Did you ever have one of those weeks you never thought would end and when it does you want it too slow down? Well that was this week. Monday morning Hannah woke up with a nasty little fever that set the course for the week.  I called into work and little did I know I was going to be out until Friday. We made our way to the doctors on Tuesday to be told  she has a virus and to let it run. We all know those some are fairly quick and some just linger and well that it has and is still.  I felt horrible for her and wished I could have taken her place, she did a lot of sleeping and just trying to get thru it. Now not only is she still hitting hit or miss with the fever………..she is coughing with major congestion. Watchin that one so it does not get worse.

       Thursday was my first FRG (family readiness group) meeting  for the ship over in  Mayport . We got to listen to the Captain and Masterchief of the ship talk about the men and how busy they are and that all things are going smoothly. We are now a month down. So five to go……….I sit and think of how much I miss and love Frank. Some of the time has gone quickly and some days just drag to the best of ya.  This week was one of the ones that dragged and I believe it is because I was out of routine of going to work. Instead I was home in a quiet house. Too much thinking  !!!!!!  Friday Hannah was fever free. She went back to school and I went back to work. Now granted I was home by 12:30 due to hardly having any work.  Did talk to my boss with my intentions of this coming week and how to increase my case load.  Looking good thankfully.

   Come yesterday was horribly busy. I was up and at the brake shop Sun Tire by 7:00 am. Reason being when I had my oil change and tire rotation it was stated to me that my brakes front and back needed replaces………..UGH !!! So I called around pricing to see the better of the deals and what to offer. I found Sun Tire to be the best. So as said I was there early to be able to get out early. Both front and back were replaced and had a brake fluid flush. Hated paying that one but the kids and I are safe and that is all that matters to me. Got home did some house work with the kids and then back out for Robert’s eye exam. Yeah his eyes have gotten worse. So new glasses have been ordered and he chose  a great new frame. Did a little shopping and home we went. I have been really concentrating on making one day of the weekend either movie or game night with the kids. So last night was the night. We chose to make home made cal zones for dinner and omg they were wonderful. Each of the kids made their own and loved them. Once we finished with dinner and clean up. We sat down at the table with our new board game Sorry. Robert, red, Emily, blue, Hannah, yellow and I green. We played two hilarious rounds of the game. Omg did we have fun. Listening to their laughter and seeing their smiles. Is honestly the best thing a mother can watch. We did popcorn and root beer floats for snack with our game…………. this is where my week started going way to fast.

   I am sitting here on this Sunday morning………..have had some wonderful email time with Frank. Little on the frustrating side but he is wonderful and going thru the motions of his job. We going thru the motions of daily routine.  Knowing that there will be an end at some point. All I know is I am not complete with out him.  The kids are all still sleeping along with the animals…………lol 

   I hope all is well and have a great week……..

  It has been a pretty decent week for the most part.  Email to Frank has been frustrating at best but getting thru and thrilled when it does. We have been rather busy. Kids with school and me with work. The kids had a pretty easy week. They had Monday and Friday off so little more calls to mom at work whining about one thing or another. Looking forward to them going tomorrow and having a full school week.

     Well down three weeks ….I know that does not sound like much and really it is not but I feel better each time a week drops………..LOL Our weekend has been nuts and very productive. Friday went and picked Alexander up for what I thought was going to be one night……Wrong !  He went  and did some car shopping. He has found he really wants but has to wait to see if the bank will approve him. If so I have a feeling I will have a nut on my hands………..lol  Got up Saturday morning and took the explorer to the dealership for an oil change and tire rotation (free of course) and with the inspection they do on it. Told me I need new front brakes and the back ones are not to far behind…………Joy Joy if you ask me. Of course I emailed Frank with the findings and both agree to have all done at the same time. Now is a matter of finding a place with a good price. Got home and decided I needed to rake the front yard. Our tree was full about three days ago………….It rained and now tree is empty and all over the yard………Yeah not liking that one. Needless to say mostly done and will finish up today prior to the rain. I want to put some greener down….lol  Alex helped me get all of our Christmas up in the attic. Oh does our garage look better. Never realized how much stuff we had.lol Just glad it is out of the way until next year.

