Veterans Day

Well, how are you?  How did your Veterans Day go?  Mine went pretty good.  No pomp and circumstance.  Just a little quiet contemplation.  Many of you who read my blog know that someone who is very dear to me is a veteran.  It seems quite unnatural to think of my little brother as a veteran but he is.  Blue went to Marine Officer Candidate school after graduating from West Texas A&M.  It was soo odd thinking that my little brother was not only going to be following orders but giving them as well.  Let's just say that Blue was laid back, REAL laid-back not the over achiever that our sister Sarah was (HA! - I had to throw that in for my sister....) Anyhoo - after he finished OCS I flew with my Dad and ChaCha and my stepbrother Michael and step sister Anna to Quantico, Virginia to watch him graduate.  The minute we got there and watched him marching with all those Marines... I knew that things would never be the same.  No longer was he just my little brother, he was a man... He was a man of courage and strength.  Long gone was that kid who used to sit and watch cartoons and gripe about taking a bath.  My Dad was so proud of Blue - I must admit it was a little sickening but deep down I was so proud of him.  He listened and learned and totally transformed into a Marine.  Blue was deployed twice.  What all he did over there is still a mystery to me and it doesn't really matter to me.  I know that he accepted his assignments and completed them to the best of his ability.  How do I know that?  Because he's a Marine and that's just what Marines do. Plain and Simple.  Sempre Fi.  Always Faithful.  How's that for a slogan?  Faithful to your work, faithful to your brothers and sisters who are Marines.  Faithful to an ideal.  These people called Marines are different.  My Dad's one - trust me I know because that's how he defines himself.  When I speak of Blue that's how I define him - you know my little brother - just got out of the Marines,  or you know my brother's a Marine.  That's just who and what he is.  So here's to you Salty Dawg... jar head... devil dog! 


from your sister, who is always faithful... to you.

Pics from this weekend...

  

This is it...

Today is the day that Scout leaves for Lubbock for Regionals.  We are so excited about his meet tomorrow.  Let me say though that I am not just proud of how fast and long he runs but of the young man he's becoming.  Last night was his last practice and unfortunately his coach didn't show up.  I told him just to start running.  He was so worried that his coach would get there and think that he hadn't shown up.  So I told him I would wait there for a while and when the coach got there, I would tell him that Scout had already started running.  So Scout started off and as he ran off I thought well doesn't that suck.  He's the only, ONLY kid going from his school - now I am not saying that he is all that - but he's something, and here he is worried that the coach will think bad of him and the coach isn't even there.  Well, I wait and I wait and I see another coach come out and I ask where Scout's coach was and they said that he has left a while ago... blah, blah, blah... it didn't matter - but it does.


 So I wait and all the basketball boys leave, the basketball girls leave, someone turns out the lights in the gym and it's dark so now  my car is the only car in the parking lot and I wait... and then I see him coming, he's running, he's running to catch a dream, not a big  dream just a dream that maybe he might be something special, maybe he might be something good and I'm the only one there to watch him try, to watch him hustle, to watch him achieve his dream.  As he runs in, I start clapping for him because I know how hard he's worked, I know it hasn't been his coach on his butt.  I know.  Brandon and I are so unbelieveably proud of that boy - nobody has been there cheering him on, we've only gone to one meet and yet he's still going with no team mates to lean on, no coach to help him, no one but him.  


So there's my homage to that sweet little boy of mine,  who has worked so hard, I hope this will show him that hard work does pay off maybe just a little.  Good Luck Ninja - we're behind you all the way!!!

Happy Halloween!!

Happy Halloween everyone!! Last night we went trick or treating - I use that word loosely because all we really did was walk down town.  It's pretty quick and easy and painless.  There were a good amount of kids and their parents and everyone just walks down the sidewalks and collects candy from the merchants downtown.  Here are some pictures:

 
Sager was a vampire and Morgan was  a ninja.  Shaw decided not to dress up this year which was fine with me because in the end I had to buy Sager two halloween costumes.  He had a transformer costume and Brandon didn't like it.  So Brandon comes up with the bright idea that he should be a vampire about 1:00 on Halloween day!!! Luckily our favorite place in the world (it must be our favorite because we're there all the time!!) had a vampire costume!  Sager really hammed it up!  Scout went carousing with his friends and got twice as much candy as Sager and Shaw combined! Go figure - ever the overachiever!!  We'll I'm off to fix breakfast and then to take care of the pigs!  I hope everyone has a great Sunday and a good Monday!