check back soon!

I am so far behind in my postings. I was taking a class for my masters and had to keep doing extentions on it. Well I have finally submitted my final paper so I will no longer feel guilty every time I look at my blog and wish I could take the time to update it. No more excusses! As soon as I get back to AZ I will share with you, my faithfull viewers: Christmas, Scott's birthday, Boy Scouts, spring break and whatever else I come across!!!!

So check back soon!

Traditions

All families have traditions that they like to do for the hoidays. Our household is no different. One of the newest that was added after my time in Texas was to go and see Trans Siberian Orchestra. After the first time I saw their show I explained it to Tim as "church on acid". For those that haven't seen one of their shows it is a 2 part act. The opening show is a story about a lost angle sent by God to find something, and the music and songs are all related to tell the story of this angle. After that they just have a great time on stage playing music. These guys really rock! If fact one of the founding memebers was also one of the founding members of Black Sabath, so that should give you an idea of the style of music. However there is something amazing about the music that they play and the kick ass light show that goes with it. Their shows are usually around 3 hours and I swear that for the entire 3 hours I sit there like a little kid with a silly grin on my face watching the lights. The first year that we took Scott to the show he actually fell asleep towards the end, which was funny because that was when it was at the loudest, and when they had the fire canons going off! Anyways, I've had the pleasure of seeing them 3 years now and always look forward to the next show. This year I was also able to take Leighanna and her boyfriend Eyrk as well. They enjoyed it, but both being music majors were a bit more critical of it, just as a movie critic would be watching a movie. I guess you just don't hear things the same way a lay person does. Scott did manage to stay awake for it this time, and told me that he actually enjoys their music, which is nice because he isn't much of a music person.
Something else we did this year was to build a ginger bread house. I did cheat and get one of those kits that you just frost and set up, but the idea was for the kids to have fun with it. Unfortunatly though I did not get a picture of the final project. Christmas cookies however do not have cornors cut and I love the time spent in the kitchen with the kids. Last year we did gingerbread cut outs and they were a big hit, so we made to sure to include them in the line up again. I give the kids a ton of icing gels and sprinkles and let them go to it.
The last of our traditions come on Christmas Eve. I love to go to church on Christmas Eve. I'm not a hugely religous person, I have my ideas, and majoring in history, I have a lot of backround knowledge that things aren't as they are, but still I LOVE being in a church on Christmas Eve. There is something magical about it. This year was even better because as we were getting ready to leave it started to snow one of those slow lazy beautifull snows. After church we came home for hot coaco and stories. My mom started with me the chance to open one gift on Christmas Eve, which was usually jammies, or maybe a stuffed animal that she had made for me. I have continued this with the kids. So Scott opened his new pj's got ready for bed, hung his stocking with care by the fireplace (we actually had one this year!), and put the last piece on his advent calander (something I had made last year...all done w/felt, you add a piece to the scean each night in December and on the 24th Santa and his bag of toys is added.) To end the evening we read a few Christmas stories, and always save "Twas the night before Christmas" for last. I remember mom reading it to us every year. In fact one year when I worked EMS, I have to work on Christmas Eve, so I had her wait till I was able to call her so I could still hear the story...of course she didn't know she was on speaker phone and reading to my entire crew until she was done and heard the clapping!). Anyways when Scott was born she presented me with my own copy of the story, and I've read it to him every year since then.

