The Hargrave Clan

Just Being Us!

2012-01-22T17:21:00.000-08:00

So nothing massively to report just a few pics from us from the last few weeks. We have been really busy with Matt starting his new job and I'm entering the second trimester. So exciting! Life is just busy and wonderful.

Bennett and his Daddy hanging out in his new office.

Bennett thinks he is so big! He is always saying, "Mommie, I go to work like Daddy!"

Matt loves his new lathe. He is always out in the garage tinkering with something. This is a little something he is making for Wayne. I think its for his leather working stuff.

So Matt decided he was going to cut a bunch of trees down and make some planks for building furniture or something. Bennett absolutely love climbing all over the trees. If only for a few days!

(This post was written by Matt, as if he were Haley. We think he did a pretty good job.)

Pictures

2012-01-15T13:35:00.000-08:00

So we are going to try and update some pic's from the last few months. There is a lot so enjoy!

Visiting Ashland & Griffin, stopped off at the mall for a ride on the carousel.

Zoey & Bennett just hangin out!

Bennett is a pretty good kid. Just couldn't resist taking this picture of him before church. He is pretty good for a 2yr old at church!

Christmas Eve at Mamie & Pops house. Bennett wanted to be painted like Santa

Pop made a sled for all the grandkids to ride around in.

Story time at the local library. Bennett was not to interested with the whole sitting on the lap thing.

This is one of our favorite things to do with boxes. We like fire!

During Christmas break we went down to the Children s Museum in Austin. Bennett of course loves the large train set.

Bennett the chef!

And of course he was absolutely mesmerized by the train set!

Dont poke the Dino in the eye...they don't like that!

BLORA puts on this massive light show every year. It is a pretty cool drive. Bennett got a kick out of all the moving lights.

You of course have to start off at the North Pole!

This is a little deer mount I did for a friend. It turned out pretty good I think.

Another little project I did for a buddy. If you look close it looks like a deer walked all over his rifle.

We were invited to attend a pretty exclusive wedding of a close friend of ours. It was quite nice.

Just visiting Mamie & Pop and doing what we love...reading books

My buddy Erik's parents came down from Utah and of course it snows up North and you cant play golf, but not in Texas! We can golf year round!

Haley & I at the 2-7 CAV Military Ball...wouldnt know that pretty thing is 3 months preganant.

Bennett on Christmas Day. He pretty much ate candy and played with his train set...pretty hard life.

Finally was able to help my buddy Erik get himself a nice whitetail before he heads over to Afghanistan.

Lunchtime Interaction

2012-01-06T10:27:00.000-08:00

I am pregnant. Therefore, I will be spending the next nine months on the floor and near the toilet. That is all the back story you need for the following conversation.

Me (attempting to eat some sort of lunch): Whew, Bennett. I'm having a hard time eating this.
Bennett: You can do it Mommy! It's not too hard. You need to eat it all. (He got that last phrase from Matt.)
Me: OK. I'm trying.
Bennett: Mommy. If you eat all of your food I will give you a big, BIG hoho!! It will be so good.
Me (after chocking down all of my food): Look Bennett! I ate it all!
Bennett: Yay Mommy! You did it! I is so proud of you! Now I can give you a hoho and a big kiss! Happy birthday, Mommy!

This Baby is getting one heck of a good big brother.

Christmas Pajamas...

2011-12-30T14:00:00.000-08:00

...for the FOUR of us :)

Creative Discipline

2011-12-11T14:40:00.000-08:00

Lately Bennett has found great entertainment in being incredibly bipolar. One moment he is gushing adorable cuteness, and the next he is throwing the remote across the room while simultaneously breaking the camera and biting the couch. What the heck?! Who is this kid?! So we have gotten tired of the typical disciplinary actions--you know, the yelling, the time outs, and the spankings. What do they teach anyway?--And have found a much better way to show our son the importance of being soft.

Look for our latest parenting book, coming soon to a Barnes and Nobel near you.

My Birthday

2011-12-07T11:09:00.001-08:00

My Birthday is November 28th, which means it is almost always around Thanksgiving. Sharing a birthday with a holiday really bugs some people, but I found that I tend to benefit from the fact that my birthday falls on a day when there are lots of people gathered who are all in a very thankful, giving mood. Plus, I would usually milk the whole "I'm never home on my birthday" point to my mom growing up, so I usually had several different parties that would drag my birthday out for weeks at a time as I celebrated once with my extended family at Thanksgiving, once with just my family when we got home, and once with my friends later during the week. My birthday rocks.

Now that I am all grown up (and yes, 25 in my mind has always been the official, "all grown up" mark) my birthday still rocks. I married a man who loves to celebrate and does an amazing job at surprising me with things I never even knew I wanted, and our son has had a fascination with birthdays (more particularly candles and cake) since he turned two almost a year ago. So I was not let down this year.

We celebrated my birthday on the same Saturday as our Thanksgiving, even though my real birthday wasn't until the following Monday. We just have a thing about never doing things on the day you are actually supposed to do them.

The morning started with Matt and Bennett singing me "Happy Birthday" which got Bennett really excited about the cake and candles. I'm pretty sure he sung that song to me about thirty times throughout the day, which he would then end by having me "blow out" the candles (which were a variety of things from a plastic french fry to an actual candle he found in our bathroom and tried to light with a lighter. Scary.) and then he would ask me where the cake was.

After my birthday song (the first one) Matt gave me my first present of the day...A CAMERA!! Not the point and shoot kind, the record kind. Where you can take videos that are longer than thirty seconds and then have actual family videos to watch when your kids are all grown up and you want to remember how cute they were at their Kindergarten graduation. I was so SO happy! Especially after Matt told me he stood in a crazy Black Friday line outside of Best Buy for three hours to get it for me at a great price.

Funny side story: When Matt came home from his Black Friday shopping, he told me he had a few things he didn't want me to see. So I closed my eyes when he came in the house with everything and I didn't peek (I am good at not ruining my own surprises.) However, Matt never said anything to Bennett, since it's never made a difference before. But while Matt was wrapping my present, Bennett walked over and literally shouted, "OH MOMMY! LOOK! A CAMERA! A CAMERA!" Poor Matt, he had tried so hard. I pretended to be surprised anyway.

The rest of the morning was full of Thanksgiving-y things like turkey making and table setting-up. But then around 11:00am the doorbell rang and in came this beautiful Edible Arrangement with chocolate-dipped fruit and a pineapple "25" in the center. It was so cute and so yummy.

Funny side story: While Matt and I were driving in the car a few days before this day, Matt decided to check his voice mail using the Bluetooth in our car. So over the entire surround sound system comes this lady's voice telling Matt that his Edible Arrangement had been confirmed for 11:00am on November 26th, 2011. Poor Matt, he had tried so hard. I pretended to be surprised anyway.

So pretty soon people started showing up at our house for Thanksgiving and the party got underway. When all the food was spread on the table, and we were just about to start eating, Matt stopped everyone and told them all that it is my birthday on Monday. Everybody cheered and clapped and said "Happy Birthday!" and then from around the entry hall Mary came in carrying in a beautiful chocolate pie with real whipped cream from from favorite pie place in a town an hour away from here. It was all lit up with candles and everybody sang to me and then Bennett sat on my lap and helped me blow out the candles.

Funny side story: I had wanted a chocolate pie at Thanksgiving since we started making food arrangements back in the beginning of November. I assigned myself the project...and then procrastinated it as everything else that goes along with hosting a Thanksgiving with 17 people in attendance took precedence. So only moments before we were supposed to be sitting down and eating my delicious homemade chocolate pie, I found myself scouring the freezer section of every grocery store in town, and coming up empty handed. That's the downside to having Thanksgiving after everybody else. Fortunately, all of our guests were bringing pie, so I just resigned myself to eating something else instead of chocolate this year. Little did I know that Matt had secretly arranged for Mary and Wayne to pick up this pie at a VERY busy pie store and transport it an hour up to our house where everybody could sing "Happy Birthday" to me and I could blow it out with pure joy. Matt had tried so hard. And I really was surprised. What a great guy.

So that was my birthday. Along with several other presents, including a new purse from Mary and Wayne, new family picture frames from my mom and dad (well, the money they sent was spent on that) a little extra moolah from some of Matt's grandparents, and many many birthday cards, phone calls, and texts from countless others. It was one heck of a good day.

Well, that was the celebration part of my birthday, since my real birthday was on the next Monday when Bennett decided he was going to be a monster and throw fits every few seconds. But Matt more than made up for it when he came home from work early, told me Bennett was going down the street for a few hours, and then made me a delicious dinner while we talked in the kitchen and I painted my toes. After that we watched a few episodes of my favorite show, I took a long hot bath, and then when we were good and ready, we walked down to pick up Bennett, who had been busy helping Miss Joelle make me lemon cupcakes with chocolate frosting. I have to say, 25 is shaping up to be a pretty great year. I am one lucky girl.

Black Friday

2011-12-07T10:35:00.000-08:00

So this is what happens when you get this far behind in blogging. You start putting stories and events ahead of one another, and then you have to go back later and say what really happened before the last post happened.

Like now.

Before we had Thanksgiving on Saturday, we had Thanksgiving on Thursday. Well, sort of. We had Papa John's Pizza on Thursday (real Thanksgiving) but the day itself was absolutely wonderful. We did nothing and felt no guilt for it since every store was closed and everybody was busy. It was the best vacation ever. That night when we went out to get our pizza though, we noticed quite a few cars at Wal-Mart, so we decided to see what was going on. And that's when we remembered it was Black Friday in just a few hours.

Matt and I don't traditionally do Black Friday. We are the kind of people who buy what they want throughout the year at full price, wait until December 23rd to get their Christmas shopping done, and don't ever think twice about it. So no need to rush anything. However, as we were walking around looking at all the awesome stuff Wal-Mart had on sale for this one night, we suddenly found ourselves saying, "Oh! Wouldn't so-and-so love that? Don't we have them for Christmas this year? What a great price!" And we were committed. Because that is, after all, what happens when you go insane.

We got our pizza and ate it together at home. Then, when Bennett was down for the night and I was tucked into bed myself (I go to bed about thirty minutes after Bennett does. I need a lot of sleep to be a nice person) Matt put on his running shoes and a helmet (not really with the helmet) and went out into the chaos. My brave warrior, heading out to do battle with the masses for Christmas presents, while his family slept the night quietly away. I was so proud of him.

He got home around 3:00 in the morning after hitting several of the big players (Best Buy, Target, Kohl's, Wal-Mart), and then popped awake again around 6:30 to run to Lowe's for their opening. By the time I saw him it was around 10:00am and Bennett and I were already deep into our morning routine of Sesame Street and scrambled eggs, having slept a peaceful night. Matt had a huge stack of presents, all for a fraction of the price of what we would have spent normally, and several war stories that would rival the ones from Iraq. And our Christmas shopping is all but complete! Even mine, since while at Lowe's Matt bought several things for himself that he then gave to me to wrap and give to him.

Man. If I knew Black Friday would be this easy, I would have sent Matt out years ago.

