NCO Concert

This afternoon the 62nd Army Band put on a concert led by the NCOs of the unit. Those interested selected a piece or 2 and after several weeks of rehearsals, we put on our concert today. I conducted 2 marches to start off the concert – "Thunder and Blazes" and "Joyce's 71st New York Regimental March". I realized that it was my first time conducting in my almost 13 years in the Army. I've Drum Majored, but never conducted.  The concert went really well and was well-received by the audience. Both of my boys were very well-behaved during the concert, although Thomas did need to eat during it and sucked down a 5-ounce bottle and seemed to want more (according to wonderful Daddy).

Ok, so this is short, but I'm going to bed so I can get unsick and get back to my running. I've been stuffed up, coughing, headache, and sore throat since Friday, and yesterday I think I may have had a fever, but was not able to confirm that due to an inoperable thermometer. If I'm still feeling like this in the morning, I will be making a sick call appointment.

Thankful Thursday – Welcome Home!!

Today was graduation day – Ryan's graduation day! He completed his 4 week PTSD program today and is home sweet home with us. Our family is complete once again, and for that I am thankful!!!  It'll take a little bit to get used to having him home again, but we're all definitely glad to have him home. I know our boys missed their Daddy and I missed my wonderful, loving husband. Now I won't have to load the dishwasher and take out the trash! I'll hear the sounds of the Harley leaving and coming back again. I won't be changing as many diapers. My cheerleader for my running is home. My macaroni & cheese cooker is home. Welcome home, Sweetie!! I love you!

Another 4-day weekend comes to an end

Yesterday I slept through my alarm and we didn't make it to the early church service so I could sing with the choir. But it was sure nice getting some good sleep now that my little man is sleeping longer at night! We did, however, make it to the 1100 service, so we did get to church. I got compliments from others on how well the boys behave – it's always nice to hear from someone else that your kids were good when your older one frustrates you because you don't think he's being as good as he could be. I guess I'm just more critical, but that's a mom's job, isn't it?  After church, we went to Target to get baby food for Thomas and look at shoes for Robert. We ended up getting 3 cute pajamas for Thomas, apple baby food instead of banana (they were out of banana), and no shoes for Robert because they didn't have anything in the size he needed.  The rest of the afternoon was spent at home just playing and relaxing. After I called Mom & Dad in the evening, we went to Dairy Queen for ice cream. Robert and I both had Choco Cherry Love. It was yummy!

This morning was deemed a no-alarm clock morning, and it was nice sleeping again. I nursed Thomas around 5 and 8, but still snuggled in my bed until about 9. I did stuff on my computer and after it had warmed up some, I went for a run with Thomas in the jogging stroller. We went 4.16 miles in 45:34. I actually ran the whole way!!! That was a great feeling and it was a great run. Robert played on my computer while I was gone. Then later in the afternoon, after Thomas had had a nap and a snack, we went to the park. I wore Thomas in the Snugli and Robert and I kicked his soccer ball back and forth for a while and tried a frisbee, but the one we had is pretty cheap and didn't really fly well. Robert also played on the playground equipment for a while before we headed home for dinner, bath time, bedtime snack, and bed. Once Thomas was asleep, I called Ryan and also got some stitching done.

Another Family Day

We went up to Tucson again today to spend a few hours with Ryan. We picked him up at the VA Hospital, and after he had signed out, we headed to the Childrens' Museum. It was free entry today, and I'm kind of glad for that. It was a rather disappointing experience. There is no parking lot (at least not that we could find), so luckily we were able to get a handicap meter spot on the street. And luckily we didn't have to pay the meter since was the weekend. The museum was kind of cool and Robert got to try different things in each area, but I felt it was disorganized and not a lot to do compared to other childrens' museums I've been to. And then there were a TON of kids there, just kind of running around all over. I don't know if parents just dropped their kids off or they just had lots of kids per parent, but for the number of kids vs. adults there, the numbers didn't really seem to add up.  At least we got to spend time as a family!