Blizzard of 06'

And no I don't mean those wonderfull Dairy Queen types! I'm talking SNOW and lots of it! But I'm getting ahead of myself right now. Scott and I (and the 2 dogs) headed out to Colorado the day after school got out for break. One of the awsome things about the school I work for is that we get nice breaks. This time we had 3 weeks off for Christmas. It's gotten to the point where that 14 hour drive passes by kind of quickly now, so I don't mind it as much. I know all the mile numbers for every possiable point along the trip, for example there are 189 miles from our house in Colorado to the New Mexico boarder line. Things like that. Anyways I woke up way earlier then I planned so I was on the road before 0500. The day was perfect. A little chil in the air, but sunny and in general nice. We made it home by 1800, and just in time for dinner. The next day was football day, and in our house, everything comes to a grinding halt to watch our beloved Browns (lose). After the game we put up our tree and decorated the house up. For the most part it was just a lazy day around the house. After the week before with a bunch of rushing around, and deadlines to meet, it was nice to just do nothing. Monday Tim had to go into work, so Scott and I do a bit of running around looking for stuff that we needed, and Tuesday we just kind of hung out around the house while Tim worked. Then on Wednesday it started to snow. Now I don't just mean light fluffy flakes falling from Heaven. I'm talking wind blowing white out conditions. We ended up getting around 4-5' between Wednesday and Thursday. If you look at the one picture of the car, that was across the street from us, and was compleatly coverd in snow. The snow on it was so high that it was even with the snow that was on the ground and you almost couldn't tell that there was a car there. By Thursday evening it finally tappered off, but for the most part we were trapped in the house for a good 2 days. The kids loved it though (and I admitt that I was right there with them). We went out the first day of the storm, and while it was cold, and windy we just couldn't help ourselves. Just something about the snow that said, come out and play, even for a minute. So we spent 3o minutes getting dressed to go out to spend about 10 minutes out in the snow playing. If you look at the picture of the snow by the fence, you can kind of see Scott's head poking up and waving...yes the snow was really that deep, he was even standing on a few inches of snow to walk back that way! After that we spent most of our time outside shoveling the drive in hopes of keeping ahead of the snow. We have a guy that lives across the street from us that has a 4 wheeler with a plow attachment on it, so after clearing his drive he went and actually plowed a path down our street that cars could travel on. It was great that he did this because the plows didn't actually go down our road until Saturday for the first time.
This was the first snow that Teddy had ever seen. Lincoln has been in it before, by staying up with Tim for a bit, and when we lived down at Ft. Huachuca we would get traces of snow at times. Lincoln loves to play in the snow. He becomes like a little puppy jumping all around the place, chasing snowballs and eatting them. Teddy on the other hand wasn't too thrilled with all that white stuff to begin with. But lets take a moment to put that into perspective though. Lincoln stands about 8-10 inches off the ground. Teddy on the other had has about a 4 inch clearance, which means that his is going to get cold and frozen first! However by mid day after several feet had fallen, it didn't matter much, both of them were going to have cold and frozen members. Once we got outside with the dogs playing though Teddy was romping all around too. At times it was a bit more of a struggle, but he soon learned to follow in either ours or Lincolns foot prints to save himself some work. And they say that dogs are stupid. Just because they eat their own shit dosen't make them dumb...not the best at decision making maybe, or lacking taste buds, but not stupid!
After the roads had been cleared from that winter wonderland...a few days before New Years we were hit with another blizzard. This one was a bit more gental on us with only about 2 more extra fee falling in those gental soft white flakes that sort of drift their way down to earth. When it was all over the snow came back out and shone on the snow making it glisen like millions of diamonds laying on the ground. It is at times like that I wish I had the talent that Rod has to capture that moment. I'm telling you that there is nothing better in the winter then being surrounded by snow!

A night out!

