Ms.Kelly

There is this beautiful, blonde angel that has stolen my heart. I never knew I could love another child as much as I do my own two. Once my baby sister had her first child I learned that this child was as dear to me as my own little monsters. Now next week this little angel will be 6. Was it really 6 years ago that I was given a play by play of my angel's birth? I wasn't able to be there when she was born because we lived so far away. I will never forget the phone call that informed me of my little girl's birth. I LOVE YOU MS. KELLY and I am so thankful for that special bond that we will always have.

What's up Lusterville???

Life is good in Lusterville! Last weekend we went to Myrtle Beach. It was a wonderful trip! Relaxing and fun with friends. We returned home to have a very busy but accomplishing week. I have decided to homeschool DaniKay. I spent the first part of the week getting her schooling in order and getting her into some camps. Kind of upset when they cancelled the 2 weeks of acting academy we signed her up for, but so is life. I'm very excited for her to start her dance academy again, she loves dance. She is also in driver's ed, SCARY!!! She is enrolled in a private school for her high school, which allows her to be at home and allows me the freedom of having to grade and keep records, SUCCESS!!! I love homeschooling but really am not going to have time for the grading and record keeping. College courses start again next month and Dakotah starts back to school at the end of the month. I'm not sure I am ready for either. While I already get up at 5am every day I am not ready for the battle of getting a 17 year old up each morning. That kid sleeps like a log, the house could fall down around him and he would still be asleep. He is going to have a full schedule this year and will only be working part time so he can focus on his classes. I'm so proud of him and the young man he has become. I couldn't ask for a better teenager :)I need to get his pictures developed from Honduras so I can post some of them. He took a disposable camera since we were unsure of taking electronics over.

Tornado 2011 & Stables

For those who have heard about the tornado of 2011 and those who haven't ... it stunk! Both my kids got to view the tornado first hand, as it tore through the Fort Bragg Stables. Dakotah said it was like watching the wizard of oz that papers were flying and everything. Dani said it was scary! The kids happened to be at the stables the day the tornado came blowing through. Dakotah stood outside and watched it until he had to go in then once it passed he went out and watched it go away. Dani was in a back room of the building where the tornado through a shed through the wall. Thankfully both kids and the others that were at the stables that day were all ok. The horses were even ok :) The stables, on the other hand, looked like a trailer park exploded! There were picnic tables in the trees and it was a mess. So sad that a place that so many called home was destroyed. Many of the boarders, us included, had to move their horses. We moved Yogi before the stables closed because she got caught in the fencing and was hurt. All of the stable horses went up for auction and found good homes. Those who boarded at the stables had to move their horses. The stables is now sitting empty waiting on whatever the army decides to put in next. It was a sad day when the stables closed because so many of us called it home. I have many memories of the stables and it is where I made some of my closest friends, who are now family.

FRG

Ok so those who know me will fall out of their chair ... guess who the FRG leader is for Don's company ... yep me! I know! I know! But it hasn't been that bad. Our FRG had all but fallen apart so we have a group of volunteers who are working well together getting it back up and running. We have some cool things in the planning but my favorite is the soldier/child ball that will be held in August. Dani is so excited that she gets to dress up and go on a Daddy date to the ball. Really neat and there are some volunteers who have put alot of time into the ball so I am looking forward to seeing how it turns out. Ok get back in your chair and keep reading. :p

Twitter anyone ....

My baby sister has decided that I need a twitter account. She has one that she uses often and since she isn't on facebook ... So I now have a twitter account. It has been nice to be able to converse with her while she is in another country via twitter. Funny how we communicate with each other has changed over the years.

MsKelly & O's

My baby sister ran off to Honduras with Kotah so I get to keep my angels! Everyone who has known me for any length of time knows what this means to me! :) They are so sweet and fun to have around. MsKelly is growing up and I can't believe she is going to be 6 next month! She is doing amazing and having so much fun with us. O is too stinking cute for his own good. We took them to see Brave and they both sat glued to the movie screen. Monkey Joes was also on the agenda and both kids played and played and played until O said "I want breakfast." Guess he was hungry so we took them across the parking lot for lunch. Today MsKelly is going to run errands with me then we are taking them book shopping. MsKelly is now reading chapter books so she needs to be spoiled with some new ones! :) It has been said that Aunt Stacy spoils the kids but there is one Uncle Don who has been doing anything and everything that those little ones ask of him :) I will be happy to see my own baby boy but am not looking forward to trading kids back with my baby sister :)

Craftiness?

