Veteran's Day...

A big shout-out to all of the veterans who have sacrificed so much over the years, but especially mine...

Chris got home from Iraq just in time for our wedding!

Ft. Bragg…the 1st time around.

Chris and best buddy, Craig.

The day Chris left for Iraq the second time.

Look how little James is.  I think he was 9-10 days old.

Headed back to Afghanistan,
just a few days after Dad's funeral.

Waiting for Daddy to fly in from Afghanistan!

Patriotic baby!  (In jammies since it was 4am!)

I love his sweet little face,
scanning the crowd for his Daddy.

Together again!
(Pete's not so sure.)

As we look toward the upcoming deployment, my heart aches for our boys.  They love their Daddy so very much.  I can't imagine how 9-12 months will go by "quickly," but I hope it does.

Celebration!

Yesterday we took the boys to Chuck-E-Cheese to celebrate two wonderful report cards!  Both boys did very well and we wanted to commend them on their accomplishment.  The Chuck-E-Cheese in our town is, dare I say it, clean.  And friendly and bright and airy.  And… well, just normal.  I know you don't believe me.  But it's true.

It was our 4th visit to this particular Chuck-E-Cheese and every time we leave, Chris and I remark about how clean and fun it was…

And then we made "Leftover Halloween Candy Brownies."  Do you see that huge halloween bucket filled to the brim?  It's just about all chocolate candy bars, which the boys never pick.  And we have another huge bowl also filled with chocolate.  Clearly I am not raising them correctly because anyone who chooses lollipops and Laffy Taffy over a Snickers bar is just WRONG.

The brownies turned out delightfully cute and super yummy!  And, best of all, we probably got rid of 20 bars of chocolate in the process!

This has been such a fun, relaxing weekend so far.  I'm so glad the boys and Chris have tomorrow off of school and work, especially since Chris leaves on Tuesday for a week.  Again.  Although I haven't mentioned it on the blog yet, it seems all but definite that Chris will deploy again early next year.  So we are doing our best to enjoy any time we can get as a family.  I think a movie and lunch out is on the schedule for tomorrow!  :)

Veteran's Day Breakfast...

Today at New Century Elementary school, a breakfast was held to honor all Veterans and their children.  The breakfast was catered and paid for completely by the school.

The fallen soldier table

Students were asked to bring in a family picture with their veteran.
Clearly a few of the 300 in attendance forgot. ;)

I helped sign all 300 visitors in!  

Pretty sign made by the 4th graders.

Must remind James to work on spelling!  ;)

The school did a nice job decorating all of the hallways for the occasion.

For some reason, my camera was taking foggy pictures. 

After breakfast, everyone went outside to the flag pole where the students sang, raised the flag, and conducted a more "formal" portion of the morning.  The boys were so proud to be there with their dad this morning!

#65!!!

Today Chris earned his "Master Parachutist Wings," which is a pretty big deal in the Army and especially in the 82nd Airborne Division.   This means he's jumped out of an airplane 65 times and met a bunch of other Jumpmaster requirements.

This past Saturday the boys and I were able to watch his 64th jump.  It was a beautiful, sunny morning… a perfect day to watch a really incredible event.

Here comes the plane...

The first few guys jump out...

They fall one right after another...

until they're all out.

There were 6 aircrafts full of paratroopers
who jumped this day.

Even though I've seen Chris jump several times, this was the first time the boys were able to be there for one.  They loved it!

On the ground safely, thank God!
Chris was the only soldier we saw running back to the bleachers where spectators sit.
As soon as I saw a guy running, I thought… "That's gotta be Chris."  :)

Could he get ANY cuter?!

All of that (dangerous!) work was done for the wreath shown around the star below, a patch he can now update and wear on his uniform.  We are so very proud of you, babe! 

Quick little recap...

The past week has been a fun one!  We celebrated Chris's birthday...

Chris's dad sent him a print of an
old airborne magazine cover,
which he loved.

And on Tuesday we carved our pumpkins...

And by "we" I mean mostly me and Henry...

This picture is misleading since all Chris did was carve out the opening and Peter left shortly after...

But Henry and I stayed the course and made 3 jack-o-laterns!

The boys had a blast trick-or-treating this year.  They literally ran from house to house!  James was a headless horseman turned Dracula (once he lost the stump head and opted instead for vampire teeth); Peter was Spiderman; and Henry was a black ninja (he insisted on "making" his costume this year and was so proud of the way it turned out.  I think it's pretty cool myself!)...

Do those boys idolize James, or what?
It's sweet to see how much Henry looks up to James
and Pete looks up to Henry.  Peter can tell you
everything his "brov-vers" say and do!

The neighborhood gang...

Check out all of their loot!!  Crazy, isn't it?  I can't even begin to tell you how many pieces they ate last night...

And then, after all of that candy-eating fun, this happened: "closed-eyed fighting" as Henry called it.  I've never seen him do this before but it was pretty funny to watch.

Of course Peter had to get in on the action...

I'd say they've had just a tinnny bit of candy.  ;)

Hope you're enjoying a fun week too!