Proud to be a Teamster

Christopher Duffley is truly an amazing inspiration, he is autistic and blind, I cry every time I watch this. He his now an honorary Teamster and we couldn't be more proud to have him as one of our own :)

2 Jo's Farm and a Halloween Party!

We had a wonderful weekend with great weather! Bella was supposed to go to a pumpkin patch on a field trip but it got rained out. So she really, really wanted to go, we did not go to a pumpkin patch since we already have pumpkins but we did head out to 2 Jo's Farm on Saturday. It was WONDERFUL!!! I really wanted to take her since they had pony rides :) Bella is a natural, when asked if she needed help up she said no, stuck her foot in the stirrup and swung herself onto that pony, what a proud moment for mommy :) She got her face painted like a fish tank, was made an honorary princess, went through the haunted barn and fed a LOT of hay to a beautiful horse. Her sweet little voice mentioned to Papa that maybe some day she could have a horse, I just elbowed dad and told him why not since he has the land ;) Kyle's dad went with us too and had a great time, he loved watching Bella ride the pony :)

Saturday night Kyle and I got to have a grown up night at Mindy and Casey's annual Halloween party. Mindy is due to have her baby girl in just 10 days but she still had to have her party :) We had a great time!!! Nothing like playing cards all night with wonderful family and friends, drinking my cousin Brett's homemade peppermint schnapps, some beer and 4 gallons of apple pie (the apple pie was shared between eight of us, don't be too worried) :) Needless to say there were lots of laughs, plenty of falling down by myself constantly on the way to the car, and wonderful Kyle taking care of David and I :)

David and I were pirate wenches

Larry was Captain Jack Sparrow (the Michael Bolton version), Ed was Wilfred

Kyle was Murphy from The Boondock Saints

Carley was a nurse and Zach was Connor from The Boondock Saints

Casey completed The Boondock Saints trio as Rocco

My beautiful preggo twin sisters, can't remember what Missy was but Mindy was a zombie :)

Happiness

My happiness today is this simple text from Zach:

"Do you care if as of November 1st I move back in with you guys until I leave?"

I'm feeling pure joy right now, we get to have him with us for the last two weeks before he leaves, yay!!!! We also get to take him to Des Moines, usually he has to ride with the Marines but they told him family can take him :)

Last night I was cleaning up his room, it had become the room where I just throw crap and shut the door, not good! While I was working on it Bella was helping and she started crying, I asked her why she was crying and she said it was because she misses her Zachy. I can't wait to tell her he will stay with us before he leaves for the Marines, she is going to be so, so happy!

November 15th

On November 15th Zach will be embarking on his greatest adventure, Marine boot camp. He got the call yesterday and it is official, he is leaving four months earlier than planned. He is very, very excited and ready to get out of here to start this journey.

I'm so, so proud of him! We will be having a going away party for him on November 12th at my work, so lucky we have this huge hall I can use when it is available :) This was Zach's idea and he even offered to pay for all food and drinks, yeah right, like I'll let him do that! Thankfully I have so many family members that all food duties are already taken care of and Zach just gets to buy soda :)

Zach is such an amazing young man, I truly couldn't love him more if he was my own son. To have watched him finish out high school and make the good choices he has made, it just makes me proud knowing he could have easily taken a different path in life.

Our weekly dinners will come to an end, I will make each one that much more special for him before he does leave. I will miss his daily random texts to me, I will worry constantly that his drill sergeants are being too tough on him, I will miss midnight pick ups from the bar (he loves that entertainment, trust me ;)), I will miss the excitement in Bella's eyes when she knows it is a Zach night.

And yet I couldn't be more excited for him. Worries will be never ending, but the proud feeling I have for him and knowing what he is doing for our country and our freedom, and even more so for himself, makes it totally worth it.

Bella is 5!!!

How can it be, how can my little princess be 5 today??? It seems like yesterday that I was anxiously awaiting her debut in this world, deciding to have an induction on Friday the 13th. Now Friday the 13th is a "lucky" day in our world :)

Our world is filled with joy every single day due in a big part to Isabella Jean, we are so proud to be her mommy and daddy. She truly has the sweetest personality, always giving hugs and kisses, telling us how much she loves us at least five times a day. I'm so lucky that my heart gets melted many times a day by her various expressions of love.

Now she does have her "Koch" temper and attitude, it seems that is a given for all girls in our family :) But it helps me to know that she can handle herself, she may be small in size but watch out, this little girl won't be pushed around. She will be the first person to tell you that she is a big girl, not a little girl anymore, she tells me at least twice a day.

I never knew how I could love until I became a mommy. I am so blessed to have such an amazing daughter, I love her to the moon and back!