SURPRISE!

My precious hubby is home for R&R!  YAY!!!!!!!!  (So, can you see how big my grin is???)  We are enjoying much needed family time right now, but I did want to share with you a video of us surprising him.  Jason has been wanting a Harley for as long as I can remember so I bought him one and he had no idea about it!  I managed to keep it a secret even though I wanted sooooo badly to tell him.  I am so glad that I kept it though because it was the BEST surprise I have ever managed to pull off.  yay!  Below is the video of me revealing the surprise to him:

Why be Anonymous?

After a couple years of blogging, I decided to make the comments on my blog be approved before they were published.  For whatever reason I get a lot of spam comments wanting to be linked back to random websites...I obviously do not publish those.  I have no need for the websites and I am sure my readers do not either.  I occasionally get anonymous comments, but have not encountered any mean spirited ones...that is until yesterday. 
I received an email notification that a comment on my blog was awaiting approval.  I saw that it was anonymous.  I figured it was another random link to a website...wrong.  You can read below for the notification I received:

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "We are in full "get the house ready for R&R" mode ...":
really? you call this a blog?

I don't get this.

Yes, Anonymous, I call this a blog.   My blog.  If you don't like it, don't read it.  I don't need your approval.  But next time, reveal yourself...don't hide behind anonymous.

Anywho...you can't get me down...wanna know why?  because my soldier will be here in a matter of days :) yay!

We are in full "get the house ready for R&R" mode around here!

R&R is getting so close and we are so excited!!!  BUT before J comes home there are a few things that MUST be taken care of...one of those items is the kids playroom.  Because the playroom is in the basement, I do not pay it that much attention.  It is closed off from the rest of the house and most of the time no visitors ever see it.  Therefore I have neglected it BIG TIME...wanna see:

So the kids and I waged war in the playroom.  I shared the above picture on facebook and commented that if no one hears from me in a couple hours to send in a rescue squad...I was only partially kidding.  I laugh now thinking that I actually believed it would only take a couple hours.  Nope, try 2 days.  The kids and I cleaned/organized/ and donated items in this playroom for 2 days.  I was very grumpy doing it.  BUT the end result is a nice clean/organized room...wanna see:

 Glad to have this marked off the To-Do list!  Whew!
Now, to keep it this way till J gets home for R&R.

Still so much to do...so I am off to tackle the remaining items on my list ...
 haircut and color (for the first time since March) - CHECK
accessories for my dress - going today!  yay!
clean house
wash cars

What does everyone else do to prepare for R&R ???

The Nosey Neighbors

Sorry I have been missing from blogging the last couple weeks.  As you know, my brother arrived safely home from Afghanistan over the weekend of the 4th.  We are so fortunate that he has been staying with us since he returned.  We have been busy catching up and running all over the place so there has not been much time for blogging.  Apparently having my brother at my house has become the talk of the neighborhood we live in.  I live on a dead end street.  We pretty much know everyone.  We all look out for each other.  If anything seems off or strange, we let each other know.  Well, we have this older couple across the street from us who seriously do not miss anything.  They sit in their rockers on their front porch and they keep a watch on everything.  They are simply precious and as friendly as can be, but I noticed over the last couple days they had been giving me strange looks....well, now I know why they were giving me strange looks. 
The other day as I was loading the kids in the car to leave the house, the couple walked over to my house (which I thought was odd because they usual just yell from the porch to talk)
So get this...they walk over to my house as I am loading my children in the car and wanted to know who the man was staying at my house.  No joke, they point blank asked me who the man was that was staying at my house!  I was a little stunned that someone would ask me that, but I politely told them that he was my brother.  I told them he had just returned home and was staying with me until he found an apartment.  The whole time I was talking, they were just looking at me like I was not telling them the truth...like in their heads I am sure they were thinking "hmm, yea right lady"  It was cracking me up!  I just kept thinking to myself these people do not believe me...did they forget that my brother lived with us for several months before he and Jason deployed?  have they not seen his truck parked in my driveway for the last year?
It still cracks me up thinking about it.  We have all got a big laugh out of it.  My friends are now referring to my brother as my boyfriend and Jason is cracking me up telling me to have my boyfriend out before he gets home.  I never thought I would be the talk of the neighborhood about something like this!  ha!  I expect to be the talk of the neighborhood for stuff my kids will be doing, but not this..lol.
What makes this even more funny is that Jeremy will be moving out next week when his apartment is ready, shortly after that J comes home for R&R...so the neighbors are going to see my brother move out and shortly after that, my husband return home...wonder what they are going to be thinking then??? 

