SUPER HEROS!

Cody really likes to have me help him make super hero masks an put on the capes they have and run around just being boys. I just had to share what a cute pic this was!

I LOVE YOU

How cute is that hair! lordy would ya look at that...lol..
We use sign language a lot to say "I love you" to each other, and the boys do it each morning as they leave for school, Matthew has been desperately atemping to make his little fingers cooperate and FINALLY yesterday they did..hoorah! HE WAS SOOOOOOOOOO PROUD! Now we can't get him to stop...lol.. cute!

P.s. I do dress my child...he's two..he has the tendency to unrobe...lol

The Christmas Tree

Well we finally decorated our Christmas tree, as I am sure most of you have already done, and my boys usually help do it Thanksgiving day, but there were other things to do that day so we put it off, had Mom come over and we just let the boys at it.....we did...help even things out after they went to bed but they did most of the tree decorating this year, it was fun! Mikey was very good at delegating where they should go, and Cody was great about climbing in and under and around to place them where Mikey said too. Matthew helped too, At fist he just stripped of his Jammie's and put on the Santa hat, sat on the stool and zoned out to the Polar Express, but after a while he got even sillier and put on some stockings I unpacked...lol..Here are a few good pictures...lol there is only one of Cody, as after a few minutes he decided to write Mom and I "I love you notes that he would wad up and THROW at us from the other room..lol..it was fun! Hot Cocoa and Apple cider and cookies. What a fun night.

my baby brother

Matthew has finally overcome the baby gate. As of this last week he will scale the gate, sneak his door open, and walk down the hall with stealth to Mikey and Cody's room and get in bed with Cody and play. Last night Cody heard Matthew get up before I did and he called down the hall to me "Don't worry 'bout it Mom,I got this". lol..how cute! So he hopped out of bed (any excuse to get out of bed) and said "come on Matty, back to bed, lets go" and grabbed his hand and walked him back to bed, helped him climb back over the gate, and went in with him, turned off the light, and said "now into bed little man., come on, I'll tuck tuck tuck, now would you like a puppy or a bear to snuggle?, ok here's your bear, now I'll sing you a song so lay down all the way" I then hear him sing

"I see the moon and the moon See's me,

Smiling through the branches of the old oak tree,

please let the moon that shines on me, shine on the ones I love"

"over the mountains and over the sea's that's where my heart it longing to be

please let the moon that shines on me

shine on the ones I loveeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee"

It's the song Jon taught the boys to sing before his last deployment and it helps them to feel close to him, we sing it almost every night at bed.

He then climbed back over the gate and as he closed the door said "Now stay in bed young man , we love you, ni-night"

AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW my heart melted..lol..that boy can be so sweet!

A Thanksgiving to be thankfull for

This Thanksgiving was an interesting one to say the least. A week ago I got an email from Cody's biological Father Jarrod, asking if he could come see Cody some time before Christmas and what gift he could get for the boys. I was a little thrown off, and had a lot of reservations but in my heart I knew this was the right thing for both Cody and Jarrod to grow. I've always promised Mikey and Cody's biological fathers that if they were to ever grow up enough and want to know these amazing Kids that I wouldn't keep them from them so long as their lives were in order (no drugs, alcoholism, have a job..so on) But that these men would only ever be...an Uncle or family friend roll. Well, I told him that we had thanksgiving break or Christmas break and so he thought Thanksgiving break would be a good time. I made sure I talked to Jon about it in depth before I said yes or no, I wanted his opinion, and he told me that he knew that as hard as it was for him to say yes and allow this, that it's the right thing to do, that if we have truly forgiven Jarrod for his choices earlier in Cody's life as we say we have, that we should have no problem saying yes, so we said yes.

