Dave is away...

The family went together and bought David an Ipod for a going away gift. Angela and Sandy were nice enough to stay up on Tuesday night and load over 800 songs on it for him. YAY!!

Per Dave's request, I will be the point of contact while he's deployed. If you would like to send something to him, please send it to me and I will send it on. Dave wants to do this for security reasons (address safety) and mailing reasons (if everyone condensed their mail, there would be less volume and things would move faster).

If you do not have my mailing address, please e-mail me and I will e-mail it to you. I'm sure we'll be sending packages bi-weekly so your letters, treats etc will get to Dave in a timely manner.

Thank you all for your prayers and well wishes. I'm sure we'll both be needing them in the upcoming months.

Funny Fhoto Friday...The infamous bunny photo...

Liam has always done well with Holiday figures...he wasn't scared of Santa when he first met him...because, well, he was asleep.



And Santa this year wasn't a problem either....



But the Easter Bunny this year?? Not a fan....

Here he is at the mall with the bunny....



He struggled...but no tears...

And then we went to Grandma Bowman's workplace. I'll be honest. I was terrified of the bunny...and I think you can tell by Liam's expression, he's not amused either.



This photo makes for some good blackmail material when he starts dating...LOL.

Love Thursday...A Day late....

So we sent Dave off. It was a very sad moment, but he's going to do something great. He's a brave, brave, man.

Love is being thankful that you were able to get a few family pictures before leaving. Love is taking time off of work just to go to the park with your boys. Love is seeing the look in Liam's eyes when his dad pushes him on the swing.

Here are a few family pictures we were able to take before he left.







Love is our little family...

Totally Twisted Tuesday....Terrible Timing...

It's strange how someone can plan everything to go smoothly and in one fail swoop of an arm, plans are shattered...and elbows are fractured.

Yesterday, Dave and I went to TGIFriday's (yes, on a Monday) to have lunch with Liam. I had just placed Liam in his high chair and went to sit down. As I did, I slammed my left elbow into the chair next to mine. I hit my funny bone. Whoever named it the funny bone was a dirty, dirty liar. It hurt...bad.

This was at 1:00 P.M. My left pinkie and ring finger had the sensation of being asleep and just woken up (the high pain tinglies) from about 1:20 until about 5:30 when Sandy arrived home and was able to check out my arm. I had even taken a nap because the pain was too much (and Sandy says ibuprofen isn't allowed).

She adjusted my arm (I had no idea it could pop like that) and used her tools on it. She brought out the tuning fork...aka Satan's wand. She used it on the lower and upper part of my arm before she placed the tool of death on my elbow. I snapped at her, "Don't ever do that again." She laughed, I apologized and she said that I might have a fracture, that I should ice it and we'd see what it looked like in the morning.

I iced it all night and it still hurts. I refuse to spend Dave's last day here in a hospital waiting room (if this had happened 4 weeks from now we could have x-rayed it at Sandy's office--but she doesn't have her machine yet) so I'm being a stubborn butt and having to drive through the pain. It hurts to pick up my purse so you can imagine it hurts to pick up Liam.

Maybe I'll go to the Doctor on Wednesday...AFTER Dave leaves. But not before. I'm a tough mama...a fractured elbow is nothing.

Funny Fhoto Friday...Family...

Liam loves his cousins...he's learned he can beat up on Mitchell (who is four) and Matthew (who is four months younger than him). I'll admit it. My son can be a bully. I don't know what we did to cause him to be a bully, but he is one. You can see this documented in pictures from Christmas...Liam and Matthew, hanging out and talking.

It started innocent enough...with our son being a "Christmas Ham" for the camera...




But then came the baby drama...Note: Matthew has the duck



And Liam takes the duck




And then smacks Matthew in the face with the duck




Matthew is not amused. Liam, however, thinks this is really funny...



Yes, we've raised a bully. But he's a cute bully...

Love Thursday...Cherished Moments...

With Dave's pending deployment, Love Thursday is kind of hard to do. There are so many things that I am thankful for...the fact that he still is sleeping next to me, the fact that he still is spending time with Liam etc.

And it makes me think of the little moments that I cherish. Sunday mornings with the paper, reading and relaxing. Allowing your toddler to tear at the papers you don't want, watching him read just like Daddy is.

These pictures were taken last fall, but are timeless to me. It's memories like this that I will keep close to my heart while he's deployed.

My boys reading the paper...


There must have been something interesting in Liam's section...


See mom? It's a sale!!

Totally Twisted Tuesday...A Republican Living with Lesbians?? OH NO!!

Angela came up with the idea of this entry. We have Love Thursday, Fhoto Friday...Angela said, "What about Totally Twisted Tuesday??" She even gave me the idea for the first post! I told you this was going to be a "family" blog!

So here we go!

As many of you know, my husband, David, is in the Army Reserves and is being deployed to Iraq. In order for me to have some help while he's away, Dave's sister, Angela, has opened her home to David, Liam and I.

We moved in last weekend and David is now in the process of arranging our items. We had a lot of help moving, from my parents, Dave's dad (his mom is currently in Ireland on vacation with her dad), and Angela and Sandy.

Sandy is Angela's partner. Yes. Angela and Sandy are lesbians. I, a Republican, have moved in with two lesbians. While many Republicans are against that "different" lifestyle, I do not oppose it. I don't think they should get married, but if they want to live with one another, the government shouldn't legislate that.

That is one of the reasons my husband is in the Army. To defend our rights to do as we please. Angela and Sandy are two great people, hard workers, educated (a scientist and a chiropractor), strong, wonderful women who contribute to our society. So they love each other, what's wrong with that?

While I'm not going to compare myself to Vice President Cheney at all, I can't help think of the similarities. His daughter, Mary, is a lesbian. This has been brought out many times in the media. So what? He can't control who his daughter loves...what does it matter?

Many people may not understand why I chose to do what I did. But those folks are closed minded. You can't help who you fall in love with. You can't help who they are related to. Granted, you can pick your friends, but why choose to deny to be friends with someone because of who they fall in love with...especially when it doesn't hurt anyone.

So yes, I moved in with lesbians to help me while my husband is serving in Iraq.
And I had a baby out of wedlock. I was an un-married mother for almost a year.
And I breastfeed our toddler.
And we own cloth diapers.
And I write poetry.
And drink flavored coffee.
And I'm still a Republican!!!!

Look out...I just might infect others with my open minded thinking!! OH NO!!