More Halloween Fun

Last night the kids got to wear their costumes to a friend's Halloween Party. So here are some more pics of them dressed up. They'll probably look exactly like this Wednesday night when we go trick-or-treating... only Damon will have some Army facepaint (we're saving it for "the real thing").


And, tonight we carved pumpkins. Or rather, I carved pumpkins. The kids were absolutely no help with this activity. All I asked them to do was draw faces on their pumpkins... that was a nightmare. I took a pic of the pumpkins lit up so that you couldn't see all of the black Sharpie all over these poor pumpkins. They're more black than orange now, I think.

Damon requested "vampire teeth" on his pumpkin. Hey, I tried. And Avery... well, she wanted a "Princess pumpkin." Ummm, sorry, I'm just NOT that talented. But she was tickled with the generic face she ended up with, thankfully.

Pumpkin carving used to be Nick's job... and tonight I remembered why. Not only do I not enjoy it (not even a little), but I'm also pretty terrible at it. Next year, I'm going to get the kind of Jack O'Lanterns that you plug into the wall.

The Friday Night Report

Instead of boring you EVERY day with "Where is Nick today?" posts, I'm going to try to post an update once a week or so. So, if you don't give a fig where Nick is, ever, and if you don't care how in the world the kids and I are holding up, then please feel free to skip over my blog every Friday, lol.

Well, first of all, Nick was supposed to be home tonight because he's been out for almost two weeks. But, it wasn't a FULL two weeks, so I'm not really completely at the end of my rope yet, and we need the money right now... so, he's staying out an extra week. Now he'll be home next Friday. And, the best part is that he'll get to stay home for three full days (leaving Tuesday morning) instead of two... because he will have been on the road for three weeks at that point.

So, the countdown is now officially on our calendar, and every morning when he wakes up Damon tells me how many more days it is until Daddy comes home (he also tells me how many days 'til Halloween; he's a little boy with a lot on his mind, huh?).

When Nick first left out, he headed from the Operating Center in PA to somewhere in NC, I think. From there, he headed back to PA... to Scranton. From Scranton, he went to Detroit, MI. Got stuck in Detroit for an entire day (and he was not at all happy about it) because there were no loads leaving. He finally got out of Detroit and delivered a load to Savage, MD. Now he's on his way to a small town in the middle of nowhere, Missouri.

Tonight, he's sleeping at a truck stop near Wheeling, WV... very near his hometown. And tomorrow, he'll drive across Ohio, Indiana, and stop for the night in Illinois, where his sister just happens to live! He's hoping to stay with Missy et al. for the night, and I know he'll enjoy a night out of the truck, "real" food, and the company of his family. I'm just beyond sad that I won't be there with all of them!

So far, we're all holding up fairly well... I guess we're adjusting to this new lifestyle. But I'm still pleasantly surprised that it's not as bad as I'd anticipated. Avery was sick this week, and when she started feeling really rotten she cried for her Daddy, which just about broke my heart. But other than that, no tears have been shed lately.

I think we're really just taking this whole experience one day, one week at a time. I can't say I love the fact that my husband doesn't live here anymore and that I'm essentially raising two children on my own. Every night when Nick and I say goodbye and hang up the phone until the next day, my heart aches... just a little. I take a moment to feel sad and wish he were home with me instead of hundreds of miles away at a truck stop... and then I carry on with what needs to be done around here. There's no shortage of "things to be done," and I'm told that keeping busy is the key to surviving as a trucker's wife.

Every time I refer to myself as "a trucker's wife," I giggle... and shudder... and wonder HOW that happened. I guess it just goes to show that life is funny and you never really know what's going to happen next. Six months ago, this would have been my worst nightmare. And today I realize that it's not all that strange or horrible. It's actually kind of exciting and empowering... just the beginning of the latest chapter.

Doesn't she look good on me??

I was always a "baby person." When I was a little girl, if there was a baby within a 10-mile radius, I found it and carried it around and loved it. I've just always loved babies... the smaller the better!

But then I had my own babies. And I loved them to pieces, Lord knows, but they kinda cured me of the baby fever that I'd always suffered from. Maybe I ODed on babies for a few years...

My friend Trish always jokes that her uterus hurts when she sees a new baby (and we see lots of new babies in our playgroup!), and I laugh at her and think, "you're nuts." My uterus does NOT long for another baby, ever. I'm beyond thrilled that my uterus will forever be barren at this point in my life...

But then I met Delilah.

Is she not the cutest thing you've ever seen??

Miss Delilah actually belongs to my friend Maria and her husband Chad and their other three children. And I'm very grateful that they let me borrow her on occasion.

Delilah Mae does, in fact, make my uterus ache. And I think it's a darn good thing that I am no longer physically capable of reproducing (I'm sure my husband is very grateful, too!).

