Taken for Granted.

Some days I think I take Jake for granted. I came to this realization today while reading sister in law Sarah's blog about her husband (Jake's brother Adam). So I am going to take a quick minute and brag about my amazing husband.

1. He's brilliant! Not only for marrying me : P but for the inventive ways he keeps the kids busy and entertained on a daily basis. Lots of dad's say they wish they could stay home with their kids (becasue they think its a kooshy job) but it is truely the most difficult job on earth.

2. He has moved heaven and earth to keep our family together. In the last 18 months he drove from Chicago to Columbus, GA. Then from GA to South Carolina to pick me up from basic (after spending 3 months as a single dad to two toddlers in diapers). He dealt with the crazy weeks of me in OCS only being home on weekends. Then when I left again for Oklahoma, he packed the house (with two kids and no sitter) and drove all of them to our new house in Missouri. Wow you say? Then he lived for a week in a house with nothing before the movers delivered out household goods. After that he packed up the kids by himself and drove up to Wisconsin to see my brother get married and represent our family becasue I was in school. For those of you with little ones (or ones that are grown) think about how hard this had to be juggling hotels and strange places....diaper changes in truck stop restrooms all by himself and he never complained or made me feel guilty once. Amazing! We finally reunited in Missouri and were able to see eachother every day after almost a year of bouncing around the United States.

3. My mom said a friend asked her recently when Jake was going to get a job? She told that person that he was working. Being a stay at home dad to his two kids! For those of you who know my parents you know that our relationship has not always been easy and for her to recognize and defend the father of my children this way I knew beyond the shadow of a doubt that he was the best dad ever.

4. He has taught THor more about Dinosaurs and every animal you could think of. Thor is sweet and compassionate often taking care of his baby sister when she is in a cranky mood. He pretends that he is a daddy leopard and has a whole litter of babies that he tucks into bed, tells stories to and protects from the scary dark.

5. Baleigh is her daddy's little princess coming up with silly things that her dad is so proud of. THe other day when she was being quizzed about where different things come from such as "where do peanuts come from?" she didnt' miss a beat with her clever little answer of "MR Peanut".... he dad thought that was hilarious.

6. Every day I come home to pictures they have painted or drawn, clay sculptures, forts in the living room and overall happy engaged kids.

7. For my vacation he insisted I go home and spend at least a whole day with my girlfriends for my birthday. I would never have done that without his encouragement and he knew exactly what I needed. I chose the best man in the world for me. He's an amazing father, husband and best friend. I won't take him for granted anytime soon.

8. oh, and I almost forgot! He learned to cook! He is slowly taking my kitchen away from me (in a good way) so I can relax when I come home from work. His Jambalaya is to die for! try it with pasta instead of rice sometime.

Much needed vacation

This time two weeks ago we were prepped for launch on our vacation. We set out bright and early on Sunday morning for a trip up north. We planned on making it as far as we coudl the first day and finishing the second day out by making it to my parent's house.

The kids are champion car travelers by this point in their lives, having spent days at a time in it. : ) We knew early on that Thor would be great in the car since his first trip was about 19hrs long at 4 days old. We did buy a new car dvd player and the kids each have their own screens now too. That didn't stop them from playing the age old game of "she's looking at me mom!" or an animated (all be it screwed up) game of I Spy With My Big Eye.

We made it as far as our old hometown in ST Robert, MO the first day. We got there around 930PM and took the kids swimming. I had packed everyone's swimming suits but mine unfortunately. That didnt' stop Thor from trying to drown himself and me having to jump in in my clothes to get him though. Kids.

We got back on the road for day two and made it to my mom and dad's by early afternoon. We just visited with the family and the kids had a ball seeing the menagarie of animals and taking ride after ride on the 4 wheeler. Baleigh was a huge fan of that. During a crazy rain storm my brother Chad's wife Emily gave birth to a beautiful baby girl Ivy Marie Kate Zimmerman. This is their first and I was so happy to be home to see the baby so soon after she was born becasue I missed their wedding last fall due to a school i was in.

Tuesday we all went to visit my Great Aunt Skip and my Grandma Zimmerman (who just moved up to Freeport from Bloomington). My grandma was in the hospital due to an infection she had so rather than overwhelm her with visitors I just took Baleigh in with me and Jake and THor took a walk. She was so happy to get to see us but was just getting ready for therapy so we only stayed a few minutes. Then we headed back to "the farm" as the kids call it for naps (which the kids never took) and then we took off to see baby Ivy. This is the first teeny baby the kids have ever been around. They really liked her and it was a nice visit.

I took the kids to the Lena Drive in for icecream afterwards and they LOVED it. I got an amazing upside down split!!! Did I mention it was AMAZING?

