So, B made it home later in the afternoon on the 23rd. m We had dinner and then he got to see his new house. :) We made it to Church for Christmas Eve services and then went by Kyle and Shanna's... Christmas morning Luke was up at 5:30. I don't know why he was excited, but secretly I think he wanted to see Gage get Santa gifts. Gage was overwhelmed. He would play and open and whine... a little overload for the little guy. Christmas dinner was at the house this year. The whole fam came over for dinner and gifts. On the 26th Luke headed to Dallas to see his dad and B, Gage and I went to Branson... we had a nice get away... We came home today to clean the house up and out and organize...(Ithink my husband is more OCD than I am) and we just made reservations for Hot Springs for New Years. I hope all of you had a great Christmas and a SAFE New Year. Love and Peace JB

Okay, finally I got some pics up for you...I was waiting until the boys were dressed up, but this is a "real" pic of the hoodie boys... Also our new addition Pumpkin the cat.

Pumpkin isn't sure if he likes us or not... he hangs out in the tub a lot and as you see that is where we found him for a pic... He has adjusted to Luke, but isn't sure about Gage and his loudness...

Luke and Gage are doing well... rechecks on Gage's ears are Monday. Luke has a game on Monday at Huntsville and he is finished until after Christmas...

I finished my Christmas shoppin yesterday. I was on a mission... Now I have to wrap my gifts.. Oh boy....

The best news of all is only 5 school days until Christmas Vacation and we get to wear jeans all week...

Peace and Love, JB

hmmmm

Okay, we survived the surgery... I was nervous, but Gage was a champ. His adenoids were 4 x the normal size, his ears were about to burst they were so infected, but we survived... Now 7 more days of antibiotics, ear drops 3 x a day... and a follow up on Monday....
Luke is doing well. He has a game Thursday against Ozark, then finals next week... He gets two exemptions for his finals so he will be relieved when that is over....
Anyway. I hope you all are doing well....I was going to update my blog with pics... but i don't have any... oh well, stay posted.. pics to come soon ...
OH I forgot, we got a cat. Don't ask.... due to the mice issue... gross me out, I had to. It is a "chill" cat, it keeps to himself.. He is orange and white and his name is pumpkin... oh well.. take care. JB

Starting to feel a lot like Christmas...

Okay, I am starting to feel the christmas spirit... it would be much easier if B were home... :(.... oh well, 2 weeks... we hope!!

I decorated today with the help begrudingly given to me my oldest dearest son Luke...Gage took a nap... I put up a few pics... not much deco this year, and I think my tree is shot, but ya know it will work... if you can't tell, I kinda have a snowman theme working for me....The boys get new ornaments each year, Luke's is usually baseball related and Gage got a picture frame ornament this year...

Ummm, still have a mouse issue. Went to the humane society today to adopt a cat... it is orange and white (I think Luke picked that for UT) and it's name is pumpkin... what is up with me and the food related animals?? Pumpkin, Butter... oh well.. We have had 8 mice caught and the newbies are still making their appearances known...I am so grossed out and needless to say, my vocabulary is not great when I see one..

Tonight is mothers night out at daycare, so I am going to shop a bit and maybe hit a movie, who knows... tomorrow a group of girls from work plus some others are going to brunch at Cafe Rue Orleans and to see a Christmas Carol at the U of A... I am excited... it will be something different...

Gage's surgery is Monday at 12:30... I am going to try to post a few pics tomorrow of the boys...

Peace and Love... JB

Happy Thanksgiving!!! Just a quick post.. I am on mouse patrol, I think I might have a varmit in the house... 20 days until B is home. I posted a thanksgiving pic of the boys and my cookies... Hope everyone had a safe holiday... JB

just because

This is the new big boy bed, which I put together and the footboard is where the headboard should be, but it will have to do until B gets home to fix it... Gage said cheese for his pics... it was funny... now he is running around with my camera going cheese, cheese....

He has on curious george pj's that are too big... oh well...

Luke had games Friday night and yesterday... I made it to the one yesterday and gage acting pretty good... Dum Dum suckers proved to be the difference... he had one in each hand the entire game....

Oh well, been a lazy Sunday. I might go make some muffins and some of the cookies that are on Valarie and Shannon's websites.... they are cute, maybe I will load pics if they work!

Have a great week. JB

hmmm.

