SO close

We are getting SO close for Greg to come home. Tomorrow is already September, and I am hoping tomorrow we can say he will be home this month. I get butterflies and the chills just thinking about it. I got in trouble for "counting down the days" so I won't be doing that anymore. Sorry Greg. And I think there is something else I may be in trouble for.

So Greg told me our Verizon bill was almost double what is normally is. Weird. So I went in to the Verizon store today to talk to them and see what's up. Greg gets the email stating how much and when it's going to be taken out of the account and then we will eventually get a statement in the mail. I had to carry Landon in of course, he was tired when I picked him up, so I am sweating my way in carrying my 37lb limp child on my hip. I get to the counter and I get the, "Hello, how are you? How can I help you today." I explained myself, then he pulls up our account. He then goes on to tell me, "You have unlimited mobile to mobile, and you have 1,000 texts, you had 1,572 texts, which means you went over by 572, so it's an additional charge of blah blah blah." I know I turned 13 shades of red, I always do, and Landon's head popped up off of my shoulder and he looked at me. I replied with, "Oh, OK, my fault, thanks for your help." And I pretty much ran out of the store. How embarrassing. I am almost 30 years old and go over my 1,000 texts a month by 572! HOLY JEEZ! I guess I'd better start calling people. I always just text everyone. One thing I know that put me over is my friend at work Cari and I text while watching Big Brother, and Bachelor Pad and when the Bachelorrette was on. I guess I better stop doing that, sorry Cari!

This is a picture of Landon playing with his mermaid pony. That boy and his love for pony's. What am I going to do?

Greg, I hope you aren't mad at me for going over my texts for the month. (ha ha!) I promise I won't do it again!!! I LOVE YOU :)

Hair Cut/Big Boy

Monday's, sometimes they are ok, sometimes they are not. Today was kinda an inbetweener. It's always hard to get up on a Monday, always hard to get going, and the kids always seem kinda crazy. Landon was super cuddly this morning, but was in a pretty good mood. It was hot and muggy this morning, where did that nice weather go? Please come back!

When I got off work I went to the gym, then picked my sleeping baby up, then we went to Walmart for groceries, the post office to mail off some bills, to Walgreen's for my RX and then home. Then Landon reminds me that he can't find his mermaid. He brought home a tiny mermaid My Little Pony and had it in his pocket all day. I know he set it down at the check out when he was oohing and ahhing at the toys by the register. Sooooo, I unloaded the cold items and back to Walmart we went. The things we do for our children! Sure enough, there was Starsong, sitting by the toys. THANK YOU for still being there. So since we were out Landon got a hair cut, he is looking mighty handsome if you ask me, and mighty grown up, and just like Greg.

Check out that attitude face. Yes, he gave me plenty of attitude and lip tonight. It's always over the same thing, Cartoons! Any pointers on that? He gets ticked when I tell him it's time to turn them off or they are over. I always for warn him and let him know, he always agrees, I always tell him he can't get upset when they are over. He always says ok. He got them taken away last week, it didn't even seem to bother him.

And last but not least, my new favorite thing. I forgot we had this thing Bob and my Mom brought us in the winter time. Its a self watering tractor thing. Pretty neato!

The Bachelor Pad is on and my son is sitting on the toilet needing help wiping, I'd better go!! Bye everyone!!!

Dallas!

We had an awesome weekend! I was kinda nervous because I had a killer headache all morning Friday morning and I couldn't for the life of me get rid of it. When I got off work it was pretty bad. I took some more allergy sinus medicine and used my flonase and it all of a sudden was gone after about 15 minutes! I was so relieved. So Landon and I packed our bags and hit the road for Dallas. It was a pretty quick drive. I had lots of time to think. Driving for me is pretty relaxing. I did think a lot about Greg and how much I miss him and wish he was in the car to talk to me. We always chat away whenever we are driving some where. We always talk about things like, "How on earth do people live out here, in the middle of no where?" When we reach certain places Greg always says the same thing. I always make fun of him, and we always laugh. When we are driving through  Ft Worth and Dallas we always say out loud what we see, "Oh there's a Super Target and Olive Garden." "There's a TGI Fridays, Carraaba's and On The Border!" We are so lame, but it's so funny. I always say that I want to stop and go shopping at that mall. Or I want a house like those over there. So as I was driving I was thinking about all those things and smiling. Landon was a saint and just watched his movie, occasionally telling me to look at his silly dance, or asking for something to drink.