Thanksgiving

2011-12-06T12:47:00.000-08:00

Let's start with Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is always on a Thursday here in America. But in the Hargrave family, Thanksgiving is always on the Saturday after. This is because Mary (Matt's mom) is a nurse and works most Thanksgivings, and also because it is easier for everybody to travel on a weekend instead of in the middle of the week. Every Thanksgiving for my entire life, all I have had to do during this holiday was show up. We almost always went to somebody else's home, and if I was assigned something to bring, it was something like rolls or a pie which could be easily made and forgotten.

Not this year. This year we hosted Thanksgiving at our home. With 17 people in attendance. It started out as a family thing, but slowly throughout the month of November people began having interferences and couldn't make it. Almost in unison with the absence of family, however, several of our close friends here mentioned that they missed the big Thanksgivings their own extended families would be having without them, as it is so expensive to travel for such a short holiday. So little by little, friends took the place of family until Saturday when we had a house full of people and food and good times. Mary and Wayne were still able to attend, and even spent the night. All in all it was a fantastic Thanksgiving. And the best part? Besides providing the tables and chairs and centerpieces, I hardly had to cook anything because everybody brought so much with them. It was wonderful.

We did, of course, do the turkey and ham, but I left Matt in charge of those (which meant that Mary actually did the ham. Thanks Mary.) But Matt decided we were going to deep-fry our turkey in peanut oil. Oh. My. Goodness. I have eaten 25 turkeys in my lifetime and this was easily the best one I have ever had. It was crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside and nothing started on fire while we were cooking it. Defiantly something to be thankful for.

A Parable

2011-12-05T12:26:00.000-08:00

A hardened criminal spent three years in a Turkish prison, where he was treated very poorly and fed very little food. One night, his posy made plans and successfully broke him out. They rode together to the home of one of the clan, where a beautiful meal was spread upon the table. The man, having been starved nearly to death for the last three years, began to feast. He ate and ate to his heart's content...until suddenly he started to go into convulsions. His brothers in crime had no idea what to do, and so they watched as the man, who had just tasted his first breaths of freedom only moments ago, died in front of their eyes. What was it that killed him, you ask? It was the food. Because the man had been so deprived of nourishment for so long, his body physically could not handle the amount of rich foods he suddenly forced into it. And so, as an ironic end to this criminal's sad life, his stomach contracted to the point of death.

This is a true story (well, almost. I may have made up some of the details, but the concept is accurate.) And if blogging is anything like eating, I will take a page from this man's book and take it a little at a time after the long stent of nothingness we have just experienced. You may be saying, "But Haley! What about the Waco Zoo? And Thanksgiving? And your 25th birthday? And the beginning of the Christmas season? What about Griffin and Ashland's visit? What about Matt's new promotion? What about Bennett being ridiculously cute and terroristic all at the same time? When oh when will we get to hear all about your totally amazingly awesome life?" Well, my friends, as tempted as I am to just smear a bunch of pictures across this blog and put a few captions under each, I will not do it. At least not now and not all at once. A little at a time. Easy does it.

I refuse to be the person who ends up dead on the floor.

NOT keeping my promise

2011-11-28T12:29:00.000-08:00

I am a loser. Actually, no. Blogger is a loser. Once it lets me start posting pictures again, I promise I will. For the time being, enjoy our updated family picture. We are some beautiful people.

Keeping My Promise

2011-11-14T16:24:00.001-08:00

I'm doing my best here, I really am. But the Internet is being soooooo slow that after attempting to upload our zoo pictures twice with no success after about an hour, I gave up. But just so you know, they are coming. Eventually. And the orangutangs are super creepy.

I would also like to add the miracle of potty training is occurring in our home. For real this time. So don't give up on me and I won't give up on our shotty Internet.

See you soon.

Yeah. This Happened.

2011-11-09T15:23:00.000-08:00

Hi, it's me. Haley.

2011-11-08T12:28:00.000-08:00

I haven't been on here for awhile. In my absence, I have discovered that Matt has taken over the blog and at least put some pictures up. He really is the best. Oh, and by the way, sorry for the bloody skinned deer photos...like I said, I haven't really been on here for awhile.

Life is great. In fact, we are so dang busy LIVING life, that I find I have hardly any motivation left to WRITE about it once all is said and done. But then I start thinking about how we are going to print this year off in a little while to keep in our collection of family blog journals, and I just keep picturing us ten years from now, looking at the months of September - November 2011 and saying, "Man. What losers we were!"

I can't let that happen.

However, I also can't physically go back and write about every little detail of every little thing that has happened during the months of September - November 2011. So starting now I vow to do better. And in a vain attempt to redeem myself just a little, I will write a thing or two about the last several weeks, as pictured below.

Halloween was probably the biggest thing that happened around here, as with every other American family. We spent a lot of time doing Fall and Halloweenie things, like baking, raking leaves, making jack-o-lanterns, and going to pumpkin patches.

We actually got to go to two pumpkin patches this year. One in Oklahoma with Griffin and Ashland and Zoey, and one in Marble Falls with Bekah and Nathan. Bennett and I drove out there to meet them one afternoon while Matt was doing his SASS shooting with Wayne. It was so fun! I posted about this same pumpkin patch last year while Matt was deployed, but this year we just took it at an easy pace and I enjoyed it so much. We ate lunch together near the petting zoo, and then watched Bennett go on a train ride all by himself. The ticket person wasn’t convinced he was going to be OK alone, but in all reality I think Bennett got a little bored. I mean, once you go tubing with Uncle Griffin and ride motorcycles with Daddy, a little tin train hooked to the back of a tractor just doesn’t cut it anymore. We also picked beautiful Fall bouquets, picked out pumpkins, and had a great time catching up with some of our favorite people. It was a very fun afternoon for all of us.

Clear back in September one of my good friends came to me and asked me if I wanted to co-host a Halloween party with her. I love Halloween. Not to the extent of my growing up years, as I have found it is much easier to be the child than the parent during major holiday events, but I love it still the same. So I of course said yes.

It was crazy.
crazy planning
crazy "acquiring" of items
crazy decorating
crazy prepping
crazy cooking

But so totally worth it. We got a lot of our decorative and menu ideas from Martha Stewart. I made some awesome (if I do say so myself) name tags for each food item, so we dined on dead man's fingers, witches brew, veggies and slime, etc. Matt made a half-sized coffin and we set up the kitchen like a morgue with all of the food in the coffin. Pretty cool. Matt and my friend's husband (also named Matt) even made a graveyard in the backyard complete with smoke and fog machines and bones, and we had a spooky spider web canopy over nearly the entire backyard. There were about ten families who came and every single person wore a super cool costume. Matt and I were hunters in our camo, and we made Bennett a little deer costume complete with antlers and a white tail. It was pretty cute. We all had a blast eating ghoulish food, playing games like "The Dead Mr. Smith," “Pin the Tail on the Black Cat,” and “Doughnuts on a String,” taking turns hitting an incredible homemade black widow piñata, and judging each others jack-o-lanterns. At the end of the night everybody went home with really cool witch's brooms goody bags. I think it was a huge success. A LOT of work, but a huge success.

Of course, that was on Friday, October 28th . The next day was Saturday October 29th , and the ward trunk-or-treat. Which the Primary was partially in charge of. Which meant more decorating, more food making, more game creating, more candy giving. (Oh, quick side note, I was in charge of the Primary Sacrament Program which took place on October 23rd . So for a whole month I was also busy writing the script, calling the parents, running practices, creating nametags and seating charts, making letters and teacher assignments, figuring out who was actually going to be there or not, etc. And it went off without a hitch. Needless to say though, I was SO DANG HAPPY when it was OVER!!!!) But anyway, Bennett had a blast at all of the Halloween parties we went to, including this one, but he somehow managed to lose his antlers on this night.

It was actually really weird. We were all done going from car to car and just standing at our own car giving out candy, when a big group of older kids walked by. When they left, they sort of filed out around Bennett, and after the crowd cleared, Bennett’s antlers were nowhere to be seen. I ran after the kids but nobody had them, we got a flashlight and looked in the parking lot, we checked the lost and found the next day. But no antlers. Poor Bennett was so upset over losing his “deer hat” I felt terrible for him. That’s why on actual Halloween night Bennett is wearing his hunting hat instead of his antlers. Which really threw people off. I’m pretty sure nobody knew what that kid with the brown smock and bright orange hat was supposed to be, but luckily we got a few good pictures in before Halloween night anyway.

Which brings us to October 31st, another day full of decorating and candy passing out. We met with a bunch of families on our street and had a good dinner at my friends home before heading out together in a group.

Every year we have spent Halloween here I have noticed something weird, but just couldn’t put my finger on it. This year I realized what it was…nobody trick-or-treats at night. From about 5:00 to 7:30 the streets are PACKED with people and little kids. Seriously, it’s like a New York City street full of witches and Power Rangers. But as soon as the sun sets, there’s not one person out and not one porch light is on. It’s sort of freaky. I however, actually like this aspect of our neighborhood, as Bennett was pretty much done by 7:30 anyway and then we didn’t have to worry about sitting by the door anymore. We spent Halloween night pillaging Bennett’s candy bucket (this kid made a haul!) and then watching Bennett tear through the rest of his candy (literally, with his teeth) as much as he wanted. We are excellent parents.

So that was Halloween, and let me tell you, it was great. But it was super busy and I was really ready to flip my calendar to November.

So far, all that we have done in November that is really noteworthy is go to the Waco Zoo. Which was awesome and way more enjoyable in the cool 75 degree weather we are having now versus the 110 degree weather we had the first time we visited. It was perfect, but we took pictures of that day so I am sure Matt will post those and then I can write witty captions underneath. Like, “This is Matt at the zoo.” (Just kidding, I will be true to my vow and try to give a little more from now on. I promise.)

So until next time…
Happy Halloween!

Trick or Treating 2011

2011-11-06T08:11:00.001-08:00

Here is a little picture entry for you all. More to follow later.
p.s- keep scrolling past the hunting post to see a few shots of our AWESOME Halloween party.

Pumpkin Patch @ Marble Falls 2011

2011-11-06T07:20:00.000-08:00

November Hunting 2011

2011-11-06T06:24:00.000-08:00

Well hunting season started off a little slow for us but it picked up finally. We went out this morning and I was spotting for my buddy Erik and we picked out this nice, big bodied 7 point buck about 125yds out. Clean shot in his sweet spot and the dude went about 20ft and dropped. Pretty exciting. Erik kept saying it was better than Christmas! Of course Bennett just had to come out and see the "puppy buck". It was pretty awesome all in all.

It was about 33 degrees this morning...perfect for hunting.

Shot with a Browning .308 pump.

Bennett and Bree watching us skin the deer.

Just having some fun! I think Erik needs therapy!

We finished up the day with this big body doe. We are really looking to pack alot of meat away this year and we are going to attempt to make jerky and sausage this year as well! We'll see how that turns out. (of course Bennett would not be left out of all of it)

Look forward to more pics to come....

