CHRISTMAS 2008

Christmas was fun...beautiful sunshine, pretty white snow, family, good food, games, and lots and lots and lots of presents. I didn't get a lot of great pictures because I was having too much fun, but I'll share what little I did get.

My sister received the game "REDNECK LIFE" from her husband...what exactly does that say?!!? But it was a fun game...rather like Monopoly with a Redneck Twist. Kamille begged for a "dead frog hat" like Uncle Lee wears, and this is by far her favorite gift.

Even the dogs got Christmas gifts...in the form of a "doggie sucker". My sister was intent on opening a gift, I'm just not sure what gift it was. There were too many to keep track of.

My husband made out like a bandit. He couldn't even contain all the gifts as they were being delivered from the massive pile. The smile on his face says it all and definitely, his favorites were the Seattle Seahawks floor mats, steering wheel cover, and fleece blanket with the Seahawks design. Of course, the iPod Shuffle ran a pretty close 2nd. This other picture shows how my sister's morning played out after opening presents. That's what happens when you have kids who are keyed up, won't go to bed, so it's midnight when you're trying to fill stockings and getting rid of the cookies and milk the kids left out for the Jolly Fat Man (no...not my husband!)

Year in Review

This is really a pathetic way to do the "yearly letter" thing, but life has been a little too hectic this week to get anything else done, so this is all you get....all 1 or 2 of you that really care. I'm a little ill prepared, as I don't have "notes" on our family's life in the past year as I found out my sister does, but guess we made it through the year, regardless. So, here goes:
January this year found us in Baker City for my husband to undergo Rotator Cuff Surgery. He had injured his shoulder at work in October 07, but in typical insurance and medical fashion, it took that long to get the right surgeon, the right tests, etc. So, we knew it was going to be a long, drawn out recovery. We just didn't realize it was going to be as bad as it has been. We also began a new experience in coaching 4th grade basketball. We both had played basketball in high school, but coaching was a stretch for us. We finally gave in when the coordinator put it in perspective when he said "They are 4th graders, it's not like they are going to realize whether you know what you are doing or not." We started early January and Steve was not able to do much because of his shoulder, but his knowledge and physical presence was very helpful. They did not have enough boys and girls to have separate teams, so we coached a co-ed team.
February found us searching for teams to play in other towns. Apparently, there were no other 4th grade teams, so we got about 3 games, one being against a mix of 4th, 5th and 6th graders, and two against our 6th grade girls here in Union. We certainly have to hand it to our team as they never gave up, even though they were staring at the 6th graders belly buttons. They had fun and made our job very easy because they always showed up with good attitudes and a desire to learn.
March brought Spring Break which was pretty uneventful. It seems like it rained the whole time, so I remember a lot of phone calls at work from Steve asking for suggestions for indoor activities to contain 2 young girls with cabin fever.
April of course is Birthday Month in our family. My late grandmother's was the 16th, my oldest, Kamille was born the 17th, and my oldest nephew was born on the 18th. My brother-in-law's birthday is the 23rd, my brother's oldest boy Brandon was born the 24th and my baby, Keanna, was born on the 25th. Throw some of my Uncles in there, and a couple anniversary's and it makes for one busy month. This year, I got brave (or maybe it's stupid, I'm not sure) and invited 2 friends for each girl and went to a local motel in La Grande where we went swimming, pigged out on pizza, cake, ice cream, strawberries and whip cream, soda, and various other sugar-laden goodies. We did facials, manicures, pedicures, hair and makeup. BOY, what an experience that was. If I ever offer to take 6 girls, aged 7-11, and sugar them up and contain them in a small motel room, I hope someone will admit me to the nearest nut house. But, the girls loved it and talked about it for days on end, so I guess it was a good thing.
May brought some tears to our family. The military already has one of my nephews, and during this time, he was deployed for his 2nd round. But, my next oldest nephew decided he wanted to go in the Air Force and they don't observe holidays when it comes to Boot Camp. On Mother's Day, my sister and her family loaded Kyle up and took him to Pendleton to fly to Texas for Boot Camp. Before he left, my parents had come up for the weekend and we all met for lunch with his dad's sister and mother and said our tearful goodbyes. I don't think it was any easier for my sister to see her second go, especially with it being on the day that is supposed to honor her. We were also worried about my niece Chandra in Arkansas, as she was caught in two of the multitude of tornadoes they experienced there. Thankfully, only some minor outdoor damage to a shed, but scary nonetheless. Little League started the end of May, just as school was finishing for the year. Both girls were in Coach Pitch this year and did very well.
