HOME SWEET HOME!!!

This post has been long over due but I have been very busy and not feeling too good but we are finally HOME.

Brandon and I left Killeen, Texas on August 1st at about 6:00pm. We stopped by the Rickman home to say bye to them, I knew i was gonna miss Hollian but I didnt think I was gonna miss her and the girls this bad. We got outside Lampassas, TX and Brandon's truck started overheating,FUN!!! Mike Johnson and I went back into Lampasses to go get so coolant and by the time we got back to where Brandon and the boys were it was 8:30pm, dark and the truck had cooled down. We put coolant in his truck and continued on our way again. Everything was going fine, Brandon said that since we had his truck piled high and he was pulling a 16 foot enclosed trailer that his truck had to work extra hard and that was causng the truck to over heat. At about 12:30am 12 miles to Sweetwater, Texas Brandon's back driver side tire blew out, AWESOME!!! A cop showed up to help and said that there was a guy who would come out and fx the tire for $100 an hour, minimum of 2 hours and $175 a tire, or we could wait untill 8am to get cheaper tires at a cheaper rate. We decided to wait and all 6 of us slept in the Expedition with the ac on untill 8am. What a night, I actually slept great. We drove around and found a guy named Brandon who gave us a great deal on wheels and tires, we got 2 wheels and 2 tires for $125, they were used. 2 and a half hours later the tires were on and we were on the road again. Our luck was really bad because a mile down the road Brandon's back passanger tire blew out. We called that Brandon guy sad all sales were final and there was nothing he could do. We were literally stranded on the side of the road, on a budget we knew we could afford brand new tires. We talked to my parents and they sad they would get us 2 new tires and we could pay them back later. I was already so stressed, it was noon on August 2nd and we should have already been home for a couple hours. I was sick, throwing up, no appetite it was horrible. Within 4 hours we had driven to Sweetwater and back 3 times, went to a junk yard to find another rim, put the tires on the truck and lost Brandon's wallet ( which we found with all the money still in the wallet.). It was quite an adventure. We get 35 miles out of Sweetwater and are in Abeline, Texas to get gas when Brandon's truck overheated for a second time. We went to Autozone and bought a thermostat for the truck. Brandon forgot to by sealant to seal it down and we had to wait for the truck to cool down before he installed it so we went to Pizza Hut to eat. We got back to the truck and put the thermostat in and went on our way. Since we didnt seal the thermostat down in Brandon's truck we over heated again about 20 miles away from Post, Texas. Mike and I went into post to the dollar store and bought some silicone to seal the thermostat down. We had to wait about 2 hours for the truck to cool down to seal it but once we did that the truck ran fine, no more over heating :) Mike was drivng for me because I was exhausted, we had Casey and Jared and Brandon had Tony. At about 2am on August 3rd somewhere in New Mexico MY back driver side tire blows out... OMG!!!! Im flipping out now, so stressed and just want to get home. Mike was flashing Brandon but Brandon didnt see us and kept driving. Luckily I had a spare. Brandon fnally realized that we werent behind him and called me and turned around. at 2:40am we were back on the road and im a happy to announce that at noon on August 3rd, no more delays we are finally in Heber, AZ :) Brandon stayed calm the whole time and tried to keep me calm but that didnt work. We had one hell of a trip home and i NEVER EVER want to move out of state EVER again. I have pictures but they are on Brandon's computer so when I have his computer I will post the pictures

Fathers Day

June 19, 2011 was a different kind of fun day for the Starkes. Brandon decided he wanted to work for fathers day. He has a lot of work to do and not enough time to do it. Brandon took all 3 boys with him to work while I slept, cleaned and went to the mall. I was supposed to leave the followiing week with the boys to go to Arizona and see my grandma whom I haven't seen in 2 ish years. I was joking with Brandon when I had asked him to take us to AZ Sunday night so I didnt have to drive 15 hours with 3 boys by myself, and believe it or not he said yes. So, we left Sunday night at about 9pm on Fathers Day to head to Texas. We made it to Overgaard, Arizona at 9:30 am Monday morning. Brandon HAD to work Tuesday so he visited with some friends and family, we ate lunch at Junes with Robert Howard and then went back to my moms house to rest before he made his 15 hour trip home. Brandon left at 5pm to head home and I kind of wish I would have gone home with him because I miss him tons. Brandon is a great husband and great dad who does what he has to, to make sure we are taken care of. I know driving from TX to AZ on Fathers Day night is not what he had in store but it was DEFINITELY GREATLY APPRECIATED!!!! I love you so much Brandon, Happy Fathers Day!!!


AND... He is OUT!!!


Daddy and his boys... Can you see how tired he is?


