Day 6- Home

Day 6- Home #momentsmatter #1monthphotochallenge

Home is where the Army sends you.......

Twenty-one years ago today, this man enlisted into the United States Army at the age of eighteen.

{He promised me it would only be twenty- HE OWES ME RESTITUTION}

No, but really,we have lived in so many different houses, but none of them have felt like 'home'.

My only home the last{almost} nineteen years has been him, sitting next to me, drinking coffee. 

It's not always fun, but it's been honest, loyal, and a whole lotta crazy!!!!!!

Thank you for walking the line, Flyboy!

"Hey Ridley, ya got any Beeman's? Loan me some, will ya? I'll pay ya back later."

Army Aviation Brigade Ball

Christmas Trimmings

My teddybear ornament from Aunt Pat this year. We found him at Pottery Barn and even had them wrap it up special for me. HA!

You might have noticed my door is a different color.... SHHHHH! Don't tell housing! I painted it 'Colonial Red' and it looks FANTASTIC!!! If I do say so myself....

I'm kinda anti-elf-on-the-shelf, but it was a gift from my bestie and of course, the boys love it. I manage to keep him 'lost' for awhile so I only had to do it for about a week before we left for Wichita. This was the first one and I was pretty proud of it.... the rest of the days were super lame after that....

Eli is a Christmas fanatic. As soon as we put the tree up, he was full blown 'Father Christmas'. (Note the clementine and drink waiting for Santa already while we trimmed the tree.) The cookie baking went on for days... He would find the dough in the fridge and roll it out and cut them before I even made it downstairs in the morning. (He's a 5:30 AM early bird riser- his mother is not)

  We got our tree the day after Thanksgiving again..... Totally against the way I was raised, but I have to admit it was super fun because my Aunt Pat, Oma, and Grandma were here to help trim!! Which is always more fun with family!

D.C. or Bust

Well, if you've gotta move, at least it's to Washington D.C.!!!!! YAHOOO! (Fort Belvoir, to be exact.)

Made a few stops on the way-First stop, Charleston, N. Carolina. Definitely could have stayed here a few more nights! So much to see! A huge thank you to the adorable couple from London who snapped this way too easy family portrait of us.... No one cried or tried to run away.....and I'm pretty sure EVERYBODY is looking??? How can this be??? 

The boys took turns riding with Dad in the big Penske truck! Shayne was exiled over there once during the first leg of the trip for being a brat to me..... It was so funny when we stopped and she was allowed to come back in the van.... She exclaimed, "I feel like I've been released from prison and allowed back in the country!!" HA! HA! HA! You should have seen the look on her face! Classic! Best.punishment.ever.

We made quick stop in Fort Bragg, N. Carolina so the boys could go see the the Special Forces museum.... Eli lasted about 20 minutes and then came and hung out with me and Bama.

Where Did the Time GO??????

We tried to 'fit it all in' right before Flyboy deployed, and I never posted ANYTHING!!!!!! Ugh..... Here's a marathon of photos with no captions because  I'M OUT OF TIME!

Infantry Museum at Fort Benning, GA.

So long, soldier! I took this so I could make a Daddy doll for the boys, but they loved the ugly ones that were given to them so I never made one! BAD MOM.

Last dinner with Daddy!

Mogadishu Mile

It all started crashing down about two weeks ago....... It started with the SWAT team at my house-

It was quite the site- The MPs called and said my front door was wide open and so was a neighbor's door across the street- I was ordered to come home ASAP.

There was no sign of a burglary, I'm pretty sure it was the little kid across the street(who is on the autism spectrum and likes to play Houdini tricks-just like Eli:) Nonetheless, they still had to check the crawlspace which gave me PTSD for a few days..... Every time I got into the Roadmaster, I got out and checked the back to makes sure there wasn't a creeper hiding under Grandpa's Shrum's Army blanket.

Two days later, Eli got off the bus with a big red ear and said, "My ear hurts!" Thank goodness Amber(ABA therapist) was there and offered to go to the ER with us(Lyster(the Army hospital) NEVER has any appointments available!) .

The good news is- This was the FIRST time ever that Eli was able to tell me his ear hurts AND he was ROCK STAR at the ER. ( I know he looks like Adam crying into his arm here, but he wasn't- he was soooooo good and did everything the nurse asked him to!)

 Eli, sure enough, had an ear infection, and the following Monday, I had a sore throat and fluid in MY ears and had to go to the doctor!! ( Sorry, no photo to prove I was a good girl.)

No kidding, the next week, the nurse calls and says..... "You're not going to want to hear this, but Eli has LICE!"

LICE, PEOPLE!!!!! LICE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I treated everyone and all was well until Sunday, at James' First Communion, and I see Eli itching his head again..... OH NO. 

First he looked like he needed some striped pajamas, and then my neighbor saw me crying in my beer at the park around 1:00 and offered to fix his hair for me........

When I emailed this photo to Flyboy, he emailed this back-

  

This week the nurse called and said, "It's just not your month, James has a 101 fever. Come and get him and he can't come back for 24 hours."

Today, Eli is home with a fever.

And you wonder why they call me Crazy Carmella.......