Halloween Party 2011

2011-11-04T18:20:00.000-07:00

Marble Falls SASS Shoot

2011-11-04T17:45:00.000-07:00

Well Wayne & I have officially started back in our SASS shooting. We found a little spot just east of Marble Falls and the place was great. It is about a 45 min drive for both of us, so not to bad. It sure was fun just to get all dressed up and shoot again! With all the holidays coming up we probably wont get to shoot again till January but that's okay we'll do a little practicing before then.

Getting ready to shoot!

One of the many stages with targets in the background.

Picture Update

2011-10-18T18:25:00.000-07:00

Matt did the pictures, so I was wrangled into doing the words. I really love writing, but tonight I am really involved in the latest episode of Modern Family, my guilty pleasure series. So just for the time being, let's see how brief we can make this...I'll be more thorough tomorrow.

Matt's truck

A really distorted picture from the front.

It doesn't really look this out of proportion...

We went to Oklahoma to visit Griffin and Ashland and, of course, Baby Odey.

The new Wal Mart in Cleveland Oklahoma opened while we were there. It was a big deal for a little town. We were some of the first in line to go in.

Bennett and Zoey were very cute cousins. Here they are holding hands in the car.

We went to a super fun pumpkin patch. Tons of pumpkins, tons of fun.

Hugs at the Pumpkin Patch

Zoey helping pick out the perfect one.

Feeding the crazy goats at the petting zoo. This thing seriously took the entire bag of food right out of my hand and then ran. It was awesome.

Riding the horses.

Yee-Haw!!

Bennett and Zoey were pretty dang cute. We love these kids.

Going on the 35 second hayride. It was worth it.

Bennett and Uncle Griffin on the hayride.

A pile of pumpkins to choose from. Daunting...daunting...

Sadly, the best family picture from the day. We do what we can with what we have.

Told Bennett man to hammer in the nails sticking up and he went after it with a vengeance.
(written by Matt)

We had to try out the new slide...dont worry Griff held up the slide in the middle so it wouldn't break. (written by Matt)

Zoey trying out their new slide. It was in the forest behind Griffin and Ashland's house so Griffin and Matt spent a thrilling afternoon moving it through the fence to their backyard.

This is the box Matt made Zoey. Pretty cute.

So after a few days at Griffin and Ashland's, we got in the car and drove to a different part of Oklahoma to see Matt's family. Here we are at Logan's Roadhouse during one of our pit stops. Bennett was bored so we occupied him with the camera. Can you tell he is showing his "happy face"?

This is our dream house. I LOVE this house. And guess what?

Not only is it beautiful, located on several acres of gorgeous forest and ranch land, but it is literally SEVEN minutes from a main shopping center and highway. Love it. Want it. Matt needs to work more.

Bennett and his black cat buddy at Uncle Clay's and Aunt Annie's. This kid was born to be dirty.

Cole catching an armadillo. Kinda scary, kinda fun.

We got to go to Cole's talent show where he won first place with his fiddle playing. He was awesome!

Going out on the Gator. Bennett's dream car.

Pure joy. We laugh in the face of danger.

Bennett's driving was almost as good as mine...so Matt tells me.

Bennett got to sit on Pop's fully refinished Minneapolis Molin...same kinda tractor Pop used to plow fields with when he was a kid. (Written by Matt)

Matt finally got to visit Grandma Pat. It was good for him. She was pretty special to him.

Who says the south doesn't have big deer. I might just pass out if I ever saw a deer this big walk out in front of me. (should we guess who wrote this?)

Aunt Annie drives a school bus in her off time. Bennett has a new hero.

I don't think I'm ready for this image yet. It makes me feel like packing him a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

This is a coffin Matt built for a HUGE Halloween party we are having in a week. I guarantee we will post that.

I guess Matt had the camera at church? Here is Bennett in sacrament. He is a really good kid...when he wants to be...We love him all the time.

OK, I'll go back later and fill in the blanks, but here's the skeleton. Fun, fun fun times.

More Pics

2011-10-09T06:36:00.001-07:00

Just wanted to add a few more pictures for your viewing pleasure.

Bennett is always asking to ride in "Daddy's" truck. He sits really high! I think that's why he likes it.

So we decided to have a little camp out in our backyard. This was Bennetts first try and he had a blast.

Bennett and his buddy Camden setting up camp.

Bennett talked about eating marshmallows and hot dogs for days! The Boy really likes fire!

My buddy Erik and I heading out for a little fun.

My dear sweet wife. She was tired of sitting at home while I left to go hunting so we got her some gear to come sit with me. She is pretty awesome.

This is Bennett posing for the camera. What a goob!

I climbed this tree in the park and Bennett just had to climb the tree too! (Mom didn't panic to much)

The best Mom ever, sure love this girl!!!

The Pictures!

2011-10-08T21:24:00.000-07:00

Well Haley did a great job in updating everyone on the last blog so I did my part by trying to upload some pictures for everyone's enjoyment.

So right after getting home from Iraq Haley and I took a little get away down to Austin to have a little fun...I played the good husband and held all the bags while she did a "little" shopping. (I have been trained well)

Haley was pretty happy with all her great deals!

So this is Commerce bridge were a whole lot of bats live. (that is the capitol building right behind Haley)

If you look real close all the dark spots are bats.

Here is another shot of them. It was roughly 19 mins of solid bats flying out from underneath the bridge where they live.

We of course stopped in at Mamie and Pops house and picked up my safe...Bennett got to ride in the trailer, he thought he was pretty cool!

As Haley stated in the last blog we are now if full swing of hunting season...Bennett has turned into my little huntin' buddy. Since there hasn't been much rain here down south we have been watering our deer (by the way Bennett picked his orange hunting hat out all by himself!!)

What can I say its in the "genes"

Bennett would not be left on the ground when I was checking out my tree stand...sure love that boy!

Ever since we brought home my new truck it has become the neighborhood playground. I dont mind I did it with my daddy's trucks I just like to see him smile!

So when Bennett gets upset he has started to throw himself down and then he wants love for his owes...its pretty sad, pathetic, and funny all at the same time.

It was great to have my Mom & Dad to come for a little welcome home BBQ with some of my buddies that deployed with me.

Just hangin out with our neighbors.

The fabulous hostess doing her thing!

~Its sure good to be home~

Oh, and by the way...

2011-10-06T19:18:00.001-07:00

For all you non-Facebookers, this is the link to a website where all the pictures that were taken of our family reuniting after Matt's deployment are stored. Non of them are edited yet, and there are a few *super fantastic* ones that are probably not going to make it into the final 24 we choose, but hey. You can't win them all.

http://hgreen-photography.smugmug.com/OpLoveSession/Hargrave/19208607_hLDBxg

The password is -- haley2011

Enjoy :)

Why Hello

2011-10-06T11:49:00.001-07:00

(This is really long, with no pictures. Just so there's no unrealistic expectations out there.)

We have been sick

sick
sick
sick

Let's just say that between the three of us, our toilets have had a rough two weeks or so. But I think I was the last to get it, thank goodness, so we are almost out of the woods. Today, in fact, I was feeling so much better that I jumped out of bed, made breakfast, took out the garbage, got Bennett ready for the day, took a shower and did my hair and makeup (this is a big deal, since when I am sick I typically self destruct), went to the park, and ate lunch at Taco Bell.

And now I am laying back in bed, sick sick sick all over again and kicking myself for thinking I could handle cheesy fiesta potatoes this early in the recovery game.

But as long as I am laying here (again), I think I will attempt an update on this blog. I will do this in order of person, as that would be easiest.

MATT(IE)
Matt has been home for almost a full month now, and we are absolutely loving what everybody is calling the "honeymoon phase" of this redeployment. We, however, are not so sure that there is a need to label our happiness as a "phase" since we both plan on staying this way forever. :)

The second day Matt got home he came to me with a small booklet that had a two page list, front and back, written in it. I asked him what he was working on, and he told me they were just a few projects he wanted to start working on. Two pages is just a few to some people. Anyway, Matt has been happily cutting/sanding/varnishing/wiring/caulking/painting/building etc. since that time and it is good to hear the ol' circular saw whirring away in the garage again. Like the high-pitched whine of a long lost friend. Even as I write this, he is working on hard wood floors and a spiral staircase up to Bennett's tree house (I'm not joking. That really is what he is doing.)

Besides that, Matt also got a new truck since we have been home. And yes, it is "his" truck, because I am more than happy to finally be able to call my beautiful little Ford Edge "mine." In all reality we needed two cars, since Matt can't take his motorcycle to work during most of the winter and whenever he has paperwork to bring in with him. And it is physically and mentally unsafe for me and Bennett to be stuck here without transportation. So a truck it was. It's a 2008 Dodge Ram Laramie, 2500 Diesel. When I stand behind the tailgate, I disappear. It is Matt's dream truck and I am so happy for him. Bennett is very fond of Daddy's big truck too, as is evident by his constant climbing on it like a large jungle gym, and crying whenever we are forced to drive anywhere in Mommy's puny little car. I guess we have two truck guys in this family now.

And we can't talk about Matt without talking about hunting. Oh hunting, what joy. Matt loves it, and so I try to love it too. He gets all dressed up in his camo with his buddy Erik, practices shooting his bows in the backyard at a fake deer he set up, and spends his afternoons working on deer blinds and corn feeders and tracking positions. Most of our conversations revolve around deer now too, and I think for our next date Matt is going to take me out to see the blinds he's made. And I can go fully concealed, since I now personally own my own hunting attire, complete with hooded mask and hunting boots. Because you know what they say, "The family that hunts together..." ...I don't know, you finish the rest. It really is fun to see him doing something he loves so much. I try to be supportive.

HALEY
I feel like I am running with my head off half the day. It's like, everyday I wake up with a huge list of things I want to do. And then when I am going to bed, I realize that I actually did do everything on my list...but it doesn't matter. Because even though I did do the dishes this morning, there are new dishes in the sink before I go to bed. And even though I vacuumed at 3:00 in the afternoon, by 7:00 at night it is like that never happened. And even when I feed Bennett a good lunch, that kid has the nerve to ask me to make him dinner, too! I guess that is where the saying "a woman's work is never done" comes from. Because it's not. Ever. But you know what? I LOVE IT!!!! I love, love, love that I get to stay home and be the mom and the wife. This is all I've ever wanted, and I am pretty lucky and happy.

We do have an itsy bitsy problem. When Matt was still gone I would hear sounds up in the attic and they would really freak me out. I mean, I'm laying in bed at two in the morning, listening to all these sounds over my head, thinking for sure it was some guy up there waiting to kill us all. But as the months went on and we survived every night, I came to accept the man in our attic and slept peacefully. I actually started feeling comforted at his sounds.

But then a few mornings ago I heard a distinct sound that didn't sound like our man in the attic at all. It sounded like icky little mice feet. So we called the exterminator and he came out to confirm our fears. And take care of the problem. Now I lay in bed at night and listen to the oddly lonely quiet and miss my friendly man in the attic. Because we killed him, and it's a little sad. But better than mice.