After we were done at the museum, we headed to Babies R Us and I FINALLY got a baby book for Thomas. It's really cute, and now I just need to start filling it in. Then we went to Toys R Us because Ryan and Robert wanted to look for more characters for the Skylanders Wii game we have, but they didn't have what they were looking for. Since we were over by the mall, we decided to go to Red Robin for lunch again. Our service definitely was lacking today – we didn't even have our drink order taken until almost 10 minutes after we had been seated. We weren't in a hurry, but still. And then our food came out and I got my dressing on my salad and then realized we didn't have silverware, so we had to wait a bit for that. But other than that it was good. We stopped at a grocery store so Ryan could get some Pepsi for the week and then headed back to the VA. We said our goodbyes and Robert and Thomas and I headed home. We had a mostly relaxing evening and I even got some stitching done.

Five Things Friday – Guest post by Thomas

Hi everyone! Mommy said I could do her blog post tonight so I thought I'd share some things about me and some pictures, too!

1 – I love eating oatmeal and bananas. Most of the time Mommy and my daycare teacher mix my oatmeal with my bananas. I think that's really yummy now, but when I first started eating bananas I made faces because it tasted different than my oatmeal. Here I am sitting in my highchair waiting for my banana-oatmeal. Mommy said the highchair was Big Brother's when he was a baby.

2 – I have a lot of fun toys and I like being on my tummy. I can play with my musical driving toy while I'm on my tummy.

3 – My Big Brother is a lot of fun. He makes silly faces and dances around to make me smile and giggle. I love my Big Brother.

4 – Mommy calls me her Little Monkey. I kind of like that. I have lots of outfits with monkeys on them. I wore my monkey pajamas to school the other day. Here I am in my car seat all ready to go!

5 – I miss Daddy. Mommy told me he's at a place to help him be a better Daddy. We got to go visit him last weekend and we took him to the zoo. We get to see him again tomorrow and I'm excited about that!! I like playing with his glasses, but I don't think he likes it too much when I put them in my mouth.

Thankful Thursday

Despite having a somewhat stressful day, I still have many things to be thankful for!

I'm thankful that I have a 4-day weekend this weekend, and that I'll be able to spend it with family.
I'm thankful that this was a short work week – only 3 1/2 days. A lot of my stress was work-related and having some time away will be nice. Other stress was from stupid drivers.
I'm thankful for a wonderful, caring daycare where I know my son is well-cared for. I'm thankful that they are supportive of breastfeeding mommas and that I can go nurse and snuggle T during lunch most days. Of course, I'm thankful for an awesome school-age teacher there as well, and R loves going there after school (and sometimes before school).
I'm thankful that I got 2 of my 3 runs in so far this week.I
I'm thankful that T has been sleeping about 4 hours at a stretch at night. Three hours was nicer than 1 1/2-2, but four hours is definitely much nicer. Eventually we'll get to 5 hours!
I'm thankful that Ryan is doing so well at his PTSD treatment program, but I'm even more thankful that he only has a week left. We're all ready to have him back home.

What things are you thankful for this week?

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Today was a day that really should be everyday. We shouldn't just celebrate love one day out of the year. Love should be celebrated every day. That being said, I did take my 2 little Valentines out to dinner at Chili's this evening. Of course, Thomas just had milk, but Robert and I had a nice little date. After dinner, we went to Josie's Frozen Yogurt for dessert – they had buy one/get one free today. We'll go somewhere special with Ryan on Saturday when we get to see him on Saturday.

The rest of the day before dinner was pretty good. I gave an Equal Opportunity class on Extremism this morning and then did some stuff in supply, including a few online classes that I needed to take. I got my lunchtime snuggle time with Thomas and then came home for my own lunch and to await the plumber. He had called this morning and wanted to come today to check out our leaky bathtub faucets. I figured he was just coming to look and then would be back another day to fix as that's what usually happens for repairs around here. So I thought I'd be back to work this afternoon, but that didn't end up happening. He actually did the repairs today and now the bathtub faucets don't leak anymore! Of course, I didn't get back to work, but it'll be ok. After he left, it was time to go get my allergy shots, so I did head back out to post, but to the allergy clinic instead. After my allergy shots, I got in a quick 3 mile run before I had to get the boys from daycare – 3.11 miles in 29:59!! I love that I'm getting faster.

