Happy Annivesary...

Paul & I met 16 years ago today, both of us sharing a ride with a mutual friend from West Point down to Philly for the Army Navy game (Go Army...they won by 1 point...25-24...it was an amazing & exciting game & VERY cold...the temp. was pretty darn cold & then the wind...ahh...it was just swirling around in the stadium making it feel even colder!!! ) & the rest as they say is history! And what a history is has been! We've lived in 5 different states & one foreign country, 9 total moves, 4 incredible munchkins!, we are down one cat & several gold fish :-(, but we still have a dog & a beta :-), and we have just made too many incredible memories along the way to count!!!! I love you so much Paul! I am so glad we met 16 years ago!!! Thank you for choosing me to share your life journey with, for being my best friend, & for making me the happiest woman in the world! Thank you for 4 beautiful, healthy, wonderful children, for providing so much for us, for being our hero, and for being our ROCK! I wish we were together but, I am very proud of you for what you are doing! HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!

Sorry for the poor quality of these pictures but, I do not have a scanner & this is what it looks like when you take a picture of an old picture :-).

So here we are 5 months after we met at Paul's graduation from West Point.

Here we are touring Heidelberg Castle...

We are celebrating Thanksgiving dinner with a bunch of friends just before Paul deployed for the year to Bosnia...

Back in the states, stationed in Ft. Leonard Wood, attending a friend's wedding and me a few months pregnant with Jakob...
And here we are just before Paul deployed...
And here what 16 years will do to you...one big, HAPPY family!!!

Paul's move to Afghanistan video...

Here is a cool video of Paul's move to from Ft. Riley to Afghanistan. And here is his address if you would like to mail him a letter or if your kid's class wants to adopt a soldier to write to :-).
Major Paul Darling
ARSIC-S, RPAC
FOB Walton
APO AE 09355

Happy Thanksgiving everyone...

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving celebration with your friends and/or families. We sure missed having Paul with us but are thankful for him for serving our country! We went with some friends and had a fabulous time! It was a huge gathering (about 200 people), potluck style, with tons of yummy food!!! Then all the kids (except Sam...it was 19*...a little on the cold side for the little guy) went sledding for about 2 & 1/2 hours. They had a blast. The goal was to sled down the hill & make it out onto the frozen lake. Jakob made it out several times. Then, Thursday evening we went over to my friend, Jennifer's house to surprise her for her birthday :-)! Today was another busy day & tomorrow we will head up the road a little bit & visit our friends the Galloways before Jakob's hockey game. Here are a few favorites from Thanksgiving and then of course I had to make some smilebox creations for you. Enjoy & see the rest of the pictures in the family album.

The kids sledding on Thanksgiving...

On all of these smilebox creations don't forget once you click the link to open the scrapbook or slideshow that you can click the maximize square to get a larger view and then you can also click on any picture to enlarge it :-)!

Make a Smilebox postcard

Ben and Rachel's Thanksgiving artwork

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Ben's Pre-School Thanksgiving Celebration

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Catching up...

I thought I better get on here while I had a small opportunity before someone else gets sick. Last Friday Ben had a field trip with his pre-school class out to the local Senior Center. We all took a pie to share with the community and the little ones made little booklets and sang songs. That was all great. What wasn't great was the fact that lots of little hands were all over my little Samuel and I was freaking out because the stomach flu has been going around for several weeks. Well, I don't know if this is where it came from but, I think it was...I mean they were all over him! Soooo...Sunday afternoon when I went into to get Sam out of his bed from his nap...WOW! I screamed for help! I have never seen so much regurgitated food in my life! I'm talking he had 4 eggs and 6 ounces of sweet potatoes earlier that morning & luckily his body knew something was about to happen because he had refused to eat lunch...which is not like him but, I had dismissed it because he had not had a nap so I thought he just wasn't eating because he was tired! WRONG! So there I am just standing there looking at the poor little guy wondering what I am supposed to do!? I mean the eggs were HANGING in his hair & from his ears!AHHHH! The bed was covered! I had Rachel start the water so it would be warm enough for me to wash him. I had Jakob grab a garbage bag so that I could just wrap up the sheet & all the contents & just chuck it (pardon the pun!) because I was not about to clean that mess up...we have more sheets! So, after scrubbing Sam 6 times with soap he finally passed my sniff test & then he threw up 2 more times right in the tub...at least! Of course later on he threw-up on me 3 more times! The rest of the story...he felt awful & whined until Wednesday! Jakob came home from school on Tuesday...well, you know the rest...I was up all night running btw. him & Sam! Then, Rachel came home from school on Wednesday & well...you know the rest. She is feeling much better right. And then, I got a little of the bug...not so much throw up b/c unlike the kids I was able to take a bunch of anti-nausea medicine as a preventive measure...glad I did b/c I really think it helped! Lasted only about 10 hours for me instead of days. So, now I am just waiting for Ben...hopefully he will survive! I am ready to sleep more than 45 minutes at a time...haven't done that since Saturday night!
Jakob's team won their second hockey game :-)! Sadly I missed it as it was on a school night & an hour drive away & he was not home until 10.
That's about it for our week...sick, sick, sick & me doing no less than 20 loads of yucky towels, sheets, & clothes!
So, here is the field trip that started it all...

Later that day we headed off to tour the Fire Station with a few Moms Club friends...

My brave little man...