Once we got in the big city we were stuck in rush hour. I didn't mind. I just watched the people act and drive like maniacs, trying to get over at the last minute, cutting people off and slamming their breaks because they were on their phones. I listened to the radio and tried my hardest to find a nice place to stop. I really needed to use the bathroom, but there was no way I was getting over 4 lanes of traffic to get off...especially bumper to bumper...When we finally got to a gas station Landon told me, "Mommy, you can wait and just go at Ava's house ok?" I had to laugh. I told him no, I really needed to go!

We finally made it and Landon RAN to the door! Ava of course opened the door! They were so happy to see each other and the playing began. First they sat on the floor and Landon enjoyed her Barbies...

Then they put their feet up and watched some cartoons.

They played more and as it got later and they were waiting for Oma and Opa to get there they made a place to rest and watch cartoons and play.

Landon was in PONY heaven. He was so happy, and just played and played and played. They ran up and down the stairs giggling and laughing at each other. Talked non stop and once Oma and Opa arrived, they enjoyed some strawberry milk before bed time.

The next morning Alex and Opa had a bike race so it was just us girls and Landon. I went and got Donuts and of course the kids were happy.

We headed to Frisco. I LOVE it there. I would love to buy one of those massive houses that I always see. Wishful thinking I know. But there is every store you can imagine there. We stopped for lunch first, we needed some energy for shopping and busy kids..

While in the mall Landon and Ava were "disco dancing" in front of the store. It was sooooo funny.

We shopped and shopped and shopped. It was time for a snack, Auntie Annies pretzels it was.

We did some more shopping then went to TJ Max and Toys R Us. The kids had had enough and were GROUCHY! Good thing they fell asleep in the car ride home. We then met Opa and Alex at Carino's for dinner.

When we got back we went outside and blew some bubbles and enjoyed the nice air.

The sprinklers turned on, and the nosey kids had to check them out and get in them.

Bath time!

Those two had so much fun together. They only argued over those silly mermaid pony's. Ava wanted the ones Landon had, almost every time. When we were at the mall Ava would get upset if Landon didn't hold her hand at one point she said, "I just think he is the cutest thing ever, and I love him, why won't he hold my hand?"

This morning we played and then went to IHOP for brunch. They were both UPSET it was time to say goodbye. Ava was NOT ready and neither was Landon. They still wanted to play.

It was sad to say goodbye. It made me realize how nice it is to be around family. Also to have adult company, since it's always just Landon and I, and I am with kids all day long. We stopped at Grapevine Mills Mall on our way out. I wanted to go to the Gap outlet. I am glad I did, I finally found some good stuff and at a reasonable price. Landon fell asleep on the way home pretty quick.

And, my stupid GPS took me through Downtown Ft. Worth on the way home. I was super scared at first, turned out to be ok. It was actually kinda pretty down there. And it only added 2 minutes to my time.

Thanks Alex, Jennifer, Ava, Kenny and Tina for a fun weekend!!!

Fun Fun Fun

I am excited for the weekend, I am glad the weekend is finally here. I've been battling a headache all day and I think it's finally gone!! Landon is excited because he will get to see Miss Ava, whom he hasn't seen for a while, and she's allllll he's been talking about.

Check back for pictures of the dynamic duo!! TGIF everyone, wooohooo!

I won!