Well, let's see. This has been a crazy week. Luke had games: Monday, Wed., Thurs. and one tomorrow, then maybe Saturday. He practices each Sunday... basketball, we're lovin' it..
Gage has had a rough week. I actually stayed home with him on Wednesday because he screamed all night. Today was our visit with the ENT. She was pretty shocked that we hadn't been to one sooner with all his problems. His ears are still infected and we just got off one of the strongest antibiotics. He also has yeast infections in his mouth, they are open sores...so we are on antibiotics until his surgery (tubes and adenoids sp?) on Dec. 8th and I have to rub this stuff for the yeast around his mouth 4 times a day and he has to eat lots of yogurt... Poor little guy. I just want him to feel better soon.
Other than that, there isn't time for much. I am certainly missing my husband and I am ready for him to come home... Anyway, I have 5 Christmas presents purchased... I don't know what else I am buying... my little darling Luke has such expensive taste, I don't know where that comes from... he wants an ipod touch, they are only 297 bucks mom... and the bat I promised him for his birthday was 495 bucks when I went to get one today... needless to say we have some other people looking at some pricing options... he is going to send me to the poor house!!!
Oh well, hope you all have a happy thanksgiving.. peace and love
JB

hey..

Hey everyone... I am realizing that it has been forever since I last blogged. I really haven't had much to say. Wow, I know you are all in shock about that one!! LOL.
Gage has been sick again. It sucks, but hopefully we will get tubes later this month, we have a consultation appointment on Nov. 21. He got a big bed this past weekend and actually slept in it twice. It is really more of an adjustment for me than him...
Luke had his first ballgame last night. He got to play a bit. He had rolled his ankle, so he didn't play as much as he probably or hopefully normally will.
My life has been hectic. I am just going here and there with the kids. I registered for two classes next semester. I would like to take three, but I don't want to push my limit. Kinda feeling a little blah at work, ready for a break I think.
Other than that, I am just a blah person... Ready for B to come home for his pass. Oh well, hope you are all doing well. Peace and Love, JB

oops

Luke thought I should show the one of how the night ended... he wanted to talk to Luke through his window... don't ask... this is when he acts like his daddy... just kidding.. JB

Happy Halloween!!!!

Happy Halloween everyone! This was a fun one... kinda. Gage didn't want to trick or treat so I had to get Luke to take him to the first house.. he wanted to stay and shoot baskets with Luke... Then he finally got into the groove. It wasn't until I looked at the pics that I realized I forgot to put his collar on him... He was a Saint Bernard... He was sooo cute...

Today was wild at work, as you can only imagine. We gave the kids lots of sugar... Luke stayed home tonite to help with the trick or treat kids but there were actually not too many of them.

Oh well, we have a lazy weekend planned so I will write more later. I hope everyone had a great week. JB

can I be tired?????????????

Let's see, we did end up camping out this year. I wasn't sure it was going to happen... Then we went to mom and dad's and the boys wanted to camp. The picture above is the morning after breakfast. Let's just say they have a big time. This year it was an airsoft war and we really didn't see the boys much except when they were eating... For those of you who don't know, we camp at the State Park by mom and dad's house each year. They have the whole park to themselves... it is very nice and easy. I couldn't resist putting up the pic of Gage chillin in his Razorback hoodie. He just liked watching the other guys...

Luke had a good birthday. We went to Shoguns tonite with the family. They made him stand up and they sang and he was embarrassed. I liked it... He is getting so old!!!

I am really worn out, I don't know why, but I feel like I have been hit by a TRUCK... I am starting my diet AGAIN today.. got my nails "did" and I wish I could get a personal trainer, but Bryan said I just need to exercise... I want a trainer to MAKE me exercise... HMMMM>>>>

Anyway, Gage has his ear appointment tomorrow. We find out about the tubes... I am hopeful that we can get the little man well.

Oh well, I am sure I will think of lots more to post after I finish this, but I am brain dead tonite. I hope everyone has a great week!!! JB

Let's see...

