I'm back!!!!

Oh, I have a lot to catch up on. So I'll try and catch everyone up on the highlights that have been going on. It may take awhile, but I'll give it my best..........

(***small warning*** for you teary friends of mine, this part was hard for me to write, hard for me to get through, so you've been warned)
First of all, my mom came out to visit us for 2 weeks. I love my mom so much and I loved having her here in my home. It was fun to watch my kids with her. I think that they were just as happy to have her here as I was. We don't have nearly as much time with her as we'd like, so we appreciate every second we get. It's hard being so far away. Mom left yesterday.

I knew it was going to be hard to have her leave, but I thought I was doing pretty good. I was fine at home before we left, I was fine driving to the airport, I was even fine in the airport walking her to her gate, but that's where I lost it. I cried, we both cried. I couldn't even talk. I couldn't even tell her how much I loved having her here or how grateful I was that she came or even how much I'd miss her. I might have managed a small good-bye and then Noah and I left her there to wait for her plane. I cried as we walked through the airport, I cried while the nice lady gave Noah a pencil and an airplane eraser and I cried while I paid the parking attendant. I kept hearing, "why are you crying?" coming from the back seat, but that didn't help me stop either. I kept thinking, "I'm alone again" and it was hard not to cry. It was hard thinking about going to my empty house, but then I didn't want to go anywhere else either. I kept thinking that I still have 2 more months to go before Chad comes home and until then it's just me. alone. again. It made me feel sick to my stomach. I cried some more. I did manage to hold back the tears while we made a quick stop into the Dollar Tree, although, I probably didn't look that great. When I buckled Noah into his car seat to leave, he said, "Grandma likes the Dollar Tree" and I started crying again. It continued all the way home and for awhile at home too.

I sniffed my way through an email to Chad which didn't help me feel any better. I mean, wouldn't it have been so much nicer to come home and have him give me hug and tell me that everything was ok and that he's here for me, but he wasn't here, the best I could get was an email back saying those things. It's just not quite the same. Noah and I went outside for awhile. He played out there while I watched him. I started to feel like I could be ok. We came inside and put up some Halloween decorations. I started to feel like I could survive. By the time we ate dinner I felt like I could probably muddle through even though it sucked. After I put the kids to bed and was sitting listening to Noah snore (more on that later) I thought about the airport. One of the last things my mom said to me, through her own tears, was "keep doing what you're doing". I think that she ment I was doing ok and if I just kept it up, I'd get through. I appreciate hearing that from her, probably more than she'll every know. Unfortuneatly, 90% of the time I feel like what I'm doing is just keeping my head above water. I'm not sure that that's such a great way to get through life.

So, anyway, I got a 2 week reprieve from my "real life" and now it's back to the "old grind" as they say............

Thhhhhhhhhhh............................

Blog updated????
Check!

(Just kidding....................my mom's visiting.................no time.................I'll be back on Wednesday!)

Birthday Cake for Mon Amant

The cooks got together and made Chad a birthday cake. It was decorated with a bucking cowboy for Wyoming. They must really like Chad because from what I was told, they got in trouble for making the cake, but they went ahead and did it anyway. See, everybody loves Chad!

Hallelujah!!!!!

For the past 3 days Noah has taken a nap..........could it be that being home alone with me is just so tiring that he collapses from shear exhaustion???? or is it perhaps that no one is screaming, yelling, laughing, running around and distracting him????? hmmmmmmmmmm, it's something to ponder on, for sure! Whatever the reason, I don't care! He's taking his naps again and I really, really, really appreciate that! Today I even laid down with him for a little while and we both took a little nap. Awwwwwww, the quiet and peace and serenity. It's just so sweet!

Happy Birthday, Chad

Today is Chad's birthday. We've missed a lot of birthdays together because of deployments or underway periods and this is one more to add to the list. I hate that we aren't together celebrating, even if it's just having cake together as a family. Chad is an amazing man and I am especially grateful for him today on his birthday.

I was reminded today about when Chad and I dated and were married and when/why he joined the church, so it seemed fitting to share that with you today.

