Trick or Treat

Because Halloween falls on a Sunday this year, the town of Hinesville decided trick or treat hours should be moved to Saturday. We were even "issued" times that trick or treating would be allowed. 

Could we be in the deep South AND in a military town? 

Just maybe.

The costumes are held together with safety pins, and even with the pins, they just barely stayed together for the big night. Because of the generousity of our neighbors, no doors were knocked down, and no squirts from the water gun were necessary. However, Evan may need therapy after stopping at this house.

He told me, "I think that guy might be a little crazy because he is dressed as a woman!"

This Crazy Life of Ours

I was convinced I was going to be a widow left with the responsibility of rearing two young boys on my own. I had the million dollar life insurance policy allotted into the proper categories - on paper anyway. I had decided I would give the truck to some dear friends of ours. I envisioned the closets cleared of all men's wear - okay maybe I would keep a few shirts as mementos, but the desert gear was definitely gone. With the exception of where I would live, I had it all decided just in case the unit commander arrived at my classroom door one school day or the uniformed chaplain arrived at my front door one weekend.

Others might read this as crazy. I call it coping. I have heard that many military spouses do the same thing just prior to a deployment or during deployment.

However, on Thursday night, just twelve short hours before Wes was to leave for Fort Benning to catch a plane to fly into theatre, we received word that his orders for Afghanistan had been pulled. The story we got was command exceeded the cap for agents in theatre and troop movement (for agents anyway) was put on hold until January. I was the first to receive the news, and I think that I came just inches from jumping up and down and kissing Wes's commander. Instead, I calmly asked him, "Are you kidding me?"

At this juncture, it appears we have avoided another deployment - this makes the third in about a year's time. We won't hold our breath, though, because the next deployment list will be issued next month. Will we be lucky yet again?

London's Newest Football Fans

After Wes searched high and low for affordable soccer jerseys for the boys that represented two of London's big teams, he finally found a Chelsea Lampard jersey for Evan and a Rooney Manchester (we call it Manches for short here in Georgia because we're hip like that) jersey for Keagan. The next day Wes learned that a local in the Scotland Yard class has ties with the West Ham United team, and he was able to hook Wes up with free practice jerseys! The boys were pleased with all of their new soccer loot. Can you tell?

Wes even remembered the wrist bands. Evan can't believe how lucky he is to now have four. Unfortunately, he feels wearing all four (or three depending on the mood) simultaneously is cool - even if they reach the tip of his elbow and cause him to sweat more than can be possibly absorbed. I can't tell him otherwise.

Powder Monkey and Brush Boy

What do you get with a graduation from Scotland Yard, a delayed fight in London, a missed flight in DC, and an early Sunday arrival into Savannah?

A fun filled family day in the city!

We began with a trip to Fort Jackson near downtown Savannah.

During the cannon firing demonstration, Evan played the part of brush boy,

and Keagan played the part of powder monkey. It was the perfect job for a boy who can run fast and make quick hand-offs - even if the hand-off included artillery instead of a football.

We climbed to the top of the fort to look out onto the river and watch the boats pass,

and then we stopped at the Pirate's House in downtown Savannah for a wonderful lunch. Evan was not convinced that the old inn and restaurant were haunted, even after I shared the tradition of reading the ghost encounters in the Captain's Room.

I must add, for the sake of my dear father-in-law, that the mashed potatoes were perfect. Cheese and all.

Mission Boo the Neighbors

New neighborhood, new friends, and old traditions.

With the help of these two secret agents, we boo'ed three neighbors today. What boy doesn't want to bang on the neighbor's door, ring the doorbell multiple times, and then run as fast as possible?

I think the running as fast as you can away from the door is done so as to maintain the secrecy of your identity. In fact, I am certain of this, and it could be the very reason why I read the BooGram poem that stated this mission is a secret. Somehow we missed that key step in "how to boo the neighbors" because one of the agents, who will remain unnamed but can be clearly identified due to his inability to keep a secret, actually went to the neighbor's house and asked, "Did you get your treats?"

The FIre

Keagan's rec league soccer team had its first game today. 

He played one quarter as goalie.

He played two quarters on offense. 

He scored two goals,

the Fire won with a score of 4-0.

