2006

Today is the very last day of the year 2006. As I look back on this year I think of how fast it has went by and how much our lives have changed.
We worked really hard and Jacob became a K9 handler and we got Sadie.

I started my blog and soon after so did Jacob.
I had a kidney stone and thought I was going to die. We'll be paying on that bill for the rest of our lives.
My sweet baby turned 5 and started preschool
My nephew Tim graduated high school.
We sold our very first home and bought a beautiful home.
and so much more.

All in all I think 2006 was a pretty good year. Hopefully 2007 will be even better.

Happy New Year everyone!! Stay safe tonight!

In the last few days..

Wow it's been a busy week. I've done lots of stuff and yet I really don't know what to post about.

Those of you who get the Mansfield paper will find Connor's picture with Santa in this weeks edition.

Yesterday we went to the funeral of a dear fellow fireman. A very sad day. Terry was great EMT, fireman and reserve deputy with the Sheriff's Dept. He had sense of humor and could always be found at rodeos and 4th of July celebrations handing out glow sticks to every child there.

We had a nice Christmas at my in-laws today. We had ham, turkey, all the fixings and of course my favorite Cheesecake! My mother-in-law just about banned me from the cheesecake because she found out that Mamaw had sent me some on Christmas Day. I want to know who told her! ;)

The Ring

We had a wonderful Christmas. Connor loved all of his gifts from Santa. Jacob bought me a beautiful new wedding ring. I just love it!

Tonight I went with Glendela, Adrian and Shyla to get our nails done. Shyla had went this morning to get hers done and the rest of us went tonight. It was so much fun even if it was really late by the time we got out of there.

Every year we get Christmas money and I always end up paying bills or buying groceries with it but this year I decided that I would do something for me. :)

Merry Christmas Eve

Merry Christmas Everyone. Safe travels to all of those out there who are travling.

A Mothers Letter to Santa..

Dear Santa,
I've been a good mom all year. I've fed, cleaned, and cuddled my two children on demand, visited the doctor's office more than my doctor, sold sixty-two cases of candy bars to raise money to plant a shade tree on the school playground and figured out how to attach nine patches onto my son's Boy Scout patches with staples and a glue gun.
I was hoping you could spread my list out over several Christmases, since I had to write this letter with my daughter's red crayon, on the back of a receipt in the laundry room between cycles, and who knows when I'll find anymore free time in the next 18 years.

Here are my Christmas wishes:
I'd like a pair of legs that don't ache after a day of chasing kids (in any color, except purple, which I already have) and arms that don't flap in the breeze, but are strong enough to carry a screaming toddler out of the candy aisle in the grocery store.
I'd also like a waistline, since I lost mine somewhere in the seventh month of my last pregnancy.
If you're hauling big ticket items this year I'd like a car with fingerprint-resistant windows and a radio that only plays adult music; a television that doesn't broadcast any programs containing talking animals; and a refrigerator with a secret compartment behind the crisper where I can hide to talk on the phone.
On the practical side, I could use a talking doll that says, "Yes, Mommy" to boost my parental confidence, along with one potty-trained toddler, two kids who don't fight, and three pairs of jeans that will zip all the way up without the use of power tools. I could also use a recording of Tibetan monks chanting, "Don't eat in the living room" and "Take your hands off your sister," because my voice seems to be just out of my children's hearing range and can only be heard by the dog.
And please don't forget the Play-Doh Travel Pack, the hottest stocking stuffer this year for mothers of pre-schoolers. It comes in three fluorescent colors and is guaranteed to crumble on any carpet making the In-laws' house seem just like mine.
If it's too late to find any of these products, I'd settle for enough time to brush my teeth and comb my hair in the same morning, or the luxury of eating food warmer than room temperature without it being served in a Styrofoam container.
If you don't mind I could also use a few Christmas miracles to brighten the holiday season. Would it be too much trouble to declare ketchup a vegetable? It will clear my conscience immensely. It would be helpful if you could coerce my children to help around the house without demanding payment as if they were the bosses of an organized crime family; or if my toddler didn't look so cute sneaking downstairs to eat contraband ice cream in her pajamas at midnight.
Well, Santa, the buzzer on the dryer is ringing and my son saw my feet under the laundry room door. I think he wants his crayon back. Have a safe trip and remember to leave your wet boots by the chimney and come in and dry off by the fire so you don't catch cold. Help yourself to cookies on the table, but don't eat too many or leave crumbs on the carpet.
Yours Always,

MOM
P.S. One more thing...you can cancel all my requests if you can keep my children young enough to believe in you.

Gingerbread House and Baking Cookies

Tonight Connor made a gingerbread house and then we baked our cookies for Santa. We had so much fun. He decorated them all by himself.

Matt's Truck Was Where???

Christmas shopping went well yesterday. We went from barely started to "almost" done. We got darn lucky and ended up getting several great buys. I can't post them or everyone would know what they got for Christmas. ;)

We didn't get home until after 10:30. Jacob's friend Matt called and said he was going to stop by the house and we said ok. He got there before we did and we came home to his truck in our pond! Not only was he in the pond he had hit a tree and his bumper was tangled to the tree and his wheels were in the pond. I'm guessing he took me too literally when I told him he needed to drive fast to make it across the mud. I didn't mean slide around the corner doing 100mph! So anyway he stayed until around 2:30am visiting. He had to come back today to get his truck out. Luckily my father-in-law was able to pull him out today with the tractor. Sure wish I had gotten a picture for my blog.

Not only did we have to deal with Matt's truck in the mud but when we got home our electricity was out! I made sure the first thing I did was call up the electric company. Luckily it wasn't our for about an hour but that was long enough if you ask me. I'd call to report my power out just for the simple fact that I'm irritated with the power company but there are other reasons to report power outages. I saw on the news not long ago that most companies base who gets fixed first by call volume. I guess he who complains the loudest gets service first... I shouldn't have much problem with that! :)

I sure was tired this morning getting up for work. My friend Jeni and Eddie came for dinner tonight and to see our new home. I've been friends with Jeni since the 7th grade and this was the first time we've ever had her and her husband over for dinner. It was nice to have them.

4 Days until Christmas!!

Christmas Shopping

Normally my goal is to have all of my Christmas shopping done by December 1st. This year however I hadn't done any shopping because I wanted to wait until we were in our new house so that I'd have someplace to put it all. So here we are 6 short days until Christmas, 5 until Christmas at my mom's house, and I have barely even started. Jacob and I are going to Springfield tomorrow shopping and I told him I wasn't coming home until I was done. We may not be back until Christmas Day!

