catching up again

Just a quick blog to let everyone know that I am going back and filling in the spaces in time as we have been really busy and not able to get on to do my blogging.  For the next few weeks I am in bed recovering from having foot surgery so I am going to take this time to go over all my pictures that I have been taking for the last several months and catching up on my blogs.  Happy reading everyone.

An Act of Love and Kindness

This week has been a week of giving for my family.  We have had a wonderful, once in a lifetime, life changing experience.

This past week Heather, Jon and I all had the opportunity to help one of his fellow soldiers SSG Patrick Zeigler and his fiance Jessica Hansen. Jon and Patrick were in the same unit together up until a year and a half ago.  Patrick was the worst injuried in the the November 5, 2009 when Maj Nidal Hasan decided to start shooting at the SRP center.

This week has been very humbling to me.  I have learned so many things.  Giving from the heart without expecting anything in return is what the Lord has commanded us to do in helping others.  Sometimes even when you do this there are people out there that do not understand, or are jealous about the fact that someone can give so freely.  So many people saw us on a daily bases out there all the time and really questioned us as to why we were there so much.  I had to explain so many times that we wanted to spend as much time there helping as we could because one it was a healing process for us, but that mainly it was our nature to want to give with all of our heart.

We met so many people out there both that were military, military spouses, retired military that we got to know while working with them.  When doing something like this you find that you may make friends that you have more in common with than you thought in the beginning.

There was a very real moment that my husband and I had during the build that just stood out to us and made us feel deep down in our hearts that all that we were doing was right.  I wanted to take a moment and tell everyone about this moment.  Jon had come out on one of his nights off to see what he could do to help.  He was working on the yard and came across a rock at the back of the house that was mostly in the ground still.  He thought that it was odd that it was still mostly in the ground because all of the area had been turned over in order to build the foundation.  For some reason this rock stood out to him and he decided to take a moment and dig it out.  When he did he looked at the rock and saw something that was to him extraordinary and came to get me to show me what he had found.  When I went and saw that this was a rock at first I thought that it was just a rock until I really looked at it.  Jon turned it over and what I saw next sent so many feelings and thoughts through my mind that I immediately felt the need to get this rock to someone that could use it in the home for something.  Now why would I feel that way?  This rock had a heart that that embedded into it.  The heart also had a small line through one side of it as if it had broken and had healed.  Jon and I took the rock to Amanda from the media team of Tilson Homes and showed her what my husband had found and told her that this had so much meaning behind it to sum up the four feelings that we had about this rock here is what I wrote in a letter to Patrick and Jessica. "1) everything about this build from the location, to the family it is for, to all the people involved and all the things done to make this happen was ment to be. 2) That there is something amazing and very special about you both. 3) That no matter what has happen your love for each other has and will see you through all your struggles. Finally, 4) the small line represented that you both have been through so much and given up so much, yet even through your darkest days you have made it through it all." One of the other things that we wrote to them is this: "Love is not our whole life, but it is what makes our life whole."

This week has been totally amazing and we got the chance to help build a house in a week, this house will not just be a house, but a home for the Zeilger's.  Today they are getting married on Fort Hood thanks to ABC. It is like they are getting a chance to take a small bit back from Hasan and what he took away from them. After the wedding they will be going to MOVE THAT BUS to see for the first time their new home, where they will be able to begin this new chapter in their lives, after the reveal they will also be able to have a wedding reception.  ABC and Extreme Makeover: Home Edition has done many wonderful things over the last 8 seasons and I have been amazed at what I have seen on TV, but this has to be the best story as well as the most amazing things I have ever seen and heard.  Hats off to Ty Pennington, Xzibi, Paul DiMeo, and Leigh Anne Tuohy for what they have done for this family.  Since I know that the family is busy getting ready for the wedding and the reveal today I am posting the photos that I have from what we have done this week.  I can't wait until the show airs to see it on National TV. It airs February 20th at 7pm central time!  They have told us that 6 to 8 weeks is when it will be ready to go on air and if my math is right it will be  the day before Valentine's Day.  We were told that they will not air a show the Sunday of the Super Bowl and that they are shooting another show while they are doing this one as well.  I just can't wait to see what we all will not be able to see from outside today and that is their faces when they show them all the surprizes that are in the house and outside the home as well as clips of the wedding and reception.  I have a feeling that this epsiode is not going to be the typical 1 hours show, I think personally that this will be one of the 2 hours shows because of so much that is going into this show.  Not only are we as volunteers building and Extreme Home but ABC and Extreme Makeover is putting on an Extreme Wedding as well. 

