incredible pictures

Here we are with our chef and waiter

Happy 9th Anniversary

Mike serving our awesome dinner


Caught in the act of eating

Amazing surprise dinner

In Cred i ble...................

Today was a very special day as you have read previously Zeus and I celebrated our 9th anniversary today. Zeus bought me this beautiful chocolate coat. A real coat. A fancy, furry and super warm winter coat. Thanks for the hints K. Zeus listens to you. I'll keep you around. Beautiful. Zeus knocked it out of the park today. Even though our celebration was quite cheap it was unbelievable. What started out as an average day turned out to be so much more. I left Zeus to do the planning and executing not knowing what would come up, but almost always he delivers with shining colors for our anniversary.

I have a dear friend who's husband is an awesome cook, that is an understatement too. Anyways we ran by their house after the babysitter showed up to let my friend Carlota know that she showed and we would not be needing her to babysit our boys while we had a date. So we pull up and I walk up to the door and Zeus follows since he was the one who asked initially if she would be the backup, or so I thought. I knock and C walks by the door, not answering it and hollers at Mike, her DH. I was a little thrown by this wondering why she did not even look at me and then Mike walks to the door in a TUX, minus the coat. He looked sharp!!! WOW, where is he going. I thought we might be interrupting him taking her out or something. I was definitely confused. He asked very calmly and gentlemen like for my coat. Wait, I am not staying what is he doing. I am still completely confused and a little dumbfounded to say the least. Anyways he says Ma'am right this way. Wait, I am still confused what is going on? Then Zeus says we are here. WHAT??? Aww the confusion. Wait, are we eating here. Zeus smiles and nods. C's house is all dark with lit candles everywhere. The dinner table is set with a gorgeous white and gold tablecloth and candles and fancy plates and glasses of iced water. HOLY CRAP!!! I must be living in a dream. Seriously yall, it is unbelievably romantic, even if it was my besties house. Matre De, Chef and waiter Mike is impressive to say the least. He has made HOMEMADE bread with amazing sauce/dip. He treats me like a Queen. So serious. Just like we were in a restaurant. He had made salads just to our liking. And he made, all from scratch mind you, shrimp fettuccine Alfredo for me and blackened chicken fettuccine Alfredo for Zeus since he despises seafood. WOW, if you haven't read before Mike is an awesome Cajun cook. He will have his own restaurant one day and I will be his best customer. I am in awe of his cooking skills. Guys, OOOOOOOHHHHHHH can he cook. YUMMMM. Anyways Zeus had set all this a couple weeks ago without my knowledge, obviously. I am just stunned how romantic and thoughtful this was. One, because Mike is my favorite cook and 2 because it was just not your average restaurant and 3 because it was all for ME. Yes ladies Zeus can be very sweet sometimes. The dinner was fabulous with gorgeous wine glasses and to die for wine, awesome food, excellent service and unbelievable talent. Once we finished our fantastic meal. Then we chatted with the generous hostess and Chef before we were off to see a play. (there was even leftovers to take home)

The play is always a delight. I really love getting out and feeling really classy. Dignified. It was an incredible play that was well written with beautiful music, strong emotion that tugged at your heart and beautiful actors. OHHHH, I could watch "GABE" all day. OHHHHHH, he was beautiful. Oh yeah, this is my anniversary better not think like that. Sorry, then we went for dessert but the place was closed so I had to settle and yes settle it was for IHOP dessert. It was lovely to sit and talk to my man. We shared a banana cheesecake with ice cream. YUMMMM, then we would have to get back so the babysitter would not be out all night. Seriously yall, my husband and my friends were truly wonderful today. I love special dinners and tonight's dinner goes down in the top 5 most romantic dinners in my life. I am so grateful to my friends for allowing us to eat in there beautiful home and cooking just for us. FANTASTIC. C and M, yall are amazing friends. Oh, I am giddy. Thank you Zeus, job well done. These 9 years have been remarkable and I look forward to the 71 we have left.

C took lots of photos and will be uploading soon and yes we got some with the chef/waiter too. I will put them up once I get them.

Super happy wife and very proud friend. I feel truly loved not only by my husband but by the very special friends that God has blessed me with.

Happy Anniversry to Twinkle and Zeus.

Blog hacked

Yep I was hacked tonight. My sweet and dear husband hacked me. So the last blog, alllll HIM.
Gotta love them but boy do they drive us crazy. Anyways, he is totally nuts and can not stand the fact that I blog, myspace, facebook and twitter. He is not that savvy nor that social.
Be aware if you read any weird or abnormal blogs, its Zeus.

The Truman Show

I really do not get this BLOG thing. I cannot understand why people want to read about other people's lives all the time.

