A "One"derful birthday & 4th of July weekend!

What a weekend!

It was 4th of July weekend and all thru the house, everybody was in Holiday mode even the mouse. Ok, well thats all of my ryhming skills, so for the rest of this blog update I'll be winging it!

Who doesn't love a 3 day weekend? The only thing better than a 3 day weekend is a 4 day weekend. Lets just say that fun was had by all over the holiday!

Friday was your typical 4th of July festivities. We had a nice cookout with ribs and hotdogs and all of the trimmings, along with a birthday cake that was NOT RED, WHITE or BLUE!! no flag or firecracker in sight! It was white with PINK writting and roses. It said "Happy Birthday Mom , Nonna" ,I loved it!!

Presents are always good and I got me some of those! My "exwife" came over with her husband and boys and we hung out in the pool and ate and had the best time. One highlight was when Tyler called. Bethany had gone to the store and had car trouble while she was gone. Scotty tried to fix it for her, but only ended up breaking the jumper cables in addition to the car that was already broke. Well, Tyler had called while she was gone and Bethany would not have made it through the day, if she knew her bubba had called and she didn't get to speak to him, so we called her on Waynes cell phone and held that phone up to the phone Tyler was on and they got to speak to each other. It's complicated technology!! By the way Wayne went and fixed Bethany's car so she did finally get to leave Kim's Conoco and get back to the celebration. LOL on a seperate note, if you ever have Tim over to swim and he gives you this load about dunking you under the water over and over and over and did I mention over agian for hours as he is wrapped around your neck with a death grip on your forhead and calls it the cure for gray hair, RUN as Fast as you can. I let him try his little trick on me and all I got was sore neck and extra gray hairs!! Cricket agrees with me, she says that she tried it too and it doesn't seem to work, the only cure she has found for the gray hair is Mrs Claroll and as far as the sore neck she says to keep Tim off your neck, that is working well for her! LOL

Fast forward to Saturday the 5th ALana is ONE year old today!!

first thing that morning Tyler calls, twice in one weekend, how great is that?

We get the entire recreation club all pinked up for the party and for me it's off to home to chill in the pool and take a nap until the hour of the big " shin dig"

It was an awsome party as I'm sure you have noticed from the pictures on the post. Alana Grace, aka alanabug, princess, princess grace and a host of other extremly precious and fitting nicknames was the belle of the ball!

The theme was all things castle and Alana was the reigning princess. You'll notice one of her presents was a throne! LOL

The food was prepared by Grady (paw paw) & Dee (maw maw) & it was delicious. The cakes were the creative design of Tricia (Aunt Tricia) she's our go to girl on the party cakes. We like to say Nobody does it better!

All of the Grandparents were in attendance- There was Grady & Dee (maw maw & paw paw), Cricket & Wayne (also Maw maw & Paw paw), John & Katherine (I don't know thier grandparent names so I'll just call them mee mee & pee pee, I chose that name because I like the idea of calling John Pee Pee as opposed to Poo poo. LOL, I crack myself up) It's just a joke John don't get offended! Then of course theres me & Jay (Poppa J & Nonna although Aidden seems to insist that Poppa J is really Paw paw and if you read the grandparent names listed above you'll see the last thing we need is another Paw Paw but oh well, it is what it is! )

Unfortunatly we were missing great grandparents- My mom (known as many different names but today I'll call her umah), Jay's mom & dad (Grandma & Grandpa in NC), My daddy & Shiela (paw paw & Shiela), and Great grandmother Nothin even though you guys weren't there with us we were thinking of you and love you all!

The lady bug cake that was Alana's personal cake (in honor of her nickname that her MOM gave her before she was born "alanabug") was just as cute as a bug! Alana toyed with it some and even ate some of it but never covered herself in it from head to toe, as I'm sure she knew that is not behavior befitting of a princess! LOL! She did require however a dip in the sink to remove the icing from all of her crevices.

By the time we got to presents that was one tired little princess. She slept thru most of that but we took pictures of her in various stages of sleep on and around all of her loot. Thanks to everyone for all of the gifts, she made out like a bandit!

The party was FUN FUN FUN and then her momma took her walker away and began to clean up, We all took that as a clue that the party was over.

If you want to clear a party commence with breaking out the brooms and trash bags it's amazing how quick the room will clear!

