It's a called a Quickie

As I still, yes STILL wait for my new computer. This is sickeningly RIDICULOUS PEOPLE!!! I have but a couple of pics to share from the past week. There are many from Christmas that I've got to share before I am disowned. However, I'm not much into the late hours lately and it's very late and I have little to show for my time sitting here.
I won't get started on the ridiculousness of the shipping of my new computer tower. I mean I really will NOT!

At any rate.
I love this one. I had to antique it b/c it reminded me of an old shot from way back. Cody putting his "letter" to Santa on the mantle. Hey, I'm sure Santa could read it even if I could not. Cody knew what he meant! Aren't those trap door jammies to die for???? They love them, so do we!

Shannon, don't show SUe please!!! She'll be on the other side of the sofa soon!
Did I mention we got a lap dog????

That coffee cup is really Kade's.

Cody needs no coffee. Thank you though.

Not a lot of anything going on here at the moment. Tired. Annoyed. THankful.
Oh... well okay I lied.
There is ONE big thing.
Of great interest to anyone that has no children. OH wait... I mean that the other way around. ha!
Cody, who went on potty hiatus after we arrived, is now VERY much almost potty trained!!!! He just had to be left the hell alone. He goes all by himself and does NOT want your help! This is very helpful since his favorite outfit is his nakedness.
He's SO proud of himself too. We've not used any sticker chart or rewards at all. Nothing but unending fanfare. HE's good to go. Not on purpose, it's just the way it has played out. For the time being, he seems pretty satisfied with just getting a big deal made of it. This is only b/c he must've heard me tell Mike that apparently we should just ignore it and act like it happens everyday. Due to this recent development...we now also have to scream and jump and hi-five for Kade as well. Hey, if it gets me out of putting the pull ups people's grand kids through college...I don't care. I'll go outside and scream it to the whole damn village if they want me to.
I'll write it on my car. I'll blog about it. hahaha
We're proud of our little guy and I really need to video him. Not in the act obviously...but when he comes out of the bathroom b/c it's pretty damn cute if I do say so myself. MAN is he ever proud of himself!!!!
He is even napping naked. Yeah... hey don't ask me. It's what he's insisting on. I hope he finds an open-minded wife when he's grown. hahaha!
At any rate, that is our excitement here.
The boys have been doing fantastic which is honestly what I LEAST expected since they've had this LONG break from school. Mike is back to work this week and running 12's no less, which sucks. So he's not really seeing the boys much at all other than me keeping them up past bedtime to see Dad for half an hour. I shouldn't I'm sure, but I can't help it. I feel bad for all of them.

Okay seriously though. I've got to get to bed.
Now I'll be a grump tomorrow b/c I was up so late. I've figured that much out already. ha!

More to come... but don't wait on the edge of your seat... ha!

Job Well Done.

I know that when this is the reaction I get when I point a camera at my four year old... I'm raising him right.
That's my BOY!

Oh yeah and...

I thought I should update since I've complained about it so long. My coat FINALLY arrived just over a month later. How pathetic is that?
I suppose I should just be happy it doesn't take that long for packages that WE send to get out...MOST of the time granted. Not always. It is so up in the air. So, we can't try to skimp on airfare and ship ourselves home for a visit. Damn.
Anyway. I do now have a coat. My question is, if the return policy states 30 days, and I got here it a month and a half after I ordered it b/c their shipping SUCKS BALLS, does it count? I mean seriously? I'm not sending it back, but it was a thought.
Anyway. I was wanting it to hurry and get here when I ordered it, which there is NO REASON AT ALL it should've taken so freakin long to get here, to make sure it was warm enough. Well...it's more of a fall/spring jacket than a dead of winter coat.
*sigh*
Certainly not worth the trouble or the time it would take to return it though.
Jack asses. I will NEVER order online from there again. Part of it was our mail system, but the majority of that, was the store itself. Thaks so much for that upgraded shipping. (If only I had a great photo of someone flipping the bird, however it IS Christmas so I suppose I'll can it).
I'ts here, it fits so that is all.

Now if my NEW DAMN COMPUTER WILL HURRY UP!
It was supposed to be here a week and a half ago to two weeks. Here yet? Nope. Can I check its tracking online? For some reason. NOpe.
Why? The evil people that are working at the post office on base are probably playing some dumb computer games on it and making it act stupid so it will be good and messed up by the time I get it. I"m sure it will arrive just as the warranty runs out.

We still have a few packages that were sent to us that are not here yet as well. Luckily...the boys will just be excited they still have more stuff to open!

Hopefully someone will come through and give me my computer soon! I'm loaded down with photos and videos to share, but just not the patience to make it happen so I can share them.

Um.
Hmmm....that bitching came out of nowhere. I just felt I should say that my coat FINALLY arrived and I"m waiting on MORE stuff to get here.

Have a lovely day :)

Happy Holidays!

Now that it is well past my anticipated early bedtime, I just wanted to come on and wish everyone a very happy and safe holiday.

I did not get to send out Christmas cards this year, but am actually working on something else, so please don't feel left out. NO ONE got one!

Until now.... it's just online! Via blog, e-mail or otherwise. Hey, it's more environmentally sound anyway! No paper, no trees, no fuel to deliver it, no power to recycle it. So on and so forth.

This environmentalist stuff rubs off on you quick!

We had a great day, the first year Kade really "got" the Santa thing and we still had to remind him he had stuff waiting downstairs, that we had to rush down and see what Santa brought. Still, they went straight for the stuff they opened yesterday, completely oblivious to the new things under the tree or the stuffed full stockings, missing cookies and apples and empty milk glass.

They missed it all.

However, they were very excited when we showed it to them. So I have no doubt though, that NEXT year, we'll have to keep our ears open for them because I have a feeling this was the last year we don't get pounced on at 4 a.m. to go see if Santa has come yet.

