He Wore Daddy's Beret

 
I stole your beret Daddy!
 
If I tilt my head just right I can still see.
 
But if I run around, trouble begins.
 
I definitely cannot see now.

 
Maybe if I pull it down a little farther?
 
Nope! I still can't see!
 
AAAhhhh! That's better!

He wore Daddy's beret.
The kind you can buy at an Army Surplus Store.
Daddy's beret.
He wore it o'er his eyes and he could see no more.
Daddy's beret.
I think it's adorable.

The Alamo

 
 
 
 
Today we woke up and went to breakfast before heading down to the Alamo. You can't go to San Antonio for the first time and not see the Alamo so since it was the first time for me and the boys we did just that. I knew it wasn't a huge place, but it was even smaller than I realized and the story behind it just makes it all that more remarkable. 200 against 2000 just makes those men that much more brave to me. So we enjoyed our little tour and movie and now will "Remember the Alamo!"

 
 
 
 

Happy 7th Anniversary!

 


Today Bill and I celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary! It seems like way longer than that though. LOL. I'm not sure why. I guess because it feels like we've always been together. We treated ourselves to a date afternoon/evening. I have really been itching to see the Our Bodies: The Universe Within exhibit ever since I noticed it advertised in Orlando. I never got a chance to go. Well, I found out that it was at the University of Texas I asked Bill if we could go. I'm not sure he was as enthusiastic as I was, but he did agree that it was really cool. The price tag is a little steep, but it was spectacular. It really was such an awe inspiring experience. It totally illustrated to us how magnificient God's plan for a human body to work is just amazing. Seriously, our bodies are marvelous machines. And the exhibit while graphic in some regards (ie a man was holding his own skin) and even a little emotional in others (ie the babies that died before they had a chance to live here on Earth), it truly was an amazing experience!

 
 
 
 
(photos are not allowed. i found these on the internet and they are of the displays that we saw.)

After leaving the university, we headed to Round Rock to the French Bistro/Cafe, La Madeleine. We each enjoyed a sandwich and pasta salad and sampled a couple of their little pastries before heading over to the Cinemark to catch Iron Man 2. We knew that was the movie that we had to choose since we saw Iron Man on our last anniversary date when we celebrated our 5th anniversary. We both agreed that it was good, but that the first one had a better story line. We laughed and marked our mental calendars for our 9th anniversary date to see Iron Man 3. LOL.


 
 

After the movies, we headed home. Bill did me a favor and put together our wagon that we've had for nearly years and that I need tomorrow while I went out and fetched our traditional anniversary treat carrot cake. We really loved the ones from Publix that we have had before, but this one from Walmart wasn't too bad of a substitute.
 

My gift is doing double duty. It's a 22 carat gold bangle from Bahrain. It's beautiful! Bill said it's for Mother's Day and our anniversary!

 
 

Great Wolf Lodge

 
 
 
 

I'll admit that I have really wanted to go to the Great Wolf Lodge ever since I found out that it was within driving distance. I just knew that my boys would really enjoy it and I sure wasn't wrong about that. We drove up yesterday and got to Grapevine around 2:20pm and were able to check straight into our room and then go straight to the water park. The boys had a ball. They loved letting the huge bucket of water fall on them. Aaron's favorite was the little water slide. He would go around and around just to go again and again. I'm not sure that Ian came up with a favorite. That kid was everywhere!

We were there and 2 families that we knew were there, too. It was nice to see friendly faces. Bill was nice and let me go on the slides a few times. Not that he didn't go a few times, too!

We really enjoyed our time there and the kids are wiped out! Oh who's kidding? I'm wiped out, too!

 
 
 
 

He's HOME!

Bill is HOME!! I can't tell you how happy that makes us!