Ah!!!!!!!!!!!!!! to Reminisce

This week I begin to reflect upon what happened just 9 short years ago. I was so innocently in love to who I thought was that perfect person. Yeah, I was young. We act like that when we are in LOVE or at least think we are. HAHAHA, This time 9 years ago I was scrambling around getting all the last minute preparations ready for that thing we call a wedding. You know, that day you dream of you whole life. In your head you have every little detail laid out. Your colors will be just so and your dress will look like this and the people will wear this. OH yes, I remember what it was like to be that little girl. I was her. The proposal would be something special to reflect upon that I would eagerly tell my children and grandchildren.

And then I woke up!!! And Real life struck me square in the head. The proposal, just ordinary. A phone call from Georgia to Mississippi and 7 short words, "What do you think about getting married." Um yes, this is a description of the EXACT, verbatim proposal I received. Shocked, are you? Not to me you see we were both in the military serving our country him in Georgia, me still in Tech school in Mississippi. That is just the path I was given, so I did what I wanted and took it.

There were MANY and when I say that it is an exceedingly large number of persons who thought I was absolutely nuts. I must have been drunk to have said yes, they said. We had so many Nay-sayers that it ended up being a very disappointing time in my life. I would never live up to all those that thought I could do better or be older when I married. Well friends, this week I am embarking on my 9 year anniversary of marriage to the man I love, I despise, I agree, I disagree, I listen, I ignore and to the one who stole my heart. He can get me going in just about every emotion. Come on get your head out of the gutter, I said EVERY emotion. He knows just how to pick me to death and then he knows just how to make me melt. Funny really. This person is definitely not the person that little girl would have chosen. He was definitely not cool. He was not social and was not the macho hunk she was hoping for either but he was the one that I could talk to and made me feel safe. I could be myself, silly and stupid and not worry about persecution later on. I could relax and have fun. I could do things around him and not worry what he was thinking. He was just as silly as me, probably more. Anyways to all those out there that said, "tech school marriages don't work. You'll never make it. You are crazy." Look guys we are celebrating 9 years of marital bliss or marriage hell. Whatever you want to call it. We call it married life.

Ryan has 2 motto's for us first, we agreed that we would stay married for 80 years and 80 years ONLY. Not one day more or one day less. So we are 9 down 71 more to go. Will we live that long, we may never know but we do know we are getting closer. The other is "Marriage is finding the person you can annoy the rest of your life." That says it all for him. I have yet to really find that annoying thing I can do to get under his skin. I hope I find it in the next 71 years though. Ryan has definitely perfected the annoying itche. He can annoy me better than anyone or anything on the planet. Yes, I will give it to him he wins most annoying award. My temperature level can go from 65 to 165 in like 10 minutes with him. Boy, can I get annoyed and completely irritated with him. But then I remember all those days that are good days. Marriage is never about perfection. Neither one of us are perfect. I am far from it but we desperately try to work together to accomplish this thing called life and oh yeah, parenting. Did I forget that part. WOW, we are like ying and yang when it comes to that. Some days I am the one all worked up in a tizzy and he is just so calm and quiet. Takes care of the puke or poop. And Then I can be the calm and collective one when he is out of control angry or the constant tattling. Interesting how we are ALWAYS opposite. Must be that funny mars and Venus thingy. Oh well, cool how it works.

So to you out there not yet married, newly weds or divorced I want to tell you. Marriage is never 50/50. There are many days when it is 100/0. God says we must work together as one flesh. This is perhaps one of the toughest things to do in the 21st century. We all want our own lives, we want to be known as ourselves not someones mother, father, wife or husband but I say to you this, in the eyes of God he knows who you are. So stand behind your partner and love them and love every mistake and accident they cause. I am learning this with mine. I really do love him and he can get under my skin but I am learning to love it. Today, I am a wife and mother but I am completely blessed to be this.

Looks like Ryan has a special dinner and play planned. OH how I love to go to the see the shows.

Happy Anniversary Ryan, I love you every little annoying part. We are 1 year closer to our goal.


December 30, 1999 in Fort Worth Texas I bound myself to the love of my life. Today we are 9 years old and getting stronger and healthier every day. So the fairytale never happened, but our lives are blessed with 4 beautiful, gorgeous and amazing children and we have so many things to be thankful for as our anniversary nears. I am so grateful to be his wife today. But just for today. Tomorrow is a different story. Have a blessed week and enjoy those final days of 2008. Be sure to ring in the New Year safely.

Our Christmas Festivities

If you been following my blog for a while you know that I thrive on opportunity or so called experiences. What ever you call it I love it and take full advantage of them all. So I ran across a commercial on T.V. about a water skiing Santa. WHAT???