I made sure to talk to Cody in depth about this. He and Mikey have always known that he has a Daddy that helped Make him and a Daddy who loves and cares for him. It was something Jon and I always felt we had to be honest with the about. We told them that the Daddy that helped make them wasn't grown up enough to love and take care of them the way they deserved to be loved and so Heavenly Father had special Father (JON) set aside who could love us all unconditionally. Cody was excited about meeting him, this is the first time they have ever seen one another. It was CREEPY how much a like they looked and how many little idiosyncrasies they had in common, facial expressions, mannerisms. They took to each other like they were best friends. Coloring, chatting, playing football, eating dinner..it was really cool. Jarrod brought his girlfriend Courtney with him. She was really sweet, she is a prek teacher and came bearing gifts. She brought Cody a giant Tupperware container full of art supplies! Markers, crayons, paints, papers, and a giant coloring book of pirates of the Caribbean, which he can jarrod colored a lot of and had me help him hang them all over the house. as of today we have 15..lol.. She also brought Cody a stuffed Rat , Remy, from Ratatouille, and Mikey the brother Rat, Eimile, and Matthew a great set of soft toy cars that he went BONKERS over. They were great about playing with all three boys, and not showing Cody too much favoritism..well they tried really hard!

We ended up having Mom for Thanksgiving and Amy stopped by but had to jet, the rest of the family were off having dinner at their in laws houses this year. Dinner was great,but after a long day of cooking,..I wasn't all that hungry..lol..great!

The next morning Jarrod had invited Cody to go swimming at Hiese hot springs and I think that he felt a little scared to go alone so he asked Mikey and I to come along. We went but let Jarrod and Cody and Courtney have some alone time in the pool , let them talk and get to know him. They played in the water with Mikey too so he wouldn't feel left out.
After wards I caved and let Jarrod and Courtney take Cody to leo's place and a movie. I don't think I will do it again soon, not that they did anything wrong, they didn't, I just wasn't ready for that, it was a big step and I just didn't feel fully comfortable with it just yet, but hey I am really trying!..lol. They came back and colored some more, and just had some time hanging out in his room playing. After they left Cody was really clingy, and you could tell his emotions were all over the place. He slept with me last night and told me over and over that he thinks jarrod is really cool and lots of fun but that his Daddy is cooler and he misses him. I told him it's ok to care for Jarrod and that Jon won't be mad if he does, that he isn't in trouble for caring for him. Things went much better than expected and he did really well with all of this. I was really proud of Mikey too, taking it all in stride. He was really mature about trying to give them some alone time.

As for other news, Jon is on the move, he is no longer in Kuwait and is finally in Iraq. He isn't to his final destination, but at least he's half way there. They just really want to get there and get working! All this "hurry up and wait" is getting to these men, they are men of action and being retrained each week on stuff they trained on for months is getting to them. Jon needs a busy environment to help him pass the time.
Jon is getting over a nasty cold, and as some of you know he got burned by some flying shell casing that went down the back of his neck between his neck and IBAS (built proof vest) so they were stuck there a few seconds really searing onto his skin, it's only 2nd degree burns but where they are his clothes rub at it all day, and I'm sure it's painful, but typical Jon, he isn't complaining about it.! MAN I love him! well I hope you all enjoyed your holiday! Love THE HOWARDS!

late pictures of halloween

I wasn't here for halloween this year since I was there with Jon in Kansas. But Aunt Manda and Uncle Dan were helpfull and took them out so here are the cute pics of them. Mikey was a Ninja, Cody was a Ninja Turtle and Matthew was a Dragon..RAR...

