SNOW!!!

Seriously? We got snow already in GA? This worries me for what the rest of the winter is going to be like we never get it this early! I will admit it was pretty nice to be stuck at our house and not able to go anywhere. We got to play with all of the new Christmas goodies and in the snow outside! We had a n-hood snowball fight, hot chocolate and sled rides. Johnny probably ate his weight in snow, leaving him with chapped lips but we had fun. I guess the one good thing about the snow down here is it dosent stick around, by the next day it was gone.

And just like that it's over...

It always is surprising to me how fast Christmas goes by- all the preparation, decorating, shopping and then its done.

I must say that over the years my family has come up with some really good traditions. Japanese, church and cookie decorating on Christmas Eve is something to look forward to. Johnny had a lot of fun making cookies for Santa, trying to get them just right with a can of sprinkles on each cookie. lol When we got back to our house he made reindeer food, spread it out said good buy to Zippy and left out his cookies for the big guy. To add to all the excitement Jenny spent the night with us too. Of course the one morning Johnny sleeps until 6:30 I am wide awake. He woke up and we got to hook up with John on skype. I am so glad we could be together in some form. The heart wrenching moment of the morning was when Johnny opened a present from John and ran to the computer and gave it a hug. I know he is so ready to hug his dada for real. After we finished up our morning (with the highlights being a trip to Disney and a leapster explorer) we headed over to my parents. Like every Christmas all of us got way too much. It is a bit ridiculous! And if yall think I take a lot of pictures now then just wait. John got me the newest SLR Nikon, D3100. It is awesome and I cant wait to really learn how to use it! After messing with all the loot and opening up everything Johnny got to play with it once we headed to the Wolf house for a feast. Most people would be excited by the sight of snow on Christmas, I am not one of those people. Maybe if we were sitting by the fire at home with no plans to go anywhere but this little snow storm cut into my dessert and visit time with the Wolfs! I was glad to get home safely and happy to have spent such a great day with my family they always go out of their way to make things special. The decorations are down, and the coundown is on for daddy and Disney!

Drum roll Please.....

Ah, once again a Santa worthy tree. And of course it wasn't easy to get- it came with a flat tire. Notice that is still on my things to learn list. But I got lucky and the guys at the nursery not only helped me with the tree but they also plugged John's tire. I got it home, in the house by myself and its decorated waiting for presents. I also have added our fireplace gate around the bottom so hopefully Hiccup will get the point, I also have added candy canes to her food bowl. (I cant handle any more tree drama - whatever it takes!)

Oh Christmas Tree...

How you stress me! My gosh, in all the years John and I have had a Christmas together (8 I believe) I have never had such a problem with my tree. It started out as a beautiful tree, Johnny and I decorated it while drinking egg nog and watching old home videos of me. The finishing touch on our tree is the candy canes and this is where it all started. This year Hiccup decided she was going to start eating the candy canes off the tree. Everyday I was coming home from work I finding little pieces of candy around the tree and pine needles spread along the floor. She has never been a chewer or messed with any of our things so I was really surprised. Since it was so out of character for her I really didnt think she would keep it up, figured she must just need some attention. After taking her for some good long walks I thought we would get past this candy cane eating phase. I was wrong, she took it to the next level and went crazy eating all the candy she could reach, pawing at the tree and biting the lights. Once all the candy was gone she must have been trying to find out what else she could eat on the tree moving onto the ornaments. Needless to say our tree was looking pretty bad. Looking at the tree I made a decision -the lights were out, half the ornaments were off, the branches were falling and there was a huge hole in the middle. Only 2 days until Christmas, this was not an acceptable place for Santa to leave presents so I took what was left of it off and threw the tree out. (Yes I hauled the tree up our steep hill all by myself - working out is doing some good) You would think that this close to Christmas you'd be able to get a good deal on a tree - wrong they are still 35-40.00 it is insane. So I am on a mission tomorrow to find a good(reasonably priced) tree to decorate, enjoy and put presents under. Wish me luck!

My Ninja

Johnny graduated belts in Karate. He has been doing karate for 3 months now and in order to get his belt he had to earn five stripes.

