REUNION!

This took place a couple of days after Thanksgiving 08'

22 years ago dad got stationed from Germany back to the states (Fort Drum, New York). Right before we were to go we got the news that dad's mom was very sick and not going to be alive much longer. Sadly Grandma Brown passed, fortunately after we were able to get there. That is the last time dad's side of the family was together.

My dad's half sister, Aunt Joan, was unaware recently that her son, Billy, was planning a surprise reunion for her and my dad. Just after Thanksgiving we were told to meet them at "Susan's Restraunt" in S. Carolina. By the way, it is a very busy, nice and yummy family place! Dad knew she was going to be there, but she didn't know we were going to be there. Mom, dad, David and I went. As she was walking in dad went up to give her a hug and I don't think she really knew who was hugging her at first. Then it clicked and she was very surprised! An old childhood friend of Billy's ran the restraunt so he was there to see him and his family too. We are actually related to him in our family tree too.

It was so exciting hearing the stories from their younger days. There was alot of different conversations going on at the same time so it was hard to keep track and hear everyone. Aunt Joan couldn't get over how much mom and I look alike. Billy also brought his grandson. He is too cute and such a loveable personality! It was a great time had by all :)

Oh, so BEHIND!!

I sure could do without the CrAzY part of this time of year. You know the time where everything is happening at once and you forget to do everything? Ya, I know you know that time of year! So now it is time to play catch up on here! I have a couple of things I wanted to post before Christmas but I never got around to it. So I am going to try and play catch up today :) So pay not attention to the date things are posted, but to the dates in the posting of when it actually happened.

Here it goes!!

Road Trip!

You know the day after thanksgiving where people with any common sense stays home away from stores and traffic...We took a 6 hour round trip road trip!! Ray and I took the 3 oldest boys to visit some of their biological family that was in Raleigh. Their Grandma Eckert was visiting from NY. She is a wonderful lady! Her and her husband were there through everything with the boys from the time while they were still with their family, through all of the years of foster care and on through their adoption into our family. Grandpa Eckert has since passed, but Grandma is still a big part of their lives even now. She has a son, Uncle Dave, that lives in Raleigh with his family. Every Thanksgiving she flies down to spend the holiday with them. This year we were able to meet up with them and spend a day catching up. She hasn't seen the boys since summer of 06' so it was a special day for everyone.

We all played "Baggo" for a good portion of the time we were there. It's kind of like a safer version of horseshoes. 1 point for each bag that lands on the board and doesn't touch the ground. 3 points for each bag that goes in the hole. First one to 22 is the winner. It is a very addicting game that is great for ALL ages to play! I will definitely be looking for that game to keep around here!! You like Dustin's throwing pose shot *lol*

We sat around and talked a lot. Uncle Dave's wife was there and so was her grandaughter, Mia. She kept everyone very busy :) She is such a cutie! Ray and I were taking the pics so this is how we got ourselves into them.

Uncle Dave is a police detective in Raleigh. The guys were all checking out his unmarked car. They were also checking out Uncle Dave's Toys...his four wheeler and Harley...NICE! In the house they checked out his coin collection. He gave each of them a Raleigh Police "coin".

Everyone had a WoNdErFuL time!

We are looking forward to the next time we can visit.

Thanksgiving 2008

What a Wonderful day we had with family and friends! We did everything from a haircut to eating and visiting to playing on the trampoline and of course watching football! We had mom and dad here. Then my sister, Dawn came with my youngest niece, Riley, and brother-in-law, Ralph. My other niece, Amanda, unfortunately had to work:( Then we invited our friends across the street, Jim and Wanda came over to join us.

Dustin doing Tommy's haircut. It needed done and I was cooking so a little coaching

and off he went. What brother wouldn't love to chop off their siblings hair! It actually turned out pretty good in the end too:)

Sister is here! Time to get the turkey rubbed down and ready to cook. It's a very yummy turkey recipe that is soaked in a brine for a day or two and then stuffed with onions and garlic and rubbed with seasonings. Moist and very, very YUMMY!!!