I know you are wondering she is not watching the same TV I am. Yes, really I am and I was sober. It is true, it is a 23 year old Washington tradition, Santa skiing the Potomac. Right up my alley of never been seen before. This year a new tourist destination was completed here in Washington. It is called the Washington National Harbor in Oxon Hill Maryland about 1 mile south of D.C. IF you visit D.C. you should visit the WNH. Anyway so the Santa was going to ski off the pier there at the Harbor having moved from Hains Point,D.C in the prior years. I always gotta call my ladies and let them know of the impending trips or latest news or gossip. K takes me up and says "You know I'm in". So we took all 5 kids at 12:15pm on Christmas eve to see Santa, reindeer, penguin, Frosty, Grinch and lots of elves do their awesome water stunts in the middle of Dec. It was freezing yes. We were bundled very well, besides stubborn La but she got Mom's stuff so K was left to freeze. Anyways the kids loved it and we had front Row seats underneath the CNN cameramen. Yeah that was funny. We saw knee boarding Reindeer, wake boarding and flipping elves, Flying elves, Frosty in a dingy, Grinch on a jet ski, skiing Santa, and several other characters in the jet boats. All was well, another experience for the books. DONE!!!! Check!!

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Then that evening I had planned to have all my close friends and their friends over for a potluck sit down dinner. I was so stressed trying to get Ryan and my bunch to cooperate and do EXACTLY as I instructed. Did they listen? NO Did Ryan do what wife wanted? NO Does he ever? NO Should I know that by now? YES Anyways ALMOST all of it got done with lots of raised voices and telling them 3 and 5 times how to do it. Everyone showed up around 5:15ish and we waited on one family til 6. Yes Carlota I watched the time. HAHAHA, C was having a hissy fit because she was hungry. You would have thought she was a kid. Yes, C, I love you girl. You always give me something to smile about. Anyways the dinner was a huge success minus gravy and cranberry sauce. I had to scarifice something, in my haste to get it ALL done by MYSELF I ran out of time and forgot those 2 dishes. Nobody said anything so I think I got away with it. Thank goodness because I wanted my first Dinner party to be a success. I really think it was. Then we played this hilarious game I found on the Internet where you roll dice in a pie tin and when you roll snake eyes you get to open a gift using Winter ski gloves. The game called for oven mitts but I changed it to suit me and my style. The gloves did get a little sweaty though. YUCK, they will be getting a bath tomorrow. But it was so much fun watching everyone try so hard to unwrap the LAYERS of paper and cellophane and to see someone just get the gloves on only to had them to someone else. Then we had a special treat from C's hubby M. He read a story called A Cajun Christmas to all the little ones, 16 to be exact. It was a great story and very funny but
those chillins really did listen. Little A always has the cutest comments too. After that we had dessert and played Taboo. The guys got a little loud, rambunctious and down right rude at times but I did not let them get away with it. OH NO, not Miss Dusty, I gave it right back. That athletic, competitive side of me came storming out in full force. Ryan probably got embarrassed with me but that was OK with me because the tables finally got turned. WHOO HOO!!! All in ALL it was a great Christmas eve. I did miss my family but was not near as lonely as past Christmas' away from home. Thanks Marshall's, Hernando's, Tracey's, Naquin's and Hameed's we had a blast and with your help the clean up was next to none. We have to get together more often and be together.

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Christmas morning was all about the babies. At 6:15am 2 children crawl into our bed. The rule is to get Mommy and daddy up first before we check out Santas loot. We had great fun watching the eyes light up and the GIANT cheers and Yes's from Jr. He won the animated award for today. Ryker was pretty good but Riley cried every time he had to open a gift with another child. He absolutely hated sharing the opening. So funny. Tried hard not to laugh at him. He was thrilled with all those transformers though. Ryan was a great Dad and helped get everything open and out of its ten dozen twist ties and ten tons of plastic. Boy that is always a chore. We had an amazing Christmas was lots of surprises both good and bad, lost a gift while wrapping during the week, but I have got to say the best part for me this year was shopping for the kids and finding those great and perfect presents. I love Christmas and I love our tradition of waking up and opening gifts one at a time in reverse age order. It is so much more calm and not much, if any, gets lost. It lasts about 3-4 hours but it is so worth it. Thanks to all those friends and family for their generous gifts to our family. We feel extremely blessed and grateful to have you in our lives. Here are a few photos and I will try to upload the video of M reading the story.



Merry Christmas to all and I pray the Lord blesses each of your families in a Historical New Year. God Bless and Sweet Dreams

P.S. More photos to come, waiting on my girl K to upload them!!!