Besides all the day-to-day things and mice tracking, I have been busy with church stuff too. I am in charge of the Primary Program in our ward, and it is right around the corner. So most nap times I am working on that, making phone calls and writing scripts and planning seating and stuff. Then I am also the Committee Chair of the Cub Scout organization, apparently for the last year? I just found out myself. Needless to say, our program was in a sorry state. Thanks to a good group of leaders though (and a lot, a lot of work and meetings and handouts and a fair amount of yelling at grown adults on my part) we are creating something that slightly resembles a troop. I am very proud. And very, very tired. Oh, and I forgot to mention that Matt is the Boy Scout Master, so between the two of us there is a lot of (what I call) "nerd power" going on. I really can't wait until Bennett turns eight...ugh.

Also, I am wearing skinny jeans now and loving them. I always come around to fashion at some point. Usually after it is considered the fashion.

BENNETT
Bennett. Bennett. Bennett...Bennett is two. Need I say more? Actually, what it really is, is that I have been sick the last few days, so Bennett has learned that mom can threaten all she wants from the couch, but when it comes time to actually follow through with physical movement, he's got the upper hand.

This became evident yesterday as he announced he was going on a walk. I feel bad for the poor kid, being trapped in our sick house for so long, so I said OK. (Matt was out hunting at this time, by the way. I was overly confidant and told him we would be fine. Stupid supportive wife.) So before I could drag myself off the floor, Bennett opened the front door and booked it down the street with one of Matt's green army socks pulled all the way up to his thigh. But only on one leg. So he's just running like his little life depended on it (which at this point it did, and he knew it), and I am trying to chase him while still holding down everything I had eaten within the last 24 hours. Luckily, one of my friends lives about six houses down the street from us, and happened to be out in her front yard when she saw Bennett streaking past her like a mad man, and me hobbling after him about four houses back. So she chased him down for me and brought him back. Stinker. And the thing is, that when I finally caught up to him, I didn't even have enough energy to really discipline him. I just sat on the grass and tried to breath and sort of lectured in between gasps. He is a smart little stinker.

So after we stayed there awhile, Bennett decided it was time to go home...and booked it back down the street to our house. Are you kidding me?! So I chase him down again, with multiple neighbors standing in their front yards watching the scene, and catch him right as he is making it to our front yard, where I gave him a good, swift, pop on the bum. As he was crying, I told him he couldn't run away like that because it is dangerous. He could get hurt. Or lost. Or hit by a car...at which point he stopped me in the middle of my rant and said very firmly, "No Mommy! I won't get hit by a car! I am on the sidewalk!!"

What do you say to that? It was weird. He was arguing with me. Questioning me and my judgments and my motives for the first time in his life. Or at least voicing it for the first time. And this has made me feel very...scared. Proud yes, because he is starting to think for himself. But mostly scared. Because he is starting to think for himself. Our word as parents is only going to be absolute law for so long now. The countdown has begun. shudder.

Other than that, Bennett has developed other strong likes and dislikes. For example, music. He is very picky about his music selection, and we have had to have more than one talk about tolerance of other people's likes. "Other people" referring mostly to me. "Tonight Tonight" by Hot Rae Chelle tops Bennett's charts at the moment, with "Party Rock Anthem" by LMFAO a close second. At least he does like good music. :) He has also started calling all his friends "friend-buddies" which I love, and he is still an unwavering fan of Mickey Mouse Club House. I personally loathe Mickey Mouse Club House now after seeing every episode ever created at least twenty times. But I am trying to be tolerant of other people's likes.

Besides being *ahem*...active...Bennett is pure joy to be around. He makes us so seriously proud. Some of the stuff he does that just makes us happy he's ours:

Bennett takes such good care of me. The other day I was washing the table when I stubbed my toe yet again on one of the benches. I swear, those things have it out for me. I was in the middle of doing one of my dramatically emotional owie dances when Bennett ran over to me with great concern, asking me if I was OK. I told him yes, but just to make sure, he grabbed a handful of flowers we had sitting out and gave them to me, saying "Now you feel better, Mommy. I love you, Mommy." Oh man, melt your heart. He also makes sure I run, run so fast across the street so I don't get hit by the big cars, and he always gives me lots and of Bennett hugs and kisses whenever he feels I need them...which is often. And he has suddenly started routinely telling me I'm pretty. Love that kid. :)

He has started talking more clearly (apparently. He sounds the same to me, but everybody else keeps making comments so it must be true.) His favorite words to use are, "maybe" and "how 'bout" and he starts almost all of his sentences this way.
"Maybe those birdies are flying to that tree. Maybe they are sleepy. Maybe Bennett is sleepy. Maybe I like those birdies." (a conversation we just had a few hours ago)
"Mommy, how 'bout I don't like that?"
"How 'bout I want it?" (both always said in a very sweet tone, but implying that he absolutely hates whatever I am trying to make him do. At least he's polite about it.)

And speaking of politeness, Bennett is so grateful for EVERYTHING. Literally.
"Thank you, Miss Sarah, for letting me play with Camden." (our friend-buddies)
"Thank you, McDonalds, for my chicken nuggets and the blue slide."
"Thank you, ice cream scoop, for my green ice cream in my ice cream cone."
He's also pretty good at saying "please," even when he's about to lose all semblance of control. Whenever he starts whining for something, all we have to do is start him off with "Mommy...?" and he fills in the rest with his high pitched, trying-so-hard-not-to-cry voice "Mommy! Can I please have my bear, please?" or "Mommy! I please don't like that please." (not the actual correct use of the word, but we appreciate it more than screaming.) And with a face like that, and a cute little attitude to match, who could say no? Not us.

So wow. It's over. Hopefully I can just move on now to the regular week-to-week activities and not feel so guilty for neglecting this for so long.

See you there.

Hunting Season!

2011-09-30T11:47:00.000-07:00

So because of deployments, school and other conflicting schedules I have not gone hunting in a few years. However this year I made it back in time for HUNTING SEASON!!! So excited, you dont even know! Let me tell you that Haley has been awesome about the whole thing. This is all pretty new to her and she is taking it like a champ, the daily corn feeds, the constant bow practice, not to mention the life like deer targets in the back yard! Anyway just had to share my excitement with everybody!

Just hanging out outside my back fence! Our house backs up to some guys ranch.

This is my little spike that has shown up everyday for the past month.

This guy I am really excited about, peek-a-boo I see you!!

Alive

2011-09-20T13:44:00.000-07:00

Just so you know, we are still alive and very happy to be such.
In fact, life has been so fun, we have neglected to update this blog very often
or at all
So please continue your patience while I work up the courage to cram about a month of events
into a single post.

It will cover such fascinating details as:
- buying a new master bed
- buying a new washer
- buying a new truck
- buying me an unholy amount of new clothing
- having heart palpitations about the amount of money leaving our account
- visiting family in San Antonio
- having family visit us in Copperas Cove
- hosting a "welcome home" bbq in our backyard for Matt and all our soldier-y friends
- Bennett learning the phrase, "Hey! Wait for me!" and "Hey! Wait a minute!" (my favorites)
- Matt and I becoming very church-oriented as we are thrown into primary, cub scouts, the primary program, young mens, and boy scouts.
-going through huge amounts of attic, under-the-bed, and closet junk.
- escaping on a wonderful, much-needed Bennett-less vacation to Austin, where we lived it up
- Me actually being in a picture because we finally have somebody else in the family who can work a camera.
- Matt getting "deer fever" (did you know hunting season is about three months long? THREE MONTHS LONG...ugh...)

So look forward, my friends.
one day...one day...

348 Days

2011-09-04T16:20:00.000-07:00

September 18th, 2010 -- August 31st, 2011.
348 days.

This deployment was one of the best things that has ever happened to us--that has ever happened to me. I feel so blessed for the opportunities I have had for the last year. To get to pay off so much debt (just our house and car left!) and build up a very sizable savings account. To be forced to "grow up" and deal with real life. To get to be selfish--my time, my schedule, my friends, my choices. For Matt to get to be promoted quickly and become proficient in his job in a very focused field. To get to know so many wonderful people. To get to know Matt better, because when all you can do is talk on a computer, you learn a lot about the other person. To get to know myself better, and focus on the relationship I have with my Heavenly Father. To get to know me. I like me. :)

Yes, there were hard times. Like the entire month of May. That was my wall. That was my turning point, where I decided that if there was nobody there but me to get myself and Bennett back on track, then I had better get up and do it. It was hard. It was good.

Matt has told me some things about what he did. About what he saw. And it was hard, but it was good.

So when I found myself standing on the homecoming field with our little boy on August 31st, at 10:00 in the morning, it was a little surreal. To be watching as a string of buses unloaded their passengers. To be crying as they walked toward us. To be grateful, so grateful, as we bowed our heads in prayer for those who were returning home, and for those who weren't. To be pushing through a crowd of people, looking, looking, looking. And then there he was. Just like he had never left. And when we finally embraced for the first time in 348 days, all we could say was, "Hi."

50 weeks
1 wedding
14 major breakdowns
2 extended trips to Rexburg
9 major holidays
3 major birthdays
over $40,000 of debt paid off (!!!)
3 rooms redecorated
1 anniversary
1 funeral
28 weekends spent doing yards
140 walks with friends at night
1 promotion
24 paydays (and 24 bill days)
348 nights alone
countless moments of both sadness and joy

For the last year I have left an old pair of Matt's shoes sitting in the entry hall. I don't really know why. Maybe because I needed a daily reminder that he really was going to come home one day to fill them again. Yesterday I watched as Matt put those old shoes on and walked around the house "tinkering." Bennett was at his side, holding his hand and talking away about the bumble bees. Best buddies.

And I am happy.
So happy.
348 days.

We did it :)

Ready

2011-08-28T17:58:00.000-07:00

- Last night we made a sign that says, "Welcome Home Daddy!"

- Yesterday we went grocery shopping for all of Matt's requested foods. Apparently there is a severe lack of vegetables and ice cream in Iraq.

- Saturday I did our yards for the LAST TIME alone!! And, might I add, they are looking goooooood.

- Tomorrow I am shipping Bennett and Jace off to a neighbor's for a few hours so I can get down and dirty with my house. I will also be deep cleaning my car.

- Wednesday night I ordered a new dress off the Internet to wear on the homecoming field. Pray it gets here in time...

- Tuesday, mine and Bennett's hair were both recreated by my fabulous neighbor friend who works at a very posh salon and I am just lucky enough to know her personally. I will also be getting a manicure and pedicure tomorrow. I feel so grown up.

- A professional photographer has been arranged to meet us at the field when we are reunited as a family. As a military perk, this is costing us nothing.

- A weekend getaway trip and babysitter has been acquired for some much needed alone time.

- My page-long list of projects to be done before Mattie gets home has been completed for several weeks (except the organizing of our printed photos, which I highly doubt will ever be done).

We are ready.
Now all we need is Matt...and a healthy dose of patience...

