In brief...

Our little family is complete again!

Phillip has been flying the Army's LUH helicopter for a few months now, and seems to be enjoying it.  We are all so relieved to know that he is not going to be deployed for the next 3 years.  As always, we are looking to the future; we are really enjoying being back in Louisiana, next to family and we are exploring our options for whenever our time at Fort Polk is finished.

Gabe brought home a packet for the Gifted & Talented program a few weeks ago.  In the past, his teachers have expressed that he would be a good candidate for such a thing.  I think he will be tested soon.  He loves to read and has the most A.R. points in the 5th grade at his school.  He's making new friends at school, and in his new interest, football.  Over the summer, he matured quiet a bit mentally and physically.  He's now such a young man.  I watch him these days, and wonder where the time has gone; I'm getting a bit depressed that he's growing so fast. 

Sarah is our little "firecracker"!  She is a beautiful little girl (inside and out), and makes friends so easily.  She is definitely an extrovert.  These days, she looks forward to going to preschool everyday, and is still taking ballet classes.  I think that I might try to see if she'll like gymnastics, but then again, ballet is her thing...and it teaches the little m'am some poise and grace!

Gabe, going for the ball.

Sarah, and her friend, Rachael.

As for me, I thought that it might be possible to go back to work as a Certified Surgical Technologist at any one of the nearby hospitals, but I'm seeing that being a wife, Mom, and homemaker takes priority.  Managing the four of us (and a spoiled cat) is my full time job at the moment.

I'm feeling much better since I had my gallbladder removed.  Years of feeling sick and "toxic" are in the past.  My body is finally properly digesting food, and my liver is not backed up with the sludge that was present when the gallbladder was taken out.

As for the cervical cancer and hysterectomy to remove it, I'm healing well from that also.  I'll go for a check-up soon to make sure that I'm still in the clear.

While the kids are in school, I do what needs to be done to run our household, and then when I have time, I let my creative juices flow.  I've listed some of my projects on Etsy.com, and I hope that I can generate some interest soon...I'm kinda proud of my little accomplishments.  Visit the Etsy shop when you have time (the link is on this blog {to your right}), and visit my other blog as well:  http://sagalohandmade.blogspot.com/.

As this week goes on, I will make sure that things on this blog are current; links, pictures, etc.

I'll try to write more often...

Janet

Where is he?

This sign is just a mile or so from my house, and every time I see it, I imagine a moose to be looking both ways, waiting patiently to cross the road not far from the sign.  Maybe he'll give me a nod as I pass, and mouth something like "How ya doin', eh?".  I'm actually disappointed when I don't see him.

On a more serious note, someone in the family (not me) was recently pulled over by a state trooper not far from this sign, because the speed limit on that road is 40 mph.  If you hit a moose, it can be a pretty nasty thing indeed; for you, your car, and the animal.  The good thing though, from what I understand, is that if you do hit a moose, you or the local food bank gets a freezer full.  I think (almost positive) that it's against the law to hit one, and not salvage the meat.

And this is another reason why I like living in different parts of the world...because you learn something new everyday.

J~

There's a hole in the...

...ice.  

Seriously, I didn't know what else to title this post.

Yesterday, Gabe and Phillip went ice fishing with the Cub Scouts at Chena Lake.

They didn't catch anything.

The End.

Moments that make my heart turn to absolute Goo...

This was taken the night that we thought he was heading out to Pakistan, but asked me to pick him up because of problems with the aircraft that he was to go out on. We picked him up, and then returned home to a tea party.

In time, he'll get over my posting such a moment. Because it's so darn sweet. And I'm pretty sure he knows that we love him so very much for the man that he is!

A note to my husband...

In regards to the previous post and map of the route that we COULD take to Fairbanks:

Nope, nothing is decided yet. This is a team effort, and we will decide together.

LOVE YA!!!

Road Trip

I'm in the process of cleaning the house right now, because I have to have it in perfect condition for if and when the house "shows" while we're gone.

The kids and I will be going to Fort Rucker, Alabama for Spring Break (which is next week), and although we are really excited about getting the chance to spend time with Phillip, I am not excited about packing for the trip.

I'll post when we get home, or maybe while we are there...

See ya then!

Janet

See ya later, Alligator!

