Almost time....

We're Coming Home Tomorrow

We’re coming home tomorrow
On shining silver wings
I’m coming back to you my love
With all my heart can bring

Let the light glow in the window
Take those ribbons off the trees
I’m coming home tomorrow
And there with you … I’ll always be

I’m lifting off from Baghdad
Like my brothers did before
From Saigon and from Seoul
And all those other distant shores

We didn’t want to go there
But we did it just the same
You ask us all to go there
To defend this home again

I have so many stories
Of the glory and the fame
Of the brothers who served with me
For our country and our name

Now we’re wrapped in blessed blankets
Of the flag from whence we came
We’re Americans and we’re soldiers
And we’re coming home again


David Willson

Preparing for his homecoming

My Sgt will be returning from Iraq in about 2 months. The preparations have begun.
First on my list was to buy a HUGE welcome home banner. Did not take too much googling to find a place to order from. I used BuildASign, www.buildasign.com/troops . This is an amazing site. You can order a huge welcome home banner 3 feet X 6 feet for FREE. Yes, I said FREE. As a thank you to our troops this particular company is allowing family members at a great price. They only ask that you pay shipping and handling. That is a great deal considering the 3' x 6' is around $60.00. You simply pay the shipping. You will be prompted to choose how much you wish to pay. The higher shipping rate means you get your banner quicker. You can custom design it yourself. Make it say exactly what you want it to say in the colors you wish use. Even better than that you can add a picture of your soldier. I will have an example in this blog. I hope each and every person takes advantage of this amazing deal. What a great way to let our husbands know how proud we are of them and how happy we are to have them home. Hang it in a public place for all the world to see.


A special thank you to my wonderful husband,SGT Hayes. He has defended our freedom since May 19, 2008 and we only have a couple months left.
Thank you so much. I Love You to Iraq & Back. Be safe and come home soon.

I am a PROUD Army Wife

Silent Ranks

I wear no uniforms, no blues or army greens
But I am in the Army in the ranks rarely seen
I have no rank upon my shoulders - salutes I do not give
But the military world is the place where I live
I'm not in the chain of command, orders I do not get
But my husband is the one who does, this I can not forget
I'm not the one who fires the weapon, who puts my life on the line
But my job is just as tough. I'm the one that's left behind
My husband is a patriot, a brave and prideful man
And the call to serve his country not all can understand
Behind the lines I see the things needed to keep this country free
My husband makes the sacrifice, but so do our kids and me
I love the man I married, Soldiering is his life
But I stand among the silent ranks known as the Army Wife

Nyke breaking it down after the Raniers game and some random guy joined in!

A picture is worth a thousand words

Taken: May 25, 2009 Point Defiance Zoo
Tacoma Wa

Hold my 4th grader back...yes or no?

The 2008-2009 school year has been an extremely difficult year for my son. He has gone through a lot this year. His father deployed for the first major deployment of his military career, Ian's Tourettes syndrome had gone totally bonkers, and his school has had major issues in the faculty department. I am struggling with the choice of holding Ian back in the 4th grade for another year. I have spoken to the teachers and they say he is doing "ok". His handwriting is horrible. He can not stay on task. He is very easily distract able. He has missed alot of time this particular school year. Like I said his Dad is deployed to Iraq, which in turn has caused an extraordinary amount of anxiety. Anxiety only makes Ian's "Tics" worse. When he is at school children make fun of his "Tics" and the teachers did not do alot to help the situation either. I worry about Ian's reading. I am thinking I would prefer to hold him back and him be an amazing 4th grader again next year as oppose to him moving along to 4th grade and struggling and falling behind yet again. I have asked friends and family there opinion on this matter and I really have not gotten a clear answer. I figured I needed to speak to other moms like me. When Ian has something he needs more information on I always tell him to google it! I followed my own advice, kinda.
I went to www.momcentral.com and www.mamapedia.com.
I found so many other moms struggling with the same type of questions. I was able to read through the posts on that site and get a good perspective from all different sides in regards to holding him back. I believe I can make a sound decesion about this now.

It is always best to look up the topic if you don't know the answer. Now we have websites created for moms by moms. Can it get any better than that? NO! I will be saving the link to the sites as some of my favorites. It is a God send!

Macaroni Grill gift basket giveaway

I recently started following http://chefdruck.blogspot.com
She has great giveaways as well as tons of usefull information on her blog. Right now she is having a Macaroni Grill gift basket giveaway. Check it out and regiter to win today. I would suggest following her blog as well. You will always find something of intrest on there.