So I'm going to back track a bit here before I start to post all about our Christmas and New Year....and of course Scott's birthday. I forgot my camera cable back in AZ, so don't have my pics yet (thank goodness for that 1G memory chip I got before Ohio last year!) Anyways, I have been wanting to post about this, but just didn't have the pics to do it.
Several weeks ago, in fact about a week before Thanksgiving, I got a call one Saturday afternoon, asking what I was up to that night. Well since Tim lives in CO not much! It was a friend of his from when he worked here in AZ. He had tickets to go and see Deana Carter who was opening for Mark Wills. Well I jumped on the chance to go, as I do really like Mark Wills music, and he happens to be a friend of our friend, Tom (the one who called). So out to the casino's we went. It worked out well, because Tom was nice enough to be willing to give one of the extra tickets to Scott, but since Scott isn't a huge fan of music (one of the many points that I ponder) he made arrangements to go over a friends house for the night. I rode out with Tom and Evagiline, not knowing the show was going to be outside. Lucky it is AZ, and while the nights do get chilly, this one wasn't too bad, espically once the music got going. After the concert was over the reservation had a huge firework show, and when I say huge I do mean HUGE. This show had to of lasted for about 30-45 minutes at least! When we finally got into the tent that Mark was in, it almost reminded me of being out on the granade range in Basic, either that or a live fire range, on rapid. It really was amazing! I almost didn't want to go into the tent. However I did get the chance to meet with Mark Wills. This guy has a great sence of humor! He is of average height, but as soon as he saw me, he squated down for the pictures. I was so embarrassed about it! I kept trying to get him to stand up, but he refused. Attached are a few of the pics that someone in our group took and sent over (I didn't take my camera...duh). The one pic is of his guitar. It is in DCU print and covered in different unit patches that he has played for in Iraq. Here I have to take a moment to talk about country music. Don't get me wrong, because I love all kinds of music, some you would expect, some you wouldn't, but above all I love country music artist. They support our troops like no one else out there. They write and sing songs about war and love of country, they put themselves at risk to go over to Iraq and play for our troops. I just got an email from a friend of mine in Iraq a few weeks ago, who got to see Carrie Underwood in concert at the gym by the field hospital that he works in. He described her presents there as pure magic, as it took his mind off the horrors that he has been dealing with there for the several hours that she was on stage, and then after preforming for several hours, stayed in the gym to sign an autograph, and pose for pics with every single one of the soldiers that were there! So while it might not be your music of choice, please make sure to give them their props, as they love this country and are not ashamed to show it!

And so this is Christmas

Here I sit on Christmas Eve. Scott is tucked in bed with visions of sugar plums dancing in his head. Lincoln is at my feet, and if I were to take a guess, Teddy is up on our bed sleeping away. Tim on the other hand is finishing up those last minute things that parents need to do to get the house ready for Chistmas. Before getting too carried away with the festivities I wanted to take a moment to reflect. First this is an awsome Christmas this year. Not only do we have a white Christmas, but there is about 3 feet of snow on the ground right now. To top that off, it started to snow again today. How pretty is snow on Christmas Eve or Day? There truly is nothing at all like that (so Rod, as nice as the 70's might be, I would never trade a white Christmas for it!). As the year draws to a close I know that I have a lot to be thankfull for. First I am thankfull that even though I am seperated by more then 800 miles from my husband, I am able to talk to him every day on the phone, and I am able to hop in my car to drive and see him for the holidays. I know that not everyone can do that right now, so as tough as it is, I am lucky. As I drove to church tonight (in the snow) I was thankfull that I have that freedom to pick the one I want to go to. Also that I have a car that can get me there and back safe. I am thankfull that even though I am half a country away from my parents, family and friends we are able to stay in touch. In todays world I am able to make a local call, even from CO or AZ to OH. I am able to email and post blogs to keep them all up to date. I am blessed to have 4 healthy kids in my life. We may not always see eye to eye on things, but what parent does with a teenager? I am also lucky that someone took a chance with me and gave me a job. They were severly short staffed, and trusted me enough to give me the chance. I am thankfull for my husband. You are such a wonder in my life. I truly count the days till this nightmear is over. My friends. For all the years and miles that are between us, you are always there for me. Leeann I wouldn't say how many years it has now been, but LYLAS always. My family, I may not always show it (espically with my "baby" sisters) but I do love you all!
Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!


PS...stay tuned for pics of snow, and Christmas morning, and Scotts birthday...that's right 9 this year!

A posting from Tim

Today I got this email from Tim asking me to post it to the blog. I think he ment for me to translate the story, but he wrote it so well that I have just copied it right from my email...so here you go!