At any rate, it was grand. We missed our families terribly and it was kind of tough, at least we were able to talk to most everyone on the phone. I guess I am going to have to mail my Granny a letter to let her know that is ME calling! ha! Damn caller ID, backfires on me sometimes!

So, here is your very "Green" Christmas Card! Pretend it came in the mail...

A beautiful moment I will never forget...

There will certainly be more posting for Christmas, much much to say, but...I'm in the middle of cooking, so it will have to wait.
However, I did take just a moment because there was this moment a short while ago. I think it made up for my feeling lonely and missing all of my people back home today. I'm certainly not ALONE by any measure, but talking to my sister yesterday, I really really wanted to be at home with everyone. We are there in spirit and they with us, so...hey what more can we ask for?

At any rate, I got this fantastic gift I've been dying for, but as usual won't spend the money on, so I'm in the kitchen enjoying my new iPod player thingie. So much easier to cook and be banished in exile to the steamy kitchen if there is music to dance and sing to. Yep, it's a hot sight me in my pj's still shaking my money maker to Eminem on Christmas day.

In walks my baby Cody, in his red trap door jammies sent over by Granny which I LOOOOVE. He asks to be held so I pick him up, he lays his head on my shoulder and melts into my chest, as I hear Norah Jones' "The Nearness of You" start lulling out of the iPod.
So we danced. We slow danced to every sweet word of that song, him hugging in tighter and tighter the whole way. Next I heard Etta James' "At Last" and we continued to dance through every wave of that timeless beautiful tune.
I can only remember a few times in my life, that my heart has welled up with so much genuine happiness. It brought tears to my closed eyes, a smile across my whole face as my baby of 2 snuggled into me as far as he could, just as if he were a newborn still, slow dancing with me on Christmas Day in my kitchen in England.
Cold and dreary outside, but warm and sunny on the inside.
It came, just as I stood in the kitchen, thinking of home and my Grandma's busy bustling house FULL of family members fighting over turkey and dumplins and at my Brother in laws house where the screeches of laughter from all the little ones, the thumps of their feet across the floor as they chased each other around and around and the relaxed chitter chatter of all the adults above the children, and of course... at least a few of us making fun of Shannon for wiping a hole in the counter again.
My baby boy came in, and reminded me, wherever we are together, even if it were in a snow storm in the wilderness somewhere, we're still home together.
It is one of those moments, that is now bottled up to savor and look back on when I need it. Likely when I'm at the end of my rope with him on the many occasions to come! ha!

More on our holiday festivities in a bit... seems everyone back home is just waking up, getting around, except a few that I know were up hours ago slaving away on all those yummy holiday treats.


Merry Christmas!

Chops Last Stop -- The Newest Payne

Yep, meet the newest member of our family. Chops.
I've searched obsessively for a dog in a rescue since we got settled into our house. I knew we'd be getting one once we got here, now just to get that chubby Sue dog over here (hahaha!) Our family will be complete. Anyway I've been extremely annoying, more than usual yes it is possible, about finding the RIGHT dog for us. My hours and hours of dog hunting have done just that. I believe we've found the PERFECT match.
I was, and still am, so shocked that MIKE picked him, I sort of slid him in at the end of my short list and Mike chose him hands down. So y'day we packed up the boys in the car and headed up North. WAY up North. Granted...had it been in Texas it would've taken us all of maybe an hour and a half MAYBE to get there. Nooope. Not here.
Make that 3.5-4 hours one way. Long day. LONG day for the damn car DVD players to QUIT WORKING!!!!! Argh! Not to mention super smart parents we are, could've just gone ahead and bought Co one of his Christmas gifts early and let him have it for the trip and wrapped some cheapies to open on Thursday. He'd never know. ha!
Anyway, the boys did good and we also realized that up North of here, isn't really the pretty part of England. It was nice, don't get me wrong and it IS the middle of December, but just didn't seem as nice in the countryside as other areas.
Anyway.
We are all absolutely head over heels for this guy. He's fantastic with the boys, he's a great watch dog already (he'll give the postman a start tomorrow I'm sure of it), he has had us laughing most of the day, and he LOVES toys! I love it when dogs love toys!!! He's just wonderful.
Kade is REALLY obsessed with him, but..well he was like that when we first brought Cody home and we all know that phase passed. haha! (Not a whole lot though b/c he still wants his brother with him all the time).
Anyway, last night I got more sleep than I've had in ages, and apparently I wasn't done b/c I've gone completely brain dead and my lids are so heavy I can hardly keep them open. So...nothing funny, fancy or creative at all.
Just wanted to show off the newest member of the family.
We're all simply smitten. Some silly fools out in this world have tossed this poor guy back and forth. So he's been abandoned, picked up as a stray, taken to rescue, fostered, adopted, taken back, fostered, adopted taken back, and fostered, almost adopted, then fostered same house and finally with us. What is the reason they all had? "He's too big."
Actually, he was smaller than I thought he was going to be when we got there! He doesn't even come ALL the way up to my KNEE!!!!
So it will likely take him awhile to realize this is it. This is IT though. It's only been a day and a half and we are all so smitten with him. Cody is a little less interested, but he's still excited and happy to have him, just not as into the whole dog thing. He calls him "dog" most of the time instead of his name. THe way he says it sounds like he's trying to remain unemotional about the animal in the house. haha!
Anyway, here's the "dog". LOL

My sister has dubbed it 80's month

Well, now that she's told me for the 5th time that she hates some of my tunes on here, I decided I'd make a little game for her. Now I have updated and even removed a few tunes. She has to figure out THREE that were just for her. I could make it easy...but no. Why would I do that?
I could've just added 3 from that era and left it so easy, but seriously as I got busy looking around for them, I found many that I do like.
So it is now officially 80's month on the blog. Make that 80's Month with some of the stuff that is on here already because I'm too lazy to find it again later. ha!