I am happy to say that I can now go back to my craftiness. My new house has a kitchen big enough that I can go back to doing cakes. I can also go back to my scrapbooking and other crafty activities. I am so excited to have the space and some extra time to do the things I once enjoyed so much! :) I wish my sister lived closer so we could do crafty things together :)

Moving???

I moved with the help of the kids from Pope to off base. I love living off base and absolutely love our new house. It is so nice to leave the army on base and go home to where it is just us. We have lived on base the last 10 years and now I am wondering what we were thinking!!! :) Moving while Don was gone was probably not the smartest thing I ever did, just because I was in my EMT class, fire academy, college courses, volunteering, and doing the mom thing all while trying to move! But I did it and we were in our new house when Don came home. There are still boxes that need unpacked but those will still be there tomorrow. For now we are on a much needed vacation from life. I can say that for the first time in a year I am having a wonderful time of doing NOTHING!!! :)

Don :)

Not much to say except ... HE IS HOME!!! :) He is enjoying his leave and not looking forward to signing back in. He was ready for a vacation with his family :)

Stacy :)

Me? Where to begin ... this has been the most challenging deployment that I have ever been though: EMT class, college courses, fire academy, volunteering, Yogi, Dani's challenges, Dakotah's challenges, and just plain life :) I am proud to say that Lusterville made it through and the police weren't involved, not even one time, well except for Kotah's dump truck accident and traffic tickets!!! Ok so the police were involved a little but could've been worse. :) I am so glad that this deployment is over and Don is home to help me through the speedbumps that come our way. Although I did get a new car, since we are definitely not a Bravada only family :) Don got me a 2012 Sonic and I love it!!! It isn't what I wanted, as I wanted a truck and Don wanted a jeep but it gets 35 miles a gallon in the city and 42 on the highway! We decided that a fuel efficient car was what we needed because it's nothing for me to drive 100 miles in a day when I am running errands and taking kids to appointments :) Over the last year I finished the fire academy and also finished my EMT course. The EMT course was challenging but it is my proudest accomplishment :) I was volunteering as a firefighter but quit when it was time for Don to come home because I just didn't have enough time to keep up with everything going on and to volunteer. I miss it though, as I loved doing it. I am unsure, at the moment, where I am going from here. I need to sign up for some more college courses and decide what I am going to do with my EMT training. I am thinking I am going to try and volunteer for Womack Army Medical Center to keep up my EMT skills til I figure out what I want to do. I love riding the ambulance but I also loved being in the ER so time will tell :) In the meantime, I am currently just enjoying my last week of leave with my hubby and kids :)

Kotah :)

Dakotah? Oh boy oh boy! My sweet little devil in disguise :) I love this kid so much and can not believe he is going to be 18 this year. I am not quite sure where the time went from when he was born til now. I could not be more proud of the young adult he has become. He is doing wonderful! At the present moment he is in Honduras, having a wonderful time with his aunt and uncle. He is still driving the exploding explorer and working all the time. He says he is tired of working, but it's in his blood to be constantly busy so he would go nuts if he had nothing to do. He will be a Junior next year and will be working hard toward graduating. He is enjoying his teenage years and having fun. :)

DaniKay :)

I have really been bad at keeping up with my blogging. Let's see ... DaniKay??? I can not believe that she is going to be in high school in August or that she is taking drivers ed next month!!! My baby girl is growing up! I don't know who told her she could but I don't like it!!! She is still into her horse, Yogi. She doesn't get out to ride as often as she would like because her momma is so busy but we do our best to go and ride and give that spoiled, lazy pony some exercise! Dani has found a passion for photography and is actually pretty good at it. :) Not much is going on in Dani's life since it is summer. She is just waiting patiently to start drivers ed. Her momma is just waiting for the driver's ed teacher to quit once he has ridden with her! We let her drive last year when we were home and once she hit 30mph she drove straight toward the corn fields. When she went to pull over she didn't slow down but drove 20mph straight toward the corn field. Also when it was time to drive over a tiny bridge she said "Oh no it's a bridge, what do I do?" Oh yes we do adore our little DaniKay :)

Challenged kiddo???

As some may know my sweetest baby girl has had some challenges. It has been a long and hard road for her. In January of this year she had more than enough challenges to last her a lifetime! She had to be in the hospital for a week away from her family. It was hard to not be able to be with her while she was in the hospital. She is one tough cookie though because she made it through the tough times and is once again on the upper side of things. She still has bad days but overall I believe we have finally found what is working and things are looking up for her. :) It's tough to be on the outside of a challenged kiddo when you can't fix the problem. I wish I could trade her places and take away all the issues but it's something she has to learn to deal with, which has been challenging because she doesn't want to be "different." I keep telling her that if everyone was the same that this world would be boring! I like her being different because it's what makes her my little "tree hugging hippie child" :) Love you kiddo!!!!