Mommy and Bennett

2011-08-24T19:12:00.000-07:00

tonight I tried to slip quietly into Bennett's room
while he was asleep
to put away a few items that were left out from our day of playing
but he woke up and saw me
and he smiled
because Bennett always wakes up with a smile
and in his tired little voice he asked,
"Mommy cuddle cuddle with Bennett?"

how could I say no?

so we laid on the bed together
Mommy and Bennett
and I stroked his arm
and listened to his heavy, even breathing
and thought of the last year
of how often I had wished time away
that it would go faster
that the end would come sooner
and suddenly I realized
we had made it
the end finally is here
and as excited as I am for all of the happy things that will happen
for our Mattie coming home
and our family (hopefully) growing larger
I will miss this year

I will miss being Bennett's whole world
I will miss being his everything
nobody but us two
dependent upon each other
Mommy and Bennett
for one year I had the privilege
of playing two roles
and it was such a blessing
because as much as our little boy has needed me
to care for him
to play with him
to teach him
I have needed him
to love me
to remind me that I have divine purpose
to give me reason to wake up in the morning
(and several reasons to go to bed at night) :)
to make me better

so much better

and we two
so inseparably connected
will grow and change in the near future
to become older
to become greater
to become more
because life is such a happy thing
always moving forward to the next adventure

but for now
we will lay together
Mommy and Bennett
and the time I have so selfishly wished away
I suddenly want to freeze

Something's Gotta Give

2011-08-22T19:10:00.000-07:00

I just had to kick a ginormous pile of clean laundry out of the way so I could make it to my computer. Slacking on the mom job? I think yes. But it can wait, because I am going to update this blog if it kills me. And it just might, because after the long day I've had I am seriously compromising my health by staying awake any longer to do this. Be grateful.

So, what happened this week? Nothing. My family all left a few weeks ago, and when they did it got very quiet and very boring. Add to that the fact that Matt is due home any day, and you have a recipe for, what I have dubbed, "Waiting Fever." The entire time Matt has been gone I have just sort of put my head down and worked through whatever came my way one day at a time. But all of a sudden I raised my eye line and could see the actual finish line, and I can't even begin to tell you what that did to me. To see the finish line, but to still be so far from it, was torture. And the more I thought about it, the worse it got. And the crankier I got.

So to cure myself of this "Waiting Fever" I decided to do something--anything--that would take my mind off of the killing anticipation. So I read. I got the first book to the Hunger Games series on a Thursday afternoon, and by Friday night I had finished it. Saturday and Sunday I rested. Then Monday I got the second book, and on Wednesday night I finished the third. It felt so good to read again! Especially since I haven't really read like that since high school.

However, something's gotta give when the only adult in a household decides to engulf herself in literature. Bennett spent long hours in front of the TV with a bowl of grapes or cheetos or whatever I could find in our pantry since I never went grocery shopping. And the house fell down around our ears with the laundry, dishes and toys taking over every available space.

And I read.

By the time Thursday morning rolled around and I had finally put down the last book, I looked up to discover a house in ruins and a son who had consumed more Mickey Mouse Clubhouse than is probably medically safe. So the rest of the week was spent cleaning, cleaning, cleaning, and trying to wean Bennett off the TV like a drug addict from morphine. Poor boy, he was so happy with Mickey.

But the good news is, we are all back to normal now. the "Waiting Fever" has broken, my house is clean...er than it was, and Bennett is back to his two shows a day limit. We even eat meals at the table again like real human beings. We are doing great...except for the giant pile of laundry that needs to be folded.

Oh, and this Saturday Bennett and I joined the mob of shoppers for tax-free weekend, where we learned that a "Code Yellow" at Kohl's means a very cute two-year-old little boy has wandered off during one of the most hectic shopping days of the year. Ugh. On a good note, I got some really cute stuff.

So there you have it. An update. And here's a picture to go with it.

This is actually from when we were packing to go to Oklahoma a few weeks ago, but I needed to document Bennett's potty training outfit. If this were socially acceptable to wear, I swear this kid would be potty trained already. Slowly, slowly...

The Fun Begins

2011-08-14T18:08:00.000-07:00

I am copping out. Do you know how long it takes to go through eight-hundred pictures and choose the right ones and put little captions underneath that are informative and witty? A long time. So I'm not going to do it. Instead, I am going to take my parent's blog, Griffin and Ashland's blog, and Allison's amazing professional photography website (http://allisonkayphotography.blogspot.com), and compile my own fantastic plagiarized blog post. Because, honestly, why try to reinvent the wheel? But I will just say it was a BLAST!!!

P.S- There is a lot here. I just really wanted the pictures to be printed in our Blog Book at the end of the year, so don't feel like you need to look at this. It is purely for us.

First up: HAZARDOUS HIGHLIGHTS (aka: My parent's blog)

Some of these pictures are out of order, but that's okay. I'll go in and fix them later. We had a great time at our first "Greg and Nancy Hazard" family reunion in Oklahoma. Griff and Ash were wonderful hosts and we hardly noticed the heat. Haley and Bennett made the drive up from Texas which added tons of fun to the reunion. And the drive out with Nancy, Allison, and Courtney was a great way to start the reunion. Of course, we greatly missed Logan and his family, and Matt, but we are proud of them for where and what they are doing.

A pair of beautiful women. Ash and Zoey. Like mother like daughter.

Pool time!! The neighborhood pool was always a good option. Here's Nancy walking home. She's beautiful too!

Boat time!! We spent a couple of mornings on Hominy lake about 10 miles from Griff and Ash's house. It was very refreshing and lots of fun. Allison and Bennett . . . the boat mates!

Another walk to the pool. With such company, the walk was almost as fun as the swim.

Food time. Zoey and Courtney. Food mates!!

We got to visit the law office where Griff works. Very nice.

(P.S- The entire lobby of this building was made of glass walls, which Bennett literally ran into at one point. Easily the funniest part of my day. Poor boy never even knew what hit him...)

Griff's office is in the building in the background. I don't know how he gets anything done with the view he has from his 4th story total window office. It was beautiful.

Pool time!

Tuesday was Zoey's first birthday. We went to Jeff and Charlotte's home for a birthday celebration. Happy birthday Zoey. It's been a good year. Now it's time to get some teeth.

Happy birthday! Mom and Dad did good.

Wow!! Is all this for me???

Zoey and Bennett playing together. They were great parallel players.

After we got Griff from work, we went to the "Fat Boy Burger Bar" for dinner. The best hamburger I've ever had. It is about a block from Oklahoma State and right next to the minor league baseball field. Fun, fun, fun!

The captain.

Sometimes it takes two.

Here's two of the happiest people on the planet. Thanks kids!

Haley and Bennett. Swimming lessons between wake boarders.

Ahh, the four siblings. We missed Logan and his family a lot.

Come on Nancy and Bennett . . . hands up!!

(P.S- Bennett LOVED the tube. Even when we all fell off, he came up laughing. I was lucky to come up at all, considering I was so worried about him drowning he was sitting on top of me. I seriously have never heard him laugh so hard for so long.)

Woo Hoo ... go grandma!!

No Bennett, you've got to stay in the tube.

We could do this all day!!

Submarine time. No, no, no, no . . . !

(Courtney was the best with Bennett. She would be screaming in terror, and Bennett would be laughing like a maniac. Polar opposites in the water.)

Wake boarding. Hurray for Haley.
(I almost got air on a jump. Next time, next time...)

and Courtney!

and Griff!!

and ????? guess who this is.

Skier down . . . hands up! This was Bennett's job.

Boat time. What a fun group.

More boat time. Bennett found out the boat was "slippery" and had a good laugh.

Allison and Nancy. "We just like staying in the boat".

Bennett teaching Captain Griff how to drive.

Allison and Ash. Don't they look like twins?

Cool glasses Court.

Happy Dad.

More boat time. Hands up Court!

We all love Nancy. I like to refer to her as my miracle woman.

Golf time. Go Griff.

Go Court . . . the 23rd time is the charm!

Go Ash . . . it's not that hot.
(This is exactly why I stayed home...)

Hit away Ash. Show us how it's done.

We had thoughts of boating on the cool lake while we golfed in the cool 100 degree weather.

I found it!!!

The cute family at the Tulsa Aquarium
(This place was awesome!)

Zoey and Griff at the Aquarium.

Tennis anyone. Lots of fun. The courts are next to the pool, so we could play, get hot, and then cool down immediately. Very nice.

More tennis time, pool time, and cool clothing time.

I can't believe he didn't get a rose!! What is she thinking?!

Shooting time on the ranch. Don't mess with these guys. Especially the one in green.
(Haha! favorite picture from the trip)

Touching the sea animals at the Aquarium.

More shooting on the ranch. Get out of the way cows.

Dinner with Jeff, Charlotte, and the Sellers. Thank you, thank you for the great time. We got pay back when you come to Rexburg.

"I used to could hit stuff.

Introducing: FINCH AND THE NIGHTINGALE (aka: Griffin and Ashland's blog)

Swimming...

Boating...

Zoey's First Birthday...

Hanging out...

Aquarium...

Shooting...

Eating out...

And instead of getting a tattoo or a piercing, we the girls decided to get feather extension in our hair to commemorate the trip.

"Because we're trendy like that"

And Finally: ALLISON KAY PHOTOGRAPHY (aka: Allison's photography blog)

zoey

grandpa and bennett

courtney taught us about "planking" on this trip. apparently it's very cool. this is her demonstrating how it's done.

courtney and bennett

bennett's favorite thing to do was to "water water grandpa"

look at that mischievous face.

grandpa "water watering" bennett

breakfast

one year old outfit!

This picture reminds me of Dan In Real Life so I love it

i can't believe zoey is already one! i'm so glad i got to be here to celebrate with her. she is one loved little girl!

The Fun Continues

2011-08-08T18:09:00.000-07:00

So after the official Hazard Family Reunion ended in Oklahoma (that's coming, I promise), Bennett and I got in our car and drove back to Texas...but we weren't alone. Because my mom, dad, Allison, and Courtney followed us/drove with us to continue the fun at our home!

Here is Waco from the car window. Courtney liked this city enough to take a picture of it I guess. We live about an hour from here, but with all the random back roads and getting lost we did, it felt like a lot longer. (P.S- If you will remember, it was only a few months ago that my GPS lead me astray into the inner city ghetto of Waco. Maggie is now in the garbage. I now hate Waco. However, we officially welcomed Garr, my new Garmin GPS, into the Hargrave family on this trip. He is awesome, although I still managed to get lost a few times. It wasn't his fault. There is only so much technology can do for somebody like me...)

We arrived at our home late Saturday night on July 30th. It was SO fun to finally get to show my family our house!! My dad and Courtney had visited last year, and my mom sort of saw it when Bennett was born, and Allison saw it when it was still in the drywall stage. But none of my family had seen our home how it is now (post-deployment re-do) and I was super excited to show them all the projects I have been working on for the last few months. They were an excellent audience and ooed and awed at all the right times.

Sunday morning we woke up and everybody got ready for church. We also had few extra visitors stop by that morning...