But who cares when you are making new friends?

Honor Roll

This is the first year that we have attended a district that gives letter grades instead of the E,S,N,U system, and today Evan came home with his first Honor Roll certificate. 

We are so proud of our little boy with his good citizenship award, his perfect attendance award, his all As report card, and his PE Blue Slip award. So proud. 

Until he decides to strip naked in the living room den, perform some dance move he has learned while watching Big Time Rush, and then fart for the show stopping finale.
We are so proud! 

Most of the time anyway!

The Real Army Guy

When I picked Keagan up from school on Friday, we had this conversation.
- Mom, this was the very best day of my life.
- Really? Tell me what happened!
- It was so fun, Mom. It was the best. You won't ever believe this.
- Well, tell me. I want to hear.
- We got to rotate to stations today at school and we met a police officer, a fireman, and a REAL ARMY GUY.
- A real army guy, huh?
- Yeah, he was the best!
- Keagan, you know you have a Real Army Guy that lives with you, right?
- No, Mom, this guy is the real thing because he wears camouflage, carries a gun, and fights in wars.
- Daddy is the real thing, too, Keagan. It's because Daddy is the Army that we are living in Georgia. It's the reason why I work on a military installation. It's the reason your daddy is going to Afghanistan!
- Mom, Dad might be in the Army, but if he doesn't wear the camouflage and shoot bad guys, then he isn't the real thing.

This coming from the little boy that just emptied Wes's duffle bag and pulled out every holster and piece of equipment associated with weaponry that was stuffed under his multiple pieces of camouflage clothing. However, isn't it ironic that he associates the other soldiers' deployments with war and his dad's deployment as a peace mission?

Look What Arrived in the Mail Today

If you lived on our street, then you would have heard the boys screaming when we arrived home today. And, no, it had nothing to do with a football game gone bad. Halloween costumes arrived! Clothes were stripped off before the front door was closed, and the costume parade began. Let's hope they stay together for two more weeks.

Keagan usually vacillates among four or five costumes before he makes a final decision. This year he made the decision rather quickly. He knew he wanted to be SWAT member because he wanted "to knock down doors to get extra candy."

His set of plastic hand-cuffs is already broken. Evan tried to escape his hold.

Evan's fascination with BEN10 continues. He was three when this TV show first aired, and he was hooked before it was cool to change into aliens and fight bad guys. However, this is the first year that he has chosen to be a character from the show. This year he is Spider Monkey so that he "can carry all that candy with the extra arms."

This costume is already four inches too short, but adult sized Spider Monkeys are just not made. I know because I actually had to ask. However, the length doesn't concern me nearly as much as the tail. Perhaps I should conveniently lose that.

The Barking Seal

This weekend Keagan had an endocrinology appointment at the Children's Hospital in Jacksonville so the boys and I made a weekend of it. However, on the drive to Jacksonville, Evan's cough and fever evolved into croup, the same sickness that had us frantically arriving to the Krakenhaus in Germany at 2:30 in the morning back in 2004 and the same sickness that put Evan in the ER and then the Children's Hospital in Virginia in 2005. The same sickness that every doctor said he would outgrow by the age of seven.

I think someone was wrong.

However, Evan is a trooper, and he refused to skip the zoo. We toted our barking seal as far as he could go, and then we carried him back to our hotel room for some R&R and the televised Cowboys game.

Would you know that my own exhaustion had me so overwhelmed that I arrived to the zoo with a camera but no memory card? I have no pictures of the lovely zoo, but I think it is just as well because the pictures would have surely shown Evan with his eyes half closed.

On Monday morning we found a shopping center just down the road from our hotel that left all three of us drooling - well, maybe just one of us was drooling. For the first time in MONTHS, I actually found a clothing store. As you know, I live in the sticks, and I did not know if the opportunity to browse the racks and racks of clothing would present itself again any time soon. I made the decision to take the boys into the store with me, and then when I found a few items to try on, I made the decision to take them with me to the dressing room, too. Evan later told me that it was the most embarrassing day of his sweet young life. To make up for it, I took him to Old Navy to purchase his first University of Texas graphic tee. Yes, he has a bright orange Longhorn t-shirt that he is so very proud to wear. (He made me promise to never tell you, Vikki. He promises to keep his love for Texas a secret until he gets accepted.)