Shopping in Springfield, or anywhere for that matter, this time of year is bad enough but this year is going to be even harder on me. You see on Saturday I somehow kicked the corner of my island and broke my toenail in half. Jacob upon looking at it tonight thinks that I've fractured my toe. He boiled it out today with peroxide and it bubbled forever. The entire nail is broke in half. It hurts like the dickens! We went to Wal-Mart today and by the time I got out of there my toe was hurting so bad I could hardly walk so going to the mall tomorrow is going to be interesting. Hopefully it will be feeling better by morning. I'm being super easy on it tonight and I'll soak it later. We'll see how well it works.

I'd post a picture of it but I don't think ya'll wana see it!

Happy Birthday Jacob!!!

Happy Bithday to my sexy hubby. He turns a big 25 today.

I love ya bunches babe!! I hope you have a great birthday. xoxo

Here is a picture of the cake I made him.

Alayna's Birthday Cake

Here is the picture of the Dora the explorer birthday cake I made today for Alayna O'Guin. She turned 6 on the 10th of December.

And What Do You Want For Christmas Scott?

My brother Scott on Santa's lap. It looks just like the one when he was little on Santa's lap... only this time he didn't pee on Santa!!

Love Ya Bub!

Missed Me??

Wow it is sooo good to be back online! I have LOTS to post about but I'll just start with my party.

So... you all are coming to my party.. RIGHT?? Of course you are! Who would miss it! ;)

It seems I forgot to post a time for my party. It will be around 6:30pm this Sunday. Of course anyone who wants to help cook/clean/decorate/unpack boxes is welcome to get here anytime.

Sunday is Jacob's birthday but I think I'm even more excited than he

is... maybe not he's pretty excited too. :)

Change of Plans

I'm so sorry but I must reschedule my housewarming party. It seems I was so concerened with when Jacob had to work that I forgot that I have to work Wednesday! :( The party will now be next Sunday December 17th, Jacob's Birthday. It will be a housewarming/birthday party for Jake.

I sure hope everyone is still able to come.

Hey Honey I'm Home

We are FINALLY living in our home AND we have running water. I was tempted to ask the stupid guy that was suppose to be here two weeks ago to finish the job just how well he enjoyed his running water last night. Did his bathroom flush did he get to take a shower?? Because I didn't!! The workers will be back once again tomorrow to finish up just a few things on the outside. I'll be lucky to be unpacked by NEXT Christmas.

Not many of you have posted that you'll be at my housewarming party. I sure hope my mom isn't the only one planning on coming.

I might be a little AWOL the next few days as we don't have any phone or internet service over at our house yet. Hopefully that will change soon. I'm not sure how long I can go without internet.

Housewarming Party

We will be having a housewarming party next Wednesday December 13th at 6:00pm. I know I told a few of you that I thought it would be Sunday night but I forgot Jacob had to work that night.

If you need directions either e-mail me or post your name asking for directions in the comments. Also you can post in the comments to tell me if you are planning on coming. I've got a pretty big house so I hope lots of people come. :)

More Pictures

House Pictures

I'm trying once again to post some pictures of my house. For some reason they don't want to post. Work crews better show up for work tomorrow or I'll be hunting them down and dragging them here by their ears. I'm fed up with people not willing to work!

I've got a couple more pictures I'll try to post after this one if this one works.

Happy Birthday Shyla

My Niece Shyla turns 14 today. Here is the pictures of the two cakes I made her.

Happy Birthday Shyla. We love you!!!

In a better mood

I'm in a slightly better mood today than I was last night. One guy did show up to work today but somehow managed to fall into the water/ice filled hole for the pipes. Idiot. Jacob had even gotten there early and shoveled off the snow and broke the ice so that it was plainly visible so that no one would fall in it. So anyway, they left without finishing anything. The guy that finishes the interior is suppose to come tomorrow and finish up. He was suppose to come yesterday and then today so I'm not holding my breath. We've been back and forth with several people to dig our septic. Not 100% sure on when and how that's all going to play out yet. "If" the guy finishes the inside tomorrow at least we can move all of our stuff in. We won't have running water but at least our stuff will be there.

On a fun note we went sledding today. That was so much fun. We have a great hill by our house to sled at. I should have taken some pictures. We had a blast.

Oh speaking of pictures I'll try to post some pictures of our house in a little bit. The pictures I've taken haven't turned out very well but I'll post them anyway.

Another day not in my house

I haven't posted in a few days. There really isn't much to say. Noone seems t want to work. The guy that was suppose to come finish our septic seems to have fell off the planet. They sent one guy to come yesterday to finish the interior and he only got one room completed all day long. The other guy was sick and was they were both suppose to be here today. I'm guessing the reason they didn't come was the weather, even though they didn't bother to call. I'm glad they were able to take a snow day. I'd hate for them to have to work in the cold... oh wait he was going to be working inside. I had to work today. Many others had to work today. I'm sure the city boy postman up town was even working today. I understand that the weather is bad and that there really isn't any way to do some of the things in this weather but if everyone had shown up for work when they were suppose to then we would all be done by now.

Christmas is my favorite time of year and I'm ready to just skip it this year. When we first talked to everyone about selling/buying out new home they said I'd be in it by Halloween, then Thanksgiving and now I'm not even sure I'll be in it by Christmas and even if I am I'm not going to have enough time to enjoy it. I say screw it. At this rate I'll not be in my new house until Spring. Oh, I'll be paying for it but not able to live there. Why even bother doing Christmas. I'm so frustrated. Why does it seem like the more you pay a person the less they work? I just want to be in my house. I've been homeless for 32 days. I think I've done pretty well but my patience with people and situations is running out. I guess I'd never make it as a boss. I expect people to work and finish tasks on time too much.

I have a home

I have a home!! Oh It's pretty. I'll get some pictures taken tomorrow. I was very surprised they even let us inside today. Most everyone we know that has bought one the crew wouldn't let them in until they were 100% done. Another crew will be here on Wednesday to fix the carpet and the all the other inside work. They said we were welcome to move in anything we wanted as long as we didn't move it to where the carpet comes together and things like that. It's amazing it comes with every single detail from appliances to curtains and blinds. You can even buy them fully furnished but there is just one thing that it doesn't come with.... Light bulbs! I counted and it takes 35 light bulbs to fill the house! My sister-in-law came by tonight so I had her pick me up 3 boxes so that we could at least see all of the rooms. I told Jacob we needed to ask everyone that came to the housewarming party to bring a box of light bulbs. ;)

I saw my house!

