A little photoshop fun..

I'm still learning all the fun things you can do with photoshop, here are a couple of things I've just created:

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Happy Veterans Day!

Veterans Day will always be a special day for me, well for us. It was three years ago today that we welcomed Trent home from Iraq! It was a LONG awaited day, one of the happiest days of my life. And believe it or not, this is the only picture I have of that wonderful day. The rest were on my parents computer when it died and I don't know yet if they survived :(
Seriously one of the best days of my life! I don't even know how to explain the emotions that I was feeling. One of my greatest friends, a friend that I made because of this deployment (she's the reason we are still married:) but really in all seriousness, she's the reason I survived that deployment. Her husband was also deployed with the 144th ASMC. So...back to my original thought....my friend and I got a hotel room close to the Air National Guard base, where the boys would be flying in early the next morning. We didn't want to miss a second of it! Well, now, imagine Christmas Eve when you were a little kid. The giddiness, lying in bed, not sleeping, giggling. That was us! We couldn't sleep. We got ready for bed, and were so excited that sleep just wouldn't come, we were talking, laughing, I think there might have even been some jumping on the bed. I think somewhere around 3am we settled down, only to be woken up an hour later by phone calls from our boys saying there were getting up to get ready to come home. I don't really remember all the details of the times of the day, it's a little blurry now, but it was amazing! I had left Carter at home with my family, they would bring him to the base in the morning with them. I got up around 5am to get ready. We had to be out to the base by 6:30ish, and the flight was supposed to land around 7:30 or 8. They were flying in from Ft Collins, CO. It took EVERYTHING I had not to drive out there the previous week when they arrived there for all their debriefings. The boys called us when the got on the plane, THEY WERE EARLY! Folks, if you're at all familiar with the military, that never happens. So onto the phones we got to let all the family know that they'd better hurry or they'd miss it! We got ready in record time, making ourselves as pretty as possible, and booked it to the base. And there we waited....of course they weren't early....the FRG (family readiness group) had bagels, and doughnuts, and other yummy food for us all. All our family arrived, and once again, I cannot even describe the feelings. It was electrifying. They opened the hanger door, we were able to watch the plane make it's decent, the feeling of it's FINALLY over washed over me. I was jumping up and down, holding my 14 month old Carter. The plane came to a stop, the door was opened and out came the commander waving a flag. One by one the soldiers of the 144th ASMC filed off the plane. Then came my man.....I booked it though the crowd. I've never been so happy to be in his arms! With Carter in one arm and Trent in the other, we were a complete family, together for the first time since Carter was born 14 months earlier.

Veterans day will never mean the same thing to me again. Years ago it was just another day, today I remember the day my veteran came home for war. Even as I sit here the emotions that I felt that day come rushing back to me. I never want to relive that day, but I never want to forget it.

Thanks to all those who still are sacrificing to make our nation free, and to free others!

We have some very naught children here.....

...Okay so maybe not so naughty as they are just kids. However, really....come one....do we really have to go through this! The other day I was downstairs, probably on the computer cuz I seem to be here often :) I thought to myself; wow, those kids are playing SO well together right now. It was quiet upstairs, but not the dead silent that you know somethings up, I could still hear kids up stairs, but they weren't yelling and screaming at each other, and no one was crying. The kids had been locked out of the toy room because the REFUSED to clean it up and I refuse to always do it for them! So they didn't have many options to play with upstairs, but they had none the less kept themselves busy for almost a week (I'd ask them everyday if they were ready to pick up the toy room so they could play in there again.) Carter came bouncing down the stairs "look mom, I did my hair!"

And I "did Hanna's Hair too.......
That pony is NOT supposed to be sticking straight up!
He used the spray gel, the hair pomade/puddy stuff, and hair spray, and he used it ALL! Nice job Carter! AND Hanna had taken off her poopy diaper, so I had quite the mess to clean up. SIGH....I got my bathroom taken care of, Hanna cleaned up, and the poo all cleaned up and went back downstairs. I really really tried hard not to get angry. I sat back down at the computer (I'm a little addicted to digital scrap booking) and I could hear something strange going on upstairs. It was a noise I couldn't identify, I was instantly worried. Ran upstairs to find this:


Yes, those were my blinds. She pulled them out one slat at a time and then threw them neatly on the floor into a very nice pile.