Sunday was church then a trip to Mickey Dee's with Aidden and onto th egrocery store. That's always fun, by that comment I mean Mickey Dees with Aidden, not the grocery store. Tyler did call me on the cell while I was grocery shopping. It was nice to get to talk to him so much.

Sunday night we had an improptu cookout with Brandy, Josh & Aidden. Lotts of fun. We took a dip in the pool, Aidden took a pretty substantial dip while on his fathers watch. Let's just say that for the next little while Aidden steered clear of Daddy and just looked at him a little crazy when he would say things like, "come to daddy, or I got you son" That Aidden is a pretty smart fellow, he wasn't falling for that agian, at least not for a little while... Tyler ended up calling agian Sunday afternoon, count it thats 3 calls on Sunday and 2 voice mails that I missed the call for. It got so funny that on his last call of the evening I answered and he said, "hey momma, what ya doing?", " I said, "are you kidding me?" He cracked up at that. We ran out of stuff to talk about so we just kind of hung out on the phone and talked about whatever seemed to come up in the conversation, it was GREAT!!

It was a great weekend, and lotts of good fun and good memories. I guess all thats left to do after such an excitting holiday is get back to work until the next little hiatis from work AKA as the weekend!

Thats all for now, check out my future...

half way there

As many of you know I am on a mission to be healthier and more fit, I am half way where I need to be. It has been rewarding and interesting to say the least. Weight watchers, DWLZ, Jillian from the biggest loser who kicks my butt twice a week, a great husband, and countless good friends and my faithfull workout buddies have all helped to encourage and motivate me. I simply wanted to say "thanks" for the support and I love you all. I intend to rock on with the weightloss and exercise, even if it kills me, and sense we are about to move into phase 2 of the Jillian era that may very well be the case. LOL Don't take my word for it, join us on Monday & thursdays and see for yourself.

the 1st picture was taken with me at 223 pounds the second was at 185. Like I said I still have a way to go but I'm moving in the right direction. When I get the last 35 pounds off I'll post the "finished project"
Thats all for now, check out my future...

Family Weekend and everything else!

Family Weekend was the BEST!!

It seems like so long ago since it happened, it's funny how life just kind of crops up on you and before you know weeks have passed with no blog update.

Well we got on the road exactly when we had hoped and got to Birmingham to get Bethany, no problems really other than the about 3 hours of waiting for the rental car pickup and paper work.

The road trip part was uneventful really, everything was planned out and our "fearless leader, Wayne" had tom tom telling him exactly "where to go".

Thank goodness that Tim's bladder and mine are apparently the same size and he was in the drivers car so bathroom breaks were not a problem. There was only once that required the "bold drive up beside them and holler "I need to P" move"

We got to the SUPER 8 at about 11ish that night and commenced with hauling stuff in, once inside I can't speak for everyone else but I slept GOOD!

The next morning it was up early to go get our boy and our other adopted boy aka "cornbread"

We got to the base and finally found the facility that we needed to be at, only to find that the printed time was wrong so there would be about an hour and half wait, and did I mention the ladies room was broken?

It worked out OK, we went and looked at the tanks, you'll notice a picture of Wayne & Cricket with a tank. Cricket & I got inside the tank, although I could not get her to come up to the drivers seat. I don't know why, it was perfectly safe, I didn't even have a key or any bullets for the dang thing! LOL We also went and saw a demonstration of rappelling, that was very interesting from my vantage point which was at ground level. Later in talking to Tyler (who BTW has a fear of heights) I found out his view of the whole rappelling thing was horrifying. He did say to me, that although he hasn't conquered his fear of heights, he has learned to deal with it, and maintains that the best plan is to get down FAST!!

Once it was finally time to go into the auditorium for the program we did exactly that. BTW the ladies room were working at that point. (sigh of relief on my part)!

I think Cricket chose our seats and they were really good seats with one exception. This lady and man came in and set down right in front of us. I know what your thinking, they were really tall or had on a big hat or something that impeded our view, maybe they smelled bad or had some really loud fragrance of perfume right? oh no, it was worse that that, the lady came in with a pet. A pet you may say, yes, a pet! she had it perched on her shoulder through the entire program that lasted over an hour! If you scroll through the pictures you can see it, big as day ,a big bug! It sat right on her shoulder staring straight at me the whole time!! I had my hand on my purse and a foot in the aisle ready to run just in case the need arose. Jay continued to shush me but I was aware at all times. Occasionally the lights would go out for some particular part of the program or would would need to stand or sit but fear not I was well aware of "the bug" as a matter of fact painfully aware! For some reason I think Jay, Cricket & Wayne were enjoying the Rhonda vs the bug show a lot more than the slide show. The grins and giggles were a clue. I'm not bitter, no sir!

