...to celebrate...

...Veteran's Day weekend with family...

Donnie's parents and brother, Dan, planned a trip to the North Country to visit before Donnie's deployment.  The deployment was officially canceled a few weeks ago, but thankfully everyone was still able to visit us!  I have mixed emotions about the deployment being canceled, while I am thankful that Donnie will be home for the holidays and not deploying right now, I hate the feeling of not knowing when and where he will go now.  But, that is life in the Army! 

Rob and Deb better known as Grandpa and Grandma arrived in time to watch the kids while we attended the 91st Military Police Ball.  It was a nice way to kick off the Veteran's Day weekend.  Being surrounded by soldiers and spouses who have made so many sacrifices for our country is humbling.

Uncle Dan arrived the next day!!  Luke and I picked up Uncle Dan at the airport, and had a little time to check out the Carousel Mall in Syracuse!  Donnie and the grandparents had a special Veteran's Day lunch and prayer service with Katie & John at their school.

Carousel ride at the Carousel Mall

We spent Friday, Veteran's Day celebrating Christmas!  We had a yummy brunch at Tin Pan Galley in Sackets Harbor, which was worth the wait in my opinion.  Honestly, the best stuffed french toast I have ever had in my life!  The kids then got to have a Christmas shopping spree at Target with Grandma and Grandpa!  It is a perfect way for Grandma and Grandpa to get to see the kids enjoying their Christmas presents since we won't be together for the actual holiday.  The kids LOVE being able to pick out their presents! Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures of Christmas!  I do have lots of pictures in my head of the kids opening up all of their loot and playing the rest of the day with all of the new stuff like it was Christmas Day!  So much fun!

Saturday was the Carthage Veteran's Day Parade.  The Augustinian Twirlers marched in the parade.  Katie was very excited for the parade!  I know she loved having all of us there to watch her!  I might be biased, but Katie was the cutest twirler in the parade! 

Ready to go to the parade!



I LOVE how happy she looked when she saw us!!!

To make up for all of the pictures I didn't take on Christmas, I tried to take plenty of pictures on our last day of fun together!

Luke  was mesmerized by the fork lift moving the crates of apples.

The apple cider making process was very interesting! After a thorough washing and scrubbing the apples are ground up, spread into sheets and stacked one on top of the other. These stacks are then pressed and the cider is squeezed out. Nothing is ever wasted. The left over squeezed pomace is used for fertilizer and wildlife feed.

Watching the cider press!

After a few pictures by the waterfall it was time for the freshly fried cider donuts that were almost to warm to eat!  So delicious!  And the apple cider was pretty good too!

Museum of Science & Technology (MOST) had something for everyone!  The kids loved all of the hands on experiments and displays!  It is nice to go somewhere where you don't have to say, "Don't touch that..." In most of the areas the kids could just explore what the museaum had to offer! The best part was the kids giant play area, but I didn't any pictures of that because I was inside playing too!

No Mom, I will not open my eyes for another picture!

Checking out the T-Rex!

Don't let him eat me, Uncle Dan!

Big kid on the climbing wall!

 

We had a wonderful visit with Grandpa, Grandma, & Uncle Dan!  We love you and can't wait to see y'all again soon!  

Fall Back...

What did you do with your extra hour? The kids set up a "spa" for us!  I love my sweet kiddos! 

Foot Massage

Snacks

Cashier Luke, because nothing is free!

Boo Y'all

It's Halloween Party Day at school! I spent the morning rushing around from one kids school to the other!  It was so worth it to see all of my babies having some Halloween fun! 
First up, Darth Vadar a.k.a. Luke at his pre-school party! 

Luke, I am your mother, look at me when I am taking pictures of you!

We put together spooky halloween puzzles!

Played bean bag toss!

Walked the balance beam!

Bowling anyone?

I didn't get to stay for all of the yummy treats and other Halleween games, but said that it was "a really fun day at school!"

Then I was off to see Katie (a.k.a Queen Elizabeth) & John's (a.k.a Anakin Skywalker) Halloween Costume Parade at their school! 

Queen Elizabeth

Anakin Skywalker

I was able to snap a quick picture of the kids as they walked by me.  It is so hard to get a good picture in the gym!

Happy Halloween!!! Can't wait for some Trick or Treating tonight!!!

Trick or Treat...

...so the rest of Halloween didn't go exactly as planned, but that is okay. 