My niece, Riley was having a wild hair day when she showed up. Grandma Brown suggested I try and put it in a braid. She has never had it braided before and it came out pretty good. I know I'm not in the usual hair braiding position. She kept leaning back so I kept leaning back and that is how we ended up about half way through the braid :)

Then another first for Riley...the trampoline!! Her mom and dad took her out to bounce around. She wasn't quite sure at first, but she caught on quick! She kept telling Grandma "C'mon Gramma. C'mon!" Grandma decided to stay at the sidelines though :)

The food, entertainment and visiting was all great! I love this time of year when the family gets together. We missed our family that couldn't be with us this year. We love you all! Now it's time to get into gear with the holiday's coming quickly!

Ready...

Set...
GO!!

Corbin's thankful for...

In church sunday I had a friend come up to me. She is in the primary with Jerrud and Corbin at the end when they are all together for closing exercises. During primary they went around asking the kids what they are thankful for. Alot of them were saying toys and family and their friends. All wonderful things to be thankful for! It came time for Corbin to tell his answer.

"I am thankful for life. I am thankful for trees with oxygen so we can breathe. Also for minerals because without them we couldn't be alive."

I love hearing what kids are thankful for. Sometimes it opens our eyes to those little things in life that as adults we tend to forget. Don't forget to listen to those small precious spirits. They have a lot to say and they help keep things in good prospective.

M.I.A. :(

Over the past month we just have not had luck with our pets. Sadly our dog Zoey is missing! Nov 15th I was letting her in for the last time and she was nowhere to be found. We have watched for her and have not had any luck. We can only hope she is in a good home and out of harms way. The black and white picture is my favorite one of her. The little guys were watching tv and she was facing the other way leaning up against Corbin. The other one was taken not too long ago. She was a pretty dog with a lot of energy! Lots of love Zoey!!

Veterans day Parade

With it being Veterans day, of course there was a parade to go to. Dustin is currently a senior in high school and has been part of their JROTC program since his freshman year. He marched in the parade with South Rowan Highschool.

Their group did really well as usual :)

Salute to all Veterans!

It's veterans day today. It is one day a year given to our veterans that have served our country. I grew up as a military brat. My dad was in the Army. My oldest brother, James, was in the Marines and is currently serving in the Army. My husband served in the Marines and was in the Army when we met. I have a lot of past family history of military service as well.

For hundreds of years they have risked their lives to make our lives better. They sacrifice their lives for the freedom of our country. How wonderful of a feeling that is to me. To know that everyday I can have a sense of peace because of the men and women serving. I have nothing but repsect and honor for them. I have one thing to say,

Thank-you!

Catching up time!

So life for the past 6 days has been wonderful!! Ray came home last thursday after being gone for 5 whole very long weeks with his new driving job! I found myself having to physically let go of him so he could actually get things done around here that he needed to do :) Especially monday because I knew he was leaving tuesday sometime. The kids were all over him while he was home too. We went to a parent teacher conference monday morning and Jerrud couldn't stop telling everyone in the halls,

"Look! My dad's home now!!"

They were so happy to have him home. We think we might even get him home for Thanksgiving afterall!! That was the best news :)

Thursday was pretty quiet around here. Just relaxing and enjoying having him back.

Friday morning we drove to Greensboro to pick up his truck.

Mom, dad and David came over for dinner. They brought their Sugar-Gliders to show us there new babies. They are too cute! Once the babies are old enough, we will get one of the babies. I can't wait!!

We also celebrated David's 22nd birthday. He wanted to wait for his dad to come home before he celebrated it.
He got a rice krispie treat car for his cake. We have all been caked out around here...anything but cake!

Ray gave all the boys a ride in the truck. Talk about not being able to wipe those grins off their faces!!! They were so happy to be in "Dad's Truck"!

Saturday was the day we scrubbed down the entire inside of the truck. Jerrud and Corbin even helped :) Anything to be in the truck!!