10 Things I Love About Running

The Valentine's challenge at #runchat was to post ten things you love about running, so here is my list:

I love running because. . .

1 – I feel AWESOME after I finish a run.
2 – I get to have some "me time" and not have to worry about anything or anyone else for a little while.
3 – It's helped me lose my baby weight and get back into my pre-pregnancy jeans in 4 1/2 months.
4 – It doesn't take a whole lot of gear – just a good pair of running shoes and a supportive sports bra.
5 – It doesn't take a whole lot of time. I can run wherever I am – no having to drive somewhere.
6 – Although I like my "me time," I can also run with another person or a group of people and have just as awesome a time.
7 – I love the "bling" I get when I run races!
8 – I've made some really good friends online (Twitter & Daily Mile!) and I know I can turn to them if I need motivation, encouragement, support, have questions, etc.
9 – It's something I can share with my children – my 7 year old ran his first 5K with me when he was only 6, and my 4 1/2 month old has already been on several stroller runs with me.
10 – It's something I can do for the rest of my life (and it helps keep me healthy so I can have a long life!).

I challenge you to take time and think about 10 reasons you love running or cycling or swimming or whatever it is that you do!!

Fun Family Day!

This morning we all got to sleep in a little bit. Thomas even slept from 12:30-5:30 and then until 8:30 so I was able to get some sleep for a change. Fingers crossed that he keeps this up. After we got up and had breakfast, we went and picked up our Bountiful Baskets produce for the week. We got a pineapple, an eggplant, apples, oranges, bananas, 2 lemons, lettuce-like greens, corn on the cob, broccoli, asparagus, tomatoes, and mushrooms! We headed home and I got everything put away and then we headed up to Tucson. We picked Ryan up from the VA hospital and headed to the zoo. We walked around the looked at the animals for a couple of hours, and even got to get pictures with each of the boys sitting right next to the tiger! It was sleeping right next to the window, so it was a great photo op for everyone! I got a good workout for sure – I was wearing Thomas in the Snugli and pushing Ryan in his wheelchair. Fun times, especially going up the hills! After the zoo, we went to Red Robin for a late lunch/early dinner. We stopped at a grocery store on our way back to the VA so Ryan could get some Pepsi. All too soon we had to bring Ryan back and say our goodbyes. At least we get to talk to him every night and we'll go back and see him next Saturday again! We had an uneventful drive home, and despite a big lunch, Robert was hungry when we got back, so I went through the drive-thru at McDonald's and got him a Happy Meal.  Once home, Robert ate his Happy Meal and Thomas had dinner as well. Then Thomas had a bath, a story by big brother, and oatmeal. Both boys were in bed by about 7:45 and I got some cross stitching done.

Five Things Friday

1 – I had the day off today. All of the supply shop did. We had a comp day from all the extra time we put in getting ready for the 100% inventory. It was nice having the day off!!

2 – After I brought Robert to school and Thomas to daycare, I went for an 8 mile run. I was never more than a mile from my house (as the crow flies) and I had a really cool route. You can read about my run and see the route here: http://www.dailymile.com/people/tbonegirl/entries/12813693

3 – I got a much needed and well deserved manicure and pedicure this afternoon.  Yay for pampering time!

4 – I actually took my motorcycle out for a short ride this afternoon. My first stop was the gas station to fill up and then I went to the Harley store. I now own my own riding gloves so I don't have to borrow Ryan's anymore. My new gloves are purple!!

5 – Have I mentioned lately how awesome my boys are? Well, they are! Robert pretty much loaded the dishwasher by himself this evening, got the soap in the right places, and ran it. Thomas is just so cute – especially when he got to try bananas for the first time tonight. He made the cutest faces like he didn't like them, but he ate the whole container (Gerber banana baby food).

I hope everyone has a great weekend!!