I got to see my house yesterday!! It is so pretty. The day that we ordered it I was 100% sure on every single detail was exactly how I wanted it but as the days went on I started to question myself. I worried about the layout, the colors and I studied the floorplans every single day. One thing that worried me was that the dishwasher wasn't labeled on the floorplans. What if I hadn't ordered one? Would there be room for one once it was all built? How would that make my cabinets look? You know one worry leads to another and before you know it I've almost had a mental breakdown over ordering a dishwasher. Another thing was the laundry room. It didn't show that there was a door on the opening. Holy cow! What if there isn't a door on the laundry room? Then people can see my dirty laundry. Ya ever wander why people call secrets dirty laundry? I think it's because we all have it but noone wants anyone to see theirs. It's these kinds of worried and rambling thoughts that have just about drove me crazy the last week but it was all eased as I saw my house. It's prettier than I ever imagined. I LOVE the colors. I love everything. I brought my camera to take pictures and as soon as I walked in it I got so excited I forgot to take any. We didn't get to see every room because most of it had plastic over it where the pieces fit together. I got to see the main rooms though, the living room, my BEAUTIFUL kitchen, my dining room. The gentleman there even let me tear a hole in the plastic to see my master bathroom. :)

The two pictures is of the concrete work being done. Jacob's Uncle Lonnie was such a big help in it getting done and getting done right.

I know December is really busy but I'm planning on having a housewarming party as quickly as I can after we move in. I hope everyone can make it.

Friday

First off I'll update you on the house. The concrete is done and looks great. This ends the majority of the BIG projects to be done before the house arrives.

We had a nice Thanksgiving. We had a good dinner with Jacob's family at his grandma's and then later with my family at my mom's. We have so much to be thankful for.

Jacob wrote a touching post on his blog yesterday that you can read HERE. I will write more on this in a few days. Right now I'm still just sad and shocked.

Protester

We had a protester yesterday morning. Jacob got on the tractor and started moving the chat. Connor ran over to me and crossed his arms and said very sternly "You keep that tractor away from my dirt pile!" Oh it was funny. I had to keep a close eye on him to make sure he didn't run in front of the tractor he was so mad. The second one is of Jacob, Tyler and Kyle running our electrical lines. If you look on the ground you can see what the boxes were for. I'll explain a little more on them tomorrow. The concrete got pushed back again but we are ready for it tomorrow. They should start delivering it around 10:00 in the morning. Jacob's uncle Lonnie will be here to help supervise the project which makes me feel 100 times better since he does this kind of thing on a daily basis.

Se-Ma-No was here FINALLY today. We have a very nice looking pole in our yard. It has a pretty brand new meter on it. I'm not looking forward to having to read my meter. I've gotten pretty spoiled with Intercounty and not having to read it myself.

Sunday Pictures

We didn't get everything finished today that we would have liked but we worked hard all day long and got a lot done. We got all of the boards as you can see put up. That took most of the day. I spent 80% of my day with a shovel and the other 20% with the yard stick helping measure for levelness. Unfortunately we didn't get to start on the chat today. That will be the main project for tomorrow. Then pouring the concrete on Tuesday.

More Friday Pictures

I forgot to take my camera over to the house today but here is a couple more pictures from Friday. It's a bummer that I forgot my camera because I could have made Jacob take pictures of me and my shovel. We did get a good amount of work done today and I have high hopes for tomorrow. If everything goes as planned we will be pouring concrete Monday. Still no word from SeMaNo on when the electric will be put in. Coincidently once we paid them they stopped being in a hurry to put in our electric. I guarantee that everytime my electric even flickers I'll be on the phone with them telling them that it's their fault my clocks aren't set and they should come reset it for me. I may have no control over getting them here but they will soon know me very well. I'll have them on speeddial . ;)

Movin' Dirt

Joe and Jacob made good progress on clearing the dirt for the foundation today. Our chat was also delivered today.

I feel like I've spent the entire day driving. First this morning I got up and drove to Mansfield to help set up at a craft fair that we had today. Then I had to drive back to Mtn.Grove to take Connor to school. After I dropped him off I drove to West Plains and picked up some metal hook looking things that the guys needed. Came back to Mtn.Grove and killed an hour until time to get Connor from school. Connor and I then drove back to Norwood to drop off the stuff and then onto Mansfield for the craft fair.

Tomorrow looks pretty busy also as Jacob wants me here to help him and I need to be at the craft fair also. No matter what I do someone is going to be upset with me.

Are We Farmers Yet??

We each bought a new pair of rubber boots today. I had been needing some anyway for the sale barn. The rain put any of our construction plans on hold today. We were only able to call and get some quotes on some things that we need to buy.

Jacob has been telling me that he needed to stop by the hardware store and pick up a few pieces of pipe, wire and some lumber. I expected that this wasn't really any big deal and expected to the bill to be around $20! The ticket he came out with was over $600 and this didn't even include the lumber!!! I got so stressed I literally thought I was going to throw up. I'm scared to death to see how much everything else is going to cost!

What do you get for Nine Grand!

I'm going to try my best to keep updated pictures of our progress. Here is the picture of our $9,000 well. Technically it's a $12,500 well now because it has a new pump in it. The well house was free since my in-laws already had it. It's the black thing sticking up that cost so much.

The second picture is of Matt, Jacob and Connor unloading the boxes that are somehow needed for the foundation, don't ask me I have NO idea really what they are for. :)

Halloween Sales

I thought by now all of the Halloween stuff would be gone but I got a couple really good bargains today. I found Halloween sales at every store I went to in Springfield with Mom and Dad today. Most places had their Halloween stuff 90% off!! I bought Connor a pirate set that had been $7.99 for $.79 and a cool cape that had been $19.99 for $1.99. I also bought several wooden items for $.19. You just can't beat 90% off. It's only 10% from FREE!! I'd have bought more if I had any room to put it.

Progress

Sorry for my lack of blogging lately. Even though I am still doing MUCH better keeping up with my blog than Jacob is his. I've gotten to where I don't even check his because he never writes!

Anyway, Jacob talked to the company that is building our house and he says it should be set up around the 27th. So far this is what we have gotten done, ok maybe not WE as in not ME :), well dug, pump put in, tree's cut, boxes made, electric paid for but they are taking their sweet time to come put it in. Oh and by the way ask Jacob what he done while making boxes yesterday.

There will be a color ceremony on the Mountain Grove square at 11:00am tomorrow in honor of Veterans Day. Hope to see lots of people there.

Election Day

Please remember to go vote today! We live in a great nation that allows the people to make decisions on who and how the country is ran. Lets not forget to remember to use this privilege.
If you would like to view the items on the ballot before you head out to the polls here is a link. http://www.ky3.com/elections

Remember to leave me a comment with "I Voted" and your name.

New Links

If you look to the right of my blog you will notice that there are a few new links added to the my links section.

Here is what you will find...

Gentlewhisper : This is wrote by my friend Amy Maxwell. Her blog is what influenced me to start mine. She has all kinds of neat stuff on her blog. I'll never be able to do the things she does with her blog.

Joel Maxwell : This is wrote by Amy's husband Joel Mawell. This is a MUST read for anyone trying to get out of debt! They are doing something extraordinary!

Angel Food Ministries : This will take you to the Angel Food Ministries menu site. It is a great program. If you have any questions just e-mail me and I'll be happy to tell you about it.