So, with that...for some of you regular readers of mine, obviously the ones I know - you might find a tune on here that I might have put on here with you in mind...can you guess the right one?
Try it and see!
I'll tally it up at the end of January! :)

So, sorry for anyone that finds some of my songs obnoxious. You can just hit the "pause" button on the player, you can probably turn it off too, or just mute. hahahaha.
Hope not, if nothing else I just like to open my blog and listen. LOL

XOXOX !!!!!!

Miss ya sis!!!!
(okay and one of these songs WILL be easy b/c it makes my skin crawl and she KNOWS it).

Are you disappointed in me?

I would be. This is the sorriest blogging month yet. I simply don't think I've had much to say. haha! I'm feeling rather boring still. I might have a touch of Christmas Blues maybe. . . I don't know. I don't feel like it actually, but perhaps that explains it. More than anything...I just have absolutely nothing of interest to say, little time to be creative in coming up with something even remotely creative and simply little time to even sit here to type out more than "I...".
My children have been sick, then I have been sick, then my husband has been sick, and my kids were sick again - you read that right... THREE males in my home sick at the same time. I survived, pat me on the back. Oh and then I got sick AGAIN.
I honestly can't think back to exactly what year it was that I was not sick during the holidays. I KNOW I will have some sort of funk on Thanksgiving and I'll get some other form of funkier funk for Christmas. When is the last time I got to sit AT the table with my family for turkey and dressing? Instead of being banished to the laundry room?
No, I'm joking of course - they love me enough to tolerate my infectious nature. To a degree of course...
At any rate. I'm disappointed in my lack of blogging this month. My only excuse is illness and a busy month and lack of computer time etc...

Tomorrow is a pretty exciting day for us, hopefully I'll be sharing some neat photos after tomorrow. We're off on a bit of a day trip tomorrow and get to see some new countryside, so I'm very excited about that!!!

The other exciting thing is the computer fairy really DOES exist! I have been waiting and waiting and ARGH!!! Dell don't make me take back my love proclamation for you! It was supposed to be delivered from last Thursday to this MOnday. HELLO it is FRIDAY!!! Still no sign.

Oh and to add to THAT frustration... I have NO COAT STILL!!!!!! I ordered in mid/late November and oh what's that? It's the end of DECEMBER AND I AM COLD!!!!!!!
Jack asses.
All of them. Every damn one of them. Thank God we did not get orders to Antarctica or something. Oh man.
COME ON DELL!!!!!! COME ON COAT!!!!!!!!!!!
PLEASE PEOPLE!!!

Okay.
That is all. I have to get up early and we all know how well I do that, so I should take this opportunity to sleep a bit.

I'll even pick up my camera. Now that I've cleaned off my 10 gb's of cards (lalalalalah....).

I bid you all farewell....

BOORRRR-ING!!!!

That is just how I feel lately. Absolutely unequivcally boring. I don't know when I've ever been so boring. Not really bored, just boring. I'm sure I've been boring before, but it was my delusion that I was not so leave it be!
I have not picked up my camera since Kade's birthday! Can you believe that? It has sat up on my desk for ten whole days untouched. I'm sure it has felt so neglected and unloved. I'm sorry Canon, truly I am.
So I have no new photos to share, although I know there is a plethora of old ones I've never shared but eh... frankly I'm too damn lazy to go hunt them down right now. Doubt they've even been converted yet. Blah.
Can we all have a big collective BLAH?????
I'm in the holiday spirit though. So it is not that. I wonder if it is S.A.D.? Maybe I need to go hit the tanning bed a few times. That is a good idea self! That might just do me wonders! Okay, then it is settled self, tanning we will go!
See? Lord. I am so boring I even bore myself.
It would worry me if there was a case of S.A.D. coming up already because we've got a LONG LONG way to go! Yikes! No, I'm sure I just need some serious mental stimulation that'd do me wonders. I was curious though if KIDS get it. Like little kids like mine. Kade hasn't been to bad but oh that Cody. *sigh*
He's just been sooooooo aggressive lately. He's very wound up and grumpy a lot. Maybe I need one of those sun lamp things I've seen. I almost find this condition and the treatments for it sort of fascinating. I must research it. I can surely believe it though, it is so hard to deal with it getting dark so early and staying dark so late. I always feel so tired, as if I've been up way way past my non-existent bedtime. We left to go to Mike's Christmas party last weekend and I felt like we leaving the house at 8 but it was only 5.
The weather? It is cold as hell. That's all I can say about that.
So you know in Texas it has to be below freezing for what? 48 hours or 72 hours before anything will stick to the roads? Well it is not freezing or below all day everyday, but if it frosts over at night you can bet your sweet arse it is going to be slick as owl... well my my isn't that some good ol' Texas coming out in me? hehe.

My current state is hope and excitement. Santa is landing a puppy in my stocking, but not a little puppy. I'll so pass on the chewing, shitting, pissing, whining training stuff. Thanks but no thanks. I've had babies and diapers and plenty of pissing and shitting and whining to last me a long long while. We've even tried to decide if rubbing Co's nose in it when HE pees in the carpet is child abuse or not. I'm going to lean toward yes, but don't think the thought doesn't cross your mind sometimes. Oh you think that is awful? Well I'll send him on over so he can piss in your carpet a few times.
Anyway, I've obsessively searched every single dog rescue for the entire flippin country for the majority of the time we've been here, once we got our house that is. I know every dog at every rescue backward and forward. I narrowed it down to five or six and then had Mike narrow it down further. We were down to a red dobie male pup, a female dobie mix and a boxer/mastiff mix. I was absolutely beyond FLOORED when Mike dropped every other dog in an instant when he saw this big huge pooch. I've always tried to sweet talk him into these enormous dogs (any enormous dog I swear the uglier and slobbier the better) but he's always adamant that we will NOT own one. While he's not a giant mosterous pooch, he is a bit on the big side. I dont' think he'll end up any larger than Elvis was.
Anyway. Cross your fingers that everything works out. You KNOW if Mike is so smitten with him he's got to be a special pup! He's normally so aloof about it, but he's smitten for sure. The description of this pup is just dreamy. That is all I can say and so I'm hoping we'll have him snuggled up with us on Christmas morning! Cross your fingers, I swear I'm almost giddy!!!
It has been such a long tedious process and I've honestly obsessed way too hard over it, but I really want another doggie. Sue needs a sibling, she loves having another dog around, so how neat will it be when she gets here to have a big "little" brother? She'll be in heaven!