So I have my little come home from work daily routine. Usually Landon will watch a cartoon and I hop on the computer have a snack while I check my e-mail, read blogs and check face book. Today I was reading through my blog list and when I got to Maddy Cakes Muse I was reading through and saw my name, I realized I had won!!!!! She was having her Blogaversary and a giveaway. I was so excited, shocked and embarrassed! Yes I was embarrassed, if you know me, I am pretty shy and get embarrassed easily and turn about 13 shades of red! But she picked me and I won a $50 gift card! It totally made my day!!! Thank-you.

So after some good news I decided it was time to mow! I got my mower fixed last night by some friends of mine that live down the street. It was all my fault that it was smoking. I put wayyyyyyyy too much oil in it. I mean way too much. So after draining it out, taking everything apart and cleaning the air filter it was working like a champ! It sounded like a real lawn mower again! Not a sputtering, white smoke blowing piece of junk. So today I mowed my yards. The weather has been amazing here, it was only in the 80's so mowing at 3pm wasn't bad! It didn't take me long since I've become quite the lawnmowing woman over here, just don't ask me to service a mower, i'll break it. I push that mower so fast I am almost running, no joke. I want to get it done quick, and you better believe I do. ha! (I really don't go that fast...)

It seems like tonight I just haven't been able to sit down. I've had one thing after another to do. After mowing and a shower we went to the mall to get a birthday gift, then came home made dinner, got my nifty little tractor watering thing together and working and got the backyard watered. I also cleaned the house, did laundry, bathed my child and watched Big Brother in between, while playing with Landon! Whew, I'm pooped! Then as I was getting my little man in bed he had a melt down because he didn't want to go to bed and you would think the world was coming to an end over here!

I had some GREAT picture opporotunites tonight and when I busted out my burnt orange camera it was dead, darn it. I'd better get that battery charged for the weekend!

Nerves

Since Greg is down range I try not to watch the news. Actually I try to avoid it at all costs. I don't even like to watch the local news. I made the mistake of watching the news a lot when Greg was deployed a few years back. (We were still in Germany) I saw a headline about something going on where he was at. Then I got a phone call from the fire station minutes after stating something had happened, everyone is OK and accounted for. It scared the living day lights out of me. I don't think I slept at all that night. (This was probably in 2003 when things were pretty rough over there.) So today I get on the computer. My homepage came up for the Internet and I saw a caption about Iraq. My heart sunk and I got that feeling in my stomach. I had to click on it to read it, even though I knew deep down inside I should have avoided it. So after reading the article my stomach is all jumbled up, and I got that sick feeling again. Now don't worry, Greg is fine, just reading that article was something I shouldn't have done. I try not to think about things and worry. I try to just go on with our normal every day routine. I've done great thus far about not worrying and thinking about it. We are at the tail end of this deployment, we are almost done. If you could all please keep Greg in your thoughts and prayers and pray for those people deployed and that they make it home safe!

We love and miss you Greg! Stay strong and be safe!!

This and That

I will probably bore you to death with my blog today. There isn't a whole heck of a lot going on around here. It's been a pretty low key day. Low key days are always a good thing. It's kinda cloudy and sprinkling a tad out there. I have a pair of lounge pants on, and they are SO comfortable. I've been wanting to wear them for a while now. It's supposed to get "cool" here in TX these next few days. We need a break from the heat so I am all about it.

My lawnmower is still sitting in the garage, and my grass hasn't been touched. Oh well. I have a pile of clean and folded clothes sitting on my dresser that need to be put away. But I don't feel like doing it. Oh well. I did find some cute birthday ideas on Etsy.

Those are stickers that you can put on bags or whatever kind of "goody" you give out at your party. I thought they were adorable. I also saw these chocolate suckers on Etsy.

But I think I'd rather do the stickers and fill a sack with goodies. What do you think? I also thought about getting Landon a shirt to wear on his birthday. Do you think this is too girly? It would of course say Landon on it.

We've been doing research on Laptops. We need a new one. I want one of my own. I want an Apple but I dont' think we can afford one of those. We found one like this at Wal Mart and it's only $448.

