My Son, US Army Soldier...In Training

Matt left Wednesday for 10 weeks of Basic Training and he's been able to call me every night. It's so hard to not cry when I know the call is almost over (cause they never last more than a couple of minutes) and when he tells me he misses me too. I know that tomorrow they are taking his cell phone away and I can't help but wonder when will I get to talk to him again. Tonight he even asked me not to cry. This is the longest we've been apart in 17 1/2 years. He doesn't even like being away from home to go to his Dads! 10 weeks seems like forever to me right now!
He has been able to send a couple of pictures from his phone, here they are:

Isn't he so handsome? He is truly a joy to have in my life! I don't think I could've asked for a better son!

Oh these CraZY, cRAzY times!

Wow these last week or two have been awesomely hectic!

 Name an emotion and I bet I've felt it: happy, sad, angry, joy, fear. AWE.

And so much more!

 First, there was Brittni's graduation.

 Last we heard she was ranked #87 out of almost 800!

Warren Central's Graduating Class of 2010!

And here she is!

My baby!

Then we had her graduation party 2 days later (can you say BUSY?)

Britt, Matt, itty bitty Kaylee, and some of Britt's friends

Brittni & her best friend Courtney!

Love 'em!

Then once that was over, I had to get ready to ship Matt off to Basic Training!

Of course, I was so upset that I wasn't going to see my baby for 10weeks, that I did not take any pictures. Sigh. Bad Mama! And I forgot to borrow Britt's camera. For some reason, when I take pictures with my camera, they are all squiggly. So I am going to have to buy a new one. And soon!

But. I do have a picture that Matt took last night, his first night at Basic Training:

His first Army made bed! LOL!

I have several blog tours coming up, along with a couple of contests and hopefully,

 I have a month or so before I have to get busy with Britt, getting ready to go to College!

Thanks for your patience while I'm living my hectic, wonderful life!

My MIL's 80th Birthday Party!

Hello! As I said in a previous post, this last month and a half has been crazy! Planning my MIL's 80th birthday party, Britt's Prom last month, Britt's graduation & graduation party is next week! Matt leaving for Basic Training on the 1st. I posted pictures of Britt's Prom and so I'm going to post some pictures of Lottie's birthday party.

Her sister, the baby of the family, came up from Jacksonville Florida, just for her birthday!

She doesn't get many chances to come up & visit so this was a huge surprise for Lottie!

Here are the 4 remaining siblings.

Clyde, Helen, Charlie & Lottie

They all grew up in Beverly, WV and they lost their mom

when they were young. Helen & Charlie were raised by the older

siblings. Lottie married, & had 4 children with him. When they divorced,

she met Jims (my sweetie!) dad & had Jim. It amazes me that she had all 5 of her kids at home!

Here's 4 of the 5: Bert, Angela, Mavles & Jim!

The one missing is Dana, and he couldn't be there that day.

Interesting fact: Bert, Angela & Mavles are still married to their original spouses!

Interesting fact: Bert & Angela were both born on the same day.

Interesting fact: Lottie, Mavles & Mavles' grand daughter were all born on the same day!

Needless to say, there are alot more pictures, but I have to go get ready.

 Matt & I are going to see Iron Man 2 this morning.

We usually hit alot of movies throughout the summer

but since he won't be here. Well, you know. We want to get at least one in!

I hope you have an excellant day. An awesome weekend.

I have some reviews that will be posting over the next few weeks!

My Son- U.S. Army Soldier

Since he was 5, my son Matt has wanted to join the Army. I would ask him, don't you want to look around, maybe join the Navy or be a Marine?  And he always, always said, No Mom, I'm joining the Army. Well, I think there was a time that he wanted to be on the SWAT team, but it only lasted a couple of months, if I remember correctly. Oh, let's not forget about the time when he was 3 and wanted to be Pooperman.

Or as we adults called him:

 Superman.

Well, he's done it! He is now officially a U.S. Army Soldier!

Since he is only 17, he has joined the U.S. Army Reserves, but he is thinking he will go Active once he graduates from High School next year. He will be heading to Basic Training June 1st and will be gone almost 10 weeks. He is so excited!

Here are a couple of pictures:

Sorry for the quality of the pictures, but I had to use the camera on my cell phone! Somehow I've lost the charger to my digital and Jim's camera, when you turn it on the screen is wonky (yep, I said wonky!) and you can't see what your taking the picture of. So, if you know of anyone who is hosting a giveaway for a camera, could you let me know? I would love to have a regular camera (not cell phone camera) by the time he graduates from Basic Training!

the boy...

So. Matt, my only son, my baby will be turning 17 on Thursday. Matt has had it arranged for at least six months that his dad & I will meet at the recruiters on Friday and sign the papers for him to join the Army Reserves. This is nothing new to us. The boy has said he wanted to be a soldier since he was 5. His plans go like this: Army Reserves once a month while he is still in school. Basic Training for *gasp*10 looooonnnngggg weeks over summer break, then back home to finish his senior year while going on his once a month weekend warrior stuff, then once he graduates, he will switch to the regular Army. Then he will belong to Uncle Sam. This is not new news to me. So why, since this last Friday have I been on a constant verge of tears? I want the kids to move out. No, really, I do. This is what I raised the kids to do. Move out, be independant adults, who rely on themselves. So Matt, I want to tell you, I love you. I'm so proud of you and the young man that you've become. You make me a better person just having you in my life! Thanks for all the movies you've sat through with me, so I wouldn't have to go alone. I know it sucked going with your old mom. You are an amazing person!

P.S. I like you better without the goatee.

P.S. S. But you already knew that.

and the girl...

This is Brittni & her friend Courtney.
They have been friends forever

Or so it seems!

Brittni graduates from high school in May and then she's off to college in the fall where she wants to study to become a doctor. The girl is so smart, she has earned a full scholarship, for 8 semesters, to a private college close to home. She says if she doesn't get the room & board scholarship that she's moving out. She's so excited to be taking that next step and I'm so excited for her! But, even though we argue & don't always like each other, the idea that I won't be able to see her the 10 minutes a day that I see her now, makes me incredibly sad. Yes, I've already made plans with what I'm going to do to her room once she moves out. But it wouldn't kill me to put those plans on hold for awhile, say another 4 years...hint, hint, hint Britt! So Britt, I want you to know that I love you bunches & bunches & bunches. I am so proud of you! You have really become an amazing woman and I know that there are great things ahead for you! You work hard, you love your family & friends and you have a good heart.

P.S. Thanks for always loaning me one of your great purses
P.S.S. Sorry you got the purse & shoe addiction from me! LOL!
P.S.S.S. What I'm really sorry for is that your foot is so much smaller than mine, I've missed out on some of your awesome shoes! LOL! Love you baby girl!!

my weekend...

We had the grandbabies over to spend the night on Saturday, for the first time since I was in the hospital back in October/November. Here is a picture of Brittni, Kaylee & Taylor, Sunday morning. Britt & Kaylee were finished with their french toast but Taylor savored hers.
Needless to say, I did not have a lot of time to read, crochet or anything else...lol! I had forgotten just how active (and LOUD) 2 little girls could be!