So yeah.
That is the most of my excitement right now. While sure it is exciting, it is sort of sad too. ha!

I swear, I'm not even humorous or anything right now.
I should probably go get the kids from school, who knows what the teachers will do to me if I subject them to Co's temper longer than necessary! ha

I Stand Corrected.

I apparently named my blog here incorrectly. It still holds humor for me though so it shall stay. Regardless, I have to say I've not once heard a single person say, "cheerio!" since I got here. I guess it's not even remotely cool. Maybe that damn cereal took the lustre out of it.
No, they actually say, "Cheers Mate!". I feel so rude not returning the sentiment, but man it feels like such an ODD thing to say to me! NOt sure why, I just can't imagine, especially with my fantastic Texas drawl saying, "Cheers Mate!"
I think that stands for, bye, see you later, thank you, you're welcome ... so on and so forth. Apparently a term with a broader usage than "aloha". Never thought that would happen did you?

I always feel I should explain

Of course I love country music, and there are a couple on my player. However, one song in particular might stand out. A little Conway Twitty. Sadly some of you are like, "WHO??". Come on folks!
Anyway I always feel like I should explain. That song is the first song Mike and I ever danced to. How fitting huh??? hahahaha! I can remember everything from that dance, the whole conversation. He was impressed that I knew who sang it. Puh-leeease! ha!
Anyway.
Most of my tunes have some significance if you had ever wondered, which I highly doubt you have...but just in case. ;)
I should add some Christmas tunes. Hopefully I'll remember to get them off of there before NEXT Christmas! :)

A Birthday Serenade...

Anyone that has heard about it, or heard snippets through the phone has been dyin gto see this. I have finally, FINALLY succeeded in getting it loaded!!!! YAY!
Ugh. Finally!

Without further ado... Kade's singing debut.
"Bob the Builder - the theme song". (in his own words of course).

My Biggest Birthday Boy

Did you know that you turned 4 today? Four years old, it is honestly unbelievable that you are already so old. I won't say it just seems like yesterday, but maybe only a year ago that I held your tiny baby body in my arms. The story of your birth is one that is still remembered in the Labor and Delivery Ward where you were born. You are so special, you had to make one heck of an entrance! You most certainly did do just that!
You have always had this aura that is hard to describe, it surrounds you completely and always has. You are tender, empathetic, giving and very very animated! I have recently decided that you will be a wonderful actor. You love to play bits from movies you see and pretend you are characters. You do it so well too! Your artistic side has been blossoming lately and it makes my heart swell. You can make anything out of anything, you love to find shapes in the clouds and make intricate works with things only an artist could use. Your creativity is endless. You are always the first to rush to someone that might be sad or injured to be sure that they are okay. When Mommy's heart hurt so bad last year it broke even more because you were so concerned, you sat and cried with your arms wrapped around my neck telling ME it was going to be okay. A mere three years old, and you consoled your Mommy when she could not hide her hurt from you.
You offer up the tightest hugs at any given time, and never ever refuse a smooch. You have always puckered those lips out a mile to give a good kiss, since you were a little baby. Your eyes, those beautiful beautiful eyes, see the world differently than anyone else does. There is no denying that, just the way you look at things, the way you stare off in the distance, it seems you can see the whole world right in front of you. You have always been such a clown, you make me laugh every chance you get, and perform for the family when you think no one is looking. One of my greatest joys is watching, watching yourself in the mirror when you think no one sees. You are most definitely MY son, no doubt of that! Not only because you look so much like I did at that age -- but boy-ish of course! So many of your mannerisms, expressions and actions just remind me so much of me when I was able to be free.
You are, honestly, so much greater of a big brother than I could have ever expected. You are so proud of your baby brother, so protective and so loving. Of COURSE you guys fight, but you are supposed to. You fight less than you love and play together and that is what is important. You've stood up for him from day one, even though he can take you down already, you still don't hesitate for one moment to stand up for him, speak up for him or just give him a kiss and hug when he is afraid.
I dreamt of you.
I dreamt of hearing you cry, holding you against my chest and of staring at you. Just staring at you. The whole time I was pregnant with you, that is what I would day dream about. Just staring at you. I did plenty of that when you got here too. I love to watch you be a kid, I love to just LET you be a kid. I wish and hope that you only ever know the freedom of being yourself to your core. I hope that you appreciate and love the person you are and the person you are becoming. I hope that you never once question who you are, and if you do...that you can quickly find him again. You never cease to amaze me with how intelligent you are, how creative and just how simply beautiful you are inside and out. There are times that I look at you and cannot believe what I did that was so good, to get such an amazing son as you. I'm not sure how I deserved you, but I'm sure not going to question it much! I am thankful to no end, that I was blessed with you. Blessed with a healthy beautiful little boy who has a heart of gold, who is happy, helpful and loving.
This age is so wonderful, an age your Daddy and I have always looked forward to because you are such a big boy, you can tell us things all on your own. So the first time you randomly said, "Mommy, I love you". all on your own nearly had me in tears. The time I laid you in bed and you looked up at me with those enormous eyes and said, "Mommy, you're my BEST friend!" I will never ever forget that as long as I live. It was one of those moments that Mommy's look forward to and always hold on to.
I will admit I was pretty sad that this year, we were not surrounded by our family and friends on your special day. I was afraid that you would think it was not as special or important because they were not all here. However, you were so proud of it being your day, so proud of your "Birthday Boy" button you wore all day and so proud to be able to READ your name on your birthday cake. You never once got upset that it was just us four. You loved it. You loved your gifts and your cake and your ribs. Everything about you, you loved it so much you asked again when you went to bed, if we could have your birthday again tomorrow.
You are just happy to be with your family and have them making a bit more of a fuss over you...that's my boy!
We all love you so much, are so proud of you and so very blessed to have you in our lives.