I also want a nice camera. Sam's Club has the one above for only $217. I dunno. I have such a hard time when it comes down to deciding on things. Greg tells me, "Just get it." But I can't just go and get it. I need to research a little and make sure we are getting the best deal. There is nothing worse than buying something and seeing it for much cheaper some where else a few days or weeks later. Don't cha' think? (So wasn't this the most boring post ever?) AND can you believe that Greg has been gone for 96 days already? Holy Cow!

Happy Birthday Greg

Happy 29th Birthday Greg!!!!!

Greg we hope you have a happy birthday today. I know it's hard being so far away and being where you're at. We just wanted to let you know we love you lots and miss you SO much. You are the best husband and father anyone can ask for. We are so lucky and proud to have you in our lives. Happy Birthday, Happy Birthday, Happy Birthday!!!!!!!!!! We will celebrate with a nice big chocolate cake when you get home. Landon can help you blow out all the candles like every year :)

Snoozing & party stuff

Landon is doing great today, thanks for everyone who was checking in to see how he was doing. He woke up a few times but having dreams and was happy as a clam this morning when he woke up! I was very happy about that. I didn't sleep well. I got woke up around 2:45am. I thought I heard a big dog barking, but we don't have any big dogs around us. So I listened for a minute and realized it was people, sounded like my neighbors were having a party. I tried to fall back asleep and the noise got louder. So I walked to my kitchen to get a better position to listen and see what was going on and someone was crying, someone was talking to them and then I heard some say, "It's not right, call the police, call them, call the police." Yikes, my heart started racing and I crawled back in bed. Now I've heard these neighbors fighting in the past, and I am sure there was drinking involved and there were other cars out front. Who knows what happened, I just tried to mind my own business.

My little one is snoozing right now. He is going on almost a 3 hour nap.

I don't want to wake him, but it is going on 4 and I don't want him to sleep too late. I'll give him a little bit more time and try. I don't want a repeat of last night...

We went to Michael's this morning. They had a 50% coupon so I wanted to grab a new apothecary jar. I also got a few other odds and ends.

I got the cute little ice cream cone cups. I could put silverware in those, or candy or something. I got that cute paint bucket for like $1.50. The 3 part dish thing was like $1.29 too. The aloha, guitar and surf board will be covered with food I'm sure, but the colors all go.

We attempted to go find Landon some more shoes. He is so hard on his shoes. We didn't find anything. It's also tax free weekend here and it was nuts out. We also went to Target and didn't find much of anything. It's just too hot to even think about buying long sleeve shirts, jeans, hoodies and jackets. I can't do it! It's still 100 out here. The thought of jeans makes me hot just thinking about it.

I've got chicken tortilla soup cooking in the crock pot. My house smells soooooo good. I will be able to eat it for the next few days, that's always a plus, I won't have to cook for myself, just re-heat some soup! Time to go wake my sleeping baby up...

Pictures *Update*

*UPDATE*

Here are the few pictures that I took from today of Landon at the pool party. He liked wearing his goggles, except he wanted them on his head.

We braked for pizza and drinks.

And then did some more swimming. When we stopped for a pizza break there was a miniature pincher there and she barked at Landon and scared the crap out of him and Meagan picked him up and he had this scared looked on his face, a freaked out look, and his goggles had moved down and were over his eyes, Landon is almost as big as Meagan, it looked so funny, I snapped a picture but it didn't come out...darn it. It would have been one of those priceless moments....

When we got home Landon kept saying he wasn't tired. He ended up sleeping on the couch for about an hour. When I woke him up he was so grouchy, I mean bad! Then after about 30 minutes of crying, attitude, whining, sniffling, coughing, crying, attitude he snapped out of it. What in the world?