Congratulations Patrick and Jessica I hope that you have a wonderful and blessed life together and know that you will always have your Army family there for you if you need them for anything.

so much to catch up on

It has been a while since I lasted blogged, not because I didn't want to because I really enjoy blogging, but because not only have I been totally swamped these last few months, but so has my family.

I will take a moment to do a catch up blog tonight to give the highlights of things.  I will go back another day and put down other thoughts about all of these things.

We are now the proud owners of 3 horses.  Tuff who is 7 years old, Anna who is 13 years old and Juliet who is Tuff's daughter and is 21 months old. I have decided that it would be better for Heather to homeschool her and we are doing that now.  Finally, Heather, Jon and I as well as a friend of ours Robin has spent many hours this week working on a home for a very deserving soldier for Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.

I have many things to say about each of these things and I will go back over the next few days and blog about each one of these things as well as up load photos.  There are many lessons that not only have I learned over the last few months but lessons my family have learned as well that are very valuable and I can't wait to share them all.






 

Lessons Learned

Well it seems that everything is going great something always seems to happen.  Last Monday, I dropped Heather off at Thomboy Ranch, which is where our new horse "Tuff" is boarded at.  Heather goes there after school everyday to volunteer.  She now goes there daily for two hours during the school week and as long as she wants on the weekends and holidays. After dropping Heather off I ran back to Killeen almost to Harker Heights to watch Alex's first football practice.  Everything thing seems great. 

On Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays my Mom goes and picks up the Tiffany from practice and then swings by the Ranch to pick up Heather since it is only 2.8 miles from the school.  So at about 7pm I get a call from my Mom, which at first I didn't believe I had anything to worry about because my Mom always calls me when she gets the girls to let me know that she has picked them up and that they are on their way home.  So no big deal right....not this time. Mom called me and told me that Heather had taken Tuff out to the pasture and was riding him and he got spooked and she fell off.  But falling off isn't the only thing that happened.  As she was falling her foot got stuck in the stirrup and was drug for about 100 yards and was knocked unconscious. She was initally out for about 6 minutes and then she woke up and was not acting right.  Although at this point her body was still running on adrenaline she did get up on her own, but Mom could see that something was very wrong.  She called me and told me what happened, my Mom being a nurse, my first response was how bad is she and should she call and ambulance.  She told me that Heather was up and moving but that she was in a lot of pain and that they would be home within a few minutes.  She also told me that Heather did not seem like she was that bad until they were almost home and then the adrenaline was wearing off and that she was in and out of it.  I told her that I was almost home within 5 minutes and to go ahead and call and ambulance if she felt that Heather needed it.

I got home as fast as I could and took one look at Heather and decided that yes she was going to the ER at Darnell if for no other reason than to calm my nerves because she looked bad.  Jon told me that he didn't feel that she needed and ambulance and that I could get her the Darnell which is only a mile away faster if he put her in the van than if we waited for the ambulance.  Jon put her in the car and off we went.  At first I was worried but was telling myself and Heather to keep talking to me and as long as she was talking to me all would be ok.  About 1/2 way there Heather told me her head hurt really bad and she couldn't keep her eyes open anymore.  No sooner than she said that she was out and I couldn't get her to talk to me at all.  I rushed her to the ER at that point and they came out to the van to get her.  I told them what happened and that I could not get her to respond to me at all.  The medics and ER Drs came out with a backboard and neck brace and rushed her in as they could not get her to respond either.

About 10 minutes into her being in the ER the doctors had taken her vitals, shot xrays right there, drawn blood, and did a full exam from head to toe and started 2 IVs.  I knew she had some cuts on her face, arm and one shoulder but I didn't know about the other shoulder, mouth or stomach until they were working on her.  Once all of this was done they rush her to CT and CAT scan.  A doctor came back to me about 10 minutes after they left and told me that while she was in the CT they were able to get her to respond to them finally.

About 20 minutes after that the doctors came back and told me that they did not like what they were seeing and felt that it was best if they transfered my Heather to Scott and White because they have a better neurology department and if Heather needs surgery that is the place to have it.  So they call for a transfer and send her to Scott and White.  We got there and they ran all the tests that Darnell did and more and within an hour and a half of getting there they come and tell me that Heather has a room ready for her and that they are transferring her to the floor, that she was going to go to ICU but they have no beds available but she will be very well taken care of and the room was across the hall from ICU so if they needed anything they could care for her there.