I love you so much my little Monkey. No matter how OLD you get, I will never stop calling you that so get over it!
My wish for you, is for you to always know how very very loved you are by everyone.
EVERYONE.

Happy Birthday Sweetheart!



Here you are on your way to school sporting your birthday boy badge!
You got to take cupcakes to school, you requested chocolate so Mommy made you devil's food with triple chocolate icing! If we're going to have chocolate...why not go all the way?

You are such a big boy!

Your current favorite food is ribs! You silly boy, but you eat them like they are going out of style! So you, of course, had your favorite meal tonight!

We then had your chocolate birthday cake with red on it. Per your request. :) Someday Mommy will make a straight cake!

Gee...Thanks.

Thanks? Yes. Thank you. I give thanks.
I have so much to be thankful for.


Great family.
Wonderful friends.
Fantastic opportunities.
Amazing memories.
Bright Future.
Health.
Love.
Life.
Dreams.

I am blessed. I think I might get fired from blogging if I keep saying that?
I've had a lot of yucky things of course, but who cares about that? None of that stuff matters at all when you get so many wonderful things to reflect on at the end of the day. It snuffs out all the poopy stuff. There's that damn optimist trying to bust out of the closet again. Oh...I guess I'll let her out for the day.
While yes it is technically Thanksgiving TODAY, we are actually going to do it tomorrow.
We are having dinner here at OUR house (there's a first) with our neighbors, fellow Americans and military far from home tomorrow. They were all graciously donating their time on base to those young folks that so definitely deserved some good food today. So we chose to wait a day and have our dinner together tomorrow. Five adults, 3 teenagers, 1 preteen and 2 preschoolers. Should be fun. Most definitely. I'm hoping that next year, we will be very settled so that we can fill our home to capacity with folks hungry for good turkey and hilarious company (I mean come on now...let's be honest, what better could anyone have on Thanksgiving than US???).
Hopefully, next year we'll have our own TABLE. Yes, let us hope. We will, no doubt.

At any rate, I Hope that everyone, in some way was surrounded by great people, great food or at the very least, some great memories to look back on. Thinking of those that are feeling lonely on this day, those that have a hunger pain and too much need for more blankets. If I could accomodate just for the day, I'd do so without a second thought.

We did get to webcam with some of our family, as much as the connection would hang on that is. I think we may have spent more time trying to keep it going than visiting. Regardless, we got to SEE some of our peeps on this day and they us. Our kids got to say hi and blow kisses to one another.
I got to talk to my sister on the phone and my Grandmother and listen to all those sorry relatives of mine feasting on MY DUMPLINGS!!!!! They TOTALLY should have gone without in honor of me. Turds.
Ah well, if someone can enjoy them, then I suppose it is a good day right?

So, I close with a photograph. A photo I am so thankful to have. A photo I am saving to give her for Christmas, so DON'T ANYONE SPOIL IT AND PRINT IT FOR HER! Here is a good example of why it might be good my Grandma refuses to get computer savvy.
A photo I am thankful to have, a photo I would love to have myself, a photo I hope to have of my own someday. A photo of generations still connected. A photo of a very sincere and pure love.
That love of a Great-Grandmother and Great-Grandchild.
I shot this on one of the last visits with family before we left Texas. We got to get together for a bar b que at my Dad's house finally, it had only been years and years. My family, my Dad and step-Mom, my sister's family and my Grandma all sat on the patio out back and had some great burgers. Some laughs and some more memories to add to the vault.
A photo I just shot as the moments wound down.
I love it.
She will too.
I am thankful to have her in my life. I've always been thankful to have her in my life. I'm thankful to have KNOWN her and to STILL know her. I am thankful that my husband and my children know her too. She's someone great to know and anyone that knows her, knows how lucky they are to know of such an amazing, caring, loving, giving person.
My beautiful Grandmother Lorene.
Kissing Kade Good-bye as she left for the afternoon.
I am thankful for the constance of her love through out my entire life.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING POOR BORED PEOPLE WITH NOTHING BETTER TO DO THAN BORING YOUR BRAIN AND EYEBALLS WITH MY BLOG (including amazing photography of course).
Have a wonderful day and don't forget to be thankful. Regardless of what you think, no matter who you are, you DO have SOMETHING to be thankful for, hopefully you can sit and think of more than you might have thought of off the bat.
:)
Think about it.

Sing it with me now!!!

"Frooooosty... the Longhorn FAN! Frosty the LONGHORN FAN!....."
Yeah, seriously, had I had more time he'd have been totally Texas'd out.
The kids were about done here - well WE were, Kade could live in an igloo in his underwear I think.
Cody, however, poor guy hacked up 4 lungs while we were out there, not sure where he got the reserve lungs, thank goodness though. Apparently his illness and cold wet weather did not work all that well together. So he was not too into the whole snow thing too much. Granted, if he'd realize that gloves were not, indeed, the spawn of some Satanic textile factory he might not hate the cold quite so much.
So, here is...our very FIRST snowman ever.
We had enough the previous year or two, but as I mentioned, they were probably too ill by far to be out in it. They would have melted it with their fevers anyway.
So, here we have it folks... the Payne boy first ever snowman.
(Yeah so Daddy did the hard part, that is what he's here for right?).

Getting hammered with snowballs IS that hilarious.

Again, I'll mention how much GLOVES would have assisted his efforts here.