Bekah and Nathan came up from San Antonio to see my family and go to church with us! For those of you who don't remember, Bekah and Nathan (Matt's sister and her husband) are very close to my family due to the fact that they attended BYU-Idaho in Rexburg, where my family lives. Because of this, they spent a lot of time with my parents eating Sunday dinners and hanging out, and they couldn't pass up an opportunity to have another one with them in Texas. It was great to have them come. But that's not all who showed up...

After church Mary and Wayne came up to say a quick hello, too! Bennett is such a lucky boy to have two such wonderful sets of grandparents. And we are all very lucky to have so many people who love us!

Bennett and Uncle Nathan playing in Bennett's room. Notice how every toy is dumped out onto the floor? That is Bennett's new thing. Bennett is not going to have toys in his room for too much longer unless he can learn to kick this habit...or how to at least pick them back up...

Reunited and it feels so good.

Monday was a relax and unpack day. And my dad volunteered to do my entire yard for me! What a guy! I made good use of my free time by watching the Bachelorette, as Courtney is really into this show. As you can tell by the look on my face, I was not quite as into it as she was. I did, however, root for JP. Because there's nothing like finding true love on national television after cycling through 25 other guys. That's going to last forever.

We also did some shopping. I took them to Goodwill (my favorite hangout) and Lowe's (the store I have spent more time at in the last year than any other human being would care to admit.) Lowe's and I are very close...maybe a little too close...

That night we barbecued shiskabobs in the backyard. Bennett and Grandpa were the masters of the flame. Matt would have been proud.

Tuesday morning I took everybody to my gym with me. The girls did Zumba, my dad used the machines, and Bennett went to childcare and played with his trains. They almost didn't let us in though, because we forgot our ID's. Fortunately, they believed that we were all over the age of 12 and let us in anyway. It was close call for Allison however, who the lady scrutinized especially carefully.

Everybody Zumba!

After the workout. We all made it out alive, but just barely (mom) :)

Outside the gym...apparently Courtney thought we were going to pose...

When we got home, we realized that I had accidentally locked us out of our house with the alarm system set. So I got one more workout figuring that one out.

On Wednesday Matt called and said he was sending us a present in the mail. Matt does this frequently, and I love it. So does Bennett, who has coined the term, "Daddy Mail." Matt's presents are always fun and unexpected, and this one was no different.

A slip n' slide for Bennett and Grandpa! Jace got to play, too, since I still watched him all this week. Bennett loved this thing! Unfortunately, we only took a few pictures because we were too busy taking video. And I really don't want to deal with uploading a million videos right now. So just imagine the cutest little boy laugh you can, and that about sums it up :)

Grandpa was feeling it a little there at the end though. Actually I went down this a lot too, and I think you have to be a child with an underdeveloped nervous system to fully appreciate this kind of water toy. I have bruises. But we will do it again, I guarantee it.
Everyday we have Three-O'clock Ice Cream Time here. The title pretty much says it all. I love three o'clock.

Bennett and Jace in their shades. Jace is at that age right now where he can talk really well, but he doesn't censor his thoughts at all, so everything he says is hilarious. He loved hanging out with my family, and still asks where Grandma and Grandpa went.

Thursday morning we got up, packed a cooler, and headed to a little water park in Killeen that I have always wanted to go to, but just never have--mostly because I wanted to do the big water slides that Bennett can't go on yet, and I didn't have a second person to watch him while I did. But with my family here there were plenty of people to play with Bennett and slide with me, so it was a win win all around.

A little section of the park. This place is pretty awesome, and it's only $7.00 for us to go. We just found our new summer hangout.

Grandma and Bennett and the little purple slide.

"The Sliders." Actually, my mom and Allison went on a few slides with us, too, but only my dad would do the big ones with me. Courtney was a good babysitter :)

Me coming out of the big purple slide.
(Good photography skills, Court.)

My dad coming out of the big purple slide.
"I can't believe I got both my arms ripped out of their sockets for a picture like that!"

Sisters.

P.S-That rock wall behind us was super hard. I only saw one person make it all the way across all day, and it was Allison. Impressive.

Bennett.

My dad doing his thing.

Look at that form! I am so proud of myself.

My mom and Allison watching the divers.

Going home after a great day.

(And just so you know, outside food of any kind is strictly prohibited here. I guess that's why we got so many glares as we blatantly ate our chicken salad pitas in front of everybody.)

When we got home we all took three hour naps. It felt so good. After our naps we got back in the car and went to the Olive Garden for dinner. Can I just say yum? I love Italian.

On our way home we veered off course and headed for Courtney Lane, a little road in Copperas Cove that Courtney saw on our way into town and decided she had to have a picture of it. So it was on this night that we were all finally sick of hearing Courtney telling us all to got that way, and we finally stopped so she could get her picture.

Courtney on Courtney Lane. It was even better than we hoped, with some ghetto shacks and a questionable party going on across the street. Way to live up to your name...

That's how we all felt about it, Bennett.

As it turns out, Courtney Lane is right next to our City Park. So we made one more detour on the way home to see where Bennett and I hang out, and to feed the ducks our leftover bread sticks from the Olive Garden. Bennett and I have seen the ducks before, and I knew there were some weird ones here, but nothing like what we saw on this night. Honestly, it was like there was a chemical spill in this pond or something. I have never seen so many misfit animals in all of my life--limp legs, no legs, broken wings, crazy growths, weird hanging things, anorexia, and obesity, to name a few. It was probably one of the most comically tragic thing I have seen. I could not stop laughing.

Courtney made friends with the little white duck. He was literally almost eating out of her hand. (If you look in the background you can see the duck with the weird hanging thing. What happened here?!)

Bennett and Courtney feeding the ducks. I guess Courtney asked Bennett if he could see the duck feathers, and this was Bennett's response (Courtney has feather extensions in her hair.)

Laughing at the poor ducks.

Of course Bennett couldn't be near mud and stay clean very long. I was a little worried about the effects of the pond water on his skin, but as of yet Bennett has no crazy growths or hanging things. *Sigh of relief*

On the way home from the park we detoured through a neighborhood that is known to have deer roaming the streets at night. They are like the people's pets. It's a little weird, but cool at the same time.

Friday was the last full day my family would spend with us, so we decided to get out of the house a little. I took them on base and I gave them what I like to call, "The Citizen's Tour." This is a tour that, opposed to showing military things (tanks, offices, award sites) shows what the average "Hey-I-married-into-the-Army-so-this-is-my-life-now" citizen sees on base. We drove through the neighborhoods, stopped by our big park, and saw my doctor's office. It was very educational. Then I took them to the parade field where our family will be reunited in just a few short weeks. It was exciting to sit in the bleachers and imagine the buses pulling up and Matt getting off one of them. It was also a little hard to imagine, since I haven't really let my mind go there too much.

This is where we will meet Matt very, very soon! I love this field.

Allison and Courtney in their matching outfits. Guess who's older. :)

The little memorial next to the field.

When "The Citizen's Tour" was complete, my dad offered to take us out to dinner. Matt had called before and suggested we go to Five Guys because their fries are made from Idaho potatoes (but mostly, I think, because he is really, really craving normal food) so we honored his wishes and ate delicious hamburgers and fries.

It was fun to see signs of Idaho in Texas.

Five Guys: "Not as good as Fat Guys, but better than anywhere else"

When we got home it was Bennett's bedtime, but since everybody was leaving at 4:00 the next morning, I let him stay up as long as his little body could hold out for. Grandma read to him, we all played with him, and it was sort of sad when he only lasted until 8:45pm. Bennett needs his sleep like his mom does. So he went to bed after everybody said goodnight and goodbye and we all cried a little.

The next morning everybody woke up at 4:30 and got out the door. From our house my family was heading to the Grand Canyon, and then on to California to attend the extended Hazard Family Reunion with my Grandma and Grandpa. It was sad to see them go, but it was such a fun fun two weeks we got to spend with them, I feel very lucky.

We love you all! Thanks for visiting us!

Still Here

2011-07-25T04:31:00.000-07:00

Well its getting closer to that magical Re~Deployment date!! Cant really give you any specifics but can't wait to be done with this place. Had breakfast this morning with a COL Mohammad ( I know real original ) but it is pretty nice to eat in the officers mess on the Iraqi base. Just a little reminder for those that haven't been following our family blog, my Battalion is currently located in Northern Iraq in partnership with the 2nd Iraqi Army. These guys are basically the equivalent to our special forces. (dont get too excited these guys still have a long way to go, but they're trying). For the past year we have been living on a little base located near them so as one of the perks we get to occasionally head over that way and visit. So during breakfast we were chit chatting about this and that and how the Iraqi's had recently rolled up this one terrorist cell that has really helped in calming things down. I wish I could give all the juicy details but cant right now but once I get home I got all sorts of stories. Anyway, enjoy the few pictures.

We try to relax in the evening time by hanging out, playing a few card games, and just trying to imagine we are somewhere else besides here!

This is SFC Klibert, he works in the S-2 shop (military intelligence) so he is already a little bit paranoid. I was beating him pretty bad at cards so he came to the conclusion I was reading his mind through his eye's! Sooooo...he decided to try to remedy the situation...it didn't help though...I took the rest of his chips on the next move!

So this is actually our bus and we actually parked next to the "No Parking" sign. I mean come on people this is a war zone...who is going to obey some random sign, in Iraq, when there are absolutely no consequences. I mean it looks like it was put together in someones garage...It makes me laugh!

...and of course everybody really enjoying a little BBQ!

Oh, where to start...?

2011-07-15T18:44:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I really hate this blog. Seriously, I think I am all caught up, and then all of a sudden it is four weeks since the last decent post, and I find myself laying awake in the middle of the night thinking about all of the stuff that has happened that I have yet to blog about. So to relieve myself from this ridiculous anxiety, I am going to sit down and spend way too long making an entry about things that happened way too long ago.

Hang in there with me, or feel free to skip right over this whole thing. I don't really care. This is purely for me and my obsessive compulsive sanity.

Oh, where to start...? Here is a quick rundown of our basic week.

Monday I have Jace. The mornings are for Story Time, and Monday nights we have FHE with our FHE group, which I organized. Tuesday mornings I go to Zumba, because I joined a gym in June. It is approximately three minutes from my house, has fantastic child care, and makes me feel like I can still have some muscle tone even though I am a mom. Joining this gym also motivated me to finally throw away my gross high school cross country clothes and buy myself some "grown up" work out clothes and a yoga mat. I feel very adult when I go work out. Wednesday I have Jace and we have playgroup, which I organized. Sometimes we all go to the $1.00 movie with the rest of the toddlers in Copperas Cove. Thursdays are combat class (watch out, I can now take down a fully grown man in a dark ally without breaking a sweat. Stay on my good side.) And in the afternoons we will sometimes go to shows at the library. Like reptile shows, where Bennett has small fits of excitement and dramatic reenactments of the "nakes" and the "yizzards." Fridays I have Jace and Step class. Saturdays we do the yard. All. Day. Long. Sundays we cling to our sanity and go to church.

