Politics

SO We aren't huge into politics, but this made us cry and pee ourselves.

Love My kid

I don't know if Moms every these experiences like I do... Some days you struggle just to get through without wanting to REALLY yell at your kid. Or hearing your name, oh, every 15 seconds. Then, there are the moments that hit you like a wave...LOVE. WOW. How could I love someone so much? How can his giggle, smile, and personality just be better than anything to you some days?? How can it be that after I put him to bed, and I'm saying my prayers asking me to help me better a better, more patient mom...I'm filled with love and sneak in his room, get into his toddler bed WITH him, and hold him. Only cause if I didn't, I swear I would burst. Funny, cause most nights, its a countdown till he gets in bed, and others, I just want to hold him. Why?? This is why...


The movies of our past week...Tommy going under anesthetic for getting his teeth done. Yes,I filmed it like any good mother would.
Tommy being a Lion. Need I say more?
Tommy being his Dad and his friends only form of entertainment some days.

Catching up with us...The past two weeks

This year, Robs sister Suzie moved back to town from Missouri with her 6 girls. Tommy is loving his cousins and Auntie Suzie! They invited us on their family outing to the Midway Swiss days and the Sheep Dog tournament. I thought it would be weird, but it was a total blast!!

Tommy milking a fake cow with Abbey

Tommy finally has got his "imaginative Play" going in his little brain. he is loving to dress up all the time, This is a new Pirate costume we bought for him to play "Jake and the Never land Pirates".

My little man started preschool!! Its hard to believe...I know people say that, but really, it is. It is just down the street from us, and he is in the morning session. We chopped off his mo-hawk the night before so that the teachers wouldn't judge him, or label him as a "bad Ass". Little did we know his new teacher will, would have tatoos everywhere, earings, and green painted finger nails. He probably would have been teachers pet had we kept it.

The little play yard at the school.

Tommy showing off his puzzle skills, and me trying not to cringe at how dirty the puzzle is.

Meeting will and his teachers for the first time.

My most treasured video by far...him running to his first day of school. I think no one runs well in backpacks, but somehow, he looks adorable.

On 9/11, we reflected as a family the many sacrifices we have been through due to this day in history. Two deployments, Rob seeing men wounded and killed, and the sacrifice that is still being made today. As little as people understand that kids sense things, they do somehow.I caught Tommy and his friend Charlotte our by the flag that I thought was a perfect idea of what a child might think of this day...something to respect and think on.

The life of a mom

So, I remember when I was in college and thinking, "My life is so crazy. How can it get any more busy"? Then, I was married, working and going to school, and the thoughts reoccurred. Then, Rob went to Iraq and I was working and alone...same thoughts. Now, those thoughts of"Seriously, I'm so dead tired" happen daily. I didn't think having just one kid was too much work...I mean people around me have like 3-8 kids, and seem to manage just great. But I was wrong. Most days I feel like I'm a clown of sorts, constantly trying to entertain and stimulate Tommy. Then, laundry, dishes, meals, and all in 800 square feet of cinder block. Trying to get through each day making sure I haven't screwed my child up to the point of therapy.
Then I remember how much I longed for this, to be a mom. How long I prayed, the health struggles I deal with to bring a baby here, and it humbles me to the core. Sure, there are days where I hope no one can see just how pathetic I am, and try to appears that I have it all together. When in reality, WHO DOES? May all us moms just take a deep breathe and realize we all have TONS going on, be it 1-8 kids, and we are all doing our best! Pat on the back to us.
A friend recently posted this article on her blog...I loved it. Thanks Jana. Us Moms need some validation some days.
click on it to enlarge.

Month Update: St. Matrin, 24th of July, Rob Turns 30!

About 5 hours after Robs Medical Board exams, we headed off to the Caribbean to an Island called St. Martin. It was wonderful! We actually got to be with each other for more than a few hours, and find out that we still really did love eachother. Ha ha.



