The Big Day

Well yesterday was the big day. We took Adam up to his Battalion at 8am to drop him off for the deployment. Fortunately we were able to hang out for a couple of hours before we had to leave. In some ways this deployment is easier than the others, mainly because this is our 3rd deployment. However in many other ways this is harder than I expected. I know that Andrew and I will be fine. We have lots to keep us busy until Adam comes home on leave sometime in August or September. Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers during this time, especially Andrew. This year will be difficult for him because he is most definitely a "Daddy's Boy".

before we left the house

just being silly boys

wearing Daddy's hat

getting to hold a "big shooter gun" (I think it's an M-4)

the last family picture for 8 months

walking to the parking lot.

It's getting closer

Well we are just about out of time. I am dropping Adam off at 9am Monday morning to leave for Afghanistan. I'm not sure where the past few months have gone. It seemed like earlier in 2008 that his deployment date would never get here and now all of a sudden I am staring it in the face. Part of me is glad it is finally here. Not because I want him to go but because I hate all of the waiting and preparing. The waiting/preparation part of deployments just drags the torture out. With this being our 3rd deployment it is safe to say that I have "been there and done that" with just about everything involved. Our first deployment we learned about just 1 week after finding out I was pregnant with Andrew and then Adam left 2 weeks later. That was our shortest deployment, only because Adam joined his unit late. He managed to make it home about 3 weeks before I delivered Andrew. We were very lucky after that. Adam was home for almost 2 years before deployment #2 came along. This deployment would end up being harder than anyone ever imagined. His unit left in Feb 06 for Afghanistan with the plans of being there for 12 months. Andrew and I moved to AR during that time to be closer to family and so I could have help with my then highly active 2yr old. In Jan 07, about 2 weeks before Adam was scheduled for a flight home, the phone call came. Due to the troop surge in Iraq our soldiers were being extended another 3 to 4 months. Talk about a shocker!! Here we were planning what to do next and in true Army fashion our plans were changed. But we made it through that 15 months and now 19 months later we are about to start another 12 months apart. Andrew and I will survive this deployment just like the others. It will be tough at times but I know we will be fine. So here's to making the most of our last 4 days together for a year.

Merry Christmas!!

Well I hope everyone had a great Christmas, I know we sure did. This past week has been incredibly long, but good. Adam's Mom was able to come up for the holiday. She is the first person from his family that has been able to make the trip up to NY and we were happy to have her. Andrew loved spending time with his Grandma and I know Adam enjoyed the time with his Mom before he must deploy. As I'm sure you can tell from the pictures below we had a good Christmas this year. Andrew got way too much stuff as usual while Adam and I were pleasantly surprised by one of our gifts. Andrew's favorite gifts include the giant bear pictured below, a kid tough digital camera, walkie talkies and a Leap Frog Tag reading system. Adam and I were lucky enough to receive a Nintendo Wii from my parents (thanks Mom and Dad!!). We have had lots of fun playing with it these past few days.

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!!!

Christmas Concerty & Party

Last week Andrew had his school Christmas Concert and also his class party. All of the kids did a great job singing their Christmas songs and of course had a blast at the party. Here are some pictures from the 2 days.

Going on stage

Here are the Pre-School and Pre-K classes


Singing Jingle Bells

The Little Drummer Boy

We Hear Angels

Standing on Daddy's lap watching the older kids

Making a Ginger Bread house

Licking the icing off the knife

Finished Product

Everyone's gingerbread houses

Snack time

Yummy!!!!

sharing his cupcake with Harley (one of his 3 girlfriends)

picking out the perfect present

unwrapping!!!

The perfect Christmas book

Seeing Santa

Yesterday we took Andrew to see Santa. He really enjoyed seeing him and telling him everything he wants for Christmas.

Thanksgiving and the countdown begins

First off Happy belated Thanksgiving to everyone. Hopefully you all didn't eat too terribly much..ha ha This Thanksgiving was a good one for us, but very different. Ever since Adam joined the Army if we weren't in Arkansas for the holiday we have always had single soldiers over to our house for dinner. I must say I love having the guys and girls over. It's fun getting to know the people Adam works with as more than just Private so and so. However this year none of his soldiers wanted to come over. I think they all have family close by so they were able to go spend time with family. Because of this our Thanksgiving ended up just being the 3 of us. At first I was a little bummed since I LOVE to cook however the more I thought about it the more I realized what a blessing having no one over was. There was no stress what so ever. No worrying about the house being picked up and perfect. No stressing on whether dinner would be ready on time. No setting the alarm to get up early in order to start the turkey. It was great!! Dinner turned out fabulous and we were able to lounge around all day eating and watching football. I must say it was a nice change a pace. Now if only I could get Andrew to eat half of everything that was cooked. I guess there's still hope for next year.

