Big Brown Package Truck!

Yesterday morning Silas got a long awaited visit from the big brown package truck (UPS)! He has wanted this to happen for a long time. What a great idea that Pops and Ra had, sending his birthday present this way! It made his day. He woke up early yesterday and the first words out of his mouth were "Mommy, has the big brown package truck came yet". Lucky for him it hadn't stopped by our house yet, so he was on the "not so patient" lookout for it. When it came Silas got to go outside and pick up the package and carry it in the house. He thought he was the coolest boy in the world and was on cloud 9! Thanks Pops and Ra!!







I know the jammies do not match, but with Silas being such a hot little boy he only wears a shirt when he goes to bed. So these pants were the ones I grabbed in the middle of the night when he got cold. It sure is hard to keep his body temperature regulated.

We got some good news finally, we got our orders! We are getting stationed at Ft Bliss in El Paso, TX! It is not our top pick (or picks), but it is still exciting! I have heard some very bad things about Bliss (drug, gang and Mexican cartel activity) BUT I have also heard some very good things about it as well. So I have decided that we are going to go in with a positive attitude. Wayne was not that happy after he heard the news, but I think he is starting to get excited about it now. So now I am trying to figure out how this whole moving experience will happen.

Taylor started her job at McDonald's Tuesday night. She looks cute in her uniform but will not let me take a picture of it. BUT, I will say she is the cutest person that I have ever seen that works at McD's! Silas is SO excited about his sissy working at his favorite place in the world! She is loving it--ha! Hopefully she will be able to get a job at one after we move to the lonestar state!

Be on the lookout for some very cute pictures soon. With Halloween this weekend, we will have a visitor by Woody from Toy Story, and a "flapper" from the 20's. We may go to Liberty to trick or treat with cousin Dylan, but we might just stay here in Cameron. We also have a special little someones 4Th birthday the next day, so that will be fun! And the next day we get to buy Toy Story 3!

We hope everyone has a fun and safe Halloween!

Just Plain Crazy!

Oh my, has it been crazy around here! I wish things would slow down for just a bit and let me catch my breath.

Taylor was in a car accident on Monday, October 11Th. She is fine and didn't have any injuries other than hitting her head on the drivers window. She had a pretty bad headache for awhile, but it cleared up after a day of rest. The other woman didn't have any injuries either, thank God! Taylor's car on the other hand, was totaled.

The pictures don't look so bad I guess, but there is a lot of damage under the hood. The whole hood area was moved over to the passenger side, kinda like it shifted. I am not a mechanic, and never want to be one, but I could tell there was significant damage done. The owner of the towing company (they also are a body shop) said he would be surprised if it wasn't totaled. Then the insurance adjuster confirmed that it was totaled. :(

We had a nasty little cough move through the house. It didn't last too long for Taylor and I, but Silas still has the remnants of it. It seems like this weather is wanting to either be very hot or very cold, no happy medium! And when that happens it is like clock work, we all get sick. I have been cleaning and trying to disinfect the house like crazy, to get rid of this bug. Hopefully, knock on wood, it will leave quietly.

We are still waiting to find out where we are going to get sent for our first duty station. Let me tell you, this is hell for me! I am a planner and like to know exactly what is going to happen, when it will happen and to be able to make a list and to cross things off that list. So I am trying to learn to do things the military way, and it sucks! Wayne said we should find out today, but I am not going to hold my breath, they will tell us whenever they want. Hopefully I will have some good news to share within the next couple of days!!

Cameron did end up winning the Homecoming football game, so that put everyone at the dance in a good mood! Here is Taylor and her boyfriend Jeremy getting ready to leave for the dance


Silas was trying to tell me that it was time for me to come back inside the house (he is peeking at me)!

Forgot to add...

I forgot to add these in my earlier post. My camera is not the best but it will have to do until I can get a new one!

HOOAH!!!