Island park and family

Well, we got back to Idaho Falls at 11 pm on the 1st and woke up at 7, hit the road with the kids and headed to Island park, where we had rented a cabin, solely to be alone, no one but the kids and us. Well, Jon's Mom and sister wanted to see him before he leaves for Iraq this week and this was the only time they were able to come so we upgraded to a larger cabin to accomadate all of us. Poor Tamra's littlest had pneumonia and she wans't sure if she could come and I just assumed (yes assumed) she would be coming and called some of my family to take advantage of the extra large cabin we were now renting. It had two bedrooms on the main floor with one queen bed in each, a full kitchen dining and living room and bathroom with washer and dryer, had a full basement that wasn't furnished yet, and a third bedroom being finished, a loft with two more queen beds, a balcony, and full bath, and a reading/tv nook with bean bags and a coffee table over looking the living room. A wrap around deck with a hot tub and gas grill and three entrance/exits. It was AMAZING! so I knew we would have extra space and didn't want to pay for an upgraded cabin and not use it so I called family to see who could come and BAM David, Mel and thier two kids, Amy and her two, and My Mom, and Jon's Mom Shirleen and his sister Tamra was able to come and even brought her older boy Jarred who is 8 ( think...or close to it) so all in all there was 16 people for one night. The first night Jon and the boys and I were the only ones there, We went to Yellowstone National park the next day while waiting for guests and had a blast! Mikey is so interested in science and nature and animals I thought he would burst at all the cool things we saw. Unfortunatly the colors in the photos were nearly as bright and the steam sort of made the pictures not really pop but it was so much prettier than the photos show! The second we had 16 and the third, only Jon's Mom and sister and nephew were able to stay with us. While we had everyone we had lots of fun, lots of food and lots of games, hot tubbing, four wheeling (thanks Dave) and even a little shooting for Jon and Dave (so jealous but hey someone had to watch my kids..lol) Jon and David led a sacrament service in the house for the family members who wanted to participate so that we didn't have to go searching for a church and it was nice. It was so fun to get that many family together without some function that was stressfull like a wedding or funeral. It was all about hanging out and family! it was great. Thanks for everyones help! We should do it again in the summer! I am going to try and load a ton of pics so be patient..lol

Jackson Hole

Today I decided to take the boys and Mom for a drive to Swan Valley, Palasaides resivoir to see all the beautiful foliage, we got up there and it was spectacluar! I took about 50 pictures in all. The boys loved it, and Matthew really thought the trees and water was amazing. We pulled off a few times and had little photo ops, and then went on,,....and on...and on...and finaly we realized we were practicaly in Jackson Hole, so we just kept on going. The boys thought the Antler arches at the park were cool, and Mom was a lot of fun. She got down in the leaves and let them cover her from head to toe and then did each boy in turn. We had to get some dinner since we weren't going to get home before 9pm and with school tomorrow we ate at Village Inn. EW! For being in a WESTERN town I only had non English speaking help, a Bosnian Host, Russian Waiter, and a cook that somehow got lost in the translation..lol...becuase our food was ...interesting and the service was funny. The poor waiter was really trying hard to understand the order, he finaly ALMOST got it right but I decided just to smile and nod and leave it be. Good news, Cody FINALLY learned how to tie his shoes! THANKS AUNT MANDA! Jon and I have been trying for years to get him motivated to do it without being forced to sit and try, and finally Manda got him to do it! We tried the two different methods multiple times and he just didn't want to do it, it just seemed an insurmountable task, but today he just ploped on down, tied it and was all smiles, it wasn't perfect, and didn't stay, but he was willing to retie them over and over and over! WOHOOO!

We headed on home and the drive back in the dark with three tired kids was not as fun as the way up but We loved it. Jon I wish you could have been there! WE LOVE YOU!!!!!

Finally moved in

So the last blog I wrote was about us MOVING tooooo Idaho..well, here we are. We have successfully moved into a rental house in the new edition of Cloverdale. We got here and scared Mom, Amy, Ross, Dave, and Melissa to death. We were hideing up the stairs in the dark at the church where Dan and Manda were have Jaxen blessed. Dan had them all wait at the bottom and said there was a surprise. Mikey and Cody went bounding down the stairs and Mom was shaking, it was fun. No one had a clue we were coming at all.
Mom has been such a trooper with helping us out with babysitting every other night almost. Between errand running, setting up house, and trying to get in a few dates here and there. She watched all three boys and Jupiter over the weekend so Jon and I could escape and go to the destinations inn for two nights, this time while NOT barfing..lol. As we did last time in December. At $200.00 a night, that was the most expensive toilet I have ever soiled. But it was a wonderful weekend. We had chinese take out and walked around downtown shopping, skipping off to movies whenever we wanted too and purchased a dvd camcorder so we can make home movies to send to Jon when he is in Iraq.