Since I missed my Friday night of mowing I opted to do it tonight. Landon was content playing, I turned on a movie for him and went to work. I started the mower and it was smoking. Hmm, I let it run for a minute, still smoking. It was white smoke.  I was texting with Aften so I explained it to her. She relayed it to Beau. I tried it over and over again. It would run with no smoke for the first 20 seconds then it would just pour out, white smoke. Darn it. Maybe it's bad gas? Oil? That is what Beau said it could be. I'm thinking of taking it to Lowe's since that's where we bought it and it has a sticker on there stating to take it to Lowe's. Crap! Something else that's broken and needs to be fixed. I am glad my yard isn't a jungle and I've been keeping up with it. It can go a few more days with out being mowed. Now it just stinks because I wanted to relax tomorrow get some groceries in the morning and then Landon and I were going to go to a movie with Meagan. Now who knows what my day is going to look like.

So after the smoking mower we went to the gas station for a treat. I just got a soda, Landon got some sort of weird sour gummy nerds candy rope thingy ma jig. When we got home we stayed out front. I picked a few weeds and watered the grass. Landon watched the people outside and enjoyed his thingy ma jig. He followed me to the side of the house and was talking about his sour thingy ma jig and he started screaming. The thingy ma jig dropped to the grass and he went running. FIRE ANTS! Darn it. He got bit on his left foot 8 times. Poor baby. I sprayed his feet with water and we came in and I got him into a warm bath and had him soak them. I put some anti itch cream on them and then gave him his allergy medicine.

I put his clean sheets on his bed and he came in to the room and picked out his bed time book. All of a sudden I hear him gag, and then he vomits everywhere! Yes, projectile vomited all over his bedroom floor. We ran to the bathroom and he just heaved a little. That was it. I got him settled and stuff and went to work scrubbing and shampooing the carpet in his room. When I finished he was saying, "I need you mommy." Bless his heart. I felt terrible. I got him from the couch and we went to his room and cuddled in his bed and read some Scooby Books. I turned out the light and I think he was asleep instantly. Poor thing.

It's just been one of those nights. As I was typing he started screaming again. I think it was just a dream, and I am hoping that is not what my night is going to be like...wish us luck....

Luau!

Here are some Luau pictures from yesterday! Every year we have an end of year Luau, most of our kids leave due to starting Kindergarten, Pre-K or moving. It's always a lot of fun and the kids LOVE it.

It's been super hot all week, and usually the wind is howling around here, it hasn't been windy for a while, and of course on the day of our Luau it was really windy! It was nice to have that breeze and some air, but our poor decorations!

Like I said last night Landon loved the hula hoop. He played with them most of the time. Besides the smoothie station he didn't do anything else!

OK I fibbed, he danced at the beginning while we were waiting for all the classes to finish taking class pictures! The boy loves to dance. He sure doesn't get it from me. I have no coordination and look silly if I even attempt to dance. Greg is just as bad, and I know he is going to be mad at me for saying that. But seriously, neither of us have any kind of rhythm.

Today we had our end of summer work pool party and lunch. They've been doing it the weekend before school starts every year for like 5 years. They always have it at the same place. Some years a bunch of people go, others only a few have gone. This year there was about half of the people there. (Probably not even that though) There was some mix up and confusion but thanks to Meagan we got it all worked out. Thanks a ton Meagan. (Everyone told me to tell you thanks again!)

Landon is attempting to stay awake. He insists he is NOT tired and he doesn't need a nap. But, I think he is sleepy. I caught him with his eyes half open on the couch and he said, "I'm not tired still." Silly boy. I just convinced him to grab a pillow and blanket and to rest and watch a cartoon. He liked that idea. But now I don't have my couch for a couch nap! Darn it!! ha ha!

Late Night

I worked late tonight. I did my normal shift, then had to go back in about 445pm to work. I was supposed to get off at 11pm, but ended up leaving around 915. That was VERY nice. It was a long day, at one point I was yawning non stop and my eyes were watering away!