Santa Clause

This Christmas season has been very different for us. I normally start shopping months in advance and try to finish by Black Friday, well lets just say the first gifts bought were on black Friday. Oh yea, real late this time. It just seemed around every corner there was another obstacle to jump over. So plans had to be altered, which I do not mind doing at all as long as I have fair warning. Its those last minute flaws that get my panties in a bunch. I really don't do well with major, last minute changes in plans. But nevertheless I press on and this year has been no different. So when I decided to go see Santa Ryan made his own plan without communicating that to me. Never fails. That is my Ryan for ya. Well to make a long story short we got to see Santa here on base for the first time and here is the pictures that came from the meeting. Riley had just woken up from a nap so he was a little weirded out but managed to pull it together. Enjoy these photos.

Merry Christmas to all and to all a Happy day.

memory at the haskins house

Today Ryan had the day off so we were doing laundry. Now, I do all the laundry and then I put all the socks into a big plastic purple bucket once it is all clean then I go through and match all the socks. Well today I had some last minute grocery shopping and quick stop to the dollar store for some flowers so while I was gone Ryan and the kids were holding down the fort and trying to help me with laundry and cleaning. When I walk in I see this......

Courtney and Junior say Mom we are playing memory. WHAT??? Memory, interesting guys. But I think you have to have complete matches to play that game. At least they were having fun and thought they were doing something helpful. Funny funny..........

Babies, Babies, Babies.......

I know, I love children especially when someone near me has a new baby. I have recently discovered a love of making these little things called Diaper cakes. Ok, I know, I may be obsessed with making them but they really do make me very happy. I am smiling inside the whole time while I am creating them. And I am especially happy seeing the Mothers surprised look when she finds out it is for her. I have now made just 3 of them. I am looking forward to making a 4th here in the spring since a very dear friend of mine is expecting. Anyways, so I cranked one out yesterday Oh, in about 1 hour. Yeah, I am really picking up speed making these things. I consider myself a crafty type. I love to use my hands with most things. Creativity is my Happiness. So here is the third edition of the Dusty Diaper cakes. This was made for a fairly new neighbor that recently delivered a healthy 8lb 4 oz little boy, who by the way is gorgeous and just so very sweet. Here it is!!! Are you having a baby or is your friend having a baby. You too can make one of these cuties. Ask me how?

If you're nice enough I just might make you one.

Poor Junior

All week the kids had been preparing for the festivities of today. The first graders do a performance for the winter. Like I said in a prior post we live in politically correct D.C. therefore we can not celebrate CHRISTMAS in the schools. The kids celebrate the winter holiday and Winter solstice, the shortest day of the day according to light. Courtney's class learned a song in sign language so they will be performing in today's event.

Junior told us he was going to be singing the National Anthem and another song. That is great. I told the 2 oldest that I would not make it to there performance since #3 is doing his performance at another school near the same time. WHEW, they were both ok but asked if Dad was going to be able to make it. He said he would try. NO promises. Plus Dad's are not very good at those things. At least Ryan is not. So this morning Courtney puts on her required black and white outfit, which by the way is a dress. Go figure!! Then Junior picks out a cute long sleeve button down shirt with slacks and a TIE. Oh yeah, He goes all out for these things. I just nod my head and say sure. He really likes to dress up. Quietly I think if he were a girl we would be just like Courtney in the prissy sense. Junior loves to look handsome, or as he says pretty.

So after I got out of the shower this morning the phone rang and I did not recognize the number. I answered it and it was Juniors teacher. She was laughing but very concerned. She said Junior is fine but he was very upset because they were not really singing in the 1st grade production this morning. She said earlier this week she made up a story using the class and the Star Spangled banner. So Junior took it literally and thought that is what his class was singing in the winter performance. She said he was really upset because he told his Dad and he was suppose to come watch him. "OH GEEZ", she said, "I feel so bad", so she said if Ryan did show up to the performance that he could come up to the classroom and watch the kids sing for him if need be. So Junior is quite upset he is not performing and missing his Dad. It is funny to think how he got so convinced he was singing and was never actually told you are singing today. But sad that he really had his heart set on singing for Dad. Oh Poor Junior.

Weekend full of fun!!!!

So this weekend was one for the books.

First off Friday night I had to take #1 to a birthday sleepover with her friends. Then I hung out with my favoritest girls baking cookies for hours and chatting. It was a blast. So nice not having ANY little ones saying "Mommy". Peace and quiet. Not even a nagging husband to be found. WOW, thanks Carlota, Janelle and Keyona, Sleepover here I come.

Then Saturday of course was 2 of my handsome sons birthdays. Yes, 2 born on the same day 4 years apart. Yes, they are both biological. HUMMM, What is 9 months prior? Take a wild guess. Yep that crazy romantic holiday and my Hubby's birthday. HAHAHA!!! I live to please. LOL.