You wanna know what Cody's expression means?
That says, "Dad, I'm glad you have so much faith in the protective and warming powers of pull ups, but...they just don't really do the job like you might think. You should try it yourself buddy..."

SNOW DAY!!!!

"Does it snow in England?"
"No, not very much, maybe a little but not till the beginning of the year".
I must say, perhaps we bring out something in the Mother Nature of Great Britain because it does, indeed, snow a bit...even in NOVEMBER! I mean, not even Thanksgiving yet!
Now...mind you in West Texas it definitely does snow, at LEAST once per year, sometimes two or three times. The issue is that when it begins to stick, you must immediately drop everything, bundle up and RUSH outside to play in it or build a muddy snow man b/c it will inevitably melt before you can get finished with it. Not to mention, it seems as though every single time you can beat all of that, you and/or your children are sick as dogs with 190 degree temps and things streaming out some orifice or another (hey it could be the nose too thank you, don't get all grossed out now).
Well, sick we were, but we braved it anyway.
See, that's my goofy ass husband in the snow in a t-shirt while we force our children into 95 coats and a hat and 16 pair of pants and 12 pair of socks. Way to lead by example!
Oh yes, they do own gloves, but Kade who insists on wearing them at ALL times has lost one of every single pair and Cody will scratch out your eyeballs if you even look like you are going to try to put those things on his hands. He seems to think they are instruments of evil sent straight up from hell or something. I've never seen anyone flip out over something like that. He flips out over the most unusual things, in the most unusual ways though, so what is new?
They had fun, the whole 15 minutes we played in it. I just couldn't tell them no. They stood at the sliding door for 2 hours with pleading in their eyes.
Damn me for having kids with some gorgeous eyeballs.
Damn me, damn me.

breath of fresh air

oh how i need one of those so bad! i know, you've all been lost without my wit and charm for days yeah? i'm so sure.
the boys have caught some kind of funk. i was initially assuming it was just going to be a quick run, i wasn't even sure they were really getting sick. however on monday when kade woke up head spinning, it took a mere dirty look from him and any object in the path of his vision burst into flames. i called into the school and told the teacher that perhaps they were coming down with something, but perhaps not but at any rate, i was certain they did not pay her enough to put up with the devil incarnate on a monday. she thanked me profusely for thinking of them so kindly and then informed me we were the fourth call in. that was pretty much all i needed to hear to know this was not going to be any easy ordeal to get through.
oh man. how little did i know.
the boys have a very methodical way of getting sick, so when things began backwards, i was totally thrown for a loop. cody always starts with a clear runny nose, gradually but daily worsening and reducing my appetite daily. i am certain if there was a call for kid snot, i could hire him out and be rich in a month. i've never seen the like. anyway, as the nose gets nastier, then it makes its way to his chest. well, this started in his chest. nose is clear. that was not a good sign. kade, well he always starts off an illness baring his horns and tail, it is how i know he's not feeling well for there is no other time he acts this way. that is cody's job thank you very much.
oh but can you imagine my pain when they are BOTH acting that way and it is then amplified by feeling like crap AND i'm covered in snot? covered in snot you say? remember Ghostbusters? That ghost called Slimer? (if you are too young to remember that, then why the hell are you reading my blog anyway??? go away! you make me feel old!!!).
sick cody is the ideal mate to slimer.
so, needless to say, the kids have beaten me down to a crawling, wailing heap this week. no school. damn those germs. not to mention the wasted gas to take them to the base hospital. damn antibiotic hoarding asses. seriously, just give me the crap anyway to make me FEEL like i'm doing something besides living in screaming, writhing, coughing, no sleeping, snot hell. for God's sakes PLEASE. at least find me a drug that will KNOCK THEM OUT!
am i lucky enough to have kids that will pass the hell out with drugs? nope. cursed to have those children, as i've now found it is BOTH of them not just one, that get WIRED THE HELL OUT with cold/allergy meds. yay.
snot. screaming. crying. squirming. worming. screaming. snot. snot. screaming. snot. spaz. snot.screaming. crying.
that's been my week. as each day wore on, they worse it got. today i was just going to make the school deal with it for two whopping hours. it is not like it is cheap ya know, they should just earn their keep right? oh but by the time the morning came, i simply did not have the energy to even get them dressed and fight the battle to get them THERE. it is only two hours on Friday and it just wasn't worth it. if it had been an entire day to recoup, sure.
no.
so i've hardly had time to wipe my OWN nose much less get on my computer, check email...to hell with getting to blog anything. not to mention it would have just been pathetic type-crying, begging for mercy from the sick kid Gods. when it got me nowhere i'd have only felt that much more defeated. so i saved myself the heartache of being ignored.
that or it would have been that repetitive repertoire i've had all week.
"wipe your nose".
"wipe your butt".
"wipe your nose".
"wipe your butt".
"don't wipe your bogies on that."
"don't pee on that."
"don't wipe your bogies on that."
"don't pee on that".
when you start to come out of the sick kid fog, you begin to realize how zoned the hell out you get. i think a job at mcdonald's looked more appealing this week than ever. i was even envious of the garbage men for a moment. i'm pretty sure they'd have run off screaming for their lives had i propositioned one of them to trade places with me for the day. damn them. okay, so it was recycling week - you know, the CLEAN trash. it still counts though!
anyway, snot be damned, their asses are at school next week. believe you me. not to mention Daddy will be home more next week.
regardless, my alarm is set and i'm OUT OF HERE bright and early in the morning.
ALONE!!!!
i'd already decided i was going to vacate the premises when no one was paying any attention, but then my loving husband mentioned it to me on the phone, so i didn't even have to guilt anyone into my escape. yay!
i'm also so excited because i'm going to norwich ALL ALONE and hitting up... oh i just shudder with excitement. the british WAL MART!!!!!!
oh my. can you believe it has been almost FOUR entire months since i've been in one? yes, i went to wal mart one last time immediately before boarding our plane.
i cried. the employees there didn't seem too fond of my blubbering sobbing hugs...but they appeased me anyway. likely out of fear, but whatever.
so to get here and find they really ARE a subsidy of Wal Mart and there's one a mere 18 miles from here.
i'm SO there.

so on that note. i have a boy in my office at nearly 11pm. the boy that will be FOUR YEARS OLD in EIGHT FLIPPING DAYS!!! (when did this happen???). so i should herd him off to bed and go myself so i can be well rested for my ME day.

i bid you all, farewell....

now it is just getting

annoying right?

yes i am

still playing around. hehe. is this not just entertaining as it can be?

