Blessed by great friends

I have awesome friends...no really, mine are awesome! :-) I had several friends call and check on me while Chad was gone. I also had some great online friends who chatted with me and left me words of encouragement to help past the time! I love you all for that. Thank you so much! Chad is now home safe and sound, and my family feels complete again.

Another great little perk are my scrappy girls. Over the years, our little once a month get together to scrap, eat and just socialize, has now become my best friends. I don't know what I would do without these girls in my life. I've laughed and cried with them. We've celebrated babies, holidays and birthdays together. We've ate tons of food, supported each other's shopping habits, and of course, scrapped tons of pages together. :-) This weekend was no exception. Ashley, the pretty blonde, hosted us at her new home for the weekend (isn't it beautiful?). I had a great time, and I think they did too!

I don't think we got too many pages completed, but we shared our stories and our pictures. There were tears and laughter shared as well. There is just something about laughing a crying when a group of ladies get together, isn't there? I had a great time, and I am so very grateful for my girls! Love you guys!
Smile ladies!

Halloween Activities

We had a great Halloween year!! Gabe's costume was my favorite so far out of everything he has chosen to be. He kind of waited until the last minute to decide, but once he did, he was dead set on being that. Chad and I made the proton pack and patches. Chad's dad gave us a pair of welding goggles, and we had some friends give us an official Air Force flight slight that he had. It was perfect!

Gabe's school hosted a Halloween party as well as a Halloween Parade through the school just for the Kindergarten classes. My niece, Taylor is in the other afternoon Kindergarten class as well. She is the bat girl pictured. The kids were so proud to show off their costumes, and it was great that parents were allowed to come and take pictures. Right up my alley!

I was so bummed this year that I had to cancel our annual Halloween Party. This would've been our 3rd year hosting one, but we had all had the flu that week, and I just didn't want to expose anyone to our germies. So, I still had all of the craft items and food and such that I bought for the party. I decided to host a little shindig with just my mom, brother and sister-in-law, my niece and of cours my family of boys. I had Witch's Broom treat bags, Graham Cracker Haunted Houses to decorate, treat bags to decorate, and they also got to pass out candy to the
trick-or-treaters. I didn't anticipate how much the kids loved that!

Last but not least, Halloween Night! Gabe was pumped, but Graedon wanted nothing to do with putting on his costume and going out. He was horrible. He did not trick-or-treat by going
door-to-door, he only went to my in-laws home, and once there getting his huge bag of loot (yes, they go overboard), he was all set. He loved it. In fact, he slept in his Thomas costume. So, I only have the 2 pictures of him in his costume. He actually wore the costume the next day as well when we went out for lunch. He's a child that wants what he wants. He is so strong-willed.

I think we had an awesome Halloween, and I cannot wait for next year! I just don't know how we are going to top the Ghostbuster costume!

Not looking forward to tomorrow

You know the saying, "Tomorrow will be better"...? Well, my tomorrow isn't going to be better than today. Today, Chad is home, and we've been doing family stuff together. We slept in, had a late breakfast together, and then watching the Colts game (yes, they won!). Tomorrow, Chad is leaving for a week-long training session in Kansas City for his job. It's just not a fun idea to think about at all. I just cannot imagine my hubby not being home with us all this coming week. I really think Gabe is going to have the hardest time with it. He's already broken down in tears once today, which made Chad tear up, and then of course I had to cry as well. It's just so hard on our little family. We're not the same if we aren't all together.

If you could keep us in your thoughts and prayers for safe traveling for Chad, and for a good week with my boys, that would be greatly appreciated. I may have to plan a few fun days with my little guys, just to make it a little extra special. Oh, how I cannot wait until Friday. I hope this is the fastest week ever!!

Happy Halloween!!

HAPPY

HALLOWEEN

I hope everyone has a safe and fun Trick-or-Treat night! I will be sure to post pictures of my guys going as a Ghostbuster and Thomas the Train! I can't wait!

Need some good thoughts...

My hat is off to you ladies that have husbands that travel for their work. Chad is leaving on Monday for a week for his job, and I am just not handling it well at all, and he isn't even gone yet. We have been married for 8 years, and we haven't spent more than 2 nights away from one another. Honestly, I just don't like it when we're not together. It's not "us." I am not looking forward to a week of being home by myself and taking care of the boys by myself. How do you do it?

I am sure I am overreacting to the whole situation, and that there is nothing to worry about, but I cannot help but worry. I worry about him flying, traveling, the boys asking me where their daddy is...etc. This is all new to me, and I already don't like it.

I need some good thoughts out there. How do you handle, how does it work for you and your family? Ugh...I have shed so many tears over this. I don't necessarily want him to look for a different job, but I also don't want him to have a job that is going to require him to travel a lot. Okay, I know I am whining...I need to snap out of it. I just hope that this trip isn't the start of many more to follow.

Getting back to life

We are finally feeling better, and the family is all together again. We picked Graedon up last night from Chad's parents' house. It was so good to see him, and it is even better to have him home with us where he belongs. He is continuing his doses of Tamiflu, and if he does get the flu, then hopefully it won't be that bad.