We'll be saying "See ya later, Alligator!" to Texas in 66 days or less, and we'll be cruising the roads up to Fairbanks in Phillip's "new" truck. On March 1st, he bought this baby: a 2008 Ford F-150 Lariat 4x4. It was a Sa-Weet deal that he couldn't pass up, and we got 3x's more for the Taurus than we thought we would, so....we jumped on it.

He wasn't sure what he wanted, and so he's been spending the past few weekends test driving different vehicles. We've planned on this for a while, and we knew that we'd end getting something before we left for Alaska.

Congratulations, Baby! (I still think you should let me put our names on the back glass like Bud and Sissy did on Urban Cowboy...Yeeeeeehawwww!)



In other Lopez news:

• Gabe lost another tooth this past week.
• Phillip flew in from Ft. Rucker to spend this past weekend with us.
• We're still waiting for someone to buy our house!

Bullets and news...

Hello there!

Oooookay. Here we go.

I got a little put off on the whole blogging thing when I came to certain realizations; one being that it was too easy for some to come by and see what was up with us, and then they never bothered to use the phone for that human to human contact, and then there were the ones that complained that they didn't know much about us, but again were too busy to take a few seconds of their day to check the blog or...call. And there were other reasons, but....you're damned if ya do, you're damned if ya don't.

I realize that my attitude toward blogging lately is only hurting me, since as I've mentioned before, I use this as a journal for our family. I took a trip down memory lane yesterday, and I thoroughly enjoyed the pictures and videos, etc. Our family is constantly changing and growing, and what better way to document it than this blog? I should have been keeping up with things; there is so much missing from the past months.

And by the Grace of God, lots of great things have been happening to us lately. I need to get busy on this little project! I also mean to document our travels up to Alaska when the time comes, and so again, what better way to do it?

So in the next few posts, I plan to take things back a bit.

For now, here's a little of what's going on in our lives:

• Did your hear that the Saints won the SUPERBOWL?!
• Phillip is at the Maintenance Test Pilot's course right now until the end of April. I'm so very happy for him that he is doing something that he really enjoys. He's a great husband and father, and By Golly, he deserves this!
  
• Though we miss him (his leaving a few weeks ago hit us really hard, but we survived and are pulling through), we are able to meet him halfway in Lafayette when we get the chance...
• we saw him last weekend for Mardi Gras (it was our first Mardi Gras since we left Louisiana in 2001 and it was so fun to see Gabe experience his first; Sarah stayed home with Pa-Paw and Ya-Ya while we enjoyed the festivities...she's not ready yet).
• We'll travel to Fort Rucker, Alabama on our Spring Break to spend the week with Phillip. I can't wait to see how things have changed, visit with some friends, and show Gabe the very first home that he lived in.
  
• We plan to be out of Texas by May 14, so that means that Gabe will be checking out of school a few weeks early with the approval of his Principal and the school board. Whether he leaves 2nd grade with promotional status to the 3rd grade is up to him...
• but I really don't think we need to worry, because he has been an A/B Honor Roll kid all year...
  
• it's his chattiness, among other things, that get him into trouble conduct-wise.
• Oh, and we plan to be out of Texas by mid-May because we plan to drive up to Fairbanks. There are a couple of different ways to get up there, at least, and we are trying to decide now on just how we'll do it....take the ferry or not take the ferry.
  
• Sarah's 2nd birthday was on February 2nd. (I just realized that it's her lucky year!)....
• she has this thing about shoes, and will change her shoes at least 3-4 times an hour. So if you're looking for gift ideas, shoes it is!
• Her vocabulary is expanding by a couple of words a day. She amazes me with her ability to communicate, if she doesn't know the words. She amazes me, period.
  
• The house went up for sale a few weeks ago. We've had some really great showings and are anxiously anticipating an offer. I love my little home, and I sure do hope that the next person who moves into it will respect it and love it like we have.

That's it for now, Ya'll. I'll get back to postin' and bloggin' soon.

In the meantime, Have a great day!

There is...

...a very faint pulse on here.

Thanks to some friends of ours that have their own blog and have just arrived at Fort Wainwright (I just checked out the AWESOME pictures and blog entries about their trip to Fairbanks), I decided to stop in for a visit on here.

Hmmmmm.....will I post again soon? Don't know.

Because we've been so darn busy with getting the house listed for sale. We listed last week. Photos still need to be taken for the MLS website, but we've held that off to buy time...to clean, and organize, etc. etc. etc. We start "showing" soon. And preparing for all this has been a royal pain in the arse! But the profit that we make from the actual sale should be nice. Real nice, in my opinion.