The Other Dog

I feel like I'm always posting pics of Comet on here, and for some reason poor Lizzie gets left out. But, really, we DO have another dog.

Queen Lizzie is something else. If you're not fortunate enough to be in her Top 4 (that would be Nick, Damon, Avery, and me, in case you're wondering) and you've ever met Liz, you probably think she's 110% evil and you've secretly nicknamed her Cujo. And I know that no one believes me when I come to her defense and say, "but really... she's sweet when it's just us around!" But she is. Really (stop shaking your head and calling me a liar!).

Comet the Moose is big, dumb, friendly, and gorgeous... there's no denying that. But I have a special place in my heart for Lizzie, my 14-pound attack dog. There's no doubt in my mind that if someone ever tried to hurt me or my children, Lizzie would protect us with everything she's got. Comet, on the other hand, would lick them to death. He is 75 pounds of worthlessness.

Plus, well... Lizzie was here first, gosh darn it! Sometimes I feel so sorry for her when dumb Comet is dragging her around by her neck... I stop and think, "Poor Liz. She had such a nice, peaceful existence here before HE came along to make her life a living Hell." I'm pretty sure that, somewhere in her pea-sized brain, she's having similar thoughts.

So, without further ado, here are a few pics that I took recently of Lizzie the Evil Min Pin (that's what Avery calls her... isn't that cute? lol).

Reading with Grampy

I can't believe I forgot to post these pics last week after Grampy's visit. They were some of my favorites from the weekend.

Here's Damon showing Grampy that he has some mad reading skills now that he's a big first grader and all!

And here's Grampy reading a bedtime story to Avery/Emma.

That's My Boy! :)

This afternoon, my friend Melissa (child photographer extraordinaire!) took some pics of Damon. She posted this preview of the session on her blog not long ago, and I can't quit looking at those two photos of my little man!!

Isn't he handsome??

Yes, I'm gushing. I just love him to pieces! Although, I really don't know WHERE that freckle-faced big boy came from. I swear it was just yesterday that he was a bald, drooling infant...

My favorite kind of phone call!

When my phone rang this morning and I saw my friend Becki's name flash up on Caller ID, I just KNEW she was calling with good news!

Our friend Melanie gave birth to a bouncing baby girl last night! YAY! I'm so excited for her and her hubby and can't wait to see pics of little Lucy!

You can see a pic of a very pregnant Melanie and a not-so-very pregnant Becki in this post on our friend Ellen's blog. It was taken at Melanie's baby shower a couple of weeks ago, which sadly I was unable to attend.

For those of you who are wondering, Melanie, Becki, Ellen, and I all met during our freshman year of college, when we lived on the same floor of Founders Hall at the University of Dayton (almost a decade ago?!? eeeeek!!).

Although I only attended UD for 9 short months of my life, these girls have always made a huge effort to keep in touch with me over the years, for which I'm very grateful! They are three of the truest friends I've ever known.

I guess I got a jumpstart on the marriage/kids thing, but they're slowly but surely catching up to me now... and I'm living vicariously through them at this point! Ellen, you're next, dear! *wink*

Congrats to Mel and Steve! Enjoy that sweet baby!

Sassy

As I was tucking Avery into bed last night, we had the following conversation:

Me: "I love you, Avery."

Avery: "I love you, too, Mommy."

Me: "You're my favorite girl, you know that?"

Avery: "You're my favorite mommy."

Me (laughing): "I'm your ONLY mommy."

Avery (exasperated): "Well... I'm your only girl, TOO."
[Duh, Mom. <---She didn't say that but I know she was thinking it, lol.]

Sometimes I think Miss Avery is too smart for her own good.

Halloween Preview: Sgt. Witschey and the Great Pumpkin

The kids got their Halloween costumes last weekend, and of course they've been wearing them ever since.

Damon was thrilled to pose for a few photos:

Avery, not so much. She was a very unhappy little witch (hopefully I'll get some better shots of her on Halloween!):

And, here's Nick and the big pumpkin truck. He spent 5 days last week driving with his trainer in this truck (and Nick's will be very similar... I'm sure I'll have pics of it eventually!).

We got a surprise visit from Nick this week. They couldn't schedule his final test at the training center until yesterday, and his trainer said there was absolutely NO reason for him to ride with him any longer because apparently he's a rockin' truck driver. So, I picked him up in Philly Sunday night and we surprised the kids with a daddy Monday.

He took his test yesterday and passed with flying colors. Right now he's at the Operating Center, waiting for a Pumpkin of his very own!

Dysfunctional Family Fun

Yesterday was an interesting day for me and my children.

My mom and dad, who divorced when I was a baby, were both here visiting.