Fitness stripe - he had to do 50 jumping jacks, 5 push ups (chin to the ground) and 25 sit ups

Self Discipline Stripe - maintain a black belt room for 1 week, clean and neat

Kicking Stripe - this was a tough one for him, he had to learn a sliding side kick

Punching Stripe - while the kicking was hard this one came natural - lol

Belt Tying Stripe - took a lot of practice and we had to recruit Poppy but he got it

He is now a Navis Orange Belt and very proud. Because we have one free day in the week where we dont have to go anywhere (seriously) I decided to fill it with Karate and now he will do it 2 days a week instead of one. He will retain more by going a second day. He is on his way to becoming a black belt.

Well they got it wrong AGAIN!

I am starting to question Gap's eye for a model. LOL Johnny is not one of the twenty finalist, here is what he was up against, in the baby boy category.
Its for the best we have such a full schedule already, and its only a matter of time before he is discovered. Thanks for all the votes :)

http://www.gapcastingcall.com/GapCastingCall/TheWinners.html?utm_source=sendgrid.com&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=website

And his reaction....

PRICELESS!!!!

The Eagle has Landed

Well now that operation decorate the tree is underway I can blog about it. With John not being home for Christmas I felt like the least I could do is send a little Christmas to him. So I sent him a 4 ft pre lit Christmas tree along with his big present. (literally it was big, weighed 35lbs and had to ship it as an over sized package) which by the way he is keeping under the tree. He was really excited to get the tree and now with the help of all of you he has been having fun decorating it. He has already gotten quite a few packages with ornaments for his tree. He is keeping it in his office rather then his room so everyone can admire it- and be jealous. I feel a little bad as John is getting special packages every day and his friends are just watching him get all the love. I have decided to send his 4 friends a little something to put under the tree too. I told him he will have to take a picture of the finished product so I can share his tree of love with everyone. (here is one I took with skype, you can see the progress) Its fun to hear all the different ornaments people are picking out for him once again we have done good. Thanks for all your help!

This is AWESOME!!

Santa sent Johnny a little message, I will let yall know his reaction to it. If you dont believe you dont recieve!!


http://www.portablenorthpole.tv/watch/guest/tqrm0AQK9j-4IvfaDzSfTA

Its that time of year....

For my favorite little Elf to make an apperance at our house. It is our Elf on a Shelf, Zippy! And he showed up in Johnny's room today. He is an elf that is sent by Santa to report back to him who is being naughty or nice. He flys back to the north pole every night and gives his daily report. Then he reappears in the morning in a different place. (That is how the child knows he went to the N. Pole) There is one rule and it is you can not touch your elf or he will go back to Santa and not return until the next year. Johnny can talk to Zippy and he will also tell Santa things that are on his Christmas list. Johnny was so excited to see him this year and is very into all the rules. Hopefully that means he will follow them. I think its a cute tradition and excited to start it up again.

Stuck like Glue....

Johnny has been such a mamas boy lately. Yes, I know it is because we spend every second of every day together and cause I am awesome. No there is nothing wrong with that. I just laughed when I saw this picture, really sums us up lately.

Thanksgiving

I really feel like the Blue family has so much to be thankful for this year. Here is my top 5 list:

5. Our jobs- yes it is not an ideal situation but we both are working

4. My sanity, while it comes and goes forthe most part I am still sane.

3. Our health. Having a child who can run, climb trees, and play sports is such a blessing.

2. Having a roof over my head, a car to drive and a computer and phones to communicate with my love.

1. All of yall, the friends and family who have helped me and John get through the past 6 months. It is amazing to have such great support from all our loved ones. So thank you!

As usual the Gold/Wolf team made an unbelievable feast, they are the best cooks! We had too much food, and good company. The table was smaller, and without John and Ryan there was a lot of leftovers. lol Johnny got in some good bonding time with the guys and had a blast wrestling with Nolan. (There are just some things a mom cant give a boy.)

I believe John was able to find some roasted turkey for dinner but had a hard day wishing he could be home with us. It is so hard to believe it is Christmas time!!

Photography by Johnny

Here are the latest shots from Johnny.... he thinks it is hilarious to take pictures of my butt.