On to the second part of my title. The deployment countdown has officially started. Adam will leave for Afghanistan in just over 5 weeks. His flight date is January 8. They are still saying this will only be a 12 month deployment, but I can't help remember the last deployment. I am staying optimistic that it will only be 12 months but I am also preparing for an extension. We don't have an Afghanistan mailing address for Adam yet, but as soon as I get one I will pass it along. I have to say as much as I am not looking forward to this deployment I am so blessed that Adam will be here for Christmas. So many other soldiers in the brigade are leaving within the next 2 weeks. We have to remember how lucky we are to have the additional time together.

December 13, 2009

This my friends is the date that I will officially graduate college with an Associates Degree in Psychology. Of course that's assuming I pass all of my classes the first time around, but we won't talk about that right now. I am excited about this for obvious reasons but also because my original graduation date was July 2010. It changed because the college decided to accept my credits from Crowley's Ridge. This was questionable at first since the school wasn't accredited when I attended. It's hard to believe that in a little over a year I will have a degree. I finished my first two classes on Sunday. While I'm still waiting on my final project grade in Business Communications I know that I passed my other class with a 99.5%. How much do I rock with that grade!!! Of course I don't expect as much from my next two classes. So far they seem like they are going to be VERY challenging, but I am going to try my best and see what happens. Anyone who has any knowledge about Critical Thinking I would appreciate any and all help you can give.

A Halloween Box from Nana and Pawpaw

What do you get when out of state Grandparents send their one and only grandson a box of candy and treats for Halloween?

A 2 1/2 to 3 foot gummy snake is what you get. I couldn't believe what I was seeing when I opened the box and found this lovely piece of candy. Andrew loved it and asked if he could eat it all at once. Of course I quickly said no you must wait until after dinner and he was ok with that. Although I don't think he realizes I'm not going to let him eat this entire thing at once. Below is a closer picture of the tape measure so you can see just how long it is. Technically it's a little longer because the tail is curled up a little inside the package.

Thanks for all of the candy Nana and Pawpaw!!! We love you!!!

Home Renovations

The past 2 weeks Adam has been on leave/vacation and during that time I kept him very busy. We spent most of those 2 weeks painting the living room and remodeling the downstairs half bath. Here are some before and after pictures of the work.

The fireplace before

The fireplace after

before

after

before

after

The bathroom before...Isn't it ugly!!

during the renovation

after all of the work

Didn't Adam do a great job on the bathroom!!! It turned out to be a much bigger project that planned, but the after results made it all worth while.

The first snow fall & Halloween

Yes you are reading things correctly! On Tuesday night, October 28, we had our first Nor Easter of the season. I can't believe it snowed before Halloween! You really do have to LOVE the North Country (some days)..ha ha. We really did get pounded that night with over a foot of VERY heavy wet snow. Schools were closed on Wednesday due to broken branches blocking roads and some downed power lines. Fortunately we did not loose power at our house. Here are some pics from Wed. morning and Thursday morning while the boys were out playing.

Andrew showing off his new winter coat & snow boots. He looks like the Stay Puff marshmallow man.

The front of our house Wed. morning after the storm. Yes it is still snowing in this pic just not as hard.

The front bushes & our sidewalk are buried under there somewhere


The back yard

Thursday morning playing in the snow. Gotta load up the dump truck

Eating the snow

Throwing a snow ball at me

On Halloween most of the snow had melted, although in a few of these pictures you can probably see some remnants of it. Andrew was Spiderman again this year. He still loves his costume from last year and since it fits I decided not to spend the money on something new. Of course he would not wear the mask, but that didn't surprise me. He refused to wear it last year too. We went Trick or Treating on Fort Drum instead of our neighborhood this year. Some of our friends were having a Halloween Party so we went to the houses in their neighborhood before the party.

Trick or Treat!

He wanted to go up to this house by himself

That is one scary man. This was Andrew's comment after going to this house

Walking to the next house

Preparing to paint his pumpkin at the party

Concentrating super hard. My little artist at work

Showing off the finished product.

I hope everyone had a great Halloween! We had a good time and I'm kind of sad it's over. This means Thanksgiving and Christmas will be here before I know it! This year has flown by!