YAY!!! My husband graduated Army Basic Combat Training on 10-1-10 at Ft Sill in Lawton, OK! It seems like such a long time coming because we have known about this since April. And we are so very proud of him! He has been gone since July 21st and still has 6 more weeks of AIT. He said we should find out where our first assignment will be sometime around the end of next week. So keep your fingers crossed it will be somewhere great! We would LOVE to get Alaska, Hawaii or Germany, but we will see where they want us! I have heard MANY people say "It's the Army...Hurry up and wait", so I guess I need to get used to this. That will be a HUGE change for me because as some of you know I am not good at waiting!

Other breaking news in the Yancey household...Silas is 100% potty trained!! A select few of you know exactly what I am talking about. Silas and I discussed this next step, well it was more of me telling him, but we are now COMPLETELY done with that phase! And I must say he is so very proud of himself. He said "that's not scary like I thought". This is VERY big news around here, we can't stop talking about it. And yes, I was one of those mothers who took a picture of this final step and sent it to Daddy and he was elated! I just can't for the life of me figure out why it took so long for him. I guess it is true when they say boys take a lot longer than girls!

More breaking news...Taylor passed her drivers test Tuesday on her first try! I didn't have any doubts, but I was so nervous for her (she said her foot was shaking on the brake and the gas pedal in her car)! I know what it would have been like around here had she not passed, so it's a good thing she did! She is a driving machine. She has already started looking for a job and is hoping she can still volunteer at the Woman's Shelter.



Homecoming is this weekend. I'm pretty sure in an earlier post I said that Taylor is all ready for it. The powder-puff game is tonight as well as the bonfire, the parade and the game is tomorrow (Friday) and the dance is Saturday. She is very excited! The Cameron Dragons are playing the Bishop LeBlond Eagles (St. Joseph, Mo). Cameron is not doing that well this season, we lost some great players due to graduation (go figure!). We are hoping to advance on our 0-5 record...maybe we can with the Eagles, they are 0-6. Fingers crossed we will pull out a victory, that will put everyone in a good mood! I will post pictures of Taylor in her dress soon...I still can't believe she is so grown up. It seems like it was just yesterday I was changing her diapers...

I hope everyone has a good finish of the week and has a great weekend!! And sorry Pops that it has been a little while since my last post!! I will try to do better! haha

Happy Happy Birthday Birthday!!

Happy Birthday to my beautiful, intelligent, remarkable, thoughtful, caring, loving (I could go on and on) daughter Taylor Elaine Eichler today!! Born on this day September 26Th, 1994. Yes, that is 16 years ago!! No one ever told me it would go by THIS fast. It seems like it was just yesterday that God placed her into my arms...all 8lbs 3.6oz, 21in long of pure joy! At exactly 7:59am this world was blessed by her appearance. She decided that the world would wait on her arrival as she was 2 1/2 weeks overdue. She is one of the BEST blessings that I have ever been given in my life. She is a beautiful person both inside AND out, and I am very grateful that I was chosen to be her mother. I could not imagine life without her in it.

I am sorry the pictures are fuzzy. Remember, these are pictures of pictures (no digital camera back then). And since I don't have a scanner the quality is not the best...so I will make due with what I have. September 26, 1994, 8lbs 3.6oz, 21in long, the day God graced this world with her presence







Finally going home from the hospital (after a quick stop at the BX)





The first time we visited Anchorage, Alaska

Here we are at Balooga Point in Anchorage, Alaska

Waiting to leave for the first day of Kindergarten

Walking to class



Waiting for class to start (and for me to stop taking so many pictures and to stop my crying) I have MANY more pictures, but since the quality is not very good I will not put them on here.

Happy Birthday beautiful girl!! I hope all your dreams come true!! And thank you for all the joys you have brought to my life!! I LOVE YOU

Exactly one week, OR 7 days, OR 168 hours, OR 10,080 minutes until we leave to see Daddy!! Can you tell we are getting a little excited? I may have gone a little crazy with the minutes but it is better than saying months or weeks! We can't wait to see Daddy!! Only one more phone call AND it will be on Taylor's 16Th birthday!! Next Wednesday, September 29Th, can't come fast enough!