I decided to let each of the boys open 2 gifts from out of town family. That way they had something new and could hold tight til breakfast and tide them over til the sis got home.

Junior ordered pancakes for breakfast so I obliged. I even upped the anty, I made mickey Mouse pancakes and INITIAL pancakes. Everyone got their first initial. Daddy got a D, Mommy got an M, Junior got a J, Riley and R, and Ryker an R. Courtney was still at her friends house so she missed the fun. I also made homemade Blueberry and Strawberry syrup. Oh yes I make our syrup from scratch. It is always better that way. Plus Junior loves blueberries so this satisfied him. Daddy scurried off to get sis after we were done with breakfast.

Once #1 was home we sat down and opened gifts. What fun it is playing with all new toys and getting new books and clothes. YIPPEEE!!! This is extra special because throughout the year the children only get gifts from Dad's trips, that's it. So birthday's and Christmas are special because stuff does not grow on trees here, being a single income enlisted military family I have to make this sacrifice. They understand. They may not like it and neither do I but that is just the way it is. Anyways it is lots of fun to get new and exciting things.

Dad decides that he wants to go shopping before our dinner celebration so the time to leave got moved up by an hour or so. We went to IKEA for a few things and then to the BASS PRO SHOP for a few others. Got everything we needed and then we were off to our place of celebration. MEDIEVAL TIMES!!!!

Oh yeah the kids got to pick the place and I had a B1G1 coupon so it was a good deal. Only had to pay for 3. Heck Yeah!!! Then we went in and the BB's got knighted where they are called out and kneel on a pillow and given a fancy robe and are officially knighted by the King with a sword. It was so cool. Ryker did it and everyone(hundreds of people) were saying "oh that is so cute, oh he is so cute, what a doll". I was the proud Mother standing by snapping photos. Ryan was smiling very big too. He was the Proud Papa. We got to our seats enjoyed the show and the children were awesome. They loved the food, yelled and screamed at the knights, just totally enjoyed themselves. So glad we went this route this year. So memorable.

Then we came home and sang happy birthday and had cake and played with more toys. Such a fabulous day. Watch Daddy's since of humor in the video.

Sunday, I had to go shopping to spend the birthday gift cards for the boys and check out a store for Hubby. #'s 1 and 2 went along for the ride. We were out a little late so we stopped and got dinner at the mall. WOW, it has been years since I went shopping in a mall. We had fun and came home missing on one item we went for. Soon after the doorbell rang, that is weird, it is after 7. I open the door and across the street stands a group of carolers. Oh how cool. They sang O Holy Night. Love it!!! Never seen that before. Then I had to get this 2nd grade fundraiser sorted out for all the kids. Boy was that an undertaking. They sold my Partylite candles for money for a few field trips. So I was in charge and had to sort them out per child and teacher. Then I had to wrap all the gifts for our families in TX and WA. I put 3 boxes together and packaged up to ship on Monday. WHEW, what else could I fit in? Not a speeding ticket Miss Key Key. Nope I followed the speed limits. (shout out to my home girl) All in all it was a fun and exciting weekend.

2 years older

WOW, today is an amazing day in my life. Today Ryan Jr turns 7 but also his little brother Ryker turns 3 today. Holy Moly, I know you are thinking she is crazy.



Ryan Jr who was born several days late caused me lots and lots of pain. I had to be induced with Junior, so since I was not ripened or effaced or dilating more than a 1 an induction was the way to go. I was scheduled to be at the hospital on Dec 12th 2001 at 6pm. The doctors got me all settled in and Ryan got his computer and phone and camera station all set for the big event. Th doctor performed the lovely and extremely disgusting job of an enema. Now I am telling you this was AWFUL. If you have one of these be prepared cause its bad. After at least 45 minutes of pottying I got back into to bed weighing at least 3 pounds less than when I left. The doctors decided a needed ciredel, a small white pill used to ripen the cervix, the only catch is it goes into a 1 inch by 1 inch mesh bag that gets inserted at the base of the cervix. YIPPEE, I was informed once this was placed I was not to get up for ANY reason. I was thrilled. So the pitocin drip was inserted as well and immediately the contractions started, oh yes at a little after 7pm they were full throttle. I was given a little Demerol so that I could sleep while the pill worked its magic. Let me tell you something, sleeping through contractions is like trying to sleep on the bumpiest car ride you have ever been on. OH yeah, no sleep, no rest just pure agony.