Also, every single morning I wake up to Bennett's face three inches from my own, telling me it is not nighttime anymore because now it is "rocket ship time"...except he puts a T at the end of the word "ship", which sort of makes me smile. So every single morning (except Sundays) we are joined for breakfast by the Little Einsteins. I have DVRd these episodes, so I know that we have watched approximately 81 episodes of this highly educational television show. Ugh. But Bennett loves it, and I get my hair done, so it works. Plus, Bennett can now tell me the difference between adagio, moderato, allegro, and presto, and he has developed a deep love of violins and trumpets. These are crucial skills in today's modern world.

So besides the basic, everyday stuff, there is the extra curricular, too.

In June, Bennett took swimming lessons every day for two weeks. He excelled at jumping in the water, going down the big slide, and kick-kick-kicking. Other than that, he still has no idea how to swim. If you ask him though, he will tell you he is just like the Alligator on Little Einsteins, and he doesn't need any help from Mommy (a direct quote from my confidant two-year-old). I am practicing my life-saving techniques...

...as did his swimming instructors.

Bennett with his class. He was much younger than everybody else by several years, since most two-year-olds stay with their moms in a Mommy 'n Me class. Bennett, on the other hand, was ready to assert his independence. Honestly, he could care less who has him in the water, just as long as he gets to get wet.

Jumping to Miss Kat.

Doing "windmill arms" with Miss Megan and Miss Kat. He really did learn a few things.

Standing in line for the water slide. There is actually a 42'' height limit on this slide, which Bennett in no way reached. But since he was in the class he got to do it anyway. This picture cracks me up because Bennett is so short next to everybody else.

Bennett in his ducky towel. (P.S- you know how some kids will develop an attachment to a special blanket? Bennett has that kind of special bond with towels...not just one towel, but ALL towels in general...)

A post-swimming-ice-cream-cone-interview for Daddy...apparently...

On to July.

Bennett got a bike! I found this baby at Goodwill for six bucks. When I went to Wal Mart to get training wheels for it (which I installed myself, thank you) I saw the same bike for $48.00. Gotta love that Goodwill.

So obviously the fourth of July was a big day. We traveled down to Mary and Wayne's for the holiday and the next day as well, and had a great time hanging out with family, eating good food, swimming, and riding our bikes. However, because we live where one stray spark could send the entire state up in smoke, there was a fireworks ban in effect and nothing was celebrated with matches. :(

Before we ever left to San Antonio, I put our own flag out in our front yard. Bennett was fascinated with this concept, so I started talking about the flag a little bit, and what it means, and how we should treat it. I didn't really think Bennett was listening, but the next day we were walking out our front door and Bennett stopped and put his right hand over his heart. I asked him what he was doing, and he said, "My daddy flag. My daddy Iraq." It was one of those sweet, tender moments where your child teaches you more than you could ever teach them. I guess he really does listen to me...sometimes.

"My Daddy flag."

When we got to Maimie and Pop's house we were lucky enough to be present at the homecoming of Matt's brother, Joe, who had just graduated from Coast Guard boot camp. They are stationed in Florida now, and we can't wait to have family permanently on the coast to be able to visit! Yay Joe and Kim!

Grilling up some hamburgers and sausage

Sharing the ever popular corner of the kitchen. I was in charge of helping make the condiments tray...which is about as close to making a vegetable tray as you can get...which has been my job at almost every major event since I have married into this family. I am just that amazing at cutting vegetables. :)

We also celebrated Uncle Nathan's birthday, who was born in Boston on the Fourth of July. Can't get any more patriotic than that. Here is Bennett giving him his birthday card.

Bekah and the birthday boy.

After dinner we rode scooters and bikes

Bennett on Maimie's bike. He is a good bike-rider.

And we played on Pop's tractor. Just so you know, that is Bennett's microphone. He sings beautiful songs in that thing every time we come. I think when I took this picture he was singing a rendition of Justin Bieber's "Baby, Baby." Bennett sings a lot of cool songs like that, because he is with his mom a lot, who is also very cool.

And we ate fudgecicles

Something really bad must have been happening in this picture...

And we went swimming with Aunt Bea.

And we had a great time overall. The next day Mary and I went shopping for secret project number 72. Just so you know, my house is looking a-mazing right now. I love it. I really, really hope Matt loves it too, since I have done quite a bit to it since he has seen it last, and without his input. By the way, I repainted my kitchen from Caribbean blue to...you'll just have to wait and see. But it is NOT brown...and I LOVE this house!!

Just a video clip of Bennett and Jace being buds. I really can't tell you what they were doing here, but it was pretty cute watching them.

The most recent even in our lives here is that Bennett just got to spend his first few days with his Maimie and Pop alone. That's right, Mary and Wayne very wonderfully offered to take Bennett for a few days so I could have some time to myself. And I readily agreed, although I will admit that watching Bennett drive off without me was harder than I thought it would be and I may have shed a few tears...but I got over it fast. First, I did my toes. Then I switched into "project mode" and accomplished more in a two day period than I have ever accomplished before. I got at least seven projects completed that I had wanted to get done for awhile, but just couldn't do with our overly involved little boy being so overly involved. So while my break wasn't very relaxing, it was so, SO wonderful and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Bennett loved it to, since when I picked him up he talked my ear off about what they did and what they played and what they ate and where they went and who was there...it was pretty cute. What a big boy we have!

OK, so there you go. That is a very basic run-down of our last month or so. There are a lot of little things I left out, and some things that I would have loved to expand on more but didn't for the sake of time. But that's about it in a nutshell. And I promise to try harder to not get so behind next time. But at least I can get some sleep now!

Whew! I feel so much better. Don't you?

I Love My Sister

2011-07-13T20:19:00.000-07:00

Here is an excerpt from my sister Allison's blog. And because she is my sister, and because I love her, and because I hate feeling stressed about school and she is a really great photographer, maybe you can...

HELP!!!

I am recruiting your help! As you know, I started a website this semester for allisonkayphotography.com. I started it for a class and I am now being graded on how many people go to may site. You are mainly supposed to use google adwords to do this and we were given a budget at the beginning of the semester towards it. I started out doing awesome! In fact, I was doing so well that I couldn't afford it, so I had to drop my price. And then drop it again. And again. So now I can only spend a dollar a day, which is killing me!

I thought we would be graded on the whole semester (silly me), but apparently we just get graded on this week and obviously since I have no budget, I'm kind of failing miserably. So I have to get my views from other places, aka YOU! You should feel so honored that you are being called to this important work :)

So, here is what you do: Go to my website! Every day. Click through some pages. Then, tell your friends! Tell your roommates! Tell your neighbor! Tell the stranger on the street! Post it on your blog! Do it! Then you can mark it off as your good deed for the day and you will feel good inside. And I will love you.

Here, I'll help get you started:

allisonkayphotography.com

and in case you skipped it, here it is again:

allisonkayphotography.com

and in case you ignored both of those, here it is one more time:

allisonkayphotography.com

ok, I think you get the message.

Thank you for your generous help. You are the best :)

News Flash

2011-07-11T22:07:00.000-07:00

Well not really much going on here. We did finally start the whole retrograde process here. Not much really going on but we did turn in all our track vehicles. Its been pretty weird out here. For those used to deployments what is the "norm" is you show up to Iraq you co-locate with the unit you are replacing, you sign for all there equipment, they leave, you take over, the cycle continues when we leave. Now that's why this one is so weird. There is no unit coming to replace us. We have started to systematically close down areas from North to South. We have to retrograde mass amounts of equipment. The below picture really says it all. We are in a massive rush to sit around and do nothing.

Hanging out on the back of the tracks. Waiting! Like usual. Not really sure why we brought the tracks to Iraq. We have literally moved them twice. Once for services and once to fill them up with fuel. I have come to the conclusion that its not the "Army" that's the problem its the certain individuals that are in charge is the problem. They come up with some wonderful ideas that make absolutely no sense and then we execute said plan! Got to love it.

Just some more of the track layout. So to continue the above story I kinda run through a scenario in my head when I hear of something we have to do that makes no sense whatsoever. I picture it something like this. The chain of command sitting around with 5 course of actions in front of them. They start to ask a few questions like, which one makes the most sense? They throw that one at. Then there is, okay which one is the craziest? They put that one in the we might use it pile. Then I image the next question is something like which one is the craziest, takes us the most time to complete and makes us look like miracle workers like we pulled something amazing off? Now once they decide which course of action to take they then decide to pigeon hole the plan until just a few days prior so we have to jump through our rear to get the job done. Got to love it!

Shock and Awe

2011-07-10T18:02:00.000-07:00

We have lots and lots to share. Swimming lessons, the fourth of July, potty training breakthroughs, new gym memberships, house redecoration...

...and one day I will blog about these things.

But today, I am simply going to revel in the fact that it was a Sunday
and it was a good day.

I never thought I would utter those words all together in the same sentence like that. Ever. But it happened, and I am happy.

This morning I was awoken by Bennett's nose three inches from my face, informing me that it wasn't nighttime anymore. It was 6:45am. That is still nighttime in my book. So Bennett went back to bed until 7:04, at which time I was again awakened by a cheerful voice telling me there was sunshine in Bennett's room. We really need to invest in some blackout curtains for that boy.

So we sat in my bed and read books.
And then we ate waffles for breakfast.
Bennett took a bath, and went down for his early Sunday nap, during which he actually slept.
Miracle.
I took a long shower and shaved my legs.
Miracle.
By the time we left for church, I had dinner ready to go in the crock pot, the house was clean, Bennett was well rested, and both of us were looking our Sunday best.

And I didn't even feel like crying.

On our ride to church Bennett and I had the following conversation

Bennett: "I go to see Oma today."
Me: "Yes you are. We see Oma at church."
Bennett: "Bennett get candy, in his mouth."
Me: "Yep, you probably will."
Bennett: "Bennett go to play with toys today."
Me: "Man Bennett, do you even know why we go to church? Do you know who Jesus is?"
Bennett: (dramatic gasp) "Jesus for a sunbeam!!!"
Me: "Ya, you love that song!"
Bennett: (another dramatic gasp) "Mommy!!!"
Me: "What?"
Bennett: "Mommy!!! Jesus love Bennett!!"
Me: "Yes he does!"
Bennett: "Mommy!!!"
Me: "What?"
Bennett: "Mommy!!! Jesus love Mommy!"
Me: "Yes he does."

I guess Bennett is learning a thing or two at church after all :)

When we got home, I didn't want to huddle in the fetal position and rock back and forth (a rare occurrence here).
We ate our delicious dinner.
We watched Cars.
We made cookies and gave some to our neighbors.
We took a bath.
We went to bed.

And I am still in shock.

I just had to write this down, because usually our Sunday's represent something from an Alfred Hitchcock film instead of a quiet day of rest.

But I am not complaining.
I must have done something really good this week...

Bad News Bears

2011-06-26T18:17:00.000-07:00

Allow me to share a little bit about how things have been going around the house the last few weeks. These are listed in no particular order...