Inside the big truck...

OK, I put the picture above and this one below so you could take a look at the boys fingers! they are the same: Right hand, first two fingers, right in the mouth!

Since I didn't get a chance to blog before here are some catch-up pictures:

Sam so excited when he first saw Rachel and JAkob when they came home from school my first day back home. I know, I know, I can't believe I didn't get one of Sam kissing & hugging Ben!

The Darling bunch hanging out...Rachel reading to everyone.

A few favorites of Little Sam...he was playing with a hockey ball.

Too sweet...

Ugh...these are out of order...I wanted the next one first...oh well...here are the three self-portraits together.

And here is Rachel's...

Just before I left on my trip it was Rachel's turn to be "Person of the week" at school. She worked very hard making her sentence strips to be displayed along with a few pictures. Click to enlarge to read them all.

Ben worked really hard on these castles and then said, "Mommy, you take a picture of me to show Daddy."

Hope you enjoy the weekend. We have hockey ahead of us and if everyone feels good... some sledding...we have had a slow, steady snow out there...so the sleds are calling!

Sam Walking And Ben Singing & Update on where I have been...

I hope you enjoy this little video. It is so neat watching Sam learning to walk on his own. He just giggles at himself and then falls down. And, Ben, singing this song...too cute!

Well, after I last posted I took off to the airport and just got back! It was crazy. Up until Thursday morning we thought Paul was going to be able to come home for a few days or possibly even a few weeks. And then he said, "no way, not going to be able to come." So, I called 3 friends & they all agreed to each take a kid & I made my reservation! I can NOT thank them enough! They gave Paul & I the gift of time together which I am so incredibly grateful to them for doing! So, Sam & I flew down to Kansas City to see Paul off. (Sorry Todd & Kiki but no time for a visit this time around). We had a WONDERFUL time!! We went by Sam's schedule for eating & sleeping at odd times but it was so nice! I actually took real naps, slept at night for more than a 2 hour stretch...(last night...first night home with all the kids and it was back to the normal...someone up for some reason all during the night...I was woken up 6 times & that was a good night! So you can see why I am constantly tired)! We enjoyed some of the sites & some delicious K.C. BBQ. It was so nice to not worry about laundry, housework, packing lunches, etc. I mean I of course LOVE my children and I missed each of them VERY much! But, boy did I enjoy the break! And, seeing Paul was fantastic! I wish all the kids could have seen Daddy but it just didn't work out that way. He called a few hours ago...we only got to talk just a few minutes :-(...but, he is safe, tired & jet lagged but safe! He left Ft. Riley early on Tues. morning and flew for 16 hours! Ugh. He has been in a holding place but now heads out to Afghanistan tomorrow. OK...it is 10...I am off to bed!

Ben and Jakob at Hockey Practice

Here are some pictures from my dad's camera at the boys' hockey practices. Ben is so darn cute! Jakob is ready for his first game of the season this weekend!
And then below are all the Halloween parties. If you hit the box in the corner you can make the scrapbook larger and then if youtouch on the picture and there is a magnifying glass then you can click and view a larger version of the picture ;-). Enjoy the rest of the pictures in the family web album.

Halloween 2008

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Ben's Pre-school Party #2

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Ben's Preschool Halloween Party #1

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Ben's Artwork

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Go Vote!

I hope you all did your part and went to go vote!
We took my Dad to the airport today...it was very hard to say good-bye. He was a tremendous help to me and the kids had a GREAT time with Grandpa! We can't wait to go visit him next summer! Yesterday was very hard...it was my Mom's birthday. I made a nice dinner...Halibut that Jakob, Paul, & my Dad caught this past summer...my Mom LOVED sea food...I know she would have enjoyed the lemon pepper Halibut :-(. I made a little toast...we cried. I sure miss her and still can't believe that she has left this earth. I know my Dad misses her so very much. I can not even imagine...
I hope to get to the Halloween pictures tonight or tomorrow...we had a lot of fun and lots of pictures to share. But, right now I need to go hold Ben. He has 103* temp. since yesterday morning! Sam also has a slight fever but, I am hoping his is just from teething...he is cutting two huge molars...ouch! Last week...Rachel FINALLY broke her fever on Wednesday evening-5 days with high fever! But, I did not send her to school on Thursday b/c she had still been hot Wed. morning...so, she sadly missed her Halloween party at school. But, she and Jakob were out of school on Friday so they were able to go to Ben's preschool party and then onto a Halloween party Friday night. Then, Saturday evening my Dad took Jakob & his friend, Jacob to an Alaska Aces hockey game. Jakob was SO EXCITED to go...he was on cloud nine...and loves to talk about the game. Thanks for taking him Grandpa! The rest of us went to my friend and neighbor's house...she was hosting a going away party for another friend and neighbor. They are PCS'ing to Georgia...we are all VERY sad to have to be saying good-bye to the Peltier family! We are all going to miss their wonderful family!!!!!
On Sunday, my Dad took Ben and Jakob to their hockey practices. Jakob was able to go out on the ice to help out with Ben. He and my Dad said Ben did great. He was moving around on the ice...un-assisted...no chair...nothing!!! This was only his 3rd time on the ice! Yeah, Ben. I down-loaded the pictures my Dad took so I will share those later on tonight as well.
OK...kids just got home...need to get Rachel to Brownie meeting. I'll get the picture up later on...