At 6 am Dec 13th things started happening extremely fast. It really was lightning speed. My water was popped with the big long sewing HOOK as I call it. The pitocin was upped and things started moving. By 10 am I was completely irritated and totally ready to be done with all this baby cooking. Doctors started getting concerned because the baby's heartbeat was falling with every contraction to devastating lows. After a conference the doctors decided to check me and let me start pushing. I was only dilated to a 7 but we were only looking at 1 hour before a c-section were to occur. So the sweet doctors suited up and the pushing began. The doctors actually had to pull my hips apart to get me to a 9. OH NO THAT WAS TEERRRRIBLLLLEE. Extreme pain. After getting his head out I was told to STOP. Really can you stop in the middle of pooping? Heck no. That was more pain and agony. We had the head out but the cord was wrapped around the neck several times so nurses unwrapped the cord and waited a couple seconds for him to turn pink since he was a muted shade of blue. Then I had to be instructed how we were going to get the shoulders out since it appeared he was a slightly large baby. After the lesson I proceeded to push but very slowly with lots of do this, wait, stop, push, wait, stop, push, wait, stop........ Finally the shoulders were out and he was here. OH THANK YOU LORD JESUS. Oh how I was tired. Instance reactions by all in the room was quite scary. The looks were that of shock. I was frightened but too tired to worry. The baby was whisked away soon after the first kisses. Then several minutes later Hubby comes in smiling like he is king of world saying he is huge honey. He shows me the camera and then tells me he called everyone. Wait, why was I not the first one to know. Anyways Junior was born at 10:57 am weighing in at 10 lbs even, and 22 in long. BIG BOY!!!







Ryker oh Ryker, boy is that another story to tell. He was actually due on Dec 13 but being me and knowing how special a birthday is I wanted so bad to wait a few more days for him to come. The day started out very busy. Ryan had most of the day off. We went to juniors school to bring a birthday cake and sing Happy birthday to him. We had lunch with Ryan's co-workers and went shopping on our way to our scheduled doctors visit. Everything was normal, right on track, measuring a little big but that is to be expected having already had 2 large baby boys. She did a procedure on me called striping my membranes. I will not go into the gory details, so you can look that one up yourself. Anyways, it is suppose to help you go into labor. It definitely made me feel uncomfortable. The doctor also prescribed some sleeping pills for me since I was so miserable. We were in a Military hospital so the pharmacy was overwhelmed like always. So we ended up waiting on the pills for about 2 hours. Yeah long time. So we had to call a neighbor to get the older 2 kids off the bus. Riley had been with us throughout the day. She obliged and managed to get them. After getting the pills and dealing with the ridiculous 5:00 D.C traffic we got home in time to have birthday cake and open presents with Junior. I was really feeling crappy. The contractions were really tough but knowing my body I just knew the contractions would go away. I decided to get in the bath and try to relax. I called my mom while in the bath to tell her how the day was going and for her to talk to Jr. It was definitely a relaxing bath. I put my jammies on for the rest of the evening. We got the kids into bed and were just watching tv when I had to pee. I went to the bathroom and something popped. It felt funny. Then I started to shake uncontrollably, this is my body's way of reacting when I am in serious pain. Although I was not feeling pain just uncomfortable. I called my girlfriend to get a second opinion. She immediately started freaking out and telling us we had to get to the hospital immediately. So she helped me get warm clothes on and agreed to care for the kids again for the second time that day. Ryan and I headed to the hospital at about 8:45pm. Ryan drove about 80 mph missing our exit so we had to turn around and get back on the highway. I was not happy at all. Now on the way there, I start feeling lots of pressure and the baby is pushing further and further. I am screaming at Ryan that we are not gonna make it. He is trying to keep me calm. We get to the Emergency room and they wheel me up to maternity ward and I tell them he is coming this is baby #4 you better get me in a room now. by the time I get in and get changed and into bed and checked I am dilated to a 6 not bad. So I having never had an epidural decide sure lets do it everyone I have talked to had one so give me one. Ryan gets up to the room with all my stuff and his stuff and they are already starting the epi. I start feeling really bad, light headed, weak and while leaning over the edge of the bed and Ryan holding me something POPS, oh yeah water everywhere. Now I am telling the anesthesiologist to hurry, He is coming hurry, get it out, get it out. I am as still as I can be while he gets all the needles out that never had a chance to get any medicine. Finally he gets it out and I try to lay down and before my head hit the pillow and before any nurses were in the room out came little Ryker like a cork off a champagne bottle. He popped out right onto the bed. Oh yeah, there was nothing I could do. He was beautiful but his head was terribly bruised. We would learn later that this was due to the extreme speed of his arrival. So from the time we arrived in the ER to the time of birth was less than 45 minutes. WOAH, that was cutting it a little too close. So we had been debating about his name for weeks and had 2 names in mind but when I was wheeled into the room on the side of the bed was the word Stryker, that's it. That was Gods sign that Ryker was the name to be chosen. He arrived at 10 pm weighing in at 9 lbs and 22 inches long. Welcome baby Ryker. What a day.