A sign that life is getting back to how it was is the constant bickering and fighting between Gabe and Graedon. Yes, it is annoying, and I wish they wouldn't do it so much, but it is a good sound to have back in the house. Gabe isn't cleared to return to school until Monday, and we had to cancel our Halloween party that was scheduled for Friday night. Oh well, as long as we continue to gain our health back and have a healthy home.

Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers!

Prayers Needed

I just returned home from the ER tonight for Gabe. He spiked a high fever this afternoon, and after taking some Motrin, it continued to climb. He tested positive for the flu. We have yet to find out if it is H1N1, but he is being treated with tamiflu. We are exhausted, and poor Gabe is traumatized from having blood drawn. Poor guy. Luckily, my mom was able to come and get Graedon, so he is staying with her tonight, but I am sure we have all been exposed. I could use any prayers you could send our way.

Also, while you are praying, will you please add my friend Leslie to your list. She is actually a great friend, but our healthcare provider as well. She was diagnosed with H1N1 this morning, and she still took the time to text me to take Gabe into the ER. I feel very lucky to have a friend as a healthcare provider, but her and her family are in need of prayer as well.

Thank you so much, and I will keep you updated.

A late anniversary post

I have never gotten around to posting about my surprise anniversary weekend that Chad had planned for us to celebrate our 8 years of marriage. Our anniversary was on October 6th, but he had plans for us the weekend before. All he told me was to wear something "nice" for the evening and to have comfortable clothes and shoes to walk in for Sunday.

Well, we dropped the boys off at his parent's on our way out of town, and I had figured out that we were heading to Indianapolis. He made reservations at the oldest hotel in downtown Indy, the Cantebury...very nice! We then had dinner reservations at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse just a block from our hotel. Wow, that was one expensive but tasty meal. I am sure it will be the fanciest place that I will ever eat at. I would've take some photos of it, but I felt kind of weird doing so. It was a little intimidating, but we had great service, and it was a wonderful adult night out. I could not imagine ever bringing the boys there when they are this young, and I couldn't fathom paying for them to eat there!! :-)

The next day, we woke up early to catch the breakfast buffet at our hotel. We went back to our room, and he asked what I thought we were doing that day. I had no clue. He then pulled out a piece of paper that had Colts tickets printed on them! We were going to the Colts v. Seahawks game starting at 1:00pm!! He had also made arrangements for my brother, Jesse and my sister-in-law, Cristie to meet us there. What a fun surprise! He had even made sure that I brought a Colts shirt to wear to the game. I had such a fun time, and I cannot wait until we have another weekend away like that!

Here we are in the parking garage after the game.
This is our hotel entrance. I took the picture from the parking garage we parked in across the street.

Seriously, Lucas Oil Stadium is amazing!

Happy Anniversary Chad! I love you!

My friend Stacey gave me this award! Thanks Stacey, you're the best. You should definitely check out her blog. She's a busy mom of 3 little ones, and she still finds time to be one of the most creative people I know.

This award comes with some rules and a survey I have to fill out.

Rules

1. You Can Only Use One Word!

2. Pass this along to 6 of your favorite bloggers!

3. Alert them that you have given them this award!

4. Have Fun!

The Fun Part

1. Where is your cell phone? kitchen

2. Your hair? messy

3. Your mother? home

4. Your father? working

5. Your favorite food? bread

6. Your dream last night? upsetting

7. Your favorite drink? tea

8. Your dream/goal? happiness

9. What room are you in? family

10. Your hobby? Scrapbooking

11. Your fear? cancer

12. Favorite place to eat? Tokyo (Japanese Steakhouse)

13. Where were you last night? Home

14. Something that you aren’t? perfect

15. Muffins? blueberry

16. Wish list item? Camera

17. Where did you grow up? Indiana

18. Last thing you did? sleep

19. What are you wearing? jammies

20. Your TV? Off

21. Your pets? Taz

22. Friends? awesome

23. Your life? happy

24. Your mood? tired

25. Missing someone? grandma

26. Vehicle? minivan

27. Something you’re not wearing? shoes

28. Your favorite store? Target

29. Your favorite color? oranges

30. When was the last time you laughed? today

31. Last time you cried? vacation

32. Your best friend? Missed

33. One place that I go to over and over? Big Lots

34. One person who emails me regularly? Chad

Recipients-Don't be mad...it just means I love you! :)

1. Nancy

2. Sarah

3. Jessica

4. Amy

LOAD Challenge

Looking at my title for this post, I think it could come off as a laundry challenge. Well, eventhough I could use a good laundry challenge to get caught up and stay that way, that is not what "LOAD" means. It stands for "Layout a Day" challenge, and this is my first time participating in such a challenge. I have signed up for Lain Ehmann's LOAD challenge for October, and I know I am crazy to think that I can get 31 layouts completed in 31 days!! I am going to try! There is also a great Flickr group that you get to post your layouts to as well as a discussion board. I am just ready to be inspired and get back to scrapping on a regular basis. I have missed it. Below you can find my first layout.

This is Graedon at Cocoa Beach this past June. I walked down to the beach and found him in my niece's ball cap just playing in the water. He didn't have a care in the world.