June brought Stock Show and of course, Parma Convention. It was also the month I decided that my children needed me at home and it was getting SO costly to drive back and forth to La Grande every day with gas prices skyrocketing, so I resigned from my job on the 11th, just in time to be able to accompany the girls to Parma for the entire time. That was a special treat for me. My best friend Niki came home from Alaska for a summer visit, and we had a LOT of catching up to do. Always fun to be with her, regardless of whether we're doing something fun, or just hanging in the living room chatting away. It was crazy to see how much her kids had grown and fun to hear of her adventures in the bush of Alaska where her husband is a school teacher. This is his 2nd year there, but she and the children have only been there for one year. They are looking at 1 more year at least, then don't know what their plan is from there. I just don't think it will be to continue in "QuackAttack" as they call the village where they are living. That's a lot easier to pronounce than Quinhagak (which is actually pronounced "Kwin-a-hawk") My husband's birthday was the 30th, and he chose to just have a quiet BBQ with Niki and her daughter. Our girls were down visiting with their dad in Idaho, so it was a rather quiet affair.
July was memorable for me. With the girls at their dad's for the 4th of July holiday, and Steve's daughter staying with us for awhile, we loaded up and went to my parent's property in Council, Idaho and spent 4th of July there. I was born while my parents lived in Council (although I was born in Weiser due to complications) so most folks there know me, but I vaguely remember most of them. However, my mom's half-brother who is the same age my brother would have been was there, as his wife's grandmother lives in Council. So, we spent some really fun-filled days with Mark and his family, my parents, and Steve's daughter. We played cards in the camper at night, spent the VERY HOT days trying to find shade, or going in to town for festivities, watching the parade, porcupine races, and fireworks in town on the 4th, and lots of just lazing around enjoying ourselves. It was hard to come back home and face the real world again. Mom and Dad's property is so relaxing...not far out of town, but very much "primitive"...they just got power installed a couple years ago, but it is definitely "in the woods" and relaxing. Beautiful sunsets, deer, coyotes singing us to sleep...it don't get much better. Then, of course, I had to get sick, and ended up in the ER in Ontario when we got back from Council as I had a stomach bug and a raging kidney infection along with the busted rib I encountered while helping my dad move some machinery the day before we went to Council. That was not the way I wanted to end a fun adventure.
August was hot, but we spent a LOT of time in the mountains picking huckleberries with my sister and niece. She was selling them to raise money for her trip to Europe next summer and it's always enjoyable to spend an afternoon in the forest. There were always lots of laughs, awesome sunsets, even a trip with mom and dad included and the fateful screaming trip down the mountain when Kamille chose to throw a rock at her sister's head. We were supposed to go to my family reunion in Utah, but with gas prices the way they were, we just couldn't swing it, so we had to back out. I had a quiet birthday party with my family and my sister gave me a water-bath canner and several other things required to home-can fruits and veggies. My sister labeled me the "fruit-nut" because anybody who had fruit they didn't want, I was the nut that would gladly go pick it. Between my sister and I, we canned over 400 jars of "stuff", everything from fruit, to veggies, to pickles, kraut, jam, pie fillings, etc. Lots of those canned items got entered in the Union County Fair by my sister. Also, the girls entered cookies in the fair and they both won blue ribbons. I'm afraid it might have started an annual trend. But, that's not all bad. We prepared the girls to start back to school with clothes and school supply shopping. We spent every Wednesday and Sunday (and any other time we could get free) on the bank of Pilcher creek fishing. My mom's brother Bud is the camp host there, and we love fishing that reservoir, so we spent as much time there as we could.
September found us sending a 3rd grader and a 5th grader off to school. They are growing up so fast, and I just don't know how to handle them some days. Kamille is really turning into a young lady and Keanna gets more "tom-boyish" every day. We also were glad to have my oldest nephew home on Labor Day weekend for a 3 week visit before deploying to Iraq for his 3rd tour. We took him fishing one day, and spent some time just chillin' with him, listening to whatever stories he was willing to share. He was also glad to sample the canning his mother and I had been slaving over for the past couple months.
October was full of several different activities....a few last trips for huckleberries, but they were beginning to freeze and not be any good. Fishing was starting to get a little miserable with weather turning cold. My sister got an apple cider press for her birthday, so we started pressing cider and selling it to raise more money for the kids' trip to Europe next summer. Also, Leasa got a smoker for her birthday, and I'm here to to tell you, she has smoked everything she can get her hands on. She plans to smoke a turkey for Thanksgiving and even though I don't like smoked meat, she did a pretty good job and I actually ate some and enjoyed it. We had a booth at the local Fall Festival and worked our tails off to raise money for Britta's Europe trip. We also did a booth at the local University's Homecoming Celebration. Lot's of work, but worth it when she can put more money in that bank account. Halloween came and we got to welcome my sister's 2nd son Kyle home for a 3 week visit before reporting to California at Vandenberg Air Force Base for his permanent station. We put up signs in their driveway, hung balloons, dressed in as much red/white/blue as we could find, and thanks to a well-placed cell phone call, we were standing at the driveway waving flags when they pulled in from Boise with him. We went to a masquerade ball early in the evening that doubled as a rehearsal dinner for a friend getting married the next day, then home for a few stops of trick-or-treating then home to bed.
