Thanksgiving and THE DAY AFTER

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What a great Thanksgiving!! Everyone came to our house, with the exception of Mom, who worked at the office.
I wasn’t sure if there was going to be any pies, however, as when I was baking my crusts, one of my pie pans exploded in the oven. Wow—that’s never happened to me before, and I am thankful the oven door was not open when it blew. Luckily, the store had a few frozen crusts left, so Thanksgiving was saved.
After the meal, I fell into a turkey induced coma on the couch while my men, E, K and little sister played Uno Attack.

Friday was the day. THE day. The day my sister and I had been waiting for over a year now. Nope, no Black Friday shopping for us. We headed to Dodge to see….New Moon! I am not a big movie watcher, so it’s really strange for me to be obsessed about seeing a movie! Those of you that know me know what a HUGE deal it was for me to go to DODGE on BLACK FRIDAY where I might encounter...gasp... a crowd!! I don’t admit this to a lot of people, but I am OBSESSED with these books and have read the series probably at least 10 times. I loved Twilight, but was a bit disappointed they didn’t completely follow the book. However, New Moon had a new director, and it was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G. It was exactly like I had pictured it in my head. M and I laughed when we counted *5* men in the entire theater. 3 of those 5 looked like they had been drug there against their will and were being held hostage. I also couldn’t stop laughing when one of the main characters, Jacob, takes off his shirt-- you should have heard the GASP that these ladies produced. The ENTIRE theater gasped!!! Well, gasped and squealed….you should have been sitting by my sister. SOME OF US just go for the amazing and wonderful story line! ;-) So the next movie is due out in June. I believe it will be in theaters right after we get back from vacation! June is going to be such a WONDERFUL month!!!


To my sister: I found this, just for you. Thank you for an amazing day yesterday. It was so much fun. Please get a towel before you watch this… I’m not going to be responsible for buying Dad a new keyboard after you drool and ruin his. ;-) ilvu!


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Show News

Saturday we got up BEFORE the crack of dawn and headed to Harper to a show.  After playing a scary game of Deer Dodging twice, and almost losing both times, I was happy we made it there in one piece.

We did well!!

Tristen getting one of the castors ready. (Doesn't he look SO serious?)  

 T’s Mini Rex Castors got 2^nd and 3^rd, and his Red Mini Rex  got 2^nd. T has decided to really concentrate in the castors.  Castors are a beautiful deep burnt brown color.  Almost like the color of a beer bottle, as I’ve heard my husband say.   We came home from the show with a new castor doe.   New friends of ours knew he was really interested in them, and they were cutting back so they just loaded her up and offered her to him.   Therefore, he came home and made some decisions on who he needs to get rid of out back.  He’s being very mature about it, and making some great decisions!! He sold 2 of his mini rex’s (colors that he has decided not to work on) to a fellow 4-Her at a heck of a bargain so she could have a decent start with her rabbits.

It’s always nice to see your kids make good choices!

                                      Jacob working Tori's fur. This is the bun that got Best Opposite Sex.

J’s Californians did great again.  The rabbit that got runner up Best in Show and BOB at the state fair got BOB again, and he also had one that got Best Opposite Sex.  (They pick the best opposite sex to that of the best in breed.)  His other one he took placed 2^nd.  While they were doing the Best of Show choice, Truman got looked at several times, which always gets you excited; because that means you have a chance, but no such luck.  We were happy with what we got though!!
On a side note, we sat by a line of coops that we watched being judged by a young lady who had no qualms about telling people exactly what was wrong with their rabbits. Very good and knowledgeable judge, just very blunt. Anyway, she was the judge that ended up judging J's Cals. She judged Truman and told J the goods/bads of him, was putting him back into his coop, and looked at J and told him "You have a very nice animal there. Very nice." I think she must have judged 150 rabbits while we were there, and I only heard her say that 4 times. Very exciting.

D and I are finding we REALLY enjoy showing.  We’ve started making friends, and it’s always nice when someone recognizes you and waves.  There is a lot of waiting at these shows and the kids ran around and socialized, and checked out girls, while D and I sat in our chairs and relaxed.  It was a great day!

Door To Door Freaks

The E-Z Choice Meat guy was making his rounds here the other day. Those of you that don’t know about this, its basically a guy that sells boxes of meat out of his truck. It’s pretty pricey…about $300 per box. Not something most people I know would just buy at the spur of the moment, but SOMEONE must buy it, as he comes around pretty regularly.