Our 4th

We had a great 4th of July weekend!  (The only thing that would have made it better would be if my hubby was there)
I got the house decorated in a few of my patriotic things.  (I am going to leave them up till hubby comes in for R&R)  I also lined my flower beds and driveway in flags

View of Dining room:

View of mantle:

I got to use my superb grilling skills.  As you can see in the picture below I have no business at all cooking on the grill:

These were hot dogs at one time...I forgot about them (aka I was busy running my mouth) and this is what happened to them.  we had to go to the store to purchase more and I was told that my help was not needed...I don't understand why no one wanted me to grill the food (;

Other than the burnt food, we had a lot of great food and a lot of great company! 
As you know, my brother is home so the kids were loving swimming with Uncle Jeremy.

Madeline, Uncle Jeremy, and Jack

After a full day of eating and swimming we went to see the fireworks show on Saturday evening.

Madeline, Chase, Lillie and Jack

On Monday the 4th it was back to more swimming and more eating (I seriously think all I did this holiday weekend was eat, blah)
The kids were loving all the swimming.  As you can see in the picture below, "bunny ears" are the new thing in all our pictures (silly kids!)

Jack and Madi

Jack and our friend Wesley...again with the "bunny ears"

And of course, a picture of Madeline and me

We had a great 4th! 

We are counting down the days until Jason is home on R&R (YAY!)

Happy 4th of July!

"This nation will remain the land of the free only so long as it is the home of the brave." Elmer Davis

 Happy 4th of July everyone! So thankful for the brave men and women who have and are sacrificing so much so that we may have freedom. God bless our soldiers and God bless the USA.

2 Blue Stars to 1 Blue Star

As many of you know, my husband and my brother have both been deployed to Afghanistan since last fall.  That is why I have the 2 blue star sticker on my sidebar and on my car.  (For those who do not know the history of the Blue Star flag, click HERE to read a little about it)  Well, I am SO HAPPY to report that....

My 2 Blue Star Sticker is now....

A 1 Star Sticker!!!!!

YAY!!!!  My brother, Jeremy, is HOME from Afghanistan!!!!  Deployment #2 for him is now O-V-E-R!!!

Jeremy, came in late last week and we got to pick him up at the airport. Now a trip to the airport (that is 2 hours away) with 2 kids in tow is always an adventure...so let me give you a little snipit of that fun :)
We left town with plenty of time for the expected arrival of the plane. As we got on the interstate, I got the email that the plane was delayed an hour. As the drive continued, the emails continued with further notice of...would you believe...delays (ha, big surprise right???) By the time we got to town, the plane was now 3 hours late! So we did the only thing we could think of to pass the time...eat dinner and shop (:
We made it to the airport with still an hour to waste before Jeremy would get there so we found a seat and tried to make ourselves comfy. Now, before we left town the kids and I made signs and even bought balloons. The balloons made it thru the entire 2 hour drive and all the stops along the way. They made it into the airport and unfortunately were left at the airport. I was DETERMINED that Uncle Jeremy was getting the balloons. I would not let the kids  hold them because I just knew they would let go of them so I kept the balloons. BIG mistake...

See above...the balloons are now on the ceiling :(  I thought the balloons were tied to my purse...boy was I wrong.  I reached into my purse and away the balloons went.  The balloons were floating further and further away before any of us realized what was going on.  It was too late...the balloons were gone...off to decorate the ceiling.  At least we had a long (semi-delirious) laugh about it. 

Jack and Madi waiting (behind the line cause you will get into trouble if you cross that line) holding their sweet handmade signs waiting on Uncle Jeremy to come through. 

And finally....Uncle Jeremy is here!  We were soooooo excited to see him!!!! 

Madeline, Uncle Jeremy, and Jack - They were very happy to see Uncle Jeremy and have not let him out of their sight yet.  It has been so sweet.  He rode in the backseat the whole way home because they asked him to.  He has spent a lot of time with them (taking them to the movies and lunch and fireworks show and just playing outside) Of course, I am loving it too because I am getting a little break (=

The kids and me with my brother.  Jeremy gave the kids some cool new hats with the new camo design on them.  They LOVE them and are always wearing them.  He also gave them a coin from where he was stationed. 

I am so very grateful to have Jeremy home with us.  I am beyond thankful that God, in His perfect grace, returned him home to us.  I am so thankful for his service and protection, especially thankful to the ONE who provided that.  I am really enjoying having my brother home.  He is staying with us and we are loving it.  Just this afternoon I came in from the grocery store to find Jeremy, Jack and Madi asleep on the couch.  It was such a sweet sight (kicking myself for not getting a picture)  I am so very glad he is here with us.  Now if Jason could just get home, I would feel complete ;) 

Oh, have I mentioned yet that it is July...which means it is finally the month I will get to see my hubby!  yay!! Hurry up R&R!!

Below is a video of when we first Jeremy: