Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Veterans in my life


Today is the day we set aside as a nation to honor those who have served and sacrificed to preserve our nation's freedom. Please do not forget that, although you may not agree with this war or that war, these brave men and women have served our country proudly and of their own free will.
I come from a family of soldiers. I am proud on this day to list those in my family who have or who are serving in our military:

Sgt. First Class Ed Stevens - Tennessee Army National Guard - and my dad :)
Robert - Tennessee Army National Guard*
Deborah Kallisto - United States Air Force
Greg Barnes - United States Army (served one tour in Desert Storm)
Justin - United States Navy* (currently serving in the Middle East)

These are just immediate family and first cousins. I have several extended family members who have also served and I am just as proud of them. Please take at least one moment today to say a prayer for those who have served in our military so that you have the freedom to say a prayer for them!






(*first name and branch only due to safety and security reasons)

Aaliyah funny

Aaliyah has started talking quite a bit since the middle of Sept. She coming up with more and more words...some of them are even understandable...sort of. Anyway, here is what she just told me.

Almost time for nap and I ask her
Me: Where is your lovie?
A: uhstais (upstairs)
Me: Why is it upstairs?
A: 'cause

Oh, joy. It's already started! :)

Monday, November 10, 2008

more birthday pictures

So...since Kyler's birthday party was actually in October (with 7 other kids!) and I missed it (because of my unplanned trip to OK) we decided to have Grandma over for lunch on his actual birthday (last Sunday). We grilled hamburgers and hotdogs and Grandma brought an awsome ice cream cake from Publix. This was cake number two. I made a third cake for small group that night. I didn't get a picture of it, but let's just say that my son loves chocolate as much as I do, and the cake did NOT disappoint!

Here's the ice cream cake


blowing out the candle


excited to get a piece


Cheese!


and one of the princess, of course

Hubby bragging

I'm trying to brag more on my husband. We've come a llloooooooong way in our almost 5 1/2 years of marriage and I am very proud of that! On Saturday, Aaliyah woke up at 5:30 (yes, a.m.). I was groaning myself out of bed when he said, "I'll get her." Yeah! I get to sleep a few extra minutes before I'm woken up to make coffee and breakfast. A few minutes later hubby opens the door and says, "how do I make the coffee?"
Now...before you say anything...he really and honestly does not know how I make the coffee. He just knows that it's there in the morning when he needs it, no questions asked.
I tell him how much water and how much beans to grind and he closes the door. The next thing I know it's 7:00! I got to sleep until 7:00!!!!! I was sooo excited! Every now and then he does this for me and it is WONDERFUL! I may have gotten to sleep longer, but...breakfast had to be made. :)

I'm trying to get back

First of all, I want to apologize for the lack of thoughtful blogs. Most recently they have just been pictures and captions and very shallow-type things. I have been going through a lot of "stuff" since Grandma passed away and frankly didn't think it would have been good to air it all out on the internet!
Without going into too much detail, I have had to admit some things to myself and to others in the last couple of weeks and it hasn't been easy. I have come to the realization that I have one of two problems: 1)I have an anger problem, as in I don't know how to handle it and explode a lot, or 2) I have a hormone problem that causes these wonderful mood shifts from one day to the next. I never know when I wake up if it's going to be a good day or a bad day. For someone who needs to know the plan and what is expected of her...this is NOT a good thing. I have tried to track my days to see if it is directly related to certain times (as in..of the month...get it?), but it's not. There was one day last week when it was cloudy, I didn't have any coffee, and hubby left for work at 7:00 AM (which is really early for us). Add to that my 4 year old son's severe attention-seeking behavior and we had a full blown "mean momma."
I am not looking for suggestions nor am I looking for help. I am simply putting my thoughts out there. This is something that I am praying about and I know that God will give me the strength to calm down when I get really angry. I already saw progress today. I was ready to blow my top over something very small and stopped to take a deep breath first. Amazing how calming that is. I was very excited over that small step! :)

Monday, November 3, 2008

Four Years Old, already???!!













Yesterday was Kyler's 4th Birthday. I can't believe my baby boy is growing up! He is such an awsome, smart, inquisitive child. I couldn't have asked for a better son. Easy as a baby, challenging (to say the least) as a preschooler. I imagine we will have a lot of fun times ahead. Happy Birthday Goober!