Still waiting for Daddy...

Like the title says, we are still waiting for Shane to come home to us. His term has come and gone, and yet he is still in Afghanistan... I pretty well expected it to go this way. We do however expect him home soon. I can't say when, and he can't even tell me exactly when. They do this for security purposes. He is doing well though, but he is more than ready to come home. The kids & I feel the same way.

I recently finished my first leather project to give Shane when he gets home. He missed our anniversary, this is what I made for him. They have taken me over 2 months to make! I had lots of help from Shane's friend Jason who had all the leather tools and such to put them together.

I've actually really enjoyed learning to work with leather and plan to make our kids each a pair. The only part that was hard was that I had to stitch most of them by hand. It took forever!! I had to pound a hole for each individual stitch before hand since the leather was so thick and heavy the needle couldn't push through. I got a couple blisters and cut off a chunk of my thumb with a razor blade making them. He better like em'!!!

Every Little Boy Needs a Sister

Especially a BIG sister, otherwise we wouldn't have pictures like these! I wonder what I will find on him next. I've already found him smoothered in chapstick, in her dress-up clothes, and even her shoes!

St Patrick's Day

We started off the day with green 4 leaf clover pancakes and green milk. The kids always get a kick out of the green milk, and they actually drank it this year! This year Madelyn asked me what St Patrick's day was for and what do you do? Well I thought about it. What really is St Patrick's day if you aren't Irish? I was afraid to tell my kids you pinch people if they don't wear green, they already have a hard enought time keeping their hands to themselves!!! Seriously they don't need an excuse to go around pinching people! So... I told them we wear green and eat lots of green treats! Speaking of treats here's what we made, chocolate covered oreo suckers with green clover sprinkles or green swirls. They were yummylicious!!

Tate's 1st Haircut

Beforeand AfterI finally broke down and gave Tate a haircut. The back was getting long, but not much on top. So now it is evened out. He didn't want to sit very still and wasn't sure what to think of the clippers.

We have been staying busy. I have tried to keep a constant project going to help the time pass while Shane is gone. I love to decorate the house, so I've been working mostly on home projects. I finally finished our room. I've never really spent much time on our room. The kids rooms are the fun rooms to decorate. I decided it was time to jazz up our room. I made some curtains for our windows and my awesome father-in-law built me a little table. It all came together great. and the new table, hopefully for a new TV in the near future :)

Happy Birthday Madelyn & More...

Let's start with the good stuff. Madelyn turned 4! And there is a funny story behind this picture. She couldn't get the candles to blow out, and no they weren't the trick kind that don't blow out. I'm not sure what her deal was. I finally lifted her up so she could get closer and it still took her a couple tries! We had over some family & celebrated her "big" day. Shane was actually able to call her on the morning of her birthday. It was the first time we have got to talk to him over the phone since he left. It was great for all of us!
As for Shane, I'm sure some are wondering how he is doing. Well he got there safely with no problems and seems to be getting settled in. The internet connection at the base he is at is the pits though. It cuts out all the time and is down sometimes for hours. So we haven't communicated alot besides email which has made it a little hard, especially for the kids. They just don't understand the concept.
Since Shane left everything has happened that wouldn't have happened if he were here. I hope that made sense. That's how it seems to happen though, my husband leaves & everything falls appart! I got a flat tire(thanks dad for fixing it), our computer crashed and I had to give the lady my sob story so she would hurry & fix it without taking a week, got a terrible tooth ache & went to the dentist come to find out I am grinding my teeth at night-Go Figure! (he didn't blame me with everything going on!), our family dog died (that was the hardest), lack of sleep, trying to juggle all the kids at church alone, that's just a few of the things going on here. I really want to thank all of our family & friends who have helped me lately. The phone calls, visits, dinners, etc... I've really had so much help. I'm so thankful for all of you! I like to think of myself as an independent person, but I've realized in times like these, that's what friends are for. I have a lot of service projects to repay everyone! So for now we just keep tugging along. Thanks everyone!!

Family time and Goodbyes

Well the last couple of weeks have been a roller coaster of experiences and emotions as we have prepared for the dreaded day of Shane leaving for Afghanistan. We tried to cram in as much family time as possible. Shane was lucky enough to get a little time off work before he had to leave. We took Madelyn to a USU gymnastic meet, went up to Hardware Ranch on a Sunday morning to feed the elk, took the kids to eat at their favorite restaurant (Texas Roadhouse), went to a few movies & rented a few, and just hung out together. It's pretty sad how we get caught in day to day life being busy and all and forget what we already have. The last couple of weeks I've been so grateful for my family and friends, they've been great. Here's a picture of Shane playing dress-up with Tate. He loved having the box on his head, only problem was his head is already heavy enough and he couldn't walk straight!We had to take Shane to the airport bright and early Monday morning. The kids all did great. Everyone has been asking how it went, well it went as good as it can. It's always hard to say goodbye. Bricker & Madelyn are old enough and they understand this time what is going on. They've handled it all amazingly well. I wish it were so easy for me!! Each day gets a little easier. As soon as he gets there we will be able to set up times to talk and see eachother over the internet. It's only going to be a little over 2 months. We really are so lucky it isn't longer this time!

Sweetheart

Kids are always saying the cutest things and I always forget to write them down. So I have been trying to remember to do it lately. Yesterday I over heard Madelyn say one of my favorites. Shane calls her "sweetheart" sometimes, and she loves it. Well she was playing with Bricker and one of the little girls I babysit named Kira, and said "Lets play house Bricker, you can be the dad and I will be the mom and Kira can be the sweetheart." I just thought it was the cutest thing how she has associated being the daughter with being the "sweetheart". She really is our little sweetheart!