That leads me to Keagan's choice of graphic tee. He choose the Georgia Yellowjackets and swore up and down the Yellowjacket was really an Ohio State Buckeye. When I tried to explain to him that his yellow shirt had nothing to do with the red and silver of Ohio State, he finally acquiesced and said, "OK. So maybe the Yellow Jacket isn't in the Buckeye family, but it is the same species."

We plan another trip to the zoo at our four month doctor visit for some much needed reteaching.

He Said It

Because I never want to forget how precious it is to have six and seven year old boys...

- This fog is so thick! I can't see jack!
- Who's Jack? Oh my gosh, Mom! Did you run over him?

- Mom, just tell me. Is Indiana Jones going to live or die?
- I'm sure he has another trick up his sleeve, and he will beat the bad guys.
- But Indie doesn't have a shirt on, Mom. Where will he hide his tricks?

- Keagan, those knee pads are not going to fit you. They are made for an adult.
- Mom, did you forget? I'm six now! I think they'll fit just fine.

- Mom, this twenty cents is for you.
- What's this for?
- I'm paying you for being such a good mom.

- Mom, I think I want to take a bath in the cajuzzi.
- OK. Let me run the water.
- (a few minutes later Keagan gets in the warm water filled with bubbles) I could get used to this, Mom. This is the life.

Phinneas and Ferb Musical

Evan's school musical "Phinneas and Ferb" was today, and it went off with all of the mistakes and miscues of any musical performed by seven year olds. I had all of the lines memorized from our nightly rehearsal, but I still didn't understand a word of today's performance. Even with the script, it didn't make much sense to me. 

I am relieved it is over, though, and I am even more relieved that Evan knew all of his lines because play rehearsal was just about as old as my hearing every day how excited someone is that 3rd brigade is returning next week from deployment when we still have 384 more days. I'm not jealous or anything.

It was a great joy to see Evan in the spotlight, to see all of those kids give him a big hug at the end of the play and to see the pats on the back as we walked the hallways on our way to the car. 

Here's to the long four day weekend and no more line rehearsals! 

Poppell Farms

Saturday afternoon we drove deep into the heart of Georgia for opening day at Poppell Farms. It is not anywhere near what we experienced at Cox Farms in Virginia, but it's fall and everyone should try their hand at a "corn yard" maze and take a hayride or two - even if the loudspeaker plays "baby" songs like "Old McDonald." Here are a few of my favorite shots.

This pic on the right was taken right before Evan had the bright idea of burying his head in the corn kernals to see if he would still be able to breathe. He could breathe when he came up for fresh air, but in the minute his head was covered by dirty corn, he scored a nose bleed. 

The hayride. Little one was ready for a nap!

Thanks to the Reeds for the invite!

Goalie Shots

After declaring less than a week ago that "goalie is the position of B-O-RRR-ING requiring long times in the box in the hot sun doing nothing but standing," Evan has decided he wants to play goalie. I am hoping that we will have yet another change of mind in the coming days because the pressure is just too intense for me. When I told Evan this, he asked, "What pressure?"

Weekend Sports Update: #4

After a late night last night, none of us were particularly excited to hear the alarm go off at 6:30, even if it was a Saturday and time for another weekend of games. However, we got to field one and Evan was super excited to see his good friend Benjamin on the opposing team. Little did we know that the team would prove to be a really good team. In fact, we almost lost. I didn't get to see the exciting finish because Keagan had a t-ball game.

We left field one for the baseball complex. Everyone now knows that Keagan takes sports to a whole 'nother level. When he plays, nothing can distract him, unless of course he finds someone running around the bases that is willing to talk as much he does. However, today he decided that this was the day to wear batting gloves to protect his hands from blisters. This proved to be quite humorous to most adults because while the other kids climbed the chain link dug out or drew pictures in the dirt, Keagan confidently put on not one but two gloves, clapped his hands to get the fit just right, and then practiced swinging the bat to ensure he got a good grip. This proved to be all in vain because he hit the ball to the pitcher. He is determined to make it work, though, and he has decided to keep practicing the swing with the gloves.