House is ordered

We ordered our new home! I sure hope the colors I picked out look good. They said we should be moved in by the 22nd of this month. I doubt everything will be done and us moved in by that date but hopefully close. I'm sure my in-laws will be working hard to move us out as quickly as they can. :)

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

Happy Halloween Everyone! Connor has a field trip and a party at school that I'm going to. Then we will be going to my mom's house tonight for a party. I'll also take Connor out trick or treating for awhile tonight.

Have Fun and Be Safe!

Rayna's Party

Here is a couple pictures from my friend Rayna's party. The first one is a very nice picture of the bride flipping off the groom. ;) The second is the grooms cake.

I made the cakes. She had a Halloween wedding cake along with a chocolate grooms sheet cake. We had a blast!

Costumes

We went to a costume party last night, I'll post more pictures later. Here is us in our costumes.

A Very Sick Mom

Please keep my mom in your prayers. She had a severe allergic reaction last night and ended up being in the hospital and in ICU all night. She is home now but still pretty weak. We are very worried about her.

I love you, Mom. I hope you are feeling better.

Stressed

I'm homeless, I don't have a working car, I wanted to be moved out in less than 24 hours from now and that's not going to happen. I'm not 100% sure we will be out by Monday, our final day to be out. I spent 2 hours in nonstop tears today and I still don't feel much better. I did go bowling tonight. I didn't really want or feel like going but since I'm on the league I have to pay for it even if I'm not there and I'm too cheap to miss it. I'm glad I went now.

For those of you who don't know about the car situation. Here's what's been going on. Our car has VERY unique tires and last week one of them had a blowout, ok honestly I hit a curb and the thing popped! So we look everywhere for a tire. Nowhere in our town has one. Finally we are able to find a good used one in Springfield for $20, a GREAT deal. Like two days later we are driving to my in-laws and an different tire blows out! So we have no spare. For those of you who have seen our car you know it's last leg anyway. It has NO powersteering, missing a blinker, a HUGE dent on one side and it also takes a professional arm wrestler to keep it on the road it pulls so bad. There is more lights lit up on the dash than a Christmas tree. So we really needed a new car.

The good news: We bought a car today. The bad news is the idiots didn't have the title and there is no telling when I'll get to go get it, we did drive over 70 miles today to go get it only to find out we can't pick it up. I'm very thankful to my Brother-In-Law Francis and his friend Steve for finding the car. It's not his fault that the idiots didn't have the title, they knew they were going to be selling the car the smart thing would have been to bring the title. I'm just frustrated with the situation.

All the stress is really getting to me and I can't even think about it without crying. I don't handle stress well but I think I've been doing pretty well until now. It's not one thing, it's everything. I'm at the breaking point.

Pack Pack Pack

I'm packing like crazy but it still seems to be going so slow. I've been trying to do one room at a time. The last two rooms have taken over a day for me to do. That might seem like fairly good progress but I have 5 more rooms and only 3 days left. Now I'm not the greatest at math BUT.. That doesn't seem to add up well for me. I'm starting to worry we won't be out by when we want to be.

I'd write more but I have to get back to packing!

Illegal Immigrants Poem

I ran across this poem while cleaning out my e-mail tonight. Elections are coming up and I thought it was cute.

I cross ocean, poor and broke,

Take bus, see employment folk.

Nice man treat me good in there,

Say I need go see Welfare.

Welfare say, "You come no more,We send cash right to your door."

Welfare checks, they make you wealthy,

Medicade keep you healthy!

By and by, Got plenty money,

Thanks to you, TAXPAYER dummy.

Write to friends in motherland,

Tell them 'come, fast as you can'

They come in turbans and Ford trucks,

I buy big house with welfare bucks

.They come here, we live together,

More welfare checks, it gets better!

Fourteen families, they moving in,

But neighbor's patience wearing thin.

Finally, white guy moves away, ..

I buy his house, and then I say,

"Find more aliens for house to rent."

In my yard I put a tent.

Send for family they just trash,...

But they, too, draw welfare cash!

Everything is very good,

Soon we ownwhole neighborhood.

We have hobby it called breeding,

Welfare pay for baby feeding.

Kids need dentist?

Wife need pills?

We get free! We got no bills!

TAXPAYER crazy! He pay all year,

To keep welfare running here.

We think America darn good place!

Too darn goodfor white man race.

If they no like us, they can scram,

Got lots of room in Pakistan.

What would you do for a ticket?

Here is a story about a lady who auctioned herself off on ebay in exchange for a ticket to The World Series!

Story

695 Feet

We finaly hit water at 695 feet. It looks as if the entire thing will have to be cased. I know that it is a good idea to have it cased anyway, could save us a bunch of money in the future but it's still hard to see all of the money.

No water

We finally stopped drilling today at 580ft. We still haven't hit water. I was hoping to hit oil by now. That would sure cure a lot of problems. I am hoping that they hit water soon. If not there is going to be a pole sticking out of the other side of the world somewhere around China. I said today if they went much further they might run into fire!

Keep thinking about us tomorrow. We sure need a string of good luck for tomorrow!

Today Is The Day

Shallow well, Shallow well. We are drilling today. Everyone pray for a shallow well!

Homeless

We officially do not own a home! We are living in a house that is owned by someone else. I have two weeks to move and I really haven't even started packing. I don't know where to begin.

I'll soon be having a big party at my house. Feel free to bring empty boxes. It will be tons of fun. We can play games like Who can carry the most boxes to the car, Junk packing races and Who can find the missing packing tape! I'll order pizza. No need to make an RSVP for this party. Everyone is welcome!

Connor's School Picture

Isn't he handsome? I was very happy with how his pictures turned out.

It's been a very busy last few days. I'll try to post more later.

No Bugs!

The termite guy came today to check for termites. Again something we didn't foresee as a problem but you just never know until it's done. The result was good. Absolutely no termites or termite damage. He looked the house over about 3 times because he said it really surprised him. Most older homes have at least some termite damage he said but ours was clean.

In other good news we went and talked to the people that we are buying the house from. The taxes are way less than I had expected. About $3,000 less! Jacob is going to try to talk to a guy tonight about doing some foundation work. We have seen his work and we have seen his price and both are excellent.

Lets keep the good news coming.. Shallow well, Shallow well.. You all are still praying. Right??

In the blink of an eye...

This was wrote by a good friend of mine and fellow FLYsister Andrea Rayna. She wrote exactly how I felt and so I asked her permission to post it here. Thanks Rayna.

As many of my friends know, I am a member of the local FLYLady group. It's amazing how close you can grow to another person, just chatting and sharing stories. We are a small group, compared to some of the other FLYlady chapters, but we make up for it with enthusiasm.

Over the past few years we have shared with our friend Sharon many many victories. She worked, went to school (to become a nurse), was a Mother and a Grandmother. She did all of this WHILE remodeling her house! She recently graduated from Nursing school, and faced down a fear of the water by taking swimming lessons! It's been so much fun to read about her escapes in the water...leaning to float....sometimes she would just crack me up!