I had a busy weekend for a change.... spent Saturday going, going, going... we went to breakfast, went to Target, then came home got cleaned up and went to a friend of Shannon's for a pumpkin carving girls day...(Gage went with me, Luke didn't want to!) then we left there to head to Gage's fall festival at daycare and got home around 7:45ish... Fun! We were worn out, but still made it to Church and Sunday School by 8:30 on Sunday morning...I am proud... two weeks in a row!! Spent the rest of Sunday napping and just straightening around the house...
This has been a rough week.... I spent Monday afternoon yelling at Customer Service Reps for credit card companies... not a fact that I am extremely proud of but I think there should be some requirements of these people... a. they should speak plain english, not mis spoken english, broken english or accented english... Just good plain clear concise english... b. they should be friendly and acknowledge when you are trying to pay the bill, not give you the run around.... c. they should know the difference between power of attorney and a 15 year old boy..... I could go into the long story of my Monday but let's just say I will NEVER use a CAPITAL ONE visa again and I think that they are RIDICULOUS because they won't change my address and send me a statement.... I have requested 3, yes THREE times... anyway.... I am going to change the statement because I am going to get fired up...Didn't do good on my quiz last night because in all my fired-upness I read the wrong chapter. Not a smart move on my part... I was doing better today but then I got a little speeding ticket... Once again, not a really high moment of my day... The deal is this: You can get to my house going down HWY 62 which has a 55 mph speed limit or coming down Wedington which has a speed limit of 40. In my professional driving opinion, it should be the opposite because Wedington has less traffic and is more like a HWY than 62, so I tend to reverse the speed limits a little. Anyway, Mr. Motorcycle policeman didn't like my theory and I got a ticket. Lesson learned... Oh well, I hope everyone is having a lovely week...It is supposed to be COLD and RAINY tomorrow... I kinda hope it is, I want to cook some Chili!!! Peace Out... JB

FRIDAY NIGHT

Okay, this is a special post. I just found out that Mrs. Cotton actually reads my blog. SOOOO I must say I hope that you are okay Mrs. Cotton and I have been thinking about you and meaning to email you because I knew that Tom was leaving soon.... We keep going through these deployments together, don't we?!? I hope to see you soon!

I went to the Dardanelle game tonight. It was refreshing to see some familiar faces. It stinks to go to games here and not know anybody. I got to see my girls cheer, but silly West Fork has NO TRACK and it is pointless to try to cheer on that... oh well, maybe I can see them when they make it to the playoffs.... The boys didn't win but it was a very close game. The officiating was not too good, but you really can never blame that for a loss... I was proud of them for fighting to the end. It was funny, I was actually nervous going to the game, but everyone was nice. It felt kinda like home. Gage was VERY good. I think we might need more games to go to because I was actually able to sit and relax in the company of adults and not chase him around everywhere... I was proud of him.
ON a totally different note, I am taking an online class and the one I am in is Moderate and Profound Disabilities. Anyway, we are doing a discussion online right now about alternative assessment and severely disabled kids. It has me really fired up because I had to watch a video of a bedriddin 15 year old child trying to do some snowflake stamps to meet the portfolio assessment for end of course geometry. Can I just say that this just grossed me out and that No Child Left Behind is a joke... okay, enough about that... I am typing so hard that I might break my keyboard..........
I hope that everyone has a great weekend. We have a fall carnival tomorrow, so I might post pics of Gage in his Halloween costume. He is going to be sooooo cute!! Take care, JB

hmm, TGIF

Okay, I want to yell SMILE BRYAN>>> this is his official battle pic... I think it is funny because he looks like he wants to say eat S)*$ and Die... Oh well, that's my army man.
We went to Ortho today and right back to Fayetteville... I am starting to hate that drive. Oh well... on a positive note, Luke ended up with all A's and 2 B's which is much better than mid nine weeks... and it is all Pre-AP classes and a sophomore class... His B in Geometry was by the skin of his teeth... He has a nine weeks to get it to an A for his transcript... Actually I hated Geometry as well. I took it as a freshman and the only perk was the older boys and now that I think about it, those boys weren't much of a perk... they were tools... LOL!
ANYWHO... I think I might go to the Dardanelle game tomorrow night. I want to see my girls cheer.... they are supposed to be AWESOME> YIPPEE>..
oh well, gotta go get Gage. He is throwing his grapes in the kitchen...
JB

oh well...

Hmmm. Well our good fortune with the ears was short lived. We went back to the doctor yesterday and Gage has another ear infection... This doctor said that she would refer him for tubes since this has been a 6 week process if his ears aren't clear in two weeks.... Which I am not holding my breath over. We had a horrible day yesterday... we had no sleep, then oh, guess what, Luke had an extra credit project due today... he had stuff to choose from, but the choice for him was building a model of a building from To Kill a Mockingbird. He chose the jail... So we worked on that for an hour and a half or two... in the meantime I had a sick baby and Luke had two tests to take and then he had other homework...I had to install MS2007 because my trial version was up... It was an all around GROSS day. I took off today to stay home with Gage and we slept most of the day which we both needed... Then I managed to ruin my hamburger meat-- don't ask me how and so I whipped up something else for dinner... it was Chicken Alfredo and it was tasty... not even frozen, I had to prepare it... Yea me... Oh well, I am going to go now before I beat Luke for griping at Gage about stuff he should have put up himself. Gee, Teenagers............

