Dear to My Heart

This wonderful country that we live in is such a blessed one, and yet taken so much for granted. (how many know our National Anthem?) Steve and I have a tradition that sometime during the day, on Memorial Day, we take a moment to honor those men and women who fought and died for our country. We are trying to teach the boys that everything good in this world needs to be honored and protected. We went up on post and placed flags at the head stones of our fallen soldiers. If you have never been to a military cemetery I encourage all of you to go. It is a humbling experience. The white head stones all lined up.... it takes your breath away.

(it says that Private F.P. Kelly was the first buried in the Fort Huachuca cemetery 1877)
(I don't know if you can tell, but there is a carving of the Angel Moroni on this head stone)
(there where even a few "UNKNOWN" head stones)

My most precious possessions...











I feel so blessed that as I lay my babies down to sleep each night that I know they are safe and protected. I am thankful that we don't live in a war torn country as we see in many other places. And I don't have to worry about mortars and bombs going off while they sleep. I am not naive enough to think that nothing will ever happen to us. But I know that as we (the country) look toward God that we will never be invaded by an enemy we can't destroy. Steve leaving is hard on our family (as it is in others as well) but I truly believe that he is doing good, and that he is helping to protect our family, as well as fighting for others to have the freedoms that we enjoy.

OK Just kidding....

So I'm not going private.... I have been fortunate enough ot have too many friends. I can't add them all, blogspot won't let me. I guess I'll just be careful about what I write. So all of you that have been sent an email sorry about that. I don't know how to work this thing!!! Thank you all for making me feel so blessed to be able to count you all as friends!!!!

Went Private.... Why?

Ok, so the reason I am going private, are you ready? Steve is leaving.... no not like that. He is taking a contract job overseas and we thought it would be safer for him and us if people couldn't "blog-stalk" to my blog while he is gone. First what is blog-stalking? It's when you go from one blog to another, many blogs that you have no idea who they are. Admit it you all do it, that how I found many blogs, and I'm sure that's how many of you found me. Besides, Steve is worried about the person in Singapore that has seen my blog.

Steve will be in Missouri for a little bit and then he will be going to Afghanistan for a year. I want to be able to post about all of that and things that he is doing, and have at least some of it be private. I'm trying to get Steve to start a a blog to keep everyone updated as well. Like I said this is a contract position. So he will be embedded with the military but is a civilian. He'll be going outside the wire (outside of the base) with an interpreter and with the soldiers he's embedded with. (I think that's what he's doing?)

The good things about this is is that it's a HUGE resume builder. (which is a good thing when you're contracting).

If your wondering if I'm ok, or thinking "how can she do this" or "I could never let my husband be gone for that long." I really am ok. We were married when Steve joined the Army so this is the lifestyle we CHOSE. And the thing with this time is that I'm not pregnant (yeah for me) so my hormones are normal (almost). And for those that think that they couldn't do this... You could. Like I said this is what we chose, and it's easier for me to have Steve gone that to have him working 10-12 hours a day.

Steve leaves on Tuesday, and we will miss him. I'm very thankful for modern technology and all the things that goes with it.... web cams, email, blogs, and the such. The boys and I are going to go to Missouri to visit with him. I'm thankful for the soldiers that are serving our country, and the many wives that hold the down the fort here at home. If you want to see some incredible women, blog-stalk, and get to know the women who I have listed on my blog as friends from the military. (I also have a friend who is a single mom, and I don't know how she does it!)

The good, than the crazy

Ok, so today was James' last day of school. It was a water day and all the kids had so much fun playing in the little pools and in the hose. It was fun watching them. Mrs. Tyra was his teacher and did such a good job. Here are some things about James.... when he started school he was 40.5 pounds and was 42.5 inches tall. At the end of school he was 44.5 pounds and 44.5 inches tall. He grew quite a bit. And he was asked some question as the year ended, here are some of James' answers...

*What is your favorite thing to do? Playing with my dad and my friends.