OH YEEEAH!

Finally. Finally I have figured out an easier way to post photos! YAY!!!! Thank you once again google. I love you. I should honestly get a job there. If for nothing else, the amazing marketing I do for them all the time. I mean, except for them killing hello. That was evil and if I had enough energy I'd have gotten together a posse and stood out somewhere with picket signs to stop that. See, that'd be my first order of business in my new position at Google. Bring hello BACK and better than ever.

Anyway. I'm just clicking around through random photos lately can you tell? Apparently Canon batteries aren't so fond of being charged on transformers and it has totally zapped my two batteries. I had one crappy one and one good one. Now I have two crappy ones. Honestly, I never had a battery grip b/c I could shoot solid 12 hours at a wedding and never change my battery once. Never slow down and now it is one bar as soon as I take it from fully charged and put it in. Lasts a couple of hours at most. It is just evil. So, now I'll just do the next best thing, buy a generic and just charge it in the car instead.
*sigh*

One of my all time favorites

My poor Grandma is thinking, "Did I really admit to being related to them?".
She's a trooper.

My Favorite Look

Test

I'm just testing ANOTHER method here. We'll see.
In the meantime, one of these ladies is my great aunt. How bout that? I really do come from a LONG line rockin tough gals!

How it is done in the UK

See, the only time we really had fireworks was 4th of July. I know people get them for New Years etc... but we just never did. So when I think fireworks, I think swimsuits, bar b que, beer and HOT. It is damn HOT outside. Sweating. HOT.

However, here in the UK there is Bonfire night which I'd need to look up and research fully before I go spouting off facts. It is just what I've heard and there is an actual name but I think I get it wrong, being that I'm too lazy to do research right now for posting in my blog. That is all the info you get. ha!

In and around November 5th there are fireworks galore and bonfires. People party and burn and explode things. Loads of fun! :)

Gosh when could we EVER have a bonfire in West Texas? Rarely.

So on our anniversary we popped off some fireworks right in our backyard - woohoo! No fire hazard either, but this photo cracks me up.

Bliss, Romance, Ecstacy and a Dirty Diaper Please

Five whole years of it.

Yep. Five years ago today, I said "I do" to the love of my life. I can honestly say that too, because unlike MANY people I actually KNOW this. Thank you. I remember how nervous I was, not about marrying him, not for one second. It was about the show we had to put on, you know that is all a wedding is is just a show, in the end. I'd have NEVER pulled it off without everyone's help either. So many people, even those I never expected, did things for us from decorations, or dresses, or parties and showers to cakes and receptions and hanging things. Oh gosh I swear I could go on and on. I felt like people believed in us that much, that they did not think twice about pitching in.

I was nervous for that door to open, for Mike to see me. My hair didn't look like I wanted, damn the weather, I was freezing to death, damn the weather, and well...I'd just envisioned this moment for awhile not as long as some do, but long enough to be nervous about the moment that door opened and all eyes were on me.

You'd think as much as I enjoy being the center of attention I'd enjoy being the center of attention, but...yeah not so much. It was nerve wracking having all those eyes on me and I couldn't even look at Mike until I got there.

THe most important photograph I wanted though is one of my all time favorites. I insisted on it, I cared about no other photo as much as I cared about this one. His face, when I walked through the door. (THat is also my very most important shot to get when I am shooting a wedding, whether the bride thinks she wants it or not, she does...).

I wish I'd have had some xanax or tequila to chll the nerves out just a tiny bit. See, once I got on the platform, I thought I was going to pass out. I was mortified. I started getting really really really hot and it was actually really really really cold. My head started to swim a little, I felt woozy, I had to work at standing up straight. I remembered us watching some video show that had people fainting at their wedding and MIke said, "You do that I'll leave you there and walk off." Now of COURSE he was joking, but don't think it did not go through my mind. How EMBARRASSING would that be???? Luckily I held strong.

He had the sweetest look on his face. He was so damn smitten with me. Okay yeah me too.

It was a great day and I was very overcome with emotion. I tried really hard to let every guest to see inside our relationship and really feel our emotion. I don't know about them, but I did. ;)

Anyway I love how people would look at us when they'd ask us where we met. Not at the grocery store, not at the gym, not through a friend or at Church. We met at a.... BAR! Not just any bar, but a Country bar. Those are presumably worse for relationships right? ha! Well, I doubt either of us was looking for what we ended up with that night, but slowly (per Mike's under-zealous approach to dating) we talked when we'd see each other and by the time we got to that first date, after that one issue with someone standing someone up and I can only attribute some higher power to pushing forward to allow a second chance, we have not ever left each other's side since. Obviously less some hunting trips, girls weekends and let us not forget the times the military intervenes to cause for a short break from one another. I came to the realization that our Grandfathers had to have a hand in this. I believe that likely could have been the conversation that made Mike decide his initial impression of me was way off base and we did, indeed, have several things in common - a whole lot that was not common too of course, but that one conversation still stands out so vividly. I could think back and imagine them both up in Heaven, in their coveralls nudging us toward one another. It was time. I needed him, he needed me. When we finally got a chance to talk, it was pretty fast moving from there.

