Their So Vain They Probably Think This Post Is About Them!

(This is an awful pic from my cell phone but I love how they let me dress them alike! E doesnt love it but he lets me!)

See those cute lil faces above? Well... I have come to realize vanity is a problem at our house. Neither one doubt their cuteness and value in society...especially in the world of 5 and 6 yr old love. Every mother wants confident children but sometimes I wonder if they both could use a bit of reality. Here are just a few of our everyday conversations we have had lately.

Me: "Easton you look handsome today."  Easton: "MOM! I know! I hear about it all day long at school please don't make me hear it at home!"

Easton: "I don't have a girlfriend because how do I pick just one when they all love me?"

Easton: "Pais the girls in your class think I'm cute and stare at me that's why I come and sit by you in the car line now."

Pais: "Mom, have you ever known a 5 yr old with so many ex-boyfriends?"

Me: "Pais, how was school?" Pais: "Good, everyone loved my hair bow and shoes" Me: "Really everyone?" Pais: "yes mom, everyone ALWAYS loves my shoes and hair bows!"

Paisley was asked out for ice cream by a little boy Easton plays football with and her response to him asking her "Perfect timing I just broke up with all my other boyfriends!" then as we are walking away she says "I knew Christian always loved me!"

Sometimes I'm tempted to lock my kids in their rooms and hope and pray the world wont touch them. Ben has his hands full with Pais and the boys now what o what will he do when shes a teenager? We are already running into the issue of Eastons friends like Pais and Paisleys friends like Easton. What happened to girls and boys are icky!?! PLEASE make them stop growing up and PLEASE I pray they start believing in cooties!

Being An Army Wife

Much of this post is truly written out of hurt because of some things that have been said to me recently but it had me thinking this morning about this identity I carry around of "Army Wife"
First let me say this...I have always considered myself Bens wife. Yes being his wife makes me a wife of a solider, a solider who's currently serving our country for the second time. I have never considered myself "HOOAH" enough to be waving my proud Army Wife flags and wearing the shirts but that doesn't mean that I love my husband less.
When we first moved here Ft. Stewart was indeed the first place we had lived together especially in this whole world of Army. During Bens last deployment the kids and I stayed in PHX which was close to an AFB which I am familiar with and comfortable with due to the fact I was raised in the Air Force. My first impressions were awful. I meant countless lady after lady who not only proudly wore their army wife tag but they wore their husbands ranks, his awards, and counted down the days til they left because they needed a break. I was disgusted. Is this what being an Army Wife is about? Their cars are decked out in "I love my Solider" and "Half my Heart Is In Iraq" and yet their excited for this extra deployment money and breaks from their marriage. Maybe this is just a  way of dealing with this chaotic lifestyle of separations and moving around but I have always tried to value my marriage and put it before Bens job.
Here's my question. If you don't support Obama does that mean you don't love America or support our troops? No...right! So tell me this. Why is it that if I miss my husband I no longer support him? Why cant I hide under my covers and behind closed blinds when it seems a little too lonely or never ending? Who are you as everyday Americans, family, or friends to judge me because I don't answer my phone enough or I loose touch because its one more thing to deal with when I'm already dealing with enough. I support my husband and I am truly grateful for his job and the living that he provides for our family but guess what...I MISS HIM! I am in this location for him and because of him. This is NOT where my family is this is NOT where I would settle if it wasn't for him but I do it and want to know why...because I love and support him. Deployments are not like all the sudden being single again. It is having your best friend, soul mate, support, and lover (yes I blushed) taken from you and then you are forced to spin 25 different plates of your own plus your kids and his and not let them fall. People need to understand we are not victims but we struggle...this is a hard life.  Deployments are NOT an excuse...they are truly something that limits us as individuals and as families. We love and support our Soldiers but even though we picked this life the pain of separation isn't any less.
I have learned some very important life lessons this deployment...
1. I am a better person with Ben
2. When I'm overwhelmed I shut people out
3. Not everyone in your life needs to be there
4. Distance does not make the heart wander or even grow fonder
5. Our house makes a lot of noise and its not a burglar its just a noise!
6. I can fix plumbing issues
7. I can feel joy, love, resentment, happiness, and shed tears all in a matter of 30 min
8. We are fortunate to have Bens job despite the distance
9. Never bite off more then you can chew
10. I can be 5 places at once
but most importantly this too shall pass!
All those life lessons make me an Army Wife...not the magnets on my car (which I don't have)
Don't judge me because I let one of those plates fall and don't pity me either. I have a beautiful life and what doesn't kill us does make us stronger. I have a light at the end of my tunnel and for that I am grateful. These last 2 months are like the last part of a road trip...they take the longest but in the end we will be together in person as a family again so for that fact alone Ill wait...maybe not patiently but I never claimed that as a virtue of mine.