JB

Sunday afternoon

Well, I got busy today.. and I mean housework busy. First of all we finally made it to church and sunday school. Yes, I am very proud of us... we need to make it a habit. Kyle has been asking me to go to a Parents of teenagers class with him and Shanna and I thought it was pretty interesting... Luke even knew kids in his sunday school class, so it wasn't as bad as he thought.We went to the 8:30 service so we were home in time for an afternoon nap, that I thoroughly enjoyed.... Then we were up and going. Luke mowed the back yard while I cleaned the car and adjusted Gage's carseat... then we went and washed the car... Bryan would be so proud of me...Then we cleaned the house...I had the nesting syndrome going on I was bleaching the washing machine... it looked pretty gross.... then I was cleaning the refrigerator... and I got my purse changed over and everything... my next task is to clean out my jewelry armour... It has been a mess since we moved and it was turned on its back... oh well, another day....
I hope that everyone has a great week.... I still miss my husband by the way and we are like 38% til he comes home for his pass... YIPEE>>>
Take care-- JB

late night

Hey, just thought I would post while I was waiting on B to call me... it is actually late for me to be up tonite.. oh well. Spent the day shopping for Luke a jacket and then went to Shanna's around half time of the Hogs game to watch the end... They seemed to pull it out for the big Victory over Auburn... maybe there is hope yet...
Had an okay Saturday... not much to write about, I think I am boring.... I went shopping after work on Friday, ready to purchase some objects and guess what... there was not much to buy.... I think I should've just held on to my 80's wardrobe... The clothes are not really me right now... I think that I am getting old... who knows!?!
Oh well, I hope this finds everyone having a safe and happy weekend... JB

Starting to feel like fall!

This is one of Gage's newest school pics. I thought it was a pretty cute one... he had some black and whites that I liked as well.... I wish I had Luke's electronically, but I don't have them that way just yet....

So, it is Tuesday, I think... yep I am right, WOW>>> anyway and today was a pretty good one, but very busy. We got good news at the doctor... Knock on wood, but Gage's ears are clear for now... Yippee...

Starting to plan for Luke's birthday. It is crazy to think that he will be 15 in a few weeks... Time sure does fly....

Oh well, I hope everyone is having a good week in this rainy, yucky mess.... At least it is cooling off and we can start pulling out our fall clothes and boots... Yah!

Take care of yourselves... JB

Rainy days and Mondays get me down...

So, does anybody remember that song... Had to be from the 60's or 70's because we used to listen to the record, yes it was a record at my mi-maw's house... Wow, that was random... But it has been raining here non-stop... Yuck!
So, we did a little more this weekend...we actually peaked our little heads out of the house... Friday we really didn't do much because we thought Luke had cross country--don't ask, that is a battle in itself-- at 7:00 the next morning... turns out that got cancelled due to the storm, so we just hung out, I watch Sex and the City the movie, then left for Dardanelle in the midst of the razorback traffic. That was really smart on my part, huh?
Luke went to Logan's birthday to spend the night, and I just hung out with mom and dad. We were actually pretty lazy Sunday, just hanging out until I went to get Luke. Mom had cooked us lunch, which was a late lunch, then we headed home. I had to stop at my favorite place, you guessed it, WalMart (it no longer has a hyphen) to get groceries and a phone card for B. Then by the time I sat down from unloading everything it was 9:00. So I had to watch my DVR'd shows... Desperate Housewives, Brothers and Sisters, and Army Wives and get to bed...
Needless to say I am really tired today. Apparently Gage is too because he keeps crying and crying and crying...poor mistreated fellow.. HA!
Anway, I thougth I would say Hi to those of you who have commented me... I don't know that know how to comment you back... thanks for reading...
JB

Bugs Bugs Bugs

Well, It is over. Luke is ready to turn in his insect collection. He is turning it in with only 18 bugs, but gets bonus points if it is decorated or if it is turned in early. SOOO hopefully he will make an okay grade. I am just ready for this business to be OVER. Bugs can be out of our freezer and out of my mind...

School is okay this week. Trish helped me spread my kiddos out and I am under 15 again! Yippee me...

Gage got bit for the 4th time today. I am ready to start teaching him how to box someone in the jaws...He has now got someones dental impressions on his upper arms... UGH. At least they re-handed out the biting policy today.... maybe they will get it under control.

I am tired and glad that it is Thursday.... My kids have earned a reward for tomorrow, so hopefully I won't have too many admits... that would be GGREEAAATTT!

