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Monday, August 9, 2010

Yikes!

Wow...I'm so not good at this blogging thing. HA! Oh well. Check in about every 2 months and we'll be good. :)

It's hard to believe this is our last full week of summer vacation. Booo!!! I'm not ready for my kids to be gone all day. No, I don't have a fever! I really do enjoy being home with my kids. They drive me crazy sometimes...like now...but they're the best! McKenna will be returning to 5th grade for her last year of grade school. (wow!) And Amber will be starting 1st grade!
Dominic will be starting preschool in January. Then what am I going to do?!?! Work more, I guess.

I don't know about you, but I'm about sick of this horrible heat. Today topped out at 111 degrees with the heat index. That's just insane! The poor A/C is working overtime. Forget mowing...it can wait!

In other news....we're "ferret sitting" until tomorrow. Yeahhh....um....we all thought we wanted a ferret. That is, until 'Gus' the ferret came to visit. He is a sweetheart and very cute. BUT....he STINKS! And there is NOTHING you can do about it. I thought because they're 'descented', they wouldn't stink. WRONG! They do, no matter what. They really are a great source of entertainment though! Hilarious! He is a lot like a cat...and he plays dead. He'll stand on his back legs and when you jump at him he'll keel over like he's been shot. :) So if you want a smelly, cuddly, funny pet...think ferret! He goes home tomorrow. We really will miss him...just not the smell.

One week from today Jason will be on vacation! Yay!!! He is taking a week off to help get the kids back to school. What an awesome husband, huh?! Really, August and September are the best times for the Jack Stack managers to take their vacations. Forget November and December. They're required to be there. No vacations then!

I need to work on getting some pictures posted...my music updated...ya know...the time killing things. :) The kids start their back to school bedtime schedule tonight, so I may have to put it off until tomorrow.

Until then.....stay cool!!!!!

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Genetics

Soooo...most of you probably remember when I had my back surgery. I was 13 and had to have two 6 inch metal rods screwed into both sides of my spine to correct my scoliosis. They had to take bone out of my hip for a bone graft to fill in the spine. It was a very big thing that I would never wish on anyone...especially a child! But if it hadn't been done, I would've been one deformed person today. If I had lived long enough to see 31! My parents took me to a chiropractor who specialized in correcting scoliosis. (so he said) My first trip in, he measured the curve. It was a 37 degree curve. I went to him 5 days a week for 8 weeks. By the end, he had gotten it down to a 32 degree curve. Scott and I went to Wyoming to stay with Uncle Neil and Aunt Deb for 2 weeks after I finished my treatments. When we got home...two weeks later...my curve had gone from 32 degrees to 45 degrees!!! That's when the appointment was made for surgery.

Well, McKenna has been complaining of her back hurting since May. We didn't think much of it, but she wouldn't sit up straight and that bothered me. So mom made an appointment with her chiropractor/nutrionist/magic doctor....and we took all 3 kids in this morning to be checked for scoliosis. I say "magic doctor" because this guy is amazing. I thought he was maybe 64-65 years old. Nope. 77!!!!! I was shocked!!! He is very much into vitamins, nutrition, natural things, etc.

First up was McKenna. He has never met McKenna...knew nothing about her except that she was complaining of soreness. He had her standing in front of us and pointed out that one shoulder was higher than the other (deja vu for me). He had her slump over and sure enough....she has a curve starting. The good news....he can correct her curve because of her age and the fact that we got her in as soon as we did, by doing treatments on her....approximately 7-8 treatments. He had her lay down on the table and he was feeling around her tailbone. He said, "She needs an adjustment to align her tailbone (he used the medical term). Kids who don't get that fixed before their bones fuse together will end up having toes that point inward." Mom and I looked at each other and our jaws dropped....McKenna is pigeon toed!!!! Good news again....he bones haven't fused and he can adjust her until her bones fuse and it will correct her alignment of her feet. Crazy!

Then it was Amber's turn. He said, "This little girl is full of soreness." Amber has been complaining of her feet hurting. We've tried so many different kinds of shoes trying to fix it. She quit soccer because her feet hurt so bad. We thought for sure it was because she has flat feet. Nope. He took one look at her and said, "Nope, she just needs calcium." Whaaaaat?????? He checked her spine...she has a small curve starting in the neck area. Again...her age is perfect to start adjustments. Within 6-7 adjustments and she will be good to go!

Then Dominic. He was hilarious! He hopped up on the table. Dr. Novak felt around and said, "This little guy is a ball of energy." Oh....my....word....and he said, "He's got more energy than those two put together, huh?" YES!!!!!!!! And Dominic had been so quiet the whole time. It was crazy! He checked out good. No curves! Woohoo!!

So all three kids got their first adjustment this morning. And they all loved it! He wants to see Dominic once more for an adjustment. Then the girls will go until they finish their scoliosis adjustments. In two weeks they all go back and he will know then what type and dosage of calcium they will all get. Our kids LOVE milk. I never thought calcium would ever be a problem. But they're all low. So weird!

Like I said...it was a very interesting morning. I learned so much in our 45 minute visit. The kids were very intrigued, too!

