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    November 28

    HI BRANDY!!

    I would like to send a "shout" out to Nathan's brother Brandy who is currently overseas in the military.  He has written us and sent a few pictures documenting the GOOD work that they are doing.  (I say GOOD because it is my opinion that the media is going out of its way to tell us ONLY about the horrific things that are going on....I have various differing opinions about the war in general but my major fustration is about the media....so why not "redeem" some of this crud and use the media to talk about the positive stuff.  And, I will attempt to keep this as generic as possible to make sure that everyone involved remains safe and stuff.)  Brandy delivered school supplies to local schools with his unit in September....He then delivered stuff to a local hospital in October and that included stuffed animals to kids.  Brandy Hosp  That is Brandy in this pic....and all I want to say is "NICE JOB BUDDY!!!  Keep up the good work!  (Tell all your unit too)"  I know that all sounds a little Cheese-E, but it is so good to know that GOOD is being done.  It is a huge sacrifice for all invlolved (even the families at home..."Hi" to Jen and the boysSmile) and so it seems apporpriate to just keep the awareness up and keep conversations going...So ALL those that are sacrificing so much know that they are not alone! 
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    PHEW!!!!

    November has flown by!!!  We have been on the go a lot this month so blogging has taken a back seat to the other events/activities going on this month.  So, I am sorry that I haven't written much lately.  I hope to get things "rockin' and rollin'" again here.  There is so much that I want to talk about....the kids, house, what we've done.....highs/lows, other random thoughts....but that really would take forever!!!! So, I will put it here in bullet form to save time and space.
     
    November 2007-
    • Spent about 5 or so days living at my parents house while a friend of ours painted many rooms in our house. (a past white wall now has color) Fam Nov 07-16
    • Was home for about 5 days to keep decluttering the house and re-pack to go to Iowa.
    • In Iowa we ate like kings and queens with my extended family for an early Thanksgiving....we caught up with many family members (even some new additions) that we hadn't seen for a long while and really had a good time.  Fam Nov 07-41Fam Nov 07-50Fam Nov 07-64
    • Came home for a few more days only to ship out again as our carpets were being cleaned as we wanted everything to dry before we turned the kids loose in our house. 
    • Thanksgiving Thursday was relaxing and low key. Fam Nov 07-66Fam Nov 07-88
    • The next day our friend came back to finish up some smaller aspects of the painting at our house.
    • Our house was totally trashed until the 25th as we finally got finished with the decluttering process and arranged things post-painting and post-carpetcleaning.....man, our house looks good when the junk is gone.....maybe we won't sell after all because we feel like we just got a new house. JK Open-mouthed
    • Through all this, the kids development took a big leap.....Beth officially crawls FAST!!  She laughs and has so much personality.  Pointing for what she wants and trying so hard to participate with the rest of us no matter what it is.  She has taken a strong affection toward Daddy now and is contantly babbling his name like she is looking for him (when he is at work)...Fam SepOct 07-255....Tyler is speaking a smidge more clearly and asking more thoughtful questions....with that come more severe emotional melt downs and his imagination is kicking in so that there are now "monsters in the wall."   HMMM....were are trying everything we can think of to get through this one. PS-he is taking naps again (I don't think that I followed up with that after prior entries.)

    So there you have it....Do you feel all up to speed?!?!?!Wink  From now on, it is my goal to post something 1-2 times per week.  There should not be another gap like this gain....Hopefully.  Embarrassed  And the thing is (I don't think that I was clear about this yet)....is that we were very busy....we are and were exhausted....but I wouldn't change much of anything because we had fun and some stuff just had to be done....well, maybe I would have packed the car differently at times....but all is GOOD!Star

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    November 05

    She's One (cont.)!!!

    Yeah, I just can't believe it.  It seems like just yesterday and yet a lifetime ago that she was born.  So much has happened in 1 year with her and around her....I tried to keep mental pictures but they are already fading.....I guess that means I will be relying heavily on photos and videos.  There is the second child syndrome to deal with too.....for example, when Tyler was crawling and eating "icky" things off the floor, I saw and worked with him on the "no-no" about 95% of the time.  With Beth, her scooting has now become crawling (as of 3 or so days ago and with one leg sticking out to the side) Fam EndOct 07-094 and I am lucky if I catch 50% of her floor/dietary consumption.  But, I think that Beth is getting a better Mom out of the deal because I would FREAK over stuff like that with Tyler and now I slowly and more calmly try to work with Beth on just letting those "ickies" either stay there or put them in the trash....but like I said, it is when I actually catch her. 
     
    So, I was going to finish my blog from yesterday here because I ran out of time.  There is so much to say....more details of her development, the fun party, more reflections on the last year.....but that could be very long and really some of the details are more fun in person and there is always the Christmas letter to write soon....I'll just put two more things here for you....so that I stay focused and you get some fun pictures:
     
    1)  Beth's 1 yr. shots (a sampling...raw, not cropped, and not from professionals like I had origianlly planned, but she is too cute for me to care too much.) Fam EndOct 07-111Fam EndOct 07-145Fam EndOct 07-113
     
    2) Big Brother Tyler was SUPER PUMPED for Beth's party and mostly her cake.  For the whole week leading up to the party I would get 2-3 questions at a min. per day trying to figure out if today was the day to make and eat the cupcakes.  So when we finally got around to doing it, I let him help as much as possible. Tongue out But it still did not help him channel the excitement....couldn't get the cupcakes baking fast enough, they couldn't cool down fast enough, we didn't decorate them soon enough....and that all meant that we really were missing the mark and not eating them fast enough.  Party Heck, every meal and snack since has had a request for a cupcake.  So, here are some pics of the finished cupcakes, Tyler decorating some, Tyler displaying his work, and lastly.....yes that is the PARTY ANIMAL himself wolfing down another 1/2 cupcake before bed, on party night, in Beth's Birthday Princess Crown.  Wink
    Fam EndOct 07-099Fam EndOct 07-096Fam EndOct 07-101Fam EndOct 07-161
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    November 04

    She's ONE!!!!

    I can't belive it.  It happened soooo fast!!!! 
    But Beth is officially ONE!Fam EndOct 07-061
     
    We had a party....her favorite part was the balloons.....Fam EndOct 07-125Fam EndOct 07-128 and eventually the cake Fam EndOct 07-156.  Wow!  Our little princess is growing up.  (more details tomorrow because she is waking up from her nap at this very moment.  Party Fam EndOct 07-124
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