Now lets fast forward to this afternoon, as all that happened in about 30 mins in one afternoon LAST week. SO on today. I love having a clean house, but having 4 kids under 4 makes in a little hard at times to get it clean (I watch two little girls during the week). Trent took Carter to run so errands, I put the dog out, put the baby down for a nap, and then put the other two in front of the TV. I got the kitchen cleaned up, the floors swept and moped, and even got lunch on the table. I called upstairs to the girls, they had been SOO good while I was cleaning, I was excited to tell them how good they had been. But they weren't responding to me. I could hear them....what were they doing....so up the stairs I went to find them. Not in the toy room, not in Carters room, not in the family room watching the movie. Where on earth were they? IN THE BATHROOM! That's always trouble for miss Hanna. On Friday these same two girls finger painted with Carter's toothpaste all over the wall, counters, and Hanna. Well today tops it all. They took the little bathroom cups and EMPTIED the toilet bowl. Hanna was soaked, the floor....well it's swimming, the rugs...dripping, and me....I just want to cry! How does that happen?! The little girl I watch is 3 1/2, old enough to know that playing in the toilet is so not okay. Hanna is known for playing in the toilet, we keep bathroom doors closed and I keep bleach tabs in the toilet, but still....GROSS!! I take Hanna's clothes off, send them both downstairs to eat lunch. After Hanna was done eating and ready to take her nap I took her up to her room to find clothes. But they were gone. There were NO clothes in her dresser at all.....they had emptied them ALL (even the clothes from the closet that don't fit any more) into the dirty clothes hamper. WHAT THE HECK!! Thankfully I had just sorted the dirty clothes out so it was empty, but still it took me almost half an hour to sort through the clothes that no longer fit and refold everything. Naught naughty children!

Help!

Notice anything wrong with this picture( sorry it's a bit blurry...my battery was on the fritz)?

Hanna has entered in a new stage, one that Carter NEVER went to. Removing of the diaper. In the morning when we go to get her out of bed she's NAKED, totally naked. She can remove her clothes and her diaper like it was nothing. She then sits in her bed, sometimes in a little puddle. Often during the day she will remove her clothes and her diaper, just because she can. Well, yesterday we reached a stinky new low. I was downstairs, she was upstairs. As I went up stairs to get ready for church I noticed Hanna with her onesie (yes, she can undo a onesie) hanging low, and it smelt awful! That's right, she had pooped in her diaper and had taken it off! There was poop ALL over the onesie, all up her back, and the nasty diaper was just laying on the floor. THANK GOODNESS she had not sat down anywhere!! So...we need help! How does one keep their baby from taking off their diaper. She's not ready for potty training yet, she has no clue that she has control over "going" just yet. She does love to sit on the potty, but this mommy is so not ready for the disastrous mess that comes with potty training a child who's not ready!

Putting her diaper on backwards kinda works, it pretty much just slows down the process. Any ideas would be great!

Military Awards

On Sunday Trent and his buddy SGT Parson were asked to come out to the unit for something. They asked them to bring their family as well. We left church early so we could make it out to Camp Williams by 3:30. We got there with plenty of time to spare and it true military fashion waited, and waited, and waited....for like a hour and a half. Both Trent and Parson's 6 years were up in May, so they don't drill every month any more (yipee!) and so we had to wait for final formation for the awards to be presented. Both Chris (SGT Parson) and Trent were awarded the same thing. Trent and Chris have become great friends over the course of 6 years that they've spent together. Often riding out to drill together, they also did a lot for the unit together.....they had a few nick names in the unit, one of which is the twins (the other is fat boys). So it seemed very appropriate that they receive their awards together. I didn't get very many pictures as my camera was dying AND I got the honor of presenting Trent's awards to him and pinning my husband's ribbon on to him. That was such an honor for me! Oh...maybe you want to know what he was awarded.....The Meritorious Service Medal. If you want to learn more about it go here. I truly didn't know much about it, and when I asked Trent about it he kinda just shrugged it off, but it truly is a honor to receive this medal!