Well here are the pictures from Breckenridge. Some notes to help you post. It may have POSSIBLY made it up to 20 degrees. It is right close to 10K feet at the top and the winds were a howlin’. It was nice actually skiing behind the girls while they were on their snowboards. They are actually pretty good at the whole thing. I’ll have to try a snowboard sometime just to help the guys there with smoothing everything a bit. Because all the time that I will end up on my butt or back that is what I’ll be doing, smoothing the slopes. And now the importance of all my layers today. Let’s see…Two pair of socks, long johns, black IPFU pants and a pair of ski pants on the bottom. On the top a t-shirt, long sleeve shirt, sweat shirt, the new black Army jacket for wearing with the ACU and also a ski jacket. Of coarse gloves, scarf and cap are very important. (Note to self…get a thicker hat next time.) The cold air cut right through it. Also my face is a bit sensitive from mostly the cold but I’m sure a bit from the sun and that altitude.

All in all Breckenridge is a very nice place to ski. Everything from beginner slopes up to slopes I certainly didn’t see today. The views were AWESOME. From door step to parking lot is 120 miles and the traffic out of there on a Sunday afternoon is TERRIBLE. About 2 hours to get there and 3 hours to get back.

Montezuma's revenge

So we had a 3 day weekend from school and I wanted something a little different to do that would get us out of the house, and be able to take Teddy with us (he dosen't like being left alone). I asked around and a good friend told me about Montezuma's Well. I looked into it and found out that there was also a castle right next to it (well a few miles down the road). So Saturday we packed a picnic lunch and loaded the dog in the car and set out for the great unknown. We got up to the castle and luck was shining down on us, because with my military ID card we were able to get in for free. Montezuma's castle is about 800 years old, and is the old cave dwellings. What is funny though is that it has nothing to do with Montezuma. The ruins were discovered about 125 years ago and were mistakenly identified as Aztec, so it was given this name. Well the Aztecs had nothing to do with it at all, yet the name stuck...probably to draw in visitors. Would would want to go and see the Sinagua Castle? Everyone has heard of Montezuma, little could tell you about the Sinagua. These cliff dwellings are simply amazing to see. Not only for the age of them, but for the life style that went along with them. They sit hundreds of feet off the ground, and up until the 1950's they let visitors climb old wooden ladders to take a peek inside of them. However they soon discovered that letting all those people up in there, that the dwellings were quickly falling apart and put a stop to the up close tours. Now you can just walk around and look. They also have a cut away modle built at the end of the walk way to see what it might have been like at that time. It was about a 2 and a half hour drive up to go and see them, and the day was just beautiful for it. After walking around the castle site for a bit we drove down the road to check out the well. This is a thousand year old water site that runs more then a million gallons of water by it a day, and no one has ever been able to figure out where the water souce is coming from. Scientist have been able to determin that it was formed by a collasped limestone cavern, and that the area has really high carbon concentraions making it great for plant life to grow. In fact this area is home to some plants and animals not seen anywhere else in the world. The Sinagua Indians took advantage of this water source and built amazing irrigation ditches from it out to their farm lands. There were all kinds of trails to take here and old stair cases leading to the well and irrigation ditches. Walking around the area I almost felt like I was back in Ohio walking around the Girl Scout camp that we would take the kids to. We waited to have our picnic here at the well, and I'm so glad that we did. We found this really wonderfull spot to lay our blanket out, surrounded by a bed of leaves everywhere we looked. After this trip, I'm looking forward to figuring out our next adventure spot to see!