Wednesday we had a family meal and every one came over for a family picture as well. Par for the course my younger brother and family were late of course and the kids were all gettitng antsy so only a couple turned out. I will post them when my mom sends them. I also got to visit with my grandma and Skip sans kids this day and it was really nice.

That night Thor came down with a crazy fever and kept me up all night. No fun. We had planned on taking the kids to see grandma before heading to Chicago but didnt' want to get her possibly sicker.

We realized the value of the occasional 22 hr car ride on the way to Chi Town. It makes a 3 hour trip seem like cake. : ) Grandma Cori wanted us to go to the sprinkle park a few blocks from the house so we went there for a few hours the first evening before Brother In Law Adam and Cousin Wylie made it in to town from Indy. They made a special trip up to see us that evening and for the next day. Wylie is an early sleeper so he had to head to bed soon after we got there but Jake stayed and hung out with Adam until the wee hours having some much needed brother bonding time. The kids and I went back to the hotel and they had some much needed quiet time. This was about the time Thor started begging to go home and 'see his Nika (cat) and sleep in his bed and watch his tv.

Friday we hung out at the house and then when Wylie went down for his nap with Grandma we "stole" the van and went to Portillos for lunch. One word. DELICIOUS! THat night we had my birthday cake [atomic cake from fleckensteins bakery] after dinner. There was bit of a food theme going on that day.

Saturday we took Grandma Cori down town with us to the Shedd for a morning of fun. It wasn't so much fun for me since Baleigh came down with the same crazy fever thing Thor had thad on Thursday. I carried her around almost the entire time we were in the aquarium and i did feel that the next day. We only spent a little while there before heading home. It turns out that teachers and Military (+family members) get in free with an all acces pass. woo hooo!

On the way home they dropped me at my best friend Katie's house to prep for my 30th Birthday celbration. Oh, Saturday was my birthday. : ) She took me out for a pedicure and then we went shoppign for hoochie mamma clothes. Once we got done shopping it was back to her house for more prep. Another great friend from college, Mandy came up to go out with us as well. We went out to dinner and then over to another college friend's house for drinks. Back in the day we all used to go out together. WE had intended on going to a bar up on the south side but a few friends bailed on the idea so we just went to a local place for about an hour. As much fun as it was we were all toast by midnight. My phone was dead and I wanted to get home and check on the rug rats. Katie dropped me off at the hotel and I walked in to find a still sick little girl. So my buzz was pretty quickly lost in mom mode. All in all it was one of the best birthdays I have had in a long time.

Monday morning we headed back to Texas. We made it as far as Oklahoma city on day one and even had time to stop in Springfield MO at the Bass Pro Outdoor world for an hour or so. The kids thought it was amazing and I have to admit while not being a huge outdoor person I had a fun time.

Tuesday we hit home at about 2PM and it was a glorious thing to sit and do nothing as Monday Jake and I had both come down with whatever the kids had. We didn't get a fever but we did come down with a horrible cold that has lingered for close to a week now. I am feelign better and ready to head back to work. THis was a super long blog so I am going to just wrap this up by saying that we had a fantastic time and it was really relaxing for once instead of being hectic and stressful. Life is good.

almost to vacation time!

Still don't have a computer after the blue screen of death a few weeks back so doing this on the phone. : P. The last two weeks have been nonstop, both fun and work. Jake's mom. Diane came for a visit over memorial day weekend and stayed a few days. It was fun! I have been planning for my organizational day event for weeks and can't wait for it to be here on thursday! My walmart sponsor pulled the rug out from under us on friday. They were providing the meat,chips, and drinks for our event and now monday morning I have to come up with a way to buy all this. I have to make it work though. It is the first BIG thing I have done and it has to be flawless. I am going to be sooooo busy on thursday and so relieved when it is over. : ). After that we are relaxing at home for the weekend before taking off for a week. I am going to celebrate my 30th bday with all my best girls. I cannot wait!!!

sex in the city...

Its been a while since I caught you all up to speed on life. In the past month I have spent two weeks in the field doing lots of craziness. I got back just in time for a harried 4 day work week and then a glorious 4 day weekend. Mother - in - law Diane came for the weekend. We went shopping, to the petting zoo across the street where thor rode his first pony, and camel. He was so excited! I also went to see sex in the city 2 with Diane and loved it. It was one of the most real movies I have seen in a while. Although most of us won't fly to Abudabui any time soon, the quiet/crazy moments that happen in their lives aren't that different from my daily struggles to juggle carreer, love, family etc. Girlfriends are beyond amazing. They are the sisters that you choose. Jake and I also got to go out to the fights and a movie this weekend. I love my mother in law! I would write more but our computer crashed last week so this is a blackberry update. : )

Life in the Field

For the past two weeks we have been in the field. This week is the only we where I actually count being in the field though. The first week I didnt' even make it out of the office. The second week I was in the TOC (tactical operations center) in the morning and then went out to the field for the day. I returned home and slept in my own bed every night though. Love it! During this week I certified and entire battalions worth of operational decon teams. For this our Brigade commander (really big deal kinda guy) recognized my efforts in my field and gave me a brigade coin. That is a really coveted thing.