I don't know if you can see it very well or not...but they are both trying so hard not to crack up. When 1st SGT Sterling was reading the award, he was having the HARDEST time not dying in hysterical laughter. Trent, Parson, and Sterling (aka Crazy) have worked together for many years, in many different roles. 1st SGT is a newer role for Crazy and both Trent and Chris have teased him about it....that and he's really short...and he's bald...oh did I mention that he's crazy?! They have great respect for him and I know Trent misses working with him and his commander, CPT Steffel. His unit is getting ready to deploy again in January and after the ceremony CPT Steffel and SGT Sterling came to me and Sarah (Chris's wife) and asked us what it would take for them to take those two with them over the "pond" Sorry boys, you can't have him! There is no amount of money on this earth that is worth having my husband gone for another 18 months! Trent respects these men so much that he's actually considered going with them....that's when I ask to have the divorce papers handy :) I never want to have to repeat what we went through while he was in Iraq. Anyway....sorry this is getting long.

Just a little about his medal that he got...he was awarded it for "meritorious service in the performance of your duties as a Combat Medic Instructor Non Commissioned Officer and Squad Leader. Your ability to work independently together with your sound judgment [that's where Crazy lost it] played a critical role in the success of the unit and the Combat Medic Transition Team. Your conduct and enthusiasm [once again trying SO hard to stop laughing] toward your leadership responsibilities brings great credit to the unit, the Non Commissioned Officer Corps, and the Utah National Guard, and the United States Army." That was taken directly off the award he received.

And this is his other award, presented from his unit, the 144th ASMC (area support medical company) We are so proud of you Trent and the service that you gave!

This is the medal he received:

Meritorious Service Medal Awarded by United States of America Type Medal Eligibility Military Personnel Only Status Currently Awarded Precedence Next (higher) Purple Heart Equivalent Meritorious Service Medals: Joint Service, Branch Service Next (lower) Air Medal Meritorious Service Medal ribbon

Look what I learned to do....

I don't know why this excites me SO much...but it none the less does. I learned how to use templates (THANKS Emily!!). Cuz, lets be honest, I cannot make a cute scrapbook page to save my life, but these little templates show me just how to put it together to make a cute page. I'm in love. Oh...so do you want to see what I created?

I started with this:And ended up with this:
Ah....I'm so proud of myself! And it took me less than 10 mins!

If you too want to learn how to use these little templates go here.

Not for the faint of heart.....

On Friday I was cleaning the floors and kitchen, really it seems like I clean them EVERY day. When I see a little movement out from the corner of my eye. There is the cutest little mouse scurrying across the floor, along the wall, into the other room and into the closet. Naturally I was a little shocked about such a critter in MY house, but, eh it happens and I will catch the get the little guy, cuteness will not save him like it does my kids. I set aside the cleaning for now, a little preoccupied with catching this mouse. I get him cornered into the closet, I know he cannot get out, I round up all the kids (I watch 2 extras during the week) and we all go to Target for some supplies. Once home I set up the traps. But nothing happens, he must have found his way out. Saturday morning, I'm sitting at the computer, Trent is in the kitchen/entry way, and screeches/screams like I've NEVER heard before. My husband screamed like a girl! The mouse ran across the floor right in front of him and I am hysterical laughing, just thinking about it makes me crack up still. The mouse runs under the fridge. Trent naturally starts to shake and move the fridge in an effort to get the mouse out. Well, out comes mouse and runs right across his foot, and out of his mouth comes that screech/scream again! I can hardly contain myself, I was laughing so hard! Carter does a great impression, I'll have to see if I can get it on tape. A couple of hours later we returned to find the mouse in not one trap, but two. He had gotten his back legs caught in one and drug it across the floor and then got his head caught in another one...that'll teach him to mess with Trent!

I don't think he'll be running across Trent's foot anytime soon!

This afternoon I decided we should clear out the weeds under the stairs outside and put in a sand box. Trent thought that was a good idea, Carter thought it was an AWESOME idea. So out went Trent to get to work. This is what he found:

I don't know if you can see it well or not, but it's a snake skin. Yuck! I guess if you've got mice then having a snake around isn't a bad deal. Just as long as he stays out in the yard I think I'll be okay.