Yesterday was filled with lots of time changes and lots of little frustrations. The time kept getting earlier and earlier. This is good in a way since that meant we were going to get Bill home sooner, but it also meant waking the boys up at 2 am and going to Ft Hood in the middle of the night. It also meant no special outfits and really more of a just get there and get it over with. The rear detachment wanted the families in the gym at 2:30am. This ended up being way too early. Nothing like the Army way of "hurry up and wait." Any military family can appreciate what that really means! We were there for 1.5 hours before we saw our soldiers. I did get a text from Bill at 2:26am that they were successfully on the ground at Gray Army Airfield. But just because they were on the ground did not mean that they were on their way. They had to turn in weapons and load bags, etc. So they had us at the gym which was mildly warmer than is comfortable. They gave us lousy snacks and had a DJ. The floor was filthy. The kids were so good for the first hour of our wait. But that was their threshold. Who can blame them? I was getting impatient, too. But finally the buses arrived to cheers. Bill's unit was to be the last ones in the gym and we saw him walk in. And then Ian took off after him so I had to chase him. Poor kid. I wanted to run after Bill, too, but you know the Army. They make everything have some sort of formality. So I did manage to catch him and heard the chuckles from the wives behind me knowing that if their kids were any younger that they would have been doing just what I had done. LOL.

The short address of the soldiers was nothing short of lame. The speaker didn't even say my husband's unit correctly. I mean if that doesn't put a bad taste in your mouth then I don't know. So he finally said "Released!" Ian ran. He ran right to Bill and jumped. It was sweet and then Bill came toward Aaron and I and grabbed Aaron, too. It was so great to see him. So we relished the moment for a few and then started our way out of the gym. We put the kids in the car and Bill went to retrieve his duffle bag. Then it was homeward bound!!

It almost doesn't seem real. Aaron has warmed up pretty well. He didn't cry, but was a little hesitant. He seems to be much better today, but still prefers me. Even Ian, who is overtired, is still preferring me. (Much to Mommy's relief!) We have had a fairly laid back day. Lunch at a local eaterie and then a trip to the commissary on a payday during a case lot sale. (We were definitely NOT thinking on that one!) Then home for naps!

Favorite Photo of Us

Today (er uhm I mean yesterday's) topic in the blog hop is to post your favorite photo of you and your man. Well here is Bill and me at my first formal ball with him. We weren't engaged yet, but were both pretty sure that this was "it." It was my first taste of true military formalities. I was a little nervous attending, but I remember Bill easing right through it. I believe this was the end of October/early November 2002. We used it as our formal engagement photo after the fact since we didn't really have time to get real ones.

Favorite Wedding Day Memory in the Blog Hop World

So today's topic in the blog hop is to tell your favorite wedding day memory. Well the whole day was pretty memorable so I'll just tell a few highlights!

It was a very stormy spring day in Indiana. Anyone from there knows what stormy days in Indiana when it starts to get warm means: thunderstorms and tornados. Yes, that's just what God ordered for our wedding day. It was pouring rain when I got to the little country church. Everyone was worried about my hair and such and I was just laughing since the weather was so bad. I knew Bill would show up no matter what so I figured who cares about my hair and makeup. He's the only one who is going to see it. LOL.

I remember that moment when he first saw me and that look on his face. I don't think I'll ever forget that smile. He caught a glimpse of me out of the corner of his eye since he was up in the front of the church with the wedding photographer getting photos taken of him and the best man. That's probably my favorite "moment."

Coming in a close second is when we stole away right after the ceremony and went to a little ice cream stand for an icecream cone (just US) before going to the reception. It's a little tiny place. I got vanilla because I didn't want to get chocolate on my white wedding dress. :) Bill got vanilla dipped in chocolate. The girl at the window made a comment that our cone choices matched our clothes.

And one more close second is the rainbow that came out after the ceremony. It had been a rotten storm, but when we emerged from the church as Mr and Mrs. there was a wonderful ray of sunshine breaking through the clouds and as we approached the reception site after our cones, we saw the rainbow reminding us that God keeps his promises just as we intend to keep our vows. It was actually a pretty powerful moment.