So I scream and run downstairs, because I HATE telling people NO and having them try to push me. I make poor D tend to the meat guy.

J comes down stairs a few minutes later, just rolling. I guess the conversation went something like this:

“You all interested in some beef?”

”Nope, we have our own cow. Thanks.”

”How about some chicken?”

”Nope, have some chickens out in the back yard.”

”What about some seafood? Don’t see any PIGS in the backyard..” (Ok-what the heck?? We didn’t get it either and I am REALLY hoping he was just being sarcastic and not really that stupid…)

“Nope, don’t need any seafood either. Not interested. Thanks anyway.”

”OK, well, have fun shopping at the grocery store!”

So, while I probably wouldn’t have ever bought meat from a hick looking guy with no teeth driving a pickup truck, now I KNOW we won’t be.

And while I am on the subject, what is the deal with these door to door people and being rude. When I say NO or sorry, I am busy, please just say thanks anyway and walk back down the driveway. I must be on the list, because it seems as though anyone who has anything to sell or a religion to push, they come see me.

A daycare mom and I hid from my weekly Jehovah witnesses yesterday. We sat with the door locked and hid like they were monsters in a horror movie. Later we realized she had left her car in the driveway…running. How’s that for obvious! HAHA

Veteran's Day

I’m sitting in here this Veteran’s Day feeling very lucky. Lucky to live in this great country, lucky that I, as a woman, have the same rights as a man, and very lucky to have my husband home with me, as many spouses of military will not have this luxury today.

D was born with the military coursing through his veins. It’s just a natural part of his life. It’s part of who he is.

I never gave his Navy background very much thought, except laughing at some of his crazy stories he shared sometimes. It was over and done and part of his past. I thought.

Add September 11th to the picture and our lives changed. D and I watched the news together for weeks during lunch hour and in the evenings. I could feel it--something-- building up.

“I’m thinking of going active.”

When those words come out of your husband’s mouth, they can make your heart literally stop. I tried to breathe as I calmly set toddler T down, before I dropped him.

With in 2 weeks, there was a big guy in a uniform sitting in my living room asking for our social security cards. Another 2 weeks, he was in Wichita for his very first drill weekend.

We got into a nice routine with him only gone one weekend a month to drills and the extra money really was nice. Then one weekend he calls home and says “In 2 months I am heading to the base in Bahrain for a month.”

T was 2, J was 4 the first time he left. He kissed away my tears at the airport and turned around, smiled and waved at me before he went into the terminal. I let the boys sleep in my bed during this time, and J and I cried ourselves to sleep many nights, missing “daddy.” D was gone the first time J wrote his name all by himself. I remember scanning it and sending a copy of it to him in the email.
It also never failed that some sort of problem would arise with the house EVERY time he was gone. It was usually plumbing. Or a dead mouse. I learned though I DO NOT like dead mice, I CAN take care of them if I have to.

He ended up being gone for over 5 months, back and forth, a month at a time. It seemed just as we were getting used to having him home, he'd leave again. The very worst time he was gone was when he left the week before Thanksgiving and came home right before Christmas. I remember eating with my family, coming home and putting my boys down for a nap, and sitting on the couch with a box of Kleenex and watched the military greetings that were on TV. Pathetic, huh? It was really hard that year to get all the decorations up without him. Though I knew he was coming home it didn’t feel like Christmas time without him here. That was the year I got him a really nice leather jacket for Christmas, and T blurted out "We got you a new coat for your present, Daddy" one of the times he called home. T never has been good with secrets.

The highlight of my days were first thing in the morning when I had an email from him, and then again at lunchtime when he would be getting off work and would write. The days I didn’t hear from him were spent with a pit in my stomach. I can not imagine the days of war where families would go months before receiving a letter in the mail from thier loved ones.
I watched the news and the internet all the time. One morning I got up and went to Yahoo and there was a story about how a dumpster had exploded outside the base at Bahrain. D played it off when he called home to check in, (After they found out it had made the news, they all knew it was time to put a call in to home.) but turned out to be more to the story. A lot more. And I am just thankful I didn't know about all of it till he was safely home. After that, every time he played something off, I always wondered if he was telling the truth or not.
He was over there when they caught Saddam Hussein. He thought that warranted a call to me in the middle of the night, and woke me up just to tell me that. I was just happy to hear his voice.
The stories he can tell are amazing. Stories from a land where its normal to see rats running down hallways amongst the people or swimming in toilets. Yes..at the base. I am fascinated by the customs over there. No shoes in houses. Woman, totally covered up, are always to walk a step behind the men. Only shaking with the left hand, not with the right, as the right is the one you "wipe" with and it is considered an insult if you offer this hand. (Or is it the other way around? Regardless, one hand is off limits and an insult.)

