Retirement has finally arrived!

Tony's Retirement ceremony.

Finally all moved in... What a week!

A very long night. We finally got our water turned on after a week of going back and forth to the old house and cleaning it up and clearing out of there. They got us for a good 1500.00 because of make-up stains that I tried and tried to get out of the carpet upstairs in the girls bedroom. Money sucks.

WARNING: This is NOT what it looks like!

This was last night a long night of paperwork and unpacking boxes. I was down to my last cigarette and the sucker broke! I was dying! So I rolled the top and smoked the 2 hits I got from it. I know what it looks like, and thought it was funny. So sad to have to roll a broken cigarette.

Moved In

Okay, so we are moved in finally. The house is great and the kids are loving it! No more 2 level houses! YAY! It's nice and quiet out here. Had to take a break though, still putting a few things away, thank goodness were not pack rats. I've become addicted to Red Bull throughout the process. I am down now from 196.8 to 173.2 and I am just happy as a cupcake with icing.

Anyway, I'll have more to blog about soon, right now there is some mysterious happenings that we have to figure out. Somehow someone has gotten ahold of our credit card/bankcard number and there are serious amounts of unauthorized charges going on. So wish us luck in this endeavor. We already put a stop to it, but of course the bank want their money quickly, but when it comes to giving it back, they want documents, police reports, and then they take their own time.

Lets see, oh ya, ya'll saw Corbin's gradcard. Well since it was such a tremendous improvement, I told him I would get him the xbox 360 in a month or so. He asked for something else. Here is a pic.

Trying to teach an old dog new tricks! LOL

Here is Tony trying to prove he is still able to climb trees and leap mountains!

Corbin After a long day.......lol

Check out the Kim Possible blanket! Blackmail for later! hahahaha

Just a note, click on Corbin's gradecard and it will become bigger so you can actually see it. He needs major kudos! I'm so proud of him!

Anyway, this is the picture Dad, that you wanted of Corbin and I standing together.

Corbin's Awesome Gradecard!

Notice the difference from the first grading period to the second. AWESOME!

Christmas crafts the kids made in 2008

I loved these. They were so personal and so cute!

Promised Pictures

Here are pics of the new house. There are 4 rooms, a den, a formal dining room, a big back yard, a garden tub all walk in closest, a fireplace a living room and a family room. My battery went dead so hope you liked the ones I posted.

Hello Everyone!

Got some updates! We found our house that we will be living in for the next year. It is only 2 miles from where we are now, and thank GOD we get to remain close enough to go to the ocean! Cooler than that is that we are even closer to our favorite camping/hiking spot, Raven Rock. I got some pics and hopefully they'll download, my battery is really going dead.

Anyway, Corbin got new shoes and I actually purchased hime a pair of 68.00 jeans. He hasn't had real clothes in a long time because he has been to a school where they wear uniforms. So he gets to start dressing up now. Boy does he have some expensive taste! Thank goodness for them being at the PX, tax free, and marked down to 51.00. He picked out a really cool black t-shirt too with like rainbow looking colors that mesh into a skull. What can I say? The kid is gorgeous and he can't keep the girls away. Oh yea! Gotta brag on his history report. He got an A! Talk about awesome. He should be getting his grade card this week.
Samantha is working on multiplication tables, and Katie loves homework. Go figure. Carly was excited to be able to participate a little in all the girl scout songs tonight since I hosted the meeting at my house. Also, Samantha has sold 224 boxes of girl scout cookies! She has earned her prestigious DIVA pin for her vest.

Life is good, and I can't wait to move out of DRAMAVILLE. Still can't believe it's almost over! Did I mention I was so proud of my husband? YEE HAH!

A little bragging and a new puppy- Bella

Okay, so we finally got to get a puppy! Daddy said no puppy until retirement. So we found the cutest little puppy on Craigslist.org. She is 6 months old, and believe it or not she came with the name Bella. For those of you who don't know. I am a huge Twilight Series Fan. I love Edward and Bella. So we gave her the full name of Bella Cullen Strid. Samantha is just crazy in love with her. Way past all of us. She can't get enough of her and they are already the best of friends. She is part Daschund, and part Cocker Spaniel. Personally I see a bit of Rotweiller, but the DNA test done when she was microchipped showed only Daschund and Cocker Spaniel. She already knows how to sit and play fetch. She loves to play fetch with the kids. However, she came to us potty trained and it has all come undone. So anyone who may have some suggestions, HINT HINT, throw them our way PLEASE!

The second part of this blog is a little bragging. I have lost 19 pounds now and I am soooooooooooo happy! Here are some pics of Bella, Dad, and Mom.

Kyleigh and Evan's visit

We just had a wonderful visit over Christmas and the New Year with Kyleigh and Evan. Can you believe Evan is 14 and Kyleigh is in college? They are just doing really great and we are just so proud of them! So here are some pics from their visit that I would just love to share with all of ya. Hope you enjoy them! Happy New Year by the way!

Remember our snowstorm?

Remember the awesome pics from our little 7" of snow, snowstorm? Well low and behold, my husband comes to me a week later and says, "I hope you won't be upset, but we are no longer going to Maine. I have been away too long, and that one day of snow was too much for me."

And you know what I said? "YEE-HAH! Hallelujah!" I was so happy. So we are staying right here in Cameron, North Carolina where the beach is only a couple hours away, and the mountains the same.

So we are now North Carolinians. By the way, if anyone is interested, my husband's retirement ceremony is on the 26th of February. He did it and I am so proud of him. Kudos honey! Hope you all take a moment to say congrats. He's had to put up with a lot defending this country with me and 4 kids in tow. Helluva job Tony.