The Engagement: Another Installment in Blog Hop Land

So you want to know how the good man came to ask for my hand. Well as luck would have it, it wasn't a surprise to me at all. Too bad for the fine officer who went out of his way to drive 3.5 hours to purchase the perfect diamond ring from my aunt and another 3.5 hours to ask my parents for permission. Can I get an awwwwwww?
It's really kind of funny since it really explains how much of a small town girl I am!

It was January 2003. My friend Sarah and I had gone on a Caribbean cruise to Mexico and my boyfriend went on a mission to get a diamond ring to propose with. He actually drove from Greenwood, IN to Evansville, IN to buy the ring from my aunt who managed a jewelry store there. He went and found the ring and then drove from Evansville to Hillsboro to ask for my parents' permission. Here is where the surprise got all messed up. When Bill drove up to the house, my mom was on the phone with my "Aunt" Valerie. She made mention to Val that she had to go since she looked at the window and saw Bill walking up to the door. Valerie knew I was on the cruise and asked my mom "Why is Bill there?" My mom answered, "I am not positive, but I have a guess." Then they hung up. End of conversation.

So Bill comes in and waits around for my dad to show up from work and then suffers through my uncle coming to visit and he's not able to ask until he's gone. Talk about torture! And my uncle is a talker so I'm sure Bill was sweating by the time this was all said and done. Anyway, he finally gets his mission accomplished and a thumbs up from the 'rents and heads back to Indianapolis with the ring in his pocket.

The next day Sarah and I got back from our cruise and I returned to work. After work that evening, my best friend Amy called and asked me why I didn't call to tell her that I was engaged. Her mom found out at a Pampered Chef party. I told her that I wasn't engaged and wondered where she got that story. Well, Aunt Val was invited to Amy's cousin Lana's Pampered Chef party and Amy's mom was there. Val told everyon that I got engaged and about how Bill had asked my parents.

So the cat was out of the bag and I am not a patient person, so I flat out asked Bill where the ring was. (I know, I know. That wasn't super nice of me.) But anyway, he comes over and we go to dinner at Texas Roadhouse. He doesn't ask. So we go back to my place and we start watching American Idol (It was the first season) and he gets down on one knee during a commercial break and asks. SO NOT ROMANTIC. But I got a lovely ring! :) After he knew that I knew about the ring, he had cooked up a plan to ask me at work, but I pretty much told him NOT to do it in front of a lot of people so it's a LOT my fault that it wasn't romantic.

So there you have it. Exciting? Not really.

What the Hey! How I Met My Love!

Okay, so I've never done this blog hop thing. First off, it's mostly due to ignorance of exactly how to participate (so forgive me if I totally botch this attempt) and 2nd, it's because most of the topics I have next to ZERO to say or what I do have to say isn't nearly as eloquent or entertaining as the previous posters and who wants to be the boring among all the bling? So without further ado, here is my attempt at HOW I MET MY LOVE.

This is a little story of serendipity as one would have it. Can you say totally randomly? Can you say NOT EVEN REMOTELY INTERESTED IN LOOKING? Well this is what I can say for sure.

It was July 2002. I had broken off a pretty serious relationship in February and I was pretty jaded about "love" and finding it. I was doing pretty well on my own as it was. I had my own place, a pretty loyal little dog, and a really good job. I was free as a bird! So as it was, I had finally come into the modern times and purchased my first personal computer with its own dial up internet access via AOL. I had a pretty boring sign on which I still use today: HOAGY74 and my profile said these things: SINGLE, FEMALE, INDIANAPOLIS, Wherever you go, that's where you are. Did I mention that it was boring? Oh yes, moving on.

So it was a pretty typically day in Indy. I had worked. I had gone home. I had probably eaten some boring convenience food though I don't remember. I mostly remember that I was shopping for a new vehicle. I had a perfectly decent 1998 Honda Accord EX-L, but I was getting antsy to get an SUV for some weird reason. It really wasn't a necessary "upgrade", but it just seemed like the thing to do. So instead of hitting up dealerships as that "stupid, single female" I was doing my research online and checking out VIN numbers at the local establishments.

