Halloween Party

I took these two characters to the Moms Club Halloween Party on Thursday. Man, are they the cutest or what? I was going to wait until Halloween to share them, but you know I'm going to take a million more on Halloween, so I decided to go ahead and share these. Boo is Lightning McQueen (of course) and Lil Bit is a Lamb.

There were just so many, I couldn't narrow it down. I hope you don't mind!
We might get some snow this weekend, so we'll see how that effects trick-or-treating.
Have a good weekend! Go Hogs and Go Tigers!

11 Months!

Lil Bit is 11 months old today!! Where does the time go? Man, she's just the cutest! She's working on standing up from the middle of the floor. I've seen her do it a couple of times, but when I bring out the camera, she just wants to crawl over to it. So, I haven't been able to capture it yet.  She absolutely LOVES to follow Boo around and get into whatever he's doing. He doesn't love that so much.  I was looking forward to them playing together. Hmmm.

She's also working on another tooth but, it hasn't officially popped through yet. She's one tough cookie, too! I took her to get her flu shot yesterday and she didn't even make a peep. Not one little sound.  She didn't even look at her leg to see what the heck had just happened. The technician and I couldn't believe it!

I can't believe that we'll be celebrating her first birthday next month. It looks like B-man will be here for the big day, but will leave soon after that. We've been making preparations for the move. Bleh. 

Here are her pics! 

She was upset at me because I wouldn't let her hold the camera.

Look at that puppy dog face.
We're in big trouble around here! Lol!

Isn't it so cute when babies eat?

She's got Moves Like Jagger (that's the song that's playing).




I was trying to get her to stand up, but she wouldn't do it and threw a little fit.
I must say, her little fits are adorable. I know, I say that now. But, they really are.
She bends down and puts her head on the floor and then she usually rolls onto her back and just looks at you. I've been trying to get it on video and this is the best one so far. It's kind of an abbreviated one.

Boo!

UPDATE ON BILLY: Thank you all for your prayers. I know God is listening and hears our prayers. It means a lot to our family. An update from BeBe reports that yesterday Billy was able to respond to some of the commands from the PA and his fever is down.

TODAY'S POST:

One of the things I love about living on post is the sense of community. It took a while here, but the neighbors finally started greeting us and encouraging us get involved (probably because I kept us playing in the front yard and waving feverishly as neighbors drove by). But, anyway, I've been enjoying a fun monthly BUNCO game with the mamas on the block and the month of October has brought out the Boo in everyone.  I encourage you to try this in your neighborhood. It's a great way to bring everyone together. Someone just has to get it started.
Here's what you do: You print the two images below and follow the directions. Now, if you're the first one to do it in your neighborhood, you don't put the "We've Been Booed" sign on your door (it'll make more sense after you read the instructions). You would wait until someone "Boos" you before you put a sign up on your door.

These are the treats we made for our neighbors. It looks like a lot, but really I just hit the ONE SPOT at Target! Gotta love the ONE SPOT. It was so fun and our Lil Boo liked helping me put them together.
So, get out there and get booing! You can always just do one treat if that's more your speed. Just search the internet for a "We've Been Booed" sign that says 'one treat' in the instrtuctions. They're easy to find. It's fun to see how many people have been Booed in your neighborhood. 

Now that they've been delivered to the Grandparents and Aunts/Uncles, I can post a picture of this little craft we made. It was so easy! Just one color of paint for the footprints! Boo did great following instructions and was really excited to make these ghosts. I put Lil Bit in her high chair with the tray in place so that she couldn't get to her feet. She just smiled as I painted her feet. She was kind of squirrel-y on some of the cards, but that just made for moving ghosts. Lol.

We have a Mom's Club Halloween/Harvest Party later this week, so check back for photos.

Prayer Request

I'm writing tonight to tell you about my cousin, Billy. He's my Aunt B's son and is not much older than I am. He's a Florida State Trooper and last week, he suffered a hemorrhagic stroke.  They've been keeping him heavily sedated in Neuro ICU. His daily scans show that the vessels are no longer bleeding, but the amt of blood on the brain hasn't decreased much since the initial injury.  He also has a fever and  pneumonia secondary to aspirating during the stroke. They have antibiotics on board for that now. He is on a ventilator and has a feeding tube as well.
The docs are going to slowly decrease his sedation and they will begin to try to wean him off of the ventilator.


We do not yet know the functional impact of his injury as he has been in a sedated state. No doubt, the road ahead will be long and hard for Billy and his family.


In an email to family and friends, my Aunt B wrote this, "We know this could be a long recovery with a lot of rehab and we are being very positive and optimistic that with everyone's prayers he will heal according to God's plan for him". 


I ask for you to pray for Billy and his recovery. I ask you to pray for his family for strength and rest as they care for Billy. I ask you to pray for his healthcare providers, that they are top notch and have a lot of experience and resources available to them.


This was definitely shocking news to us all as he is so young. They believe he had an underlying high blood pressure problem that he wasn't aware of because of how high his blood pressure was at the hospital.


BeBe and Aunt R went to Florida this weekend to offer some emotional support to our family.


I haven't seen Billy much over the last several years, but I remember playing with him at my grandparent's house as a young child and going to visit his family in Florida during summer vacation. My Granddaddy used to have all of this scrap wood and old coffee jars full of nails and screws in his work shed/greenhouse. Robin, Billy, Nancy and I used to build fake guns (I don't know why that's what we built, but we did) and climb trees and play in the backyard.  When we would visit them in Florida, we'd visit his grandparents there and spend hours swimming in the pool. I vaguely remember something about our cousin Ricky and olives, but the details are fuzzy.