Oh How They Grow!

It is that time of year already...back to school! I think I am in the handful of moms who actually dread sending my kids back. I love having them home during the day with me. The kids love a break from me though...can you blame them and now that we are adjusted to it I will admit I enjoy it as well. It feels like such a long day for them now I drop them both off at 8ish and I pick them back up at 3:15. I'm in utter disbelief and shock that time has just flown passed me and I now have a first grader and kindergartner now. I didn't realize until I walked back into an empty house that maybe our family isn't complete and I'm not done having little ones at home. Guess I better open a daycare ;)
Their first day was fantastic and they loved every minute of their new school. The schools out here are like a compound. There is one school that has Pre-k and then the next one has Kindergarten and 1st grade, then the next school has 2nd and 3rd grade, then the next school has 4th and 5th. All of these schools are separate but in the same giant area. There is a chaotic yet totally organized driving route to drop off and pick up and each school just has one way in and one way out. I remember when I was in school and when the bell rang we were out the door and on our way but not here the kids are all "held" in the cafeteria and then as each car pulls up they write down the info off the tag and go into the cafeteria and call there little code names and then bring the kids out and load them.

We had our dear friends the Heywood's staying with us while they moved into a new house (welcome back Heywood's...yay!) so all the kiddos got to start the first day together. Look at how Easton towers over Dylan...they are both the same age and Nov babies. Miss Maggie is in PreK. These kids love each other and its great having friends that all get along so well!

Didn't they all look smashing!?!

I have said it before but this time I mean it!

Did you miss me??? Yeah didnt think so ;) I fell off the face of the blog earth but now I am back...I cross my wee lil heart Ill try harder to blog more!

Walk 2 Iraq...

The kids and I joined the "walk 2 Iraq" and we did our 100th mile today!

Now if only we really could walk and see Ben.

(the kids were so confused by the title...Pais kept asking "when will we see Dad")

We were supposed to do 100 miles by the end up April...

maybe I should get some new running shoes

 and go for another 100 miles before then. Maybe.

Somehow the kids and I have become the family that Marne TV follows for this...we have been on there 4 times now but I have yet to watch any of it...I hate my voice too much to hear it on tv.

Dad your services are needed!

I havent posted in forever...thats the story of my life with this blog and the RS one of course. Did ya miss me!?! Bummer I didnt think so.

BUUUUT let me catch you up a lil on life anyway. While my loverly parents were here for a visit...yes that was allllllll the way back in 2009 (December to be exact)  

(loverly parents)

They did this

Yup...correct DESTROYED the kids bathroom. In fact I worked the night before and when I woke up I saw that and

this

and this white dust covered the whole house

but then after a few days of hardwork, countless and I truly mean countless trips to Lowes my Dad managed to make it look like this

yes we are now void the nasty molded 1980s shower walls and broken faucets

and guess what!?!

It still looks just like that...well except now theres a shower curtain. Nope I havent even painted the walls around the shower.

Pais informed me just last night "mom...Im not going to shower in here anymore until you fix the paint!" That comment didnt motivate me...in fact it just made me pitty her lil friends at school bc Puff is gonna be smelly!!! Dad...please come finish what you started in the bathroom...dont you know the rules...you should always leave it better then how you found it!!!

ooh look! Heres the proof you started this job...now come finish!

HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY....

To...

BEN!!!

Today my lil Benji Barboner (yes the nickname is officially out) turns the old man age of 28! Get him a walker already right!?! Just Kidding! So as always I must give ya an aw inspiring burfday post on my main squueze. So here ya go!
Im gonna go for 10 random facts and reasons hes the BEST...and for the record to only give you 10 is like saying you can only have 1 M&M from a bag....yes hes just that awesome!
Drum Roll Please...
#1. Who cant help but love Ben and his sarcasim...oh the sarcasim and how we miss it
#2. Ben makes running...like long long long runs look easy...I kinda despise him for that actually
#3. Ben is passionate for chocolate (the darker the better) and ice cream
#4. He makes you want to be smarter just beacuse hes so dang smart and up with all the current events
#5. He burps like noone you have ever met...its disgusting yet strangly lovable
#6. He can see past ugly..........hence the reason he loves that mut Bella Bop
#7. He is an AMAZING cook...like pack the fat onto your hips and you cant stop eating good!
#8. Ben is the calmest person I have ever met (thats good with a wifie like me)
#9. If a movie has been made then he has seen it and if its really a bad one then he probably owns it ;)
#10. Ben is the BEST dad ever! He loves Easton and Pais and has amazing patience with them and they remind me several times a day how much they miss him!

I hope 28 is a FANTASTIC year for you

I cant wait to see where you are in a year from now!

Can we please get a WOOT WOOT

 for the last Birthday ever in Iraq!