They get Heather up stairs and to see her in so much pain I just wanted to take all that pain away.  The next morning the doctors came in and ordered more CT and CAT scans and xrays.  They told me then that Heather has a Grade 4 Concussion and that they are looking at everything to determine if she was going to stay at a Grade 4 or move to a Grade 5.

It took several days for them to finally determine that her neck was ok which was really beginning to scare me as the more days that went by with the neck brace the more that they kept talking about what could be wrong with her neck and her shoulder.


Thank God finally after several days they came in and took off her neck brace and told me that she was a very lucky girl.  When they decided to release her from the hospital she was released with a Grade 5 Concussion, scraps to her shoulders and clavicle, cuts to her belly and a really bad scrap on her elbow along with soft tissue swelling and bruising from about her hips to her head. As the doctors said she she used up about 2 of her 9 lives.  My thought when the doctor told me that was hmmm following in my brother Tim's footsteps.

Lessons learned by Heather are: 1. Mom is not crazy when she says it is not a good idea to go riding alone. 2. Maybe a helmet is a good idea if you are riding outside of the arena or when you aren't walking. 

Lessons learned by Mom: 1. Teenagers really do think they know more that us adults do and do act upon it from time to time. 2. One should never ride alone or out of the arena without a helmet no matter what.

Football Season Has Begun!

The month of August has always been fun for me as I was growing up as well as now as an adult.  I can remember as a kid and a teenager that in August we all started gearing up for 4 months worth of Sunday and Monday nights of a great American pass time.  For some it is Baseball, but that is not what I have grown up with as a tradition.  What pass time am I talking about one would say? Why football!  I grew up with being surrounded by football fans.  It seemed like every guy in my family from my Pops to my Father all loved to watch football.  We all love the Washington Redskins and to us there really was no other team.  No matter how the Redskins are doing we love them.

I know now that I have pasted on that love of the game to my son.  This past week has been very interesting and busy for our family.  Alex came to me at the beginning of summer and told me that he wanted to play football.  We are in Texas and although I have lived in many places I have never seen a sport that is so supported by everyone than it is here.  High school football is a very big thing here.  Every high school has a huge stadium that makes me think of a college stadium.  The girls attend a high school that has a jumbo tron screen to show all the plays. Here we have two types of football for the kids that are in Elementary school through 6th grade to play.  Flag football or tackle football.  After doing our research it was recommended that if my son wanted to play football in Junior High and High school that he should register with the Boys and Girls Club for their tackle football program.  That they have wonderful coaches that will teach the kids not only the fundamentals of the game, but also that it is about having fun as well.

So August 23rd came and Alex and I went to the Boys and Girls Club and we registered him for tackle football.  They we had to sit and wait for the draft to take place.  Alex was chosen for the Bucs and we are very happy with this.  The Coaches for the Bucs have been coaching for the longest time here and are a great set of guys. Coach Nicks is the head coach and he is great with the kids.  Coach Coke coaches Defensive Line and then we have Coach Locke that is the Assist Coach.  I was worried in the beginning because Alex has never played before and most of these boys have been playing since they were 7 years old.  All the Coaches assured me that I had nothing to worry about and that they would make sure that Alex learns all the fundamentals and most of all has fun.

Alex started practice last week.  His first day they went over the basics and the boys did conditioning so they did not use pads at all.  This continued all week although they did add the helmets on the third day.  During the first two days the coaches looked at the boys abilities and ran them to see how fast they were and what positions the coaches felt that they would excel at before making their decisions on Thursday as to what positions they boys would play.  The Coaches have decided that although Alex is a big boy that he is very fast on his feet so they put him in as Right Guard. Alex will be playing both sides of the ball, meaning that he plays both offense and defense.

One thing Alex has learned in this past week is that football is very physical and I believe he has learned about muscles he didn't even know he has now.  Although he is sore, that soreness will where off the more in shape he gets and the more he plays.  The team plays their first game on Saturday, September 25th.  So this year I will not only be rooting for the Redskins, but I will also be rooting for the Bucs and their girls high school which we are at every Friday night the Bull Dawgs.

Happy football season everyone!

It is official we are now Texans for sure!

Yes, although I spent most of my life on the east coast and most of my high school years in Virginia it is now truely official.  We are a Texan family.  Not that we haven't been for a while now, but now there is no doubt about it.  Jon and I have talked for years about making a purchase and have really waited to see where we were going to end up and what the kids thought and what our life was going to be like outside of the Army.