Oh fast is such an understatement where Mike and I are concerned! ha! Obviously we did not get married a month later or anything, but in the scheme of things, we certainly waste no time moving right along with life.

Our relationship grew so fast, into so much, I don't know that I've ever in my life had an ounce of such an infestation of butterflies. He made my heart swell so often. Okay he still does. ha!

In five years time, we've gotten married, gotten pregnant a few months later and had a baby and then shockingly added another one just 22 months later, sold our house, moved to Merkel to that (shudder) house. We've lost loved ones, we've gained new friends, we've been separated for months, started businesses, changed vehicles, gone through our own personal tragedies and grown together as one damn fine family. Recently we've uprooted ourselves and move across the ocean to the other side of the world. I hear so often how that makes people grow apart, many have a hard time being somewhere foreign, away from their friends and family however, we have gotten closer. To be honest once the boys got here we didn't really have any time together at all. Mike worked two jobs while I was at home with the boys and trying to work my one job from home with the enormous job of keeping up with two small boys. Anytime Mike was able to be home, I had to go out and shoot and then I'd be up until the weeeee hours of the morning working while he slept. This is how we went on for a long long time. We might see him at lunch and on the weekends some, but that was about it. This whole FAMILY TOGETHER thing was just beyond our reach. Shortly before we left, I was still not sleeping and working as much as I could around the boys, but Mike went down to one job finally, which called for me to work even more. We wanted him WITH us though. So at least he got to spend some more time with the boys and we did get a good deal more time together than before, albeit it broken into bits but it was better than nothing.

Coming over here, I am not working yet (just trying to finish up some unfinished business) and Mike only has his one job. His new position does call for a lot more hours but we are still together an awful lot and that is what we wanted so badly. I get to see my husband. I get to hear him and the boys wrestling and giggling all the time. The boys wait at the window most days for Daddy to show up knowing there will soon be a wrestling match or tickle fest taking place. They eat it up. Our weekends are all ours. We try to go do things outside as much as we can. We're planning trips and vacations (holidays) as a family. It is blissful.

Mike has been a wonderful thing for me. He is such a gentle soul, too gentle sometimes. He handles my "rough" nature very well most of the time and is patient and understanding when I am not -- vice versa. We are so very very different, but in most cases we compliment each others differences. Not to say that he doesn't drive me out of my mind half the time and I can only imagine how much I drive him nuts too. He appreciates my weirdness and I appreciate his silliness. I find it refreshing to be around someone who honestly has no idea how awful some people can be, how dark the rest of the world is. It is like we live in this sunny little patch of life and while there are definitely rainy days - there is a bubble where no evil can ever enter again. It is sort of a safety net for me, that I am never reminded of things that I used to have to be reminded of all the time. At the same time, I would do anything and everything in my power, to keep him from knowing those things, or seeing it. I think some folks might sometimes misconstrue what I say when I say that, but if you grew up like me and you marry someone that grew up like Mike - then you would understand. While I certainly cannot relate to his childhood and he most definitely cannot relate to mine - we try very hard to take into consideration our very different beginnings and make them into one hell of an ending.

I think back and remember how there was no way on earth I'd have ever in a million years foreseen my future going this way. Not at all. Is it what I expected that night I met him? Ha, far from it! I figured we'd date for a few months, go on about our separate business. I'd go on and move to Austin and he'd find himself a nice wholesome girl and get married and have lots of babies.

Well... I did move out of Abilene, he did marry himself a girl, wholesome isn't really any sort of word to use to describe me and we met in the middle on the babies. You certainly can't ever ever know where you'll be in a day, much less five years down the road. I'd never take back one second of it though. There are far too many women standing at the door waiting for me to croak! ha! I swear I don't believe I've ever heard so many of my dear loved ones, family and friends say that if I didn't work out, they love me and all but they'd be beating down his door. I suppose I should stay on my toes then.

I definitely got a good one. How I lucked out, well I'll just never know. He gives me something I only ever dreamt of, something I never ever knew was real. I just thought it was something people made up for songs and movies. I'll be damned, it IS real and somehow it smacked me in the forehead. So for once, I pulled my head out of my butt and snatched it up.

I've got that guy that, yeah...he leaves his dirty clothes on the floor and repeats the same story to me still to this day that he's told me 30 times. He also filled my heart back up when it was nearing the proverbial "E". He showed me another side of the world, where people are genuine and where they really DO love you...genuinely. There is no agenda - just the genuine article.

I'm a dork and you know that song by Keith Urban? "I Wanna Be Your Everything"?

I can specifically remember listening to that song and thinking there was NO SUCH thing as a man that wanted that. I remember praying sometimes, to find that, to just know that in my life, just for awhile even. I met him and I KNEW he was it. He was that guy from that song, the one for me. The one who really thought those things.

Still to this day, on just this evening, he hugged me for a moment and it was just as great, as the one I got when he came home from his first deployment away from me. It is still just as comforting and fulfilling now as it was way back then. I just don't feel as small in his arms as I once did, but hey I guess it can't ALL be perfect right? OH well.

Oh and P.S. my dirty clothes are probably laying right on top of his. However, since they are ON his, they are not technically ON the floor. Gotta word these things right!

Shortly after our engagement, which incidentally happened just shortly after his return from deployment.
One of our engagement photos - courtesy of Bandi Jones

One on the fateful evening, some five years ago today. Man...we've aged a lot awfully fast! ha



hahaha. This one just cracks my ass up. My first skiing trip. Or, as Mike calls it I think... The ski trip of Mike's nightmares. Hey, I wasn't THAT bad, I'm inventive to say the least. I now know my place is in the warm by the fire with hot cocoa. It is where I shall stay unless someone wants to buy me a snowmobile. hehe. I wanted real snow, I got it. Some blizzard blew in while we were up there on the mountain, well it seemed like a blizzard anyway.

It was fun and then I wound up pregnant a few weeks later. How'd THAT happen?