One of the things I love most about the military is how much you can depend on each other.  Most of the time, you are thousands of miles away from family, so who do you turn to when your husband is gone and you are in need of something, anything?  Your friends!  And the friends that I have met along the way are truly the BEST part of being a military spouse! You can call on them anytime day or night!  Thank you to all of my military spouse friends who have been there for me when I needed them!

So, I spent my Halloween night doing what any of my friends would do for me.  Taking care of her sick kids while she was at the hospital with another sick kiddo.  Lucky for me, Donnie was able to come home from work early to take our kids plus the kids who had recovered enough to go trick or treating!  And being the big kid that he is, he busted out his pirate costume to go trick or treating with the kids! 

Trick or Treat!

I hope you had a Frightfully Fun and Happy Halloween!!!

2nd Grade Field Trip

Katie's class took a field trip to pick apples at Behling Orchards!  It was a chilly fall day perfect for picking apples.  All of the kids were super excited to go on the field trip, especially since it was postponed the week prior due to the rain.  Finally field trip day arrived!  Katie was so excited for some of her friends to be riding in our car and that we could watch a movie and have a snack on the way! 

After a quick lesson on picking apples (you twist the apple off the tree) the kids were off to fill their bags with fresh juicy apples! 

Finding the right apple to pick from the tree!

Katie with her bag of apples!

Me & my girl!

Wagon ride around the orchard!

The kids learned all about different kids of ghords and how to make apple cider!  Apple picking season is almost over, so unfortately the kids didn't get to play in the corn maze.  Accoridng to Katie this is the only thing that kept this from being the best field trip ever!  I think that all of the kids had a wonderful time and were thrilled to be taking home a bag of apples and a pumpkin! 

Katie's Second Grade Class

I am so blessed to be able to spend days like this with my children!  Katie and I had an awesome day with her class!  I am so thankful that I am able to stay home so that it is easy for me to be a part of special days with my angels!

Diabetes...

My life changed my forever the day I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes.  It has been almost two years since my diagnosis.  I still don't know why my body's white blood cells mistakenly attacked the insulin-producing pancreatic beta cells causing me to depend on shots of insulin for the rest of my life. But, they did and after another year of over 2,000 shots of insulin, today my life changed again.  No more shots!  This is my new insulin pump...

Of course, I will still be pricking my finger multiple times each day to check my blood sugar, but if all goes well then no more shots! I am thankful for this, but I have to say as excited as I am about no more shots I also have mixed emotions about going to the pump.  I never wanted to get to the point where this is what I needed.  I started out with only 2 shots a day of long lasting insulin, but over time this wasn't enough to control my blood sugars.  My "honeymoon" period is long over and the real effects of this disease are a part of my life.  So am I excited to have this pump, yes!  But, I am not sure how I feel about wearing this 24/7 except for the three S's (swimming, showering, and well you know).  Thoughts ... what will people think if they see it/when they see it?  will it get in my way?  will you be able to see it in my clothes?  It is literaly attached to me!  My hope is that my pump will give me better control of my blood sugar and more freedom with diabetes, although it will probably be the biggest fashion challenge I will ever have in my life!  Lord, please keep me positive!

Field Trip!

John's Kindergarten class took a field trip to Old McDonlad's Farm! It was a little chilly, but it didn't rain on us, so I think that makes for a fun field trip day! Luke was able to join us on the field trip too!

My boys at the corn maze!  Boy was that a muddy adventure!

The kids loved playing in the bounce house in the barn!  And Luke thought it was great playing with all of the big kids in John's class!  I think he thinks he is ready for Kindergarten.  Oh boy!

The boys checking out the animals on the farm!

We took a hayride out to feed the pigs, some goats, and the Giant Licking Cows!!

Next was our trip out to the Diary Farm to see the milking cows.  Girls Rule on this farm! You don't want to be born a boy on a dairy farm!


My favorite part of the day was seeing the newborn calf.  She is about 6 hours old in this picture and already snuggled up with a cat who lives on the farm.  It was so sweet! 

The boys, of course just loved beign able to run and play on the farm!  They have so much to see and do at the farm! 

We each picked out a pumpkin to take home to remember our special field trip day at Old McDonald's Farm.  I am so blessed to be able to spend days like this with my boys!  It's days like this that I will remember forever!  Love you, John & Luke!