Phillip leaves this weekend for the MTP course at Fort Rucker, Alabama, but not before he signs himself out of 4 ID. If you listen really close, you just might hear the cannons of joy when that happens...

Later Ya'll!

Where in the world is Janet?

Hello!

Bet you've been biting your nails, wondering where in the heck I've been...and if I'm still feeling the vibes from my last post.

Well, I'm much better these days.

Phillip came home from his second tour in Iraq in the early days of June. It is safe to say that we are all so much happier. The kids and I LOVE having Daddy home again. I'm not nearly as exhausted as I was, mentally or physically, and I feel WHOLE again. Sarah is Daddy's Little Girl, and Gabe is just glowing.

We just came off of a two week vacation to Disney World and Gulf Shores/Orange Beach, Alabama. Oh, the fun we had! I will put pictures up on the photo collection from that, as well as pics from the rest of the summer, whenever I get the chance.

We all needed the rest, and we are preparing for school to start tomorrow with refreshed minds. I admit that I have mixed feelings about tomorrow. I'm happy that the summer is over, and that we are starting yet another chapter in life of  Us. But, I'm also sad and a little anxious that our baby boy is starting the second grade. Where does the time go?

Sarah will be in a Mother's Day Out type of thinga-mu-jig on Wednesday's so that I can have the day to do pretty much whatever I want without having to stop for nap times, etc. I have so much to do, as far as working on CME credits for my Surgical Tech certification, tons of pictures to go through and catalog into photo albums (scrap booking is not my thing), home organizing, etc. etc. It'll be nice to vacumm the floor without the worry of an 18-month old thief trying to take over the Dyson!

Phil got the news that he will be going into the Maintenance Test Pilot's course in the spring of next year. I'm not exactly looking forward to him leaving for about 3 months, but I'm extremely happy for him that his career is taking the path that he wants. He'll be training at Fort Rucker, Alabama, so he won't be too far away. At least it's not thousands of miles, right? And hopefully, we will find out soon when and where we will be moving to next. Though we all love Texas, we agree it's time for a change.

I don't know when I'll post next. I admit that since I got a Facebook account, and I update my status on it almost everyday, I feel uninspired to write on this blog. I must remind myself that I'm using this as a journal of our life.

Until next time, guys...

Janet

What now?

Phillip left yesterday to go back to the sandbox. Though I love R&R breaks, they can be such a tease. Life was wonderful while he was here and now, I feel empty and lonely again; not as bad as the first time he left, not by a long shot, but still, I really wish I didn't feel this way.

We brought Phillip to the airport yesterday morning, and then I brought Gabe to school. He needed to be with his friends, and I needed time to adjust. I did a lot of thinking.

I'm going to go about life as I have been. We have a routine. Our week days go by quickly (though sometimes, time drags), but weekends can be long and depressing. Still, life has to return to normal for the three of us here in Harker Heights, and so I'm making plans...

January will be a busy travel month for us. For the MLK weekend, we will go home to Lafayette, because Gabe has 5 days off. At the end of the month, we will go up to Mt. Pleasant, to Angie's house, to meet up with Phil's parents. Sarah will be a whopping 1 YEAR OLD on February 2nd, so we will have a small party for her that weekend.

February might be a difficult month, but it's a short one and Phillip's mom said that they might be able to make a trip to see us in the middle of it.

March will bring us back to Louisiana for spring break, and hopefully we can make a bump check on Mary in Deridder.

April will hopefully have good news of it's own and I'll elaborate on that when and if the time comes.

We're into our 7th month as of today. If rumors are true, then we only have a few more months before we begin to prepare for the guys to come home. If they truly are stuck there until the end of summer, then Lafayette will see us return for those hot and muggy months, until school starts again.

Phillip's mom went to the Our Lady of Prompt Succor Mass in New Orleans today....we shall see what happens.

Update...

Hey guys!

It's been a really busy past couple of weeks for us.

First of all, the tooth fairy really worried Gabe because she left an envelope (special fairy stationary) under his pillow and he, not having quite woken up, thought he got gypped. He thought that she only took the tooth (no money!), and left the note that he wrote to her; after I told him to check again because there must be some mistake, he found that indeed, she left him a golden dollar coin. Poor Gabe, he actually had tears in his eyes from the small disappointment!