Then Saturday morning I was up bright (or dark however you look at it) and shiny early in to the office to run my first convoy. I was the convoy commander for around 30 vehicles. I had to take us through the op for (opositional forces) village where we were attacked by small arms fire. WE just kept on trucking and everyone made it to the site in one piece.

We started site set up and got our actual time in the field rolling. I helped set up the TOC and then headed out with the XO (Executive officer : Maj Soliz) to a meeting with all the commanders and 1st sgts.

Then I headed back to our area of operations. I sat in the TOC for couple more hours until I asked what time the shift change was going to be. IT was apparently a few hours prior so I called my NCO and told him it was his turn (since he was night shift). I went in to sleep in my truck. I layed down my sleeping bag and got in some shorts and was asleep faster than you could imagine. I slept so well for sleeping on a steel bed of a truck. I only have 5 more hours on shift and i have been at work for 8 hours and 45 minutes so far. lol. Too bad I don't get paid by the hour.

Its not a bad job. I really lke it most days. Looking forward to our little vacation in June. I just filled out my leave paperwork today and will turn it into the S1(admin office) tonight when he comes in for work. Hopefully everything goes well.

I guess we are slacking....

In the past couple of months we have been really busy. Between work and family and friends visiting we haven't had a moment to sit still and just be.

A few weeks back Jake's younger brother Adam came for a few days to visit and see where we lived. We had a ball taking him all over and showing him the area. I played hookey from work one afternoon so I could join them going to the Waco Zoo which was amazing and since it is so close we got a membership to it! While in Waco we also went to a place called Buzzard Billy's - its a local Cajun restaurant where we tried craw fish for the fist time. Thor is IN LOVE! we couldn't peel them fast enough for him.

We also took a picnic lunch and went to the Dino Park near Austin. It was fun for the kids although not a great adult activity. On the way back home from there we stopped in at the Harley Store in Round Rock to check out the bikes. Thor had a dollar bill that he thought he was going to get a bike with. He showed it to a salesman and the guy told him when he had big stack of those with some zero's behind it he'd hook him up.

WE had a week's reprieve from visitors when Jake's step mom Cori came for a visit. The kids were so excited that MeeMaw Cori was coming. WE ate BBQ at the Salt Lick (and although very tasty every time I am done with it for a while)...Went out to Belton Lake to do some recon for a project I am working on, ate some steak and Jake and Cori took the kids to the Waco Zoo one day while I was at work.

The highlight of the visit for me was going to the Inner Space Caverns. It is a giant cave that Texan's are very proud of. The kids had fun and so did the gown ups. I wasn't able to go back to Austin to take Cori back to the Airport but while down there they also went to the Lady Bird Johnson Gardens. It was really amazing Jake said.

Thor was asleep when they dropped MeeMaw off at the airport so when he woke up an hour later at home he was devastated to see that she was gone. It was really sad.

Jake and I went to a newcomers training for the Brigade a few weeks back and had a great time meeting some of the people in my Brigade. The chaplain is really amazing and it was a great time to just spend together. Rarely do we get out with out the kids so it was wonderful that they provided daycare at the church where the training was held. The kids a ball and Jake and I got to relax.

I know that we have done more since I last updated but can't think of what at the moment.

The kids and I decorated/dyed easter eggs last night and they searched for their easter baskets this morning. The bunny only left a few candies and some trinkets so as not to set the bar too high for next year. : )

moving/house update

I know I haven't updated this in a while but for some reason I can't get on at home. So I am doing this via blackberry. Just over a week ago we moved into our new house. It is a spacious 3 bedroom with an eat in kitchen, HUGE living room and two full baths.
We were not overly impressed with it when we walked in since all the flooring was a light colored cheap tile/linoleum floor. When we got past that shock we saw it for what it could be. High ceilings and big rooms. We have three large storage areas and one big laundry room.

We bought a new(to us) black leather living room set, and a new beautiful shaggy rug. It is so soft and the kids love just hanging out on the floor playing!
The kids have a vibrant play area with lots of space for imagination play. Thor has really blossomed here and loves making up elaborate stories about all his animals. He is such a ham!
Thor and Baleigh helped pick out all the decor for their bathroom. It is bright and very underwater/coral reef themed. Lol. They love it!

I love the giant kitchen with the first gas range I have had since I lived at home. I love cooking on it. I would love to upload pics but can't seem to get them on from my phone. Check them out on face book if you are curious.