Lusterville Vacation

Lusterville vacation 2012 has been wonderful! Don took off an entire month this time instead of his normal 2 weeks. It has been so much fun hanging out with him and having him home every day. I am going to be sad when he has to go back to the "real" army world of work :( We took the kids to Busch gardens where we got stuck at the top of a roller coaster. DaniKay was very upset and scared. Of course being the good father and brother of Lusterville they both made fun of Dani and gave her lots of grief :) The next day we went to New York and New Jersey. Well that was an adventure! I do believe that the drivers of the city honk their horns to just hear the honk. I hated driving in New York! We did have a great time there and saw some beautiful buildings. I enjoyed one of the local cemeteries. They had beautiful scenery and some of the tombstones dated back to 1740, talk about history! We saw the Statue of Liberty and also went to where the Twin Towers were. The next day we went to Hershey, PA. We made our own Hershey bars and had some amazing chocolate covered strawberries and huge cupcakes! After Hershey we headed to Birmingham. Birmingham is where the loves of my life live. My baby sister, her two kids, and her hubby all reside in Birmingham. I love going to visit them! This was the first time that Don had ever met O, who is 2 1/2 and the first time he had spent more than a day with MsKelly, who is 6. Don had an amazing time hanging out with everyone. After a couple days we left to head back home. Dakotah stayed with Aunt Ju so that he could go to Honduras with her and Paul. He is going to have an amazing time hanging out with them for 2 weeks :) MsKelly and O came home with Lusterville! We are so excited to have them with us. We are going to do so many things with them before we return them to their parents. :)

Terrible Twos???

Terrible Twos??? NO not from my sweet and precious little blonde haired, blue eyed boy! He would never have a fit! O has been potty training. Every time he potties in the toilet he gets jelly beans. Well this morning he had an accident so he didn't get jelly beans. My sweet precious O laid in the bathroom floor saying "NO!" for about 5 minutes. Of course I thought it was cute and too funny but he was very upset with Aunt Stacy! :)

Deployment Homecoming

Don is home! It was an amazing homecoming too! The soldiers were greeted by loving friends and family at Green Ramp. For the first time in my deployment experiences we got to stand outside and watch the plane taxi in and see the soldiers exit the plane. The Rolling Thunder and Patriot Guard were there with flags to walk the soldiers up the ramp. Dani got to help hold one of the flags and escort her Daddy and the other soldiers up the ramp. She was very excited! :) Don's mom, sister, and brother-in-law all came to welcome him home. That was neat since they have never had the chance to greet Don on a redeployment. Don's sister and her husband stayed a day with us then returned to Indiana. Don's mom stayed 2 weeks before having to return home. It was fun having family there when Don returned. Dakotah is very happy to have his Dad home so Lusterville is once again testosterone/estrogen even. Dani is very happy to have her Daddy home. I also is extremely happy to have my best friend home. :) WELCOME HOME LUSTER. WE LOVE YOU!

Lusterville Adventure ....

It's that time again ... time to catch up on my blog for the past year. I have been so busy I have let it go but it's time to update and catch up on my blog. In the next few weeks I will be posting lots of things that have happened over the last year of our deployment. I can't believe we made it through another one with the kids both alive and noone in jail :)

It's that time again ...

Well it's that time again ... time for a blog. :)

Don is deployed and well it isn't fun but so is the Army lifestyle. It's what you make of it.

Dani is doing amazing. I am so proud of her. She is taking swimming lessons because she wants to join the swim team in a few months. She is also working toward joining the track team next school year. She joined my gym and is working hard to be healthier. She is making healthy eating choices and quit drinking soda!!! So proud of her! :) Let's see .. oh she is going to an overnight horse camp for a week and is very excited! She is hoping to do some volunteer work this summer and is also taking western style riding lessons. This kid is doing amazing things! She is going to be homeschooled next year except for band and whatever other elective she is taking. She will go to the school on post for band and electives. Gonna be a great school-year for her :)

Dakotah is doing good too. He is working and going to school online. He is doing good. We will soon decide and register for what college classes he will take this fall, something automotive of course. He is enjoying just being a teenager. Oh and he is growing again, getting taller. :)

Both kids are doing good with Don being gone. I am very proud and happy that everyone is doing so well. My kids are growing up so fast and turning into awesome teenagers. I couldn't ask for better kids during a deployment :)

I am doing good. Still going to the gym twice a day and enjoying my time with my kids. I have registered for fall and am procrastinating turning in the rest of my paperwork for financial aid. Need to get myself in gear and go up to the school. I just hate going because they are always busy no matter what time of day I go. I am still babysitting Lil Kota and am now babysitting Taylor too. Taylor is 2 and so sweet and independent. I am just trying to get through this year one day at a time and keep my kids as busy as possible!