Then, just about a week ago she left on vacation, full of plans and hopes and dreams for the future. Recent troubles with her children had been weighing heavily on her heart, but she sought comfort from her faith, and I believe she had found some measure of peace through her faith.

Imagine our surprise to learn last night that she died while snorkeling on vacation. It just can't be real, it must be a sad and evil joke....but a phone call to her church this morning confirmed the worst.

Our FLYsister was gone. Why now? Why just after so much was accomplished? Why now when there was so much on the horizon, so many good things coming her way?

We don't know the answer to these questions. Perhaps the grand design of Sharon's life will remain hidden from us until such a time that The Spirit deems it is the right time to show us. Maybe we will never know.
But know this. We were blessed to call her friend.

God's Speed Dear Friend.

Good News slowly but surly

Farm Credit called me today and our loan has been preapproved. This is good news. Like I told her on the phone I know we weren't expecting any problems but you never know until you know!

Jacob has also been able to push his vacation to start on the 11th. We also were finally able to get in touch with the Realtor and we should be closed by the end of next week.

Now really all thats left is to PRAY for a shallow well.

Patience

Patience... That's the word of the day.

I'm trying real hard to have patience with people. I have to keep telling myself that we really did not expect to even have a contract by now.

So hear I go venting...

The Real Estate office- I can't say too much bad about them as they have produced a contract rather quickly! It is hard to get them to understand that Jacob had taken his vacation to be able to work on stuff next week. That means we really need to get this closing happening so we can work on other things.

Our Loan people. They told us we could get preapproved in just a day or two.. That was two weeks ago. They keep saying they really don't see a problem with us getting the loan but it would just be nice if we knew 100% and knew exactly what our payments and stuff would be.

Here is the big one..... The United States Postal Service! Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't it the job of the united states postal service to bring and deliver the mail to the citizens of the united states. That's what they do!! That is their job!! This crazy postmaster is trying to tell me that my mailbox is going to have to be on a completely different road than my house! How crazy is that? I pretty much told him that it really wasn't under negotiation. He kept saying well we have to do this and we have to do that. So I'm thinking... What's the problem then DO IT. IT'S YOUR JOB! Then he says well we can't go down every single road or we'd be out until midnight.. Then hire more people. You are the government for crying out loud. For those of you reading this that might think that we are down a long gravel road or something.. this is NOT the case. We will be living on pavement less than one mile out of town. They go down the gravel road and that's where they want to put my mailbox. Why is this such a big deal to me?? I don't really mind walking down to the other road to get my mail. Afterall I go on walks pretty regularly but it's the principal of the thing. It's their job to bring it to me. I'm not crazy about leaving my son alone even if it's to walk half a mile to the mailbox. Also, we plan to live there forever. What happens when I'm 80. Not to mention the fact that Jacob is a police officer and really isn't in the business of making people happy. Therefore we will be replacing our mailbox every week do to it being vandalizes. Who knows how much mail we will lose. The battle is far from over. They WILL deliver my mail to my HOUSE! GRRR This just makes me so mad I could spit!

Cooking School and Congratulations

Let me tell you a little story I did yesterday... Jacob had asked me to heat up the pot of chili that I had made the day before. So I took the pot out and put it on the stove. Before I even had time to stir it. I got a phone call. While on the phone I completely forgot about the chili! As soon as I hung up the phone I smelled it. It was completely burned. So burned that it was smoking. Neither Jacob or Connor would eat it. The entire house smelled like burnt chili the rest of the day. It was nasty.

This may sound pretty typical but there is something that makes this story funny... The phone call I had.... It was the school that had called me to talk about a COOKING class that I'm taking!! So while on the phone with the cooking school I burn my own dinner! How ironic..

I want to say congratulations to my friend Rayna and her new hubby Dan. They went to Miami Ok and got married yesterday. Congrats girl you deserve it!

House Update

It's been a few days since I last posted. Yesterday was Farmers Day in Norwood. We had a craft booth there. Jacob and I played their "Marriage Game" and we won first place. :) We won a $50 Savings Bond.

Here is an update on the house. The original people that wanted to buy it were unable to get the loan. Not a big deal as we had another offer that replaced that one. We are trying hard to get the closing around the same time as the old one. The closing for it was suppose to be Oct.6th. Jacob put in to get his vacation starting the 7th so hopefully we will be able to close on time. If not his vacation will be pretty much worthless. It's all very stressful.

If knowing is half the battle..... then I'm losing terribly!

Can You See Connor??

This week is Spirit week at school. Today is CAMO day. I was surprised to find that Connor had nothing camo. Luckily I was able to find him a pair of pants and a shirt at Wal-Mart. The pants and shirt don't match exact but the pants that matched the shirt was the thin cloth material. These pants were jean material. They were only $2 higher and they will last much longer.

Maybe I'm just bias but man he's cute. :)

A decision has been made!

I think we have finally decided on a house. Honestly I think after Jacob once looked at this house he was sold. I have just been worried that it's too much money. Here is a picture of the master bathroom. We have reworked the floorplan and took out some square footage. It's still plenty of room with 4 bedrooms.

I'm still pretty stressed. I don't think I'll stop worrying until that well and septic is put in and I know the final $$$$. Please Lord don't let that well drill all the way to China!

Wild and Windy Craft fair

We had a craft fair in Gainsville this weekend. I didn't get to go. I had to work on Thursday, Connor had school on Friday and I was planning on going down today but there isn't much left of it. There were tornado warnings for that area down there. From what my mom says our stand was one of the few lucky ones. Most stands where destroyed. Many of the stands were gone completely! I feel so sorry for the people who lost their stands. I know how much money and work goes into making everything. Not to mention the canopys that are so expensive. We didn't make any money. We are out the booth rent of $40 and gas money but we still have all of our stuff so we are very lucky.

Jacob's Cake

Here is the picture of Jacob's cake. He was just upset that I didn't have 2 cakes for him.

He is such a BOOB!

Cake, Cake, Cake, Cake

I did these cakes tonight. They are mini Barbie cakes. They are less than half the size of a barbie. One cake mix made all 4 of these dolls and one cake that Jacob made. I made them to sell at the craft fair this weekend. It starts tomorrow.

My House??

Here is a picture of the home we are "looking" at. This kitchen is to die for! I love it. We are still not 100% on everything. Hopefully we will be finding out more soon. It's all going to depend on how much everything else costs.

House Hunting

We have a contract on our house. We have been going back and forth the last couple days to reach an agreement. We close October 6th and will have 2 weeks to move after that. I can't believe it is all going to happen so fast. The sign was in our yard less than 24 hours until the people that are buying it came and looked at it.