*What animal would you want to be? No... I don't want to be an animal.

*Favorite food? Pasta

*Favorite junk food? Coco Chums (a made up food in a Bernstein Bear's book)

*What do you want to be when you grow up? A soldier.

James is pretty funny. I love you James, don't grow up too fast.

No for the crazy.....

So we are getting family pictures taken on Friday. Steve would really like us all to be in Sunday dress. Not a hard thing you would think -huh-. Well WRONG!! The boys do have Sunday dress its just not all matching (like we would like for pictures) So I thought ok. I'll just go pick up some black slacks for Tommy and Tim, and a white button shirt for Tim. Can I tell you the goose chase I went on just to find this!!! Apparently people really don't go to church other than Easter and Christmas here in Sierra Vista I went to EVERY place here looking for slacks and white shirt. Yeah right, you're thinking. Well there are only 7 places here to buy clothes, and I visited them all. I found stuff for James' size but nothing for toddlers. Why is that? So today Steve and I drove to Tucson to try to find something. We had success at Old Navy finding a shirt for Tim, but no black slacks. Well after 5 more stores we finally had what we needed for all the boys. My heavens! Seriously.... Anyways that my crazy. I was ok just doing white shirts and jeans but Steve really wanted to be in Sunday dress. These pictures better be REALLY good, for all the drama it took to get clothes for them. On a good note.... we took all three kids and Tommy only fell down the escalator once and no displays were knocked down!

{Please check to see if you name is on the next post and you haven't sent me your email yet...Thanks}

I'm going private

So I've decided that I'm going private, so I'm needed email address from some of you. If you see your name please email me at peachylg@yahoo.com or you can leave a comment.

Ariella Bell
Sara Galan
Amber & Spencer
Connie & Peter
Jennie (bug) & Chris
Joy & Gordon
Juliann Wilcox
Monica & Jacob
Jalasha & Ryan
Tara & Rob
Clair & Jason

Anybody else who wants to keep viewing my blog are welcome to I just need you to post you email address. I'll put this into effect probably next Thursday.

What else, What else? I have started a couple other blogs. These are dedicated to my intrests. I guess this blog is my intrests as well, with my family and all. But one is for crafts and recipies and the other is for the pictures I've taken. These will be remain public, it's just the one about the family and what we are up to will be private.

8 YEARS!!!!

Can you believe it! Steve and I made it to 8 years! WOW! We passed that 7 year itch and are still really happy. Today Steve had the day off so we went to the temple. Going to the temple here is a little different than going in Utah. We are 3 hours from the temple, and a 2 hour(almost) session, and another 3 hours home. It gave a lot of time for Steve and I to talk, laugh and debate politics. (A big shot out to the Amy's (Badger, and Gray) for watching the boys for 8 hours!!!) For us it was a great way to spend the day. We came home with sushi and pizza. Strange combo I know, but I'm still trying to get the boys to eat sushi. We wanted to do dinner as a family and didn't want to go out.

Ok, so after 8 years what have we done..... (are you ready?)

-3 kids (James 4, Tommy 3, Tim 20 months)

-1 dog (our first kid)

-8, yes 8 moves

-1 deployment (so far..... I'll fill you all in on the latest soon)

-3 jobs (for me, not counting being a mom)

-6 jobs(for Steve, most related to the military)

-3 military posts

-5 cars (2 of which totally broke down!)

-3 states

-8 anniversaries, 4 of which he was gone and 4 we got to spend together. We are 4/8

Being married to Steve has really been a "Life Less Ordinary" I had no idea what this ride would be like when I got on. We've had our ups and downs, definitely more ups. And I have loved every minute of being married to a man that has never settled for the norm. We started in a one bedroom basement apartment (our landlord was a crazy man) and now we have a beautiful house. He is always trying to be better and climb higher. He has worked hard to provide for our family, and taken on the burded alone so I can stay at home and take care of the boys. He is a great dad, and the boys just love him. James wants to "be a soldier like daddy." When he walks in the door they all run to give him hugs and try climb into his arms first. I was a lucky girl when I answered his personal ad on the internet. Crazy I know, but that's how our lives started and that's how it's going to continue.