So today our family just got 2 years older.

True Spirit of Christmas

Yesterday I received a phone call from a dear Aunt of mine who lives in The LONE STAR state. She adopted a little boy last year who is slightly bigger than all 3 of my boys. He is younger than Jr but much bigger, and by that I mean taller and larger feet. Anyways this past October she sent me a box of his hand me down clothes. The box had several pairs of shoes and at least 20 pr of pants and lots of super cute shirts and pj's. HUGE BOX. It was awesome. He is growing so fast so he does not get a chance to really damage the clothes. They are so new and super nice. I was so happy to be the bearer of such gifts.

So yesterday she calls and tells me since they do not have a little girl to share clothes with us they went and bought my #1 shoes, clothes and pj's. WOW!!! They were in no way obligated to do so. I truly had tears in my eyes because if you know my family you know that we struggle to make ends meet therefore forgoing new clothes for the kids. So this to me was a huge blessing. On top of that, Christmas this year will be very very thin for us. I have yet to even start shopping for my own family. I am not asking for pity just telling a story. So she says she has another big box of clothes for the boys including thermals and that kind of stuff. WOW, she does not have to do this. Nobody told her she had to share with me but she choose to and that is just so amazing. I am most grateful for these clothes because my boys will have somewhat new clothes and I can feel better about them looking more like children instead of rag dolls. So Aunt S and M thank you so much. The kids will be so very happy and I too will be smiling.

This is what Christmas is about. Sharing what we have with others. I too, share with others. I believe you can make a huge difference in someones life with a few small deeds. I challenge you to find someone that is needy whether it be clothes, shoes, coats, blankets, warm meal or just an ear to listen share with them and see how it truly is the spirit of Christmas. Blessings to all

Gingerbread Wonderland

You know, I just love Christmas. I love all the beautiful trees, garland, lighted houses and all the fantastic gifts. It always seems like Christmas transforms people. I love it. Every year as far back as I can remember we decorated our house with lights and yard decorations. My aunt and uncle always had an amazing yard. I always was the lead in creating a beautiful setting at our house. Once I got married I began my own ideas for decorating our house. We just started with lights the first year. Each year It has gotten bigger and better.

A few years ago I got the itch to make Gingerbread men for the front yard. So I made the design on cardboard cut it out and transferred it to wood. I painted it and cut it out. NOPE, nobody helped me. My aunt helped me come up with the original design on paper but I did all the rest of the thinking and cutting. I did this all by myself and I even used power tools. I made one for each of us. Bigger ones for the adults and smaller ones for the kids. They are super cute.

This year I wanted to add something to it. I found this magazine that had a Gingerbread house in it and I thought that is what I need to make. But as the days went by I started thinking bigger, I've got it, I will make my house look like the Gingerbread house. That was it!!! Now to the researching and planning. I scoured the Internet for photos of gingerbread houses. I must have looked at thousands real, cartoon, cardboard and just about any kind you can think of. I was a gingerbread maniac. Seriously, obsessed.

I knew I needed gum drops, candy canes, lollipops. The peppermints were a signature to all houses so this element too had to be included. So here is what I came up with.

Last night the kids and I went to the Air Force Base tree lighting. The housing office had put on a yard decoration contest. I read about it vaguely but did not remember when the contest was to be performed. I never do my yard for contests, I do it because my children and I love the way it looks and makes us feel. So last night the housing office gave out 2 awards for yard decorations. I was a nervous wreck. My name was called, "what", yes we won 2nd place for the base decorating contest. WOW, I was super excited. All the hard work was noticed. Thank you so much. I love to win awards for doing the things I love. We were all excited. The kids love to turn on the lights. They actually argue who gets to turn them on first. So sweet!!! Next year is already in my head. Additions and changes to make it better and brighter. What do you think?

Stay tuned for more news from the Haskins.................

Jr's attempt at cleaning

Yesterday the kids had the day off for Parent teacher conferences and we were doing some cleaning and tidying. Normally Riley cleans the spit from the bathroom sink. But today Jr was doing it. Riley goes in to see what he was doing and was quick to yell at him. I came immediately to assess the situation. Riley is now crying and is super upset with Jr.

I ask Jr, "what is going on son".

He says" Riley does not like how I cleaned the sink."

Me: "how were you cleaning the sink."

Jr: " I used this toothbrush that we don't use any more."

Riley: "Jr that is my toothbrush, your suppose to use a washcloth."

Jr: "oh, I thought we did not use that one, I use that one all the time to clean the sink."

Me: Hiding the smile on my face and trying desperately not to laugh out loud " Jr let me have the toothbrush so I can disinfect it. Jr we have to use a rag or washcloth to clean the sink honey. Riley could get really sick if he used this."