November 1st found me in La Grande helping my sister put the finishing touches to Tammy Benitez's wedding. We've known Tammy and her family for a long time and even though she is wedding coordinator, she asked my sister to step in and take over for her on her special day. My parents came up, so that was an added bonus. We had a "mock" Thanksgiving and Birthday party for Kyle, as he would be leaving November 20th to go to California and would miss Thanksgiving as well as his birthday in December. Again, my parents came up and we enjoyed our time with all the family. Kamille was voted by her peers to possess the characteristic of "CARING" so we went to the Assembly and proudly watched her accept her award. Thanksgiving was a very special day for us. My sister always goes to La Grande to be with her in-laws, but she and her husband were kind enough to "loan" us their kitchen so I could prepare Thanksgiving dinner for my mother and father, Steve's mother and father, and his sister and 2 nieces. This was a first for us....to have both sets of parents together, and after a rough start with me and Steve's dad after our wedding, it was SO nice to have a lovely day, with good food, good memories, and hopes of repeating this in the future.
December started with a bang, as my sister asked me to help her ready her house to be part of the Rotary Club Holiday Home Tour. This required LOTS of little projects, several trips for decorating supplies, and hanging of lights, garland, cleaning house, touch-up painting, organizing, and decorating. Believe it or not, she has over 270 snowmen, and I can guarantee you I touched every single one of them at least once, if not more. The day of the tour was the reward, though, as several people wanted to "trade" houses, and several asked if they could just move in and stay forever. The house looked wonderful, with a "primitive/western" Christmas theme and I was very proud of my sister's creativity. Obviously, I do not share the creative gene she seemed to inherit, but I make a good slave...climbing ladders, painting, moving furniture, cutting pine garland and hanging rope lights. It's a good match, what can I say. I'm just SO glad that my sister and I have a new relationship that we haven't had in the past. It's fun to spend time with her, and we've done a lot of it. I hope it continues to grow as each day passes. My friend Niki from Alaska gave me a wonderful surprise. She called my husband and got him to help her plan for a knock on the door to announce "HI...WE"RE HERE TO VISIT FOR CHRISTMAS" I was so excited, as I didn't think she was going to make it for the holidays and time spent with her is ALWAYS memorable. Christmas finds us snowed in, my parents in Vancouver because my dad's mother is very ill, facing her last days because of kidney failure, blood clots on both lungs, congestive heart failure, and a heart that is operating at 20 percent capacity. But, she's a tough lady, so we'll see how that plays out. The girls have a long Christmas Break, but won't be able to spend time with their dad as the storms are so bad, roads are closed on both sides of us. We went out to my sister's Bed & Breakfast cottage and spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Night there and THOROUGHLY enjoyed ourselves. We enjoyed having my brother-in-law's sister and husband join us for dinner and played games and enjoyed a wonderful day. We look forward to starting up basketball again after the kids return to school January 5th. We will be coaching 5th grade this year, as they allow us to move up with our kids, however, it appears there may be enough boys and girls to have separate teams this year, so we'll see what happens. The Christmas Program just before school let out for break was a BEAUTIFUL surprise for me. My daughter had a solo part in one of their songs and she performed AWESOME. She has a great voice, loves music, and will go a long way with her desire to learn more. She got a harmonica for Christmas and has intentions of starting the flute in 6th grade band when she gets there.
So, here were are today, anticipating 2009 and wondering where it will take us. With my husband still not released to return to work, and me not working, a move may be in our future. We certainly hope not, as this is "home" for Steve as all of his family is here, and I've lived here longer than I've ever lived anywhere in my life. My children enjoy school here, and all their friends are here. But with major lay-offs and huge businesses closing their doors, my husband may find himself going through Vocational Retraining, and we have no idea where that will take us. But, we know that we'll make it through, and we just continue to function as a family unit and try to make each day the best it can be.
We hope 2008 was kind to all of you and 2009 holds a bright future for you. I don't know how many of you actually read this junk, but to those who do, we hope you had a WONDERFUL Christmas. Cassie, I want you to know that 80 percent of my Christmas gifts were homemade and your post were a huge encouragement for me to do so. Katie, you're snow flake strings on the dental floss not only were a great project for the girls, we used it in Leasa's home decor for the Tour of Homes. To the rest of you, I love reading your posts, keeping up on your family and their happenings, and watching your families grow and change. Best of wishes to all of you in 2009. Happy Blogging!!!!

