Meet Mollie...

The bane of my existence!!  Oh, sure, she looks all cute and cuddly now.  You just wait until 3am when she is rubbing her snotty nose across your lips for affection..  Her needle-like kitty claws kneading into your scalp, face, and neck with love..  I think I got more sleep when I had newborns.  But, don't despair, it is not all bad.  She IS a great help with the dishes..

Does a pretty through-all job of keeping the toilet clean as well..

...and the kids love her, as she loves them.

Miss Mollie lets them tote her around while providing a constant source of giggles.  She gets along with all of the family, 4-legged as well as 2.  Hoops absolutely adores her.  The dogs have an open-ended offer of friendship.   Mike was not even immune to her feline charms, no matter how much he tried to resist!!

 She found us when we needed her the most.  She is the perfect addition at the perfect time.  So thank you Miss Mollie, for choosing us to be your family, we adore you!!

I'm Seeing Triple!!!

...Mikes that is!  When we were pretty certain that this whole deployment thing was a go I scoured the Internet for ideas of ways to help the kids cope during the separation.  One website I stumbled upon was www.daddydolls.com.  They take any full-length photo and turn it into a doll.  Genius!!  I knew immediately that I would be ordering 3.  Even though some of my kiddos may be a little above the whole "doll" age (as they would have you believe, anyway...) I knew that these would be a hit.  What better way to give their Daddy hugs and kisses every night?  I even splurged for the recorder so whenever they squeeze their Daddy they will hear him say a pre-recorded message.  I wanted him to go all mean Daddy and leave a raging rant telling them they better behave themselves but instead Mike decided to do the whole mushy, I love you and miss you route..  I suppose the kids will like that better.

Another brilliant idea I found was a candy countdown.  It is so simple.  All you do is put one piece of candy in a jar for everyday Mike is gone, and every night the kids will get a "little sugar" from Daddy (a.k.a. one skittle).  Before they know it, all the candy will be gone and Daddy will be home!  So easy and I am sure the kids will love it.  Now that I think of it, I would really love it too, maybe I should make myself one as well, any excuse for candy!

And I would be remiss if I didn't mention the gifts the FRG gave the children.  Every deploying child got a box from Operation Gratitude (www.OperationGratitude.com) with a Battalion Buddy (teddy bear), girl scout cookies, and other treats in it.  So thank you FRG and Operation Gratitude, you put huge smiles on the kids faces on an otherwise difficult morning.  That, in itself, is priceless!

Deployment Diaries

That is what I am calling my next installation of "The Gross Life".  As most of you know, Mike is deploying to Afghanistan.  He will be gone for a year, and I thought what better time than now to try to rejuvenate this poor, neglected blog!  That way, when Mike is able, he can peek in on our daily lives back home and see what fun, exciting, Gross things are happening.  Not missing them, but sharing those moments with us from afar.

To start off this next chapter of our lives here is a pic from this morning, at the armory, saying goodbye before he left for his long 365ish day adventure.  It was early and I don't think we were all quite awake yet!

And no worries babe, I got this!

For posterity's sake..

I need to post first day of school pictures, 2010, to have for Mike and I's documentation..  You know, so when we are both 80 and looking back at the blog archives we can remember how darn cute our kids were..  So here they are!!

Mikey, almost 5, Pre-Kindergarden

 Maria (8) - 3rd grade, and Lilian (6) - 1st grade

Maria acting like a pre-teen, posing for pictures.. 

Lillian acting like a pre-teen, complaining about pictures..

So now my "annual first day of school" duty is done!  Until next year..

Tammy Crocker...

For those of you that know me reeaallly well you know that I am so NOT the homemaker type.  I hate to clean, scrapbooking annoys me, and cooking/baking is a necessary evil.  Saying that, I am Mom, and as all good Moms do, we do things that we thought we would never do for the happiness of our kids.  As is in my case, baking cakes and decorating them per child request.  I always used to take the easy way out and just order a pre-made decorated cake from the local grocery store.  However they have gotten so outrageously expensive that I refuse to spend the money on one now.  Hence my dilemma.  My cheapness has forced me into homemaker-hood.  So I don my apron (yeah, right, like I have one of those!!) and put forth my most valiant effort.  You can read about my first disastrous attempt here.  

Yeah...  It didn't go so well.  I had 6 months to shake off that first failure before my next masterpiece was upon me.  Mikey wanted a monster truck cake for his 5th birthday.  A WHAT??!!  How the heck was I going to do that!!  Ah...  hello, so not crafty here!  But thanks to a collaborate effort with my wonderful hubby (a truck expert, as we all know..) I think we managed to pull it off!  You can check it out here..