Oh well, take care everyone and have a great rest of the week. JB

Just a Sunday in fall....

Okay... so we have recovered from our stomach virus and we have had a low key relaxing weekend. We only left the house to go to Wal-Mart which I absolutely hate. I really, really despise going to Wal-Mart and for some unknown reason we go everyday. My plan today was to go and stock up for the next three weeks... somehow I don't think that happened. BUT I really hope I don't have to go back until late this week....we'll see about that....
I have really nothing to write about because we didn't do anything this weekend except sleep, go to stupid Wal-Mart and clean the house. For some reason I always save cleaning until Sunday afternoon. I have no idea why. I straighten throughout the week and try to keep caught up on my laundry but the full-out cleaning happens on Sundays... go figure.
I got to see B on the webcam today. That was fun. Gage was actually getting into it, blowing him kisses and waving at him. It was pretty cute. The webcam wasn't working as well as it did last time. We had some delays...but it was good.
I took another quiz last night for my class. We are on chapter 5 and I am pretty much not into this class. It is on Moderate and Profound Disabilities... and it is heavy on the reading.... a little on the boring side. Oh well....
Well, I hope you all (as if anyone else reads this!) have a great week.
JB

what a week.. and it's only Thursday!

Well, let's see my headache on Monday lasted until Wednesday. Then my stomach virus began at 1:45 a.m. Thursday morning... As I lay there feeling like I was dying I thought, there is no way I can make it to work. I went to get Luke up and he got out of the shower puking so he had the virus as well... so today was spent with us in bed sick...
Gage had to go back to the doctor on Tuesday because he was up all night Monday screaming wtih his ears. He is on two antibiotics now... and so far hopefully he is avoiding the virus. I am knocking on wood. ...
My friend Shannon has been out all week with some health related issues. I really hope she gets better fast and that she is okay... I miss her at work! So do the kiddos...
Let's see.. I guess that sums it up. Luke worked on his insect collection last night and I think we have enough insects.... I am ready for this to be turned in....Yuck! I don't have much more to add... except that I MISS MY HUSBAND and wish he was here to take care of me. :(
Hope everyone else is feeling healthy and happy. JB

HEADACHE>>>

I have the worst headache tonite... Long day at work, long afternoon at home... ready for bed... I am excited for my girls ABBEY and JACY who got on the homecoming court. I am sure that they will look BEAUTIFUL!
Hope everyones Monday was pleasant. JB

Sunday.... I will address this picture in a moment, but before that let me say that this was a unique weekend. Friday and Saturday night I did absolutely nothing... I mean stay in your pj's and do absolutely nothing. It made me feel pretty worthless if you must know the truth about it. Then I had myself a little poor pityful me pity party but I got over it. Today I went to Cassi's birthday party. She is 7 this year. WOW, where does the time go? It was a skate party and she had some friends there and they were all cute. Luke spent the weekend in Dallas with his dad. He got home in time to get the yard mowed with a little help from his Mi-mi.... Anyway, he is really mad at me right now. I am sure that when I was a teenager I was a little like him, but I think sometimes I want to pull my hair out. I really try to do what is best for him, but these days that just means that I am "stupid" and I really know nothing at all. Oh, I think I am "payin for my raising" as they say... HOWEVER, I am stubborn and he is stubborn and I am just really tired of the battles... if anyone with teenagers knows how long this phase lasts you can let me know... Anywho....

As far as the above picture goes, this is the last picture I have of Bryan and I before he left. He came home on leave late in August and we spent a night in Eureka at the Crescent Hotel. Let me tell you the place is definitely beautiful but it is also very definitely HAUNTED... and yes things do go "bump" in the night and I didn't like it a bit... I mean I was scared to death the entire night... I can give you a colorful version of the story any time you would like but just let me tell you if you are scared of ghosts, do not stay at the hotel... other than the visitor that we had, the experience was great...the bell hop still walks you to your room, the view was awesome and the food was great!

Oh well, I must get little Gager to sleep.... He is definitely ready for bed.

JB

Hmmm

Okay, so it works, we are webcamming... I am in a better mood... I have posted some pics... No I am not preggo... I was just pulling on my shirt because somebody said something... I don't remember now what it was.

Saturday morning

Oh it is a wonderful Saturday morning. I just got up and spoke with Bryan. We might webcam today... I am excited. Gage has been sick and has another double ear infection... So it was a rather long night. I am not feeling so spiffy, but I am mom so I can handle it...

I don't know why I am blogging except for last night I had nothing to do, so I thought I would give it a go.

I will write more after my webcam experience to say if it was successful or not!