Little Personalities

I used to wonder what my little brothers would be like when we all grew up. I would watch them playing or listen to what they talked about, what their interests were and wonder what kind of adults they would both be. Neither of them turned out quite the way I thought. They turned out better than anything I could have thought up. I think they are both awesome, and they are my best friends.

Now I watch my girls and think about their futures.

I always thought Kenzie was going to be the girly girl. She is so petite and has the long slightly curly hair. Lyanna is stockier and has a deeper voice. She doesn't have much hair and people were always calling her son, and little guy....they still do at times. We thought she would be the little tom-boy. Not so, not so...already their little personalities are shining through.

Kenzie is the drama queen of the two. Everything with her is traumatic and she uses lots of hand gestures and whining and manipulation techniques. I've never seen a little girl who can bat her eyes and give you "the look" like she can. BUT...she is our little tom-boy. She loves Superman, Batman, Transformers, and today she discovered Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I take her to the library every Tuesday now. The book she picked out for herself this past Tuesday was a Marvel Comics book. It has stories about Spiderman, The Fantastic Four, and The X-men. I think that is pretty sweet cause I was a Marvel girl. Read all those comics. This book also came with a DVD with the cartoons of all of the comics. She has watched this DVD so many times now I'm surprised it's not warped. She wants to wear Thomas clothes, Sponge Bob and Transformer boys underwear. It cracks me up.

Lyanna is the easy going one. She has the worst temper and when she gets mad EVERYONE knows it. *must be the red hair syndrome* But, for the most part she is very laid back and just goes along with the flow. She has also turned out to be the frilly girly girl. She loves to put headbands on and a little barette in her hair, now that she has hair. She wants to wear dresses every day and gets mad if they are all dirty. She calls herself "Princess Lyanna" and dances twirls in the living room. She wants all her clothes to be pink too.

Total opposites... which is nice. It would be boring if they were just alike. I just wonder how much of how they are now will last. They are growing up so fast.....

Clue

I guess what immediately comes to mind when I hear or see the word "clue" is, of course, the board game. I spent many a rainy afternoon or late night playing this game with my friends and/or family. I liked being Professor Plum...I think because the piece was purple, and he looked smart on the picture....My mom was always Ms. Scarlett..wonder what that says about her personality? Wouldn't that be an interesting quiz type thingy. What does your favorite Clue piece say about you....hmmmmmmmm....


Looky what I found! I took the quiz and wouldn't you know it...I got Prof. Plum. Too freaking funny!

What Clue Character are you?

The other thing that comes to mind is Sherlock Holmes and my little brother Daniel. I am a crazy mad reader. I can NOT ever get enough to read, or enough time to read what I want. I like reading mysteries....good mysteries. I enjoy a nice Sherlock Holmes story. They make you think and most of the time they are a little bit creepy too. Daniel likes Sherlock Holmes stories too. He even went so far as to dress as Sherlock Holmes at Halloween once. I think....I have a picture of him dressed up....he also collects pipes. I wonder if his love of Sherlock Holmes led to his eccentric hobby

Hooray for the Red, White and Blue!

and the men and women who fight for her!

Some of you may know that my brother is in the Arkansas National Guard. In 2003-04 he was called to active duty and was stationed in Iraq. He was just outside of Bagdad and saw much combat. It was not easy on him, his wife, his children, or his family. By family I mean my parents, my brother, me, my grandparents, his aunts and uncles...etc.

I am lucky (although some would say unlucky) that my extended family is very close. Cousins, aunts, uncles, greats: we all call each other and keep up with each other. As children we grew up having HUGE family get togethers. Think BIG typical southern family gatherings with much food, games, water sports, etc.

So...we all worried about my brother a lot and prayed for him and missed him. I was pregnant with my first daughter during the time he was gone. He missed my whole pregnancy. I had a dog tag with a soldier's prayer on it, I wore it everyday til he came home. I even have it on in the pictures of me in the hospital with my baby. Knowing where he was and what he was going through gave me strength to face the challenges here at home. I knew if he could handle the death and destruction and fear surrounding him every day, that there wasn't anything I couldn't deal with here at home. His bravery gave me bravery.

I am so proud to call him my brother. Sure he will always be "doofus", my younger brother, but he is also one of my biggest heroes.

There is someone else that I am proud to call my friend. He and I were very close in high school and continued our friendship into college. We haven't stayed in touch as much as we should since we have gotten older. But we still occasionally talk on the phone and he has been to visit my parents a few times.

The year after our sophmore year of college he and I both sat out a semester. He decided to join the Air Force. I had gone to the recruiter with him, had taken my entrance test and was getting ready to take the physical when I found out I had been accepted into nursing school. I opted out of joining up with him, but he went ahead and joined.

Just recently he won the Military's Visual Information Award for his creative work in the field. He won Videographer of the Year. It is a huge honor and I believe it is important to make known the work that he does.

So...here is my shout out to my friend Technical Sergeant Gary Burdett. Please take some time to go and read the article and watch the video. These men are amazing and their work is so important. They show us a side of the military that most people don't get to see.

"I'm Proud to be a Jamerican"

For my Brothers

I am going to get to my brothers...hang with me.

Today is a day that will always be a day of remembrance for me. A day to look back on the past and take a moment to honor those who gave their lives. It doesn't matter if they were passengers on a plane, civilians in a building, or the brave men and women who were Emergency Responders. They all deserve to be remembered. I also want to honor the men and women of our armed forces who are willing to lay their lives on the line to support our rights to live in a free country, hopefully one day without fear of being attacked for those beliefs.

Where was I on September 11, 2001? I was in Arkansas. I was at home instead of at school because I was sick. One of my friends called me and told me to turn on the television.

I wasn't anywhere close to what was happening, I didn't know anyone who was in the towers or the Pentagon. I was "safe" in my own home. It didn't matter, I was shocked, scared, and left with a feeling of disconnection.

Five years later I still feel shocked that anything like the attacks that day could have happened. I still feel scared that something like that could happen again.

I am so lucky to come from a family that believes in service. My brothers and I were always taught to help others when you can. We all took that to heart in deciding our professions.

I became a teacher, not very glamourous or dangerous...although there are times when it seemed dangerous.

I'm proud to say that one of my brothers is a firefighter and my other brother is an Officer in the Army National Guard.

I am so proud of both of them. The youngest has served in Iraq, and helped in the Katrina Relief Effort immediately after the storm.

The oldest brother has fought many fires in our hometown, some of the fierce and dangerous.

They are my heroes. They are brave, strong, loving, caring men.

I love you guys!!! I couldn't have asked God to give me two greater brothers.