The time has come.....

Elaine....I feel terrible for not getting back to you sooner! Scott leaves in the morning, but I'm sure you've talked to dad by now.

The time has come when we have to suck it up and say goodbye to Scott....again. I'm really starting to dislike this. It was very hard saying goodbye when he left in February. I thought for sure it would be easier when we went to see him in May. Nope...it was actually a little harder. Then we got the phone call that he was coming home for 2 weeks and were all on cloud 9. We've had a great time. And now the dreaded Wednesday morning we've had marked on the calendar is just a few hours away and we'll be saying goodbye again. Scott thinks they will get to come home at Christmas time. The Army has what the call a "Christmas Exodus" where they stop all training at that time. You just never know until almost the last minute. Gotta love the timing of the Army. We've learned to be very flexible and spontaneous! But after December, it could be a full year before we see him again.

I know some people go a year without seeing their siblings or kids, but when you've never lived more than 30 minutes away from your only sibling your entire life, it makes it very hard!

We've had a couple of great games of Rook. Scott and I were partners both times...and won both times. Guess it helps to have a partner who likes to bid...:) The kids have been so happy having Uncle Scotty around. Dominic had on his Airborne beret the other day. It was way too cute!

I went to the office (dad's office in their basement) to do some work for dad. Scott came wandering out of his room about 10:30....went to the bathroom...stuck his head in the office to say 'hi', then crawled back in for another round of Zzzzz's. He's enjoying the freedom!

When he gets back to Fort Bragg, he will be back into the routine of waking up around 4:30 a.m. for PT. The Special Forces Selection process won't start until August 9th or September 6th. I think he likes the freedom he has while he's in holding, but I think he's more than ready to get the show on the road.

I'm going to end this here, but start a new post. We had an interesting morning!.......see you in a few!

Sunday, July 4, 2010

Happy Birthday, America!

It's FINALLY the 4th! The kids thought it would never get here!

Jason, the kids and I picked up Scott at the airport Friday evening. It was a very proud moment. He came off the plane in his uniform...he's got his Airborne patch and wings now, so that's a huge accomplishment!

We were walking out of the airport and he stopped to put his beret on. Soldiers are taught to take their berets off when they enter any type of establishment, but as they walk outside, they are to put them on. I looked up and noticed he wasn't wearing the black one he had in Georgia, he had a maroon colored one with a very classy symbol on the front. Since he is now an Airborne qualified soldier, he's moved up in berets. He'll earn another one when he becomes a Special Forces soldier. That was a cool little tidbit to know!

We met mom, dad and Aunt Pauline at Jose Pepper's. It was very touching to see people stop Scott and pat him on his back or shake his hand (he was still in uniform) and thank him for his service. It makes me very proud to see my little brother so highly respected.

Then we went to mom and dad's and played a game of Rook. It was Scott and I against Jason and Uncle Leslie. I'm proud to say....Scott and I whooped them. ;) (actually it was hard fought game...we kinda got lucky the last round).

He is VERY happy to be home! His room is in the basement, so when I went down to tell the kids we were leaving and Jason and I hear this big "AHHHHHHHH". We looked in and Scott was sprawled out on his bed with a big smile on his face. There really is no place like home!

We hope you all have a fabulous 4th! Jason is filling the cooler and I need to get started on some food, so I guess I better get in gear!
It's 'supposed' to rain all day....but you know what....rain or not, we're going to have a great day!

Happy Birthday, America!

Friday, July 2, 2010

It's Friiiiidayyyyy!!!!!

It's Friday....and you know what that means....our soldier will be on the plane in 4 hours heading towards home!! It's going to be a fast 11 days with him, but we'll cherish every moment. I know this will be the hardest goodbye because we won't know when we'll see him after this. It COULD be a year to 2 years if they don't get holiday leave. Ugh.

A cute story for the day....we bought a massive amounts of flags that you can put in the ground to line the driveway, fence line, etc. Dominic and Amber decided to have a parade this morning before we put the rest of the flags out. So they were marching with the flags and Dominic was pretending to be a soldier. I was their audience, so they marched up to me....kept marching until Amber (the sergeant) told them to stop. Then Dominic, with his flag in one hand and a dead serious look on his face, saluted me. I got teary-eyed....then melted....it was just too cute. I went to get the camera and he took off. Bummer!!! When he came back and I asked them both how they learned to march so well. Amber said, "Because we watched Uncle Scotty very carefully. And I told Dominic when to stop just like the Drill Sergeant told Uncle Scotty's team to stop." Then Dominic pipes up and goes, "And they put their hands on their forehead's when they saw the flag." ((Lump in the throat))

We've been putting our flag out every day...and last night I was rolling it up to bring inside. Dominic likes to go out and "help" me get it. As I was rolling it up he asked me, "Why do you have to bring it inside?" I said, "Because we don't have a light to shine on it at night." He said, "Why do you have to have a light on it when it's dark?" I said, "Because it's disrespectful to turn the light off on the flag." He gets the funniest look on his face (he doesn't have a clue what I'm talking about) and he goes, "Does the flag get scared at night?" HAHAHA!!! Then Amber came out and goes, "We have a LOT of flags." (we're all decorated up for the 4th, let me tell you!) Then she asked, "Why is the flag so important?" I tried my best to explain it in a way in which a 5 year old would understand. She must really understand because she goes, "So the flag is really important to our family because Uncle Scotty is in the Army and the flag is very important to soldiers?" Ummm, kind of...yes...you're on the right track. ;)

He lands at 6:10 this evening. Jas, the kids and I are going to go pick him up and take him to dinner. I promised him I wouldn't show up with banners and balloons.... :) Just lots of hugs and pictures!

