Too close to home

I knew this family when I lived in Dalton, GA.  They are one of those families who you can't help but love - kind, generous, fun loving, and super funny.  I loved being with them.  We moved, they moved and they became a fond memory that resurfaced every now and then.  Even with the distance and time, I am heart broken for them tonight.  Michael Alleman was killed in Iraq on Monday leaving behind his wife, 2 boys (6 &4), and the rest of his wonderful family.  I can't help the tears that are welling in my eyes not only for this family and their loss, but the reality of having a loved one in the military.  Maybe it's selfish to think about myself in this tragedy but I can't help but think that could be me soon.  When your husband or loved one joins the military no matter the branch, you understand the risk they are signing up for - there is a 99.9% chance they will be going to some sort of war/conflict and being in danger.  Granted, driving to work in traffic is dangerous, but you don't sign on a line that you are willing to put yourself in a position to be killed willingly.  Zane will be deployed, it's just a matter of when and this tragedy just hits a little too close to home.

My prayers and thoughts are with the Alleman family.  "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends."  God bless him, and all our armed forces fighting overseas.  Please remember them and their families in your prayers - always.

Little boys...

I'm not sure if he's just special or if all boys are like this, but Cowboy exhausts me.  I have never known so much energy!  Seriously there are times that I just want to grab him and hold him down to MAKE him relax and be quiet for a whole minute.  Don't get me wrong, I love him to death.  But man alive - the kid is going to run me ragged at 27!  :)

Motivation

The kids have been sick on and off since November, but I completely used their sickness as an excuse NOT to go to the gym.  If I had only known the best motivation would be to go and try on dresses, I would have done it months ago.  :)  Zane has to go to his military ball and I need a nice dress to wear so I went in to try some on.  OH MY.  Needless to say, I have been in the gym every day since.  :) haha.  My rib is still hurting quite a bit, so I have to kind of work around it so I just do a lot of aerobic stuff.  Regardless, just wanted to put it out there no matter your size, if you want some major motivation to get in tip top shape go try on some formal dresses.  LOL.

I'm always glad when I get back into exercising, it makes me a better mama and much happier person.  It makes my life easier to schedule and prioritize.  Amazing how that works, eh?

Happy Valentine's Day!

Our valentine's day has been pretty great. Princess spent the night at her cousins' and so it was just me and the boys this morning. Cowboy was so cute and yelling "Happy Valentine's Day!" all morning long. He was so excited to get a special Valentine's surprise and had to call Grampa right away to tell him.

Princess had fun at her sleepover and I have decided that they are now banned until I forget how awful and crabby she is when she comes home from them. So she got her Valentine's surprise and and was pleasant about it for a whole 2 minutes until she started to complain and whine about her gift. *sigh* Seriously, NEVER again! I'll be happy when I have my nice rested Princess back to finish celebrating.

Cowboy and I made cookie dough this morning and so after naps the kids and I are making sugar cookies - as if they need ANY more sugar, but hopefully we can just deliver them or give them to Zane when he gets home.

Zane had his competition in Reno and none of the school's teams placed in the top two of their categories, so I think they are all kind of bummed. But he had some terrific interviews with a bunch of companies so he feels really great and confident in making those connections for future employment. He'll be getting home sometime tonight or tomorrow early morning. Yay for spending Valentine's Day without your spouse huh? :) Just teasing.

WHAT DID I DO??????

That is me screaming. I should have listened to myself halfway through Cowboy's haircut and just taken him to the barber, but NO. Ugh. It's the middle of winter and my son has NO hair. NONE. :( Guess he'll have to get used to a hat, poor thing. And he LOVED getting spikes in his hair. *whimper* My poor boy.

Ouch!

Yesterday was quite interesting.

Zane was leaving for drill early in the morning while I was still in bed. Suddenly I heard this crash and I FLEW out of bed because I was sure he had fallen and cracked his head or broken something. There was this nasty patch of ice at the bottom of our stairs and gratefully he had just twisted/sprained his ankle. He was VERY lucky to have been wearing his army boots that go up so high - otherwise he would have surely broken or completely torn something. So off he went to drill hobbling.

Fast forward to later that day. I am carrying Brother Bear and coming down with Cowboy to meet Princess outside to play. Step down at the bottom of the stairs and SLAM I hit the stupid patch of ice. I was carrying BB on my left side so I threw myself sideways and caught myself on the railing with my ribcage and shoulder blade full force. Ugh. It took me a few minutes to recover and stop myself from passing out because of lack of ability to breathe and I was in sooo much pain. But we had just gotten outside and I didn't want to tell Cowboy that he had to go in right then so I hobbled down to the playground with tears streaming down my face. I lasted for about 15 minutes before waves of nausea were overtaking me and then we all headed inside. By the time I got the kids snow clothes off and sat down I was sobbing uncontrollably and called Zane to have him come home. Lucky for me he thought to call his brother who came over and helped me until Zane came home.

So...Zane and I both went to urgent care last night. I am feeling very grateful that both of us just have minor injuries - no matter how painful. He is going to Reno this Wednesday and if i had a cracked or broken rib, that would have been torture! So...we are bruised and hurting, but not anything more serious which is very lucky. I should mention that Princess slipped on the same patch but slid to the side while wearing her snow suit, so she was padded enough to not get hurt, just a scrape. So now we get to file a complaint and get the apartments to pay the medical bill because our insurance won't cover 3rd party liability. Wish us luck with that one. I could post a whole other rant post about the stupidity of university housing and their utter disregard and ignorance of how to manage family housing. :) They would be buried 6 ft under in litigation any other state/city for all their issues. I should mention that I am referring to the person in charge in the housing office of the school, not the actual managers! :) (love ya Michelle!)

Happy February!

I love this month. I used to hate Valentine's Day because I just felt like it was way overrated (still is), however I am really starting to enjoy it. Something about having kids and helping them enjoy the holidays just makes every one better. I even got Valentine decorations and am helping the kids make some cards for people. I guess now I just think of it as more of an excuse to teach the kids different ways to show people how much they love and care for them. Plus it helps me to think of it too. :) But besides Valentine's day what makes February so great? Well, it's the shortest month of the year, my birthday is this month, and I love the color pink and can legitimately douse my house in it for decoration purposes. :o) So...happy February everyone!