    Rhonda from next door came and got me and took a 30 minute 2 mile walk. Felt so good just getting out and being able to talk to an adult with out children and at the same time exercise hee hee. Got back and took Emily to Rachels for the night. Are you starting to understand busy in this house. It feels like I just repeat my self sometimes but I am feeling the need of staying busy wether it is cleaning, running the kids around or just something. My seperation from Frank is miserable and I feel if I stay busy then maybe time will fly much faster. I must say it is working  to some degree. Here we are at three weeks down.   Today will be finalizing the yard and laundry. Taking Alex home and picking Emily up ….oh yeah throw in an haircut for Robert…………

    I sit here with my thoughts and oh how they are running but I have the satisfaction of a very quiet house . Robert, Alex and Hannah all still in bed. Callie is literally laying at my side content  and happy. Hogan and Ty at my feet.  I enjoy this part of my life knowing that I can’t wait for all of  them to wake.

 I hope all have a great week and see you next .

   I say what a boring week and it was really the opposite in terms of work and home. Started out okay for the most and just continued. Work is at a very slow point so all of us were given the chance to take some time off. See I obtain medical records for Hartford and New York Life Insurance and now that the fiscal year has come to end for them….this is when they take their vacations and what have yous……..With that being said. I have been going to work around 8:30 to 9:00 and usually out by 12:30. Don’t get me wrong I love getting out early but I don’t like having a small case load. Small case loads mean small paychecks. I get paid by cases closing not by hour.

   Monday was a starter in our home for the hot water issue. I let the girls use the garden tub for a bath on Monday while I was cleaning the kitchen I heard a thump and then the girls yell. I shut the water off in the kitchen to go see what they were yelling about and to my eyes once I got in there were alot of white looking pieces that came from the faucet………now sitting back on memory of Frank I knew that was stuff from the hot water tank. Cleaned that up and started a new bath for them………..back to the kitchen I went. I turned the water on and heard another thump. No water pressure to the hot water side. Yes I took the aerator off the faucet and it too was clogged with the white pieces but still had no water pressure. The following morning confirmed that my hot water tank was having issues. Now I am one that takes pretty quick showers but when I took mine that morning I was out of hot water with in three to four minutes………..OHHHH not healthy  lol  So needless to say plumber was called.  And now as I write I have a new hot water tank that runs wonderful hot water and looking forward to a nice hot shower.

   As you know countdown has begun and now we are at the five and half month mark…..this may get repeatative but it works for me hee hee. Kids are doing great. I am jealous of them this week. They have a three day weekend. Half day on Wednesday and then another three day weekend next weekend. One day off for MLK and one day is a planning day. What teachers can’t plan after school ?  Go figure.

  Frank is doing well on the trip and now is six hours ahead of us. I really don’t like the time difference it really messes up emailing and phone calls. I miss him terribly! He is feeling the same. Never again after this one.

Hope all is well. Going to be a rainy one today. So good day to stay inside and find something to do…..that is my question…what to do ?  LOL   My love to all

    Wow our first weekend with out Frank being home……….. more words that I can express. I have realized that Saturdays are going to be my hardest day of the week. Frank and I have always had a set routine in our home that I love so much and am missing so much. I was up early, nothing new there. I got up to a wonderful email, made coffee and got started to a very busy productive day. By days end house cleaned, girls now have their own bedrooms, guest room is now a full guest room. We discarded a bed this week that very much needed to go. I also managed to do all the laundry. Nothing left in dryer. To my disbelief I managed to put all away. That is a major accomplishment cause I really dislike laundry.