I think most people who are reading this know that Chad and I met when we were fairly young. I was in my senior year of high school and Chad was in his junior year of high school. We dated off and on for about 2 1/2 years before we were married and were engaged for about 3 months. We definitely had our ups and downs. There were lots of factors that contributed to that. We basically came from 2 very different worlds. Although, one thing remained constant for me through those 2 1/2 years. I knew there was something special about him, something more than he let most people see. Chad wasn't a member of my church and that made things very difficult for me and my family. While Chad and I were engaged, it became even more difficult. I was talking to a friend of mine who was very concerned about this. She asked me, "do you really think that you can have a celestial marriage with Chad?" My answer was "yes" and I did think that, no, I felt that in my heart. I had absolutely nothing to base that on at the time, but I knew, without a doubt, that I could have that kind of a marriage with Chad. I knew that it was right. A few short months after we were married Chad did join the church, for himself. I'm sure there are lots of people that think that he joined because of me, but that wasn't the case. Chad told me then that when we got married and the bishop said we'd be together "for this mortal life", that he thought, "I want more than that with Cindy". And that's why when he listened to the discussions that taught that we can be together for eternity, he knew that that's what he wanted. He's made a lot of changes in his life since we've been married. I started to see in Chad the man that I knew was there all along, the one that he kept hidden a lot when we were dating. That's the man that he is today. I loved Chad the day that I married him. I knew that we could be happy and have a great family together. However, I never knew that I was capable of loving someone the way that I love him today. You know the saying, "I love you more every day", well, it's true, with every day that passes, every second that passes I love him more. We've been married now for almost 16 years and have 4 kids and he can still make my heart skip a beat with just a look. I consider him one of my greatest blessings. The Lord truly sent me an amazing gift the day I met Chad, one that I am eternally grateful for.


Happy Birthday, Amant, I love you!
xoxo

First Day of School

2006

McKaylie--1st grade (she's all smiles today)

Vance--6th grade (can't get him to smile to save his life)

Myshel--8th grade (notice the "I don't want to do this", teenager stance)

McKaylie in her classroom (she's thinking, "will you just leave already)

My insame day went something like this.........

First I'll say this: The first day of school each year is always amazing to me. It seems like my children grow overnight and they wake up the that first day of school and look so much taller and older. I don't know if it's the new clothes or the excited attitudes, or what exactly, but they always look bigger on that day.

I sent Myshel off to school at 6:55AM. She is very happy to be an 8th grader, the "seniors" of middle school; plus, she gets to wear a white shirt this year! (in her school, the uniform shirt changes with each grade, 6th is light yellow, 7th is light blue, 8th is white). One down.....

We left to take Vance to school at 7:30. I had to drive Vance to school yesterday because we weren't on the ball and got his bus schedule when we should have and I wouldn't go out and get it in the rain Friday. So, that was an adventure. They're doing major construction on his school and they also close down one of the streets for the buses. The other streets around the school are one way streets so we had to find the right street to get us where we wanted to be. I was not looking forward to picking him up at the end of the day. Second one down..........

I walked McKaylie to school at 8:40. We met her teacher and she seems very nice. She's young, tall and blonde and reminded McKaylie of her kindergarten teacher a little. I think she liked me taking her to her class, but was perfectly happy to see me go. Third one dowm

So Noah and I came home did a few chores around here, went to the post office, delt with a very rude postal lady, ran a couple of other errands and came home for lunch. It started raining around noon I think. It really rained hard for awhile and then continued on for the rest of the afternoon.

I left to pick up Vance around 2:20. I was hoping that Myshel would be home from school by then, but her bus was late, so I had to leave a note for her telling her where I was and that if I didn't get back by 3:10 to go and pick up McKaylie from school. Ok, I get to Vance's school. I had to park about 3 blocks away and it's still raining. The umbrella that's usually in the car isn't in there, so we, Noah and I, had to walk in the pouring rain, except Noah wouldn't walk, so I had to carry him. By the time I get to the school I'm completely soaked and Vance isn't where he's suppose to be. 20 minutes later we finally find each other (come to find out later that they wouldn't let him meet me there, even though they knew I was there!!!!! in the rain!!!!! stupid people) We get back to the car dripping wet, drive home and Myshel and McKaylie are already home. They all had a good day. They liked their teachers and classes.

We got changed out of our wet clothes and started sorting through all the papers that I had to fill out and sign. (by the way, )I was freezing for the rest of the day. I had on sweats and a sweatshirt until I went to bed) I made dinner, ran to a soccor meeting for McKaylie, came home, read scriptures, said prayers, read stories, brushed teeth, all that night-time stuff and put McKaylie and Noah to bed. Then I did basically nothing for rest of my night.

Today is looking much calmer.........................

Fear Factor.......Mommy style

I saw this on the internet and had to pass it along to all of you:


I have kids, therefore, fear is not a factor for me!

10 Things I'm Thankful for Today

First, Tropical Storm Ernesto is dumping unbelievable amounts of rain on this area. I don't see us going anywhere today. It's just crazy weather.

Second, I've been tagged by Marie

10 Things I'm Thankful for Today
1....... that the water dripping down through my bedroom doorway is a slow drip and not a constant flow.
2.......that I can call maintenance and have them worry about fixing it.
3.......that my two older children can help entertain my two younger children.
4.......that I have plenty of things to do at home today.
5.......that I still have my electricity and internet.
6.......that school starts in 4 days.
7.......for my children, who are giving me even more to do today.
8.......for blocks and Little People
9........that it wasn't raining like this yesterday when I had to be out in it.
10.......for migraine medication.