The tooth fairy must have tapped her magic wand on Sarah's gums after all. But, Sarah is going about this all backwards. The first tooth to break through is actually her top right, instead of a bottom tooth. I think that the other top tooth is going to be the second one to break through, any day now....

Phillip came home on the Monday morning before Christmas. He was able to catch an earlier flight from Atlanta to Lafayette, so we had a good part of the day with him on Monday (which was a freebie on the whole 15 day thing). So far, it's been a fun but very exhausting trip. Our time in Lafayette was filled to the brim with visiting friends and family. We left Lafayette on Saturday, on Sunday we met his sister and her family for lunch at Schoepf's in Belton, on Monday, Phillip had a massage and we left for Dallas soon after that. Yesterday, we did the King Tut exhibit at the Museum of Art and today....we were able to take things at a slow pace. Sushi at Nami is on the agenda for this evening's meal. Yum! Of course, I'll do hibachi because I don't do fish....

(we got a new Tom Tom navigation system and I'm curious about using it for the first time tonight; I wanna see how it gets us to Belton)

Oh, and I must mention that it was so nice to see Mary and Craig while we were in Louisiana. They were passing through Lafayette and stopped by so we could visit. Mary's pregnant! It's time to start your own blog, Mary. We need to see that bump as it grows! It was also nice to visit and catch up with our friend, Reggie. Ahhhhh! I miss being around those people.

That's about all I can think of for now, folks. I'll try to post again soon.

In the meantime, please continue to have a safe holiday. I hope that everyone is doing well. As for me, I am lucky to have Phillip home for the moment. The holidays can be very depressing, and I wish for my friends that their husbands could be home too.

This sucky deployment won't last too much longer guys. We're on the down hill slope....I think.




PS. On the whole don't-like-to-cut-my-hair-while-he's-gone thing...he came home to the same hair a week ago, a few days after that, I chopped off two inches. Gosh Darn, I feel better!!!

Does anyone know the going rate for a tooth?

I know it's been a while.

We've been busy doing lots of things over here lately. Keeping busy is, in my opinion, bliss!

Gabe has a loose tooth. And it looks like he'll be losing it in the next couple of weeks. I'm guessing that the tooth fairy should leave a dollar? 50 cents? A new Wii game? Naaaah, just joking.

Sarah had a horrible diaper rash this week. And she' been waking up once in the middle of the night for reassurance that I'm still in the house. I took her to her well-baby appointment yesterday. She is, according to the charts, short and pleasantly plump (20.04 lbs and 27 inches long), AND the doctor saw that she is "erupting" on the top and bottom gums at the same time; which means that she may have one or more teeth, according to Doc, sprouting out in the next couple of weeks. Finally, because those little chiclets have been visible beneath her gums since she's three months old!

AND, in the next couple of weeks, Phillip will be home for Christmas! Yeah! He gets to see some "firsts" in the kids lives!!!

How do you like my use of the word "and" today?

Hope everyone is doing well. And staying safe, healthy, and happy.....

Mrs. Phillip D. blah, blah, blah...

Nine years ago today, at this very moment, at 2:30 on a Saturday afternoon, I walked out of a church in Lafayette, Louisiana the happiest woman alive. I had just become his wife.

God, has given me so very much to be thankful for. We have a wonderful home, two beautiful and happy children, and most of all, I have his heart and he has mine.

And there is No One in this world, or beyond, that could ever take his place.

I Love You, Phillip. And I wish that you were here right now. But look at the stars tonight and remember that we are never too far away from each other; I'll be seeing those very same stars later on, thinking of you, missing you, and loving you until death do us part.

Congratulations, Phillip!!!

Today, my husband gets pinned as a CW3! (Chief Warrant Officer III)
Yeah! Yipppppeeeeeeee!!! WaaaaaaaHooooooooooo!!!!!!

Things are starting to look up for him. He recently made PC (Pilot in Command), and is working on more of what happens next along the lines of his career. Hopefully, we will get news soon on that matter. Finally, we see the light at the end of a long tunnel.

Phillip, I love you so much. I'm so very proud of you and happy for you. And I speak for the rest of our family and friends, when I say that they love you and are proud of you too.

I just wish that I was there, or that you were here, so that I or Gabe could do the pinning for you. But, I guess we'll have to leave that job to Mordicah.

CONGRATULATIONS, again, and HAVE A GREAT DAY!

Phillip was interviewed...