   Rachel came home with Emily on Friday and Robert went to his friends for the night. So it was a girls night. We made a pot of spaghetti for dinner. Girls cleaned up and then time to sit and relax. I bought the movie A Cloudy Chance of Meatballs. OMG very much recommend this movie. It was funny, cute and had a great story line. All four of us sat and laughed and enjoyed.  Time for bed with the thoughts of waking up to snow…………yes I said it SNOW in Florida. We much anticipation of the possibilities and too much to our dismay we had none. We were all disappointed  and  just went on with our day. I have to hand it to the kids this week. They have really stepped up with Frank being gone , not sure how long that will last but I am going to take advantage of it as long as I can ….LOL 

        Sundays are going to be my day of relaxation. There are no plans ………..if I want to stay in jammies so be it. LOL

Hope all is well and I am now a week closer to Frank

     It has been the craziest of couple weeks and most blessed at the same time. Work has been tense and productive. I spent the last couple of weeks cherishing my time with Frank and enjoying the holidays. Alexander left on the 18th for Arkansas to meet up with Dawn and spend Christmas there. The girls headed to their fathers on the 19th for their visit with him. Our Christmas was a very beautiful chaotic day. We had opening presents with Jessica, Ryan and Robert.  I hit the road to get the girls so we could have dinner and opening presents again with Emily and Hannah. The following we day we headed over to get Jessica for the remainder of the weekend. We had a wonderful round of family game night on the Wii. Finally on Sunday Alexander and Dawn came home together. Can we say nerves……….

    Had nothing to worry about !  She is a sweetheart and at the end of the week sad to see her go. Our final week together was busy all the way up to Thursday. It was finalizing everything. The whole family was home. Frank, me , Alex ,Dawn, Shane, Robert, Emily, Jessica, Hannah, and Ryan for New Years Eve. I could not have asked for anything more. On the  first day of  the New Year Frank said his good byes to Jessica, Ryan and his mom. From there it was making a wonder pot of kielbasa and saurkraut with mashed potatoes. OMG yummy.  Frank said his good byes to the rest of the kids that evening.

    Saturday January 2nd, my birthday and the day I am suppose to be able to have what ever I want. I did not get !  We had to be up really early that morning. Out the door at six. What a pain ful emotional day. Saying good bye to Frank was the hardest thing I have ever done. Watching him back away was also the proudest moment.  I came home and Alex and Dawn had bought me a cake to celebrate my birthday. Later was time for us to say our good byes to Dawn. Now my house is quiet.

   Come Sunday it was a day of keeping busy and getting things in order before taking Alex back to base.

  Well it is Friday and after a very long week , I am thankful that it is over and now a week closer to Frank. This is my life and I am very happy, blessed and content with our life. Hope all is well.

  Well it is the week before and yeah can I say not done yet…..that is  a Nothing New there statement !  Christmas I believe is the most stressful time of the year. Mainly trying to keep my head in check . Between work, kids, schedules, shopping and  this year a business trip that is going to be six months or more. I am finding myself  trying to breathe. Shopping for the most part is complete, now just have to wrap and I think that is the worst. You spend hours so that it can be  ripped apart in seconds. LOL  But we all know that is the best part. To see the excitement on their faces with the anticipation of what they are getting. I believe Frank and I did very well this year. He and I agreed that each child has four presents under the tree. Did this due to our up bringing of not much and we really don’t like to go overboard on gifts. We think they are going to be very happy !

       Alexander came home Thursday night with Frank after work to finalize packing for his trip. I dropped him off Friday morning at the airport with the instructions of calling or texting me after each flight. He went from here to Dallas, TX  and then to Little Rock, AR  to meet up with Dawn. That he has not seen since August. They will be at her parents until the 27 when they both fly here to Jacksonville. He made it safely. Yesterday morning the girls and I were up at the crack of dawn and on the road to Savannah where I dropped them off with their father for winter break. They will be coming home on Christmas Day. Not sure of time yet but that will be another five hour round trip drive…..yuck!!!!  In between though it will be cleaning , working and getting ready for the holiday and the trip. We are down to less than two weeks.

    Next week is going to be the craziest of  the holiday. Alexander and Dawn will be home Sunday, Shane is due in on Thursday. Rob and the girls will already be here and then we will have Jessica and Ryan at some point. Come that Saturday when we say our farewells there will be a full house…………….