Me and my WONDERFUL Husband

Fire Hydrant Fun!!!

On June 18th, the day before fathers day the boys and I were driving home from Hollians home when down the street we found that our Fire Hydrant was open and going crazy. The boys wanted to play in it so bad so I called the water company and they said that "they" had opened it up to release some of the pressure so the could fix the main water line that " they" ( water company) had broke. I went ahead and let the boys play in the water and I even got in on the action a little bit. We started playing in the water at 1pm and didnt get home until 5:30 pm. Needless to say, we had a BLAST and the boys got BURNT


Casey being blown away by the pressure


Jared being blown away by the pressure


Tony loving the water



Mommy even got in on the action








Mommy's feet

The Tough things in life

Where to even begin. Brandon and Rickman started there own business called Chosen Construction Inc. I am very proud of them and I new it would be tough I just didnt think it would be this though. The Brandon's have this customer that keeps adding stuff for them to do which is great but Brandon is gone all the time and we havent been paid yet either. I feel like a single mom all the time. I wake the kids up, feed them, bathe them and put them to bed pretty much all the time by myself. I know Brandon is just trying to get going in this business but its literally tearing us apart. I need the physical, emotional and yes... SEXUAL connenction with him but by the time he gets home at night after cooking, cleaning, doing the laundry and running after the kids all day I am exhausted. I know Brandon is exhausted to and Im trying to understand and support him but sometimes its hard. I quit Cracker Barrel a few weeks ago due to never havin Brandon home to watch the kids and because I had a very innapropiate manager. We think I need to find a job somewhere else so help out with the finances and believe me I want to but, Brandon hours are so long and unexpected sometimes that me working would be hard.

A couple weeks Brandon was driving to Austin, Texas in the Expedition and he hit some metal in the road and totally messed up my Transmission. Our insurance company is fixing our Transmission and has givin us a rental car but..... We have to give our rental back on the 17th of June and the adjuster still hasn't been by to asses the damages so needless to say I'm screwed. This really sucks because we were supposed to be going to AZ June 23rd for my Grandma's birthday

The Day at Blora's Outside recreational center

Last weekend ( June 5, 2011) we went to the lake's recreational center. We met Jj, Dorothy and their girls and we had a blast. We arrived at the lake at 10am and were there until 3pm. At the lake there was a man made beach, a child's canoe area, child's bounce house and Little water slide, 2 huge slides ( that the kids loved) and paddle boats. The slide was so much fun but we could not get Jared to go on it at all, Casey and Tony went on t but not Jared. We spent a lot of our time at the mad made beach because that's where Jared felt comfortable. We at lunch at the lake, yummy, yummy hot dogs and cheese burgers. I told Brandon that I was gonna get Jared on that slide by the time we left even if I had to push him down it. about 2 hours before we left we finally got Jared to go down the slide and once we got him on it we couldn't get him off it. The last 3 hours we spent going down the slide but that's OK because it was all about Casey, Jared and Tony. We all had sunburns by the end of the day, mine was the worst though. Next time we will be bringing sunscreen with us. I got pictures of the beach but not of the slide, the boys went down way to fast and I didn't want to get my camera wet :( We had such an amazing time and plan on going back before the summer is over for sure, hopefully we can get the Rickman family to go with us :)

Boys will be Boys!!!

Last week while Casey was playing the XBOX I told Jared and Tony that they could go play outside. They were being really quiet so I decided that I would grab my camera and go check on them. They weren't doing anything wrong, just sitting and playing nicely







They are so cute when they are actually playing nice and not being yelled at. Most days I love being a mom... Just kidding.. I love being a mommy everyday <3 <3 <3

Last Day Of School... YAY!!!

The day that all parents and students have been waiting for is here, the last day of school. I don't know about the other parents but we had to get up extra early the past 6 months to get the boys ready for school because we moved about 15 minutes away and completely out of the school district. Believe me when I say I am very very HAPPY that we have the next few months to sleep in. The boys last day of school was June 2, 2011 so I went to the school and got some cute pictures of the boys and only some of their friends.

Casey struggled this year and I think it is because he was still trying to adjust to a new environment so his grades were low all year long. I am happy to report Casey got all B's and C's, one A and one D ( the D I am not so happy about but he tried) Casey passed the reading TAKS test with a 98 percent and failed his Math Taks test with a 32... OUCH!!! Casey's Teacher said she felt that Casey stayed back in 3rd grade and Casey agreed. Casey said he felt he didn't know the 3rd grade math well enough to just be thrown into 4Th grade math so Brandon and I decided to hold him back in 3rd grade as well. We feel this will be good for him and hopefully he will be top of his 3rd grade class.