A down scaled Halloween

Usually Halloween at the Sizemore house is a pretty big deal. We deck the house up with black lights and webbing. We have all kinds of decorations for inside and outside the house. I also do up a big "creepy" dinner before the kids head out. Well this year, all the Halloween stuff was up in Colorado, and all we had here was Scott's trick o' treating bag and a few chem lights. I also picked up a black table cloth with owl eyes on it for our picnic "kitchen" table. This year Scott wanted to be Superman for Halloween. For the first time in his entire life, I broke down and bought him a costume. I've always made them before, but this year it just seemed more practical to buy it. I have to say that as I stood in that check out line that I honestly felt like a bad mommy for doing that to him. Scott loved his outfit though and it worked out just fine, but he did look really strange with black hair! Before Halloween we went to the "fall fest" (because heaven forbid if they call it Halloween...you might offend one or two people, leaving the hundreds of us that love Halloween to suffer a name change...kind of like saying Happy Holidays instead of Merry Christmas, but that's a different topic). Anyways we went looking for something to fill the time, and that it did, and that was about it. The next day we did a pumpkin carve. I think that the reason we continue this tradition is so that the adults get to keep doing the fun kid stuff. Same with Easter Eggs. Anyways, for Halloween this year I kept our dinner kind of simple. We had Mummy Dogs (a favorite here) on a bed of mold, and monster mouths to go along with it. We went Trick o' Treating with some friends of ours here, Mike and Tammie and thier son Michael. It was really fun going around the neighborhood with them. Just let the boys run and have fun while we walked the streets!

The new Joe Cool

Scott took this picture of Teddy chilling out. Was too cute not to add a posting for it!!!

Unspeakable crime

Several months back Tim found a bag of stuffed animals in one of the offices and brought it home. For the most part it was filled with carnival type toys, but there was also 3 different Tellatubbies in it, 2 of which talked. Well as we were going through the bag setting them aside, Teddy started coming up and stealing them one by one taking them to his "pits of despair" under our bed. We thought this was pretty funny so we let him keep them. Well the Tellatubbies made their way back out into the living room and turned into his favorite/most hatted toy. It would drive him crazy when he played with it and they started talking. Anyways one day a few weeks ago I went downstairs and this was the scean that I saw. A murdered Tellitubbie on the floor, with fluff all around. I started laughing and went to take a picture of the murder scean. As I did, Teddy came up to it as if to claim that he did it and he was proud of it too!

An update on my insane life!

It has been so long since I updated here that people have probably forgotten all about this. Then Rod went and put me to shame. I was feeling alittle ok about being behind, because every time that I looked at Rod's site it hadn't been updated either. Then I went there today and had to catch up on about 10 new posting...here my computer just wasn't showing the updates he had been doing to it. Ok so now I feel like a heel and need to update everyone.

First as most of you didn't know...the house didn't sell, so I am still here. Stuck in hell for another year. I know that the housing market took a crash, this this one out here nose dived right into an empty pool. Tim left over Labor Day weekend. I hadn't been home from Texas even a year yet when he had to take off. In fact we figured out that in the 6 years that we have been together as a couple, we have spent 3 of it apart. Let me tell you that saying good bye so many times over the years does not get easier the more you do it. So Tim is setteled into a new house there, and is about a block and a half away from the girls. It is nice for him as he gets to see the girls almost every day.

Scott and I headed up that way over our fall break for 2 weeks. Picture this....me, Scott, 2 dogs gatted into the back of my VUE, and a cat locked in a carrier. Not to mention luggage, and boxes on top of all that. What a fun 15 hour drive that was! It was perfect weather (back to Rod...you have to bring your family and camera up to visit...there are some really spectacular sites to see). When we got up there we stayed in the hotel down the street for a few days until we went to sign for the house on that Monday. Once again imagine...2 dogs and a cat in the hotel with the 3 of us there as well! We had a chance to go down to this bar that has a Browns Backers group that takes over the huge screen TV every week for the game. What a lot of fun watching the game with a huge crowd. That and Colorado has a no smoking law in place so I was actually able to enjoy the game with no breathing issues and not stink after wards! For the most part though we spent our time there getting the house all taken care off. The one tourist type thing that we did do was to go and tour the Coors factory. Pretty neat little town. They have it set that after you tour they encourage you to leave your cars in their parking lot and just walk around the town which is only 2 blocks away, and has a very old fashion feel to it. We walked around a bit and enjoyed lunch at an out door cafe/bar.