Things I learned during all this?

Though it wasn't pleasant being separated during this time, I did learn a lot about myself. I am a lot stronger than I ever thought possible and I can pump my own gas if I really need too. ;) What he does and what he loves, make him who is. Do I ever want to go through it again? Nope, not really. Would I totally support him if he felt he needed to do it again? Absolutely. He makes me proud. I am a very lucky girl.

Other things I learned?

My husband looks hot in a uniform. That being said, when those guys put on that uniform, they are just a tad bit cockier than they were 15 seconds before they put it on.

Military base phones are monitored. Someone else can hear your conversation. Your husband will find this amusing when you,unknowingly, talk about things someone else probably shouldn’t hear. And he won’t tell you till after you've already said them and he's laughing so hard he can hardly tell you to shut up. I am just thankful these people don't know what I look like or where I live.

Most people are so supportive of our military. D and his buddy's got many thank you’s and free drinks, but then again have also gotten yelled at and obscenities thrown at them. They were one time even called “baby killers” at a buffet restaurant in Wichita one drill weekend. It's expected on a base in a "hot zone" but on your own home turf it is a bit more upsetting.


Be sure to thank a vet today...or any day. Because you will never ever know what they have given up and left behind at home to serve our country, so you can be free today.

Funny T Story

T has been on D and I to have another baby so he can have a sister. Having two of the worlds cutest baby girls come to daycare, Cami and Elizabeth, hasn’t helped any. About once a week or so he’ll bring it up. We have repeatedly told him that, no, we are done and even if we were that dumb…err…blessed, to have another baby, it wouldn’t be a sister…we’d bring him home another brother. Genetically, pink doesn’t come to our house.

So anyway, while waiting for J’s bus to get back from basketball practice, he brought it up again. D and I told him, yet again, that we are not having any more babies.

“Mom, can you take me to the bank tomorrow?”

“Why, T?”

”Well, if you won’t have another baby, I am going to take all my money out of my account and you can go get me a sister from China.”

Interestingly enough he’s become obsessed with the idea of adopting a baby from China.

I wonder if someday I will have a beautiful almond eyed grand-daughter?

Retarded Teeth and A Sad Goodbye

Thursday we took off for Wichita for the boys dental appointments. Our dentist is a short little Korean man, probably in his 60’s, who, while very very good with the kids, can be a bit hard to understand at times. Every time he comes in he always greets Tristen- “My man, Tittan.” Tristen always laughs, because he says this EVERY TIME we see him. Something else I always hear? “Bad…berry berry bad.” My boys both have a congenital defect where they are missing teeth. Under their baby teeth, some of their adult teeth are missing. Gone. Never formed. I blame this on freaky Bruckner genes, as my husband has the very same thing. T and D are only missing one tooth, which coincidentally, turned out to be the exact same tooth. J, on the other hand, is missing 4!! Every time we go there, we always here a different story to what J needs to have done. Last time, Dr just told Jacob: “You need go get REALLY good job when you older, you pay for own teeth!!” hehe J’s teeth do not seem to be a priority right now, even though he has so many missing. He has a BIG mouth, with beautiful spacing and lots of room, therefore none of the baby teeth are in danger of being pushed out at the moment. It’s T’s they seem most concerned about. He has a smaller mouth, with teeth already cramming up, and that baby tooth with no adult tooth is about to the kicked out of there with the adult teeth coming up on both sides. They would like to see him go to the Orthodontist, and have that baby tooth pulled and the tooth behind it brought up in it’s place, or just have it pulled and have an implant put in there.

Having children is just grand.

BTW--the dentist was doing something fun to get the kids to get rid of their Halloween candy. He was paying any patient of his $5 for every pound they bring in.