Well that is all for tonight. I will try to post here more often. I just forget and get busy and all that garb :)

Life in Lusterville Today ...

I haven't updated this blog in such a long time! Ok here goes ...

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I cooked and prepped for Tuesday and Wednesday so I didn't have as much to do on Thursday. We had so much food. I made sweet potato casserole, mash potatoes, stuffing, turkey and noodles, lasagna, chicken alfredo(Don's bday request), green beans, corn, and bread. Our friend, Dan, brought a turkey. For desert I made chocolate/peanut butter squares, cherry pie, apple pie, banana pudding, Don's bday cake, brownies, and pumpkin pie. It was fun hanging out with everyone.

Don's birthday was on Thanksgiving this year. Everyone who knows us knows that I love Don's birthday because he is older than me for about 4 months! This year we got him pretty good. It was so much fun! On Wednesday they had a Turkey Bowl at his unit. A Turkey Bowl is where the different companies play football for a trophy. Well Don brought Dakotah with him to the Bowl and Dani and I went and bought him balloons. When we arrived I went and found the LT and he went with Dani to the car. Don was very confused why Dani brought the LT to our car. When they returned someone called all of A Co. together and LT gave Don one of the balloons and Dani gave him the rest. A Co. also sang Happy Birthday to him. :) So great!!! It was fun for the LT to help in the fun because Don is always messing with him. lol

What else? Dakotah is now being homeschooled. He goes next week to take his entrance exam into the local community college. He is going to dual enroll between homeschool and college. He can take science, history, math, and technology courses at the college. So I will just have to do English. It will hopefully work out well. We go in two weeks to register him for his courses. Then he will start in January. He is still going to the stables and volunteering. My kids are so happy out at the barn. :)

Dani is doing great! She is a little jealous that Kotah is being homeschooled but I'm not pulling her out. She still wants us to buy her a horse but has to wait til we have our own land. I keep telling her that we only have a little under 8 years til her Dad retires and then we can get one. In the meantime she is still going to the stables to volunteer and is loving it!

Dani and I got her Christmas tree up and the presents under it. She was so happy to see her tree. The Christmas tree and lights are her favorite part of the season. She has decided that we need to use clear wrapping paper from now on so she can see what her presents are! :)

Don is doing good. He's just going to work and going to work and going to work ... vicious cycle! lol :)

I'm doing good. I went and collected 750 toys for military kids last weekend. It is a wonderful feeling to know I'm helping these kids have a great Christmas before deployment! I go one more time before I have to hand out the toys to families. My college courses are going. I'm ready for Christmas break. What else? Oh I have been working as a substitute. I have been working one or two days a week.

Well that's the update on Lusterville. Til next time ...

Been a While...

WOW it has been a while. Let's see ....

Dakotah's torn hamstring is now almost healed. He is doing a great job in school. I can't be more proud of this kid! He is playing the drums and is hoping to do marching band next year. That's exciting since his high school is #2 in the state of NC.

Dani is doing good. She is well just being Dani! She did great in her horse show last month. She really loves her horses!!! She had a small issue with her depression a couple weeks ago but I think we have it back under control. I can't believe how grown up she is becoming. Kinda sad but great at the same time! She is going to Myrtle Beach this weekend with the youth from church. They are leaving Friday and coming back Saturday so it will be a short but fun trip!

Don is good. He is ready for a vacation! Work takes alot out of him sometimes. The whole getting up at 430 and not coming home til 6 or 7 is kind of a killer on the body and mind. He has been playing games with his friends at our house on Saturdays. It is always so much fun to have his friends here ... they are hilarious and always have fun!

I'm good. My classes are keeping me busy. I'm hoping to start working sometime soon. I have the sub job but so far just haven't had the time. College, kids, life in general .... keeping me busy!

Jinx is good. He wasn't eating for a couple weeks but is back on track. They said he was bored with his food. So we added some canned food and he's gaining weight again. So thankful!

Dani and I took a trip to Indiana for a few days the beginning of this month. It was alot of fun seeing everyone. The fam also went to Myrtle Beach for one last time while the weather was good. It was fun but Don thought the water was too cold. Yea Dani and I were in the waves! :) Carolyn came last Thursday and stayed til today. It is always nice when family comes to visit. She is such a great mother-in-law.

Well I think that's it for Lusterville.