Please pray for him and his family.


God is who He says He is.
And, God can do what He says He can do.
I believe that.

Paper Bag Costume Parade

Boo's preschool class had a paper bag costume parade today. We had to make a paper bag costume and turn it in on Tuesday so it would be ready for the parade today. There is a road on post called the GRADY HWY. So, we decided to make Boo a stoplight on the GRADY HWY. He was so excited about the parade and was too cute when he saw me with the camera. The parade lasted about 2 minutes, but it was adorable. Here are 3 videos and picture of the GRADY HWY. Enjoy the show!

He was so happy about this parade!

Moose Crossing!

 Look at this little moose!
She's on the move big time now.
This is the first time she's walked forward behind anything.

Gaaaaame Daaaaaay!

 Goooo Tigers!

 I forgot to put this pic of Boo on the last post.

Blogkeeping

 

I would normally title a post like this, This and That, or Weekend Review, or Miscellaneous, but I saw the term blogkeeping on a blog recently and it kind of stuck with me. So, I'm doing some blogkeeping here...just catching up on what we've been up to lately. The moose above crossed the road in front of us on post last weekend. It had one tiny horn.

Baby Girl!

We went to Talkeetna again last weekend!
McKinley was stunning with fresh snow on it.

Just because :)

Cool half-moon.
Right down the center.

Boo has been taking swimming lessons recently. He's got a long way to go. We're working on mastering blowing bubbles. B-man and Boo have been working on it during bath time as well.

Bit and I watch from above. She LOVES watching him in the pool. Do you see him below?

Bit likes pizza!

Jousting with Dad at Pump It Up!
Boo is getting ready to lay a big hit on Dad!

Look at how strong his hit was!!
B-man went flying. Hehe!

Wheeeeee!
I love Bit's hair in this one.

That's a long way up little lady.

Game Day!
Clemson had another victory last weekend!!

The gals down the street from Mom and Dad made Maggie this little jumper and the bloomers.
So cute!

C-L-E-M-S-O-N!!!

Okay, now you're up to date on pictures. Now for some video upkeep...

 A rare moment of sibling fun. Usually Boo is bothered by Bit wanting to breathe on his toys. Oh boy.

Dance Party!

B-man's last jump before his deployment. They all donated a toy for Toys for Tots before they boarded the plane. This was a jump out of a C-130. It was cold that day!

B also jumped with Boo and Bit's ya-yas tucked in his pockets. So, now they're Airborne too!

He's getting really good!

Okay, I think that's it for now! Whew. I'll try to do better about staying caught up.

More Tiger Love

My sister sent me a link to this video. Tiger fans meet the team when they return from Va Tech. I'm jealous of the students there, right now! Lol!  One thing I love about Dabo (the coach) is that he really is a Tiger fan! He gets pumped. Bowden never did...ever and that bothered me. Tiger fans are the best, and the coach should be the biggest one...in my opinion!

Gooooooo Tigers!

Go Tigers!

We've definitely been enjoying college football this year! Our beloved Clemson Tigers are 5-0 this year! Woohoo! And Arkansas is doing really well too. Both teams are in the Top Ten this week!

I came across this burlap football tutorial and just had to do it. Aren't they so cute? It was fun to make, too. I did most of it one night as B-man and I watched TV and then finished up the next morning, while totally neglecting the children (read: they were watching TV and eating snacks). But, I finished it before Game Day and it really gave me a personal boost to have a little project that I could complete in a short amount of time. I'm not very creative, but I can copy real good. Lol.  We're looking ahead to this weekend! Go Tigers and Woo Pig Sooie!

Uniform Changes

As B-man prepares his gear for his upcoming deployment, it's getting harder and harder to be in denial about him leaving. But, as long as he's home, I can be in denial a little longer.  He pretty much has to go through all of his gear every time he goes somewhere to pack what is needed for the environment where he'll be. So he usually lays everything out in the garage or den and filters through it all. They were just issued new uniforms and gear in Multicam (the pattern of Army combat uniform that is worn in Afghanistan). So, it got us talking about all of the different uniforms that he's had in his twelve years of Army life.  Take a stroll with us down memory lane.

He started out in 1998 in woodland camo BDUs (battle dress uniform).

He deployed to Kuwait in Nov 2011 in DCUs (desert camo uniforms).

When he got back from Kuwait in May of 2002, it was back to woodland camo.

And when the war with Iraq started, he deployed in DCUs again from April 2003-March 2004.

Upon their return from Iraq, they switched into the woodland BDUs yet again.

And then, the world got crazy with digitization and pixels. The powers that be jumped on board and adopted this digital ACU (Army combat uniform) pattern. The theory was that it would provide efficient camo in desert and woodland situations.
He wore them during his second tour to Iraq in November 2005-November 2006.  And this has remained the daily uniform since then.

Earlier I mentioned that he was issued new uniforms/gear. This is multicam. It's the approved combat pattern for the Army in Afghanistan.
We both agree that it's our favorite pattern so far.
But, when he gets back from Afghanistan, it's back to the ACUs. Darn it, we really like this one.


So, you can imagine how much 'stuff' he's had over the years in all of these patterns.
He's pretty much gotten rid of all the woodland and desert pattern items. He just has a few keepsake pieces.
But, now we have a pile of ACU and Multicam stuff.

Just thought it was interesting and blogworthy.