The next few days were a frenzy of unpacking, decorating and whirlwind shopping trips to outfit a home yet again, it is amazing how many things you had that may have worked in a previous house that either don't work or the movers have broken or stolen. Which is why there are no pictures, sorry folks.
Jon was amazing~!!! I had that man running ragged helping me get a home ready so I wouldn't have to do it on my own after he left. He is really such an amazing husband and Father. He took each boy out on two Father son nights seperatly. The boys loved having one on one time with him.
We had only two days out of almost three weeks when we were home without someone there visting or playing games, so much fun.

Well today was the day. We've been dreading it for weeks now . The boys and I kept bursting into tears on and off all week. Last night we went on our last date for a few months. If we are lucky he will get leave for 4 days in October or November so that will be awesome!
He packed his things and we snuggled and fell asleep holding hands. We spent the morning just trying to hold it together and then spent an hour and a half at the IF airport waiting for hi flight. I did really well right until the last second..lol...typical. The boys each broken down and were clawing at him, which tore him apart and so then he and I were gonners. We came home and fortunatly have had plenty to occupy our minds. Danny and Manda are moving into the basement for a while to help take care of me ( well, more to put Jon's mind at ease) and to save a little money, hey man why not we have the room and we get along really well! So I cleaned house and did laundry until there wasn't anything left to do and luckily they called to say they were moving in stuff today so PHEW! something to do! I am so gratefull that Jon is able to call me, so in between each layover, Just knowing I can hear his voice is What I need.
Well it's dinner time and I better get cracking!

flight of the bumblebee

that's the song that hasn't left my head all day! Talk about a whirlwind day. For those of you who don't already know, Jon will be deploying AGAIN..lol..In September some time. Yes, I know you are all thinking, "But he just got back!". And you would be right. He did just get back, not to mention we just moved exactly 44 days ago and literally unpacked our last few boxes a week or so ago, and yet we are gone! We found out only last week that Jon is selected to deploy again. In light of his speedy with drawl he has decided that we should move back to Idaho for the deployment in case my health declines again. This is a secret to my family at least, and seeing as only Danny knows we are coming ( well, we had to have someone go look at rental houses for us now didn't we?!?!?) and Kristy, but she is now in South Carolina and sworn to secrecy. Amy and David and Mom (obviously) never read our blog so ha....Danny set it up so that he is having his son Jaxen blessed on Saturday at Mom's Ward and we are going to show up and surprise them, hopefully not so much so as to make Mom have a heart attack.
So all day today has been packing the boys clothes, doing all the laundry over and over again ( I have three boys and husband in the Army who literally has to wear three outfits a day not including the swim trunks for the pool and the towels that go with that), cleaning out toy bins, dusting everything in sight, taking paintings off walls and stacking all the pots, pans and dishes as to make it faster for the packers tomorrow morning. Making last minute stops to the store to get road necessities and not to mention all the hullabaloo it takes to get signed out off post and signing your kids out of school on short notice. And since this is all jammed together and probably disease ridden with my grammatical mistakes you will have likely guessed that YES I AM ALL WARM AND FUZZY with "Le Percocett" ( ah thank you Dr. Llundell) my back is constantly giving me grieve and the meds near bed time ease my suffering just enough to get me off the sleep.

SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO...back to the song....haha "flight of the bumblebee" That is a nutshell has been my day, discombobulated and loco! Oh goodie we are off to Idaho! I'll post pictures of the house we are renting in a later blog but for now Jon and I are sneaking off for our last moonlight swim! Nightie Night!