I better get a move on things! Lots to do before the fun begins!!

Have a Happy Friday!!

Tuesday, June 29, 2010


Dominic and his hero

After the Turning Blue Ceremony

McKenna and Amber walking to the Vietnam Memorial Traveling Wall with Uncle Scott

SPC Jelinek behind his head Drill Sergeant SSG Kroes.

SPC Jelinek

Going shopping with Scott at the PX Mall at Fort Benning.

Starting fresh

Hey blogging world! We're back!!!! We tried the Shutterfly website thingy and it was horrible. Great for pictures...not so great for trying to "blog". Half of the time it wouldn't let me log in. And if I did get logged in, it wouldn't let me post or I'd have problems loading pictures. Forget it!

I'm going to master this thing yet. :)

I wish I was as creative as my aunts and cousins. I'd have a great looking page with loads of pictures. Until then...it's going to be pretty plain!

We're getting our act together to get ready for Scott's homecoming!! It's hard to believe he's actually going to be HOME for almost 2 weeks!!! It will be the last trip home for awhile. He MAY get a leave at Christmas time, but until then and for a long time after, he won't have that luxury.
The kids are so excited! They absolutely adore him...and he adores them.

One of the nights before Scott left for Basic, I was at mom and dad's for dinner with him. They had to leave for something, so Scott and I were doing the dishes together. We started talking about when we were kids...remembering some of the stupid things we did (he dared me to roller skate down a small slide once...I dared him to lick the entire length of a driveway...we both took the dares). We had some good laughs. One of the things we discussed were the horrible fights we'd have. I was SO mean to him. I would get so mad at him for breathing in my space. In the car, we had an invisible line...he didn't cross into my space, I didn't cross into his. But he would be his hand right next to that imaginary line and I would get SO mad. I'd smack his hand the second his finger would cross over. 10 minutes later, we'd be playing thumbwars. Haha!! We were remembering our family vacations. Every summer we looked forward to packing up and leaving for vacation. We truly did have a GREAT childhood! I have so many good memories of being kids, riding bikes all summer, playing with our friends all up and down our street, playing in "the weeds" (our handmade forest), catching fireflies and making rings out of their lights (mom's idea!), our massive collection of comic books, spending time on grandma and grandpa's farm, being scared to death of their stupid peacocks, swimming in the pond on our farm, riding the four-wheeler 'til all hours of the night, burning pastures, delivering calves, herding cattle, 4-H, my first car and our trips to Colorado, rubberband wars, sledding down the dam at the El Dorado Lake, bringing the barn cats in the house while mom and dad were gone (they got in a huge fight...it was hilarious!), Silver Dollar City, Disneyland, Sea World, spending two weeks in Wyoming with our cousins visiting Yellowstone/horse back riding into the mountains, eating all the marachino cherries and drinking all of Uncle Glenn's Diet Pepsi and trying to explain to him that we had noooo idea what happened to either of them (it didn't go over well, but we had a great laugh over his reaction)...we'd be here all day if I kept going.
While I'm thinking of it....one memory that just made me laugh (it may not be funny to you if you didn't know Uncle Glenn) but mom and dad were gone to work, so Scott and I knew that when Uncle Glenn got home, he'd think everyone was gone if we weren't in the living room. So we went and hid behind all his things in the closet and waited......he walked in the door and did the usual "HELLO?!?!?"...we stayed quiet....he went to the bathroom...went to the kitchen and poured a Dt. Pepsi...perfect! Just like usual...So we continued to wait trying to hold back the giggles. We heard him in the office, so we thought it was the perfect time sneak out. We were beat red trying to hold back the laughter. He listened to his messages...got up and was headed back to the kitchen when we pounced. He hooped and hollered and looked absolutely petrified. He grabbed the nearest paper, rolled it up and chased us down the hall yelling, "You cotton-pickin' brats!!!!" The three of us laughed SO hard...he was a good sport about it and promised he'd get us back. Right before bed he told me, "You better sleep with one I open, honey." I seriously couldn't sleep that night! Nothing ever happened, but he knew the mind games would get the better of us. He was right! We called a truce!

I want my kids to have the same good memories with their siblings as I did as a child. When they fight and I'm ready to lock them in a room and let them have at it, I remember our horrible fights and how quickly we made up. It will pass!!!

We were telling them stories about how we fought. They just can't imagine! :) It's really pretty funny.

Well, this is a good start to a fresh blog!

Now if I can just get the rest of the family to start blogging......... ;)