Most everyone will recall that when you used AOL back then that you automatically would be signed onto AIM when you were online. You could block IMs if you wanted to, but most of us just left it on and would occasionally chat with a buddy. Well this particular night, minding my own business, typing in VIN numbers I got a RANDOM IM from a person with an onscreen name of BOLTS505. I generally would ignore these random unknown people. I mean it is kind of unsafe to entertain strangers and I am a pretty "by the rules" kind of girl. So whatever possessed me to reply to this annoying IM, I still don't know. The exact line is something I don't remember. I just remember thinking, EXCUSE ME? So this is how I met my husband. A RANDOM instant message. He found me in the online list and assumed by the 74 in my screen name that I must be about his age or super old. LOL. (Old people weren't as likely to be online back then.) And the SINGLE FEMALE also said something. :) So we instant messaged back and forth for a while. He told me he was a soldier. That he worked at DFAS and that he would send me an email from his AKO (military email) account to prove it. (It would be fairly hard to fake this so I had no reason not to believe him.) He asked for my number and I figured he was harmless so I told him and we talked for hours and hours. Finally, we agreed to meet in person. We met for a drink, then dinner and then we went to a bar to KARAOKE. The rest is history. Well there is a little more. (I actually almost dumped him after the 2nd date, but I will leave that story for another day.)

What an Incredible 2 Weeks!

What a whirlwind! The past couple of weeks have just flown by and now we are back from vacation and back to reality.



Bill got home for his midtour R&R on 10/27. He was exhausted but in great spirits. He was so excited to be home on US soil and to see the boys. Ian was at school when Bill actually got into the airport so Aaron and I went to pick him up. Aaron was a bit shy at first, but warmed up pretty quickly. We brought Bill home for a quick shower and then ran to Logan's for a quick bite to eat. We then went to pick Ian up from school. Ian had no idea that his daddy was already home. I walked into the classroom holding Aaron like normal and Bill stood in the doorway. Ian happened to be seated facing the door and looked up and saw Bill and said, "Daddy?" with a very puzzled sound to his voice. He then repeated "Daddy?" with a little more vigor and Bill smiled. Then Ian jumped out of his seat and exclaimed "DADDY!" and ran to get a hug. The rest of the boys in Ian's class started dancing a jig and chanting "Daddy, Daddy, Daddy..." It was chaos and so funny. I'm sure the teacher appreciated that one! LOL



The next couple of days we spent getting ready to go to Florida. Bill went out to lunch with a friend, we went out to dinner for my birthday to Boston's and celebrated with birthday cookies since we knew we'd be eating a lot of cake over the next week or so.



On Thursday, Ian went to school and we prepared for Ian's Super Heroes party. It was supposed to be outside at the park, but the weather just wasn't cooperating so we moved it to the house. It was a bit chaotic, but it worked out well. I counted 39 or 40 people and we had "super hero" sandwiches (6' submarine), chicken tenders, veggie tray, chips, sodas, water and Capri Suns. The kids had a ball wearing their super hero capes and masks and playing with the stomp rockets! We had a huge pinata, cake and presents. The party was a huge success and Ian had so much fun!



Friday we got up and finished our last minute preps for vacation and headed to the airport in Austin. We had a direct flight to Tampa on Southwest. It was slightly delayed, but we were only late by about 40 minutes. We picked up our rental minivan and met Mimi and Chief for dinner at Maggianos. YUM. (Thank you Mimi and Chief). The boys were tired, but we stopped at the local Walgreen's for diapers and few odds and ends and then drove to our timeshare in Orlando. We stayed in a 2 bedroom/2bath place and had lots of room to spread out. We put the boys to bed and we retired soon thereafter.