Anyways, it's been a long week. I am glad the weekend is here. We have a pool party for work tomorrow so we are going to hit that up and have some fun. I am thinking Sunday is going to be a relax day. A day where we may do something in the morning but put our sweats back on for the rest of the day to play and have fun!

We had our Annual Luau at work today. I of course FORGOT my camera. What is wrong with me? I made sure to delete pictures and that the battery was charged. I left it right on the sink next to my watch which I was telling myself to not forget today. I did get some cute pictures with another camera and I hope I can get them some how to share. Landon loved to hula hoop, and he enjoyed the smoothies we had for a snack. He had a ring of strawberry around his mouth and the tip of his nose was red! He enjoyed them.

It's tax free weekend here in Texas. Well, here at least. I know it's going to be a mad house every where. That gives me another reason to stay home in my comfy sweats on Sunday!

Hair Cut

Got my hair cut today. I am so happy with my new hair dresser. Thanks Kristen for referring me to her! When I used to go to JCPenny's I would be there for like 4 hours. It took forever. Sometimes when I left I wasn't happy with my cut, or the color was off. But me being quiet ol' me, I never said anything. Plus I could hardly ever get an appointment, our schedules were totally opposite. I like this new lady. I am in and out in about 1 1/2 hours. She does a great job, and it's a lot cheaper than my other lady!

It's hard to take a picture of myself. I set the camera up and tried to take one, I looked like a weirdo the way I was standing. I mean WEIRD! So I did the hold the camera up, point and click way. But you get the idea. I could always ask Landon to take my picture, but usually his pictures end up going up my nose, or they are of my arm, or knees or something weird.

Finally

I can finally show you what we got Greg for his birthday. Now his birthday isn't officially till the 23rd, but, he already got the package we sent last week. I've been dying for him to get it, I was excited about one thing in particular.

Remember I gave a small hint about one of his presents. Here is the final product Landon painted for Daddy.

I tried to convince Landon to paint something else, but he really really wanted to paint daddy a heart. Greg and Landon made me a heart for Valentine's Day (I think it was Valentine's day?) and I guess Landon figured Greg needed one too. Landon picked all the colors. He first picked the blue and green, but, he had to go back for some purple to put on there. Maybe I am bias but I think it turned out pretty cool looking.

My favorite thing we sent to Greg was a photo book from Snap fish. Have you ever made one?

It had pictures of just Greg and Landon. I know how much Greg misses Landon, and how difficult it is to be away from him. I know Greg has some pretty bad days and nights over there, seeing and doing lots of hard things, so I thought it would be nice for him to have something to look at to put a smile on his face...

I put all different pictures in there. I started with his baby pictures of course. It brought back a flood of memories and smiles for me, I can imagine what it did for Greg.

It was hard to pick which pictures to put in the book. I could have made a 100 page book if I wanted to. I think it had a total of 30 pages. It was a lot of fun to make, I can't wait to make another one. Greg of course loved it. He told me he has picked it up to read and look at it like 4 times already. I think I did a good job.

I know how much Greg enjoys his morning cup of Joe, so we also sent this mug.

Now up until I talked to Greg I didn't even really think about the whole coffee situation. When I asked Greg if he could use it there he said, "Yeah, but I don't drink coffee, it's wayyyy to hot to drink anything hot here. Especially coffee!" DUH Priscilla. Maybe you could drink iced coffee Greg? ha! Just kidding. You can always use it when you get home. We put some other odds and ends in the package. Gum, candy, snacks, sunflower seeds, bodywash.....

I got my teeth cleaned today. I look forward to my cleanings. I LOVE LOVE LOVE the smell of a dentist office, and I love the quiet sounds of the dental office. You know, the lull of the drill. The crackle of the suction. I LOVE it, and NO I am not kidding. I could fall asleep when I am getting a cleaning. I do get to go back for a small repair to an exsiting filling soon. And yes, I am excited to go get that done. Does that make me weird? Tomorrow I am getting my hair cut after work. It's kinda nice to get pampered!