Fingers Crossed

So John applied for a new job, we need everyone to cross their fingers he gets it. It is for a foreman position, great pay and people the only problem, its still in Iraq. Once an employee has been with KBR for 120 days they are allowed to apply for any other open positions within the company, just so happens one opened up on his base working directly with his boss Gary. He has to go through the interview process but hopefully he will hear something from them soon. He will get a nice raise putting us even closer to reaching our goals.

John has been doing good, reading a lot of books and starting to get ideas - lol. He is pretty homesick this time around mostly because he has much more idle time. The PAR is still going on and the base is really clearing out, the incinerators will have to stay to the end which is good job security for him. The time change on our end has messed up our communication some. We only get to see each other on skype on the weekends now and talk in the morning. Johnny is still avoiding talking to him which is hard for both of them. Looking at the ticker he will be home soon, but the holidays are going to be so hard without him around. If you get a chance give him a call or send an email.

A Fresh Start

Well this week was a fresh start for Johnny Blue. He has been at Duncan Creek Academy since he was 1. The people there started out as really an extended part of our family and it was the best place for him to be while we were at work. Well in the past three years there have been little instances that have rubbed me the wrong way. Like the time the teacher told Johnny she was going to call the police and have them take him away for being bad, or the time that he cut a hole in his shirt while the teacher watched, or just the fact that every day I pick him up from school they run down a list of things he has done down to picking his nose. It has been obvious to me for a while that they have labeled him as the "problem" child and if anything happens in his class he is to blame. Dont think for a second this acting out has anything to do with his dad being gone, he has had 4 teacher changes in the past 6 months or all his friends in his class went to pre - k because these things shouldnt effect a childs behavior. LOL

(Part of this I am sure is my fault because according to DCA I am a difficult parent, yes they told me this. And I will take the title and wear it proud, because I know I am involved, I ask questions and if something is bothering me I speak up. Apparently caring about your child makes a parent difficult.)

Johnny even gets in trouble on days he isn't there (seriously, they told me he has taught the other kids how to be bad and wrestle because I let him look up to superheros). Now I know my boy is not perfect (hard to believe, I know) and is not always an easy child. He has high energy, is hard headed, doesn't always listen he is going to have days he gets into trouble at school. But after this past week at school I knew it was time for a change, he was getting set up for failure everyday. His personality and attitude changed and he has been using words like quit, fail, hate - not anything he has heard from our house. (I will take blame for crap, damnit and shit).

Finding a daycare is not just an easy thing, there are so many out there with different hours, credentials, locations - very stressful. I am very lucky to have friends in the Gwinnett County school system who gave me a few recommendations and after checking them out, visiting the schools I found a cute little place that has a very country feel. Some wonderful southern women who just love what they are doing. Its not fancy, not new, not even the very best curriculum but I can tell that it is a warm and loving environment with a different approach to learning. He started on Monday and what do you know, he has been waking up excited to go to school. Johnny has had a great week and is doing wonderful playing nicely, listening and following directions and he hasn't burned the place down. Crazy huh?

I sure do hate change and with all the change we have already adjusted to this year I was really hesitant on making this decision. But this has helped me realize change can be necessary and in this case GREAT!

No denying the boy is mine

I have been slacking on the posts. It has been an extremely stressful week with all kinds of drama that I will update later. For now I thought I would share something funny with yall. I got a lot of pictures printed to put in some frames and send to John. I also told Johnny we could go to the store and pick out a frame for his room so he can have a new picture too. After he carefully selected the frame we got home and I showed him the pictures. I had a lot of really cute ones of he and John and the three of us. Well this is what he picked to go in his frame.....

All I could do is laugh, I asked dont you want a picture of you and daddy and he said yea, but I really like this one of me. Needless to say I had him pick out a new picture and instead I will just put a mirror in his room. LOL

More Moves

Figured this would be a good pick me up to get through the rest of the week. Johnny recentlymet Lady Gaga at Jennys halloween party and now loves more then ever. Enjoy

Candy, Candy, Candy

That was the theme of the weekend. There is a reason why I dont keep candy in my house, it gets eaten (by me)! I think on Halloween well and the days leading up to it I eat enough candy to last me the year. Then every 30min Johnny was telling me he was hungry but what this really meant was I want candy.

The weekend started on Friday at Johnnys school with a fall festival. Full of games, activities and of course, candy. Then we went to Jenny's work for Spooktackular which was dancing, face painting and more candy. On Sat we had to get ready for Halloween so we went to buy all our candy and of course Sunday was Trick or Treating.