    Work and kids are doing great………..busy as usual nothing new there at all. But keeps minds and hands busy.

I hope for everyone to have a wonderful, joyous holiday season! Stay young at heart. Santa will be here next Thursday night !!!!!!   Hope all is on the NICE list and not the Naughty…..well that is only if you want to be LOL

 Happy Holidays from our family to  yours !

    Well it is almost that time and we are on our way to the countdown in our home. I sit here and it is the 15th of December and I am anxiously awaiting for the holidays, but then I am dreading them at the same time.

      This past weekend end Alex wanted to be home so we grabbed him Thursday night. Come Saturday the crappiest of all days. Rain first thing made an easy decision of baking cookies for the season. We made chocolate chip, spritz, peanut butter kisses and no bakes. The girls had a blast helping me mix, stir and bake the cookies. Robert spent time at his friends house , Alexander went and finalized Christmas shopping and Frank played in the garage. We ordered dinner that night and relaxed just to start all over again on Sunday. On Sunday it was banana bread and peanut butter fudge. I had never made it before and it turned out AWESOME!!!!!!!! So needless to say cookies are done. Santa will be proud !!!!!!

     Well Alex heads out on Friday for Dawn’s in Arkansas. This coming coming Saturday the girls and I head to Savannah to meet up with their day for Christmas vacation. Then for me to finalize my Christmas Shopping.  We are looking forward to  our visit with Shane and Dawn.

 Hope all is well and getting ready for Santa. Will keep you posted on our holiday adventures………..All our love

      What a weekend……..I could not have asked for a better weekend with my family. Friday Frank and I had off of work. We spent time changing the tires to the truck and traveling all over Jacksonville looking for one store that Frank was convinced was there. Yeah it was not !!!!! We met Alexander up at Taco Bell and had a great lunch with him. We made our way to Wal Mart for some things needed and got our movie for family movie night in our house that we usually do on Saturday nights. We choose Night at the Musuem 2. We made our way over to get Jessie and Ryan for the weekend. After dinner we all sat down and watched the movie. The only one missing was Emily, she was at her friend Samantha’s. I recommend this movie……………Awesome

      Come Saturday all the kids, and I say all six were sleeping. I made coffee and Frank told me about the events that took place while I slept peacefully. I had told Alex that he could use the Explorer to get out of the house. Frank started asking me if I had heard the phone and of course me being me, I did not ! Well Alex went to meet up with his friend across town and as careful as my son is with everything in his life and the first night mom lets him drive her car he locks the keys in the car……….He called home and asked Frank to bring him the spare key and yeah that did not happen. Alex had to have his friend bring him to the house and then back to the Explorer. Yeah I got my knocks in the morning……..LOL Saturday was not too much but decided to change things up a bit in the house. We got the tree up and decorated, made some cookies, and the boys went shopping. After dinner we moved the furniture back and hooked the wii up to the front  TV and all eight of us played a couple of hours of games. OMG did we have a wonderful memorable  time. The kids I know were up til the wee hours of the night playing. Granted Frank and I crashed.

     This morning we woke , put the house back to normal and got the kids ready to go home and to move Alex into the barracks. How sad this was for me knowing I have him home but not home with me. Iam just thankful he is across the bridge from me.

  I hope all had a great weekend and looking forward to the upcoming holiday !!!!!!

     As I sit here on the couch in between Alexander and Frank I have been doing alot of thinking back to my first Thanksgiving as a mom. It has been many wonderful memories in the making. I am very blessed in my life from my children to my life with Frank.

    Frank got home Monday ending a very long business trip. Alexander came home Tuesday and OMG what a feeling, since I have not seen Christmas of last year. That night at the dinner table I sat there thinking how wonderful to have all my children at the table at one time. I felt very complete.

