13 years and just 7 more to go

I can’t believe that I spaced Rodi’s anniversary date.  He enlisted in the Navy Jan. 4th 1996.  On Jan. 4th 2009 I was too busy watching Molly give birth to Faith that I completely forgot we were one year closer to Rodi’s RETIREMENT!!!!  Okay I know it is still seven years away but it’s ONLY SEVEN more years.

I long for that day.  I am proud of Rodi and the great job he does.  I am thankful for his service and the service of all our military members.  But I also can’t wait for this ride to be OVER.

I am looking forward to celebrating birthdays, anniversaries, and holidays with him in the same country as us.  This week he will be gone for JJ’s very first sectional gymnastics meet.  That was the two biggest events on the January calendar.  He will also miss Moe’s b-day, Nina’s b-day, My b-day, JJ’s b-day, His b-day (can you really miss your own b-day?), Bubba’s birthday next January, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years 2010, and possibly our anniversary this year and next.  I am sure there will be many other events he will miss along the way. 

Again I know this comes with the job, I am just ready for that part of our life to be done. 

I don’t mean to sound selfish, I guess I am just in a mood today.  I love him and the FANTASTIC job he does.  I even encouraged him to put in his paperwork to become a Supply Officer 9 years ago.  I think I knew then in the back of my head that we were in this for the long haul.  I know if he had stayed in the Nuclear field that he was in when he was enlisted  we would not still be doing this Navy thing. 

I am thankful for the opportunities we have had to travel across Europe and live in Germany those three wonderful years.  I have made long lasting, wonderful friendships along the way that I TREASURE.

I am thankful some of the things my children have been able to see and do because of our lifestyle.  I am also sad about some of the things they have had to endure.  I think I struggle with that part the most. 

Ahhh, okay, enough venting for the day.  Just came on to post about the fact that seven years from now Rodi will be able to retire….. now we just have to wait and see if he will actually do it.  That is an entirely different story!

Twelve

Today Bubs turns 12, this is a huge day in his life.  I hope he knows how much he means to me and how much joy he has brought into our world.

In 12 years he has:

Moved 10 times

Been enrolled in 5 public schools

Been taken out of public school and brought home for schooling

Been part of several soccer  and wrestling teams

Taken gymnastics classes

Learned to play the guitar

Taught himself  to draw beautifully

Made us laugh until our sides ache

Made us cry because we love him dearly

Fallen down and pulled himself back up again

Developed a love for photography

Enjoyed dressing up for Halloween

Dreaded dressing up for Halloween

Made it to 1st class rank in scouts

Driven a tractor

Rode on a mechanical bull

had his first crush

Learned how to cook

There are so many, many more things I could list as he is one busy little man.

We are looking forward to this year and all the experiences  that will come his way.  As he grows so do we.

Happy to dress up for Halloween

Not so thrilled to dress up for Halloween

Photo moment captured by Bubs

Brotherly Love

Waiting for Walter

My little sister is expecting child #2, a boy.  She isn’t naming him Walter but that is what I am calling him.  Sort of like Moe, he was Moe until the day he was born and to some out there he still is. 

Walter isn’t due to make his arrival until early February but like any expectant mamma she is READY to meet and greet the little fella NOW!  I feel for her and have been in her shoes 4 times over the years.  Funny how  now I can give advice on being patient.  I was NEVER patient.  I tried anything and everything to bring these little ones into the world on my terms and on my schedule.  Yet today I found myself  facebooking her telling her to give my niece E.C. some extra lovin’ today as it could be the last Sunday they have as a small family of  three.  E.C.”s world is going to be turned upside down before she knows it.  HA that is something I would have never advised myself when I was in her situation. 

Funny what looking on from the outside can do to your perspective of certain situations in life.

Walter, Hurry up or take your sweet time we will all love and adore you the same.

Birthday Date Night

As previously mentioned, yesterday was Rodi’s birthday. He and I decided to fix a gourmet meal of Chicken tenders and fries for the kids. Oh you may laugh but these were tenders, not nuggets and the fries were waffle cut, no ordinary shoe string or crinkle cut fries for the Rodi crew LOL. After getting the kids all set at the dinner table we headed out for our date.
What a date it was. In true Rodi family fashion we took the truck and headed to the dump. Yep just me Rodi and the trash. No worries though we listened to the romantic comedy of Jeff Foxworthy on our drive … that is some serious hand holding comedy ya know. After the dump we headed to one of the two local Mexican restaurants. We were seated immediately which was very nice. However when they brought out the chips and salsa one dish was so cold there were ice chips in it. But did we complain nah…. we just stirred it up and dipped away. We sat and giggled at the small town talk around us. You could tell we were newbies to the area. Everyone seemed to know everyone and talked from table to table. We learned a lot about our community and the happenings in that hour. We even learned that it might be possible to come in sit a spell, order water, eat your complementary chips and frozen salsa and then leave without paying. Yep we saw it happen. Maybe it only applies if you were born in this county though.  I will tell you though, it really had Rodi thinking.
After dinner we headed out to wander around the stores and see if there were any last minute gifts we needed to pick up. Little did Rodi know we were actually going to get massages. They were amazing massages and FREE too. Wanna know where you can get one? Bed Bath and Beyond! They have these great chairs just sitting in the middle of an isle and they are all plugged in and just waiting for someone to sit in them. So we sat. He sat in one chair and I sat in the other chair. Yeah there were people walking by looking at us but I think they were just waiting for their turn.
We ended our shopping extravaganza strolling the isles of wal-mart (where else), bringing home romantic goodies like a screen tool and a box of fire starter. Ahhhh what a night.
Seriously though it was a great night and we did have a lot of fun. We had to leave Office Max because I was laughing so hard. There was a calendar there that said the funniest things for people to do at work. I am still trying to picture Rodi at work jumping on the table and yelling “the floor is lava, the floor is lava” Could you imagine??? What would you do if your co-worker did that? There were several of these ideas that just had me cracking up.
Maybe it is having 4 kids at home with me all day everyday, I don’t know, but I do know that this was a wonderful date. Probably the most fun we have had in while.