The short version:
1- The freezer on our two-year-old fridge died. This resulted in a looooong morning on the phone with the Fridgidaire people, where I was not very nice at all.
2- Our lawn developed a fungus. Ever since I have been taking care of this ridiculous yard there has been this one spot in the back that just would not grow no matter how much I watered it. And then it started getting bigger. Turns out it is a very serious fungus that could have killed our entire yard by the end of the summer.
3- I destroyed our lawnmower. Seriously. Destroyed it.
4- Bennett knocked the iron off the ironing board and now we have an iron-shaped burn mark in the middle of our living room floor (Mattie, I haven't told you about this one yet. It just happened today...I love you...)
5- I backed the tailgate of our brand new car into our brand new garage door.
6- I developed a case of strep, but couldn't convince the doctors I was sick--or not pregnant--so they wouldn't give me medicine.
7- We have some seriously big bugs in our yard.
8- Bennett has a new obsession with lotion and putting it places it does not belong. Like our furniture.
9- I locked myself in the shed in our backyard for half an hour. On accident.
10- Our water spout in the front yard got stuck in the "on" position and had to be replaced.

The long version:
1- After I worked my way up the line of management, used every sales tactic I had ever learned in college, and made a few angry threats, we got a new fridge for which we will be reimbursed 60%. Plus, I got it on sale, with a military discount. So really we only paid for 20% of our new fridge, but it still makes me a little mad we had to pay anything. We did upgrade to a side-by-side however, and despite my doubts, I really do like it a lot.

2- The guy who came out to look at our yard (for free, by the way) helped me make a "Plan of Attack" which only required me to spend hundreds of dollars on yard products and wake up at 6:30 in the morning each day. In the end, it is totally worth it to me though. I have spent way too much time, sweat, blood, tears, money, and personal sanity on this yard to give up on it now. Plus, we plan on moving one day and nobody is going to buy a yard that is fungus-infested. (Not to toot my own horn or anything, but since I have been using our "Plan of Attack" I dare say that we have one of the best looking yards on our block. Yay for the professional yard guy, and yay for me!)

3- I took our lawnmower in to get it fixed. Long story short, they guy called me later during the week and asked me what in the heck I had been doing to our poor mower. Apparently spraying off your lawnmower is really bad if you don't know what you are doing (me) and you get water inside your gas tank and then it goes into your carburetor. And also, water rusts bolts and cables and breaks them in half. And also the height setting should be equal on all four wheels. And also our mower should have been serviced years ago, because the blade was super dull and the spark plugs needed to be changed and...you get the picture. Anyway, it is all fixed now, and you wouldn't believe how easy it is to mow our lawn now! Needless to say, I will not be spraying anything off. Ever. Again.

4- I was in the middle of ironing my skirt for church today when I left for one second to go get something from my bedroom (I know, I know. Stupid.) While I was gone, Bennett walked past the ironing board and bumped it or something, because when I came back I found the iron laying face down in the middle of our carpet. Luckily I caught it before it had had a chance to sit there too long, and luckily it wasn't as hot as it could have been (and luckily it didn't land on Bennett). So now I am cutting all the little balls of melted carpet off the burn spot and hoping for the best. It's really not that bad, but honestly...I hate Sundays.

5- When our lawnmower was in the shop recovering from my brutality, I borrowed my neighbor's mower to cut our grass. To return her mower, I decided to put it in the back of our car and drive it down the street to her. I had done this before, and it worked fine. However, this time I was totally not thinking and put the mower in (with the tailgate up) while still parked in the garage...and then I reversed. It actually took me a little bit to register what the horrible scratching/crunching sound was before I realized what I had done and quickly pulled forward again. Ugh. I still get sick to my stomach whenever I think about this. The inside of the garage door is only a little bent in places, and thankfully the car only has cosmetic damage with a few paint scratches, a bent license plate, and a detached back thingy (I'm sure it has a name). So we will have the car looked at and cleaned up when Matt gets home. Because really, I don't want to worry about this right now.

6- Last Sunday I started feeling funny in my throat. So when Jace's mom called that night and told me she had strep throat, I didn't waste any time. I really cannot afford to be sick right now. So when I started feeling really bad the next day I went to the doctors' in a walk-in appointment. And they told me I was fine. But I felt horrible. So they told me I was pregnant. I told them that was impossible because my husband was deployed. They told me they weren't there to judge. I had no response to that. Anyway, they gave me some cough drops and sent me home, only to call me back after four miserable days of pain and no voice to tell me that I did have strep throat after all. So I finally got medicine, and now I am on the road to recovery. Thank you, Penicillin.

7- I found a tarantula in our backyard. Like, the kind people keep as pets, only wild. Surprisingly, I wasn't really scared of it, and I even caught it in jar for Bennett to look at for a few days before we let it go behind our house (I couldn't smash it, it was too big. It would have been liking killing an animal instead of an insect, and I can't do that.) However, a few days later I found a centipede in our backyard that was a foot long. I didn't handle that one as well as I would have hoped. Once the shock of the thing wore off though, I did catch it in the same jar we used for the spider and watched it in horrified fascination for a few hours. Then we let that go too, although I shouldn't have because it turns out they are extremely poisonous. Whoops. Since then we have hired a new bug guy, and so far they seem really good and less expensive.

8- I don't even know if I can write about this yet without getting upset all over again. Oh, it was so bad. I was outside trying to fix our water spout (more on that to follow) and Bennett and Jace were being so good and so quiet in the house. I should have known. When I walked back in, it smelled really good. Like right after you get out of the shower. And then I saw it. On the couch. On the carpet. On the walls. On the tables. On the decorations. On Bennett. On Jace. It looked like an entire industrial-sized bottle of conditioner had thrown up all over our house. And in reality, that is exactly what had happened. I was pre-ty upset, to say the least. In an effort to save our son's life, I sent the juvenile delinquents out into the backyard while I attempted to clean up the mess, but this was the same day I developed the strep and I ended up laying on the couch in a pathetic heap and just crying instead (that's what I do when I get sick. I cry). Bennett and Jace made good use of this time by breaking the door off of a toy cabinet in the backyard, digging in my flowers, and caving in Bennett's new swimming pool while it sat upside down. I love our son, I love our son, I love our son, I love our son...We are getting our carpets cleaned on Friday.

9- We have a shed in our backyard where we keep all our gardening things. So last Saturday I was our mowing our back lawn while Bennett was napping, and I needed more gas. When I walked in the shed to get the gas the wind blew, the door shut, and I was trapped. It was kind of funny at first, but then I realized that I really was stuck, and it was really hot, and my little boy was sleeping in the house and nobody was there to let me out. Luckily I had my cell phone. Unluckily every single person I could think of within a one-hundred mile radius was busy living their own lives not being shut in a shed in their backyards. So I sat there for a long time. Eventually my neighbor down the street did answer her phone and she came running to let me out. And she brought her bug guy with her, who is the same bug guy we ended up hiring to get rid of the humoungous things that creep in our yard. Small world.

10- So the same morning I got sick, and the same morning Bennett and Jace massacred our home with conditioner, was the same morning I woke up at 1:00am to go turn off the water in our front yard (this was before I had the yard guy come out, so I was watering at night. Just so you know, that's what helped our fungus spread so quickly) and I went to turn the spout to "off" and I couldn't. At first I thought it was just really tight, so I got a towel for friction. But I still couldn't. So then I got pliers. And I still couldn't. Remember this is all happening at 1:00am. So I got really mad and I took those pliers to that faucet like a desperate woman who was sick of everything going wrong when she was trying so desperately to make it all go right. And I turned something, but not the right something, and water started spraying out at me from the wrong spot in the faucet. I don't know anything about plumbing, but I knew this wasn't good. So I stopped turning, and I did the only thing I could do. I went to bed. The next morning I called Matt, a neighbor, and a plumber who all told me it was just broken. The plumber said he would come out and fix it later. Luckily, Jace's grandpa happened to drop Jace off that morning, and when he saw what was wrong he said maybe he could fix it. And he did. Actually, he replaced the entire faucet, but whatever, it turned off and he did it for free, so I was happy...until I walked in the house and saw the conditioner, but let's not go there again. That was a bad, bad day.

So that about sums up my last few weeks. And in between all of the crises of life I've still had to find time to do the laundry, keep the house clean, plan events, make every meal, fulfill church callings, run errands, take care of myself, and single-handedly raise a little boy who takes the art of being two very seriously. But as bad as this list sounds, I find that I am really doing OK. Sometimes not great, but always OK. In a way all of these little/big things that keep happening to me are making me a better person, and I feel I have sort of come into my own by being forced to deal with life for the first time in my life. Does that make sense?

I also feel it is important to mention here that I am eternally in love with my awesome husband, who has taken every one of these stressful and often expensive mishaps in stride. He has never once made me feel like I was wrong or silly (even when I was), and he has always given me his up most love and support when things went bad. It takes a strong man to sit thousands of miles away and calmly listen as his wife tells him how she is personally destroying their home without him there to stop her. Thank you, Mattie. You truly are amazing.

And thanks to you for listening. Next week I promise not to vent so much.
And now, for your viewing pleasure, "The Bugs"

The spider in the spaghetti jar

(this picture does it no justice. It was easily the size of my hand.)

The centipede in the spaghetti jar
They sure do know how to grow 'em in Texas.

Fathers Day In Iraq

2011-06-19T09:32:00.001-07:00

So let me just start by saying that there have been alot of fathers celebrate alot of fathers day in Iraq. But no ones had as good a family as me! So Haley and Bennett put a little package together for me and shipped it out to me prior to fathers day. I didn't really think to much of it in that they send me some pretty good packages regularly. This was a little extra special though.

...so I get this hand print from my little boy...

...and of course from my sweetheart...

...and the title of this little project...

...and here is the finished product, I wear it at night, off duty of course. Alot of the guys have seen it and they think its the coolest thing they've seen...

...of course a fantastic picture of my little man and me. Sure miss that little guy. His Momma is getting all the cuddles and hugs right now!

My cards. Haley told me Bennett picked out his own card...they recently just visited the zoo so you can guess what card he picked out...for those that dont watch mickey mouse club that is "toodles". When Bennett talks to "daddy" on skype he has to see "toodles" also.

Tough Medics!

2011-06-12T02:43:00.000-07:00

Well who says you have to sit on your hind quarters when your stuck in a different country. So our most recent Doctor is real big into physical fitness. So for the last 3 months we have been doing an intense regiment of the infamous "Cross Fit". I know their are alot of programs that come and go with time but whats so cool about this one is its intense cardio combined with muscle movement. Its been our escape out here on this lonely outpost. Enjoy the pics.

This was a fun one. Wearing body armorer is kinda like wearing a weighted vest.

A little dead lift action. Everything is a combination of cardio and weight.

Oh to be 22 again with a body that never gets hurt. This is my "Big Arnold" 6'3'' 225 lbs.

This is my "Little Arnold" 5'4'' 175lbs. These two guys are always competing even though they are completely different sizes.

My absolutly new favorite workout. Ring Dips! These things rock!

This is my "Special Soldier" He just does things his own way! Keeps me on my toes. I think he is trying to do a pull up?? The jury is still out on that one...

The cross fit King and his minions...LTC Oh you will be missed!