Although it sounds kind of strange to people who don't know us, it's not really THAT weird... because Mom and Dad have always been friendly and have spent a good bit of time in each other's presence over the past 30 years.

But at the same time, it was a little different... because when we've all been together in the past, it's been for an "occasion" of some kind---birthday parties, graduations, my wedding, the birth of my children, etc.

Yesterday was just an ordinary day... with me and my parents spending time with my children. Normal and abnormal all at the same time!

We spent the afternoon at a local park and I took over 100 photos (my faves are posted below)! And right before we left the park, I heard Avery say to one of her grandparents, "This is the best day ever!" (Yeah, she got that from SpongeBob, but still, it was sweet!!!)

Birmingham, Alabama

That's where my husband is tonight... a truck stop in Birmingham, where he's probably waiting in line for a shower at the moment (lucky guy, huh?).

It's funny, but actually knowing WHERE he is and that he's moving around so much and getting so far from home makes me miss him more. For his two weeks of training, he stayed in one place, and it was only a few hours north of here. And that seemed "okay."

In the past two days, he's been through Virginia, the Carolinas, Georgia, Alabama, and tomorrow he heads to Arkansas. Just thinking about that and mapping his route in our handy-dandy atlas makes me tired!

I think I'll feel better when he turns that truck around and starts heading back in THIS direction at least.

Obsessed

I visit this blog occasionally... I like to check out Ree's photos of life on the farm (which remind me a lot of our days in West Virginia), and I enjoy her recipes with step-by-step, easy-to-follow directions, complete with photos of each and every step (where does she find the time?!?!).

So, I used to check in on Ree, Marlboro Man, and their Punks (and cows!) every now and then.

Then, she just had to go and start this series of posts (which are always "to be continued...") about how she and Marlboro Man met and fell in love... she just HAD to do it. Today I read the 13th installment of this saga. And, once again, I find myself on the edge of my seat, waiting for Part 14 to be published on her blog.

I seriously need a life, huh? (Don't answer that.)

Daddy's Home!!

Christmas in... October??

My husband (and my babies' daddy!) is coming home sometime tomorrow!!

Nick called me tonight (like he's done every night for the past 2 weeks), but instead of feeling a little bit sad when we hung up (like I have every night for the past 2 weeks), I was downright giddy... he said he'd call me tomorrow when he knows exactly what time he'll be leaving to head home! He's coming home! Weeeeeee!

So, now I find myself sitting at my computer, completely unable to concentrate on work... and not really caring about e-mail or blog reading or forum posting... all I can think is, "Nick will be here WITH ME 24 hours from now! weeeeeeeee!"

I'm also exhausted and having trouble holding my eyes open. But I know that if I attempt to go to sleep, I'll toss and turn and my mind will be going a mile a minute... just like a kid on Christmas Eve.

As Promised: That OCD Thing

I mentioned in this post a few days ago that I'm suffering from a new, OCD-type thing. I'm sure you've all been dying to know what that's all about, and since I have nothing better to blog about today (other than the fact that my son and I just fought the first battle of WWIII over a pot pie that he refused to eat for dinner), here goes...

In this blog post from several days ago, I whined about how much money Wal-Mart stole from me, when all I wanted was dog food and a calendar (no, I'm still not quite over that).

What I didn't include in that post (because I figured no one really CARED... and you probably still don't, but too bad) is that I didn't buy anything fun or extravagant during that shopping trip to Wal-Mart. I spent $101 on things that we NEEDED around the house: shampoo, conditioner, trash bags, laundry detergent... stuff like that.

What I realized later is that I didn't really NEED any of that stuff. I already had over half a box of trash bags, half a bottle of shampoo, and almost a full bottle of laundry detergent.

So, why on earth was I freaking out walking around Wal-Mart that day, thinking I just HAD to get this stuff? Seriously, my chest was tightening at the thought of NOT purchasing it and then running out of trash bags, shampoo, or laundry detergent (major tragedies).

And, I've never noticed this anxiety over having a stockpile of supplies in the house because I don't think I've ever BEEN this anxious over it. This is a side effect of suddenly being a single mother, oddly enough.

See, when Nick is here, I know he's at my beck and call (ha!), and IF we run out of something, all I have to do is pick up my phone and call him and sweetly request that he stop at the store on his way home from work. How easy is that?!?! And when our checking account is almost devoid of funds, I know that Nick will somehow find a few dollars to get toilet paper and milk when we run out (because he's Superman like that).

But knowing that it's all up to me to keep this house running like a well-oiled machine is making me a little compulsive about some things, I guess.

The good news: I shouldn't ever have to wake the kids in the middle of the night to make an emergency run to the store for toilet paper. WHEW!