Life WITH Rodi

It is taking a bit of time but I think we are all getting adjusted to life with Rodi amongst us again. 

I think the one who is having the hardest time adjusting is Sunny.  Rodi seems to think Sunny is a bit too loud at times.  Sunny wasn’t here before Rodi set sail this summer so they are still trying to get acquainted with each other.  This may take some time I have a feeling.

Moe won’t leave Rodi’ s side and every time that Rodi has to go somewhere Moe runs to me and says  “Dad on Boat”  I think he is very fearful that he is going to disappear all over again.

I had to laugh last night as we were driving down the interstate on our way home and Moe sounded off with his favorite Moe-made noise…. a siren!  He is very good at this imitation and has the volume of an actual siren at times.  Rodi didn’t know what to do.  He was trying not to laugh but was upset at the same time that Moe wouldn’t be a bit quieter.    There we were Rodi was trying to talk on the phone Nina was upset and crying about something, a DVD was playing to keep the kids quiet (worked well can’t ya tell) and Moe was playing police man.  It really was fun to show Rodi a bit of what he had been missing.

Now we are heading into a new week and trying to prepare for JJ to turn 9 this coming Friday.  I told her she wasn’t allowed to have a birthday, she isn’t allowed to get older.  She didn’t think that was a great plan.  So I guess the cake will get made anyway.

It’s a Girl! (we think *grin*)

So it seems today was a good day to have a calf.  That’s right just before 5pm tonight Miss Molly gave birth to what at this time appears to be a beautiful baby heifer.

The calf is adorable and so tiny.  She almost looks like a goat, LOL.  The kids were crazy happy about the big news.  We missed the delivery but were out there very soon after.  I am thinking we missed the BIG event by about 10-15 minutes.  Our neighbor came to the door and said “Congratulations!” and I must have been having one of those “too much hair dye” moments because I just blankly looked at him and said “For what?”  He laughed and pointed to the pasture where the cows were all gathered.  The kids immediately started whooping and squealing in delight.

5 minutes later I found myself having an interesting conversation about afterbirth delivery.  Let’s say our lessons for today carried well into the evening hours.

I will be out tomorrow morning with camera in hand, here is a picture I took tonight by the light of the Dodge Ram “sunlight” *grin*.

Cleaning up nicely

Counting to Six…

 1.  Decorating all night just to see you smile and giggle in delight when you see what was done just for you.

2. Making sure the cake was done and ready to be adorn with candles just in time for your big day. (Due to #3 it wasn’t as elaborate as planned but it was still one yummy cake)

3. Waking up in the morning to find that 4 of the 5 people sharing breathing space in our home were all sick.  Including the birthday girl and mom, the 2 most important girls of the day.*grin*

4.  Seeing the expression on your face as you realized your first gift of the day was clothes.  What a bummer it wasn’t a new dress.  Sometimes Moms can be so practical.

 

5. Loving the fact that you tried so hard to blow out all 6 candles in one breath.  I hope all your dreams and wishes come true.

6. The look on your face when you opened the gift with the little digital pet was so great you had me in tears.  Really, it wasn’t better than the clothes was it? *grin*

Talk about B-day wishes!!!

In my last post you heard that my lil’ sis was having a birthday.  Yep, the lucky duck is still in her 20’s. 

It’s okay you only get better with age right *wink*

Okay so on to the birthday wishes, gifts, dreams come true etc….

I am happy to get a card and an off key version of the happy day song from the “Fab Four”.

So what does my lil’ sis get????

A MARRIAGE PROPOSAL!

She said YES!

 Congrats to J and N on this life changing step. 

***side note….I am no longer looking for marriage proposals, just incase you were wondering *grin*

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JU-L-A!

 Blow out all those candles and don’t pass out in the process.

We’ll head out to the barn later and see if we can get the Zebu to sing a moo-tiful tune of Happy b-day to you.  They aren’t much of the singing type though.

Just wanted to let you know that all of your country bumpkin kin are thinking of you today.

Maybe we will have cake tonight to celebrate your big day.  Any excuse for cake is a good one in my book. *grin*

Hope your day is wonderful and that all your birthday wishes come true.

 Love-

Your big sis.