Sunday we were able to go to church as a family. I miss having him there on Sundays. We went to church and then spent the rest of the day relaxing around the house with the kids.

Monday was the day of preparation. Preparing his truck and all his things for his second home. Just when you think everything that's needed is on there, something else was thought of. I think he got everything he needed in the end though :)

Rest in Peace Julie

We woke up to our very loved senigal parrot, Julie, dead in her cage this morning :( The boys are already trying to convince me to get another bird just like her. She is buried under our weeping willow tree in the back yard. The kids reassured each other that she will be in animal heaven because she was a good bird...after she learned to stop biting :) We've had her since Jerrud was a baby. We think she was about 12yrs old or so. We weren'r sure how old she was when we got her from the lady that rescued her. Jerrud is going to miss singing to her. Corbin is going to miss whistling to her and trying to get her to talk to him. Tommy will miss his fingers being nipped at when he feeds her. Dustin said she ate too many crackers :) David will miss her, but he has Jake at grandma and grandpas house to keep playing with. Ray and I will miss holding her and chasing her from the fan to the curtain rod when it's time for her to go back in her cage. And last, but not least, I'm sure our company will miss her loud screeches she came out with when new people were around :)

We love you Julie!!!

So Excited!!

I can hardly control my excitment! Ray will finally be home thursday after being gone for the past 5 weeks! The kids are excited to be able to see him when they get home from school too. Thursday can't get here soon enough!

I am so thankful to be married for the past 11 yrs to the man I love. To still love him so much that when we are apart I feel like part of my own being is missing. My family and friends have been a great support for me and the boys through this time with Ray away.

Thank-you! Thank-you!Thank-you!!

I couldn't have kept my sanity without you!

Isn't it wonderful to have friends and family like I have :)

Thankful to be sick?

*sniffle, sniffle* I hate being sick! The kids have officially taken over the house while I have been sick! Hurricane Boyz has struck again! I have no strength to get anything done besides breathe. And that is barely happening :(

So why am I thankful? It's these times you have time to think about how sometimes life gets crazy. It gets overwhelming and hard to handle. I believe that getting sick is God's way of saying "Slow down!" I was fighting a cold all week but I was too busy to get sick. My week ended and I did the last thing I had scheduled for the week. I went home and crashed. My body just gave out! Up went the temp. Puff and gooey went the eyes. Then the aches flooded my body! Even after all that, I am thankful for being given an excuse to have to slow down.

This month will be all about being thankful for things in life. It's easy to remember the big things and the positive things in our life. Don't forget about the being thankful for the trials that make you stronger. Sicknesses that make you slow down long enough to think and rest. The kids being roudy to remind you they are still alive and well. The messy house that shows a family has a home. Most of all, the friends and family that get you through everything big and small!

Trunk-or-Treat 08'

Tonight was the annual "Trunk-or-Treat" at our church. First they had a hot dog sale for the cub scouts. Then they let them all loose in the parking lot where they go trunk to trunk getting candy. There are pics of David and Tommy. Dad passing the candy out of the back of their van. Corbin and Me. He wanted me to be the mother alien. So with leftovers of his costume and an old cape, I transformed into Mamma Alien. Somewhere around there Dustin was roaming. He was dressed as our Bishop. He didn't stay around long enough for me to snap a picture.

Turtle is officially done!

Jerrud wanted to be a turtle for halloween this year. He wanted a shell big enough to hide in! I couldn't quite do that, but he still got a very big one! I'm sure if he tried, he could get in it! So here he is, full dress!

Classroom Treats

Big thanks to Aunt Jessa for this idea! Very cute and very affordable mummie hershey bars!

1 Costume down, One to go!

Here is Corbin's halloween costume I came up with. He is an alien sitting on his U.F.O. and it costs barely anything to make! He has a custom license plate. And at his request, he has a secret candy compartment in the U.F.O. There is a bag that hangs inside that he can have his candy dropped into. You can't tell in the pictures, but his spaceship lights up around the hoop part, thanks to a flashing hoola-hoop.