I love it that we have so many kids in our neighborhood, it really makes things fun. We all met outside and just let the kids play for about an hour before hitting the houses. They all took on the characters we had Buzz flying around, Spidey shooting webs and Peter shooting arrows and crowing. When it was time to start Johnny took off, like everything he does it turned into a competition who can ring the doorbell first, who can get the most candy. It was a lot of fun to see them running around like maniacs. I dont think Johnny got the most candy or went to the most houses but I know he had a lot of fun!

A Hidden Talent

It is amazing to me the different talents people have. To think this started out as a pumpkin in a patch and someone had a vision, the tools, and the talent to create this. Im not really sure what it is but what a cool face, check out this owl one (put it in there for you sissy). Just amazing! How do these people become professional pumpkin carvers, how do they find their hidden talents? They must have realized when carving their own pumpkin one Halloween for their child and realized wow I am awesome. I have never carved a pumpkin before, I have helped plenty of times but never had to do the whole process in its entirety by myself. I also feel I have not discovered my hidden talent yet, pumpkin carving - you just never know.

Our pumpkin has been sitting on our door step just waiting for a face, Johnny said mom I am ready to make our pumpkin a jac-o-lantern. (IDK where he gets this stuff). So all day we thought of what kind of face we should give the Blue pumpkin. Johnny wanted a spiderman, then a scary face with angry eyes, I thought we should start simple and if this was my hidden talent we could get another pumpkin and I would carve like crazy. We settled on a silly face and it looks like we are going to get another pumpkin! No, not because I am awesome but because I suck. LOL Turns out pumpkin carving is not my hidden talent actually we can add it to the things Katie shouldn't do list. I did make a good decision to go with a silly face, I was really able to capture that seeing as how one eye is a circle and one an oval, the mouth lost his tooth and I have no comment on the nose. Oh well Johnny had fun helping (in his spidey attire) and I am sure it will look alright in the dark. I probably will get another pumpkin and use Mr. Potoato Head parts or paint. So my hidden talent is still out there waiting to be discovered. ha

Drum Roll Please.....

After going back and forth since October 1st a decision has finally been made. The number one question in the Blue house has been what will Johnny be for Halloween? His original request was Tarzan which he has been practicing his climbing and swinging from trees for weeks. Every time Ive told him to get down or be careful his response is "Im Tarzan mom!"

His indecision came when we went to get the costume (mistake on my part) and he saw walls and walls of knifes, swards, light sabers, boxing gloves, super hero accessories and realized this was a great opportunity to get a toy outta me. Im not lying he changed his mind every 2 steps on what he wanted to be. I wanna be a ninja, no Police man, no no I really want to be Wolverine this continued for a week. Every time I asked it was something different. I realized I was just going to have to make the decision for him. When making this decision I also realized I wont be able to have influence over his costume for that much longer so now was the time to pick a good one. It came yesterday and I think it is perfect for Johnny, Peter Pan, they both have mischief in their eyes and are all boy. And he is so excited because he gets to carry a dagger and bow and arrow. Johnny is now trying to fly everywhere and told me he needs a little sister to be his fairy, I am to big.

Better Together

Better Together
http://animoto.com/play/PgiwQ5Hvtngoi4QhjH0dXw
Are you tired of my blog posts this week yet? Alright last one for a few I promise....While John was here I wanted to get some family pictures done. I came across this awesome photographer who is doing this on the side. We did the pictures at Little Mulberry Park (where we spend all of our free time) and despite the allergies and puffy eyes I think she got some great shots. She is sending me the CD of all 105 pictures so there will be more to come. If any one wants her info let me know, she is very affordable and great to work with.


Oh and what a coincidence she chose this song to play during the video, I didnt mention anything about Jack Johnson to her. Makes me feel like she got us.

Johnny's Eyes

Johnny got a camera for his birthday and has been shooting pictures left and right. Well up until the kid tough camera stopped working. I guess kid tough doesn't mean Johnny proof. But I got a real good laugh when I uploaded his pictures from our trip to the mountains. Here are a few.... and dont worry I am getting the camera fixed so I will do one of these blog posts at least once a month.