Jared did really well and believe it or not, has better hand writing then Casey. In Jared's report card they are graded with numbers from 1 to 4, 4 being the highest. On Jared's final report card he got at all 3 and 4's and just 5 2's. His teacher said she was really shocked with his progress the last 9 weeks and that he was more then ready to go onto 1st grade.

I am very happy for both of my boys, being held back or not. They did and awesome job and tried all year long. I look forward to next year as my boys go on to accomplish more in their lives.

The pictures I am getting ready to post has some of their friends in them but forgive me because I do not know all their friends names


Casey and his Teacher Mrs. Torres



Austin, Casey and Kendrick... 3 Musketeer's



Casey and Maurice






Jared watching Mrs. Hall open the gift he got her



Jared sitting at his desk waiting for his friends to show up



Jared and half of his class... Such cute kids

Jared's Kindergarten Celebration

I feel bad for being so behind in blogging, I really am trying to catch up.
On May 31st 2011 Jared " graduated" Kindergarten, actually it was just called their, " End of Kindergarten Celebration." It was way cute. Jared's class among 4 other Kindergarten classes got together and sang a few songs and then following was a slide show from all year long memories. My camera decided to die so I only got a few pictures :( I think it is time for a new camera. Since Jared " Graduated" Kindergarten I took him out early and we went to McDonalds and got some lunch and opened up his presents. It was a fun afternoon that's for sure








I did get some really cute pictures before my camera died but for some reason all the pictures that I took at first went to the internal memory instead of my memory card so once I get a usb cord I will post the really cute pictures

Busy, Busy, Busy

Things have been very Crazy recently and most days I dont feel like blogging but i better get blogging for those who are interested in my life... I will start with me.



- I am still working at Cracker Barrel which most days I hate. Easter weekend I got very sick and lost my voice so I took the day before Easter off because I couldn't talk and with being a server you HAVE to talk. I went back to work Monday but tried to call in because I had just started to get my voice back. My boss said he really needed me so I came in anyways despite my not feeling well at all. I got to work and before I could even clock in another employee told me that I needed to re-evaluate my life and work and my schedule because I " NEVER " want to come in and my kids are always sick. Correction, Jared, my 6 year old is ALWAYS sick. There is something wrong with him and the doctors aren't quite sure what. I went off on her and walked out because my family comes before work period... I did end up going back to work a few days later. With summer coming I have changed my work schedule to just weekends so that way I dont have to find a babysitter for my boys. I will eventually quit, hopefully sooner then later.

I finally went to the doctors 130 dollars later to find that my ovaries ( that arent supposed to be in me) are fine with no more tare which makes doctors believe that I was just going through my monthly when they found that tare. Also, my muscles are very tender and weak and all I need for that is a little Physical Therapy ( thats a little weird) and I have NO cervix, that was awesome to find out.
- The end of April my parents came for 11 day visit and it was very nice and I miss them dearly.

- Brandon has recently quit his job with Weiland Construction and he and Rickman started there own construction business called Chosen Construction Inc. I was hopping for just an LLC but Brandon said he and Rickman had bigger plans.. lol I hear the only difference is the two for our case in a bigger line of credit. I am very happy for both Brandon's and hopefully their business will take off :)

- Casey is doing ok in school, he has all b's and c's except his Science grade went from a 96 to a 32. Im not too happy about that. Casey has told me that he doesn't want to go into the 4th grade because he doesnt feel he is ready so I will be talking to his teacher to find other options.

- Jared is doing good other then for having an illness that we are thinking is just asthma. We will continue his 3 medications twice a day until he is tested for CF and scope his lungs for polyps and tumors or anything else that shouldnt be there. When we go to Jared's next appt. at the end of June we will make dates for those procedures. Other then his all that crap Jared is doing great in school and is such a smart little guy.

- Tony has a mind of his own, he is so funny and smart. Tony is talking ALOT more these days which is crazy to me because he is still my baby. Tony LOVES ducks which he calls his pato ( duck in spanish) and it is so adorable. There is so much to say about Tony but it might take forever to blog it. In a shoty version, Tony is an amazing little guy and I so blessed that I am able to be his momma.

There is a lot going on in our lives so I will do my best to give a daily blog like I WANT but... We will see. We do plan on coming to Arizona for the 4th of July to drop the kids off with my parents for a few weeks. I hope to be able to stay for at least 4 days but there is not telling right now. GOOD NIGHT EVERYONE!!!!

Easter Continued...

Sorry to cut the last post short but my computer freaked out.

When we got home from taking pictures we colored eggs. The boys had been patient all day to color eggs so once we started that the boys were very happy. We had a very plain day but we all loved it and it was great to us.