Riley: " I always use that toothbrush."

Jr: " I didn't know"

Oh my goodness, what a mess. That is awful and to think this is not the first time he has done that. Well, at least Riley has a strong immune system. Can it get any funnier or worse?
Poor Riley.

Nutcracker, Ballet that is

Last night I got the opportunity to take my babies to the beloved Nutcracker ballet. OH yeah, I jumped at the thought of sharing childhood memories with my chillins. I called up my girl, Keykey, as the kids would say, and asked her if she wanted to go. She was all in. Alright, we're on. It was so fun getting all the kids just to the nines. Courtney of course, was thrilled to be in a poofy, fancy dress. She loves to get dolled up and oh how I love helping her. It was just like I remembered. OH how I miss being able to dance like that. I think after seeing it I might sign myself up for a ballet class come the first of the year. I really do miss it. Anyways we had a blast. This was the first time for all 5 kids and Keyona. OH YEAH, I got to school them. Here are a few pictures we took. It was totally worth it.

As we were on the way home Junior#2 says in the most serious of tones, "Mom I learned how to be a Nutcracker."

Me: yeah, what's that

#2- You just be still

Me and Keyona: laughing.......

#2 : You just pick me up and carry me around.

Me: I am so glad you learned something.

Oh my, if this is what I am teaching them we just might be in trouble later on. OH BOY!!!

And here's one I know she is not going to share but just proves how silly and dorky she is. Everyone, I am so happy to introduce you to my girl, Mrs. Keyona.

Oh yeah, that was in the bathroom!!!

HELP ME MOMMY!!!

I know you guys are dieing for me to post another crazy something. RIGHT? You know you want it. OK, you asked for it.

Tonight Ryan had to work late and I had 50,000 things to do and only 2 hands and not nearly enough time. Yall know. So I had the kids assisting me here and there by picking up clutter, toys and such. Riley was helping like a big boy while I was closing a show on the computer. I see him out of the corner of my eye climb on the entertainment center. I figured he was trying to reach his car that likes to fly across the room and land back there. I guess it is hiding from my rough and tough boys. Well all of the sudden I hear this blood curdling scream "HELP ME MOMMY". Sound familiar? Seems that is the call I hear all to often. So I grab the camera and run. I find him. He was trying to get that toy that was stuck behind the E.C. His arm was not quite long enough to reach it so he wiggled his shoulder and head in and got it. Only thing is, he got his head lodged between the wall and the E.C. STUCK!!! OH mercy, here we go again. I snap a few pictures all the while I am hearing his awful scream. It is bad yall. Seriously would have thought he was really dieing. Well Mommy to the rescue. After snapping those photos, I slide the extremely heavy E.C out about oh, maybe 1 inch and out he slide. Poor little guys. His ears looked like they were 10 degrees. A little hug and a few kisses and all is well. I will miss these unforgettable times of need.

Stay Tuned for more adventures!!!

UPDATE on RYAN and TREE HUNT

UPDATE!!!!




Ryan is fine for now. He had to get a tetanus shot at the hospital and we are to watch for lyme disease symptoms over the coming weeks. Looks like he got the head out too. YUCK!!! That has got the be one of the moments I will NEVER miss. Lets hope it doesn't happen again.

Ryan GRADUATED THIS WEEKEND WITH A MASTERS DEGREE!!!!
yeah no more late night homework sessions or long papers. I might get my husband back afterall



CHRISTMAS TREE HUNTING




Its tradition at our house that we 1. have a real christmas tree and 2. we find it and cut it ourselves. Luckily we have been stationed very near to Christmas tree farms and that is great to keep this tradition. I grew up with live trees but they were from the local Boy scout lot in the middle of a shopping center parking lot. Not at all festive. So I vowed that when I had children I would take them to find that perfect tree every year. So for 9 years now this has been as Haskins family tradition. So we did our annual hunt. We had a blast. The kids love to run from tree to tree inspecting to see if there are holes, strange trunks and cone shaped. You know I have tried to teach them the characteristics Christmas trees should have. They are hilarious trying to see if they fit all the right rules. If we find one we think we like we leave a child there and continue on until we find another one. We always do it this way, plus with brightly colored coats you can spot them easily. It is funny. Anyways we narrowed it to 2 in a matter of like 30 minutes. It was great. Everyone decided what they thought and that is how we picked our interesting tree this year. It is a lovely 6 ft Scotch Pine. Oh so pretty with definite character, fits us perfectly. We always have to make sure everyone of the kids gets to help saw it down. Yes, we let them saw. It is tradition plus Daddy is right there so no injuries occur. So much fun. Here are a few pictures from our adventure

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