My Latest Cake

Our neighbors, Patty and Jose', are expecting a baby girl in January. I did the cake for the shower. Here is the picture..........
I wanted to say I did get the idea from a baby shower cake from Patrice who did a shower cake for my friend Erinn. Patrice is a marvel with cake and I want to pick her brain on fondant some day soon!

Daddy's Home

Well, all I can say is we have been waiting for this day for a while. I knew for about two weeks that Josh would be coming home on the 11th. I didn't really want to tell the kids because the military has a bad habit of changing things up and delaying homecomings. So, I didn't tell Skye and Jaxon that their Dad was coming home on a specific day. I gave them a 5 day window. I told their teachers, I told the neighbors but I never told the kids.

I met Josh at the airport at noon. He had been traveling almost nonstop for about 48 hours. He went from Kuwait to Germany to Baltimore (with a super short visit to his Mom. --Sorry it was so short) When he came to the waiting room there were some tears but mostly it was all happiness and light. We went out to lunch and then went home to get ready to get the kids from school. I had an elaborate plan for picking them up. Josh was going to walk in from the back of the school so that Skye and Jax didn't see him. Skye, being a patrol, stands in car line and runs to get other children for their parents. I figured if Josh came up from the back, Skye wouldn't see him. Then Josh could get Jax and we would wait inside the school to suprise Skye. It didn't go quite that way..........

Skye has some super vision because she spotted him and did her best impression of an NFL tackle. Then Jax realized something was going on too!

There were tears from the kids, tears from the wife, tears from the Ms. Goldstein -- Jax's teacher, and tears from some random Mom's that were picking up their kids. All happy of course.00/Daddy+Homecoming+008.JPG" border=0>

Skye had chior practice after school so we all attended. Unfortunatly, she had to sit out for half of it because she couldn't stop crying. It is really interesting to see how differently the kids reacted. Jaxon was very excited and goofy. All he wanted to do was rub Josh's bald head and crack jokes. Skye cried non-stop and only wanted to sit in his lap. Both reactions were precious!
After school we drove to Jourdonton for a play at the high school. Jared was playing the part of the foil - Blifil. It was a comedy and he did an excellent job. We are hoping to have him this weekend and maybe throw an impromptu homecoming party for Josh so all the neighbors can come around.

Thanksgiving

The kiddos and I spent Thanksgiving at my Moms. The kids had a blast. Jax made a new friend and played for a couple of hours before dinner. After we ate, we all enjoyed fireworks. It was an awesome time.

A little sight seeing......

So what do you do when you have a little time on your hands? You know how it is......you're in a foreign country and don't have much to do....That's right! You go on a sight seeing excursion! Ok, I was assured that there is little to no danger doing this, but still "war torn country".... So here are some pics of his little jaunt around Iraq. I hope I get this right, the first two are of the Moon Temple and the second two are of the Prophet Abraham's house. I may have those backwards.Note the HUGE gun he is carrying to sight see. I don't think we will need that in Jamaica!

Josh and Friends

Josh made a few friends while he was deployed. Here is a picture of Josh and his friend Hussein. Hussein ran a small shop in the market. Josh used to go over and have lunch and kinda chill with him. I even ended up mailing Hussein some shampoo for his dog . (which he loved) I asked Josh if we could mail some things to Hussein but apparently they don't really have a postal system in that country. (I know! I am shocked too)

Josh also sent a picture of the Ugandan guards. I don't know much about them other than that they are from Uganda and they are guards. Josh did say that they are very good at guarding in a bit of a scary way. Their names are Ayub and John.......

My Awesome Hubby

So Josh has done it again. I have been horribly spoiled since he was deployed. I think this is the 4th bouquet and chocolates I have received. I told Josh how beautiful they were. The cool vase.....the pretty red color......Josh flipped out! They weren't supposed to be red. Everyone knows that roses in the fall should be orange......(according to Josh) I SO love him!!!!

Election Day

Not only was it the 50th day of school, it also happened to be election day. It was really cool. The entire school district had the kids from kinder through 12th register and vote. The kids lined up and registered -- then went around the corner, to individual laptops and cast their votes. The administration came on at the end of the day and announced who won the election. In our school, it was Obama by 53% and in the district, it was Obama by 73%. Here are some shots of the kids.

The 50th day of school

I have to say, this is one of my favorite day's at school. I suppose it's because I have always loved that era. I love almost everything about it. So, I get very excited when the kids dress up for this. Jax, who has decided to let his hair grow out a bit, rocked an awesome duck tail. Skye was absolutely adorable in her poodle skirt. Enjoy the awesomeness of my kiddos. LOL!

Bike Rodeo

Jax participated in the bike rodeo for the second year in a row. They check the kids bikes and equipment and their skills and award them a certificate. Jax really likes to participate. I think it is awesome considering it took us YEARS to get that kid on a bike!!!!!!!!! Here he is waiting in line with his friend Grant. It is one of the few pictures I took, because I happened to get the halos the preceed my migraines right as he was lining up. My friend Erinn took some amazing pictures, but I haven't figured out how to transfer them to the blog yet.

A JOSH Update

We had some wonderful news this week. Looks like Josh will be coming home sooner than we originally expected. He is finishing up his last week of work in Kalsu and patients will start to transition to the new team over the next 14 days. He will be moving out of his "personal space" or CHU on Monday and into a tent. Then they will start to head out to another location. He can't leave country until the 3 of December. If he did, then the last 6 months wouldn't cont as a short tour and he would be open for a remote to Korea. None of s want that right now. LOL! So we are looking at 3 or 4 weeks until we can start reconditioning him to family life. None of us can wait!
We will keep everyone updated!