The feet might be my favorite...




His self portrait, wearing some type of ears. LOL

Almost Famous

John has been wanting to get Johnny into modeling and on TV for a while. We all know the boy can work the camera, but I am very reluctant because of the industry. I really dont want Johnny to have to face rejection at such an early age. And he is so smart and competitive he will know. Plus somewhere in there I have a fear of what I will do to the people that reject my baby. LOL But some how while John was in between jobs he came across extra work for a movie with Katherine Heigl and Josh Duhamel and he secretly submitted their picture and got the call back. After twisting my arm they spent 12 hours on set with the cast of Life as We Know It. To Johnny it was just fun, playing all day with a bunch of kids, and he earned 75.00. Well the movie came out this past weekend and I am dying to see if they made the cut. If you check out the movie look for the Blue boys in the birthday party scene. Johnny is wearing a green polo, if any of you see it before me let me know. The movie actually looks pretty cute (that might just be because of Josh...ha ha and I can say that because he reminds me of John)

Reminder.....

So I have had a few requests for Johns address again, just wanted to put it out there to everyone.
John Blue
B1 Site Unit # 73348
APO AE 09333
He does have a birthday coming up on the 17th so if you want to get those cards and notes in the mail reminding him of how old he's getting I know it will be appreciated. I cant imagine how hard the next couple of months away is going to be for us but especially him. Johnny and I at least have each other and yall for the holidays but John will be there for his birthday, thanksgiving (his favorite) and Christmas by himself. I'm sure any extra notes or cards will really help him get through the holidays so send some love his way.

A small favor

So this is the olny contest I enter Johnny in just about every year. Not for the fame or the fourtune but for the clothes!!! Baby Gap is where I do 95% of my shopping for Johnny and it would be pretty cool to see his cute face on the door. There are two different winners the grand prize winner who recieves money, and a photo shoot and a job as the new face of Gap (big deal) then there is a fan favorite winner that recieves a gap wardrobe. This is where yall come in the fan favorite is determined by peoples votes. So if you have a min everyday (LOL) go to the website and vote for Johnny. (I really dont expect him to win b/c some how people get thousands and thousands of votes but I dont want him to only have 5) He is entered 4 different times each with a different picture. So once you get there you might as well vote for all of them.

Thanks for the support!

http://www.gapcastingcall.com/GapCastingCall/Entry.html
If the link doesnt work you can pull it up by his entry ID #s
ID # 187354
ID# 189588
ID# 191563
ID # 244418

The 2 Week recap.....

So I didnt really keep the blog updated but can you blame me? We had a really great (very busy) 2 weeks that went so fast I cant believe John is gone again. Here is a recap,

1. Johnnys birthday and party were a success, like I said in a previous post we took him to the fair which is great for people watching and fun. I know the boy is fearless but for some reason it always surprises me. He rode everything he could have ridden and was wanting to go on the grown up rides. (he is nuts) It hasn't rained in GA for months but of course the day of his outdoor party the sky was black. Luckily the park has a large covered pavilion so I just set up under that. The kids all arrived and got their tats and swards and I saw them instantly transform to pirates. They ran around beating each other for 30 min when it was pinata time, which was filled with pirate eye patches, pirate silly bandz and yes some candy. They all really had fun whacking that bad pirate head. Then the reason Johnny had to have a pirate party, the freaking cake (that only came in a large size). It was pretty cool. All in all he had a great birthday and was so happy John was a part of it.

2. The wedding we went to was for our good friends Tricia and Matt, and it was beautiful! John and I were both in the wedding party and Johnny was the ring bearer. He is getting pretty good at this, maybe I can start renting him out. LOL They got married in the most beautiful catholic cathedral in Atl, which meant it was a full mass which to me meant Johnny had to be still. Thank GOD for Gigi, after Johnny walked down the isle he went and sat with her. She kept him quiet with mellow cream pumpkins. So what if his mouth was orange, and he was all hyped up on sugar he was quiet! Johnny burned all the energy off on the dance floor, he was John and my entertainment. Yall know he has got some moves!