So what am I talking about you ask?  Hmmmm what is it that one mainly thinks of when we talk about Texas?  All the cowboys that they have here.  And what makes a cowboy?  Well you need to have at least a horse right?  We we have gotten a horse.  His name in Tuff and he is a Buckskin colored Quarterhorse who is what is also called a reining horse, meaning that it is used for your traditional roping and barrel racing among other things.  Tuff is a very sweet 6.5 year old male.  He comes to Heather out of the pasture without a signal problem.  The price isnt very bad not is his Full Boarding fees.  We love the horse. 

Heather loves to ride Tuff, but she also knows that she has to get all of school work done as well as participate in his upkeep and care.  I was totally amazied to Heather in that she not only decided that she wanted us to have a horse more than a car, but that she also felted that since Alex wanted to take lessons then she would pay for the first 4 lessons for Alex. 

Well below are all the pictures I took of  the kdis with photos of Tuff.  Enjoy!

Heather getting Tuff from the pasture

Heather and Tuff

Heather and Tuff getting ready to head out

Heather and Tuff doing some barrel running

First Days of School

getting ready for school before changing

Monday, August 23, 2010 to some would seem like just another day, but for Alex it was a very special day.  This was the first day of school and not just any year it is the first day of 5th grade and his last year in elementary school.  It was a big day.  We started off the day with a huge breakfast, which I do for each of the kids on their first day of school.  This year seemed to be a little more special not because Alex is going into the 5th grade, but because on this day Alex was the only one going to school.  Alex attends Killeen ISD and they start school earlier than Copperas Cove ISD which is where the girls attend school.  So at 530am I get up and get my first cup of coffee for the new school year and start my traditional back to school breakfast.  I made pancakes, bacon, sausage and eggs and for drink I made orange juice.  At 6am I went in to wake up Alex.  He was so excited about starting school that he was already up and getting ready to get into the shower.  By 630am Alex was in the kitchen eating breakfast and I was doing the last minute check of the backpack making sure that we have everything on the list and that all the items are marked with his initials.  At 645am we had out the door to the bus stop.  The bus stop is only 2 doors away so it is great and at 648 the bus arrives and off Alex goes for his first day of school!  It was both happy and sad for me as I was glad to see him so excited to head back to school and honestly I love the summer with the kids but I also love the day that they head back to school as well. It was sad realizing that my youngest child is starting his very last year of elementary school and before I know it I will be attending 5th grade graduation and that next year he will be at the Junior High School.

Next up Thursday, August 26, 2010. Oh this day is going to be interesting....Again what is so important about this day?  Well this is the day that not only is it the first day of school for Heather, but it is also Tiffany's first official day of High school and she is officially a Freshman!  Heather decided the week before that she wanted to go back to Cove High and be in school with her sister.  This was really thoughtful of Heather, but it also was a great decision on her part as Cove has a better Ag program with more opportunities for her in her field of study in Animals. So just as I have done since Monday, my day started at 530am with getting Alex up and off to the bus and then making my traditional First day of school Breakfast for the girls.  We were very blessed in the fact that a very good friend of Tiffany's Claudia was able to join us in our First Day of School traditions.  So with the pancakes, sausage, bacon, eggs and oj made we all sat down to have a prayer for the girls to start the year and at 730am we headed out the door to take them all to school.

Heather and Tiffany are very fortunate in that they do not attend the one of the local high schools (Shoemaker) that we are in the zoning for as it is an okay school, but not the safest of schools nor is their education at the level that I expect and grew up with back at home in Winchester.  I always wanted my children to attend a high that still has high school spirit and pride in their school and their programs and with Cove these girls are able to experience that just as I did at Handley.  At 745am we arrive at the school and with me holding back the hugs and tears as I watch my oldest and middle daughter get out of the van and head into the school for their first official day and Tiffany's first day of high school I drive off.  The girls have already gotten grades and I love the school in that they have a program for parents called the Parent Portal that I can check on their progress not just on their attendence but on their assignments and grades as well.  I am very proud to report that they both have started off the school year on the right foot with their grades and I am so pleased with them both.


I was hoping to have more pictures of the morning and day, but with having teenagers I was banned from being the photo queen of the day and was limited on the photos that they let me take.  Had I had it my way I would have had pictures of the meal, the drive, and them entering school but they refused to let me do so. So enjoy the photos I was allowed to take.

Happy school year everyone!!!

Heather getting ready to leave in her favorite outfit

Claudia Tiffany's good friend

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tiffany looking over her schedule and Claudia on way to school