"Tittan--you have candy?" "Yeah, lots!" "You bring-uh-me candy, I give-uh-u money. You bring-uh-me 1 pound, I give-uh-you 5 dolla. You bring-uh-me 2lbs, I give-uh-you $10 dolla.
The dental hygienist told me that while it was a great idea, he had thrown it all in a giant box in the back and all the nurses have been eating it!

We lost one of our buns Wednesday night. We had had Noel for 7 years. She was one of the buns that started the love of rabbits here at my house. I had suspected she was sick, as while I was holding her about a month ago, I felt a rather large “bump” in her lower belly. Rabbits have a high rate of uterine cancer if they are not spayed and I believe this is what happened with her. I had actually discussed with D just taking her over and having her put to sleep. I’m glad she didn’t make us make that choice. She never looked or acted sick, until Wednesday afternoon, when T discovered she hasn't eaten or drank from the day before. She died about 2 hours later. T is really upset. She was taken care of everyday by him. I told him that rabbits don’t usually live to be 7, and that he took really good care of her for her to be that old. It’s never easy.
She was a wonderful, prissy, big ol’ fat lop eared rabbit with round big brown eyes that looked like marbles. She was a bunny version of a cat. If you held her and petted her, she would immediately have to groom herself where ever you had touched her. Then she’d glare at you, as if to say “Gross, dirty, humans.” Noel survived a month living in Bud Louthan's garden one summer after she escaped from her cage. We thought she was long gone till we happen to hear a rumor that Bud had a “pretty” rabbit he’d been trying to catch in his garden. She was very, very, fat when he caught her, and was not at all happy with being caged and living on a diet of bland pellets after that. She was also the bun that had the UH-OH litter of babies about 4 years ago. One of the “girl” rabbits my mother brought home to the boys, turned out not to be a girl.
Most of our rabbits we have are thought of more as livestock, and though we care about the well being of each of them, there are just a few out there who worm their way into our hearts for whatever reason and they become special pets. We are going miss that ol’ lady.

Fall Wonderfulness

It was a wonderful, fun filled, relaxing weekend here at the Bruckner household..
Saturday, T and I totally rearranged and organized his bedroom. We ended up taking out 5 black trash bags of junk.(5!!) A lot of that was broken toys and clothes that had holes, but still….5 bags!! He has now gotten rid of 99% of his toys now, leaving only things such as art supplies, books, and sports supplies. My boys are growing up!!

J is full swing into basketball. These practices everyday are taking a lot of getting used to. And they have a pre season tournament already Friday. He seems to like it, but has already informed me he does not think he wants to go out for track. Thursday we have to take the boys to the dentist and plan on getting his basketball shoes. I am usually on the ball with that sort of thing, but it seriously snuck up on me this year.

We had a wonderful time Trick or Treating Halloween night. This was J’s last year dressing up. Next year he wants to have a buddy over, and pass out candy while T, D, and I trick or treat. Anyway, it was just a wonderful night with beautiful weather, and D and I talked about how many years now we have trudged though mounds of leaves and snow, and tried to remember all the different costumes our boys had dressed up as. We did notice there were quite a few “regulars” that didn’t have their porch light on. I know our neighbor has the flu. I wonder if that had anything to do with it.

Friday I made popcorn balls. My grandmother used to make them every year for us..me?...and it just isn’t fall time without them. I am a popcorn ball snob. I hate popcorn balls that are hard. I like mine soft and sticky. My boys gobbled them up, so I am thinking I need to make more of them…you know…for them.

Saturday we finally got Kirby back in with his mom so ALL of our little cow herd it together. My brother and Kim helped us get him in….I manned the gate. I didn’t freak out once, but wasn’t being chased by Crazy Cow either. Car or not, there is just something scary about being chased by an animal, with horns, that out weighs you by 800+ lbs. It was a lot of fun. I can’t believe how much I enjoy being around cows again. We are banding the calves next weekend. Should be fun. HAHA D and I have had this on going debate about which is better: Banding, which cuts off the circulation, and about 2 weeks later the “sack” just falls off, or cutting, which involves splitting the sack open, popping those babies out, and sending on thier way to heal, and dealing with possible infection and flies.

I won. =-)*

I need to post pics of D’s baby buns. They are the cutest, fluffiest, balls of cuteness EVER. They look like they could be on the cover of an Easter card. They are so fat they have little fat rolls that hang over their legs. I think they could make even the grouchiest of people smile.

Have a HAPPY WEEK!!!