KAMILLE'S FIRST SOLO PERFORMANCE

Our girls' Christmas program was this past Wednesday night. Kamille kept telling me she had a surprise for me but I had no idea until we got there and picked up the program paper and saw her name.

She did an awesome job...even brought tears to her momma's eyes. A little boy in her class also sang a solo part. They both rocked it and the whole gym erupted in applause. Kamille LOVES music and that is the only class I never have to worry about her behaviour or progress in.

This was Keanna's class singing Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree..she is in the middle row, closest to the camera in a purple shimmery dress. She has a little nervous gesture where she grabs handfuls of her dress when her hands are idle, even though she knows her songs and belts them out. We were certainly entertained!!!!

This clip is of the other little boy who sang a solo part as well.

LIVING ROOM

This Grandfather Clock always looks sharp in the living room, but it absolutely shines with garland and lights strung across the top. The top of the entertainment center is covered with "snow" and several of her 270 snowmen on sleds.

This little fireplace just adds to the warm atmosphere and charm of her living room. Of course, it's also one more flat surface to fill with snowmen! The quilt hanging in the living room is our Great-Grandmother's. The bears are made out of my sister's baby blanket. The long "stick" that the quilt is hanging on is an old wallpaper ruler my sister found at a yardsale for next to nothing and she had a local man build a shelf to incorporate that ruler as a hanger for her quilts.

This living room window behind a couch looks out into their back yard patio and the hay field beyond. There are ALWAYS an abundance of deer to be found feeding on the remnants of the alfalfa that is raised there.

BATHROOM

The bathroom was tiny, with pink brocade wallpaper and nothing but a shower stall, a toilet and sink, and a hot water heater. When they remodeled, it took on a western theme.

A horse bit is the toilet paper holder and a stirrup is the towel holder in the bathroom

All of the decor is western throughout, even during Christmas, as you can see by the above wreath. My sister painted the bathroom in 3 tones of brown, put up a western wallpaper border about 12 inches from the very high ceiling. Then, she painted above the border and all the ceiling in a pale blue and swirled white paint to make it look like clouds in the sky. It really makes the bathroom seem so much bigger than it really is and MUCH better than what it looked like when they bought the home.

