The best things in life are free...

Caleb and I went and visited with our neighbor, Mr. Bob, as he was having a yard sale. We really have been SOOOOOOOOOO blessed by our neighbors during this deployment, so it was a nice time to say hi, thank you, etc. also.

Mr. Bob directed Caleb over to the toy table while he and I chatted, telling him to pick something out. He immediately made a bee-line for a stuffed Shamu the whale. (He is ecstatic about our side-trip there in a few weeks...) When I asked Mr. Bob what I could pay him for Shamu, he politely declined, saying, "Its free for you today."

When I got to thinking about that...I thought, "The best things in life are free..."

• Whether its Shamu *grin*
• Our family
• Our friends and neighbors
• Or any of life's little blessings...

Friends, remember today...take a lesson from Shamu...the best things in life indeed are free. Cherish the little things.

I can't WAIT...

So, friends....we are now T-30 days and counting until Joshua gets home on leave. Please pray with us that the weather over there cooperates and he gets home on time, because we've planned a family getaway to Disney that we'd really like our daddy to join us on!! :-)

And now, as often as we can, we're going to update the "I can't WAIT...." blog...as a reminder to appreciate the little things in life...

Meg: I can't WAIT to hold your hand again. You know...in that funny way when I have to have my thumb and my pinky finger just where I want them...and you hate it. lol

Caleb: I can't WAIT to play "ka-chow!" with you!!

Josh: I can't WAIT to play "Transformers" with you and I can't WAIT to give you a hug and kiss.

*love*

Caleb-isms

The scene: Dinner at Don Pablos, sitting by the fountain in the middle of the restaurant...of course...one that you throw pennies into.

The players: Caleb and mommy (and Caleb's girlfriend-waitress...but that's another blog).

[Caleb throws a penny half-way across the restaurant. Whoops. We try again. Success!]


Me: Good throw, bud! What did you wish for?

Caleb: I wished that everyone in the whole wide world would be in our family.

[Mommy eyes the teachable moment...]

Me: What a great wish, buddy!! Did you know that that's the SAME THING Jesus wishes for all of us? To be in His family?

Caleb: [rolls his eyes and sighs] I already knew that, Mommy...


Scene ends. Don't really know how to follow that up...Way to go, kiddo. Way to go.

Only my kid....*shaking my head*

We were driving home from the mall tonight, and I had the windows down because the air conditioning isn't working (and yes, honey....I have an appointment at Saturn on Thursday...but I digress...). On the way home, though, we pass a landscaping company, and to be frank, it stinks. But then I hear THIS from the backseat:

"Ew!!! Mommy, put your windows up! It smells like daddy's feet all the way from Iraq. And THAT smells bad..."

That, my friends, is laugh-out-loud-funny!

*Edit* I need to add an apology to my poor husband...who did not think this was quite as funny as the rest of us. Sorry, honey!!! :-)

A much needed weekend...

We packed up the fam and drove up to Sandusky, OH this weekend for some much needed R&R. The school year is wrapping up, family stuff is crazy, and we're counting down the days til daddy comes to visit...so this was a nice break from it all.

If you've never been to Kalahari...put it on your to-do list. It was a BLAST!!!

Memorial Day fun!!

So I'm a little behind getting this post up. We had a cook out on Memorial Day and overall had a pretty easy day. The cookout was fun but the best part of the day was the water balloons. We have all been having our friends and families send us water balloons. See it gets hot and we definiltey throw them at each other. But the best thing we do with them is launch them from the 3-man sling shot we have. Our first one was one you can buy at the store that was built for 7 year olds. The balloons didn't go very far but we had fun with it for the 2o minutes we had it before it was broke. Then one of the guys, Sgt Stone, bought a new one on ebay. It is actually made with surgical tubing. These balloons fly now. I'm definitely going to be buying one. It was only $18 with shipping. Watch out!!

PS-I actually made this post about three weeks ago but my internet screwed up and I thought I lost it. I was super frustrated and didn't redo it. I was poking around and found it saved. Who knew???

At this time 6 years ago...

So I'm sitting in my room thinking about how much I miss Meg today. It was really hard for me. We had an easy day today at the shop. We watched movies, had a cookout and launched water balloons from a 3-man slingshot. But I found myself sitting alone for about a hour this morning thinking about how much I love Meg and how much I miss her today. I prayed for us as a couple and for us to be strong during this time. So after all the fun at the shop, we got released early today. As I poked around the room, I looked at my watch and saw it was 4:33 pm. Those of you that were there and remember our wedding, we actually started late. There was some confusion with directions with some of my family and they were late. And when I say some of my family, I mean the entire first 3 rows on my side of the church. Of course we needed to wait on them to arrive as they would of made quite the commotion when they did arrive. As I thought about just that one individual thought, I quickly remembered everything from that day. It was a beautiful Sunday morning. We had a party at my parents the day before since so many family members were in town. So we had a big get together. I remember getting to bed super late. We (the guys) had a plan to get up and go to breakfast at Bob Evans on Arlington Road. Sure enough, there were over 25 guys taking up a whole corner of Bob Evans. It was awesome! From there, the responsible thing would of been for all the guys in the wedding to go their respective ways to prepare to be at the church by 1:30 as the plan was laid out. Not us. I soon had roughly 8-10 guys back in our apartment playing Monkey Ball on the Nintendo Game Cube. In between rounds of Monkey Fighting, I got ready for the day. Fun right?

I can remember all of my emotions on that day. When I got to the church, I can remember hanging out and playing cards and my very soon to be mother-in-law telling us we shouldn't be playing cards in the church. I remember listening to music on a portable radio. I remember neglecting to stop at the store for some additional stuff and Tom R. had to bail me out (thanks buddy). And I definitley remember my parts of my extended family being late. And I remember Pastor Dave and his marathon prayers. But the greatest thing that I won't forget on that day is when I saw my bride for the first time. I remember how much I loved her at that moment and how wonderful she looked. I remember crying at the sight of the lady that was promising to stand next to me through it all, good and bad, highs and lows. When I'm being an impatient jerk or romantically sweeping her off her feet. I remember thinking how thankful I was to God for giving her to me. And as I look at it now, 6 years later, I am even more in love with my wife and she is even more beautiful to me today. She has taught me so much about myself and taught me so much about becoming the man I am today.

Meg-I couldn't be half the man I am today without you by my side. I love you more with each passing day and I can't wait until we are back in each others arms. You are my inspiration and my real life fairytale. I love you.