Birthdays....

August is of course one of my favorite months. This past week we celebrated Poppy/dad's 55th birthday and my 29th. With two birthdays in a row Johnny is freaking out about his- informing me of everything he wants, making party plans and the invites, little does he know GiGi's is next. Ha! Following the day long celebration at work, we had a nice dinner, presents and cake at Longhorns with the family on Thursday for dad. Mine started on Friday with a beautiful delivery of pink roses at work. That smell amazing! Then Johnny spent the night out and I got a night to myself. I got to catch up with some friends and sleep in, well until 6. I sware I am about to put Hickup and Dr. Bickers on craigslist for freeee, that dog was in my face first thing in the morning and not to wish me happy birthday. Even still it was so nice to relax and get a break for a second and I know Johnny had a blast at GiGi and Poppys. All I know is there was popcorn, marsh mellows and root beer involved, only at the grandparents! After taking Hickup for a long run I got cleaned up and headed out. The rest of the day was relaxing, we hung out at the pool and I got spoiled with rice crispy treats, cake, and presents!!! Not to mention an awesome dinner in which mom recreated my favorite O'Charleys salad of greens, strawberries, oranges and candy pecans, she really outdid herself - lol. With all of that I still missed John. Its just not the same without him around. I was worried that this experience was going to make us grow apart in some ways but I am realizing it is making us stronger. Thank you everyone who made my birthday special, I really appreciate all the great people I have in my life! Now I guess I better get to planning Johnny's pirate party!

Fall Ball

Well Fall Baseball has just started. Johnny is ready for it and I am too, it will be a good distraction for us both - hopefully. At the same time this is his and Johns thing so I am sure it wont be the same without daddy!
He is on the Astros! Which is great, he is on the team with a friend he made the first season of playing. And Fall ball is a little better for the kids because there are less on the team. As a Brave there was 12 kids on the roster, now there are only 8 so all the kids will really be involved on the field. I just got their game schedule and wanted to share it with everyone. If you want to come check out a game then let me know. They are all played at the Dacula Athletic Association, and give him a couple games to get the hang of it again. I will post pictures as soon as he gets his uniform!


Pre Tee
Astros
Date Time Place Home Away Score
Sat 09/11/10 11:20 AMField 2 Rangers Astros
Sat 09/18/10 4:15 PM Field 2 Astros Phillies
Sun 09/19/10 1:00 PM Field 2 Braves Astros
Sat 10/02/10 3:00 PM Field 2 Indians Astros
Sat 10/09/10 10:30 AMField 2 PhilliesAstros
Wed 10/13/10 6:00 PM Field 2 Astros Red Sox
Sat 10/16/10 3:00 PM Field 2 Astros Indians
Sat 10/23/10 9:15 AM Field 2 Astros Braves

This morning....

I realized how much Johnny is missing his daddy. He woke me up in the middle of the night and told me "I love you mama" as he crawled into my bed. When I went into his room this morning to get his clothes I saw the framed picture of he and John in his bed, Johnny must have slept with it all night. I am going to have to get that boy a pillow with Johns picture on it bless his heart, sleeping with a picture frame. I miss him too! One more month, we just have to make it one more month.

A Weekend of Firsts...

First time bowling...

And after ever roll he turned around with this cute face and gave me a fist pound, hug or chest bump

First time jumping off the diving board. (Remember at the beginning of summer he wouldn't even go under water!)And first time shooting a basket! No help from Poppy other then the coaching of course.

It was a good weekend and hopfully it will carry into the week. He also has started gymnastics and baseball starts very soon. Keeping busy!

Ch-Ch-Changes

More Changes for John in Iraq. The past week was a bit stressful for him and probably all the employees at KBR. There was a company wide meeting about layoffs and downsizing. Which in the big picture is good, the troops are starting the long process of moving out. But they were told no one is safe, however Gary believes John is, and he is really setting him up for success. John got moved back down to the Medical burn (where he spent his first 2 weeks) to learn the job and run it. John spent the past week reading books and binders on blood born pathogens, and OSHA compliance learning his job inside and out. He is such a fast learner and now has the medical burn organized with a fresh coat of paint. Literally. So there are 3 different jobs John can now do in Iraq, and not only do them but do them well. I am so proud of John and how hard he is working over there. I cant imagine working 12 hour days 7 days a week with no break - oh wait what am I talking about I am a mom. LOL

We got a camera over there to him and he has sent me some pictures. Johnny is really funny looking at them. He asked "thats what my dad growed up to be?" and of course then he told me he wants to go work in the desert with dada and I can just stay here with Hickup. Its good to be able to see where John is living and the people around him, and of course his face!

Cat Eye Hike

Trying to stay busy with different things to do I came across this night hike with Gwinnett County Parks and Recreation. I had to sign us up, because what is cooler then walking through the woods during the day, yep walking in the night with a flashlight. So we went to the store and Johnny picked out a new flashlight to guide us in the dark and we headed to the park. There was a pretty good turn out considering it was 130 degrees and humid - lol. There was arts and crafts, hot dogs and then relay games. Johnny was loving it especially all the attention he was getting from the girls. I witnessed him tell girls he was five of course I had to call him out and got the what the heck look. Im already cramping his style. It didn't get dark until about 9 and that's when the flashlights came out and the hike began. The employees had gone around the 1 mile loop and put eye stickers all through the trees and woods, so as the kids were walking and shining their flashlights they could see eyes in the night. It was pretty cool. Johnny of course found a frog, which Im ok with I was really worried about seeing a snake which I am sure he would have loved. I was so surprised by the amount of people complaining about the walk, both adults and children and I felt so fortunate that Johnny could have easily walked longer. When we got done with the hike there was smores waiting for us, I would say the perfect way to end an evening. The next activity we are going to do is a mother/son camp out. And no its not in a hotel, actual tents people. I am getting brave.

Earning that Cash Money

Yes, I am still talking about our yard. Well after seeing that our pine straw in the flower beds was a grey color and we now had bean stalk like vines growing out of our bushes I remembered cutting the grass isn't the only thing I need to do. Johnny was so excited he really wanted to help and he wanted to ride in the truck so I told him if he did then he could earn some cash money (thats what johnny calls it). That got him even more excited, and once we got home he took off his shirt got his clippers and started trimming the bushes with me (which BTW is the best arm workout I have ever had), then he hung in there and spread out the pine straw. I was very proud of him, he didn't complain at all and did a good job. So when it came time to pay him he informed me he would like one dollar in the big pennies aka quarters and one dollar in cash. When I asked why he wanted the quarters he rolled his eyes and said matter of factly, for the gum machines mom.