The mirror is one of my favorite things in the bathroom. I love the rope on the corners. Also, when we were young, we never missed a year of the Snake River Stampede held in Nampa, Idaho. When they tore down the old grounds and moved to the Idaho Center, my dad snagged this sign hanging in my sister's bathroom. It's hard to see well in this picture, and it's started to fade a bit, but it sure adds the perfect touch to this bathroom.

I have to pat myself on the back with these two pictures. First, this summer, we were at a yard sale and she found this tiny little pair of lace-up cowboy boots for 50 cents. She was going to give them to a friend for play shoes for her son. Instead, I tied the laces and hung them on the empty peg on this shelf over her tub. It looks really cute. Notice the Wrangler Jean Christmas stocking. The other reason I'm tooting my own horn here is because I came up with the idea of filling the bathtub and putting floating candles and potpourri in it. It's a beautiful jetted tub, but because of hard water, there are stains coming out of the jets where the water drains after a bath. So, this was my idea of camoflauging those stains, and EVERYBODY commented about the beautiful atmosphere it gave the bathroom. Guess maybe all that time spent with my sister is starting to rub off on me. Maybe I'll "inherit" some of her plentiful talent!!! One can only hope, right!?

DINING ROOM

This "sideboard" as my Grandmother called it is proudly displayed in my sister's dining room. She stores table linens, candles, and some dishes there.

This little row of mittens hanging under the snowman sign hangs above the door between the kitchen and dining room.

This is how we set the table for display. The dishes are from my Great-Grandmother. They were earned from premiums from either oatmeal or laundry soap, much along the same lines of the old Green Stamp collection process. The candle holders you see on each plate are simply a grapefruit cut in half, the fruit scooped out of the peeling, then add some fresh cranberries and a tea lite candle. Such a beautiful simple addition to any holiday table setting.

KITCHEN

Notice the "bundt cake" on the stove. It's actually a very large candle, and it was very entertaining to watch people try to figure out if it was real or not.

This window is above her kitchen sink and looks out onto the back porch which houses the laundry equipment, the dog kennels, and storage.

This is where my sis spends the bulk of her time. There is not a day that goes by without some kind of yummy smell coming from her kitchen. This summer, between her and I, we canned over 400 jars of fruits, veggies, jams, soups, sauces, pickles, etc.

When the kitchen was repainted this year, my nephews and niece joked that mom was painting her "condiment" kitchen. They were referring to the mustard yellow and ketchup red. BUT, it actually looks very nice. The black and red really stands out and blends so nicely with her decor.

She has the cutest garlands. One has wooden spoons throughout it, one has little tiny measuring cups and spoons throughout. The dutch wooden shoes are a symbol of our heritage.

Tour of Homes

Well, I haven't posted in a long time, and I'm sure nobody has really noticed, but for anybody that cares to know why, it's because I spent 3 weeks solid helping my sister prepare her house to be on the annual Tour of Homes. Here are some pictures of the finished product. Since I'm not normally a creative person, I was just the "support personnel". That's just a fancy way of saying I was there to move things, climb ladders, paint, hang garland and rope lights, etc. My sister collects snowmen, and had a contest to see who could guess the # of snowmen in her house. The prize was a dozen fresh homemade cinnamon rolls for Christmas. Since she had a little restaraunt here in Union for awhile and served fresh homemade bread and desserts daily, her cinnamon rolls are well known. The actual number was 270, and somebody guess 275. When it was all finished, I have to say it was BEAUTIFUL. We had about 150-175 people come through. They also toured the cottage which houses her Bed & Breakfast as well as her "office" for doing massage therapy. Her house will definitely put you in the Holiday Spirit if you weren't already. I commend her on her creative talent...she really has a special gift when it comes to decorating. You'll have to pardon the multiple posts...lots of space to cover and I'll just go room by room.

