because I think she's just the cutest little girl I know, here she is all dressed up for her "Christmas Concert"

 Yes that's the same green curly ribbon in hair that we used to tie the treats with. 

                                   Merry Christmas

Some more "rules for grocery shopping

  So we're in the path of the up coming hurricane, we don't live on the coast, but we're close enough that people are in "panic at the grocery store mode" So I thought I'd give some simple rules out to those who don't know any better....

• It's not the cashier's fault that the store is out of the cheap store brand white bread, don't take it out on them. Be nasty to a manager if your really feel the need, but not the cashier.
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• If you're buying a whole bunch of tuna cans so you'll have something to eat, make sure you've got a manual can opener at home ( I jokingly said Remember you won't have your electric can opener to open the cans. Poor guy was in a panic as to where to find a manual canopener)
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• Fruit is just as easy to eat with no electric as junk food is, do you really want you kids all hyped up on sugar from Oreos and that sugary cereal if you're going to be stuck in the house in the middle of a storm?
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• This last one doesn't really have to do with the impending storm, but since I'm at it.... If you have varicose veins and you're pushing the backside of 40, you might want to rethink that short denim skirt you bought at Forever 21, it's just not a good look on you.

  

   I am so not looking forward to work tonight. People are acting like we're getting a foot of snow. By the time I get to work a lot of shelves will be bare and I just know it will somehow be my fault (because we all know the lowly cashier is the one who orders for the shelves and that there really is more stock in the back, we're just too lazy to go back and get it (insert eye roll here)

 So all you East Coasters be safe in the storm and remember to smile at your cashier when you're in line buying your cart full of bottled water, bread and peanut butter (if there's any left on the shelf) 

Day 2 (he poops)

  Day two Dozer showed us more of his personality, some good, some not so good. Dozer woke up fine, came out of the bathroom where he sleeps and went for his walk with me. I noticed there was a smell in the bathroom, but I looked all over the floor and there was no poop, so I figured he had some gas. Twin #1 goes into the bathroom and comes out saying uhm, did no one really notice what he did in the tub? Of course not, why would I look in the tub???? Dozer had pooped the size of a meatloaf!!!!!! (gag) So after much arguing discussing, Hubby and Twin#2(the one who's wanted a dog his entire life) cleaned up about 2 1/2 pounds of dog poop out of the bathtub. Then Twin#1 got the joy of scrubbing the tub out. (hey I'm always looking for family bonding!!!!) 

please commence the belly rubbing

     As a side note, Little Man has decided he'll never take a shower in that bathroom again. I didn't have the heart to remind him of how many times he poop in my bathtub when he was a baby!

  Dozer has also decided to find out where he fits into "the pack". He got aggressive with Hubby when Hubby was sitting on the couch playing with Dozer. That got the old heart pumping because Dozer is a big dog!!!, with a big mouth. Hubby did get firm with Dozer and show him who's the alpha male.  Dozer also tried this with the 18 year old twins as well. (we had warned them after Hubby's go'round that morning, so they were prepared) and Dozer did offer his belly to be rubbed by all of them so I think we're good.


  Dozer however didn't mess with me (smart dog knows not to mess with the mama!!) Dozer also puts up with all the love the little 2 want to give him.

I am king of all I survey!!!

  Oh and it rained yesterday, so we all got a chance to walk the dog in the rain (yeah we all enjoyed it about as much as the dog, but it sure beats cleaning up a mess in the house)


   So it looks like Dozer is winding his way into our household. We have to let the adoption agency know on Saturday if we'll be keeping him forever. He's such a sweet dog and he's already lost 2 home (the one that abandoned him and the foster home where he didn't get along with the other foster dog). 
  
    Our next adventure will be a trip to the vet!!! Fingers crossed that all goes well : )

Our New Addition

 So after my hubby vowing to never have a dog in the house, relented and we've gotten a dog (or maybe a small horse depending on how you look at it.)

   We had decided we'd rescue a dog instead of buy a puppy for a number of reasons. The most important reason being there are so many great dogs out there who need a loving home almost anyone will adopt a cute little puppy, the older dogs have lost some of their cuteness (at least to some people) Plus since my kids are not the best at picking up their toys and puppies love to chew on anything they can reach, there would have been some tears shed.

   So after browsing the petfinder site for over a month we found a dog we all like and that the foster "parent" would get back in touch with us. So this Saturday we got to meet Koby and bring him home if we all got along. Well we all got along and now he's snoring in my living room.  Since Koby's name is a little too close to one of the kid's names, we're renaming him Dozer (yes as in bulldozer)

   The car ride home wasn't too bad, he settled down in the car and with the help of Twin#1 petting him the whole time he had a great first ride. To show Twin#1 his gratitude for being so kind, Dozer sneezed on him (eeewwww gross).

     

  We decided to give Dozer a bath and that went really well, Dozer stood there like a good boy.So other then the "whole shake like a dog when it's wet", we did really good. Dozer smells like a nice dog and not the kennel anymore.

 Our first day with Dozer wasn't too eventful. Thankfully no accidents in the house. Dozer likes to pull on the leash sometimes, but he'll soon learn who gets to control the walking. Going to check into a special harness for him.


  Dozer seems to be a great dog. He loves to be pet and have his belly rubbed. The kids all think he's great. Other then reminding him Not for Dozer when he puts his nose to the counter we seem to all be getting along. I have a feeling this is going to be quite an adventure for all of us.