Robbie and I were in charge of the Stoker reunion this year in beaver over the 24th of July. In Beaver this is a huge deal, Rob said it was better than Christmas for him. To top it all off, Robs parents were made the Grand Marshalls this year! We all congregated together to celebrate and we in the parade.



We had a family Luau that night and played family groups games. it was so much fun!
Rob turned 30 this year on July 30. I wanted to make it a fun and special day, so I planned a huge surprise. I arranged for him to go skydiving...something on his bucket list, not mine. He was floored and a little scared, having to "walk the walk after he talked the talk". Our nephew Ryan went with him.
Rob also decided to cut T's hair into a Mohawk. A Drastic one. He looks like a mixture of native American and a punk rocker.

The board Exam...and BIG trip...leaving Tommy

SO, lots will be happening this week. Rob takes his board exam for medical school (AKA Step One of the Boards) on Sunday. He has been doing 12-14 hour study days the past 2 weeks on top of studying the past year. It will determine where we get into for Residency. No pressure, right?

With all of this, and realizing we wont see him at all next year, we decided (with the advice for many older medical students) to do a trip just us. It will most likely be the last vacation we will have for quite some time alone. We leave just hours after the test. So, we are leaving Tommy in Beaver with Robbie's family...the first time Ive left him somewhere overnight really...HUGE GULP...I think I'll be more homesick for him than anything...

Then head off to the Caribbean to the island of St. Martin...


Don't be jealous please. We deserve this!

Memorial day...are you "earning it"?

While most just think of Memorial Day as just another day off of work and school, we are trying to actually let it sink in. I won’t lie, I often thought of Memorial Day as a great camping trip and BBQ. Having Robbie be a Veteran now twice over, I think that we have a bigger responsibility to actually honor those who came before and served. We started going to the Military cemetery a few years a go and putting flags and flowers on soldiers’ graves. It’s a small cemetery, and some soldiers’ graves are from the 1860’s. Looking at all of them it is hard not to feel humbled at what you are actually looking at. Lives that were sacrificed for MY freedom. Rob is now among the elite and smaller group of individuals these days who can call themselves Veterans. There is a bond that he talks about among the Brotherhood of Military men, one that most can’t understand. Rob asked if we could watch “Saving Private Ryan” to reflect on those who sacrificed. I was, as the first time I saw it, moved to tears from the first scene as the young men called out in pain and for their mothers. My own thoughts turned to my son and whether he would ever know war, and how I pray he will never have to be afraid like that. I wondered how these men had the courage to do what they did, and keep going when you felt like the world was caving in. Rob explained the immense amount of training that you go through in Basic training and how they prepare you for everything. But can anyone ever be prepared for war?

At the end of the movie, I noticed Rob crying (he will love that I'm writing this). There is a scene where the man who saved the private that he needs to “Earn it”. Earn the freedom and chance he got to live, while others didn’t. Rob said through deep introspection, “Am I earning it? So many people have died in war…why not me? Why was I protected? Why am I the lucky one”? The thought has often occurred to me how lucky we were to have Rob come back from war untouched. But he was more worried if he, too, had “Earned it”. While it is closer to home for one who has served or their loved one, shouldn’t we all think for just a second, have we “earned it”? Earned our right to be here with loved one, choosing professions, raising families with freedoms of religion and speech? Why are we so lucky? The answer is because of others sacrifice. What am I doing with that? Well, first off, I’m going to celebrate every holiday honoring our country and its service men. Still that isn’t enough really, is it? We should live to our potential that these freedoms offer, and feel grateful we have a choice. Whatever political stance you take, it shouldn’t matter whether or not you honor those who gave their all for you. Are you “earning it”?

On a side note of amazing things that we enjoy, Robbie finished his second year of medical school! Half way there!! We have the board examination at the end of June, and that’s the big kahuna. From there he just works like a dog at the hospital…but no more classes at least! He couldn’t have done it without the incredible help of his friends in school with him.

welcome Year 3!!

Unwinding after finals!