THE FRONT PORCH GREETED THOSE ON THE TOUR ROUTE

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

Just wanted to wish each and every one of you (yes--"one" of you that actually read this rambling) and wonderful Thanksgiving filled with family, fun, traditions, thankfulness and the joy of counting your many blessings, wherever you are and whatever you do. We are going to be with my parents, my husband's parents, and possibly his sister and nieces. This is not my first experience making Turkey Day Feast, but the first time feeding my mother and my mother-in-law who are both OUTSTANDING in the kitchen. I am attempting to do it TOTALLY myself, keeping my sweet "momma" and my "other momma" out of the kitchen, sitting in the living room enjoying a chat. Wish me luck...I'm sure I'll need it before the day is over. Thought you would enjoy this cute little poem.

MAY YOUR STUFFING BE TASTY

MAY YOUR TURKEY BE PLUMP

MAY YOUR POTATOES AND GRAVY

HAVE NO SIGN OF A LUMP

MAY YOUR YAMS BE DELICIOUS

AND YOUR PIES TAKE THE PRIZE

AND MAY YOUR THANKSGIVING DINNER

STAY OFF YOUR THIGHS!

TAGGED

Well, thank you Cassie for the Tag. So, first, the easy part...The rules are as follows:

1. link to the person that tagged you, and post the rules on your blog.
2. share 7 random and/or weird facts about yourself.
3. tag 7 people at the end of your post, and include links to their blogs.
4. let each person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

Now, the hard part...

1. One thing some folks may not know is that I was a volunteer firefighter in our little town of Union. Although I resigned to be more available to my children through a difficult stretch in their life, I hope to return someday to follow further in my father's footsteps.

2. Most of you probably know this, but 6 years ago, I weighed exactly double my current weight. After gastric bypass surgery in Aug. 2002, I shed 175 pounds. I stand by my choice 100% and would make that decision again if life were to rewind and I found myself in the same situation.

3. Most of the jobs in my life have been non-traditional jobs for women where I was the only female on a crew. I drove semi, I worked in construction, I built trusses & doors at a lumber yard, I fueled planes at a small municipal airport and I milked cows on a dairy just to name a few. Guess that has something to do with my upbringing.

4. I love sunflowers!!! I would rather have a bouquet of wild sunflowers than a dozen roses ANY DAY!!! My husband says that works well for him! :-)

5. I have a sock "thing". My socks MUST be completely straight while on my feet, they cannot have thick seams over the toe, there can't be the least hint of a thin spot that may become a hole before the end of the day, they can't be too big and fit sloppy, yet I'm not a fan of barefoot! I've been known to tie my shoes, stand up and take 2 steps, return to my chair and start all over again, repeating this process multiple times until they are "just right".

6. I absolutely despise snakes. There is only one kind of good snake and that's a dead one. I don't care how small or harmless or "cute" people say they are, I'm out!

7. I absolutely love stream fishing for trout. I will dig my own worms, bait my own hook, take my own fish off the hook when I catch them, and clean not only any fish I catch but my children's if and when they catch them. However, I will not eat them. I don't like it, regardless of how you prepare it...baked, fried, smoked, or canned.

And now the hardest part....coming up with 7 people who I know that have blogs who haven't already been tagged this round.
Jessica, Jill, Davina, Suzanne, Amy, Shauna, and Robyn
As you can see, my life is certainly not all that "exciting" but sometimes random and ALWAYS WEIRD. So there you have it, can't wait to see your random weird thoughts.