3. After being pulled in every direction I was ready for some quiet time so we headed to Gatlinberg and Pigeon Forge TN. We got a beautiful cabin overlooking the mountains and the drive was breathtaking. The first night we were there we went to the Dixie Stampede which is Dolly's dinner and a show. The food was amazing and the show was really good. There was an arena filled with a thousand people and part of the act was selecting 4 children to go in the arena and chase chickens. Of course Johnny got picked. (He is always going to feel the world revolves around him) He got pretty intimidated once he got down there but he stayed and got an autographed book from Dolly Parten. Yee Haw.

The next day we did the aquarium and a museum that was upside down called wonderworks (where yes, Johnny climbed to the top of a rock wall!). It was a lot of fun and good family time.

In between all of this John got to see Karate two times, gymnastics, an Astros game have a couple home cooked meals, celebrate his birthday, did a lot of yardwork (and purchased a new mower), got a pumpkin, did family pictures and got to see some friends. It was so wonderful being back together as a family which really made it hard to see him go again, especially knowing everything he is going to miss with the holidays coming up. Plus this time Johnny understands he is leaving for a while I just hope this makes him realize John will be back. And this time the wait is a bit shorter, I added a new ticker to the blog he will return in Jan. So we have to get back into the routine, hopefully Johnny will behave and I am going to put a lot of effort into finding John a job so come Janurary he can stay!

My Baby is 4!!

"Making the decision to have a child is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body" a great quote from Elizabeth Stone that my girlfriend shared with me.

I can hardly believe it has been 5 years since I found out I was pregnant. What a privilege it is to be a parent, scary as hell but one of the best things that has ever happened to me. Johnny has taught me so much about myself and given me a new perspective on life that I will always be grateful for. Happy Birthday Johnny Blue!

I sent him to school this morning bouncing off the walls excited about the day and the frosted sugar cookies to share with his class. (and of course that daddys home.) We are going to open presents then off to the fair. After that GiGi's and Poppy's for cake and more presents. If you cant tell by now, birthdays really suck around here . lol Then on Sat he is having a Pirate Party at the park with his friends that will involve inflatable swords and a pinata! Fun times

Johnny loves his dada

I will probably be MIA for the next 2 weeks that John is home but will try to keep the blog updated. Johnny has not let go of John since he got home, his hand has been holding a foot, a finger, a neck anything on John. I woke up in the middle of the night and Johnny was sleeping on top of John with both arms wrapped around his neck so tight I was concerned if John was breathing. lol. And every other thing outta the boys mouth is love you dada, im glad your home dada it is so sweet and I know it is making John feel good. I have never seen Johnny so happy. He and John truly have a bond that is unbreakable. I dont know how he is going to leave again all I know is its amazing to have him home.

The wait is OVER!!!

Cell Phone

John finally got his cell phone. Which is really good I will be able to keep in touch with him while he is traveling. I believe he will start heading this way on Saturday. He hasn't exactly gotten it all figured out yet but he has a number its a long one so grab a pen, and I don't think we will be able to save it in our phones.
1 866)305-6462 then you will be prompted to enter the global # 447924802923. This is a free call for you to make and free for him to receive. When he is back in the states he will have a new number, hopefully a 770 and I will let y'all know what it is. So if you want to give him a call go ahead and give it a try just don't forget there is a time difference, and he needs all the sleep he can get.

Play Balllllll

Fall ball has officially started, and started good. Johnny had his first game on Saturday and the Astros added a new assistant coach to the team, Poppy!! Everyone is really excited to have his help out there, especially Blue. It was good to see Johnny out there hustling for the ball, I must say he does get competitive and he is a bit of a ball hog. (A couple times he snatched the ball out of his team mates glove, guess we will work on that) He got his first hit of the season off the pitch and for me the highlight of the game was his slide into home. I enjoy watching him, and while I was watching all these little Astro's play I had a great idea for an invention, of course I am not going to blog about the idea but I will keep yall updated on the progress. And yes I am going to pursue it, I have seen too many of dads ideas in the store! But how in the world does someone keep quiet about something so good? I will have to get on this ASAP.

Sunday was picture day, a hit a thon and a bake sale. I never should have volunteered to make rice crispy treats I made two dozen the night before and somehow in the morning I was short like 5 (give or take lol). Looks like another weekend full of baseball with a game Sat and Sunday, then John will be home Tues!!!!!