Once the program was over we could finally go collect our boy and our other boy. (the adopted one that we couldn't remember the name of). Jay & Cricket went off to gather the solders and Wayne & I just waited. I was relieved that the "bug lady was gone" and even remarked that to Wayne as I noticed her standing right beside us and the bug was gone. You know what that means, it was lurking. I had to be on RED alert.

I ask one of the other solders standing around from what direction would Tyler & "Cornbread" be coming and they pointed the way so Wayne & I got outside of the "bug auditorium" and watched for the fellows. Finally I spotted him and hollered "Tyler" he yelled Momma and went running towards each other just like in the sappy movies. It was the BEST!

Tyler introduced us to Jack Cornwell who is now known lovingly as Corndog, cornbread, cornhole, and a multitude of other corn names but I think we have finally settled in on "Cornbread"

We got the guys checked out and to the car and on the way back to the SUPER 8 and as we drove into the parking lot the kids grand kids and other Tyler fan club participants were all lined up at the driveway watching for the car. I imagine it was a little overwhelming for Tyler and he's used to the fan fair that goes along with our crazy family but poor "cornbread" was probably in shock.

We got out and went in and visited and talked and just enjoyed each others company. There is one picture of Tyler on the phone with a bunch of us just kind of standing around. That was right after we got in the hotel with him and Scotty had called. I love the look on Tyler's face there. He seems so happy!

That Friday we just kind of all hung out, we went swimming in the hotel pool, the guys went to the mall with Bethany & Brandy. (The army has taught Tyler strategic planning. He had the girls nails done under the guise of "being nice" while him and his buddies aka known as 2 solders and a redneck, hung out at the mall without the "Sisters" Good one Tyler! on top of having time with the guys you are your sisters hero!! I like it... it's win win.) We ordered Pizza, and when I say pizza I mean allot of pizza! By the way, I don't think I've ever seen anyone eat more than "cornbread" Those guys started eating junk as we pulled out of the base from picking them up and they were still chewing junk when we took them back. It appears that deprivation of junk food helps in the making of a solider. That's just an observation.

On Saturday it was off to 6 flags over Kentucky. We didn't really see the solders to much there, they kind of were off doing their own thing, we passed them on occasion and seen them at lunch. They seemed to be having a good time and mastered the art of letting the "uniform" do the talking as I think they were a big hit with the females.

6 flags was a whole adventure, you kind of had to be there in order to get the full effect but trust me when I say "fun was had by all"

I'll give you a short synopsis, Cricket LOVES the enclosed tubes, as a matter of fact if you ever have a chance to get her on a dark, completely enclosed tube, DO IT! if she protest she's just being modest, she loves it, drag her kicking and screaming if you have to, and you'll have to.

She does however have a little of wild side, I was impressed with the daring side of my co mom that I had never seen. Also on a side note if you find yourself stuck on a tube at the bottom of a water slide and need a hand getting out Tim is good at that and will offer you hand fast even if you don't want the help. It really serves 2 purposes, he gets you out of the tube and into the pool. Don't take my word for it just ask Cricket, she was on the receiving end of his help right after the "mega wedgie"

One thing you don't see every day is Jay, Cricket, Me & Wayne all sitting on one big inter tube about to Plunge into the eye of the storm. First you ascend to the scaffold, 75 feet above the ground. Then your raft plummets down a tunnel and you are hurled into a giant funnel which spins you around its 60-foot diameter like a wet rag doll. I screamed the ENTIRE TIME!! "I'm not ready yet" It didn't seem to help. Like I said that's something you don't see everyday, and if I'm lucky I'll never see again. But boy was it fun!

The whole day was exciting,thrilling and just a ton of fun. Joe & Tim had never been to theme park and I know that after this one Cricket & Wayne had better start looking into not if they'll take them again but when & to which one will they take them to.