Student of the Month

Our school has changed it's Student of the Month nomination process this year. Instead of being nominated on several areas, they now choose a student for possessing a pre-selected character trait and showing that trait on a regular basis. At each assembly, a class is chosen to do a skit about whatever the upcoming character trait is and then the students and teachers choose based on the skit they watched. They no longer choose an "overall" Student of the Month for the grade school. You're just nominated and receive your award.
This month, my oldest daughter's class was asked to do a skit to demonstrate responsibility. The skit was adorable. Not only did they demonstrate what constitutes possessing responsibility, but they also showed what our world would be like if nobody was responsible. So, in the remainder of this month, students will be chosen that are notoriously responsible. Last month, the character trait was caring. So, I was happy to read a letter sent home from Kamille's teacher that said she had been nominated by her peers and would receive an award for this honor at today's assembly. I am SOOO glad to see Kamille get some kind of recognition. And what better character trait to possess than that of caring. Kamille has her moments when you just want to beat your head against the nearest wall. She is extremely talkative (can't imagine where she gets that) and has a rough time focusing on her studies. But one thing Kamille could never be accused of is a lack of a caring heart and always being willing to take care of her classmates. She had no idea she was receiving this award today so imagine her shock when she was called to the gym floor to accept her certificate. She has had a permanent grin on her face all day. I'm glad the school revamped their process for nominating student of the month because now, students are awarded for being exceptional in one area.

The assembly began with a special flag presentation in recognition of Veteran's Day. My sister's second-oldest son came in his Dress Blues to be a part of this special presentation. After the skit on responsibility and handing out honors to last month's students chosen for being a caring person, the assembly finished up with an honor to a student who passed away suddenly during the school year last year. His beloved saxaphone was donated by his parents to the music program and an individual from La Grande played Amazing Grace with that saxaphone as a tribute to young Austin Carter.

THANK YOU TO MY HUSBAND

After witnessing my husband's actions at the monthly assembly at the girls' school this morning, I have been moved to post a special entry in honor of my husband and some of his traits that are not always visible to the average person or on a daily basis. He has some very obvious special traits that anybody can see on any given day. He has BEAUTIFUL icy blue eyes, a hint of a Southern drawl compliments of living in Missouri for 15+ years, and a deep, rumbling voice that hints at his singing talents. These are all things that contributed to us becoming husband and wife. He is a very large man, and sometimes that leads people to believe that he's just a rough, tough, country-dumb Southern boy. But, I'd like to share an experience to set the record straight.

My husband was in the Army just after High School, so he has always been a very patriotic individual. He tends to get a tear in his eye any time we hear the National Anthem, or the Pledge of Allegiance, etc. I have learned to expect this, and always attempt to make him feel better when he complains about "springing a leak" in public. But neither of us knew what was going to take place at today's assembly, or I probably would not have gotten him to attend. Instead of the customary Pledge of Allegiance to the flag hung on the gym wall, the high school Citizenship class walked a folded flag into the gym, unfolded it while students were educating us on what the stripes, stars, colors, and layout of the flag represent. They gave us the "rules of respect" for a flag. They called 4 male students from the crowd and told them they had been "drafted". They gave them 24 hours to pack up, say goodbye, and head off to unknown places, for unknown amounts of time, to fight a war they may or may not know anything about. This was to represent how the draft used to work, and a reminder that it could be brought back into use in present day. Since my nephew is home on leave from the Air Force, he was on the gym floor in his Dress Blues saluting the flag while the students gave their presentation. Then, we all said the Pledge of Allegiance and watched as the students very meticulously and carefully folded the flag back up and walked it out of the gym. As I turned to check on my husband, I found him sobbing, tears running down his face, and his unflinching glaze following the flag that he loves so much. We just got sat down and somewhat composed when the Superintendent informed us that the parents of a 6th grade student who passed away unexpectedly last school year had donated his beloved saxaphone to the music program at UHS. They also had an individual who is an awesome sax player play Amazing Grace as a tribute to Austin Carter and his love for the saxaphone. By the time this was over, my husband no longer needed to worry about the tears rolling down his cheek because he was by NO MEANS alone. I don't believe there was a dry eye in the crowd, parents OR students.

I am so proud of my husband for not trying to hide his love for his Country and his Freedom to save his "macho" appearance. I'm grateful that I was lucky enough to find a man who is just as proud of being an American as I am. He makes me want to be more comfortable saying thank you to a total stranger on the street who is a Veteran. He makes me want to be more aware of flags as I rush through my busy days. He makes me want to do more to teach my children respect for the flag so they will grow up to love these things as much as we do.