Now we have to buy a new one. One would think that would be the fun part. NOPE! I don't handle stress well at all. My body tends to shut down in stress. I will physically get sick just by being stresses. We have found one that we really like we just need to get it all worked out. There is just so much to do in such little time. I can't handle all of the decisions! I'm terrified that I'm going to make the wrong decision.

Self Checkout and Vending Machines

Have I ever told you all that I hate self checkouts and vending machines?? I swear they are evil.

First Self checkouts. Not only are they taking away much needed jobs but I can't get them to work. We went to the Wal-Mart tonight for a $2 mouse pad. We end up spending $50. We get ready to check out and there isn't any registers open on the side we parked. So Jacob decides we should use the "self checkout". First off I've never been able to use it that it didn't come up with some error that a cashier didn't have to approve. Then you have to wait on the cashier that is on the other side of the store pretending that she doesn't see the big red flashing light above my machine. Once I get all my items scanned successfully it's time to pay. I put money in, it spits the money back out. I stand there and unfold, unwrinkle, turn the bill the other direction and what does it do... spit it back out! It finally takes it after me spending four times as long as it would have if I had just waited in line for a real cashier.

While in line to use the self checkout Jacob and I decide we want something to drink. A 20oz bottle in the store is $1.18. A bottle is only $1.00 outside in the machine and I don't have to pay tax on it. Sounds like a good plan. Right?? No not really! We get outside. I decide I want a can of soda. Guess what the kind I want is out of order. So I walk to the other side of the store. That side is sold out also. URG! Fine I decide I'll pay the extra .25 and get the name brand Dr.Pepper instead of the cheap stuff like I normally get. I put my 2 quarters in, hit the button.. nothing. I hit the return change. Nothing.. Jacob walks up to find me beating on the vending machine that has just ate my money. He had drove to the other side of the store. It finally gives me one quarter back. Ok, I'm frustrated that it ate a quarter but I think ok I'll try again. So I put 2 more quarters in. Nothing. I'm beating on the button and the return change. Finally it spits out .35!! Why .35 I have NO idea. Jacob is laughing at me kicking the pop machine and convinces me to just get a bottle of pop like I had originally wanted. Ok, next machine. I put 4 quarters in. Hit the button. Nothing.. ok so I hit the other Dr.Pepper button because there is two. Suddenly it flashes the words SOLD OUT. Why couldn't it have had a little red button to warn me it was out before I put my money in? Jacob is really laughing at my frustration now, he's had his bottle of soda for some time now! I give up. I push the button and it gives me my money back. I'm out .40 I have no soda and I'm headed to the car. I'll drink Kool-Aid when I get home!

Weekly happenings

I've been pretty hard on Jacob for not posting on his blog and yet I've not been posting much either. It's been a busy week. It was "special sale" this week at the sale barn so I had to work both Wednesday and Thursday. Last night we went to Mansfield to set up for our craft fair that was today. We did pretty good. It's hard not to compare how well we did last week to this week. That's really not fair because last week was a huge craft fair.

I'm pooped tonight. We have some very good leads on our house this week. I'm trying to not get my hopes up. It still seems so unreal for it to be happening so soon after we listed it. My Father-In-Law told me last week that when it was meant to be it would all happen. Maybe this is a way of saying it was meant to be a long time ago!

I'll post more about the details of how the house is going when I know more but for right now I don't want to get my hopes up...... ok, it might be too late for that..

Making crafts and a rose

We've been busy making crafts the last two days. I got two teepees painted last night and one painted today. I also sewed a baby quilt top, I didn't do a very good job. I also got very frustrated because I sewed an entire row on upside down.... TWICE!

My dad brought me a very pretty rose last night when him and mom came over to see my tepees I painted. His yard is still full of beautiful flowers and mine died a long time ago. The rose smells so pretty. I've never smelled one that smelled as strong. It's filled the entire room. I love it.

Jacob's Woodburning

Many of you have seen several of my crafts and things that I make but may not have seen the work that Jacob does. Jacob's talent just amazes me. He does such a good job. I also think that he charges an extremely low price for his work. He charges $7.50 for the large pictures, $5.00 for the medium and $3.00 for the small. We have another craft fair this weekend. Hopefully he will do well there.

Keep up the Good work, Babe!

In Memory of 9-11

Today marks the five year anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and The Pentagon. And let us not forget the brave men and wemon on United Flight 93 who saved countless people with one big decision and two words "Let's Roll" Today will be know for generations to come as Patriots Day. A very fitting name but for our generation it will always be known as 9-11. I have a picture of a fireman that is sitting down with his head in his hands. The background is the World Trade Center there is an angel in the background with her arms around the fireman and the title is called "The Day The Angels Cried".

I don't want to take my focus off the memory of what happened but let me add some dislike to some things I've read today. In the Springfield News Leader they have several articles about 9-11 and I'm displeased with them all. Here is a quote from their page "In the five years since terrorists flew hijacked airliners into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, Americans have accepted inconvenience, sacrificed personal liberties and paid billions of dollars for a security clampdown that touches virtually every aspect of their lives. And we are still not safe. " Why aren't we safe? What more do they want. They complain that we have troops fighting for our freedom but if we had done nothing they would complain about that too. What will make them feel safe. Maybe they need a new teddy bear and a blankie and go crawling back to their mommies. We cannot protect someone who isn't willing to fight for it. Another quote from the Springfield News Leader "Debates continue over how to best preserve the relics remaining at ground zero, from the box beams that mark the original tower footprints to the so-called "survivors' staircase," the only remaining above-ground piece of the old complex." So called "Survivors''staircasee". Ok, if they are using words like "So Called" They are just resorting to name calling because they can't think of anything intelligent to say. The stories of this staircase are nothing less than heroic.

There is a short video about 9-11 on the History Channels website. Check it out.

All Sold Out

Our craft fair went great this weekend. We really thought that we had more than enough stuff made for ALL of our craft fairs this month and we pretty much sold out of everything at this one. We will be spending this week trying to get some stuff made for our craft fair this weekend.

Speaking of.... If you aren't busy this weekend Mansfield is having their annual Wilder Days this Saturday. Come out, have fun and more importantly see us! :)

We have our Realtor coming tomorrow to take pictures of the house and possible show it to some people... Wouldn't it be great if we got an offer from the first people that saw it. :) Ok, I know that probably isn't going to happen. House take forever to sell around here but it sure would be nice.

Craft Fair and Cake

We've been in Seymour at the Apple Festival the last two days and will be there tomorrow. I made this cake and took it with me to sell. Mainly to display and advertise for my cakes. I sold my cake for $15 and got to talk to a couple people about maybe doing some cakes.

I'd make another one for tomorrow but I just got home and I'm pooped! It takes over an hour to bake that type of cake and I plan on being in bed and asleep by then!

It's official!!!

Our house is officially on the market! It's taken long enough and I think we are finally ready. I'm very happy to have it listed. Hopefully it will sell quickly. Lets keep our fingers crossed!