Cheap Entertainment

It's Friday and the boys are getting cre8ive again! Jerrud turned himself into a turtle by tying blankets together. Corbin built a structure out of pokemon cards. Then they both decided to cheese it up since the camera was out. I love how the picture of the two of them came out together though!

Yeah!!! for Corbin!

Corbin at almost 9 yrs old has finally done it! He let us take off his training wheels off for a few months but just couldn't get the hang of it. Well he finally got it! For any parents with autistic children on any end of the spectrum, overcoming milestones is a huge reason to celebrate :) Congratulations Corbin. We knew you could do it!

HAPPY 10th BIRTHDAY TO JERRUD!!!

Dry Ice and Dishsoap

What do you get when you combine dry ice, red water and a dash of dishsoap...smoke filled oozing bubbles! We had to find something to do with the leftover dry ice from the cake! We were all amused what can I say!

Grateful!!

We had Jerrud's birthday this evening and it was a lot of fun. That is until we got a knock at the door from a neighbor saying she can't find her 3 yr old brother anywhere and wondering if we had seen him. My heart jumped into my throat! I got another neighbor and we looked. We ended up with around 15 people from the neighborhood looking for him. Come to find out (almost an hour later) that he had left with his mom earlier and dad didn't know that.

I am so thankful at the people that came together and it it makes me feel grateful to be a part of this neighborhood. What a scary experience for any parent! Being a mom myself, my heart was just aching for them! It just reminded me of how easily we could loose loved ones. Let's remember to be grateful for what we have and who we have in our lives. Go give your kids a hug and tell them you love them. You'll never know when it could be the last one.

It worked!

We got the dry ice and used it in the center of the cake and it worked!

Jerrud's birthday was nice. He got a 4ft tall k'nex ball tower to build! He loves building things! Some glow in the dark things to put on the wall and a 3 series book set. His grandma and grandpa Brown got him a bag full of all sorts of goodies. There was a little fm player, flashlight, magnifying glass, car carrier ummmm...I can't remember what else at this moment. He loves things like that though. Next birthday coming up is David's. End of October and he'll be 22! Yeah! It was great to spend the day with the family :)

It's a cake!

Every year I ask the kids what they want for their b-day cake and most of the time they get what they want. I have become more adventerous over the years and get into it more now. So, Jerrud turns 10 on tuesday and we are having a family b-day on sunday for him. He asked for a volcanoe cake. Now for those who know my boys, you know it can't be just any volcanoe cake! The two youngest are very much into detail! So, he told me I needed to get gumpaste and make it so it looks like the lava is coming out of the top. Can you tell he has been around while I do my cakes :) He's 9 and knows what gum paste is and what it's used for!! Anyways, after looking for inspiration online, I decided to go for candy lava. I know just enough about candy making to make a mess. So I did a soft set candy for the lava down the sides of the cake. Basically that means it's more like a really thick, very sticky caramel. The parts on top I poured shapes using hard set candy. All that means is it gets hard, like a lollipop. I was just going to stick them in the top, but they kept falling over. So I made a ring to stick them into. Once that set up, it held nicely. I placed my cake topper of squirting lava on and viola! It didn't quite look finished yet. So my mom was headed to the store so she looked for palm trees. I was going to use candy rocks. But I forgot them when I was out the other day and wasn't about to drive 20 mins. just for those. So she found a palm tree and tootsie rolls and caramels. So I melted them together for the swirled affect and formed rocks. Considering I was flying by the seat of my pants to figure this all out, I think it came out good! What's just going to top it all off is tomorrow when i add the dry ice to the center for the smoking affect. I feel like a little kid waiting for christmas morning!! So here is the picture of it today w/o the smoking affect.

Here goes nothing!

After seeing all the wonderful blogs of all my friends, I decided it would be a good idea to do one! It's a great way for family and friends to keep track of us since we are so busy. I'm going to try and post at least once a week. I will be posting comments and pictures and events of our lives. We do afterall have five 5 wonderful boys so I'm sure we'll never run out of things to post :)