Sunday was Fathers day and the day we had to take them back, it was bitter sweet. We of course done pictures and then went and had just a fabulous lunch and we were just about to take them back when Tyler announced he wasn't ready to go back. Now we all had talked about what time we needed to be on the road and it should be by about 1 or so, but nobody had the heart to say no so off to mall we go to wonder aimlessly for "A LONG TIME"

a footnote, no pun, okay maybe a small pun intended, Cricket finally found the shoes she had been looking for while we were at the mall.

Eventually we did have to gather everyone and head back, the ride was so quiet. Once we got there at about 3:30 all that was left was to say goodbye. We did, tearfully say goodbye, then stood around and had to say goodbye again, then again finally we noticed there was pattern forming and at this rate we may never actually leave. You could tell that Tyler was having a tough time with the goodbyes too, that just made it that much harder on us which in turn made it harder on him and so on and so forth. So we finally just got in the car and drove away. It was so much harder than when he left for basic training. I'm not sure why because he has already finished most of the hard stuff and truly loves what he is doing so I really can't explain why it was so hard it just was. Bethany and I cried for probably the next hundred miles as I'm sure Cricket, Brandy & Amber did. In Tylers letter home he said he was really down after family weekend too, but I guess thats to be expected. In his letter that came just yesterday he is all excited about everything that he is learning and blowing up some C4's. He wasn't all that excited about the 15K with a 74lb pack though but apparently he lived through the 3 hills on the hike named, misery, agony and torture.

He is looking forward to coming home 1st of August and alraedy outlining evrything he wants us to do. I can't wait, whatever he wants, thats what we'll do, even if requires holding on for dear life ready or not! (see above paragraph. LOL)

On a seperate note and one reason that it has taken so long to get this update ready is that on the Tuesday night after we had just got home late on that Sunday night, with me dressed in "hooker clothes" I had to take Alana to the ER, she had surgery and ended up in the hospital for about 5 days but is home now happy and healthy. BTW the "hooker clothes is just a joke" Don't get all offended! It was just shorts and a tank top, I was at weight watchers when Amber called and that is what I was wearing to weigh in, I can't help it I only had high heels to go with it. LOL

Well thats all for now although I'm sure I left a lot of good stuff out, but check out my future...

Proud of our soldier

It's an honor to serve are the sentiments of PV2 Andrews.
It's even more of an honor to know that your child is doing something that he believes in with his whole heart. With this post there is great pride in my heart as well as Jay's, Cricket's and Wayne's as we see the boy that we have raised become a man. Of course it's not like just over a period of a few months that he magically became a man, Oh no, that takes a lifetime. It is a journey that he started on the day he was born and will continue to grow into until he draws his last breath.

Tyler has grown so much more mature recently, he enlisted as young man with no direction, just kind of wandering lost towards his future. But as he writes home and we hear his thoughts we can tell that he is a man with a vision of success. He is strong and confident and independent yet still gentle in his spirit and soft in his heart.

We will see him this weekend, and it's a much anticipated trip. It will be fun. We will cherish every moment. Tyler writes in one of his letters that he can't wait, he expects it to be one the best times of his life.(No pressure on the parents to make sure he has a great time)

Well,we all feel the same way, It's gonna be GREAT!. Scotty will not be able to go and that's unfortunate because I know that Tyler really wants him there and no doubt Scotty wanted to be there. But Scotty is away at Carpenters for Christ, he had already obligated himself for that and it's an important mission.We're proud of his commitment and what he is off doing,but we will miss him terribly. It won't be complete without Scooty there.

Tyler did call yesterday afternoon. I had Alana at the pool so I didn't hear the phone. He left me two messages, which I have saved and listened to about 6 times already since last night. Not that the messages said very much, but I love to hear his voice and his little mannerisms in his speech. It was kind of funny though because he left the 1st message on the house phone and said "'ll try you on your cell. then on the cell message he said "your not picking up anywhere, I'm gonna try my real mom." That made me laugh because it's just too funny.I can't get in touch with my fake mom so I'll try my real mom. I guess you have to be a fake mom to get the humor in that. It still tickles me every time I listen to it.

Thursday will be here before you know it & we will hit the road, a "sho nuff" road trip with a convoy that stretches 3 cars long. If you happen to be on the road anywhere between Titus & Kentucky Thursday thru fathers day Sunday honk if you belong to Tyler's family, or you can get in the convoy and follow us or just move out of the way because we are a couple of real and fake moms and dads on our way to see our boy!!! LOL

That's all for now, check out my future...

Memorial day weekend continued (pictures only)