  Come Wednesday what a busy crazy day. Had to do the work thing that I dreaded. Got home in time to say good bye to the girls as they were leaving with their father for a weekend at Disney. Oh the excitement in their eyes and the loss of leaving the house. Frank took Alex to check in to the office. Robert and I stayed behind and I made apple and pumpkin pies for today. Yummy !  Frank and Alex came back with Jesse and Ryan for the night. After a very long day we ordered dinner and settled down with the movie UP. OMG what a cute little movie. I highly recommend.

     I was up at the crack of dawn and so nothing new there. LOL Started preparing the stuffing for the bird and of course had to put the Macys’ Thanksgiving Parade on. I talked to the girls and they were going to spending the day at the Disney park and will be celebrating Thanksgiving tomorrow. Once the bird was in the oven Frank and I took Jesse and Ryan home to their mom. Needless to say Robert and Alexander was still in bed. Once we dropped the kids off we headed over for a visit with Frank’s mom.

     We had our dinner about five and how wonderful it turned out. I sat being so fully blessed to have what I have in my life and thankful that God has given me the most caring , loving family one can have. I am thankful for Alexander being close to home and thankful to have our dogs near by just waiting to have some turkey lol. Frank and the boys did the dishes and would not let me help……….that was nice treat! So now it is relaxing and watching some TV. We will not be attending any of the Black Friday early morning events. Yeah did that one year and made it my last year.  We have a four day weekend and my guess we will be working on the Explorer to see what is wrong with it. We also plan on doing some Christmas shopping. Girls will be home on Sunday and back to school and work on Monday.

   I hope everyone had a wonderful and safe, blessed Thanksgiving.

    I often questioned the question Where does strength come from? I believe for me it comes from the inner side of things due to life experiences , feelings and the people who are in our lives or who have crossed paths in our lives. This past week has been one of those times. Frank left out on Sunday morning and all seemed well. Kids doing well and the anticipation of Alex coming home soon. My work place was packing for the move to the new office that took place yesterday.

  We never know what life is going to throw at us until it happens and that is usually without warning. I went to leave for work on Thursday morning  and the explorer just would not start. It sounded like it wanted to but would not. Made a call to the neighbor and started emailing Frank. Well about three hours later with no luck. Wanting to cry and so frustrated I just had to settle with the truth of not going anywhere.  I was faced with no work that day, no vehicle and the fact that Frank was not going to be home until the 23rd and his truck was at Mayport. Frank was awesome and guided me. By days end I was a mess and so relieved that with the help of Frank and Cat I now have the truck . That day was so stressful me and wondered many times that day …………how am I going to do this? what am I going to do? This is where the question Where does strength come from? That day it was answered for me and my strength came from Frank giving me the words of encouragement through out all of it.  He is my strength.

   We ended the weekend on a positive note and prepared for the weekend. I actually slept in that morning. Needless to say my body tried to wake at 5:30am and I fought it off. LOL I made it until 8:30. I was so excited. Emily was a great help. She helped cleaned the house and made a chore chart for her and her siblings. Needless to say it is now hanging in the spare room off the kitchen. We also made a trip to my new office. I wanted to test the miles and how long it is going to take to get there so I can judge when I have to leave in the morning. I went from driving 18 miles round trip to know driving 60 miles round trip. What took me about 30 minutes round trip to now about an hour and half round trip. Now mind you I went on a Saturday so that does not include what work day traffic is going to be like. Not liking that one. Any who Emily and I got to see the new office. She enjoyed the helping out and meeting some of my co workers and bosses. We set up my desk and then left to come home and make dinner.

  Robert took off Saturday once I got home for the night with his friends. The girls gave me a fashion model show and they had pictures taken while walking down the fake runway of blankets. They were so cute and a little scary how grown up they looked wearing heels and make up. It was a great night. Today we just relaxed, made a kick ass chicken and dumplings for dinner. Wishing Frank were home. I will be getting the call some time this week of when my Alexander will be home. I so can’t wait to put my arms around him.

   I guess my last words is when life is giving you one of those moments and not sure where to turn or how to figure it out………..stop and breathe cause chances are if you look deep down inside you and you look around you will see your strength. Once you see it grab it , hold it  and forever never doubt that you are strong.