We used trucks from Mikey's stash, toothpicks and tape for flags, and crushed chocolate animal crackers for dirt.  VOILA!  I'm pretty darn proud of myself!

At this point I was feeling pretty confident for the next birthday.  Maria decided she wanted a peace sign cake for her 9th.  HA!  EASY!  If I can do a whole monster truck rally then a peace sign would be, well, a piece of cake!  I go ahead and whip it up, design the peace sign on top and proudly show it to Maria.  Where she then says, "Umm, It's pretty Mom, but it doesn't really look like a peace sign."  Huh??!  Apparently I forgot the line that runs up and down the middle..  Woops!  I guess I should have researched it and drawn it out first before cementing it in frosting.  I did my best to fix it and you can check out my sad, sad, result here..

Now Lillian's birthday is only a month from Maria's..  Keep in mind I was still feeling the sting from the peace sign fiasco.  Lillian told me she wanted a blue paw print, with three toes, facing to the left, not to the right or straight..  (Lillian is very particular, as we all know..)  This time I went to the store and picked up one of those disposable nozzle/tip frosting dispenser thingies..  (Oh, come on, don't pretend like you don't know what I mean!)  Using a cereal bowl and shotglass as a template (I knew we would get some use out of that useless collection!), it surprisingly turned out fairly well, almost professional looking (to my eyes, anyway..)!  The nozzle/tip disposable frosting thingie is the way to go!  It is forgiving, easy to use, and pretty to boot!  Ah-ha!  Finally!!  A success!  Check it out here..

Now I have another 6 months before I am forced into betty-crocker-ness again..  We shall see what will happen!  Maybe Mikey will decide he wants a paw print....

Kitchen Remodel..

This past fall Mike and I decided to remodel our kitchen.  It all started when Mike came home from work one night and said that a kitchen place was going out of business and all their granite was 50% off.  Well, with a deal like that, how could we not?  Right...  I was hesitant to spend all the money, but have desperately wanted a new kitchen for years now!!  It didn't take much convincing to decide to go ahead with it..   So it started..  

Our kitchen went from this..

2006

To this after we moved in..  

The wallpaper and light fixtures had to go right away!  However everything else we have been living with since 2006..  I could not wait to say good-bye to the blue laminate countertops and pickled cabinets!!

Mike built a raised bar area..

And our new IKEA apron-front farm sink arrived..  (Shhh..  it was only $299!!  Most apron-front sinks go for thousands of $$!)

The granite was installed..

And hours upon hours, days upon days, weeks upon weeks was spent painting and glazing the old nasty pickled oak cabinets.. (can you tell this was my part of the remodel?)

A tile backsplash was added and..

VOILA!!!  Our new, beautiful kitchen!!  Isn't is so pretty..  

We enjoy it so much.  And we take pride in it..  Other than the granite being installed, Mike and I did all the work ourselves.  Yep!  It pays off being a DIY couple..  Not only does it save you money, but if you  can live through it and still be madly in love with your spouse by the end then you know that as a couple you can do anything!

Grandpa..

Not all events that have happened between my last bout of blogging and this one have been happy times.  We lost the patriarch of the Atkinson family this past December.  Grandpa was the cornerstone of the family and a huge hole has been left with his passing.  Even though it was not unexpected, it still was extremely hard to say goodbye.  So let me share with you what I think of when I remember Grandpa...  A quick wit with a twinkle in his eye, always a twinkle.  Big, rough, working man hands that could never wait to hold one of his grandbabies.  Suspenders and a belt, the man always had suspenders on.  In the earlier days, coveralls covered with sawdust.  The curliest eyebrows peeking over glasses that covered the bluest of eyes.  Carvings.  Platters for his plate at holiday dinners.  Sitting in his chair and enjoying the chaos of his family around him, soaking it all up.  A hard working man with so many talents and hobbies and a big heart.  I love you Grandpa and miss you.  You are not gone, but forever in our hearts and memories everyday.

We always had to have a family photo together when I came up to visit..  This is baby Maria.

Baby Lillian and Maria..

The three grandkids with the great-grandparents..  I am forever grateful that they had the chance to know Grandpa and what an extraordinary man he was.

He loved his grandkids!  This is Gramps with Lillian.

And Mikey, I love how they are both holding their hands the same way..

My conviction in marriage has been cemented by seeing how much Grandma and Grandpa loved each other.  It was so obvious the adoration and affection between the two.  They were married for 60 years when Grandpa passed.  A love that lasts a lifetime.

Good-bye Grandpa..  You are forever in my heart and always in my thoughts.  Love you.