Connor brought home his very first book order form from school today. He also brought home his paper for school pictures which will be taken on the 18th. All kinds of exciting stuff.

In The mail...

I have discovered that once you are an adult getting things in the mail isn't as pleasant as it seemed as a child. The only thing adults get in the mail is bills and who can get excited about that?? I have now found a way to be more excited about the mail. For one I subscribe to several magazines. I'm very happy each month to see my latest editions in the mail box. Another thing I've been doing is signing up for free samples. It's a great way to get free stuff, try out products and enjoy opening your mailbox! You have to be careful. I never give out my real phone number or my e-mail address. I use an old e-mail address I had along time ago, which I only check often enough that they don't cancel it. The highlight of my mail last week was a neat t-shirt that I got. I think GM sent it to me but anyway it has a pretty design on it, not like most of the ugly free t-shirts.

Today in the mail I got:
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A Sample of Dove's new Cool Moisture Body Wash
A Sample of Dove's new Cool Moisture lotion
3 Dove Coupons
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I got a coupon for a FREE bottle of Loreal Paris's new HIP, their words not mine, liquid makeup. This is a $13.00 value!! I can't wait to use this coupon!
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I also got my Wilton plates. I had bought 2 in Springfield a few weeks back and when I went to make the cake one of them didn't line up with the other one. I e-mailed them and they sent me 2 new ones! Which is pretty cool because only one of them was messed up. Oh and I got to keep the defective ones. I can always use them for non stacked cakes.

What's in your mailbox???

Stoned

We went back out to the creek today and got some BIG stones to make me a bench. Oh my were they heavy. I didn't think we'd ever get it into the car. Anyway they are all stacked up now and it looks real neat. I also finished putting my lights all around my pond so now it looks pretty out there even after dark. We now have seating for at least 8 people outside without any lawn chairs. I told Jacob today that we have done such a nice job on it especially since we've been putting some final touches on it. It has gone from a nasty looking side yard that even grass wouldn't grow to almost an outdoor room. It's my favorite room! :)

Life Is Good

The weather has just been wonderful. I don't even mind a little rain. It's cool enough I don't have to run the AC and warm enough to not use the heaters. On top of this it's a holiday and Jacob has three days off.

We drove out to Panther Creek this afternoon. That was nice. I got some rocks and gravel for my pond. Connor got to throw rocks in the water and try to make them skip. My pond looks better and better all the time. There are still a few more things I'd like to do to it before it is "done". I will stop at some point because we want to move, we are moving someday right??.

Life Is Good.

What a game!!!!

Tonight I went to one of the most exciting football games I've ever seen.

Here is what happened.. to the best of my memory and as best I can tell the story.

The game started a million and a half yards were ran and finally by halftime Cabool and Ash Grove had both scored once making the score 7-7. Third quarter was full of lots of running back and forth on the field. Not much happened in the forth quarter until about 3 minutes left in the game. Then the excitement begins..

Ash Grove scores but missed their field goal making the score 13-7. We mess up BIG time and must start on the ONE yard line! Anyway we get all the way down to around the 25th ard line or so. We do a couple plays and end up with 24 seconds on the clock with about 19 yards to go. We are trying REALLY hard even with the last play that we have only one second left but can't make it happen and the clock runs out! Ash Grove fans are cheering. The football players and the fans start to go out on the field to celebrate and that's when we notice... The flags on the field!!! Everyone is silent waiting to see what it means. It's a passing interference penalty and Cabool is awarded 15 yards. Due to the fact that they can't end a game on a defensive penalty we are gave one last play! Keep in mind the time on the score board is :00. Ok, We have 6 yards and one play to make it happen. We throw the pass and a freshman on our team catches the ball in the infield!!!! The bulldog fans go nuts!! The score is now 13-13. Danny Skaggs is to kick the field goal. Now Danny is a pretty good kicker but anyone can mess up under pressure. Earlier in the game he tried to kick a 30 yard field goal and missed it due to pressure but not this time. This time it goes right down the middle!! Making the score 14-13 Bulldog favor!!! WOW!! I did feel a little bad for the other team. I mean they were on their way to the field to celebrate and then ended up losing the game!

Good Job Ryan you ran your legs off tonight and I think the only name the announcer said all night is Ryan Smith.. Carry made by #21 Ryan Smith, Tackle Made by #21 Ryan Smith.. You are a star player buddy. You sure worked hard. I'm proud of you and the whole team. Way to go Dogs!!!

Mtn.Grove Beats Salem

Mtn.Grove beat Salem at their football game tonight!!! WAHOOO!!

For those of you who are not football fans first let me say that you seriously need help and second you just can't understand how exciting it all is. I'm normally not too interested in watching a football game unless my nephews are playing but I would have loved to have gone to this game. I had bowling tonight and couldn't go. :(

Bowling went great. We won all 3 of our games!!!... Ya know now that I think of it I like to play and watch almost any kind of game... Except golf! I'm also not real crazy about soccer. Well, with the exception of when Connor was playing and then I only let him play because it was the only sport he was old enough to play.

I can't wait to watch Ryan play. Bulldogs are going to win every game this year!!

This weeks happenings

This week Connor's class is studying the Letter F. He came home singing a cute song and he's had lots of neat papers. Their theme for this week is all about me. He brought home a giant "Connor" that he made and colored and today he made his hand and footprint. He has to bring an item that starts with the letter F to school on Friday for show and tell. I think he has decided to bring Floam.

I got my three wishing wells done and painted today. They are cute. They're made out of clothespins. My dad made Jacob 6 boards and frames for him to woodburn on and we bought 5 wooden notebook/albums for him to burn on also. He done 2 pictures last night. I'm very proud of him... he's not easily motivated!

Tomorrow I have to work. I'm never excited about working but I'm always excited about getting a paycheck. It's nice to own my own money even if it's not much and even if all I do is give it to Jacob.

Connor's "School Birthday"

Connor had an exceptional good day at school today. Since his birthday was before school started they threw him a party today. They sang to him, made him a card, they gave him a birthday hat with his name on it.. he said it was a crown for a King, and they gave him a gift. They really made him feel special. Also today he earned a sticker for doing a really good job at the tornado drill and he made the neatest book where he wrote and drew pictures of all of his favorite things. They even had them trace their home phone number and address. They sure learn a lot in school.

Ironically there had been one gift that Connor had REALLY wanted for his birthday that Wal-Mart had been out of on his birthday and Jacob and I bought it for him today while he was at school. We had no idea that they were going to throw him a party. So we brought it with us when we picked him up from school. It worked perfectly because he got to get another gift on his "school birthday" as he called it. :)

Blue Dog

Sadie loves icing. I guess a little too much. I keep all of my cake decorating items in a box in my laundry room. Today Sadie decided to eat one of my bottles of blue icing color! She got it all over her! Her paws are blue, she has blue on the side of he head and of course her tongue is BLUE!