Once back in AZ it was time to get readjusted to having the house empty. Back to school, back to work and so each day goes. Scott got his report card while we were gone to CO, and for skipping a grade this year, he still managed to get straight A's with little struggle. I have to say that I am one proud Mommy when it comes to that kid!!!!

Time warp

Things have been so crazy around here for the last month. Let me see if I can back track. Michaela flew out here at the begining of August to spend her break with us. By then Tim was winding down on his work, so was able to spend time here at home with her. I started the school year teaching 6th grade for a teacher that was out injured. A few weeks into that one of our other teachers left to head back East. The job was offered to me as long as I committed to the entire school year. Tim and I talked it over for a bit, and realized that it was probably the best way to go. Our house is still sitting here on this stale market, with no bites at all. And since I need to be working full time in order for Tim to be able to survive up there on his own, I am now teaching Kindergarten! A bit of a strech from the high schools I am trained to teach, but fun non the less.
The movers were here a few weeks ago and stripped down the house, leaving only a few things behind for Scott and I. Right after that Tim took off for Colorado with Michaela. He got up there Labor Day and has been house hunting since then. He thinks he found a nice one, just waiting on the bid process. Never in my life did I think I would own a home, let alone be in a spot where I had to have 2 of them! So Scott and I sit here waiting for the house to sell, but knowing that when it does we'll be moving into an apartment, or something of the sort.
It's been a week now since Tim left and things are setteling into a new rutine, but lonley and quiet with out him here.

From Bobcat to Wolf

Scott has been eagerly waiting for me to post his scouting information here. Right before we left for Ohio we went to his pack night where he walked away with so many different awards that he couldn't carry them all! He was awarded his Wolf Badge which means that soon he can start working towards his Bear. He also earned beltloops and pins in 6 different sports and acidemic areas. To earn a beltloop the Scout needs to compleate 3 activities that have to do with that topic. For example for his astronomy one he had to draw a picture of the solar system along with two others. To earn the pin Scouts need to compleate an additional 5-7 items in that section. So for the astronomy one he learned about some different constilations, astronauts, and we even watched a show on the Challanger disaster. Scott earned beltloops and pins in: astronomy, baseball, swimming, collecting, soccer, and biking. He also earned this night his gold arrow award (for doing 10 extra activities in the book) and 3 silver arrows (one for every 10 after that gold). He has still been doing meetings, but at home we have taken a small break, but will pick back up with it soon.
Scott also reciently compeated in the Pine Wood Derby with Scouting. This is where the boys are given a block of wood, a few nails and 4 wheels and then told to have fun with it. The idea is to be creative and come up with the fastest car possiable. This years creation soon became lovingly known as the Cheese Mobile. Scott did up a yellow block of wood that him and Tim drilled holes into. Then when all was done we used some wall mount clay and fixed 2 Lego men into it, and had a small little mouse sticking his nose out of one of the holes. While his wasn't the fastest one there...it did make it through several races before being eliminated. Later he won for most original.

Last day....Chicken Run

Our last night in Ohio we always go to our favorite bar and have family and friends come up to meet us there. The have some of the best chicken wing and frys you could imagine! We usually draw a good sized crowd of love there. Pool is played, we get our fill of wings and drink too much beer (is that possiable?) As fun as this night always is...it is also bitter sweet because I know that when my friends have to say good night, that I wouldn't get to see them again for awhile. Maybe it would be different if we had a set travel time there, but we just never know when the next time will be.
One of the best thing that happened this night by far though was that 2 of my best friends were able to patch over a long standing gap that had been between them. Girls you don't know how happy I was to see you two talking to each other! It has made it so difficult to plan things in Ohio. I can't wait till the next time I head out that way and all the things we can do now!!!! Thank you....it was the best gift I could have ever gotten!