Madigan Army Medical Center

Just a quick blog tonight.

As most if not all of you know last week I had to take Ian to the ER. The Brilliant PA in the emergancy room diagnosed Ian with Mono. Some would say ok mistakes happen. Yes it may have been a mistake but that mistake meant Ian was home ALL last week. He was not allowed to return to school until he was cleared today by his pediatrician. We went to the doctor tonight at 1845. He was not even seen until 1925. Once called back into the actual doctors office, we spent all of 3 minutes. he quickly opened Ian's lab work and stated Ian has never had a trace of Mono in his body EVER. Long story short I was tortured for a week with Ian being home from school for no reason. I say no reason but he actually was sick with a bug, but now it is being called viral.
Moral of my rant is basically if you are ever seen in MAMC ER and diagnosed with something serious always get a second opinion. I am off to put the kids to bed. Ian has school tomorrow Yehaw!

Sonic drive thru Puyallup Wa

We finally got our very own Sonic drive thru here in western Washington. It opened just about 2 weeks ago. The lines have been outrageous. Some days the wait to even get a stall is over an hour. Really, an hour wait for a burger & fries! I know it sounds crazy. I figured i would wait until the newness wore off so the lines would not be as bad. Ha Ha! Wrong!!! I waited until 9:20 pm tonight to go to Sonic in Puyallup Wa. Keep in mind it is a 20-25 minute drive from my house. Upon arriving at Sonic the line was out of the parking lot and there was a 30 minute wait for a stall (by now it is 9:50pm). Once we were able to actually pull in the lot we were greeted by an attendant. He welcomed us to Sonic and proceeded to tell us there is a 30 minute wait and Oh by the way "our grills are out" & "we can't make any burgers". I thought he was joking. He was dead serious. I simply asked him, "why is the wait 30 minutes if your grill is broken?". He replied "Our drinks are POPPIN". Laugh my booty off. Ha Ha...not funny. I was so bummed to drive all that way to get a Sonic burger just to be told sorry, you can't have a burger. UGH! I guess I will have to try another day. Hopefully my next trip will be more successful.

Take me out to the ball game

Family Friday:

I am trying to keep up on my blog so I figured i would try to do something about my family every Friday.

Since moving to Tacoma Washington almost 2 years ago, our family has taken a liking to watching baseball. We LOVE to watch the Tacoma Rainiers. We attended the first game of the 2009 season at Cheney Stadium on April 17, 2009. We had a blast and that is an understatement. For those of you who live in Washingon I would suggest checking out a home game for yourself. There is nothing like watching a baseball game in person. We now are going to try to go to 1 game a week. I am crossing my fingers.

For those who live here in Tacoma or surrounding area's check out the Rainiers website. You can check out the schedule and plan your own families "Baseball Night Out".

http://tacoma.rainiers.milb.com/index.jsp?sid=t529

No more freezing babies during bath time!

I remember when my Ian was a baby and bath time was so much fun. Except the freezing part. He always got cold during bath time. I used a hand towel just to make sure it would cover him entirely. Well no more using wash clothes or hand towels to keep your baby warm during bath time.

Bath Luve is the solution...Just submerge Bath Luve in water and drape over your infant. The natural design completly covers baby's torso and stays put to keep them feeling warm and secure.


You can enter to win a Bath Luve of your own FREE. Simply check out my friends blog: http://www.tanyapeila.com/2009/05/bath-time-with-bath-luve.html

She gives you several ways to enter. Good luck & happy Bath times to come.

Walmart Freebies

I got a tweet tonight from http://twitter.com/Millionmoms . It was a link for a free sample of bodycology from Walmart. I followed the link and requested my FREE sample. Once my request was complete I was able to see other FREE samples offered from Walmart. With the economy being the way it is right now we can all use a FREE sample. It's a great way to try something before you buy it. Check them out for yourself. http://instoresnow.walmart.com/In-Stores-Now-free-samples.aspx

Mother's day

Just wanted to thank all of those MOMS who have played an important role in my life. Happy Mother's Day!

Also, I have an amazing friend who has played a MAJOR role in my life and helped me become a better mom in so many ways. Check out her blog: http://www.tanyapeila.com/
and/or follow her on twitter: http://twitter.com/tanyapeila . I promise you, you will learn things you never knew you did not know before.

Obsessed

Wow! What a movie. Me and a couple girlfriends went to the movies today. We watched obsessed. It was a sit on the edge of your seat movie the entire time.