Hail Covered Yard

We are finally having rain come through El Paso! I know I am personally thrilled on this. Of course, we need the water, but it also means I get a break on watering the yard and with my water bill! Of course that makes for much needed good news! Today was a cloudy day but late in the afternoonn we got hit with a pretty bad thunderstorm that had the kids in tears! Our backyard ended up with hail covering it at one point. Caitlin thought it was snowing, so I had to sit down and explain to her what was really happening! Hopefully we will still continue getting rain this weekend!

He Has An Address!!!

We finally have a mailing address for where Kevin is! Very excited! On the downside, we have been told not to send anything for 30-60 days upon the unit arriving in country. They have only been there for a little less than two weeks now! We still have a little wait! We have to wait in order to give the unit they are replacing to leave the FOB as well as giving the guys a chance to get settled in. The guys need some time to get set up and organized before we are supposed to send things! Understandable. If you want to send something, wait until around the end of June! Trust me, I am really hating this wait! If I have not sent you Kev's address in Iraq, please either send me an email or leave a comment on here and I will get it to you! When sending anything, keep in mind he is living in a tent with over ten other guys so he is very limited on space during this deployment! Everyone keeps asking what to send him for his birthday and Christmas. Gift cards are the best way to go! His favorite places are GNC, Gamestop, and Amazon.com. All three of these do ship to APO. So, he can order off these sites and have the items shipped directly to him. He orders all of his vitamins and whatever for when he works out from GNC. He actually set up some membership with them last time he was overseas. He orders games for his PSP from Gamestop, as well as Amazon.com. With Amazon it gives him more to choose from as far as the games, books, movies, and more!

Please continue to keep Kevin in your thoughts and prayers as we wait for this next year to pass us by. Kev should be home sometime after next May, when this deployment comes to an end. Of course, we will not know the date until it is only a few days away. Nor do we know the exact time frame of him being there. We also are not sure when Kev will be home on R&R (mid-tour leave) since they are just getting there and we all know how it is all subject to change! I am sure it will be another example of us finding out a few days before he arrives in El Paso that he is coming home on leave! Got to love the Army! Overall, Kevin is doing pretty good. He called today. The second time he has been able to call in the month that he has been gone! He sounded good and was in a joking mood. Hearing his voice more than made my day. Now I am good for the next few weeks as far as him calling home. They are all working hard over there as they get settled and become more aware and knowledgeable of what they will be doing.

Thank you to everyone for the continuous support. You all keep us going strong!

Our Destructive Dog

What a week last week was! I have to say that I am so happy that we are currently in a new week! Dopey, our wonderful and loving Cane Corso, decided that since I did not spend as much time with him as I normally do that he would become a bit on the destructive side! My time was spent last week dealing with the kids and work. It was a busy week! One day Dopey ripped our water hose holder off the house. Okay, not too big of a deal. After all, Kevin and I have been talking about purchasing a nice water hose hideaway reel box. Why not make that purchase now? After this, Dopey decides he is going to drag our new hose into the yard and chew it into pieces. Oh, how I wish I had taken more pictures of his destruction! This past weekend I sent the girls to the backyard to help clean up his mess. One of them ran into the house telling me about Dopey "eating" the hose to the sprinklers. I was at a loss as to what they were telling me at first. Once I got out there, I was ready to choke this dog! Haha. He had chewed through the hoses that connected the faucet to the sprinkler system. Monday afternoon I had to repair the sprinkler system. Luckily there was enough hose left over from his field day of the mess he left in the middle of our yard! I was able to cut two pieces out in order to connect it all together again. And yes, it does work!!! Breanna walked in completely amazed with the fact that I could fix it because she has never seen me do that before. It was too cute! I had to explain that when Daddy is home I don't have to because he does yard work. She told me that she thought I would have to call someone to make the repairs. Nothing like the confidence a seven year old has in her mom! Of course, we told Kevin about this situation. He found humor in it all! Of course, he would have it no other way than to laugh at all that I have already gone through this past month!

This is what was left of the connection to the sprinklers!

This is to show you all that, yes, I can make household repairs! It does work! We flooded the backyard today while the kids all played in the water!

Our wonderful, loving puppy, Dopey! He is 11 months in this picture! Just turned one this month. He is such a big baby!

We are all praying for your safe return Kevin! We love you & miss you more than words could ever say! Stay strong & focused! We are here patiently awaiting your return home in the months to come! **Always!**

~"Distance between two hearts is not an obstacle...but rather a great reminder of just how strong true love really is"~

Memorial Day

Happy Memorial Day Everyone! Thanks to those of you who have given your lives so we can continue to live ours and to those who continue to put their lives on the line every passing day. When you are cooking out today, enjoying what may seem like another day off work that is paid for, take a moment and remember the reason behind this day. This day is meant to honor those men and women we have lost protecting our freedom and country. They sacrificed so much in order for us to enjoy ours. These people are some of the most selfless people that should be thought about daily, not just a couple times a year.

Freedom is not Free! So many American's have paid for our freedom with their lives. Always remember our Fallen Veteran's and appreciate what you have while others make the sacrifice for you to enjoy it.

The link to the History on Memorial Day:
http://www.usmemorialday.org/backgrnd.html

For You, Grandpa

Caitlin has had quite a few punishments for her shoplifting attempt. No matter what I say, it does not seem to get through to her. Yesterday, while talking to Terri, David made the suggestion that she writes "I will not steal" one hundred times. We all know how she hates to sit still and write anything! Caitlin has spent a good portion of today writing it. The first time she sat at the table and wrote it all in a rush which made it hard to read. I made her sit down and start the process all over again. She is so mad, but her writing is neater! What a way to spend a Sunday afternoon!

Mama, Ice

Earlier today I heard the Ice Cream Truck outside, doing the normal drive around and make parents crazy on a Saturday afternoon. I thought nothing of it really because the girls are both grounded and knew not to even ask. Nicholas was sitting in the living room floor playing when he heard it. He looked at me with huge eyes and got all excited. This is something I have not really seen him do until now. Not like this anyways. He jumped up and while running to the door started yelling, "Mama, ice." I still cannot believe he even knows what the music indicates! He was only one last summer when we use to get him and the girls ice cream from the truck. Of course, with him finally talking and showing so much excitement I could not say no to him. I guess it is kind of an award for communicating with me more than just grunting! His speech is getting to where he can put words together in a short sentence and to where he is now understandable! It is just amazing!

"My Dada"

Since enrolling Nicholas in Daycare he has started talking more and more! He is now putting two and three words together in order to complete a short sentence. We are so amazed with how far he has come in less than two months! This weekend he got a hold of my cell phone which has a picture of me and Kevin together the day he deployed. Nic kept hitting the button to make it light up and would smile. I asked him what he was looking at and with the biggest smile he looked at me and said, "My Dada Mama". My heart just melted and tears came to my eyes. In so many ways I can tell he misses his daddy. He is becoming a miniature Kevin more and more with every passing days. From the way he acts to the looks he gives...

We cannot wait until next year is here and Kevin is home with us again! We all miss him so much!

Take care of yourself Hun! We are all thinking about you! Love you so much!