Saturday we got up and had a lazy morning relaxing before heading over to the Orlando airport to pick up Grandma and Papaw Hoagland. They came down from Indiana to spend a few days with us. They were pretty tired from having to get up so early so we just decided to go back to the room to let them get settled and to let the boys have some downtime. Bill and I went to pick up the remainder of the groceries we needed for the week and came home to prepare dinner. After dinner, Ian, Bill and I went to Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party at the Magic Kingdom. Aaron stayed with Grandma and Papaw and so we go to go on some fun rides with Ian since he is now 40 inches and able to go. We met up with some of my friends from college, The Kolmans and enjoyed trick-or-treating and going on rides with them. We got back in late and were really tired, but it was fun!



Sunday we got up and we all went to Disney's Animal Kingdom. We had a great time going on the safari, riding rides, and seeing the show The Lion King. We also saw a lot of the characters and got some pictures with them. Grandma and Ian were wearing their Happy Birthday buttons and got free chocolate cake at lunch! That evening Grandma and Papaw were on babysitting detail and Bill and I were able to go out for the evening. We went to Downtown Disney and rode the balloon ride, ate dinner and just had a nice time shopping. (Thanks to Grandma and Papaw for taking care of the boys.)



On Monday, Grandma and Papaw wanted to go to the Holyland Experience. We all headed over there and saw some of their shows. We went through the Scriptorium that houses old scrolls and Bibles and ate lunch there. It had changed quite a bit in the past 7 years since my mom and I had gone. That evening we had a small birthday party for Ian. He had a white cake with raspberry filling and got a hunting game that you plug into the TV. He loved it and he and Papaw had a great time playing it.



Tuesday morning we got up and went to Epcot. It was an overcast day so it wasn't super hot and we got lucky that it never did rain on us even though it threatened to all day long. We rode several rides. Ian loved Test Track and rode that a couple of times. We also rode SOARIN' which he still is talking about. We also saw several characters and got several more pictures with them.



Wednesday we got up and took Grandma and Papaw back to the airport so that they could go back to Indiana. We had a great time with them! Afterwards, we went to Hollywood Studios. They have really changed that park to be more kid friendly and we really had a great time. Ian and Bill went on Star Tours. We saw lots of Pixar characters, ate lunch at Pizza Planet, went on Toy Story Mania, saw a stunt show and went into the Animation studio where we hit the jackpot on seeing characters and playing with their technology. Ian even rode the Tower of Terror twice and was frightened and thrilled all at the same time. (He calls it the Tower of Terrorists.) We went back to the room exhausted from such a fun day!



Thursday we got up and went to the Magic Kingdom. Ian rode Big Thunder Mountain a couple of times, went on Splash Mountain and went to see the princesses. The teacups were closed for maintenance which was disappointing. We were glad that he got a chance to do those at the Halloween party. We had lunch at Pecos Bill's and then went to ride the flying Dumbos and Peter Pan. We went back to the room and Mimi and Chief came for the next couple of nights. We planned on going to Fantasmic to see the light show and Mimi and Chief offered to keep Aaron so we could take Ian. (A BIG thank you for watching him since we know he wouldn't have had much fun at the show.) We got out of the show late, but Ian wanted a snack so we headed to Downtown Disney. He noticed the TREX restaurant so we indulged him since it was his birthday. He loved all the dinosaurs and had volcanic cake!



Friday was Ian's 4th birthday. We woke up and went to the Magic Kingdom for breakfast with Winnie the Pooh and friends at the Crystal Palace. It was breakfast buffet and we feasted on Mickey waffles and all sorts of eggs, bacon, sausage, pastries, juice, etc. The characters come around to each table for photo ops and they staff knew it was Ian's birthday so they brought him a cupcake with a candle to blow out. We had a good time. We headed back to the room afterwards to pick up Mimi and Chief and went back to Hollywood Studios. We had fun seeing the Indiana Jones show, the stunt show, saw the Beauty and the Beast show, went on the Backlot tour, saw Mickey again and had a great time the whole day. We went out to dinner at BW3.



