Today was the day Xavier has been waiting for…he’s been asking every day since we put up the Christmas tree when there will be presents under it.  Last night we added the first wave of presents - gifts for Geno that Xavier helped wrap and gifts from my Aunt Nina (my mother’s sister).  With each present put under the tree he proclaimed “AWESOME!”

This morning started out as a bummer, Geno had been having trouble with his computer and he left a message stating that if he wasn’t on by 8:30a to start opening without him.  We had planned to open gifts on the webcam. After making a pancake breakfast the boys and I were excited to see Geno get on at exactly 8:30a.  So we set up the webcam and off Xavier went.  He opened both his presents and his daddy’s presents.  Derrick and I also opened up our gifts.  We were really blessed that Geno was able to watch from thousands of miles away - technology these days. I also took a few pictures (see below).  After presents it was time to start our Christmas dinner. I decided to go all out for the boys this year.  I made turkey, mashed potatoes, dressing, gravy, greenbeans, cherry pie and homemade cranberry sauce.  Derrick and I ate until we were stuffed. Xavier, however, ate a little turkey. He’s not been wanting to eat and try new things lately.

We then cleaned up and got ready to see National Treasure. I’m really glad we Fandango. When we got there the line was wrapped around the building.  We were able to walk right up, hand the lady our paper and walk right in. I did hear someone mention (loud enough for me to hear) that they’ve been waiting for over 30 minutes and I’m able to walk right up.  Luckily, the ticket lady said “Sir, she Fandangos”. We rushed in to get seats. I initially left Xavier with Derrick inside the theatre while I waited in line for snacks. However, after standing in line not even 3 minutes I asked a nice couple behind me if they could hold my spot so I could go back and get him.  They did and right as I was walking into the theatre out pops Derrick with Xavier (who had been crying).  I went back and stood in line and thanked the young couple.  The couple in front of me gave the cashier a hard time. The man wanted his large drink to be as follows: small amount of regular coke, half of diet and the rest Mr. Pib - light on the ice.  The woman wanted the cashier to put one scoop of popcorn then spray butter, then another scoop, then spray butter….etc.  After they finished and left for their movie I tried to make the cashier smile by saying “Is this Starbucks?” Apparently he got the joke as did the couple behind me because they all laughed.  For those that didn’t get it…well, I’m sorry I will blame it on the Geoffrion (my mom’s side) sense of humor.

 Now, National Treasure was chosen because I really didn’t want to see Alvin and the Chipmunks and Derrick really didn’t want to see Water Horse. I should now add, Xavier really didn’t want to see National Treasure.  I should have known, especially when the only time he didn’t want to go into the hallway and play games was when there was a car chase going on.  He ended up falling asleep about 30 minutes after the movie started, it was a catch 22.  I say that because he was quiet through the rest of the show, however, he was wired until about 1045p when he finally closed his eyes. The movie was pretty good but man, Derrick loaded the popcorn with a TON of cheddar topping. It was so bad even he didn’t want it. Luckily, large popcorns are refillable to he dumped it and got a fresh batch - with limited cheddar topping.

I guess you could say that today was a good Christmas. The only thing that could have made it GREAT was if Geno could have been here with us.  However, I am grateful that we have the ability to talk just about every day and technology allowed him to share the gift opening with us this morning when many others didn’t get that chance.

Well it’s about 66 more days and Geno should be on his way home, if not home already.  It’s been a long long road and I will be glad when he’s home and the next turn in our lives begin. We don’t know where the next year will land us in the Army. Could be overseas, could be right here…but where ever it is…. Home is where the Army sends us…

Xavier’s beloved skates. Tomorrow we are going to buy him knee and elbow pads (he already has a helmet)

His “Horsey”

Derrick’s “Tech Decks” - mini skateboard

I cannot believe how fast time seems to be flying this month!  We are half way through December!  I realize it’s been a while since I’ve updated this webpage and I apologize. It seems that I am MORE busy now then when I was working!  I’ve been actively searching for a job but there isn’t much that pays well around here.  I’m also tying to get this house cleaned out but it seems to be more of a task then I had planned - but I’m trucking along. We went to Ohio to visit my mom for Thanksgiving and it turned out great! We were in Ohio for the biggest game of the season for OSU (Ohio State vs Michigan) and of course O-H-I-O prevailed and I won the bet - pay up Geno!