Hey Guys,

I just wanted to pass this on to you. Phillip was interviewed by a reporter from a San Antonio newspaper. Here is the link:

http://blogs.mysanantonio.com/weblogs/military/2008/09/post_4.html

Hope that everything is going well on your end.

I'll get to posting again soon; I'm just trying to find my head right now. :)

Janet

More shorts...

Here we go:

• We returned to Texas yesterday so that we could home in time for the start of school. I'd have loved to stay in Louisiana with family, but we've got to get back into the groove here. It's nice to be home though; I just wish that Phillip was here with us.
• It was suggested that I move home to Louisiana. I've thought off and on about doing that. It's so tempting, but I have to stay here for many different reasons.
• I've lost about 9 lbs since I had that EVIL Mirena taken out! Okay, so I have lots more to go, but hey....I'm happy!
• Phillip ordered a Wii Fit for my birthday! I can't wait until it comes in; it's on back order, and I should get it in the first week of September. Fun! Fun!!!
  
• I got the results back from my colposcopy and biopsy. The doctor himself called to tell me that I have abnormal cells around and going into my cervix. He says they normally freeze these cells, but he wants me to have a LEEP procedure. I will find out more next week on the diagnosis and further treatment of my little problem.
• LeRoi Moore , the saxophonist for Dave Matthews Band, died yesterday. It's shocking news to me and our future concert experiences will not be the same.
• We saw Phillip briefly on webcam today! It's the first time we see him since he's gone. God, I miss that man!!!
• Sarah is now sitting up if we put her in the sitting position. She has yet to learn how to do it by herself. She also has thing new thing where she scrunches her nose like a little bunny when she smiles. Too cute!
• Gabe has a new game that he plays with Sarah. When she's sitting and balancing, he dangles her Noonie (pacifier) on a string connected to a little pole; she sits there and tries to catch it with her hands or mouth. He calls it "Sarah Fishing" and both love to play the game. I need to take a video of it.
  

I'll get to better posting later. I've got lots to do now that I'm home. Ya'll take care! J~

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, PHILLIP!!!

Today is Phillip's birthday.

Yep, he was born a looooonnnnnng time ago. ha ha

And I pray that we will be able to celebrate many, many, many, many, many (do you get it?) more birthdays with him. Even though he is not here with us now, we'll have a piece of cake tonight in his honor. We may even film a video of it.

We Love You, Phillip!!!

Good Timing

Phillip called today during a pivotal moment in Sarah's life. He called while she was getting her first meal of sweet potatoes. For the past three weeks, she's been having rice cereal morning and night, but after consulting with her pediatrician's nurse yesterday, we decided it was time to give her a third solid meal. (she's been a little monster in the afternoons)

He wasn't able to be there to see it, but boy, he sure could hear her happiness at the sweet stuff she was having. Yummy, Yummy, in Sarah's Tummy!

The call was unplanned, but it was a nice surprise to hear from him at that time. I'm so glad he was able to be a part of it.

And unfortunately, my camera was in the car, so Gabe was unable to play the little photographer for me (and Phillip). Again, Darn!

Update

Even though I feel that I don't have very much on this end to blog about, I've come up with just a few things. Here's some FYI that I've decided to post, just in case you're really interested in what's going on in Our World:

• I've bought a Passporters Guide to Disney Cruise Line. I think Disney trips will be the kids treats, as well as ours, for surviving the deployment. Since Gabe was utterly disappointed in not being able to come with us on our cruise, and we really do want to try a Disney Cruise, we'll plan on doing that when Phil comes home. I always have to have something to look forward to and plan, so this is right up my alley.
• Phillip is exhausted, but very happy to be flying these days. The guys are still waiting to get to their final destination, and so I think that they are all getting kinda restless about that. It sure is good to hear his voice when he calls. I have a mailing address for him and I see lots of things in the local grocery stores that I'm sure he'd like to see in his care packages.
  
• Gabe and I went to see Wall-E. I give it two thumbs down. Gabe looked bored out of his gourd.
  
• We went to visit Jefferson Island recently. I ran out of battery juice for my digital camera, so I only got a few pictures, but I will post them as soon as I can. Beautiful place, it is.
  
• Sassy the tiger had another birthday party this week. I have a few pictures from that too.
• Gabe sure is enjoying his chance to sleep late this summer. He's been sleeping until almost 9 a.m. on some mornings!