Sea World

We decided to pop out to Sea World today. It is good for exercise and it was nice to be together. The kids fed the Sea Lions and we watched Viva. Pretty cool thing with Viva. There was a baby Beluga whale there. It came out with it's mother and played around while the Mom did the show. Really neat to see. We also saw some baby penguins. They are suprisingly large and fluffy. The last thing we did was to have a caricature done. Skye has wanted one all season and she saved up her money. It turned out pretty well. Enjoy the photos!

Halloween 2008

We had fun trick-or-treating last night. Ms. Nicole came over for her annual Halloween family trick-or-treat. We met up with my friend Sharon and her son and a few others from the block as well as quiet a few girls from Skye's grade level. (That was something!!!!!!) Skye was an awesome Genie and Jax was a Captain Cody. (think Star Wars Clone Troopers) All in all it was a good time. Jax pooped out halfway through and chilled out with Mr. Brian. LOL!!!! Thank goodness for friends!!!!! Skye and Jax ended up with a pretty good haul!!! I have hidden most of the candy so that it can be distributed over the next month. Hope you enjoy the pictures.

Magic Time Machine

Here are some awesome pics of the kids and my parents at The Magic Time Machine. It is a local restaurant that is amazing. All employees dress up in costume and it is a lot of fun. I remember going when I was younger.

Everyone had an awesome time and the kids look pretty darn cute. (and so do the parents LOL) By the way, their waitress was Velma from Scooby Doo. Mom and H had a hard time figuring that one out and the kids clued them in.

Some cool pics from the Maize

Really, cool tree

Remember the song from Oklahoma???? "The corn was as high as an elephants eye!" Well, it was............................ Skye and Alejandra

The Corn Maize

Skye, Jaxon and I headed to Hondo last weekend to have a little fun in the South Texas Corn Maize. We went with our friends and neighbors Robert, Hilda and their kids. The maze is run by a family on their working cattle ranch. It has been in operation for 8 years. Pretty neat place. The maze took us around and hour and a half to get through. We went in right before dusk. They gave us quiz sheets that, if the question is answered correctly, gave you proper directions through the maze. So Robert thought it was a fine idea to have the kids just go. We would find our way through eventually. I didn't see much wrong with it. Silly me! Dark soon fell, and the kids were GONE. They managed to find their way to on of the bridges over looking the maze, waving and hollering to us pitiful adults. We did join up again. It was really a lot of fun.

The kids played on a hay pile and we saw a bunch of frolicsome goats. They played with some water pumps that are used for rubber duck races and finished off the night with a hay ride. It was pretty fun!

October

Well, we are now into October. It is hard to believe, but we have about 2 2/3 months left on Josh's deployment. We are almost as ready for him to come home as he is ready to come home.

October is a big month in the Tomchesson household! Skye starts her first month of safety patrol at school! She is very excited to take part in this. Skye has also started choir practice. She is still a little bummed out that she is an Alto. She says there are never any good parts for the Alto's. The Saprano's get all the good parts. We have taken great pains to let her know that most female country singers are Alto's and one of her favorite singers - Pink - is an Alto!

Jaxon doesn't have a lot going on this month but he is doing really well in school. We - so far - have had very little difficulty with his behavior. It is very nice to hear awesome things when picking him up from school instead of "He is so sweet, but (insert favorite class clown moment here)........" . Both children are maintaining an A/B average right now as well. Very awesome.

Jared is well into his senior year. He is taking several dual credit courses and, though they are difficult, he is doing really well. His other family has just opened their Cheerleading Academy. It is a competitive cheering facility and he will be coaching the younger students as well as competing. He is also participating in Band, Drama and a few other clubs in school. Jared and his girlfriend Emily have just reached the 1 year mark in their relationship. He stays super busy! We would love to see him more, but we understand that he has a lot going on.

As for me, I am headed out of town in the middle of the month for a seminar. I have decided to go back to work. A good friend of mine and past manager -Mary - and her husband Rod have purchased Petland. Mary has some really awesome ideas for the business and she is sincere about the welfare of the animals! All that said, the store will be a from scratch project, so there is going to be lots to do. I am very excited about helping out where I can. I am even more excited that the store is set to open in early January. If all goes well, Josh will be home and we will have been able to adjust to him being back over the Christmas holidays. It also gives me some time to get some health issues straightened out and get my exercise on.

Well, that is the update on the Tomchesson homefront for the month of October. Expect some new pictures soon! I have a family fun day planned next weekend as well as Halloween pictures! Skye picked out the pattern for her costume so PLEASE everyone keep their fingers crossed that I can pull it off. She just refused to be a wench for 2 years in a row!

Love to all!
Jenn

The Birthday Boy

Josh turned 37 on the 12th of September. I have to say a huge thank you to Capt. Elisha Parkhill, who graciously accepted packages of birthday decorations and crap from someone she didn't know. (me) She and other co-workers decorated Josh's office and made him dress up in the offical K-Town birthday outfit. During the morning meeting the passed out goody bags and everyone played around with the mini Frisbees and bubbles. Josh even sent a picture of Major. Nolan testing the urban legend of pop rocks and soda. As far as I can tell, he survived. LOL! I am glad that he has an awesome group of co-workers. If he couldn't be here with us, I am glad he had some friends to celebrate with.

Small Changes

While Josh is away, I decided to make a few changes in the house. Nothing really exciting and nothing too expensive. I thought I would start in the kitchen. Here are a couple of pictures, before and after, of the new lighting.