Before this post is done, I want to bring attention to a few other traits in my husbands possession that make him the unique individual I love so much:

#1--After rotator-cuff surgery the beginning of this year, Steve still has not been released to go back to work. Up until June this year, I was working 40 plus hours a week and he became "Mr. Mom". It was so nice to come home from work (most days) and find him preparing dinner, helping the girls with their homework, sending them to the shower if it was their night, etc. I learned that it didn't matter if it was a gourmet meal, he was trying. I learned it didn't matter if the laundry was folded and put away, it was clean. If he did put the laundry away, it was OK if he put dish clothes on the wash cloth shelf in the bathroom. I learned that it didn't matter if he didn't clean the sink out after he washed the dishes, at least they were washed. You learn real quick to accept what is done and not focus on what wasn't done correctly.

#2--I love that my husband put himself in physical misery one night in an attempt to take a load off me. Keanna had been vomiting all day, and after going to bed, I had been up with her no less than 4 times by 2:30 in the morning. This child can not make it to the bathroom when she vomits, so every time I dozed off only to be woke up by the sounds of her wretching, it meant stripping the bed, stripping her, bathing her, changing the bed while she was in the bath, and putting her back to sleep. Obviously, by 2:30, I was DRAINED. So, the next time we both woke up to the sounds of her calling me because she was sick, my husband says "Honey, you stay in bed, you're exhausted. I'll take care of her this time!" I listen as he runs down the hall way and grabs the ever-present "barf bowl" from the floor beside her bed and talk to her calmly saying "It's ok sis, I'm here to help you". The next thing I hear is Steve hollering for me to come quick, the sound of footsteps sprinting toward the bathroom, and then I hear what EVERY mother fears--the sound of TWO people emptying their stomachs. Thankfully, he had gotten the bowl under Keanna and he made it to the bathroom, but from that day forward we just look at each other when one of the girls has the flu. It's a look that says so much, yet no words are exchanged. He knows his place is on the couch or in bed, waiting to console me after I have went to clean up a mess. I'd rather be up 20 times in one night, cleaning up after ONE person than to stay in bed only to have 2 messes to clean up. Now does this mean he's a wimp? NO!!!! If you were in an accident and your arm gets chopped off, or you impale yourself on a fence, or you run a 2-inch staple through your thumb into a 2x4 while building trusses (HMM..WONDER HOW I CAME UP WITH THAT AS AN EXAMPLE?!?!?!), he's the man you want by your side. You can bleed on him, scream at him, squeeze his hand when the pain is too much to handle and he's good.

#3--When he was recuperating from his surgery, he couldn't do a whole lot of anything with his left arm. His ability to do the most basic of tasks was taken from him and it really frustrated him. But, he knew that he couldn't just sit idle all day long without going completely bonkers. So, he offered child care services to all our friends. He watched a friends son & daughter when dad went off to National Guard Duty and mom worked graveyards. He watched a friend's 2-year old daughter while they went hunting to try and fill their freezer with meat for a large family. He watched a single mom's daughter so she could attempt to find work. In fact, he playfully dubbed our house "Fat Boy Daycare". I am so proud of him for finding a way to keep himself occupied while helping friends who needed help but couldn't afford traditional day care.

#4--This man decorated our wedding cake. He made me a beautiful sunflower cake for my birthday last year. He made an adorable spider cake for the girls' Cake Walk at school the first year we were married. He has made some really cute cupcakes for multiple holiday parties for both girls' classrooms. Not a lot of people know he has this talent, but he does an AWESOME job. Like most men, he doesn't want to be toooooo comfortable with something that is most often women's territory, so he has this awesome cake decorator from Pampered Chef that he has dubbed the "caulking gun" because it works in much the same way.

If you aren't bored stiff or snoring at this point, then allow me to make a formal introduction: This is my wonderful husband of 2 years 4 months and 11 days and a future full of more wonderful days:

Mr. Steve Rickman.

You might find this post lengthy, boring, even "bragging", but I just felt like a THANK YOU was in order for a wonderful guy who possesses so many great traits that not everybody sees. He deserves some recognition for going above and beyond to help others, for trying to make the best of the situation whatever it may be, and for truly loving his country and isn't afraid for that love to show even when it comes in the form of tears.