I love you Steve!! You are a wonderful husband!!

This is the latest picture of our family after a hike.

What a day!

The boys have been enjoying there safety scissors. Making a HUGE mess and then cleaning it all up. Well then Tommy got the bright idea that he was going to give James a hair cut. I yell his name stating that we don't' cut our brothers' hair. Next I caught him trying to cut his own hair. "Tommy don't cut your hair either!!" Well, silly me I never told him that we shouldn't cut the dog's hair. So Captain got a hair cut. Fortunately for him he is fluffy enough that you can't tell, but boy there was a pile of hair on the floor.

Later that day Tommy was twirling. He was making himself dizzy, and thought he would try running after he was dizzy. Well apparently the treadmill took this as a challenge and stood his ground. Now just so you all know, the treadmill is in the corner tucked out of the way so people don't get hurt walking by. Poor Tommy ran right into the treadmill and lost....badly.
So no sooner than his face starts healing from the fall on the swings, he smashes his mouth. We couldn't tell when it happen but since the swelling has gone down a bit his tooth was pushed back a little so we are off to the dentist. You know with blogging I think it's kinda funny how I view things. If the situation does not involve a trip to the hospital, I want to take a picture of it. Is that sad?

I had a girlfriend notice that none of the boys were bruise or bloody or scraped a little while back and all I could say was "oh, give it a day or two" and sure enough... we have injuries. Fortunately for us it's never been anything serious.

Ok, so here is an update after we went to the dentist. Tommy will have to have his top two teeth pulled next year. Or sooner if there is pain or swelling or they get loose. So my 4 year old will be toothless until his big ones come in. Go Tommy!

And the scissors thing... I guess I should have checked James' hair before I posted. I ws straighting his hair today and this is what I saw. Again.... Go Tommy!

This and That

Nothing new and exciting going on. That is actually kind of a surprise. We are just doing routine things and hanging out. Here are some pictures that I have taken the past couple days.

These are at the park. Tommy was at school so instead of going home I took Tim and James to the park to play. We tried to fly kites but there wasn't enough wind so the boys just played on the playground.

Do you see Tim standing near the edge? Yeah, he is pretty fearless. I"m trying just to stay close to catch but he just gets more daring the closer to him I get.

Did you catch the little story there? Tim is a climber, and after watching James and Tommy climb on things a couple times Tim figures it out. He watched James do this and figured that he would too.

Here is a shot of James as he is posing for the picture.

Here are some pictures before Church. Tim was sick this day and sleeping while I took these pictures.

You know every now and then seeing the boys I think I catch a glimpse of the men they will turn into. They are so funny together and are usually smiling, and just best friends.

Here is a picture of Tommy coloring. Where are his pants? Who knows. But I thought it was a cute picture of his bum, plus this a GREAT picture to bring out to the girlfriends.

My girlfriend came over one day and we were chit-chatting and the boys were playing quietly, for the most part. We heard some clanking and giggling, and then nothing. and you know that when you all is quiet, trouble is brewing. We walked into the family room and this is what we saw. Picasso maybe?

They stacked those chairs up so carefully and they were balancing so well.

You know I'm totally convinced that most bugs where put on this earth to be tortured by little boys. Here we have Tommy trying to squirt an ant that was on the porch.

Here is Tim in the castle in the backyard.

Here is James being a goofball.

And this last picture is of James (and Tommy is in the mix too) at a little preschool field trip. The past week James has been learning about the ocean. They went to the middle school to look at the salt water fish tanks. And as all the other kids were happy to see "Nemo". James was naming the fish. "Look mom, there is a Clown Fish, and a Yellow Tang!" "Did you see the Powder Blue Tang and the Peppermint Shrimp?" "There is a Foxface!" "I see anemones, and feather dusters, and corals". I guess he does listen when we read books and look at different things.