DERRICK

Derrick has been doing pretty well.  He enjoyed being in Cleveland for Thanksgiving. He started basketball after a short break from football. He is really talented in basketball and I really enjoy watching him play.  He received his grade card for the 1st grading period and he got ALL A’S!  We are really proud of him and hope he continues to keep up the good work.  He got his interim report for this grading period and he had all A’s and 2 B’s.  The B’s were in Reading and Social Studies.  I picked him up early from school this past Tuesday. He had a slight fever, headache and sore throat.  A little after 1am Wednesday he was throwing up and was having a hard time swallowing.  I woke Xavier up and we all headed to the ER.  Turns out the poor child had strep throat.  Surprisingly we were in and out of the ER in 30 minutes!  By 9am Wednesday his fever had gone up to 104.8 and we tried motrin before going back to the ER.  Luckily, an hour after the motrin his temp was down to 103.6 and it continued to go down from there. He ended up staying home from school the rest of the week.  School is out on the 19th and he won’t return until Jan. 3rd.  I told him that his dad is coming home soon and he’s going to have to help me get this house in tiptop shape.

XAVIER

Well, what can I say about this little man. He is a riot. His favorite thing to do is “wrestle” or “fight”. It’s really cute - he will come up to you, put his hand up and ask “Do you want to wrestle?” or “Do you want to fight?”.  Then he charges at you and jumps full speed ahead so watch out. I can’t believe how smart he is. I caught him counting in spanish to five while watching Go Diego Go.  He also does very well with all his colors, his shapes and of course his animals. In fact, on a daily bases he pretends he’s a cat or dog. Complete with crawling on all fours, panting like a dog or purring like a cat. He has also asked if we could call his daycare “school” so he can go to school like Derrick.  He is really excited about Christmas and he did REALLY well with Santa (as you will see at the end of this blog).

SARAH

It’s been about 6 weeks since I stopped working and like I said in the beginning busier then ever. It’s 75 days until G-Day and I want to make sure this house is in perfect order so when he’s home we can just relax and enjoy being a family again.  I’ve been doing some selling on ebay getting rid of odds and ends. Anything that doesn’t sell or I can’t sell is going to the Salvation Army. Since we are at the end of this deployment there is a chance Geno (and in return us) will receive PCS orders and have to move.  I am hoping for a country overseas (sorry Mom) but Geno has said the 1st SGT has talked about moving him to the 82nd or SOCOM - both of which are here at Fort Bragg.  I still wish that we come across Italy orders again - but those, as Geno says, are “once in a life time orders” - I’m crossing my fingers and praying every night that they become TWICE in a life time.  I’ve also finally transformed my resume and looking daily for a job.  I am really trying to find a stay-at-home job. They are hard to find but I’m hoping that with some hard work and a lot of dedication I will find it.

FAMILY

We are pretty much ready for Christmas. The house is decorated - inside and out. The trees up and decorated - thanks to Derrick and Xavier. Our neighbors, Brandon and Tonya, decorated their house like we did last year so they are like mirror images on the outside.  Brandon was even brave enough to get on the roof and decorate the upper awning. I’ve even done all the boys’ (Geno, Derrick & Xavier) Christmas shopping!  I just have a few gifts to finsih and mail out and I am good to go. We have decided to stay here in Fayetteville for Christmas. We were thinking of going back to Ohio to visit the Lolli gang and Columbus gang, however, the boy’s and I are just going to wait until Geno comes home - which I mentioned earlier is 75 DAYS!

Last weekend we went to the Toys 4 Tots Fun Jump at the Sicily Drop Zone. That was a lot of fun and Xavier loved watching the planes and soldiers jump.  Here are a few pictures from last weekend along with some pictures from the last few weeks.

Toys 4 Tots Fun Jump

Derrick and Xavier

Our Tree 

Our House

JCPenney Pictures

with Grandma Incorvia