Silas got another letter in the mail yesterday, Thanks Ra!! It really does brighten his day. Everyday he will ask "is there any mail for me?" It was funny, yesterday I asked him who his letter was from and he replied (in a "duh Mom, you should already know" voice) "Uh Mom, you know it's from Ra"! He really loves opening up the letters and seeing what magnificent surprise is in there!

Silas has built up quite the collection of "Silly Bandz" over the summer. I have bought so many packages of them I have lost count, Taylor has given him some
AND Ra has sent some in his letters! We have helped that company make a few dollars!! Just for fun, and out of curiosity, I asked him if he would put them on. I was hoping he would put them ALL on, but he said this was enough of them!


Homecoming is right around the corner, October 8Th, the weekend after we get back from our trip to see Daddy. We have found the perfect dress and the perfect pair of heels. Hopefully Taylor's date will make the night perfect, fingers crossed!! She deserves to have a perfect night after all the "teenage girl drama" that has been going on here lately (I thought it was awful when I was her age, girls now-a-days are just plain mean and ugly). I will put some pictures up here later, so stay tuned...she looks amazing in it!! It is kind of hard to see her look so grown up, to me she will always be my little girl!! Boy, I thought this whole mother gig would get easier the older they got, I must not have read that page in the handbook!

I hope everyone has a great week! I am off to finish my countdown and watch all 604,800 seconds go by! haha

Welcome Fall!!

My goodness we have been busy! It feels like we have been running from here to there and doing this and that! Oh well, it makes the time fly by faster for our trip to see Daddy graduate from Army BCT! We have officially begun the countdown, 13 days until we leave!

Our search for a car for Taylor has ended. We finally found one! She has a nice and shiny, fire-engine red Chevy Cavalier! Thankfully that chore is done with, and that WAS a chore! I thought trying to find a decent car for her would be cake...BOY was I wrong. And then adding her own input into the mix ("I don't like it", "It looks like an old lady car") just added to the already stressful job of finding one. But like I said, thankfully we found one!

On Sunday we went to my sister Megan's house for a BBQ in honor of our Mom who is leaving for Canada tomorrow. We all had a nice time. Taylor really liked their dog Scooby, who is bigger than Silas and STILL growing. Silas wasn't so sure about Scooby since he is a horse compared to our little Trooper, and Scooby kept trying to gnaw on his arm (he is still a puppy).

Taylor had a big project for her Spanish II class. She had to make a 2011 calender. She did a GREAT job on it and I am sure she will get an A! Here is Taylor working on it while Silas is coloring a very pretty picture for Daddy.

Wal-Mart is just now starting to put out its Halloween decorations and costumes, so while Silas and I were there the other day we decided to take a quick look. They didn't have very much out yet BUT Silas managed to find something that he COULD NOT live without. I am very proud to announce that I now have "Cowboy Sheriff Silas" living in my house! He has put on his "outfit" everyday since we got it and has worn it everywhere we have gone! His outfit is complete with a cowboy hat, "bendena" and badge (the best $5.00 I ever spent). Watch out everyone, there is a new sheriff in town!! Here he is saying "howdy partner". Here Cowboy Silas is telling me that "cowboys don't like their pictures taken a lot". Never thought a Cowboy could look so darn cute!! He is patiently waiting for a movie to get over so we can return it to Redbox.

I absolutely love this time of year (minus the allergies)! I have pulled out all the fall decorations and put away all the summer ones. I LOVE the cooler temperatures, the wind blowing leaves off the trees, the changing colors of leaves, being able to wear sweatshirts with shorts or tank tops with jammy pants and the smells of "fall" candles!! This is my favorite time of year! I have a new door decoration, I am not sure about it but Taylor loves it, any thoughts?

I hope everyone has a great finish to the week AND has a wonderful weekend!! I am off to clean my house in my "newly pulled out" jammy pants and set out stuff to make chili for dinner....have I mentioned that this is my FAVORITE TIME OF YEAR?!?!?!