Steve on Blues Clues isn't the only one with a blue dog now!

Getting Ready for Craft Fairs

We have a ton of craft fairs coming up. We have 9 days of craft fairs next month. Then we have 2 craft fairs in October. November will be spend getting stuff made for all of our Christmas shows in December, which is one of our busiest times of all.

We've been making some tepees that are really cute. It's became a family project. My dad cuts the boards, Mom sews the material and I paint the designs. I'll try to get a picture of the one we got finished tomorrow and post it. It really turned out nice.

Mom has almost 30 quilts made, dad has a TON of woodworking done but I've not got nearly as much done. I have... one box of roses, one hanger full of hair clips, one teepee painted, 3 birdhouses, 10-15 pots painted, and a small basket of something else. Jacob has made 2 woodburning items. He's using the excuse that he has no boards but I saw a couple little things that he could do in his box earlier, he's not fooling me. :)

Work and Bowling

I had to work today. It wasn't nearly as busy this week as it was last week. I got off around 1:00pm. Jacob took Connor to school today. Then we both went and picked him up. He is still having a great time at school. He came home yesterday singing the cutest song.

Tonight I went bowling with my cousins. We bowl on a league. I'm not real good yet but I'm getting better. I bought my own shoes tonight which will save me lots of $$$ in the long run. I really enjoy going bowling. Tonight I didn't bowl my best but the good thing is that our team beat the #1 team in the league 2 out of 3 games. That will do GREAT for our scores and out ranking! It is nothing for this team to have 2 out of the 4 players bowl a perfect game, 300 points. Our team name is pretty funny. We are " Three Ladies and a Drunk" It was going to be called three ladies and a guy but I have this one cousin that can't seem to make it through the third game without being wasted, shaking head. Strangely sometimes he does better after he's wasted.

hmmm I don't drink but I wonder if it would help my score....

My nephew Tim

I got a surprising phone call this afternoon. My nephew Tim who graduated this year is going to be starting college tomorrow! We are so proud of him. Most everything he will be able to do online so that will help with his work schedule.

There were a few moments that we didn't think he would make it through high school so it means even more that he's going to college.

P.S. I think his dad should post a first day of school picture tomorrow. :)

The 8th of November

UPDATE: The story behind the song is pretty touching. Below is a link to Big and Rich's site where you can read about the story and you can also watch the music video.

The 8th Of November - click to enter the site

My love of history has had me exploring today. As many of you know there is a fairly new country song out called "8th of November" sang by Big and Rich. It's been out a few months now. It talks about the 173ed Airborne and what happened on Nov. 8th, 1965. Well, I knew that it must have been a Vietnam battle but I had no idea what it was. I was more surprised to find out that my This Day in History link did not mention anything that happened on Nov.8th, 1965. So I done some looking and to my knowledge this is what happened... Notice to my knowledge these facts are only what I've been able to come up with. They may or may not be historicity correct. I'm still looking...

On 05 Nov 1965 the 173rd Airborne Brigade initiated "Operation Hump", a reconnaissance in force in an area about 15 miles north of Bien Hoa. The 1st Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, deployed south of the Dong Nai River while the 1st Battalion, 503rd Infantry, conducted a helicopter assault on a LZ northwest of the Dong Nai and Song Be Rivers. Little contact was made through 07 Nov, when B and C Companies settled into a night defensive position southeast of Hill 65, a triple-canopy jungled hill.

At about 0600 on the morning of 08 Nov, C Company began a move northwest toward Hill 65, while B Company moved northeast toward Hill 78. Shortly before 0800, C Company was engaged by a sizable enemy force well dug in to the southern face of Hill 65. At 0845, B Company was directed to wheel in place and proceed toward Hill 65 with the intention of relieving C Company.

B Company reached the foot of Hill 65 at about 0930 and moved up the hill. Three things soon became obvious:
1- There was a very large enemy force in place on the hill;
2- C Company was getting hammered; and
3- By chance, B Company was forcing the enemy's right flank. Under pressure from B Company's flanking attack the enemy force - most of an NVA regiment - moved to the northwest, whereupon the B Company commander called in air and artillery fires on the retreating troops. B Company halted in place in an effort to locate and consolidate with C Company's platoons, managing to establish a coherent defensive line running around the hilltop from southeast to northwest, but with little cover on the southern side.

Meanwhile, the NVA commander realized that his best chance was to close with the US soldiers so that the 173rd's air and artillery fire could not be effectively employed. He attempted to out-flank the US position atop the hill from both the east and the southwest, moving his troops closer to the Americans. The result was shoulder-to-shoulder attacks up the hillside, hand-to-hand fighting, and isolation of parts of B and C Companies ... but the Americans held against two such attacks. Although the fighting continued after the second massed attack, it reduced in intensity as the NVA commander again attempted to disengage and withdraw. By late afternoon it seemed that contact had been broken off by the enemy, allowing the two companies to prepare a night defensive position while collecting their dead and wounded in the center of the position. Although a few of the most seriously wounded were extracted by USAF helicopters using Stokes litters, the triple-canopy jungle prevented the majority from being evacuated until the morning of 09 Nov.

The result of the battle was heavy losses on both sides - 50 Skytroopers dead, many more wounded, and 403 dead NVA troops.

Connor's Day

Connor had a great day at school. He told me they did circle time, they had white milk and chips for a snack, they played with toys, the teacher read a book, they sang a song, they went outside and played and then school was over he said. He's ready to go back today! He woke up this morning saying "Today will be my second day of school".

P.S. I'm still having trouble with pictures uploading.

Connor's First Day of School

Here is Connor on his first day of Preschool. He was so excited. I took lots of pictures but for some reason blogger isn't wanting me to post very many at a time. Jacob and I both took him. I was taking pictures and telling him bye and he said "You can leave now if you want to". All of these other kids are crying for their parents. I'm very happy that he wasn't upset. I can't wait to go pick him up and ask about his day!

In Sweet Loving Memory of My Baby Gabriel

Today marks a very sad anniversary for me. One year ago today our sweet angel Gabriel was born. Not a day goes by that I don't think of him. I never got to hear him cry but he has touched my life like nothing else could. The only true happy memory I have of him was seeing him suck his thumb through the ultrasound machine. St. John's hospital sent me the nicest card. This is so much harder than I could have ever expected.

Gabriel we love you and we miss you every single day. You were our baby, we wanted and loved you so much. We will never forget you.

Happy Birthday

Today is two very wonderful ladies birthdays. My Aunt Jenny and Jacob's grandma Mamaw.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Emmalee's First Day of First Grade

Here is a picture of my niece Emmalee. She started first grade this week. :) Poor thing was sick last year and missed her first day of kindergarten. :(

She is such a smart little girl. She reads more books a quarter than I've read in my entire life.

Hope you had a good day at school Emma! We love you.