Saturday we woke up and had to check out of our room. We had to hurry since Daddy made us a huge breakfast and we had to be out of there by 10am. We made it in the nick of time. Mimi and Chief headed back to Tampa and we went over to Downtown Disney. Ian received a 68 dollar giftcard to spend from Disney for his birthday since he didn't need a ticket. (Disney's big promotion this year was free admission on your birthday so they gave him the price of a ticket on a giftcard.) Ian bought a snowglobe, a Star Wars gun, stickers, a red Mickey shirt and a Donald Duck for his brother. We stopped at McDonalds on the way out of town and headed over to Tampa to Mimi and Chief's house.



Saturday evening we had a birthday party for everyone. Mimi and Chief had iceream cake and steaks and all sorts of yumminess! We opened gifts and retired full and happy. Thank you for all the lovely presents!



Sunday, Bill and I went to the Buccaneers game and the boys stayed with Mimi and Chief. The Bucs hadn't won a game this season up to that point and so we went thinking it might not be as fun as we had hoped earlier in the season. Boy were we pleasantly surprised! It was the throwback game so everyone was wearing the "creamcicle" jerseys/shirts. It was a sea of orange dreamcicles! The Bucs rallied and beat the Packers and the crowd was so into it. It was so much fun. I'm so glad that Bill got to see his team win when he was home. Thanks so much to Mimi and Chief for babysitting. It meant a lot to Bill to get to see the game and it meant a lot to me to be able to go enjoy it with him!



Monday rolled around and we packed up our stuff and headed to the airport. We flew back to Austin and stopped at Chuy's for dinner. The boys fell asleep on the way home.



Tuesday Ian went back to school and Bill worked on completing the "honey do" list. We met up with his buddy Steve for dinner at Pluckers.



Wednesday was Bill's last full day here. We went and got family photos taken and took the boys to Chuck E Cheese. They had a grand time running around and it was nice to see such smiles. We came home and Bill had to start getting things packed up to leave.



Bill's flight left Thursday morning. We all took him to the airport. The boys and I sat with him in the little restaurant part until he has called to go through the security check point. We were super sad to see him go, but know that he has a job to do. We will miss him and are counting down the 22 weeks that he has left in his deployment.

He's Home!

My husband completed his journey home to us today! He even got in 4 hours before he was originally scheduled and I was thrilled to meet him at the airport along with Aaron. Aaron was a little hesitant about his daddy, but he's starting to warm up. I was able to bring Bill home for a nice shower while Aaron took a nap before heading to Logan's for lunch. We then hit up Walmart before going to Ian's school to pick him up.

Ian was sitting at the table working on his "E" worksheet when Aaron and I walked in. Bill followed, but stood in the doorway. Sweet Ian looked up at him in disbelief and said very hesitantly "Daddy?" He then asked again looking for a little more reassurance, "DADDY?" Bill then smiled at him and Ian's face lit up and he screamed "DAAAADDDDYYYYY!!!" It was so awesome! He ran over to him and gave him a big hug and then all the boys in the class proceeded to do the dance of joy as Bill chased them around the class. I'm sure the teacher appreciated that one. (She's a military wife so she understands!)

Ian has been on Cloud 9 all day. He can't get enough of Daddy and Aaron is starting to follow in his big brother's lead. We've spent most of the day resting and trying to let Bill just take it easy.

Tomorrow is my "mid life crisis" birthday. That's been the joke at work, at least. (It's only #35!) I have no big plans except to enjoy my complete family! It's been a long six months and I can't think of a better gift.

We did receive word today that our initial home study was accepted as passing and we are now ready to go for fingerprinting. They are forwarding the cards and we both should be able to get that done while Bill is home. I believe we both have to have physicals done, too.

OH MY! I am SOOOO SPOILED!!

Total shock!!! My husband spoiled me so much! Thank goodness Stephanie came over and found this on my porch or I would have never known it was there. I guess it couldn't have been received on a better day since today IS my anniversary and today IS Mother's Day!

Thank you, Bill! You spoil me too much!